Culpepper County Department of Economic Development Named EDO of the Year

Culpeper, Virginia — August 20 — The Culpeper County Department of Economic Development has been named Economic Development Organization (EDO) of the Year (for populations of 25,000-200,000) by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) — the world’s largest economic development organization. The EDO of the Year award recognizes organizations that demonstrate organizational excellence, innovative programs, meaningful community impact, and an exceptional commitment to the people and businesses they serve. Bryan Rothamel and Winona Pritts will accept the award at the IEDC Annual Conference in New Orleans in October.

A Record of National Recognition

The EDO of the Year award caps what has been an extraordinary period of national recognition for Culpeper County Economic Development.

In 2025, the department received six IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Awards, the most received by any single organization in the world that year. In 2026, the department received five awards — again the most of any organization worldwide. The department also earned nominations for IEDC's Best in Show recognition in both 2024 and 2025, an award that identifies up to 14 of the top individual economic development projects globally. The EDO of the Year award represents the pinnacle of that recognition.

"Incredibly impressive what a small office and two people can accomplish. I can't imagine the planning, juggling of tasks, and hard work it takes to execute everything this department does." — IEDC Judge

"Economic development works best when it operates at every level of a community simultaneously. The vision for the department has been to build something that serves Culpeper County completely, not selectively. This recognition reflects what's possible for rural economic development.” – Bryan Rothamel, Director

A Department Transformed

Five years ago, the Culpeper County Department of Economic Development functioned as a traditional economic development office, focused soley on business attraction and large businesses. Today, it operates four distinct program ecosystems spanning: small business development, agricultural economic development, workforce development, and business attraction. Each focus has been built from scratch, grounded in community relationships, and designed to meet real and identified local needs.

Those ecosystems encompass:

• Be A Culpeper Local, a full small business development engine that includes an annual nine-day shop-local celebration, a half-day business summit, a recognition reception, a monthly workshop series, a finance cohort, business spotlights, and a small business newsletter.

• Choose Culpeper Farms, which supports Culpeper's agriculture through an award-winning website, an annual farm tour, a craft beverage trail, farm spotlights, and agricultural business education.

• Work in Culpeper, a workforce development ecosystem connecting employers and job seekers, delivering free workforce training, and building a career pipeline that reaches students from middle school through graduation.

• Choose Culpeper, anchoring the business attraction efforts that have brought more than $20 billion in anticipated capital investment to the Culpeper Technology Zone.

"Thrive at Work and Financial Foundations for Growth are both interesting concepts — I have not heard of programs like this before. I am beyond impressed that a two-person team has created and implemented so many unique and successful programs." — IEDC Judge

"Every program we've built started with a conversation — with a business owner, a farmer, an employer. We listened first and built second, and that approach made all the difference. Thrive at Work exists because employers told us what their teams needed. Financial Foundations for Growth exists because business owners asked for something deeper. We just showed up, listened, and built. Being recognized for that is humbling in the best possible way." – Winona Pritts, Assistant Director

Read the full press release on Culpepper County's website.