ROANOKE, Va. – American Electric Power is investing nearly $13 million dollars in new infrastructure here in Roanoke. The announcement was made Tuesday by Governor Terry McAuliffe, surrounded by AEP and local officials.
AEP is going to invest $12.7 million and create 102 new high paying jobs in the city.
"The more we make these announcements, the more people want to come and be part of it. I always say success begets success," Gov. McAuliffe said.
Along with the addition of 102 new jobs, AEP, the parent company of Appalachian Power, will also be transferring about 100 workers from Appalachian's John Vaughan Center facility.
"Anything from engineering, to project management to project coordinators, schedulers, cost accountants -- these will be the folks that are responsible for upgrading our transmission infrastructure," said Chris Beam, president of Appalachian Power.
The company is also planning to add a new parking garage for employees. Roanoke was chosen for the expansion from among AEP's 11 service territory states.
"We have a really good working relationship with the state of Virginia and it just made sense for us to use this facility and take full advantage of it versus moving somewhere else," Beam said.
Appalachian Power is planning to be fully operational in downtown Roanoke by spring of 2019.