Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and Economic Development Authority Joint Meeting - August 13, 2025

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and the Economic Development Authority (EDA) met jointly on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, to receive the final draft of the county's Economic Development Strategic Plan and to consider approving it. Supervisors Diantha McKeel (Jack Jouett), Ann Mallek (White Hall), Ned Gallaway (Rio), and Bea LaPisto-Kirtley (Rivanna) were present; Supervisor Jim Andrews (Samuel Miller) participated remotely; Supervisor Mike Pruitt (Scottsville) was absent. EDA Chair Don Long, Vice Chair Jeff Morrell, and EDA members David Storm, Bill Mechnick, and Steve Hood were present, with EDA members Frank Friedman and Andrea Johnson participating remotely. After about two hours of discussion, the Board approved the plan as amended by a unanimous vote.

Call to Order and Remote Participation

• BOS approved Supervisor Jim Andrews' remote participation under Board rule 8.b.1.D (FOIA), citing personal family business; a motion by Supervisor Ann Mallek was seconded by Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley and approved unanimously.
• EDA approved remote participation for Frank Friedman, on family vacation in New Jersey, and Andrea Johnson, attending from within Albemarle County due to a scheduling conflict, by unanimous consent.

Economic Development Strategic Plan Presentation

• Action item 25-354 was presented by Emily Kilroy, Director of Economic Development, and consultant Stephen Pedigo. The plan replaces the 2018 Project Enable plan and is built around a mission of rooting economic development in innovation and being open for investment, while supporting complete community building.
• Public engagement included more than 2,400 people, 21 stakeholder committee members, four formal stakeholder meetings, six co-hosted roundtables with more than 70 local participants, and about 18,000 newsletter opens. The county communications office ranked the effort the fourth most-engaged public engagement project over roughly the past six months.
• The plan has five goals: (1) advance the national intelligence and national security sector, including making Rivanna Futures an innovation hub; (2) grow life sciences, medical devices, and biotech companies; (3) strengthen agribusiness, value-added agriculture, wine, and agritourism; (4) retain and develop talent, especially workers aged 25-44; and (5) improve the county's investment framework, including development review, permitting, infrastructure, marketing, and use of the EDA.
• Key measures proposed for the plan include business expansions and quality jobs, closing the gap in the 25-44 prime-age population, and increasing the commercial share of the property tax base. The county's share of 25-44 residents is about 10% lower than expected for a community its size.
• Data cited during the presentation included a life sciences location quotient of 1.76 and an agribusiness location quotient of 2.3, a $9.7 million award for Rivanna Futures site readiness building on $600,000 in prior Go Virginia funding, and the Afton Scientific expansion, in which about two-thirds of new jobs are manufacturing jobs not requiring a degree.

Board and EDA Discussion

• An EDA member opened by saying the plan needed more explicit steering language on balancing growth with environmental protection and quality of life, citing research that residential taxation alone cannot sustain county finances. The member suggested adding mission language about pursuing prosperity while protecting the environment and exceptional quality of life.
• Supervisor Ann Mallek supported adding such language to build support across the county. She also raised details from the agricultural sector, including shared processing and cannery space, meat processing, succession planning, farmers markets, and the recreation and tourism economy.
• Consultant Stephen Pedigo responded that the county comprehensive plan is the proper venue for environmental and quality-of-life policy and that the strategic plan operates within existing constraints. He acknowledged the county's limited developable land and said trade-offs are unavoidable.
• Supervisor Jim Andrews asked for language such as open for strategic investment and quality jobs so the plan does not signal openness to any development, including warehouses and distribution centers. He stressed consistency with the comprehensive plan and protection of the county's values.
• Supervisor Ned Gallaway pushed back on adding redundant environmental statements, arguing the comprehensive plan and its climate action and equity lenses are the right controls. He said economic development revenue is needed to pay for the services and qualities residents want, to avoid continued residential tax increases, and that the county did not choose its national security industry but should work to retain it.
• Several members emphasized that the plan should create middle-wage, middle-skill jobs, not only commercial tax revenue. EDA remote member Frank Friedman cited the Orange Dot report and said roughly 15-20% of Albemarle residents struggle to be self-sufficient, and that hospitality, tourism, and retail are among the lowest-paying sectors.
• Multiple supervisors and EDA members called for elevating K-12 public education and career pathways in the plan document, alongside PVCC and UVA, so young people can find good jobs locally. Afton Scientific's non-degree manufacturing jobs were used as an example.
• EDA Chair Don Long said the plan gives the EDA a framework for evaluating opportunities, but stressed implementation, follow-through, and turning goals into concrete actions.
• County Executive Jeff Richardson and COO Christy Shifflet described how the new plan will connect to the county's existing strategic planning and performance system, including the SPHERE report and about 220 county metrics, and to the annual budget and five-year capital and financial planning processes. Richardson also cited the prior St. Louis/NGA trip as an example of learning from another community's competitive response.
• A discussion of branding and marketing concluded that the county does not need a slogan, but needs a storytelling platform to build national recognition for assets such as Rivanna Station and the life sciences sector, similar to investment-brand work in Roanoke, Lynchburg, and Richmond.

Public Comments and Testimony

• No public comment period was held during the joint meeting. Don Long reported that the EDA's earlier special session on the plan had received one spoken public comment and one emailed comment, with discussion focused on how the plan aligns with quality of life, and on agribusiness and winery food-service rules; most EDA members supported exploring more comprehensive food-service rules at wineries.

Other Matters Not Listed on the Agenda

• County Executive Jeff Richardson announced that Dominion Energy reported about 4,200 customers without power, mainly on the north side of the county in the Holly Mead area due to a substation issue; Dominion was aware and working on it.
• A supervisor called on EDA members and the community to advocate with state and federal representatives for proper funding of transportation and school construction, saying underfunded mandates shift costs to localities and contribute to infrastructure bottlenecks.

Key Outcomes

• The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the Economic Development Strategic Plan as amended. The roll-call vote was yes from Supervisors Gallaway, LaPisto-Kirtley, Mallek, McKeel, and Andrews; Supervisor Pruitt was absent. The EDA did not vote on the resolution; it was a Board action only.
• Plan amendments accepted during the meeting included embedding the county vision into the strategic plan, clarifying that job metrics focus on target-sector and quality jobs, and elevating K-12 public education and career pathways in the document.
• Staff will complete final edits, including copy edits and substitution of local photos, and the plan will be carried into implementation work, annual budget decisions, and economic development metrics.
• The Board adjourned to August 20, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. in Lane Auditorium; the EDA meeting was also adjourned.