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The Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce represents more than 590 businesses employing approximately 22,000 people in the Dan River Region. The Chamber is the premier advocate for business and industry in the region and projects a unified voice on key issues that affect the business community.

Our Chamber believes that the success for both our region and the Commonwealth depends on investments and priorities that stimulate and advance economic growth and prosperity for businesses of all sizes. The Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce respectfully requests our legislators support the following priorities:

Economic Development and Regionalism

  • Maintain Virginia’s current business climate and defend Right-to-Work, as this is a key to attracting and retaining industries and small businesses in the Commonwealth.
  • Ensure rural broadband access, recognizing that it is an imperative for equitable opportunities related to economic development, teleworking, telemedicine, entrepreneurship, and education.
  • Reduce the disparate impact that minimum wage increases have on small businesses by encouraging and sharing innovative wage and benefit models that exist across the state for employees. Promote differing wage increases based on geographic and economic disparities.
  • Support economic development initiatives that improve site readiness and create jobs.
  • Improve access to funding and remove barriers that impede small business growth and entrepreneurship.
  • Prevent the erosion of the mission and the composition of the Tobacco Commission and ensure that the Commission provides funding for economic development opportunities only to those projects located in the original tobacco region footprint.
  • Support the continued development and marketing of large-scale industrial parks, including, but not limited to the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, which serves multiple jurisdictions and fosters enhanced collaboration within a region.
  • The continued safe development of cost effective, traditional and renewable energy sources to meet the needs of business, as well as to support future economic development.

Workforce Development and Education

  • Invest in improvements to our education system to prepare and support a well-trained workforce.
  • Advocate for initiatives that strengthen pathways to the teaching profession and improve teacher attraction and retention.
  • Increased funding for childcare/early childhood education.
  • Continued support for the Virginia Jobs Investment Program which helps offset recruitment and training costs for businesses of all sizes in the Commonwealth.
  • Continued support of FastForward, G3, the Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE) and the Growth4VA plan, which also has a significant talent component through more experiential learning opportunities, such as support for more internships and apprenticeships.
  • Support increased funding for the Virginia Values Veterans V3 program, the Virginia Transition Assistance Program (VTAP) and credentialing opportunities to connect veterans and their families to employers.

Workforce Development and Education, Cont.

  • Advocate for policies and funding that prioritize innovative approaches to alleviate labor shortages, enhance employee recruitment, and bolster workforce retention.

Transportation

  • Support for transportation improvements including, but not limited to, upgrading Route 29 to interstate status and finalizing US Highway 58 as a four-lane highway.
  • Support policies to invest in infrastructure and ensure effective spending of funding to enhance the state’s competitiveness.
  • Support funding for the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor (BRIC) which runs from Danville to Martinsville to Roanoke and Blacksburg, and the counties throughout the corridor.

Housing

  • Promote policies that increase the housing supply and address the affordability and quality of housing options for all Virginians, including our military families and veterans.
  • Develop targeted strategies to lessen disparities in homeownership.

Healthcare

  • Advocate for services and supports that address the mental and behavioral needs of Virginians.
  • Invest in best practice models and programs to address critical workforce shortage areas, while developing ongoing strategies and data systems to address future workforce needs.