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Economic Development: Shovel-ready sites bring bigger projects to Va.

Site-readiness spending — a priority for Gov. Glenn Youngkin since he took office in 2022 — seemed to truly bear fruit in 2024, especially in Central and Southern Virginia.

In Chesterfield County alone, Super Radiator Coils announced plans last year to expand its facility, creating 160 jobs, and Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe said it will build a $400 million manufacturing plant, creating approximately 150 jobs. And at the end of the year, Youngkin announced that the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion plant is set to be built in Chesterfield’s James River Industrial Center, a nearly $3 billion project from Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a fusion MIT spinoff.

In Pittsylvania County, lithium-ion battery separator manufacturer Microporous is planning to invest $1.3 billion to build a plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, creating more than 2,000 jobs.

Also, Virginia regained its crown as CNBC’s Top State for Business in July 2024 for a record-breaking sixth time and the first time under Youngkin.

As usual, the commonwealth was lauded for its educational prowess, ranking first in the nation, but CNBC also called special attention to Virginia’s infrastructure, which “really shines in the wealth of shovel-ready sites the state offers for companies that want to build fast.” Assisted by expanded site readiness funding initiatives spearheaded by Youngkin, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and local economic development officials have brought “dozens of sites” up to speed, “promising that all utilities and infrastructure can be in place within 18 months,” the network noted.

This isn’t to say that the Republican Youngkin gets everything he wants. In early 2024, his pet economic development project, a $2 billion arena in Alexandria for Washington, D.C.’s NHL and NBA teams, failed in the Virginia State Senate, vanquished by the “blue wall” personified by Democratic Sen. Louise Lucas, chairman of the powerful Senate and Appropriations Committee. For 2025, Youngkin’s last year in office as a term-limited governor, the situation has been the same — narrow Democratic majorities in both houses, too small to override his vetoes.

It’s unclear yet what Youngkin’s legacy will be, as well as whatever lies ahead for him in political life. But it’s plain as day that the state’s friendliness toward economic development has grown during his tenure, thanks in part to increased spending for site development, as well as previous administrations’ focus on workforce training and education offered through VEDP and the state’s higher education system, particularly the Virginia Community College System.

One notable area for improvement, at least according to economic development directors, would be to increase the state’s marketing budget for economic development initiatives. At the December 2024 Virginia Economic Summit and Forum on International Trade, Jennifer Wakefield, executive director for the Greater Richmond Partnership, pointed to Ohio and Michigan, states that have spent millions advertising their opportunities to prospects.

JobsOhio, a private company that promotes the state’s economic development opportunities and receives state liquor revenue under a contract, spent about $50 million on billboards in big cities on both coasts to draw people and investors to Ohio. Michigan allocated $20 million in 2023 for a national marketing campaign to boost the state’s population and economy.

VEDP President and CEO Jason El Koubi, speaking at the same event, echoed Wakefield’s points.

Virginia’s achieved momentum in getting sites prepped for businesses to move in, El Koubi added, so now is the time to spend more on marketing.

“We’ve got to solidify our position as America’s top state for talent and begin to communicate that to the rest of the world. We hear over and over again that Virginia is a great business location, but that we are a quiet state. They’re not hearing from us. We’re not showing up in the media, in the advertising, in the LinkedIn feeds,” he said.

“Virginia spends a fraction of what other states are spending on marketing for Virginia as a business location. We have got to close this gap and make this a greater priority in the state budget.”

Professional Services: Law firms not ready to jump headfirst into risky tech

Artificial intelligence continues to make headway into most industries, as C-suite professionals test AI-powered tools’ potential for cost savings and efficiency. Some people are even asking whether the speed of AI could finally kill off the billable hour.

Not so fast, Siri. Clients often are not fans of the hourly billing model, which averaged $370 an hour for associate lawyers and $604 for partners in 2023, but for law firms themselves, this model often makes sense. In an interview with Virginia Business last year, Williams Mullen Chairman, President and CEO Woody Fowler Jr. opined, “Every 10 years, we hear that the billable hour is dead, but it is very resilient.”

Alternative fee agreements certainly exist, and some firms that specialize in individual clients or small business owners find that flat rates bring in more business. But for now, AI tools are not ready to handle nuanced legal work, and any tool that uses publicly available information — including — can’t guarantee confidentiality, a cornerstone of the legal profession. Another issue: Those pesky AI “hallucinations,” which can (and already have) led to embarrassing situations in courtrooms and boardrooms.

In the meantime, law firms are using AI to come up with boilerplate contracts and marketing materials, but many lawyers say they need to check behind the machines before approving documents.

