HALIFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA - A grand opening ceremony for Riverstone Technology Park “Building One” was held in Halifax County, Virginia, on September 13, 2005 at 10:00 A.M. The Honorable Frank Ruff, a member of the Virginia Senate from the 15th District and the Honorable Clarke Hogan , a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 60th District, were on hand to help cut the ribbon for Building One. Senator Ruff and Delegate Hogan are also members of the Virginia Tobacco Commission.

The Honorable Douglas Bowman, a member of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors, stated that “This magnificent facility demonstrates that Halifax County is committed to economic development and to building a better quality of life for our citizens by attracting diversified technology companies to this area.

Larry McPeters, Chairman of the Industrial Development of Authority, told the assemblage that “Both Riverstone Technology Park and Building One are long-term investments in the community that will pay off in the form of a more diversified, knowledge-based economy.

The space in Building One will be marketed by the IDA to information technology, technical manufacturing, biomedical and other knowledge-based enterprises. Companies in these arenas will bring valuable resources to the region, including long-term tax revenue and high paying jobs. In return, they will be seeking a high quality of life, a well educated workforce, and convenient infrastructure for their employees as well as their suppliers.

“We are pleased to report that we have two enterprises that are going to locate in Building One in the immediate future,” stated Mike Eades, Executive Director, IDA of Halifax County. “ADESTA, LLC will establish a network operations and control center to monitor the operations of the regional broadband fiber network being installed by the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative. In addition, Virginia Tech will locate its regional outreach office in the building and will be developing a variety of programs and services in cooperation with NASA and other entities,” Eades explained.

Building One has a total Gross Measured Area of 66,859 square feet with 10,300 square feet of usable lab space, 21,700 square feet of usable office space, and 11,270 square feet of usable high-bay manufacturing/warehouse space. The facility features high quality common amenities for tenants of the building and for use by the other current and future occupants of Riverstone Technology Park. Included are an exercise facility, a corporate board room, three conference rooms and a catering kitchen. Building One will also have multiple broadband options and is a Wi-Fi environment.

Building One is the artistic creation of O’Brien Atkins Associates architectural firm out of Research Triangle Park, NC. The General Contractor is J.E. Burton Construction Company of South Boston, Virginia. The estimated construction cost is $10.6 million. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission committed $10 million in grants to the project to be paid over a nine year period.

Riverstone Technology Park is a 165 acre premier technology business park designed to attract technology based companies to complement the existing industrial base and develop higher education partnerships. Riverstone is located on US Highway 58, two miles from the intersection of US 58 and US 501. The park is located 60 miles from Research Triangle Park.

Riverstone Technology Park is designed for the needs of information technology, biomedical, nanotechnology, telecommunications and other technical enterprises for manufacturing, research & development and corporate office facilities. The first tenant in the park is the Virginia Employment Commission, which opened a 15,000 square feet customer contact center in early 2005.

Please contact the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County for questions or comments.