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Economic Development

Feb 23, 2022

Amazon to open Augusta County distribution facility

Amazon.com Inc. will open a 1 million-square-foot, nonsortable fulfillment center in Augusta County, creating 500 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. The facility at 32 Trader Road in Fishersville will open in spring 2023 and will pick, pack and ship bulky or larger-sized items, such as patio furniture, outdoor equipm[...]

Feb 18, 2022

SWVA initiative seeks to attract remote workers

Project Fuse, a regional cooperative initiative to make Southwest Virginia the location of choice for remote employment, launched Friday with the release of a playbook to attract businesses. “The global business community seeks options for both attracting the employees they want and managing their operating costs,” Will Payn[...]

Feb 18, 2022

AutoZone to build $185M distribution center in New Kent

Auto parts retailer AutoZone Inc. plans to build a $185.2 million warehouse and distribution center in New Kent County, creating 352 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday. The 800,000-square-foot facility will serve as the company’s East Coast distribution operation, according to the governor’s office. Based in [...]

Workers broke ground in January 2022 on the planned $714 million Blue Star NBR medical glove manufacturing complex in Wythe County's Progress Park. Photo by Earl Neikirk.
Feb 10, 2022

$714M Wythe medical glove plant is solo venture now

Developers broke ground in January on the $714 million medical glove manufacturing complex planned for Wythe County’s Progress Park. Only now it may be a solo project, not a joint venture. In October 2021, then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Alexandria-based Blue Star NBR LLC was building manufacturing facilities t[...]

Feb 8, 2022

Paper goods manufacturer announces $17M Henrico expansion

Washington-based paper goods manufacturer American Paper Converting (APC) will complete a $17 million expansion of its Henrico County operations, expected to add 69 jobs, the Henrico Economic Development Authority announced Tuesday. APC will move its current operation at 4401 Carolina Ave. to 5801 Tech Park Way, near the county�[...]

Feb 7, 2022

Lowe’s warehouse to create 70 jobs in Roanoke County

A new Lowe’s warehouse and distribution center is expected to create 70 jobs in Roanoke County, the $11 million project’s developer announced Monday. Lowe’s Cos. Inc. has hired Roanoke-based Cherney Development, in partnership with North Carolina-based Samet Corp., to build a 60,000-square-foot distribution warehou[...]

Pharrell Williams speaks during a panel discussion at his November 2021 Elephant in the Room economic conference at Norfolk State University. Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images
Jan 30, 2022

The Visionary

The online version of this article includes additional material from Virginia Business’ interview with Pharrell Williams.  Pharrell Williams is a 13-time Grammy winner, an Oscar nominee, a fashion designer, a film producer, a music superstar and innovator. He’s also a native Virginian — a point that comes across stron[...]

“CEOs have an obligation to use profit to do positive things in the community,” says Byron L. Boston, CEO of Glen Allen-based Dynex Capital Inc. Photo by Caroline Martin
Jan 30, 2022

Great responsibility

“Business can be a force for good. I absolutely believe it,” says Byron L. Boston, CEO and co-chief investment officer of Glen Allen-based real estate investment trust Dynex Capital Inc. “CEOs have an obligation to use profit to do positive things in the community.” Boston and 11 other prominent Black business and no[...]

America is “dangerously dependent on foreign sources for some of our most critical essential medicines,” says Phlow CEO Dr. Eric Edwards (L), who co-founded the Richmond-based pharmaceutical startup with Frank Gupton (R).
Jan 30, 2022

Economic healing

Over the years, Petersburg has become accustomed to bad economic news. After Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Petersburg’s largest employer for decades, left the city in 1985, Petersburg suffered an economic downturn from which it’s never quite recovered. More recently, in 2016, Petersburg city government had a roughly [...]

Jan 27, 2022

Appalachian Council for Innovation taps exec director

John Bebber has been hired as executive director of the Appalachian Council for Innovation, its board announced earlier in January. He was previously district director for U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Abingdon. ACI is a nonprofit regional economic development organization founded in 1999 as the Southwestern Virginia Technology C[...]

Vinod Agarwal. Photo by Mark Rhodes
Jan 26, 2022

Va. economic growth will slow in 2022, ODU economists predict

Virginia’s economy is likely to grow at a slightly slower pace in 2022 than it did last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to make future predictions murky, according to the 2022 Annual Economic Forecast released Wednesday by Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. “If we can [...]

Jan 25, 2022

Charlottesville Chamber appoints 3 board members

The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce appointed three new board members this month, who are starting three-year terms. They are Eric Mayberry of The Daily Progress, Jonathan Chasen of Wells Fargo Advisors and Rebecca Ivins of Hourigan. Chasen is a private wealth financial adviser who started his career with the former Banc of America Investment […]

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