Albemarle County EDA authorizes first-year $100,000 payment for Siebel Biohub Go Virginia grant

The Albemarle County Economic Development Authority voted to adopt a revised resolution authorizing the first-year payment of $100,000 toward a $300,000 county pledge supporting the Siebel Biohub accelerator under a Go Virginia grant.

JT Newberry, an economic development staff member, told the board that the state approved roughly $4,300,000 for the regional accelerator program and that the Siebel Biohub had secured about $2,700,000 in matching funds. Newberry said the city and county together will contribute $375,000 at the local level — $75,000 from the city and $300,000 from the county — with the county’s portion scheduled as three $100,000 payments over three years. Newberry said the grant documents and a memorandum of understanding were executed in November and that the revised resolution clarifies the project name, milestones and authorization to proceed with the year‑one payment.

A director asked whether the county contribution could be used for salaries. Newberry said he had discussed that concern with staff (referred to as “Nikki”) and that there is room in the project budget for the county support to be directed to capital investments rather than personnel costs. “There’s enough room in the budget for our support to go to capital investments for this project,” Newberry said.

Newberry described the accelerator’s local operations: the program will take cohorts of life‑science startups through an accelerator based in Town Center 4 in North Fork and intends to connect companies with resources tied to target industries in the county’s strategic plan.

A motion to adopt the resolution was made and seconded; the EDA then conducted a roll‑call vote. Directors Long, Johnson, Gagnon, Metola and Storm each voted “Aye.” The motion carried 5–0, authorizing the first $100,000 county payment.

The board did not adopt any amendments to the resolution during the meeting. The resolution records the county’s pledge of $300,000 payable in three annual installments of $100,000; staff said state and private matching funds are already in place and that the MOU and grant contract have been executed.

The Siebel Biohub project is positioned as part of the governor’s announcement identifying Charlottesville as within a research‑cluster initiative for life sciences; Newberry said the accelerator aligns with the county’s target‑industry strategy.

Next steps identified by staff: file the executed MOU and grant documents with county records, schedule the first payment in accordance with the MOU milestones, and track deliverables tied to the year‑one payment. Staff indicated they will return to the EDA with any necessary follow‑up if milestones or payment timing change.