Virginia Beach to Represent the City’s Economic Development Interests in Barcelona, Spain at International Awards Event

At the invitation of Spanish-based PIMEC Organization, the City of Virginia Beach will be represented at the 35^th Annual PIMEC SME Awards ceremony on June 27, 2022, in Barcelona. The event, which will be attended by Spanish Prime Minister Mr. Pedro Sánchez, the mayor of Barcelona, and the president of Catalonia, will recognize the best business initiatives of 2021 developed by micro businesses, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the self-employed of Catalonia, an autonomous region located in northeastern Spain.

The June 28 Council Workshop will be cancelled as Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson, Council Member Aaron Rouse, City Manager Patrick Duhaney and Deputy City Manager/Director of Economic Development Taylor Adams will be in attendance for this international business event.

In lieu of the cancelled workshop, the City will host a community meeting from 2 - 4 p.m. in Building 19 to collect public comment on the proposed amendments to the City's noise ordinance. Council Members John Moss and Guy Tower will attend the meeting. For those unavailable to attend in-person, the City extended the deadline to July 7 for the noise ordinance feedback survey at www.speakupVB.com. Council deferred the vote on the amended changes to the July 12 Formal Session.

PIMEC is a member-based business organization that represents and advocates the interests and values of Catalonian micro businesses, SMEs and the self-employed. The Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development has been a member of PIMEC since 201*, using its ties with the organization to develop relationships with Catalonian businesses interested in entering or expanding their U.S. presence.

"For years now, our economic development team has been cultivating relationships in Catalonia and the broader Spanish business community, raising awareness about Virginia Beach and touting the merits of establishing a presence in our City," said Taylor Adams, deputy city manager and director of Economic Development for the City of Virginia Beach. "Our association with organizations such as PIMEC allows us to create meaningful connections and nurture long-lasting relationships that result in business recruitment, capital investment, and job creation for the City of Virginia Beach."

It is through ongoing business attraction efforts that the City of Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development has successfully recruited SANJO, a Barcelona-based SME and member of PIMEC, to establish its only U.S. facility in Virginia Beach in 2017. SANJO is a family-owned business with more than 50 years of experience in metal stamping. The company made an initial investment of $17.5 million in real estate and equipment in the City of Virginia Beach where it chose to locate its North American headquarters. Their facility is a 24,000-square-foot single-story building that serves both as a sales office and a production plant with warehousing space.

The mission of the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development is to attract and retain national and international businesses to stimulate capital investment and create jobs. For more information, visit www.yesvirginiabeach.com.

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