Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford named a Top Metro for 2014

The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has been named a “Top Metro” for 2014 by Site Selection magazine. 

Among 132 metro areas with fewer than 200,000 people, the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford MSA tied for fourth nationally with nine new or expanding corporate facility announcements in 2014.  They represented investments of $119 million and the expected creation of 535 new jobs in the New River Valley, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Montgomery County’s Economic Development Department.

The industry showing the most growth was manufacturing which included projects across Montgomery and Pulaski counties.

Published by Conway Data Inc., Site Selection covers expansion planning. The annual “Top Metros” rankings appeared in the March 2015 issue.
Site Selection said it used 2014 data from the Conway New Plant Database to examine new and expanding company growth in all 381 MSAs in the United States. The 2014 rankings were split into three Top 10 lists based on population, including less than 200,000, 200,000 to 1 million, and over 1 million.The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford MSA, also known as the New River Valley (NRV), has a population of more than 180,000 and includes the counties of Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, and Floyd.

Announcements of new or expanding corporate facilities in the NRV in 2014 included Alexander Industries Inc. in Pulaski, a firearms and accessories manufacturer, with a $2.9 million investment that's expected to create 64 jobs and InMotion US in Montgomery County, which manufacturers electric motors and drives. It plans to invest $5 million, generating 25 new jobs.