Over the past year, there was plenty of interest in the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompete agreements set to go into effect in September 2024, but a federal judge struck down the ban in August. With President Donald Trump back in office, the federal body is no longer led by Lina Khan, the force behind the ban, as well as antitrust enforcement targeting Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants.

In December 2024, Trump tapped FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson as chair and Mark Meador to fill Ferguson’s vacancy. Ferguson has spoken in favor of Elon Musk’s argument that advertisers who coordinate to pull advertisers from social media platforms — in Musk’s case, X — should be charged with violating antitrust law.

A graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Law, Ferguson worked for Attorney General Jason Miyares from January 2022 to March 2024 as solicitor general, handling the state’s appellate litigation before the state and U.S. supreme courts, and he was appointed to the FTC in March 2024.

He dissented on the FTC’s rule banning noncompete clauses.

In other news from the past year, the accounting industry is still struggling to hire new , according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This isn’t exactly a surprise, as more accountants are retiring and fewer students are entering the industry.

This has led to companies offering higher wages, more flexible work schedules and financial assistance to pass the licensing exam, which takes many people more than one try.

Stephanie Peters, president and CEO of the Virginia Society of CPAs, judged the staffing situation as “critical” but not at crisis level in Virginia. Some of the problem comes down to vibes, Peters said in an interview last year with Virginia Business.

“A major challenge we are working on is the image that the profession is boring. That image isn’t true, and we are trying to counter it with new messaging.”

Philanthropy: Virginians give to higher education, health care

In the last year, philanthropists and foundations in Virginia have made record-breaking donations to higher education institutions and health care systems, with multiple donors continuing their longstanding support for several institutions.

Jane Batten, the matriarch of a philanthropic Hampton Roads family, pledged $100 million to William & Mary in July 2024 — the largest gift in the 331-year-old university’s history — to boost coastal and marine science research into global solutions for flooding and sea-level rise. William & Mary will build out the Virginia Institute of Marine Science site, constructing the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences. In February, Dr. Todd Stravitz, a W&M alumnus, gave $50 million to create a scholarship fund for the Batten School, which will offer a bachelor’s degree in coastal and marine sciences.

About a year prior, in March 2024, W&M received a $30 million gift from an anonymous alumna to support the renovation and renaming of a building in honor of former U.S. Secretary Robert Gates, who’s serving his second term as the university’s chancellor.

In May 2024, Hampden-Sydney College and Shenandoah University both announced $20 million gifts. Hampden-Sydney said it would put Richmond-based Endeavour Legacy Foundation’s pledged $20 million — the second largest gift the college has ever received — toward renovating its former science center into an academic facility housing two departments. Shenandoah University will use Wilbur and Clare Dove’s pledged gift — the largest individual donation in its history — toward building a performing and visual arts center on its Winchester campus. The Doves have been supporters of the university before, previously creating an endowed scholarship and donating toward the of residence halls.

In Southwest Virginia, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise announced an $11.2 million donation from The Bill Gatton Foundation in November 2024. The gift from the Bristol-based foundation of the late Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, a businessman who owned the Gatton Automotive Group with dealerships in Kentucky and Tennessee, will create six endowed funds.

George Mason University announced in May 2024 a $5 million donation from the Peterson Family Foundation (the family behind real estate development firm Peterson Cos.) to support its Center for the Arts improvement project. The Fairfax public university planned to rename and renovate its Concert Hall auditorium. In 2015, the foundation gave George Mason $10 million.

Additionally, the Peterson Family Foundation donated to health care causes in 2024. Inova Health System announced a $20 million gift from the Peterson foundation in April 2024, including $15 million to support the Inova Life with Cancer program. The remaining $5 million is going toward the expansion of Inova Fairfax Hospital’s emergency room. The Peterson family have been ardent supporters of Inova, contributing more than $50 million over the past 30 years. In 2014, the family donated $10 million, the health system’s first eight-figure gift.

The Falls Church-based regional health system had received another generous gift a month prior. Inova announced a $10 million planned gift commitment from Win Sheridan, co-founder of Apex Systems, in March 2024. The gift supports Inova’s Greatest Needs fund, which was being applied toward the expansion of Inova Fairfax Hospital’s emergency room.

Last year, Carilion Clinic received its largest ever donation: $25 million from former Advance Auto Parts CEO Nicholas Taubman, also a past U.S. ambassador to Romania, and his wife, Jenny, to help establish the Carilion Taubman Cancer Center. The Roanoke-based nonprofit health care system announced the donation in July 2024. The seven-story facility will be located at Carilion’s Riverside Campus.

Virginians’ donations to education and health care entities over the last 12 months continued trends from previous years while growing to break single-gift records for multiple organizations.