About – Smyth County Economic Development

About Smyth County EDA

The Economic Development Authority (EDA) of Smyth County is the primary organization responsible for industrial development within Smyth County, including the development of publicly-owned industrial parks and financing assistance for the attraction of new or expansion of existing industry within the County. The EDA is composed of a seven member Board of Directors appointed by election district by the Smyth County Board of Supervisors for four year terms. The EDA is supported by the Smyth County Board of Supervisors and the Local Economic Development office.

Successful Partnerships & Projects:

Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) Grant: Mount Rogers Planning District Commission and its County partners including Smyth, Wythe, and Washington counties, understood the urgent need for our citizens to be connected to the digital world. Through our regional collaboration and our partnership with Point Broadband, we were successful in providing this much needed service to our citizens. This project provides universal broadband coverage (95%+) to the counties of Washington, Smyth and Wythe. The application builds ~2144 miles of new fiber plant and plans to serve 28,013 under or unserved passings for a total project cost of approximately $100 million.
Regional Partnerships: Partnerships with Bland and Washington County to form the Pathway Regional Industrial Facilities Authority better known as, PRIFA. The project and partnership includes an impresive $1.2 million in grant funds to improve the infrastructure at Pathway Park with the intent to attract target industries by advancing the site readiness.
Smyth Strong Initiative: “Smyth Strong is an initiative we are pushing out to help bring everyone together to make us all stronger. What began as a program to help strengthen small businesses during the pandemic has grown to help make the entire county a stronger being…. We need an initiative that we all (county, towns, businesses, and citizens alike) can rally around. Smyth Strong can be that very initiative. We need to make everyone stronger.” – Shawn Utt, County Administrator
Read the Smyth County News & Messenger write up here.
Commonwealth Opportunity Fund (COF) awards, Tobacco Commission grant funding, industrial development bond financing, and local incentive funding for various new industry and industry expansion projects
Support for workforce training initiatives and existing industry appreciation events
Strategic planning for economic development

About Smyth County EDA

Successful Partnerships & Projects:

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