Enact local strategies to attract and retain business, maximize capital investment in the City, and provide for a ready workforce that meets business needs

Goal 4: A Strong, Creative and Diversified economy
Description

This is the essence of a local economic development program and the focus of OED's ongoing efforts.
Why and What it Achieves

Continued job creation and capital investment is a key indicator of a healthy community. The revenues generated by these activities help fund the necessary services provided by local government and allow for future investment in critical infrastructure. OED takes a holistic approach by seeking to align economic and workforce development efforts to help build community wealth.
Status

During FY18, the OED continued to focus on aligning economic and workforce development efforts with the following program results:

GO HIRE -  provides wage subsidy and incumbent worker training by serving 9 city businesses in the past fiscal year. The average wage of the 10 employees served  was $16 per hour.

ACE - provides micro grants to help increase revenue and capacity of city based businesses. In the  past fiscal year, businesses were served with $15,000 in grant funds.

VJIP Match - a commonwealth of Virginia program that helps fast growing companies that are a part of the economic base. The city provides a local match to these efforts to further assist business development. In FY18, 12 jobs were created with an average wage of $30 per hour and a total of $755,5000 in local payroll.