I am immensely proud of the progress that has occurred in Salem since I became a member of Salem City Council in July, 2020. It is a team effort, a continuance of the work that was done and the progress made by previous councils, boards, and commissions, and carried out by the most incredible group of Salem City employees.
Salem hired a strong Economic Director and support staff to help companies grow and remain in Salem. We were able to retain Layman Candy by helping them relocate to another larger site in Salem, and STS selected Salem as their North America headquarters by leasing 200,000 square feet of the Phoenix Facility, (the old GE manufacturing plant) and adding 32,000 square feet for tooling presses and 119 jobs. Wabtec, the former Graham White, had a $2.7 million expansion and added 38 jobs at their location here in Salem. In addition, our Economic Development Authority has provided facade grants to businesses, incentives for new businesses, and added to the beautification of Downtown Salem with the promotion of murals on the outside walls of a number of current Salem businesses.
We’ve added to the Salem City School budget to increase pay for our teachers, and together with a strong administrative team in place, have had an end result of improved test scores for our students. The high school update and renovation is completed, as is the addition to the fieldhouse, which now provides an area for Salem High School’s boys and girls soccer and lacrosse teams.
Infrastructure projects have become a reality and will continue to be a goal for the future. New, more accurate water meters and electric meters have been installed, new wells are being developed for our water supply, Moyer Complex renovation was completed with an addition of pickleball courts in July of 2024, sewer and water lines are being replaced, the Greenway expansion is continuing, and the downtown renovations are half-way completed. Approximately 90% of the downtown renovations have been paid for with grant money acquired by our Community Development Department staff members. A capital reserve fund has been established for small infrastructure projects and improvements, and an additional $900,000 has been added to the 2025 Budget for additional road repairs which are done on a rotation basis each year.
With added support for Community Development, Salem went from being red flagged by VDOT for lack of project progress in 2020 to being named the Locally Administered Projects (LAP) 2022 Locality of the Year.
The Valleydale Development is in Phase 1 of 3, and will provide much needed rental housing for young professionals and families in the City of Salem.
“Committed to Salem ~ Committed to YOU” was the slogan that I ran on in 2020, and I have been totally committed over the past four years to everything and anything that has to do with Salem: I have attended over 1000 meetings and events on behalf of our city, sent over 4,300 emails, travelled all over our valley, region, and state, have given speeches, helped in ribbon cuttings, welcomed teams, organizations, and new businesses, met with many citizens (one-on-one and in groups), and have served on local and regional boards and commissions. In December of 2023, I was selected by Virginia Business Magazine as “One of the 100 People to Meet in 2024”. If I am re-elected to serve our community this November, along with continued support for our teachers and schools, I am committed to our city’s economic development and continued infrastructure improvement while keeping it a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family.
Renée Turk for Salem City Council 