VCC Summer-Fall 2021

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S ummer /F all 2021 15 Testimony on Coalfield Development By RONNIE HYLTON Hello everyone, I am Ronnie Hylton, Chief Ranger for Breaks Interstate Park. I am here this evening on behalf of the Breaks Interstate Park Commission to read a statement from Park Superintendent, Austin Bradley, who couldn't be in attendance due to a previously scheduled engagement. However, when we learned that this session has implications for the future of the VA Coalfield Economic Development Authority, we thought it was important to have personal representation. The park's relationship with VCEDA spans decades and has produced some of the most significant infrastructure and programming developments which have occurred in its 67-year history. VCEDA-issued funds have helped immensely with the development of outdoor adventure activities, including rock climbing, elk viewing tours, connectivity to ATV trails, completion of the park's zipline, and construction of the waterpark. In addition, the funds have been used to improve, renovate, and construct a number of support facilities, including a renovation/roofing project of the Rhododendron Restaurant, construction of some of the nicest lakefront log cabins that can be found anywhere in the region, new roofs on picnic shelters, new HVAC units for various facilities, and the list goes on…. Anything that negatively impacts VCEDA is very concerning to our staff and Commission Members, as we rely heavily on the organization to help make the interstate park model work. We are funded at only one-third the level of a typical state park in KY and VA, and the funds which have flowed to the park through VCEDA have been critical in helping us ensure that guests to our park have an experience that reflects positively on our entire region. Southwest Virginia is the area where many of us in attendance tonight choose to call home, raise our families, and make our livelihoods. It is not always easy to do here, as the area experiences many economic challenges, of which we are all keenly aware, but those of us who remain feel the positives outweigh the negatives. We are aware of the JLARC report that some have tried to weaponize against VCEDA, but those of us who live and work in Southwest Virginia realize that in this area, you often "swing for the fences" only to achieve a base hit. That is the nature of working in an economically challenged area…if progress came easy, there would be no need for entities like VCEDA to begin with. However one chooses to frame success, we are beginning to see progress in our little corner of the region. In 2018 we set a record for the most overnight lodging in the park's history. We are running around 20% ahead of those numbers thus far in 2021, making it likely we will set another record just three years later. Our neighbors at Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures are reporting that they will set an all-time record for overnight lodging this year as well, doubling the numbers from their previous best year. VCEDA, the Breaks, Southern Gap, Spearhead Trails and many other entities and individuals have been sowing into the tourism economy for years and are just now beginning to see a return on the significant investment which has been made. We humbly submit that an economy is not rebuilt overnight and now is not the time to impair or hinder the very entities which are making the transition possible. Ronnie Hylton is Chief Ranger for Breaks Interstate Park. A ceremonial check representing a $100,000 grant from VCEDA to SWCC for emerging workforce training and development was presented in May at SWCC. On hand for the presentation, from left, were Randall Rose, SWCC dean of workforce and continuing education; Susan Lowe, SWCC vice president of institutional advancement; and Jonathan Belcher VCEDA executive director/general counsel. V