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EDA previews new economic development website; subcommittee explores loan program and grant-form updates
Summary
EDA staff and an intern demonstrated a draft economic development website and the authority’s subcommittee discussed updating grant forms, possible microloan programs and coordination with regional partners to sustain the grant fund.
The Lancaster County Economic Development Authority on July 17 previewed an early-stage economic development website and discussed substantive changes to the EDA’s grant program, including the possibility of a microenterprise loan program to capitalize future local lending.
Staff presentation and demo: John Bateman, EDA staff, introduced Seth Ruby, an information-technology intern who has been building the site structure. "The web page is supposed to be sort of a one-stop shop for everything economic development if you're a business owner, new or old," Ruby said during a live tour of the draft homepage, which includes resource directories, a VEDP site-selection embed and a planned articles feed for timely updates. Bateman described the content plan and noted the site currently uses Drupal and is intended to link to county resources, the Small Business Administration and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership tools.
Why it matters: Bateman said the website will centralize resources and free staff to provide hands-on assistance. He told the board the site will also host information on the Citizens Business Relations Advisory Committee and Lancaster 2035 strategic plan.
Grant form and program changes: Bateman told the board he had converted the existing grant application into a Google Form as an interim step and recommended the EDA's subcommittee (Tom Richardson, Rory Carter, Taryn Bryce Roland and Lisa McLaughlin are listed as the subcommittee) meet to consider substantive changes to align grant criteria with Lancaster 2035 strategic priorities. He said some jurisdictions separate grant tracks by business age or purpose (for example, development vs acceleration grants) and suggested the EDA discuss limits on eligibility, frequency of awards and amounts.
Microloan discussion and capitalization options: The subcommittee reported reviewing examples of microenterprise loan programs and identified potential funding sources, including Economic Development Administration grants, U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, and local funds such as the county's poorhouse tract balance. A board member summarized the idea: instead of awarding reimbursable grants that require applicants to front capital, a locally administered loan program could provide interim financing and charge interest that replenishes the fund. The board also discussed whether the Northern Neck Planning District Commission or the county could administer such loans and cited Middlesex County's recently established loan program as a template to review.
Other governance points: Board members suggested content changes — adding Chamber of Commerce links, a contact form to reduce staff phone calls, clearer descriptions of opportunity and enterprise zones in the site selector, and a separate "About/Contact" structure. Bateman said the governance plan for site content management is currently staffed by him with design/technical support from the intern; he proposed subcommittee review and periodic content governance meetings.
What’s next: The subcommittee will continue drafting changes to the grant program and study microloan administration options, and staff will incorporate board feedback into the site demo ahead of a future subcommittee review. Separately, the EDA certified the legality of its closed session and approved motions at the meeting, including allowing the board to exceed its stated $15,000 quarterly cap before awarding the two grants.
