Vampire Pimps: Roanoke and the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facilities Authority

3 weeks ago 1 Comment

Botetourt County is the victim of an economic hit job. Google negotiated a deal with the county which is not only comically one sided, but sinister in its ceding of all public relations management to the tech colossus. Google (allegedly) in preparing for and executing this plan, corrupted local officials—who would betray, defraud, and ultimately defy the community—subverted the legal process, frustrated the purposes of Title 15.2 of the Virginia Code, trampled due process, and eroded the community’s faith in popular sovereignty.

The Google data center is a disaster for Botetourt. It is also a symptom of a diseased system, and a mere stepping stone for a plan to transform the region, including Roanoke.

Representative government has been made irrelevant by “public-private partnerships.” These entities represent a fusion of government with corporations. They possess the authority of government, while lacking accountability to the public. Put another way, they exercise the irresponsible discretion of private enterprise under cover of government prestige.

Most counties are bedeviled by at least one public-private partnership in the form of a local Economic Development Authority. EDAs negotiate important and often unpopular deals long before they come to public attention at boards of supervisors meetings. The latter tend to simply rubber stamp predetermined arrangements. EDAs also cooperate with larger regional public-private partnerships, often called regional commissions or partnerships.

RVARC

The Roanoke Valley is constantly meddled with by the Roanoke Valley-Allegheny Regional Commission (RVARC). The recently-disclosed request for proposals for an “AI Ready Roanoke”–soliciting a plan to turn Roanoke into a Google-controlled hub for bioengineering and robotics–is merely the implementation of the “Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy” worked out by RVARC in 2025.

I am disinterested, at present, in the pros and cons of these technologies. I only wish to emphasize that the question of whether Roanoke becomes a manufacturing center for, say, Google’s bioengineered mosquitoes, will be answered outside of the political process.

To assess just how accountable these entities are to the public, we will take a look at the leadership of RVARC. That body’s most important committee is probably the “Roanoke Valley-Allegheny Regional CEDS Strategy Committee.” CEDS is an acronym for “Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.”

The CEDS committee includes nine seats for “Elected Officials” from the counties of Allegheny, Botetourt, Craig, and Roanoke, the cities of Covington, Roanoke, and Salem, and the towns of Clifton Forge and Vinton. Eight spots are allotted to “Stakeholder Organizations,” which include Mountain Gateway Community College, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, the NAACP, Chambers of Commerce, etc. Another nine seats are for “Private Sector/Institutional/Other.” These are filled by developers and other businessmen. The last ten seats go to “Technical Advisors,” who, by and large, either are in government administration, or sit on the boards of local EDAs. Bear in mind that local EDAs are run by self-interested businessmen.

So of the thirty-six seats on this CEDS committee, only nine are occupied by officials accountable to the public, and removable by election. RVARC makes long-term plans. Even if every county, city, and town involved in RVARC removed 100% of their leadership in objection to RVARC’s plans, there would be no guarantee that anything would change.

WVRIFA

What is worse, such entities may act in open defiance of the public, and of publicly elected officials. Just last week we were treated to the spectacle of the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facilities Authority (WVRIFA) taking a secret vote to approve the sale of the Woodhaven Technology Park to an undisclosed corporation.

From their website we learn that WVRIFA

“was formed in 2014 by Botetourt County, Franklin County, Roanoke County, the City of Roanoke, the City of Salem and the Town of Vinton. The purpose of the Authority is to provide a mechanism for localities to cooperate regionally on economic development projects. The Authority works closely with member governments and economic developers throughout the Roanoke Valley Region of Virginia.”

A hostile audience, which included Roanoke City’s Vice-Mayor, Terry McGuire, demanded to know to whom the property had been sold, and whether WVRIFA was planning another data center. WVRIFA’s lawyer refused to answer, but a few hours later the organization announced the sale to Clearview Dynamics, LLC. We can’t tell for sure what this company is, but its registered agent is the Corporation Service Company managed by Pamela Gregorski. Ms. Gregorski has been linked to the following Meta hyperscale data centers (thanks to Chad Bean for the following):

Laidley LLC, Louisiana

Meta hyperscale / AI campus, 2,250+ acres

Pelican Leap LLC, Louisiana

Meta hyperscale data center

Orla LLC, Indiana

Meta hyperscale data center

Wurldwide LLC, El Paso, Texas

Massive Meta hyperscale / AI campus

J5 LLC / Shaytura LLC, Piqua, Ohio

Apparent Meta hyperscale campus, roughly 700,000 sq. ft. and $1B+ investment

Goat Systems LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming

Meta hyperscale data center

Hatchbo LLC, Clarksville, Arkansas

Large hyperscale data center. Gregorski linked, although Meta ownership has not been publicly confirmed.

Conflicts

WVRIFA’s spitting in the public’s face was bad enough, but this episode also raised the suspicion of significant conflicts of interest. The lawyer facing off against Vice-Mayor Terry McGuire was Bryce Hunter, a member of Spilman, Thomas & Battle. Everywhere we hear rumor of a data center, we find this law firm. Jeremy Carroll, also of this firm, represented the Western Virginia Water Authority in its effort to conceal the amount of Roanoke’s water Botetourt’s data center will drain. And of course, the attorney who helped broker the Botetourt data center, representing the Botetourt Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission, and the Economic Development Authority, was Michael Lockaby, again of Spilman, Thomas & Battle.

It doesn’t end there. The chair of WVRIFA’s board is none other than Gary Larrowe, county administrator of Botetourt! Mr. Larrowe is also the treasurer of Botetourt’s EDA, and sits on the board of RVARC to boot. Botetourt residents have been howling for Larrowe’s removal–perhaps now Roanoke will join the chorus.

Let’s not forget that it was Botetourt’s EDA that drafted and published the RFP for AI Ready Roanoke. We are in the position where the EDA of another county has more meaningful control over policy in Roanoke than residents. And it gets worse.

VEDP

Over RVARC we have the “Virginia Economic Development Partnership.” On the VEDP’s website, we learn:

“The Virginia Economic Development Partnership is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s official economic development authority and has offices in Virginia, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.”

Think about that one. South Korean corporations have a better chance at setting economic policy in Roanoke than any individual resident.

Just flagrant, workaday violations of the Virginia Constitution all round:

“Article I. Bill of Rights

Section 2. People the source of power

That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.”

Roanoke has every reason to be invested in Botetourt’s fight against the data center, from foreign EDAs shaping Roanoke policy, to the threat to Carvin’s Cove, to AI Ready Roanoke. All of the above are predicated on the Botetourt data center. Roanoke, time to get in the fight.

Also in this series:

Vampire Pimps: AI Ready Roanoke

Vampire Pimps: Going Regional, Going Global

Delegate Terry Austin: A Primer on Evasive Political Flatulence

Vampire Pimps: In Their Own Words

Private Betrayal, Public Defiance: Botetourt’s Board of Supervisors

Vomitous Prattle & Statutory Conspiracy: The 2026 Comprehensive Plan

The 2026 Comprehensive Plan: Bend Over

The Botetourt Data Center, The Planning Commission, and Broken Promises

The Botetourt Data Center: Vampire Pimps

The Botetourt Data Center: The Legacy of Fascism

The Botetourt Data Center & the Lie of Freedom