Deputy County Administrator George Bains works with the "development" side of our organization: Planning, Zoning, Engineering, Environmental, Building Inspections, Utilities... all of the departments that work to safely bring in new additions to our county.

In the first podcast episode of 2025, we look at some of the new businesses and processes that are expected to "cut the ribbon" this year. Gloucester Point is opening a Dunkin', and there are several applications for development near the Walmart shopping center.

If you'd like to see the Development Plan Status charts from our Planning team, check out the Planning Commission agendas on: https://pub-gloucesterva.escribemeetings.com/?Year=2025.

Today we’ll be introducing you to a new Parks, Recreation & Tourism employee, and talking about all of the fun holiday offerings that are just around the corner in Gloucester County. To say that these Parks and Rec folks have been busy is an understatement. Here are some of the holiday events you might want to participate in:

The Festival of Trees: Friday, Dec. 6 from 5-8 p.m.
Christmas Parade: Saturday, Dec. 7 from 3-5 p.m.
Courthouse Circle Tree Lighting: Saturday, Dec. 7 (immediately following parade)
Waiting for Washington: Sunday, Dec. 8 from 2-5 p.m.
Pictures in the Park: Saturday, Dec. 14
Holiday Glo-Up lights contest: Enter by Monday, Dec. 16

The Beehive is a quarterly community newsletter, free to all county residents, containing information about county news and resources, volunteer information, community events, and classes and activities for youth and adults.

Recently, Gloucester County's hard work in revamping this publication into a full-color magazine (while lowering the cost to taxpayers) earned a highly competitive Virginia Association of Counties Achievement Award.

The magazine is primarily put together by our Community Engagement & Public Information Department. In this episode, Director Quinton Sheppard sat down with Media Specialist Savannah Haugdahl for a deep dive into the publication's purpose, history, and recent transformation.