Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

55 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL APRIL 2021 LYNCHBURG V I RGINI A downtown building into their new headquarters. The 25,000 square foot, three-story ‘Carter Glass building’ was once the home of the local newspaper. With its art deco style and its location in the heart of downtown Lynchburg, the building holds historical significance and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Cloudfit is expected to bring more than 130 jobs to the community and is committed to investing in the revitalization and growth of the city. The Lynchburg Regional Airport, which is owned by the City of Lynchburg, is a great benefit when it comes to business attraction and retention, and Airport director Andrew LaGala has been instrumental in enhancing its economic impact on the community. As Bentson shares, “Having an airport in a region of our size is an asset that we greatly value, and the business community values as well. The airport currently has daily flights to and from Charlotte – from there you can go anywhere in the world. Andrew is working really hard to secure flights north of the local industry partners. Bridges to Progress, another forward-thinking Lynchburg initiative, is focused on working with the community to create self-sufficiency through employment, training and other opportunities. “I have found that some of the most effective programs are the ones that don’t try to do everything, they just try to address one specific challenge,” explains Anna Bentson, Lynchburg’s Assistant Director of Economic Development & Tourism. “We can help place folks that are coming out of these programs directly with open positions in various companies, eliminating the red tape. The companies are willing to train; most of them want to do that anyway because it’s faster and more efficient. The workforce development system is big, it’s clunky, it’s challenging. We are finding certain programs that are really effective, and we’re trying to lean into those as much as possible.” Nuclear manufacturing and engineering is a major source of employment in Lynchburg, with core nuclear companies BWXT and Framatome having their U.S. headquarters in the city. BWXT is responsible for manufacturing naval nuclear reactors for every new submarine and aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy’s fleet. They also work with medical isotopes and are involved with NASA and in future potential Mars missions. Framatome services nuclear reactors and facilities worldwide. Both companies bring trainees into Lynchburg from all over the world. “Our number one priority is business retention and expansion,” says Bentson. “We see the most growth in jobs and tax revenue and investment in the city in expansion of our existing companies. We really focus on growing our businesses here, and so even through COVID, we have continued to see our larger companies investing and expanding. BWXT and Framatome have both grown.” A new technology company, Cloudfit Software, has recently completed the redevelopment of a