VCEDA Grant Approved to Assist with Development of Buchanan County Day Care Facility
GRUNDY, VA – OCTOBER 13, 2025 – An up to $120,000 grant to be used to finance a planning study for a proposed child day care facility in Buchanan County was closed recently to the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA).
The $120,000 grant will be used to assist with the development of a child day care facility in the Town of Grundy.
“The availability of affordable child day care has been identified by the Buchanan County IDA as an important issue for the county and is an issue of importance for area employers as well,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “Access to child care is one factor in the region’s workforce participation rate, because all too often one spouse must stay home to take care of children, while the other works. This project will address that need.”
According to the IDA application, People Incorporated, with which the Buchanan IDA is working on the project, has secured a lease on the former Grundy National Bank building in downtown Grundy.
Under the proposal, People, Inc. will operate the facility and has asked the IDA about being a partner in the project by contributing toward the cost of the architectural and engineering work on the building. The IDA board previously unanimously agreed to that partnership.
“I’m very excited to see this day care project moving forward,” said Buchanan County IDA Executive Director Matt Fields. “Having access to quality child care has been a hinderance to our workforce for quite some time. I’d like to give a special thank you to Bryan Phipps and Chris Shortridge, of People Inc., for allowing the IDA to play a part in getting this project off the ground; and to VCEDA for its support. I believe this is the start to many beneficial opportunities moving forward.”
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Southwest Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.
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PHOTO CAPTION: VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher presents a ceremonial check representing a $120,000 grant to Buchanan County IDA Director Matt Fields to be used to assist in the development of a day care facility in the Town of Grundy in Buchanan County.