*This report was replaced in its entirety by the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board on January 17, 2019.

Chapters 778 and 779 of the 2016 Virginia Acts of Assembly amended Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia by adding Chapter 24 to create the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board and the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund (VGOF) within the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Act. Subsection 11 of § 2.2-2486 of the code requires the board to submit an annual executive summary of the interim activity of the board by December 1 of each year. The information provided here summarizes the activities of the board from December 1, 2017 – November 30, 2018.

Complementing the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Act are the Collaborative Economic Development Act (CEDA) and the Virginia Research Investment Committee (VRIC). As enacted per §2.2-5105 of the code, the Collaborative Economic Development Act, administered by the GO Virginia Board, provides the opportunity for localities to pursue sharing of state income tax revenue resulting from participating in collaborative economic development projects which meet certain job creation and capital investment benchmarks. Guidelines for this program were approved by the board in October. VRIC’s complementary fund, the Virginia Research Investment Fund (VRIF), is designed to leverage state resources to encourage collaboration in research that can be commercialized and used as a driver for economic development. VRIC is closely tied to the GO Virginia Board, as four non-legislative citizen members of the GO Virginia Board also sit on the VRIC. All of these programs aim to foster collaboration and innovation in Virginia’s regions.

A copy of the VRIC Annual Report can be found at https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2018/RD406.