The Small Business Development Center of Hampton Roads Inc., an affiliate of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, was awarded a $23,000 grant from the Verizon Communications Foundation in March 2010 to help small businesses hurt by the closure of Franklin’s paper mill.

The grant will help the SBDC’s  Small Business Recovery program assist the small-business community in Franklin and Southampton and Isle of Wight counties.

A portion of the funds was used to establish the Verizon Business Information Library, which serves as a “one-stop” center for information concerning starting, running or managing a small business. MORE.

Between 2004 and 2008, Economic Development (ED) produced a printed, quarterly newsletter called The Isle of Wight Pages. Well, a few things have changed since then – staff members, the economy and technology. So, we’re changing too. In an effort to stay connected with our existing businesses and development allies, we’d like to introduce you to the first issue of our email newsletter. Our goal is to keep you informed about what’s going on Inside the Isle by featuring local businesses, available properties, and other important developments. Keep Reading. We hope you like it! READ MORE.

By Nicholas Langhorne (Contact) | Tidewater News

Published Wednesday, July 14, 2010

ISLE OF WIGHT—In 2009, commercial real estate tax revenue made up only 15 percent of the real estate taxes collected in Isle of Wight County.

That could soon change if the Board of Supervisors approves an economic development incentive policy.

The proposed incentives include review fee waivers, an expedited review process, connection/tap fee reinvestment, proffer flexibility, an economic development incentive grant, the establishment of a community development authority, the establishment of a tax increment financing district and other incentives the board deems appropriate.

> Read the entire article (opens in new window)

July 5, 2010

On April 30, George F. Hasty made the long walk off the grounds of International Paper’s Isle of Wight paper mill for the last time. Just days before, he was offered a job as a machinist at Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Newport News shipyard.

Hasty is one of 133 former IP workers the shipyard hired in the wake of the mill closing. Ninety-four of those workers have started their jobs. The remaining 39 will begin in the coming months.

The Newport News shipyard, which Decker said receives between 8,000 and 10,000 electronic job applications a month, was so impressed by the quality of the IP workers that it set up a separate database to capture their applications to be sure each one was reviewed.

Read the entire article (opens in new window)

Paper mill closure blamed for rising unemployment

Area unemployment rates are continuing to climb, largely because of the recent closure of the International Paper Co. paper mill in Franklin.

“It is predominantly mill driven,” Nancy Parrish, manager of the Franklin Business Incubator, said Friday of the local unemployment figures. “We knew that with the mill winding down those numbers would grow. Hopefully they should level off and start dipping soon because some of the mill workers have found new jobs.”

> Read the entire article (opens in new window)

About 100 work final shift; 30 workers remain

Published Friday, July 2, 2010

About 100 people worked their last day at the International Paper Co. paper mill in Franklin on Wednesday.

“We’re hopeful that as summer progresses we’ll have some answers for folks about where the facility is going from here,” Wadsworth said. “There’s no timeline for this. We’re just right now in the process of evaluating the options for the mill and coming up with the best possible solution for what happens in the future.”

> Read the entire article (opens in new window)

By Allison T. Williams, atwilliams@dailypress.com | 247-4535

ISLE OF WIGHT – The exodus of International Paper Corp. employees ends today, when the final wave of 100 workers leaves the shuttered paper mill for the last time.

“It will be pretty quiet there after today,” said company spokeswoman Donna Wadsworth. A skeleton crew of 30 will stay on indefinitely to handle facility upkeep and records management, she said.

Approximately 1,100 workers have lost their jobs since the first round of layoffs began Dec. 31, weeks after the company’s November announcement that it would close its southern Isle of Wight facility.

> Read the entire article (opens in new window)

J. Kirk Ring, owner of RingO’s Donuts in Smithfield, was recently named 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year.  “I am honored and humbled that RingO’s Donuts has been selected to receive Isle of Wight County’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. The support that RingO’s Donuts has received during our first year has been tremendous, and we look forward to continuing to grow and build upon our relationship with the community in the years to come,” said Ring.

RingO’s opened in March of 2009 at 1200 S. Church Street. Ring, a former banker, is now a baker rising at 3 a.m. to make the donuts.  Just two months after opening, RingO’s was selling more donuts per day than projected and running out.  Ring keeps it simple by focusing on making and selling fresh, handmade yeast and cake doughnuts and offering Daily Donut Specials, yummy honey buns and cinnamon twists. Ring has added a few tables and chairs at the request of customers and a large picture window so that children can see how the donuts are made.

This award is given by the County’s Economic Development Department in conjunction with the state’s annual Business Appreciation Week celebration. For more information about RingO’s Donuts visit www.ringosdonuts.com or find them on Facebook.

By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News

Published Friday, May 28, 2010

COURTLAND—Another option for high-speed Internet access will be coming to Southampton and Isle of Wight counties and the City of Franklin within the next year-and-a-half, thanks to funding through two grants.

“We look forward to providing this service and to being the premiere provider of broadband and voice communication in Southampton County,” Mickey Sims, general manager for the Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative, said to the Southampton County Board of Supervisors on Monday.

In April, BIT, which is based in Bracey, Va., was awarded two grants for expanding and improving existing broadband and voice communications networks.

> Read the entire article (opens in new window)

Tidewater News – Published Wednesday, May 26, 2010

We were cheered by last week’s news that 25 percent of the workers displaced by the closure of International Paper Co.’s Franklin mill already have landed on their feet — even before the final wave of workers leaves the IP campus on June 30.

Randy Betz, vice president of workforce development for Paul D. Camp Community College, has been tracking the employment of mill workers since IP’s announcement last fall that the mill would close this spring. As of Friday, 275 mill employees had either started other jobs or accepted job offers.

Sadly, a portion of those 275 will be working far away — at other IP facilities, in many cases — and must leave the area. Western Tidewater will miss those families and what they have contributed to our communities, our schools, churches and civic organizations, and our economy.

On a brighter note, better than half of those who have secured new jobs are working locally or within commuting distance — many of them at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Newport News. That is exciting news — both for the families involved and for Western Tidewater.

Other IP workers were eligible for full retirement benefits and will leave the workforce. We hope they too will continue to call Western Tidewater home.

Much work remains in helping the remaining mill employees have smooth career transitions. The PDCCC Workforce Development Center, under Betz’s leadership and with assistance from partners like Opportunity Inc. and the Virginia Employment Commission, has done tremendous work in reaching out to displaced workers with transition services.

We encourage unemployed workers to take advantage of these services, which range from job-search and resume-writing assistance to skills assessments.