Chesterfield economic development director to retire in January

After 20 years with Chesterfield County, including more than a decade leading the county’s economic development department, H. Garrett Hart III plans to retire on the first day of 2027, according to a Wednesday announcement.

Hart is credited with turning Chesterfield into the Richmond region‘s leader in job creation. During his tenure, Chesterfield County won more than $12 billion in capital investment and created 10,000 jobs, according to a news release.

Major deals secured under his leadership include the $1 billion Lego Group manufacturing facility under construction in Meadowville Technology Park and a $2.5 billion project by Commonwealth Fusion Systems to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield.

Last year, Google announced plans to build a data center campus in Chesterfield as part of a $9 billion investment to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure in Virginia. The tech behemoth has also acquired two other sites in Chesterfield for future data center development.

“Garrett has a rare ability to connect the right ideas with the right people,” Carolina Giuga, Lego Group‘s senior director of government and public affairs for the Americas, said in a statement. “From day one, his leadership made our decision to invest in Virginia easy and the journey both smooth and rewarding, fitting together perfectly, like two Lego bricks.”

A graduate of Virginia Tech, Hart began his career as the first manager for the Town of Louisa. He then became county administrator for New Kent County before working as marketing manager for the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council and vice president of McKinney & Co., an Ashland-headquartered engineering, architecture and construction firm.

After joining Chesterfield County in 2006, Hart worked as development manager for new business attraction and assistant director of Chesterfield’s economic development department before being named director in 2015.

Other major announcements during his time with the county include Sabra Dipping’s facility in Chesterfield, which opened in 2010. It has since undergone multiple expansions and bills itself as the world’s largest hummus-making plant.

In 2011, Amazon opened a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center at Meadowville, and the e-tailer is building a $51 million distribution center in the county expected to bring in 500 jobs. Niagara began production of bottled water at a 557,000-square-foot facility at the same park in 2017.

From July 2015 to July 2025, the number of businesses operating in Chesterfield increased by 21.7%, the number of jobs increased by 11.9%, and the average weekly wage increased by 44.4%, according to the county. Over the same decade, the county’s unemployment rate fell by nearly a full percentage point, and as of 2025, Chesterfield has the state’s fastest growing population.

Hart credits the county’s success in part to the fact that DuPont has operated its Spruance plant there since 1929.

“We have a workforce that understands that manufacturing jobs are good jobs because their parents had them and their grandparents had them,” Hart told Virginia Business in 2025.

Because of that, local leaders and the community as a whole support manufacturing, which has helped the county build a reputation.

“Everybody understands what it takes to take care of manufacturers and to be a good partner for them,” he said. “The word gets out.”

Hart is a founding member, current president and past board member of the Virginia Economic Developers Association, as well as past chairman, board member and honorary life member of the Southern Economic Development Council.

Chesterfield officials will conduct a nationwide search to identify Hart’s successor.