The CSPDC is pleased to announce that Nathan Garrison has been hired as a CSPDC Regional Planner. Nathan, a native of McGaheysville, acquired his associate’s degree from Blue Ridge Community College and transferred to James Madison University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. Nathan was the Town of Grottoes Town Manager for two years and before that was the Parks Director at Weyers Cave in Grottoes. He is a life-long Rockingham County resident with a passion for local government.

This fall, Highland County, known for its award-winning maple syrup production, launched the Virginia Maple Syrup Trail. The trail includes a passport program and offers visitors the chance to experience eight participating Highland County sugar camps throughout the year. The Maple Syrup Trail was formed to bring awareness to this long-standing tradition and encourage tourism to this beautiful and rural part of Virginia. Five Fields of Gold members are participating in the trail, including Puffenbarger’s Sugar Orchard, Laurel Fork Sapsuckers, Mill Gap Farm, Back Creek Farm and Sugar Tree Country Store. Passports can be picked up at various Virginia Welcome Centers or at the sugar camps themselves upon arrival.

In October, CSPDC and Shenandoah Valley Partnership (SVP) staff toured and received an update on construction of the renovation project at the historic Highland Inn in Highland County. In June, the CSPDC assisted the Blue Grass Resource Center in applying for a $50,000 DEQ Brownfields Grant for the Highland Inn’s restoration project. The Brownfields grant is funding the removal of lead paint during this initial renovation phase. Other projects underway include reconstructing the Inn’s iconic front porches, replacing exterior fire escapes and stabilizing the foundation. Located on Main Street in Monterey, the Highland Inn is a part of Highland County’s economic development strategy to increase tourism through retreat conferences and cultural events.

CSPDC staff are members of the Shenandoah Rail Trail Partnership. The Partnership is a coalition of volunteers, local and PDC staff, advocacy groups, local and state elected officials who are working to build support for the project. CSPDC Executive Director Bonnie Riedesel serves as the Vice-Chair of the Rail Trail Partnership, and her counterpart at Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, Brandon Davis, is the Chair. The Partnership hopes to convert a disused Norfolk Southern rail line running from Broadway and Timberville in Rockingham County 38 miles north to Strasburg, VA into a rail trail facility. The Rail Trail would connect 8 towns, 6 Civil War Battlefields, and Seven Bends State Park as it travels through Shenandoah and Rockingham Counties, and crosses two PDCs. Delegate Tony Wilt, and Senators Mark Obenshain and Emmett Hanger shepherded a FY21 budget amendment through the 2020 special legislative session to dedicate Department of Conservation and Recreation resources to evaluate the feasibility of turning the disused rail line into a rails-to-trails facility. The Partnership will play an integral role in the feasibility study in the coming year.

Follow regional impacts of COVID-19 using the CSPDC Recovery Dashboard, scheduled to launch this November on the CSPDC website. The Recovery Dashboard will feature interactive graphs that display data on localities’ unemployment rates, unemployment benefits claims, COVID-19 cases and tax revenues. The purpose of the dashboard is to illustrate the Region’s recovery process from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Virginia’s Stay at Home order. Data tracking began in March 2020 and will follow economic, health and community statistics for each locality over the next two years. This project is administered by the CSPDC and is funded through EDA’s CARES Act.