Tobacco Commission Announces Grants, Budget

Source from:  Staff Writer By ROBERT BAIRD 05/28/2004

The Virginia Tobacco Commission has awarded economic development and education grants, including funding for dozens of projects in southwestern Virginia. In all, $12.2 million was awarded in fiscal 2003-04 funding for projects across the tobacco region of the state. The commission also approved a $64.6 million budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The group - known officially as the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission - held its quarterly meeting Thursday in Danville, according to a press release from the commission. A complete list of projects and funding amounts is available on the Internet at www.vatobaccocommission.org. According to that Web site and information from the commission, Southwest Virginia projects that received funding include: * Wise County Industrial Development Authority, $100,000 for site work at the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park near Wise. The funding award would be reduced by the amount of future money applied to the site from the commission's Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund; * Town of Big Stone Gap, $250,000 for the Big Cherry Dam replacement project; * Dickenson County Board of Supervisors, $50,000 for the county's wireless network project. The funding is contingent on an equal match from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority; * Town of Clintwood, $139,000 for phase two of the planned Ralph Stanley Museum. The funding will be used for site improvements; * Mountain Empire Community College, $50,000 for the college's AIMS Higher Scholarship Program; and * University of Appalachia in Grundy, $87,500 for the proposed school of pharmacy. Created by the General Assembly in 1999, the Virginia Tobacco Commission makes payments to farmers to compensate for the decline of tobacco quotas and promotes economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities. Enditem