Local Business and Economic Development
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose last month at its fastest pace since June, an alarming sign that price pressures remain entrenched in the U.S. economy and could lead the Fed to keep raising interest rates well into this year.
Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.6% from December to January, up sharply from a 0.2% increase from November to December. On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 5.4%, up from a 5.3% annual increase in December.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.6% from December, up from a 0.4% rise the previous month. And compared with a year earlier, core inflation was up 4.7% in January, versus a 4.6% year-over-year uptick in December.
The report also showed that consumer spending rose 1.8% last month from December after falling the previous month.
January’s price data exceeded forecasters’ expectations, confounding hopes that inflation was steadily decelerating and that the Fed could relent on its campaign of rate hikes. It follows other recent data that also suggested that the economy remains gripped by inflation despite the Fed’s strenuous efforts to tame it.
INFLATION
Nine months after a groundbreaking Ridge View Bank cut the ribbon at its first branch on West Main Street in Salem this morning. 3 other Ridge View projects are under construction – including the home office on Franklin Road in Roanoke City. Carrie McConnell is the President of Ridge View Bank, which could branch out to as many as four states at some point.
More than $66 million in state grants for four projects within the Life Sciences sector that were approved last year are finally being released. The City of Roanoke will receive $15.7 million dollars for the shared wet/dry lab space business incubator it hopes to open in less than two years. That shared space lab project is a partnership that includes Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center, Johnson & Johnson Innovations, the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council, Virginia Western Community College and Carilion Clinic. Brad Boettcher is the Innovation Administrator for Roanoke City in the Department of Economic Development:
RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced more than $66 million in state grants for four projects within the Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Cluster. These projects provide job creation, wage expansion, and broader economic growth throughout the Commonwealth.
“In order to make Virginia a leader in biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceutical manufacturing, we have to accelerate our growth and create a best-in-class business environment for this industry,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Each of these projects will bring jobs and opportunity across the Commonwealth and further our position as a national leader in these business sectors. ”
During the 2022 Special Session of the Virginia General Assembly, funding was approved for biotechnology-related projects throughout the Commonwealth. This funding is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), in partnership with the State Council of Higher Education and a task force comprised of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority, Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority, Virginia Initiative for Growth and Opportunity Board, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and staff directors of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations.
The city of Roanoke will receive $15.7 million to create an advanced laboratory-incubator to develop new biotechnology companies across southwestern Virginia. This project includes partnerships with the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council, Virginia Western Community College and Carilion Clinic and provides a hub for Johnson and Johnson Innovations.
$820,000 in new federal funding has been secured for the jointly-owned Wood Haven Technology Park, located near the I-81 and 581 interchange. It will be used to bring additional water to Wood Haven, with an eye towards future development by first upgrading water and sewer utility capacities. The cities of Roanoke and Salem, and Roanoke County co-own the 110 acre industrial-zoned tract. The Western Virginia Water Authority hopes to start construction some time this year says spokesperson Sarah Baumgardner:
(from Famous Anthony’s Facebook) MIRACLES HAPPEN!! We will be keeping the South West (Oak Grove Plaza) location open!!!
ATTENTION 
The Valley Business Front magazine is taking a step into the future with this month’s edition. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has more:
Click here to read the February issue
Photos courtesy the Advancement Foundation
The Gauntlet Business Program and Competition gets underway tomorrow. Up for grabs in the competition is $300,000 in cash and prizes. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.
The Virginia ABC store in downtown Roanoke on Campbell Avenue we told you about last week cut the ribbon today – without any City Council members present. Some Roanokers have expressed concerns about locating an ABC store in closer proximity to the area’s homeless population and others who may appear to be intoxicated downtown. Travis Hill is the CEO for Virginia ABC – the state operated liquor stores – as to concerns about locating its 98th outlet in a more urban setting; he also says employees are trained to look for those they should not be selling liquor to :
Despite Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to make the state more business friendly, a recent report finds that Virginia is still among the worst states to start a business. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has that story: