Ground broken at CCBC

A long-awaited groundbreaking for Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre on Thursday was the result of cooperation and collaboration, according to state political leaders who spoke at the event.

Speakers included Sen. Tim Kaine, Del. Danny Marshall and U.S. Reps. Robert Hurt (5th District) and Morgan Griffith (9th District).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a long-sought grading permit for the business center on April 4.

Previously, the corps had been reluctant to issue the permit due to the lack of a company publicly committed to the site and prepared detailed blueprints. However, a company would not relocate to the site without the approved permit, creating a stalemate.

“To Henry and Martinsville, this worked because you did it together,” Kaine said. “You can’t take that for granted. ... The cooperation between a city and adjoining county is not something you take for granted anywhere in Virginia. I applaud everybody for keeping that vision alive and then communicating effectively to us at the federal level what we should do.”

Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner, both Democrats, and Hurt and Griffith, both Republicans, worked together for nearly two years to help push the project into development. The four also introduced the Commonsense Permitting for Job Creation Act in both Houses of Congress to remove regulatory roadblocks to development.

While there is a perception — often accurate — that members of Congress do not work together, Kaine said, the Virginia delegation has a monthly lunch to socialize and discuss projects such as Commonwealth Crossing.

“This Commonwealth Crossing project has been a steady feature of our lunches virtually every time that we’ve met,” Kaine said. “We’ll get updated on the progress, and then we’ll decide ... what can we do to move it forward. ... We’ve introduced stand-alone legislation, we’ve had meetings with Army Corps officials; we wanted to make sure that we were really paying attention on this. The more we pay attention, the more the corps then goes back and sits down and talks in a meaningful way with Martinsville and Henry.”

Added Kaine, “Just as Henry and Martinsville had to work together to make this happen, those of us in Congress had to work together to make sure the corps did the right thing. I thank the corps for doing the right thing, but I also thank my colleagues for helping make sure that this got reviewed on the merits it deserved.”…

Griffith echoed Kaine in stressing the importance of the collaboration on the local level that made Commonwealth Crossing a reality.

“There’s not a thing we could have done in Washington if the folks in this area hadn’t first put the project together and done all that hard labor,” he said…

Warner was not able to attend the groundbreaking due to a scheduling conflict. Sam Louis Taylor, who is with Warner’s office, read a letter the senator sent expressing his best wishes for the event and the future of Commonwealth Crossing.

In his opening remarks before introducing Kaine, Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman H.G. Vaughn neatly summarized the long path that led to the groundbreaking ceremony.

“The Henry County Administration Building is at the approximate center of Henry County,” Vaughn said. “We are standing at the southernmost boundary of Henry County. So how long does it take to get from the Henry County Administration Building to this point? Well, I’m going to tell you. It takes two years, hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars and a lot of heart and soul.”

“Today,” Vaughn said to applause, “we can officially say that Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre is under development.”

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