Tag: economic development

Loudoun proposes $2.5 billion budget

Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet kicked off the county’s annual budget review process Wednesday by presenting a proposed spending plan for fiscal 2018 that funds almost all of the school system’s request and provides staffing for several new facilities while holding property tax bills steady.

The $2.5 billion budget complies with the Board of Supervisors’ demand for a plan that avoids increasing the average homeowners’ tax bills. It would boost local funding by $61 million for the school system and $27.7 million for the general county government.

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The Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2017

Vision for Ashburn Station

One of the most valuable pieces of real estate in Loudoun County is a triangle of undeveloped land along the south side of the Dulles Greenway, bounded roughly by the Greenway, Old Ryan Road and the Loudoun County Parkway. The nondescript parcel — formerly not-very-good farmland — is desirable solely because of its location next to the future site of Ashburn Station, the western terminus of Metro’s Silver Line.

Last month, representatives of the property’s owner — the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation — gave regional business leaders a glimpse of their vision for a possible trail- and transit-based urban community on the site.

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Washington Post, May 1, 2016

Residents want more nightlife options

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They want more: more bars and restaurants, and more ways to get to them safely. More music and entertainment destinations. More housing options in urban, walkable environments.

Loudoun County residents who attended a public input session in Ashburn on Monday confirmed the preliminary recommendations of an ad hoc committee created by the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Commission. That committee has been looking at ways of stimulating the nighttime economy to make Loudoun more attractive to businesses and the young workers they employ.

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Washington Post, March 20, 2016

Loudoun aiming for more nightlife

Loudoun County has recently been ranked among the wealthiest, happiest and best places to live in the country. But there is one list it is unlikely to make: places with the best nightlife. And that makes local business leaders unhappy.

The perception that there is little to do in Loudoun when the workday ends is making it hard for businesses to attract and keep qualified young workers, said Tony Howard, chief executive of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

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Washington Post, January 31, 2016

New directions for family farm

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Donald Virts shows tomatoes in his greenhouse

The Virts family has been engaged in traditional farming (think heavy equipment, rigid growing seasons and cornfields stretching for acres) since it settled in Loudoun County in the late 18th century. Twelve generations later, things are beginning to change.

Donald Virts, who farms 1,000 acres in northern and western Loudoun, decided that he had to adapt his methods to evolving economic and environmental conditions. His new business model, which he is introducing at CEA Farms north of Purcellville, embraces concepts such as hydroponics (growing crops in water), controlled environment farming, renewable energy sources and marketing directly to consumers.

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Washington Post, January 17, 2016