YesVirginia Business Blog

Governor Bob McDonnell recently referenced the grand opening of MeadWestvaco’s downtown Richmond headquarters as a source of encouragement.

A state-of-the-art executive office that is open for business and the hustle and bustle of 650 employees is certainly a refreshing change from the doom and gloom of business closures and job losses we’ve been inundated with recently.

MWV’s grand opening comes just days after Charlotte County celebrated the expansion of local, family-owned Morgan Lumber Company, which invested $4.2 million and created 25 new jobs at its Red Oak facility.

And Frederick County is breathing a sigh of relief that Kraft has chosen its local facility to invest $40 million to increase production of its Capri Sun product, creating 100 new jobs.

The corporate world is awakening. Inquiries from consultants working on behalf of companies, and from company decision-makers, are on the rise in Virginia, especially in the manufacturing, data center and energy sectors. The quality of the prospects VEDP is hearing from has also improved.

While we still have a ways to go, economic indicators in Virginia are pointing in the right direction—and that’s encouraging news.

According to The Boyd Co., a New Jersey-based corporate relocation firm, two Virginia cities are among the top 10 least expensive North American locations to operate a corporate headquarters.

The Boyd Co. released a study this month that estimated the annual bill in Virginia Beach for a 70,000-square-foot, 325-employee corporate headquarters complex at $21.8 million, and in Richmond at $22.4 million. The study reported that Richmond and Virginia Beach offer some of the lowest local sales and property taxes in the nation. Boyd also highlighted Richmond’s low airfare costs as a cost-saving benefit.

New York ranked the highest at $39.7 million. Other comparable cities included Charlotte ($22.8 million), Washington, D.C. ($26.6 million), and Baltimore, Md. ($24.7 million).

Virginia is home to more than 30 Fortune 1000 corporate headquarters and eight of Forbes America’s largest private companies. In addition to low tax and airfare costs, corporate headquarters in Virginia enjoy a business-friendly climate characterized by stable and competitive payroll costs and lease rates, as well as legislation that protects “at will” employment practices.

The Richmond area is home to the headquarters of 10 Fortune 1000 firms, including MWV (MeadWestvaco) and Altria Group. STIHL Inc., Amerigroup and Lifenet are among companies that have located their headquarters operations in Virginia Beach.

For more information about the benefits of locating headquarters operations in Virginia, call us at (804) 545-5700 or visit www.YesVirginia.org.

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a few minutes to read Virginia Business’ Dec. 29 Web posting headlined: POLITICAL ROUNDTABLE: Transportation still a chief concern. The publication invited five prominent Virginia observers of state politics to comment on the recent Governor’s election and the upcoming legislative session. A summary of their comments is provided in this posting.

Some of the roundtable discussion concentrated on economic development, which makes sense given the current state of the economy and Governor-elect McDonnell’s campaign focus on the creation of jobs. More importantly, the state of VEDP’s marketing budget was discussed, which until now has gotten lost in the weeds of state incentives and other economic development details.

Don’t misunderstand—state incentives are an important tool for the Commonwealth to utilize in winning economic development deals—and jobs—for Virginia. But if we can’t market Virginia to corporate decision-makers and bring attention to the fact that Virginia is the “Best State for Business,” state incentives will never see the light of day. Simply put, resources for media advertising and outreach for prospect events and meetings need to be deployed to adequately tell Virginia’s compelling story.

Hugh Keogh gets it. The President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce—and VEDP board member—conveyed the message during the Virginia Business roundtable.

Another topic of discussion was Virginia’s ability to maintain the Forbes.com “Best State for Business” ranking, a title the Commonwealth has held for the last four years. To echo what roundtable participants Whitt Clement (former state transportation secretary and partner in state government relations, Hunton & Williams) and Ben Dendy (former senior staff member to two Virginia governors and president of Richmond-based lobbying firm Vectre Corp) so eloquently stated, it ain’t likely under current conditions. While we’ve got a strategic location, global access and world-class higher education on our side, these factors are a result of lawmakers’ willingness to make big-picture investments in Virginia.

To maintain our leadership position and get even better by attracting more quality jobs that Virginia needs and deserves, the big-picture investments need to continue. With a strong focus on transportation, education and economic development, Virginia might just turn its economy around and snag that “Best State for Business” title once again.

If you’ve ever wondered what others think of you, participate on a radio show.

It’s a risk, but it was a risk that paid off for Virginia today on WNPR Connecticut Public Radio out of Hartford, Connecticut.

Liz Povar, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Director of Business Development, was invited to discuss Virginia’s success in attracting business on the station’s live radio show, “Where We Live.”

The topic: economic competitiveness during the recession.

According to WNPR, more than 80,000 jobs have been lost in Connecticut to the recession. The station interviewed state Senator Donald DeFronzo, who, among other Senate Democrats, has unveiled a short-term plan to create 16,000 jobs in the state. University of Connecticut Economist Fred Carstensen also was a guest on the show, and urged Connecticut to adopt a long-term economic development strategy.

Before Virginia was included in the conversation, UConn’s Carstensen  shared a story about a friend who looked at Virginia as a possible location for his business. The economist described his friend’s experience as “extremely good,” adding that he got a quick response, received valuable information in a timely fashion, and was “enormously impressed” with Virginia’s ability to provide tailored training programs to meet a business’s unique needs.

You don’t get a better introduction than that, particularly from the competition and especially when it’s offered for free.

Povar discussed Virginia’s sustainable business climate that focuses on maintaining competitive business costs, and the Commonwealth’s efforts to provide a workforce development system that connects the entire spectrum of Virginia’s workforce to the needs of business through Virginia’s education partners.

Povar also cleared up a misperception that Northern Virginia is the only region of the Commonwealth to be successful in economic development. Not so. While Northern Virginia is strong in its own right, Virginia’s regions offer many different strengths. This diversity allows the state to tout and match a variety of regional assets and skill sets with different target sectors, making the Commonwealth stronger as a whole.

Listen in on the discussion at http://www.cpbn.org/program/where-we-live/episode/wwl-connecticut-jobs-when. Fast forward 37 minutes and 44 seconds for the Virginia stuff. It’s pretty clear that others view Virginia as the state to beat.

Bring it on.