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BUENA VISTA, Va. (WDJ) – A ribbon cutting in Buena Vista was a milestone for a new business, and a preview of the attractions to come at the start of a business incubator.
Buena Vista’s Mundet-Hermetite factory printed paper products for the tobacco industry. It closed in 2015 after more than 50 years in business. The Advancement Foundation purchased the building in September and now has a new mission as the Virginia Innovation Collective.
It was only fitting that the first official ribbon cutting at the re-planned plant was for EarthMagic Recycling.
Kati Wirtanen found inspiration in a YouTube video that now turns glass bottles from trash into attractive sand.
“Glass recycling in the United States is 35% or less, and in Virginia it’s 15%,” Wirtan said in an interview. “So I really hope that this will be a stepping stone to help us raise the value of glass recycling.”
Natural Bridge State Park Manager Jim Jones is one of her first customers, who plans to use the product for a new disc golf course now under development.
“As a conservation agency, we want to be fair,” Jones told WDBJ7. “And to be able to keep this material, the sand, the glass, out of our landfills and use it on a disc golf course tape is going to be really special.
EarthMagic Recycling is just one of the tenants in the Virginia Innovation Collective, and more are on the way.
Planned renovations promise a multi-use building for entrepreneurs and a resource for the larger community.
Annette Patterson is president of the Advancement Foundation.
“We really want it to be a living, breathing campus and be able to showcase these products that come out of here,” she said. “And the talent we have in all corners of this region is amazing.”
With other businesses built around drones, mushrooms and egg incubators, Patterson of the Virginia Innovation Collective is sure to have many more ribbon-cuttings ahead.
Copyright 2022 WDBJ. all rights reserved.
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