Officials Speak At Chamber Event
Local government leaders delivered generally positive reports at the chamber of commerce’s state of the community breakfast held last Tuesday, March 24, at the Virginia Horse Center.
Del. Ellen McLaughlin said she’d adapted well to being a member of the “super minority” party in the House of Delegates after Republicans endured heavy losses in last November’s elections. McLaughlin said this newfound status for her and her GOP colleagues was made easier for her by the fact that she’d done “something pretty smart in my first three years [in the General Assembly] – I developed a lot of good working relationships on both sides of the aisle.”
Mayors Jesse Lineberry of Buena Vista and Frank Friedman of Lexington, along with Buffalo District member Leslie Ayers of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors highlighted upbeat economic development news in the remarks they made to the annual gathering of community leaders.
McLaughlin, newly married whose former name was Campbell, characterized the 2026 session as a “pretty good year,” having seen four of the pieces of legislation she was chief patron of “passed unanimously.” She’s hopeful that a number of budget amendments she introduced will meet with similar success, though the process is still playing out because a budget has not yet been adopted.
She said she reached across the aisle to work with Democrats on prescription drug affordability legislation that she believes will benefit her constituents in the 36th District, which includes northern Rockbridge County. Passage of this legislation, she said, was “a proud moment for me.” There were “some disappointments” during the session, she said. Paid family leave and minimum wage bills that passed, she said, “sound good” but, she said, are likely to hurt small businesses.
She said she opposes a state constitutional amendment that was passed by the Democratic majority legislature and is being put before the voters in a referendum that, if it passes and survives legal challenges, will temporarily redraw Virginia’s congressional districts to favor Democrats. She recalled that Virginians overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment in 2020 that set up a bipartisan commission to draw new legislative districts every 10 years. “You know what?” she asked. “It’s worked pretty [well]. We have six Democrats and five Republicans in Congress. And, if you look at the election results, you’ll see that the representation is pretty darn fair.”
Lineberry, addressing the annual gathering for the first time, having taken office in January, reported that 67 new business licenses have been issued in Buena Vista this past year to “11 new brick and mortar businesses and 16 new businesses at Junction 245” of the Virginia Innovation Accelerator in the former Mundet-Hermetite factory building.
“We’ve made real progress on long-term redevelopment,” he said, “including the Bontex site reuse study and securing additional funding to move the project forward. Our façade improvement program helped improve 11 properties and leveraged over $247,000 in private investment into our community.”
He pointed to Modine Manufacturing, where he works, as having recently announced the investment of $19.6 million in an expansion that is creating 57 new jobs.
“We’re really proud that Tractor Supply will be coming into the former Fox Trot building,” he said.
The recently opened Wilson Workforce Training Center in the former Courtesy Ford dealership building “is creating new opportunities for education and workforce training.”
A $2.3 million federal grant was recently awarded to “address critical needs” at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
A plan has been “unanimously agreed” upon by City Council and the School Board, he said, to move sixth- and seventh-graders from Parry McCluer Middle School to Parry McCluer High School. “I promise you, that’s an important investment in the future of our community,” he declared.
He acknowledged that the city is heading into budget planning for the upcoming fiscal year “with a $1.9 million gap.” Buena Vista, he said, “doesn’t back down from a challenge. We come together and meet them. … I’m excited about where we’re heading as a city.”
Friedman noted that a lot of construction work is ongoing in Lexington, with improvements to facilities and infrastructure well underway. Road improvements to North Main Street were completed this past year, which led to the creation of new bike lanes and removal of onstreet parking along this major corridor. New headquarters for the Rockbridge Regional Department of Social Services, of which Lexington is the “lead partner,” is taking shape in Buena Vista. “We’re grateful for the federal funds supported by Sen.(s) Kaine and Warner” that will make the local debt for this project substantially less, he said.
Much progress has been made on the Courthouse Square project in downtown Lexington, he said. Other downtown improvements are being made, including to the Grand’s and Rockbridge buildings.
Bank of the James, he said, is the first participant in a sprinkler program that is to safeguard downtown buildings from fire that was initiated by the city and supported by the city’s Economic Development Authority. “This will ensure the integrity of our downtown.”
He pointed to a homeowner helper program that the city has started to assist in making necessary improvements to the city’s housing stock.
Major capital improvement projects will soon be underway at both colleges – Washington and Lee University’s Founders Hall and Virginia Military Institute’s new Moody Hall complex. Columbia Gas is upgrading its transmission lines. Friedman said he continues to be “an advocate for a renaissance of South Main Street.” He pointed out that city-owned properties on Spotswood Drive and Waddell Street “are still available for development.”
Ayers, who chaired the Board of Supervisors until January, said the county has fiscal challenges ahead such as having to pay for a 23 percent increase in health care costs. “Our goal is to not have a tax increase this year but we have not quite closed a budget gap of approximately $1 million at this time.”
As for recent accomplishments, she said the newly opened school innovation center “is yielding strong outcomes.” She noted that 17 students have completed emergency medical responder courses.
She praised the efforts of Sheriff Tony McFaddin and other local law enforcement agencies for coordinating a regional approach that “focuses on drug traffickers.” Rockbridge Recovery and the recently established Maury River drug court are examples of initiatives to help those who are suffering from the scourges of drug addiction, she said.
Economic development projects, under the guidance of economic development director Brandy Flint, are making a big impact on the local economy. Ayers pointed to Modine Manufacturing’s Va. 251 expansion, steam engine train excursions in Goshen and the awarding of a $1 million economic development grant that is to transform the former Stillwater Mills building in Goshen into a museum for the Virginia Mechanical Preservation Society. Also, she alluded to a forthcoming announcement that might be made by a “wellknown national retailer.”
The county’s department of community development, under the direction of Chris Slaydon, has worked on 18 special exception applications, she said.
“Two years of hard work” by a citizens committee, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors led to the recent approval of an ordinance with regulations that are to guide the approval process for utilityscale solar power facilities. The county building department, she said, has issued 613 permits this past year with a total value of more than $51 million. Rockbridge Regional Tourism, under the direction of Cheryl Wagner, said Ayers, is continuing to “advance initiatives that have generated meaningful economic impacts.”
One such initiative local government officials are leading is an upcoming celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Eric Wilson, executive director of the Rockbridge Historical Society, led off last week’s remarks by encouraging everyone to get involved in the upcoming celebrations that are to encompass anniversaries of the founding of Rockbridge County and Lexington.
