Updates from the Office of Economic Development

Charlottesville Tops All Virginia Cities in Livability Rankings Again

Charlottesville has once again been named to the Top 100 Best Places to Live in America list by Livability.com, outpacing more than 2,300 cities based on the data-driven ranking. This year the City came in at No. 22 with the only other Virginia City being Virginia Beach (No. 43).

This year, the list was centered around mid-sized cities (generally defined as 500,000 population or smaller) that are attracting big waves of young people. More than 2,000 cities were ranked on 50 data points measuring economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care. Sources included the best public and private data available from organizations like the U.S. Census Bureau, Lightcast and Esri.

Fourth Round BRACE Grant Offered to Assist City Businesses

The Office of Economic Development is excited to offer a fourth round of the Building Resilience Among Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (BRACE) Grant. This program is a matching, reimbursable grant of up to $2,500 (for new recipients) or $1,250 (for previous recipients) to help offset qualifying expenses incurred by City businesses. The business is required to provide a 30% match for the City’s contribution. The applicant must be for-profit business or a non-profit organization that is focused on hospitality, tourism, or supporting economic development/business causes. Businesses must be located inside the City limits. Applications will be accepted from August 15, 2022 at 9:00 AM until September 2, 2022 at 5:00 PM. Expenses incurred between May 1, 2022 and September 2, 2022 are eligible. Interested businesses can learn more and apply here.

Clarion Pointe Hotel Holds Ribbon Cutting

Clarion Pointe Hotel held a ribbon cutting on August 27^th to celebrate their grand opening! The newly-renovated hotel, located on U.S. 29-S in between U.S. 250 and Hydraulic Road, offers great amenities and a convenient location for Charlottesville visitors. To see pictures from the event, make sure to check out the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s blog!

OED Fun Fact

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia is the operator of the oldest Pepsi-Cola bottling franchise in the United States. PCVA has been manufacturing Pepsi products from its city-based bottling facility since 1908. Cheers!

Minority Business Commission Vacancy

The Minority Business Commission advises the council and staff on efforts to promote the startup and expansion of existing minority-owned businesses and to increase procurement opportunities for minority-owned businesses. If you know of anyone who may be interested in applying or who would make a great candidate, please encourage them to apply. Click here for the application to apply. To be eligible you must live or work in the City of Charlottesville or Albemarle County throughout the appointed term.

Region Ten & Downtown Job Center at Friendship Court

The Downtown Job Center in partnership with Region Ten’s Community Based Peer Services will host a Community Connections event at Friendship Court on Friday, July 29^th from 3pm to 5pm. The event will help ensure that residents receive updated information concerning both community resources and mental health resources. Local community agencies onsite will include services for the aging, reentry population, health care needs, local ministries, education and training opportunities and job services. This event is open to the public. For more information on this fun event, please contact Roy Fitch at 434-970-3959 or fitchrl@charlottesville.gov.

Intro to Selling to Virginia - August 10th

Kimberly Brewer, eVA Marketing & Outreach Manager will be presenting this session, giving an overview of the Commonwealth’s purchasing process, including purchasing policies that affect how buyers use the eVA system to “shop” and the eVA tools used by the buying community. Participants will receive an eVA website tour and discuss tools & resources every business should know about if they’re interested in selling to Virginia. Assistance becoming an eVA registered Vendor will also be provided. REGISTER

Upcoming Webinars from CVSBDC

CV SBDC is a team of business and technical experts available to listen, advise and assist entrepreneurs, confidentially and free of charge. They offer 1:1 assistance, connection to curated research, access to technical experts and professionals, and timely events and training.

Marketing Monday: Facebook Ads Tips & Tricks – August 1^st at 12:00 pm PREREGISTER

Marketing, Sales and Your Brand – August 3^rd at 10:00 am PREREGISTER

Business Models, Tell Your Story and Risk Planning – August 10^th at 10:00 am PREREGISTER

Money and Recordkeeping – August 17^th at 10:00 am PREREGISTER