Local Incentives


Opportunity Zone – 

Be sure to check out the recently published Investment Opportunities in Buena Vista, Virginia. In it you will find plenty of reasons to consider Buena Vista for your next project – including the fact that the entire city is an Opportunity Zone and has all the educational, workforce, property, and quality of life essentials needed for great site selection.

For more information on Opportunity Zones, see https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/opportunity-zones-oz

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Façade Improvement Grant ProgramNot currently accepting applications

The City of Buena Vista offers a façade improvement grant program for exterior renovations to commercial properties in the mixed-use zoning district downtown. Grants are reviewed and administered by the Economic Development Authority of the City of Buena Vista. For more information click here.

Stay tuned in the "City News" tab for a notification of the program opening for new applications!

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Revolving Loan Fund

The City of Buena Vista manages a revolving loan program for small businesses to provide needed capital for business start-up and improvements. Loans are provided with funding received through USDA Rural Development. Applications are reviewed by committee. Maximum loan award is $15,000 at 3% interest over three years. For more information click here..

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Tourism Zone – 

Buena Vista’s downtown is designated as a Tourism Zone, which provides local business license and real estate tax incentives as well as qualifying projects for the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Tourism Development Financing program. See https://www.vatc.org/tourismzones/ and https://www.vatc.org/tdfp/.

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Technology Zone – 

Buena Vista’s downtown and manufacturing districts are designated as Technology Zones, which provide business with business licence, real estate, and machinery & tools tax incentives. For more information, click here.

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Business Planning

The City of Buena Vista partners with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to offer a range of business strategy and startup assistance. The SBDC offers classes locally and regionally, as well as one-on-one meetings in Buena Vista. Check out their website: https://www.valleysbdc.org/


For more information on each of these, contact Kristina Ramsey, Director of Economic Development, at kristina.ramsey@bvcity.org.


State Programs

The Commonwealth of Virginia continues its trend as one of the best states for business and offers the following incentives to businesses looking at conducting business in the state.

Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund is a discretionary incentive available to the Governor to secure a business location or expansion project in Virginia. Grants are awarded to localities on a local matching basis with the expectation that the grant will result in a favorable location decision for the Commonwealth.

Virginia Investment Partnership Grant is a discretionary performance incentive designed to encourage continued capital investment by Virginia companies, which result in added capacity, modernization, increased productivity, or the creation, development, and utilization of advanced technology. Virginia values its existing businesses and enacts grants to support their success.

Virginia Jobs Investment Program is an incentive program offering customized recruiting and training assistance to companies that create new jobs or experience technological change. The program is designed to reduce human resource development cost by providing direct funding to new and expanding companies that meet program qualifications.

Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund invests in agricultural industries through strategic grants made to businesses that add value to Virginia-grown agricultural and forestal products.