The Rail Industrial Access (RIA) program provides funds to construct railroad tracks for new or substantially expanded industrial and commercial projects having a positive impact on economic development in Virginia.

The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA) is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s business and economic development financing arm.

VSBFA provides businesses and localities with debt financing resources for economic development projects and other small business and entrepreneurial financing needs. VSBFA’s definition of “small business” is $10 million or less in annual revenues over each of the last three years, or a gross net worth less than $2 million; or 250 employees or fewer in Virginia; or qualification as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.

The Virginia Enterprise Zone (VEZ) program is a partnership between state and local government that encourages job creation and private investment. VEZ accomplishes this by designating Enterprise Zones throughout the state and providing two grant-based incentives, the Job Creation Grant (JCG) and the Real Property Investment Grant (RPIG), to qualified investors and job creators within those zones, while the local government provides local incentives.

Foreign trade zones allow businesses to defer paying U.S. Customs duties on imported goods held within the zones until the goods enter the United States for domestic consumption. No duties are paid if goods are re-exported. Companies also receive the benefit of not having to pay duties on broken or scrapped product. Businesses are allowed to store goods within FTZs for an unlimited period of time.

The Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund (TROF) provides performance-based monetary grants and loans to localities in Virginia’s tobacco-producing regions (34 counties and six cities in southern and southwestern Virginia as defined by the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission). These grants and loans assist in the creation of new jobs and investments, whether through new business attraction or existing business expansion and are awarded at the Commission’s discretion.