By Taylor Boyd
The Patrick County Economic Development Authority (EDA) heard the results of a feasibility study about the possibility of creating a Business Development and Recovery Center in the town of Stuart.
The study, performed by Summit Design & Engineering Services, examined the former True Value Hardware store at the northwest corner of the intersection of Slusher Street and Rye Cove Road.
Anne Darby, Planning Department Manager of Summit Design, said the study’s two main objectives were to support small and recovering businesses in Patrick County and bring income to the EDA.
“The space will provide meeting space for members and non-members, provide a place for group assembly meetings or classes, and possibly tele-medicine appointments,” she said.
The design presented includes leasable office space, a large co-working space, community gathering space, a café area, storage area, daycare, and a board room.
Darby said she and her team talked to various county stakeholders and residents to determine what the center needed.
“If you live here and you work here, you know where the gaps are,” she said.
Nine local organizations – including West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC), Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC), and the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce – were interviewed about community and market needs. Eighty-one individuals also responded to a survey about the use of the center.
Darby said the most repeated theme of the interviews was the need for broadband.
“It’s a limitation that, to have a space with great broadband, really fast broadband with no limitations, is probably the number one thing that this space needs,” she said.
Other themes included the need for a printing, shipping, and mailing center, and leasable office and storage space.
Darby said flexibility was another key theme in terms of the way the space will be designed.
“It needs to be as many things to as many users as possible,” she said.
A good design of the space is one way to appeal to a variety of potential users, she said, adding that “it needs to be well-designed, attractive, interesting, clean, and aesthetically pleasing.”
The projected renovation and design are expected to cost just over $2 million.
Darby said the likelihood that the project can be financed by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds provided to Patrick County is high.
“It is a large initial cost, and it is sustainable. It really would be beneficial to the town, the county, and the EDA,” she said, and added the projected timeline for the center’s grand opening would be about 22 months after the funding is secured.
The feasibility plan also makes the EDA and the county more eligible for funding because “it shows that we have at least looked at and tested the market and really thought about it. All of this information you can use in grant applications and in general,” Darby said.
In other matters, the EDA:
*Approved the meeting minutes of the September 22 meeting.
*Heard the EDA finance report.
*Paid the bills.
*Heard updates about the county’s broadband status.
*Discussed the county’s Enterprise Zone.
