Regional Agritourism and Agribusiness Development Program
The West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC) has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (TRRC) to launch a Regional Agritourism and Agribusiness Development Program that will collectively market and brand the region’s agritourism and agribusiness sites and activities. The program will identify agricultural businesses and create a regional inventory, which will include location(s), products and services offered. The inventory will be used to create a regional interactive agribusiness website, which will allow users to search specific products, services, and activities. A group of agritourism and agribusiness owners and agriculture stakeholders will be formed to guide program development and sustainability.
As a part of the program the WPPDC will also conduct an Economic Impact Study to determine the impact of agriculture and agritourism on the region’s economy. While the primary purpose of the study will be to determine the value of agricultural products and agritourism it will also include the number of jobs supported by the agriculture sector and an assessment of future market growth potential.
SOVA Grown: Agritourism & Agribusiness Regional Economic Impact Study and Marketing Strategy