Although the long arm of the federal government reaches past Northern Virginia into other parts of the state, other industries also are driving economic growth in the Commonwealth.
The state’s pro-business environment and educated workforce has encouraged expansion in the semiconductor, technology, manufacturing and logistics industries. In Manassas, for example, Micron Technology, Inc. recently decided to expand its fabrication facilities, spending $1.2 billion to upgrade its operations and bringing 860 new high-tech jobs to the area. Micron received $4 million in incentives from the Commonwealth for the expansion.
Micron isn’t the only company that is hiring in Virginia. In fact, at the end of 2005, the statewide unemployment rate had dropped to 3.3%, according to the Virginia Employment Commission, significantly lower than the U.S. average of 4.8%.
Moreover, Virginia’s existing corporate base attracts new companies, often beating out other states for new headquarters. For example, England-based Wolseley, a distributor of plumbing and heating products, will invest more than $30 million in the City of Newport News to build a 220,000-square-foot headquarters facility. This new location will eventually add more than 400 new jobs to the area. Virginia successfully competed against North Carolina for the project with the City of Newport News to provide more than $6 million in incentives for the project.
Newport News is part of the Hampton Roads region, which is situated along the Chesapeake Bay. Other cities in the region include Norfolk and Newport Beach, both of which have a large military presence and companies in defenserelated industries flock to the area, according to C. Jones Hooks, president and CEO of Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.
“Certain industries that may have started as defense related are now moving beyond that to modeling and simulation, particularly as it relates to aviation and sensor technology,” Hooks notes, adding that the region attracts diverse industries because of its educated workforce.
The Hampton Roads region, which consists of 13 counties, has an employment pool that is consistently being replenished by the 14,000 military personnel that exit the service each year. Nonetheless, the region’s unemployment rate was just 3.5% at the end of the 2005, according to Hooks.
Many jobs in the region are directly connected to the Port of Virginia, which is the second largest port facility on the East Coast behind New York City. In 2005, roughly 14 million tons of container cargo came through the port, according to the Economic Development Alliance.
“The port’s geographic position mid-way along the East Coast is very important for many companies,” Hooks notes. “They see the port as an opportunity for them to service the population of the eastern U.S. from one location rather than multiple locations.” Denmark-based Maersk Sealand, for example, is building a new $450 million private terminal, while several other international shipping and manufacturing companies such as STIHL Inc. have chosen the region for large distribution hubs or headquarters operations.
