U. S. Senator Mark Warner comes to region to celebrate The Launch Place’s expansion of services

“This region doesn’t know the meaning of giving up. Southside once again will be an economic engine” for the Commonwealth, said Senator Mark Warner.

DANVILLE, Va. (Saturday, June 22, 2013) – U. S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., came to Southern Virginia on Friday to participate in the celebration of The Launch Place’s new seed fund division and expanded business consulting services.

Introduced by the president of Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce as “a friend to Southern Virginia,” Senator Warner spoke to nearly 150 people from across the region, several of which were state and local elected and appointed officials, including the mayors of South Boston, Danville and Martinsville.

“I do appreciate the regional dimensions of this. In my mind, anytime we have the mayors of South Boston, Danville and Martinsville all working together, one more time, that is good news for Southside Virginia,” said Warner.

Formerly the Southside Business Technology Center, The Launch Place assists with startups, job creation and retention region-wide, while having a dual responsibility to recruit and retain entrepreneurs to the River District of Danville due to a $10 million grant award over five years by the Danville Region Foundation.

“Established in the 2004 by a group of concerned business leaders primarily from Martinsville, The Launch Place led the way to create a unique capacity for entrepreneurs to be successful in the region. Our capacity has now been enhanced and we are confident results will soon follow,” said Moran, who is The Launch Place’s board of directors’ chair.

Warner said The Launch Place’s story is inspiring and another example of how the region continues to reinvent itself by creating infrastructures that lead to 21st century jobs, such as regional broadband access, New College Institute in Martinsville, Institute for Advanced Learning & Research in Danville and the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in South Boston.

“This region doesn’t know the meaning of giving up. Southside once again will be an economic engine” for the Commonwealth, he said.

As an 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization, The Launch Place strives to energize and diversify Southern Virginia’s regional economy through entrepreneurship development and business consulting services.