Prince William economic development projects totaled $513 million in investment last year

Prince William County attracted capital investment of $513 million in 2014.

The results marked the fourth year in the county's economic development department’s 18-year history to exceed half a billion dollars of intended investment.

The department closed 19 projects with an anticipated 569 jobs. Of these jobs, 469 are new to the county and 100 were retained. The top five projects by capital investment and jobs fell within the life sciences and information technology industries.

In addition to these projects, the county opened the new Prince William Science Accelerator. The facility offers life-science startups modern wet labs, office space, common areas and shared equipment. ISOThrive LLC, a new food and dietary supplement company, was the first occupant when the facility opened in June. The firm is on track to enter the market in 2015, following $1.4 million in private investment to support clinical studies and product manufacturing scale-up.

In March, the county also officially opened the Virginia Serious Game Institute (VSGI), the only one of its kind on the East Coast, in the George Mason University – Prince William Campus. The institute supports early-entry IT startup businesses in the simulation, modeling and game design field.

Presently, five start-up businesses within the IT incubator have collectively created over 35 highly-skilled jobs. In December, two of the VSGI startups – Professions Quest and Little Arms Studios — announced that their respective flagship titles (Mimycx and IVIS) had entered beta test phase.

In 2014, Prince William County also passed the 2 million square feet threshold for data centers.