Tazewell County showcases technology park site

By JIM TALBERT\Staff
BLUEFIELD – An answer on funding will come in the fall but members of the Tobacco Commission spoke highly of the Bluestone Technology project.
Senator Charles Hawkins, Senator Phillip Puckett, Delegate Terry Kilgore and executive Director Neal Noyse all spoke during the gathering at Fincastle Country Club Aug. 15. Delegates Dan Bowling and Anne Crockett-Stark also attended the gathering.
The county has applied for two grants from the tobacco commission for help with the Bluestone. One grant is for $2 million and would help erect the first building. The other grant is for $1.8 million and would assist with the road.
A vote on both grants is expected to be taken at the October meeting of the commission. Jim Thompson, a citizen member of the commission was also on hand for the meeting. “No checks get written from the tobacco commission with out the blessing of these people and our goal is to inform them about the Bluestone and make them comfortable with it,’’ Thompson said.
“We are very excited to be here and excited about this project. We feel this is one of the premiere projects in southwest Virginia that we are looking to invest in,’’ Kilgore said.
Puckett said he appreciated the commission coming and taking a look at the project. He said the project was a great opportunity to partner with West Virginia.
“I think it might be one of the premiere projects we will do. West Virginia is as excited about it as we are,’’ he said. He said it was an opportunity to open things up between the two states.
Noyse said he was impressed with the fact the county was willing to invest early in the game. The property was acquired and design work done before the applications were filed.
He said that was the “absolute best’ way to get things done and called the project the “poster child’ for doing things right. Stark said that she was told in 1999 not to expect any clean industries in southwest Virginia.
“Now thanks to the state government and the tobacco commission we have created an environment of opportunity,’’ she said.  Representatives of the county board of supervisors, Industrial Development Authority all of the towns and Mercer County West Virginia attended the program.