The Shenandoah Valley GO Virginia Regional Council has been named and held its first meeting on April 3^rd.  The 28-member Council represents large and small business, higher ed and k-12 education, elected officials, local government and economic workforce development entities.  The majority of the Council is private sector as required by the state.   At its organizational meeting, Mr. George Pace, Shenandoah Valley Angel Investors, was elected Chairman and Mr. Chris Kyle, Shentel, was elected Vice-chair.  Mr. Frank Friedman, Chairman of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission will serve on the Council representing local government in the CSPDC region.  To see a full list of the Regional Council, please click here.

The Regional Council will be responsible for completing an economic growth and diversification plan, overseeing the GO Virginia program in the region, soliciting applications for projects within the region and recommending projects to the Go Virginia State Board for funding.

 The 27^th Annual Virginia GIS Conference was held at  Virginia Tech’s Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, VA.  The April event provided CSPDC GIS staff the opportunity to attend workshops, training sessions, and presentations on a variety of GIS topics including ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, LiDar, and Utility Mapping.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board invites the public to share comments on transportation projects that have been scored and recommended for funding. A public meeting  will be held April 27, at 5:30 p.m. at the Blue Ridge Community College’s Plecker Center in Weyers Cave. Those unable to attend the meeting may view the displays and provide comments online.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board will take these comments into consideration as it develops the Six-Year Improvement Program (FY 2018-2023). The program allocates public funds to highway, road, bridge, rail, bicycle, pedestrian and public transportation projects. Interested individuals can review the list of scored projects for public comment at www.SmartScale.org.

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A joint letter of intent to form a GO Virginia Regional Council in the Shenandoah Valley was submitted to the state in February. The letter was written on behalf of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, and Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board. Referred to as GO Virginia Region 8, the proposed council represents a very large and diverse geographic area covering ten counties and six cities in the Shenandoah Valley, with a population of over 525,000. The Council will fully reflect a mix of large and small business, higher ed and K12 education, elected officials, local government, and economic and workforce development entities. The Regional Council will be responsible for completing an economic growth and diversification plan and vetting projects that help generate private sector growth and job opportunities in the Valley. GO Virginia is a state financed economic development initiative that provides a new framework for strengthening the economy in each of the nine regions of the Commonwealth through enhanced collaboration by business, education and local government. The Regional Council was certified by the State GO Virginia board at its meeting on March 14th.

Bike the Valley, a regional marketing program that promotes the Shenandoah Valley as a premier bicycling destination in the eastern United States, was recently awarded a Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Grant totaling $12,500. The funding will be used for rebranding the nearly decade old program and switching the current website to a mobile ready platform. Incorporating data and  comments gathered from a recent bike survey and economic impact study of the region’s bicycle tourism, the  marketing upgrades will be designed to better appeal to the needs of visiting cyclists and to grow bicycle and outdoor recreation tourism throughout the region.