Shenandoah Valley Year-in-Review: Manufacturing, tourism drive region’s growth

The year 2024 turned out to be a surprising but positive one for the Shenandoah Valley region.

“We had more activity than anticipated in terms of lead generation and opportunities,” says Jay Langston, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership.

The food and beverage sector remains the region’s main industry, but last year, a variety of manufacturing projects came into play, including equipment, battery and electrical vehicle components and electrical and electronic components.

“It’s pleasant to see that we don’t just have one industry,” Langston says.

The region secured company expansions throughout the year, including a $58 million expansion of Shamrock Farms’ manufacturing operation in Augusta County. Announced in October 2024, the project is expected to create 28 jobs and add 81,000 square feet to the company’s existing 250,000-square-foot facility in Mill Place Commerce Park, allowing the dairy product manufacturer to reconfigure space to accommodate a new production line and add cold storage.

To prepare for companies looking for site-ready parcels, SVP conducted a Regional Industrial Facility Authority site feasibility study for a possible almost 500-acre regional commerce park in Weyers Cave. The RIFA process was under discussion as of January.

Last year was “an [important] year for infrastructure building,” says Langston. “We are always looking at opportunities to provide the right environment for our companies so the region can be successful.”

Frederick County

The county’s economic growth has been consistent over the past few years, with a continued increase in manufacturing.

“We pride ourselves on that consistency,” says Patrick Barker, executive director of the county’s economic development authority. “We are continually focusing on ready-to-go talent and sites so we can continue our competitive nature going forward.”

Framebridge, a custom framing company, opened its new manufacturing operation in Winchester in late July 2024, creating 65 jobs. It will ship to 28 retail locations on the East Coast and Texas.

HP Hood is investing more than $83.5 million to expand its dairy processing operations in the county. The project includes upgrades to production and packaging equipment and construction of additional cooler and warehouse space.

Desi Fresh Foods, a producer of South Asian yogurt, is investing $13 million and creating 56 jobs in the county to open a new manufacturing facility servicing the East Coast. The facility’s projected opening date is this spring.

WCS Logistics, a Winchester Cold Storage company, will invest $27 million to expand in the county, building an 83,000-square-foot cold storage facility. The project will create more than 15 jobs and is scheduled to open in July.

FlyAdvanced selected the Winchester Regional Airport for a new location to expand its aircraft maintenance, charter and management business in August 2024. In the next five years, FlyAdvanced expects to employ 20 aviation maintenance technicians and an equal number of pilots. The company also expects to invest $5 million in training, infrastructure and capital investment in that timeframe.

Harrisonburg

The city had a solid year thanks to its strong, diverse manufacturing base, bolstered by its dominant food processing sector.

Farmer Focus has become Harrisonburg’s largest private sector employer, with more than 1,200 employees.

“They are one of the fastest-growing organic chicken producers in the country,” says Brian Shull, the city’s director of economic development. “The company recently completed a $17.8 million expansion and has added 200 jobs” in an 18-month span starting in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Kerry Group, a food processing company based in Ireland, announced an $8 million expansion to its Harrisonburg facility in April 2024 to expand its broth and seasonings manufacturing.

The Harrisonburg Innovation Hub opened in the downtown area in late 2024. Peter Denbigh and his team invested $4.5 million renovating the historic Wetsel Seed Complex building’s three floors.

Lauf Cycles, a high-end bicycle manufacturer headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, expanded downtown in 2024. All Lauf assembly and distribution operations moved from Taiwan to Harrisonburg.

“Every Lauf bike sold worldwide is now assembled and shipped direct to the consumer from Harrisonburg,” Shull says.

Page County

Page County has seen significant growth in both new and expanding businesses, particularly in the tourism industry. Its transient occupancy tax has increased more than 20% since 2022, according to Nina Fox, the county’s economic development and tourism director.

Dubbed the “Cabin Capital of Virginia,” the county has seen average nightly room rates increase around 26%, with occupancy rates remaining steady. A group of investors purchased the Mimslyn Inn in Luray and are in the process of updating and revitalizing the facility.

“Gen. [John Rutherford] Allen, one of the owners, a retired four-star Marine Corps general and noted Civil War historian, will conduct the occasional symposium and battle tour of Civil War actions in the area,” Fox says.

Rockingham County

Stable and steady is how Josh Gooden, the county’s economic development and tourism coordinator, describes 2024.

The most noticeable win for the county is the construction and location of the first Buc-ee’s travel center in Virginia, which as of January was slated to open June 30. It will bring in about 200 jobs and more than $6 million in investment.

“They have the building under roof, a lot of the parking lot has concrete poured, and supports for the 120 fueling stations are in place,” says Gooden. “We estimate the meals tax revenue generated will be approximately $2 million annually.”

In September 2024, the county received a $4.5 million grant from VEDP’s Virginia Business Ready Sites Program to create a roughly 20-acre pad-ready site in Innovation Village. The county expected to start construction early this year.

The site will be located next to the Leiber facility. The German manufacturer, which refines brewer’s yeast into animal food and other products, is investing up to $20 million to establish its first U.S. operation in Innovation Village, a project announced in 2023. Construction is slated to begin mid-2025.

On the tourism side, Massanutten Resort is working on an expansion to its indoor water park and building a 145-room hotel during the first phase of its multi-year master plan. It expects both to be completed by early 2026.

Waynesboro

Waynesboro was able to tap into the momentum it built in 2023 to end 2024 on a successful note.

“We had another very good year,” says the city’s director of economic development and tourism, Greg Hitchin. 

Northrop Grumman is in the midst of building its $200 million advanced electronic manufacturing and testing facility, which was announced in 2023. The facility, which will add more than 300 jobs over the next five years, is scheduled to open in the summer.

Virginia Panel Corp. (VPC), a manufacturer of interconnect solutions products — products that establish connections between devices — has invested
$11 million to expand its current machine shop in Waynesboro. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership supported the retraining of VPC’s current workforce to the company’s new digital technology through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Thanks to a Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Virginia Business District Resurgence Grant to Waynesboro, businesses located in the downtown historic commercial district have received more than $120,000 in grants that funded technical assistance, consulting services and façade improvement.

“Our downtown is bustling with restaurants and shops opening,” says Hitchin. The city’s tourism numbers indicate its economic growth, with direct visitor spending in 2023 reaching $77.8 million, a 6.5% increase over 2022.