“GO Virginia Region 3 and IALR are well poised to be the leader in the Commonwealth for Controlled Environment Agriculture.” — Elli Travis, Senior Economic Development Specialist, Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement
This episode of “Inside IALR” features a roundtable conversation with several leaders involved in the recent creation of a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) Roadmap Strategy for GO Virginia Region 3:
- Dr. Scott Lowman, Vice President of Applied Research at IALR
- Bryan David, GO Virginia Region 3 Program Manager
- Ellie Travis, Senior Economic Development Specialist, Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement
They discuss the current state of the CEA industry as a whole, but specifically in GO Virginia Region 3. While discussing the roadmap, they explain how CEA represents tremendous economic opportunity and growth potential for Virginia.
Some of the directives outlined in the CEA roadmap include establishing a CEA hub that will focus on awareness and informational campaigns, new venture and new enterprise development assistance, expanding CEA technical assistance, accelerating Region 3 site development and continuing and enhancing CEA-relevant workforce development and talent.
