Year in Review: 2025
Franklin Southampton Economic Development, Inc. celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025. FSEDI took a number of actions to support economic development not only in the present, but for the future of our communities as well.
We hosted a groundbreaking for Standard Food and Beverage in the Southampton Business Park. This new company, which will be bringing pure Southampton County water to markets throughout Virginia and the country, is currently finishing construction and should be producing in the spring.
The Franklin Business Center (FBC) operated in a capacity range between 74% and 78% during 2025. The year ended with LyonKng Private Security graduating to a new storefront building in Courtland. Other graduates during the year included Ignite Best Practices. Chuck Bradshaw, our long-time business mentor, left the Franklin Business Center on the last day of the year. We greatly appreciate his support of our Franklin Business Center businesses during his long tenure with us. The FBC added FieldPrint fingerprinting services in June, serving almost 350 customers in seven months, conducted two Lunch and Learn seminars as well as our annual Professional Headshot Days in September, hosted a holiday social & luncheon, and generated 120 lbs of food donations for the Food Bank. The FBC also hosted countless one-on-one meetings with the Small Business Development Center to support local businesses.
Site development played an increasing role in FSEDI operations during 2025. Our Virginia Business Ready Sites Program (VBRSP) grant for the Beale Farm property largely concluded during 2025, while we began similar work at the Southampton Commerce and Logistics Center through the use of GO Virginia funds. Southampton County has begun an economic development site study in cooperation with FSEDI to prioritize future development sites and priorities. All of this site’s work should help our future economic development efforts. There are relatively few ready-to-go economic development sites in Virginia. Having sites that are ready-to-go in a good location is critical to attracting new, high-paying businesses.
STARTUP 2025 awarded prizes to three new businesses: Royale Sambal, The Honeycomb, and The Lighthouse Project. The Lighthouse Project opened in 2025 on Armory Drive. The Honeycomb will be opening early in 2026 at the Foodbank building on South Street with its incubator kitchen for specialty food manufacturing businesses. Royale Sambal is continuing to develop its food product for a 2026 launch. STARTUP is currently being optimized and will return shortly to graduate its next group of entrepreneurs to add to our growing business community.
We also continued our ongoing Business Retention and Expansion program in 2025, meeting with several local companies, large and small, to get on-the-ground intelligence on business conditions and growth in Franklin Southampton. These meetings also help us work with regional and state organizations to obtain assistance to help our firms maintain and expand growth here in our communities. In addition, FSEDI staff completed three major trips to solicit businesses to come to our area, taking advantage of our regional connections with the Hampton Roads Alliance and Virginia Economic Development Partnership to expand our reach and have the opportunity to pitch businesses far and wide on opportunities in Franklin Southampton.
FSEDI continued its Community Visioning process in 2025, hosting a well-attended community meeting in February that brought over 100 community decision-makers to Camp Community College’s Workforce Development Center, and has been developing new branding and communication tools in recent months to more effectively bring our message and assets to the world. Look for more developments in this area in early 2026 as our area continues to move forward.
FSEDI continued to expand its reach in tourism, becoming more active in regional and state tourism organizations as well as working on potential new lodging options. The groundbreaking at the new Southampton History Museum will provide a new option to entertain and educate tourists in 2026. Our office received a Drive+ tourism grant and hosted the Virginia Tourism Corporation on two occasions. We also began the VA250 committee for Franklin Southampton and secured funding for digital advertising through the Vacation Starts with VA program.
New housing developments, especially The Summit and Riverview in Franklin, both sold out ahead of schedule. The first new housing development in 16 years, Caitta Estates, was approved in Southampton County in 2025. Along with smaller, in-fill development and other new housing growth, middle and upper-income families are moving to Franklin Southampton, increasing our area’s skills base and purchasing power, which will make it easier for us to attract new retail and entertainment opportunities. While many housing markets around the country are stagnant or shrinking, Franklin Southampton has experienced growth that will continue into the foreseeable future.
Other expansions in our communities during 2025 include the development of an expanded warehouse at Hampton Farms outside Franklin, the re-opening of the Southampton Motorplex in Capron, and the planned utilization of additional space for manufacturing at G-Max in Franklin. Camp Community College’s new Nursing and Allied Health building in the former Tidewater News building is creating the 21st-century workforce we need to support an aging and growing population. The Southampton Regional Broadband project neared completion in 2025. This expansion has resulted in almost 5,000 new passings receiving access to broadband service through reliable underground lines, which have helped our businesses, residents, and students have access to modern Internet service.
Expansions in our Enterprise Zones included the new Southampton Veterinary Clinic building, the purchase of the former Narricot building in Boykins that is being refurbished for utilization by businesses as well as the Hampton Farms and G-Max expansions. It appears that new retail and commercial activities will be introduced in the Enterprise Zone areas in 2026. FSEDI is the administrator for the City and County Enterprise Zone program. Please get in touch with our office should you be considered a new business investment in those areas.
The future in Franklin Southampton is bright. 2025 was a good year, but we look forward to an even better one in 2026!