At least $25 million in proposed state budget allocations would drive science, medical and economic development in Southwest Virginia.
The earmarks include $15 million from the commonwealth’s general fund to Pulaski County, for upgrades to a site that “may include” a data center. Another $6.5 million would go toward expanding the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Roanoke would receive $4 million to add clean room spaces to its incubator lab project.
The Virginia General Assembly on Thursday released the budget conference report, the result of negotiations among 11 House of Delegates and Senate members over differences in the two bodies’ versions of proposed spending.
According to the budget document, the $15 million allocation for Pulaski County is for “site readiness improvements” that would include a road extension, grading and a natural gas pipeline extension.
Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet declined to comment on the location, but much of the county’s economic development centers on New River Valley Commerce Park. The 1,000-acre industrial zone, a couple of miles north of the town of Dublin, has several hundred acres available.
While the county is operating under confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, the money “would potentially be part and parcel of a data center project and related infrastructure and/or ancillary assets,” Sweet said in a message exchange.
The money, allocated from the Department of Housing and Community Development, requires a dollar-for-dollar match of “non-state funds” and a company’s commitment to the site.
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine revealed plans in August for a new building, walking distance from its Riverside Center campus off South Jefferson Street in Roanoke. The school, one of the nation’s smallest, will construct a 100,000-square-foot building so it can double its enrollment to about 400. The opening is tentatively set for July 2028.
[Disclosure: Carilion Clinic is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
A cost estimate from last year put the project at $183.7 million. The $6.5 million budget amendment would fund items including “enrollment growth,” additional faculty and staff, and lower tuition for in-state students.
Just north of Riverside Center over the Jefferson Street bridge, workers are renovating a former Carilion Clinic building for incubator lab purposes. The General Assembly in 2022 approved $16 million for the project, which will feature about 30,000 square feet of shared lab space when it opens late this year. This year, the city, which is overseeing the renovations, lobbied for an additional $5 million to add clean room spaces.
Such rooms provide contamination-free environments for electronic equipment and, more germane to Roanoke’s growing biotechnology sector, cell and gene therapy development. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget, as well as the House of Delegates budget, each provided $5 million through the Office of Commerce and Trade, but the Senate’s budget did not include anything for the project.
The budget conferees landed on $4 million for retrofitting that will allow for the construction of clean rooms in the lab building.
Once the House and Senate debate and take action, the budget bill would go to Youngkin’s desk. He has until March 24 to act on any legislation.
Other local funding in the proposed budget
Here are some other spending projects included in the budget that now goes before the General Assembly:
Economic development:
Blue Highway Festival in Wise County: $50,000.
Medical glove factory in Wythe County: The budget redirects almost $2 million previously earmarked for training for the proposed Blue Star medical glove factory in Wythe County. That project, announced in 2021, is now stalled for lack of federal funding the company was counting on.
Education:
Danville Community College: $2.5 million for an aviation maintenance facility.
Danville Community College and Blue Ridge Community College: $1.6 million to expand the Aviation Maintenance Technician program at both schools.
Blue Ridge PBS in Roanoke: $750,000.
PBS Appalachia in Bristol: $750,000.
New College Institute in Martinsville: New College Institute in Martinsville: Gov. Glenn Youngkin had proposed no money for NCI as of July 1, 2026, and required the state-run higher education center to develop a sustainability plan that outlines options for continuing operations, merging with another public entity or closing the higher education center altogether. The legislative proposal removes the language and adds an additional $500,000 for the first year of the budget but adds no additional funding for the second year outside of the General Fund appropriation of $3.1 million
Excel Center, the adult high school in Roanoke operated by Goodwill Industries: $500,000.
Large-animal veterinarians: Both chambers endorsed plans to create an incentive program for more large-animal vets, with $450,000 proposed in both budgets.
Public safety:
Public safety radio systems in Bath, Craig and Highland counties: $1.9 million for Craig County, and $396,000 each for Bath and Highland counties.
