Board OKs funds for grocery store

Board OKs funds for grocery store

Published 4:30 pm Thursday, May 21, 2026

The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors approved another $150,000 for the county’s much awaited grocery store.

The county’s Economic Development Authority approved a $300,000 interest-free loan last December for the grocery store project. Supervisors approved $150,000 toward that loan at its Dec. 22 meeting, and approved the last $150,000 during their May 12 meeting.

The business plan for Cumberland Grocery says it aims to “revitalize local food access in rural Virginia by offering a convenient, high-quality alternative to long commutes to major grocery chains.”

Cumberland County is identified as a rural food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning residents lack access to fresh food and supermarkets. A foodbanks.org map shows 13%-17% of Cumberland labeled as “food insecure.”

When the store was brought to the Cumberland Board of Supervisors in December, Supervisor Bryan Hamlet addressed his concerns with the plan, while Supervisor Eurika Tyree recommended appropriating half of the recommended funding, stating her concerns with holding up the opening of the business.

“I’m really kind of disappointed at the slowness of the board with getting that additional funding to the vendor of the grocery store because this is one thing the people in the county have wanted and it’s been held up again because of the slowness of the board,” said resident Betty Myers during a May 12 board meeting.

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Now that the board has approved the $150,000, the next steps will be purchasing equipment.

“If we are going to get the funding and the board and EDA goes ahead and approves it and allocates it, then we’ll know when we will have the rest of the equipment,” said owner Travis Harris during a joint meeting with the board of supervisors and the EDA May 5.

“We don’t want to call and place an order for the equipment, get it here, and we don’t know when that money is going to be available,” said Harris.

The grocery store will be in a building located at 1481 Anderson Hwy., across Route 60 from the county administration building.