County economic development staff report 50 business retention visits in FY25, ask for case‑study outcomes

Albemarle County economic development staff told the Economic Development Authority that the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program surpassed its FY25 goal, completing more than 50 outreach visits to local businesses.

Staff said the program is targeted at “primary” businesses — defined by staff as companies that generate at least 50 percent of revenue from outside Albemarle County — and that visits are intended to surface operational challenges and connect businesses with tailored resources such as workforce training, access to capital and state grant programs.

“We set a goal of 12 visits for the year and we’re proud to say we’ve conducted over 50,” staff said. The report summarized sectors visited including manufacturing and life sciences and noted the program worked with partners including the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, the state economic development team, Piedmont Virginia Community College and Venture Central/Central Virginia SBDC on referrals and follow‑up.

Staff highlighted one major expansion the authority previously celebrated: a company identified in the meeting materials as Affton Scientific, which staff said plans roughly $200 million in capital investment and roughly 200 jobs. Staff said confidentiality limits sharing company‑level details from individual visits but that the BRE team is exploring ways to produce anonymized case studies or testimonials to show how the outreach led to concrete outcomes. A board member pressed for specific examples and staff replied that it was the BRE program’s first full year of staffing and that case studies and takeaways would be developed moving forward.

Broadband and power reliability were recurring concerns raised by businesses during visits, staff said. A board member who serves on the county broadband authority said the authority expects near‑countywide broadband availability by 2025–26 but acknowledged there are small “pockets” of limited service that remain to be addressed. Staff recommended routing business complaints about connectivity to the county broadband office so issues can be triaged and resolved.

Board members suggested convening sector‑specific roundtables — for example, in bio life sciences working with partners such as the Siebel Biohub and University of Virginia — so the county can hear shared concerns and present resources to multiple firms at once. Staff said convenings are part of the strategic plan implementation conversations and that the BRE program will continue to focus upcoming quarters on agriculture and food processing.

The BRE update was presented as part of the staff report; there was no separate vote on the program update.