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News School surveys draw response02/02/12 - 7:49 am
The Halifax County School Board will hold a special meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16 beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the school board conference room to review the results of a…
Homeschoolers gain yardage on school sports02/02/12 - 7:48 am
Homeschoolers who want their children to be able to play public-school sports are cheering a historic vote this week in Richmond that advances a bill to a floor vote in…
Kitchen closed02/01/12 - 11:51 am
Shoney’s out of business in South Boston, Farmville
Sports Lions close regular season with win02/01/12 - 1:58 pm
The Halifax County Middle School boys’ basketball team defeated Westwood, 41-28, Monday, completing the regular season.
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News Green jobs for an empty factorySoVaNow.com / July 22, 2009
A Richmond developer specializing in historic properties has signed a contract to buy the shuttered Burlington Menswear plant in Clarksville and has even bigger plans to convert the site into a business park for green-energy companies.Justin French, owner of French Consulting Company, visited Clarksville this weekend to comb through the abandoned textile factory, consult with an engineer to discuss possible reuses for the site, and to meet with Jody Wagner, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor who was in town for Clarksville’s annual Lakefest. French’s goal: to turn the Burlington property into a launching pad for green-energy related manufacturing and service firms and to create hundreds of jobs in the process. “My goal for that site is adaptive reuse — utilizing it to create green collar jobs and bring in companies to employ individuals in green collar jobs,” said French, speaking by phone yesterday in Richmond. French recently bought a half-stake in Cityspace Solar, a Richmond firm that installs solar panels in buildings and facilitates trades in renewable energy certificates, which businesses buy and sell to meet energy regulations. He said he wants to set up a “low tech assembly plant” inside the Burlington building where workers would learn how to assemble and install solar panels. Another likely tenant for the Burlington building is Ready Corporation, which is seeking a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to manufacture construction materials for temporary emergency housing. Ready Corporation (readycorporation.com) bills itself as the “world’s leading provider of building materials and construction systems utilizing compressed agricultural fiber (CAF) panels,” which French said are made from wheat straw. “The benefit of wheat straw panel is that it’s easy to transport but at the end of their use, the panels can be mulched with a chopper on site. They don’t have to go to the landfill,” said French. Other ventures French wants to bring to the Clarksville site include a biomass-burning unit for power production — a small, 20 megawatt facility is the likeliest option — and a job training center for individuals to prepare for work in green-collar fields. French said he is interested in attracting service- and production-oriented companies to Clarksville because such firms hold greater promise for putting local people to work. “I think it’s fantastic that EDS [Electronic Data Systems] has relocated to [Clarksville], but I would assume a lot of those jobs are imported rather than homegrown,” French said. If the Burlington site is successfully converted into a green business park, workers would earn “a good wage, but they would already have a majority of the skills they need for the job so it would have an immediate positive impact,” he added. French estimated that Cityspace Solar could employ anywhere from 50 to 100 workers, Ready Corporation would start with 15 workers and could expand to up to 150, and Intrinergy, a Richmond-based biomass energy firm that is looking to use the plant’s boilers for electrical generation, would employ about 20 more people. Another prospective tenant is talking about bringing in 10 more jobs, and a job training program on the site “would create a lot more jobs,” he added. French said the purchase of the Burlington site is currently in the due diligence phase, and he has about four months to go before closing on the property. However, he expressed optimism that Ready Corporation will come to Clarksville much sooner than that to take over a well-preserved portion of the industry building for the manufacture of compressed wheat straw board. “They could take occupancy in 60 days,” he said. French said he was drawn to the Burlington site while looking for low-priced commercial real estate that can be redeveloped for green-industry purposes. He said his company recently joined with Waste Associates Holdings, ranked 20th in the U.S. in brownfield renovation, to redevelop an abandoned industrial site in Georgia that’s half again as large as Burlington. He said he looks for properties that can qualify for historic tax credits, using the funds to underwrite large-scale makeovers. At the same time, he seeks to line up tenants relying in part on federal and other governmental green energy incentives. “My goal would be use as many state and federal incentives as possible to create as many jobs in the area [as possible],” he said. A key to the success of the Burlington venture will be the Virginia Tobacco Commission, said French. Although he declined to say what financial support he may seek from the Tobacco Commission, French noted, “if the Tobacco Commission participates, it will create a lot more jobs a lot quicker than if they don’t participate.” French said another major factor in the success of the project will be obtaining historic tax credits, and he appealed to local residents for their help in documenting the historical significance of the Burlington factory. He said personal testimonials, old photographs, site plans and other documents on Burlington’s history and importance to the town could be helpful when applying for tax credits. “In my mind, anytime I purchase a site like Clarksville’s, I like to get as much history as possible, not just to honor the architecture but also the people who worked there. I think it makes a very powerful and persuasive case for the project. “What’s unique about Virginia is its very aggressive state historic tax credits. If we can designate Burlington as historic, we can utilize that to subsidize green infrastructure, including solar panels,” French said. French said he has visited Clarksville on a number of occasions and has talked with Joyce French of the Southside Planning District Commission — no relation — and Tobacco Commission staff regarding the venture. He also discussed the project with Wagner, candidate for lieutenant governor and former Finance Secretary in the Kaine Administration. “I was very impressed with her opinions, she’s very experienced and very receptive to the ideas I had about redeveloping Clarksville. I share her opinion of being pro-business and moving Virginia forward,” said French. Clarksville, he added, is “an easy place to live, the people are very pleasant, it has a low cost of living and a high quality of life. The one thing that is regrettably missing is not enough jobs.” “That’s my goal, to create a catalyst for the entire area.” Tell-a-Friend | Submit a Comment 89Halifax News
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