Gloucester’s focus group on businesses in the county met for the first time Monday night in the Department of Information Technology conference room, and according to Abingdon district supervisor JJ Orth, had a productive meeting with many new ideas shared.

Orth is one of the county board members who has pushed for finding ways to make Gloucester more business-friendly since he took office in January. The committee also includes county staff, at-large supervisor Ashley Chriscoe and several business owners.

"I think we counted up and had 31 ideas come from the meeting," Orth said. Ideas ranged from changing zoning requirements along the Route 17 corridor to facilitate business growth to cutting down on county regulations that tend to cost business owners time and money.

One specific idea, Orth said, is to echo some other surrounding localities and provide a fast track for businesses to receive certain permits needed within 7-14 days.

Another concern included VD...