Seeing the sites
Despite boasting a world-class port, a highly skilled workforce and easily accessible transportation infrastructures, Hampton Roads perennially comes away empty-handed in attracting large-scale industrial developments. Chalk it up to the region’s lack of shovel-ready sites, a situation that state and local economic development and political leaders are fervently working to change. Last year, the[...]
5 SWVA projects recommended for $9.5M in federal grants
Five Southwest Virginia economic development projects have been recommended to receive a cumulative $9.35 million in federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) grants, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith announced Thursday. The projects are on sites where coal was mined before 1977. Funding for the federal AMLER Program comes through the […]
Chemical producer plans $193M Suffolk expansion
Wilmington, Delaware-based Solenis, a producer of specialty chemicals for water-intensive industries, plans to invest $193 million to expand its Suffolk facility, creating 34 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. Solenis plans to build an 80,000-square-foot production facility, packaging facility, a tank farm and add a new rail spur to accommodate the production of polyvinylamine polymer [[...]
Wizards, Capitals plan Alexandria move in $2B deal
The Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards are planning a move to a new home in Alexandria in a $2 billion deal that would see the professional sports franchises exit Washington, D.C., by 2028, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 13, 2023. The nonbinding agreement to build a new arena for the Capitals and Wizards is […]
Pittsylvania site is top contender for lithium-ion battery plant
The Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County is the top contender for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing project that could top $1 billion in investments and about 1,500 jobs, according to its CEO. After a $100 million grant for the project was announced by the U.S. Department of Energy Nov. 27, 2023, Tennessee-based […]
Data mining
Elena Schlossberg has spent the past three-and-a-half years fighting against what some say is soon to become the world’s largest data center complex. The Haymarket resident estimates she’s participated in at least 100 Zoom calls, town halls and Prince William County meetings to protest the project, while wearing a series of T-shirts voicing her opposition […]
Meat processor to build $1.7M Prince Edward facility
A halal meat business, 5 Pillar Meats, will invest more than $1.7 million to build an abattoir and red meat processing facility in Prince Edward County, a project expected to create 12 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The new building, which will be located on a 3-acre site in the Prince Edward County Business […]
Russell County farm to invest $1M in expanded manufacturing
Goat milk products maker Bates Family Farm will invest roughly $1 million to relocate its manufacturing facility to a Russell County-owned building in Lebanon, a project expected to create 12 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. “We’re creating agriculture-based jobs and selling Virginia-made products,” Bates Family Farm co-founder and CEO Joseph “Joe” Bates said. The [[...]
Wholesale electrical distributor plans Va. expansion
Cooperative Electric Energy Utility Supply (CEEUS), a South Carolina-based electrical distributor that serves cooperatives, municipals and investor-owned utilities, plans to invest $37 million into a new 187,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Hanover County, creating 30 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The facility will support CEEUS’s customers in Virginia, [...]
Framatome plans $49.4M expansion, creating 515 jobs
Framatome, a French nuclear power company with its United States headquarters in Lynchburg, will invest $49.4 million to expand, modernize and enhance its facilities, creating an estimated 515 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The expansion will meet increased demand for servicing existing nuclear power plants and developing solutions for advanced and small nuclear reactors. […]
Wizards, Capitals plan move to Alexandria in $2B deal
The Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards are planning a move across the Potomac River to a new home in Alexandria in a $2 billion deal that would see the professional sports franchises exit Washington, D.C., by 2028, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced early Wednesday. The nonbinding agreement to build a new arena for the Capitals […]
JLARC: GO Virginia’s economic impact positive but undefined
The state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative is likely improving regional collaboration and having positive economic impacts, but those can’t be reliably determined, according to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report presented Monday. In 2022, JLARC directed staff to review GO Virginia, which the state government created in 2016. GO Virginia provides economic [&[...]