Case Study: USVI Tech Village

Leveraging Funding: US Virgin Islands Research Tech Park Mixed Use Opportunity Zone Real Estate Development

Sagax Associates originally assisted the RT Park through a contract through the US Department of Commerce in the USVI with interagency coordination and funding opportunities. The USDOC contract did not allow for Sagax Associates to provide specific technical assistance with local entities on grant research and preparation. RT Park solicited Sagax Associates to provide grant funding guidance upon completion of the contract with USDOC. We worked directly with RT Park to identify, leverage, and prepare grant applications for their mixed-use opportunity zone Tech Village real estate development project. Sagax researched different funding sources including ARPA, general appropriations, earmarked funds, and foundation funding to complement funding raised through opportunity zone private equity. We recommended resources and are in the process of working with foundations and federal agencies on developing competitive grant proposals on RT Park’s behalf.

This will help fund a 26-acre mixed-use economic development project focused on addressing economic diversity, housing, and educational needs in the St. Croix community with innovative additions to our infrastructure. The project will be an integral component of an expansion dedicated to agricultural research and technology with the following identified outcomes.

$40 Million Investment for St. Croix
125 Construction Jobs
Clean Energy Infrastructure
Increase in Housing
Increase in Office Space
Increase in business attraction
UVI Hospitality Program Investment
Increase in Hotel Rooms
300 Agriculture-Related Jobs
Fund for Agricultural Progress
UVI Agriculture Commercialization
Improved Parking
Environmentally Sustainable Design

The RT Park Tech Village Project incorporates agriculture, moderate income housing, tech hub, hospitality/accommodations, and focuses on community development with the following goals in mind (from RT Park):

Innovative Focus on Sustainability: Based on the RTPark’s legislative mandate within the Virgin Islands Code Title 17, Chapter 34, § 480, the organization was created to not only spur economic development through the business attraction and development of tech and knowledge-based companies within the U.S. Virgin Islands but also foster the growth and retention of sustainable development/agriculture firms as well. We believe that investing in our agriculture industry is an impactful way of diversifying our economy and making it more resilient to the myriad of threats we all know too well from health and economic crises to natural disasters and climate change. Tech Village approaches all pillars of sustainable development–economic development, social development, and environmental protection–in a thoughtful and strategic way.

Food Security: Food security is becoming an increasingly urgent concern for the USVI and the Caribbean region. USVI relies on imports for 97% of its food consumption. The development of the local agriculture sector is imperative to boost export earnings capacity and to provide sustainable jobs for many who are economically and socially impacted by the pandemic.

Agriculture Digitalization and Commercialization: The tech village project is poised to boost food security for Virgin Islanders by transforming the agriculture industry via digitalization and commercialization, and therefore increasing healthy food production and strengthening the local food supply chain to achieve food system resilience and independence. Overall, the well-encompassed support Tech Village provides is committed to helping USVI reduce its dependence on food imports, scaleup high-quality sustainable food production, build a resilient food supply chain, reduce costs of production, and commercialize and digitalize the industry. The results are improved livelihoods, more efficient resource conservation, increased quality and quantity of food production, and equitable healthy food access for virgin islanders.

Social Equity, Inclusion, and Justice: Farmers will be able to share profits, knowledge, information, and take an equity stake in many programmatic aspects of the project whether it be through the “Fund for Agricultural Progress”, revenue sharing initiatives, or collaborating with RTPark clients on site. Farmers will also be included in every step of the decision-making process. We will conduct surveys, focus group interviews, and community engagement regularly to gather feedback, concerns, and address needs. We will make sure that through those efforts, we incorporate farmers’ inputs and listen to their needs consistently and frequently. We are standing by the farmers, and we work with farmers together to meet their demands.

Empowering Young Farmers: The average age of licensed farmers in the USVI is 65 years old. This speaks to the importance of empowering young farmers to contribute to the agriculture industry. Through strategic academic partnerships, the tech village project aims at introducing technology and sustainable farming practices to the community while providing consistent tech education to improve farm proficiency. We can transform the agriculture industry to be technology-intensive, forward-thinking, and as a key sector to drive job creation and economic growth in the territory.

Embracing Change and a New Horizon: Change is scary, but our community cannot progress without taking risks and embracing change. By incorporating digital technology, new institutional infrastructure, and management practice as an additional resource to our agriculture industry, we can significantly reduce the cost of farming, increase the quality and quantity of the food we produce, and reach more customers through e-commerce. The future and resilience of the agriculture industry lies in digitization and commercialization. We believe that Tech Village can help revitalize and revolutionize the agriculture industry, a sector that our identity, roots, and values are deeply entrenched in.