Tazewell County, VA is a mountainous region of the state with a population that can trace its history back to the coal mining era. Newer businesses have sprung up in more recent years, and business owners are lauding the arrival of six new cell towers that will bring the digital connectivity needed to help them thrive. As Virginia Business reports, the new cell towers will follow along a 20-mile section of U.S. 460 from Red Ash to Vansant in neighboring Buchanan County.
“We really, really need the help here in Southwest Virginia; not having cell coverage really affects our productivity,” says Todd Elswick, president of Paul’s Fan Company, headquartered in Grundy, VA. “We have trucks coming in and out; these drivers cannot find us because of the lack of good GPS, and then they have no way to communicate with us when they’re here because of the lack of cell coverage.”
The Virginia Coalfield Coalition (VCC) spearheaded this latest project and continues to add more cell towers to a growing network. The U.S. 460 towers should be operational by autumn 2025, noted co-executive director of the VCC, Scotty Wampler. The VCC, Appalachian Regional Commission, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, The Thompson Charitable Foundation and the Virginia Department of Energy’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program all helped fund the $3.6 million wireless initiative.
“This four-lane highway provides access to two of our major industrial parks, as well as multiple town centers,” Wampler told Virginia Business. “When this new infrastructure is in place, these sites will become more marketable and the region [will be] more attractive to new business and industry.”
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