The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has launched the 2022 Virginia Outdoors Survey. Survey findings will help shape the 2023 Virginia Outdoors Plan, a blueprint for the state’s future outdoor recreation programing and infrastructure that is updated every five years. Current Virginia residents are eligible to participate in the survey and responses are due by August 15. Click here to begin the survey.

The Virginia Outdoors Survey provides the opportunity to share your personal preferences and experiences when it comes to outdoor recreation. The survey is a key element of the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Survey responses inform regional recommendations and data, including the most-needed outdoor recreation opportunities and most popular recreation activities in the Central Shenandoah Region. Click here to view the 2018 Virginia Outdoors Plan.

The Ag Innovation Center project, known as the Virginia Innovation Collective, will receive a $700,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Area Development Assistance Program. On June 30, Governor Youngkin recommended the project as one of eighteen projects in Virginia for ARC Funding. The grant will support The Advancement Foundation’s redevelopment of a vacant manufacturing building in downtown Buena Vista into a multiuse, business incubation facility. More specifically, the ARC grant will fund the renovation of a commercial kitchen and ADA compliant entrances and restrooms. CSPDC staff provided grant writing assistance for the project. The Advancement Foundation is also the recipient of a GO Virginia grant, supporting entrepreneurial programming and staffing at the Ag Innovation Center.

In 2020, the CSPDC was awarded a $2,202,000 VATI grant to bring high-speed internet to areas in Rockbridge County with co-applicant BARC Electric. Construction began December 2020 and ended in April 2022.  This project provided broadband access to approximately 470 serviceable units, including 31 businesses in Rockbridge County. Specific areas include Glasgow, South Buffalo, Vesuvius, and Big Hill with a total of 118 miles of fiber. Construction to 22 homes in the Vesuvius area were not completed due to a Blue Ridge Parkway permitting issue. BARC intends to complete construction and serve these 22 homes after the project closeout.

BARC’s 2019 ARC POWER Initiative broadband project in Goshen began construction in April 2021 and completed in November 2022. This project closed out in May 2022 and deployed a high-speed fiber optic broadband network in and around the Town of Goshen. There are 309 serviceable units including about 301 households and 8 businesses and approximately 33 miles of fiber installed for this project. The CSPDC provided grant administration services for this project and the Rockbridge VATI project.

The Town of Dayton received a Community Development Block Grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a downtown revitalization plan that will guide the Town’s efforts to reenergize Downtown Dayton. Through this process, the Town hopes to create a collaborative vision for transforming Downtown Dayton into a year-round destination through streetscaping, local business, and pedestrian-oriented development.

To kick off the planning process, the Town will hold a public meeting later this Summer that will introduce the project and gather community input to guide the vision for the Downtown. Throughout the Summer, a Project Management Team will be formed and a physical inventory of buildings and open spaces in Downtown Dayton will be completed to establish a foundation for the full planning process that will be started in the Fall. The CSPDC is providing grant writing services and grant administration support.