Ribbon Cut For New Greentech Incubator

Dec. 22, 2009

Ashland Mayor Faye Prichard and Board of Supervisors Chairman John Gordon (right) were among those cutting the ribbon for the new GreenTech Incubator on December 18.

Talk about a big early Christmas present! – Hanover and Ashland officials joined in cutting the ceremonial ribbon for a major economic development project last week.

Located in the Presidential I Business Park in Ashland, the GreenTech Incubator will provide help with research, financial services, business planning and other issues as well as office space for start-up companies. As the companies grow, they are expected to move to nearby locations, boosting the local economy.

The project is a partnership between Hanover County, the Town of Ashland, Dominion and the Virginia Biosciences Development Center (VBDC), which will manage the GreenTech incubator. The VBDC, which manages the Virginia Bio-Technology Research Park's business incubator in downtown Richmond, has helped launch 68 companies in its 13 years of existence. Forty-one of those companies have successfully left the center, including three whose stock is now traded publicly.

The GreenTech incubator is scheduled to open next year. It is the first in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“The venue is perfect,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion. “The local leadership is superb. Hanover and Ashland have a sterling future.  We have the partners to make this work in a great and growing community.”