MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – The future is bright in Montgomery County and the future also may not involve people driving their own cars.
Torc Robotics, which specializes in self-driving vehicles, is investing $8.5 million to expand its operations in Blacksburg.
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The company, which began 15 years ago in Blacksburg, will build an additional facility at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center nearby its current operation in the Blacksburg Industrial Park.
Virginia successfully competed with North Carolina and Texas for the project, which will create 350 new jobs.
“This region’s talented workforce can help forward-looking tech companies grow, and Torc Robotics is demonstrating that by creating 350 new jobs in Montgomery County,” said Gov. Ralph Northam. “Self-driving technology is a booming sector, and Torc has been at the forefront of the industry since its founding. We thank the company for this significant investment in our Commonwealth, which comes at a critical point in our economic recovery, and we look forward to their continued entrepreneurship and innovation in the New River Valley.”
In 2019, Torc joined the Daimler Trucks family and now employs about 175 people.
Currently, vehicles using Torc’s self-driving technology operate on multiple continents.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with Montgomery County and Onward New River Valley to secure the project for Virginia.
Northam approved an $800,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Montgomery County with the project and $3.5 million in funds from the Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant (VEDIG).
That grant was established as a self-funded program of performance-based incentives that the Commonwealth awards to exceptional economic development projects with large numbers of employees and very high wages relative to average wages for that particular area.