Aila Boyd
Luca Forte (left), the chief operations officer for ELDOR, was given a tour of the STEM Lab at Virginia Western Community College in February of this year by the lab manager.
Pro-business attitude leads to manufacturing growth in Botetourt By Aila Boyd Botetourt County is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. It’s also celebrating a string of major manufacturing announcements that came over the course of the past five years. “The board has set a powerful vision for our future, and we want our economy to be a regional force bringing in people from around the world to help our community thrive,” says Billy Martin, chairman of the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors. “The past five years have seen great successes. Our goals are closer in sight than they have been ever before, and the stage is set for a very bright future in Botetourt.”
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Since 2016, almost 900 manufacturing jobs have been added in the county. Including new companies that have decided to locate there and expansions, $201,044,450 in capital investments have been announced since 2016 (as of early July). The upward trend in manufacturing started around the same time that both Gary Larrowe, the county administrator,
