Preparation pays off in Shenandoah Valley

A $3 billion Merck & Co. expansion planned in Elkton grabbed headlines in the Shenandoah Valley, yet it was far from the region’s only major economic development win in 2025.

According to Jay Langston, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, the region’s recent success grew out of years of concerted action between state and local governments to remove obstacles for manufacturers and diversify the tax base.

Regional leaders say having sites ready for development and investing in infrastructure before companies begin selecting locations is a competitive advantage. State incentives were also a factor in Merck’s expansion, one of three major pharmaceutical developments announced in Virginia last fall.

Langston says the valley’s story is unique because manufacturing continues to grow in the region, despite a different story nationwide. The manufacturing sector lost 42,000 jobs between April and August 2025, according to the Center for American Progress. However, Langston says the pressures of U.S. tariffs and international trade deals haven’t made a significant impact in the valley, and direct foreign investment fills their development pipeline.

​The region’s economic growth extended far beyond the industrial sector as well. The high-profile opening in June of the state’s first Buc-ee’s travel center in Rockingham is reportedly creating a “residual effect,” pulling travelers off Interstate 81 and making them aware of nearby local businesses, according to Josh Gooden, economic and tourism director for Rockingham County.

​Looking ahead, Langston says development in the valley looks strong, with the partnership having $17 billion in potential investment in the pipeline.

“We’re carrying the heaviest pipeline load in the history of our organization,” Langston says. “If we get 10% of that, hallelujah. We are seeing a very broad spectrum of manufacturing, which is our dominant industry.”

​A sweet tooth Patrick Barker, executive director of the Frederick County Economic Development Authority, believes his county has all the elements to attract prospective companies.
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He says the county has a strong advanced manufacturing and food cluster, a large workforce pool within 30 miles and a decadelong streak of capital investment to create jobs, including $100 million-plus investments from Amazon, Trex and Navy Federal Credit Union.

But the county’s largest financial investment over the past 35 years, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, came in February 2025 with the announcement of Clasen Quality Chocolate’s new production facility. The Wisconsin-based company plans to invest $230 million to build the facility, which is expected to create 250 jobs.

Clasen, a major manufacturer, supplies chocolate and confectionery coatings to the U.S. market. Both large food companies and major grocery retailers rely on its products.

Barker attributes Clasen’s decision to build in Frederick County to the availability of a project-ready development site.​

“If we had not had the partnership [between the county and Peterson Cos.] to get the site readiness grant from the state, in addition to all the other work they did to [build up the site], then I think it would have been very unlikely for that project to come to Frederick County,” Barker says.

Construction on Clasen’s plant is expected to start this year at Valley Innovation Park, a 147-acre industrial park. The state invested $7.2 million in Virginia Business Ready Sites Program funds to make the park a top-tier site.

“This project moved at a much faster pace if you look at other standard economic development projects,” Barker says. “Valley Innovation Park was so project ready. All the risk they might have incurred by going to a site that didn’t have land grading, road infrastructure, utility extensions and such … those unknowns were known.”

Other notable food-related announcements dropped in 2025. Frederick County saw the opening of a new production facility and retail storefront for Texas Trey’s, a tortilla chip brand available at Virginia grocery stores, including several Wegmans locations.

The company couldn’t keep up with manufacturing demand and closed in early 2024, Barker says.

However, in late 2024, an investor stepped in to help relaunch the brand and its signature “Salsa Shovels” chip.

Stone Ledge Cider in Augusta County broke ground on a new cider production facility and tasting room in June 2025, and officials anticipate it to open either this year or in 2027. The expansion, which adds six jobs and commits over $330,000 in capital investment, builds on the Cider House Bed and Breakfast and its 1790 farmhouse and 20-acre farm. The cidery will use local ingredients in cider production.

“The cidery will continue the strong food and beverage culture we have in Augusta and the Shenandoah Valley,” says Rebekah Castle, the county’s director of economic development and marketing.

Just off the highway

Texas-based travel center Buc-ee’s has developed quite a cult following. ​Travelers stop for the vast selection of fresh food, unique snacks, fuel and home goods. Drivers will go an average of 21 minutes out of their way to visit a Buc-ee’s, according to a survey by Payless Power.

​That fandom has followed the opening of a Buc-ee’s in Rockingham County, the first to open in Virginia. The 74,000-square-foot store opened in June at the intersection of I-81 and Friedens Church Road and is expected to create 200 jobs.

“This is insane,” says Gooden, when asked about his first impression of Buc-ee’s. “The magnitude kind of leaves you speechless.”

Not much further south on I-81, Rockbridge County Director of Economic Development Brandy Flint has seen substantial growth in the county’s food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries. A Residence Inn is currently under construction in the county. October 2025 saw the opening of the Shenandoah Valley’s first Dunham’s Sports, and Wawa is now in the early stages of its site construction.

Flint says those may not be as flashy as big manufacturing announcements, but every new batch of jobs makes a real difference.​

“We are a big manufacturing community,” Flint says. “But we want to diversify our economy. This growth hasn’t happened here in a long time.”

Manufacturing growth

Manufacturing investment in the Shenandoah Valley in 2025 included both new interest from international companies and continued additional investment by established employers.

Italian plastic packaging manufacturer Serioplast has opened an industrial plant in Shenandoah County, which the Virginia Economic Development Partnership said was a $26 million investment that would create 45 jobs.

Modine Manufacturing, based in Racine, Wisconsin, has operated a plant in Buena Vista for more than 60 years, and it’s the city’s largest employer. The company also opened a manufacturing facility in Rockbridge County in 2021 to produce chillers for data centers, a growing sector with more data centers being built.

In November 2025, Modine announced a $20 million investment through 2029 to build new facilities and relocate its heating business to Buena Vista, further cementing its commitment to the Shenandoah Valley. The project is expected to add 57 jobs.

“This project is huge for Buena Vista, because they are not only expanding the manufacturing footprint, but they’re making it the headquarters of their heating division,” Langston says.