Virginia Economic & Industrial Development \| Halifax Co. , VA News

HALIFAX IDA LEASES SECOND FACILITY TO IPERIONX

NOVEMBER 17, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HALIFAX IDA LEASES SECOND FACILITY TO IPERIONX

The Board of Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County (IDA), approved the execution of a lease for the 1092 Confroy Drive building, a 15,000 square foot building to IperionX for their second Halifax County location. IperionX first announced its selection of Halifax County of its Titanium Demonstration Facility (TDF) in September 2022 with an anticipated investment of $82 million and 108 new jobs in phase I.

“The IDA is pleased to see IperionX continue to invest and plan for their long-term growth and success in Halifax County,” said Rick Harrell Chair of the IDA Board of Directors.

Campaign launched to boost local workforce

In an effort to strengthen the local economy, promote community engagement and foster a greater sense of unity, a “Live Here, Work Here” campaign has officially launched.

The initiative — spearheaded by the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce and Halifax County Industrial Development Authority in partnership with Halifax County and the SoVA Bridge to Recovery Taskforce — aims to encourage residents to find employment opportunities right within their own community.

Halifax County has always been known for its natural beauty, tight-knit neighborhoods and a strong sense of community. Through the “Live Here, Work Here” campaign, the county is determined to enhance these qualities by promoting local job opportunities, which can, in turn, reduce commute times, lower environmental impacts, and boost the overall well-being of its residents.

IDA highlights growth at meeting

The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority received an update on recent progress at Friday’s meeting.

Executive Director Kristy Johnson presented data that showed improvement with local projects, and the ongoing plan to increase employment in Halifax County.

She highlighted the importance of key points including business growth, real estate and infrastructure, regional engagements and partnerships, and organizational sustainability. She added that dashboard will be created as a graphic that will show the county’s metrics year-by-year.

IDA approves budget, IperionX lease agreement

The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority approved the IDA budget for the coming year and ratified a lease agreement for the county’s Iperion X manufacturing plant on Friday.

With an otherwise light agenda for the June monthly meeting, the 2023-24 budget was the prime focus of the board discussion, with members expressing satisfaction at how the agency’s finances are shaping up in the coming fiscal year. The new budget takes effect July 1.

“It is a conservative budget, and I think [the IDA Finance Committee] put a lot of time and energy into [balancing information] from the current years and what we’ll have next year in the forecast,” said IDA treasurer Nancy Pool.

Executive Director Kristy Johnson said the budget has changed little from the current year’s package, which totals $2.3 million, but the IDA is prepared to handle any possible changes that could arise throughout the upcoming year.

More funding flows for fiber network across Southside Va.

On May 11, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced the Southside Planning District Commission and its internet partner, EMPOWER Broadband, were awarded $8.5 million to expand its fiber network and services to an additional 4,804 addresses in portions of Brunswick, Charlotte, Greensville, Halifax and Mecklenburg counties.

This 2023 Virginia Telecommunications Initiative award represents an additional project cost of $30.23 million and includes matching funds from the counties, Dominion Energy and EMPOWER.

This award supplements the previous $154 million project to which VATI contributed $69 million in 2022. This latest grant will include additional addresses in each of the counties, including over 2,000 within Greensville County, the newest partner to this regional broadband consortium. To illustrate the impact on each of the areas, the grant adds 153 addresses to Brunswick, 73 to Charlotte, 1,943 to Halifax, 2,041 to Greensville and 589 to Mecklenburg.

Work on schedule for South Boston boat landing project set to open in July

Boat Launch South Boston Town Council received updates on the Riverdale boat landing and hazard mitigation projects at a Monday evening work session.

Council also heard a report on the town’s use of its American Rescue Plan Act funds and mulled strategies for employee recruitment and retention.

Construction on the Greene’s Crossing Landing, near the Tucker C. Watkins Memorial Bridge in Riverdale, is well underway. The project is expected to be completed by the first of July. To date, Raab said the town has expended $370,000 in grant money for the project and has received back $71,000.

Officials eye busy tourism year as VIR kicks off a weekend of speed

Virginia International Raceway is kicking off its season of major spectator events this weekend, marking the beginning of what promises to be a busy tourism season for the Danville, Halifax County and Pittsylvania County area.

The two events, Hyperfest: The Automotive Amusement Park and the SRO GT World Challenge, will bring tens of thousands of motorsports fans to the area in May and June.

The season gets underway with Haltech Hyperfest on Friday-Sunday. Hyperfest is one of the largest motorsports festivals on the East Coast and features road racing, car shows, ride-alongs, obstacle courses, karting, a kid zone, live music and more — truly something for everyone. VIR

The second event, the Fanatec SRO GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS will take place June 16-18, bringing the upper echelon of GT sports car racing to VIR.

Each of these events will bring both new and familiar faces to VIR and in turn, the surrounding areas, and an opportunity for our residents to show why we love the region so much.

“We’re so fortunate to have one of the most sought-after racetracks right in our backyard,” said LaTonya Hamilton, director of Halifax County Tourism. “2022 was a record-setting year for VIR and 2023 promises to be even better with new schedule additions, track upgrades and more. We want our local businesses to be aware of events so they can prepare and show VIR visitors how special our community is.”

South Boston medical practice begins work on new facility

The physicians of Southern Gastroenterology Associates, joined by family members and other supporters, broke ground Tuesday on a new facility where colonoscopies and other medical procedures will be performed.

The 33,670 square foot building is going up at the Houghton Business Park in South Boston. Dr. Bakul Patel and Dr. Suresh Jayatilaka are the principles of the gastroenterological practice, which is located inside the medical building at 1129 North Main Street. That office will remain open for seeing patients; the new facility will be where those patients go to have procedures done.

Drs. Patel and Jayatilaka grabbed shovels for the groundbreaking event, flanked by Brian Burton of J.E. Burton Construction, the general contractor, Ronnie Moore of American National Bank, the project lender, and a host of others. Also turning the first shovels of dirt were family members Dr. Babita Patel, wife of Bakul and an internist and primary care physician, and Julia and Braedyn Jayatilaka, wife and son of Dr. Jayatilaka.

HALIFAX IDA LEASES SECOND FACILITY TO IPERIONX

Campaign launched to boost local workforce

IDA highlights growth at meeting

IDA approves budget, IperionX lease agreement

More funding flows for fiber network across Southside Va.

Work on schedule for South Boston boat landing project set to open in July

Officials eye busy tourism year as VIR kicks off a weekend of speed

South Boston medical practice begins work on new facility

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