
4 minute read
2022 Highlights
from 2022 Annual Report
by carpenterpa
ISS Participates in Economic Gardening Program
Throughout the latter part of 2022, local software company Innovative Software Solutions (ISS) participated in the Economic Gardening Program in collaboration with the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG) and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). The term Economic Gardening was coined by Phil Burgess of the Center for the New West who observed that communities should do less economic hunting (recruiting companies from other towns) and stay home and focus on growing local companies.
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This program provides qualifying secondstage companies with access to custom resources, data analysts, and tools to identify and resolve distinct growth challenges that traditional business assistance and incentives do not address.

Prior to acceptance into the program, companies must meet several key criteria. These include generating annual revenue between $500,000 and $5 million, employing 5-100 employees, and demonstrating potential revenue growth over the next three years. During a business visitation, the Office of Economic Development identified ISS as a strong candidate for the program and connected the leadership team to staff at VEDP. Following the completion of the eight-week program, ISS is better prepared to continue its growth in the software market. “The Economic Gardening Program helped us set a foundation for further growth. They provided us with in-depth answers to our major business questions. The research and data provided will allow us to develop a solid plan of action as to where we should invest our resources to sustain and grow our company,” said ISS Director of Growth, Branford Rogers.
Founded in 2006, ISS is a software development firm that provides affordable software services making it easier for entrepreneurs to transform ideas into tech companies, and for tech companies to focus on core competencies by alleviating software frustrations. Led by its CEO Charlie Rogers, the company is headquartered in McIntire Plaza.
Business Visitation Program Offers Great Connections to City Businesses
OED’s staff continued to promote the Business Visitation Program, which is designed to provide businesses with a single point of contact to help them find solutions for today’s business issues. This program allows business owners to share their story with an OED staff member, connect with business assistance resources, and provide feedback to help make Charlottesville a great place to do business.
The Business Visitation Program enables OED to cultivate and foster better relationships within the business community.
We love to hear and learn from our businesses. What’s their unique story? Why did they locate to Charlottesville? What makes them stay? How can we help them grow? We are proud to attract best in class manufacturing, medical, and financial service providers, as well as the diverse community of small businesses who call our City home. During 2022, 150 business visits were conducted to over 75 businesses in the City!

Bread & Roses Ribbon Cutting

In June, the Office of Economic Development joined Bread & Roses for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the addition of a new walk in cooler. Bread & Roses is an outreach ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church that provides access to a commercial commissary kitchen for early stage food and beverage start-ups. OED’s Building Resilience Among Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (BRACE) grant provided funding support for the addition of the cooler. Since its inception in 2015, Bread & Roses has assisted 20 start-ups with access to a certified commercial kitchen with many of those same start-ups also receiving support from OED. The new cooler will enhance efficiency, add capacity to the facility, and increase access for aspiring culinary entrepreneurs.
OED Offers BRACE Grants to City Businesses
As part of the city’s adopted Recovery Roadmap plan, the Charlottesville Office of Economic Development (OED) issued two rounds of funding to businesses in 2022 through the Building Resiliency Among Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (BRACE) grant program. Funds to support the BRACE grants came in part from the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority and from the City’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocation. The grant funds are intended to help small businesses that have adapted their business operations to offset the difficulties incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the two grant rounds, the program received 146 applications totaling approximately $800,000 in business expenses. After a thorough review, OED awarded 131 grants to small businesses and organizations. These grants ranged from $200 to the full $2,500, ultimately resulting in approximately $170,000 in grant funds being dispersed.

City and County Continue Partnership with Buy Local Program

OED continued its partnership with Albemarle County’s Office of Economic Development on the regional Buy Local campaign. The effort seeks to educate the public on the many benefits of supporting locally owned and operated businesses which include keeping more money circulating in our local economy, job opportunities for residents and enhanced civic pride. The campaign includes postings on social media for both City and County businesses, along with ongoing radio ads. A new website was developed, and the Buy Local logo began popping up in numerous businesses across the area. There are so many great locally owned businesses and we are proud to celebrate them all!

Cville Match
The Cville Match program seeks to advance commercialization efforts of local companies by providing matching funds to recipients of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) and the Commonwealth Research and Commercialization Fund (CRCF) grants. It also provides matching funds to City based recipients of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) which is administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and is designed to help traded-sector companies create new jobs.
Cville Match began in 2019 and has had 11 participating companies since inception.
Of those, six have completed the program during which time they collectively added 38 new jobs, increased employee wages by an average of $8 per hour, raised over $8 million in additional capital and more than doubled the size of their City based facilities.