Monthly News from Hampton Roads
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Note from the President
Doug Smith, Alliance President & CEO
Spring is a time of renewal and reawakening, and spring here at the Alliance has been no exception. Our business development efforts have returned to pre-COVID levels, with several trips in the books and a variety scheduled for the remainder of 2022.
In the last 45 days, there have been five travel engagements:
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Retail Industry Leaders Association Conference, Dallas, TX — The team attended alongside the Port of Virginia, VEDP, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake. The Alliance set up several meetings with site selectors, encouraging visits to Hampton Roads.
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Drone Week, Amsterdam, Netherlands — Armed with information about the growing unmanned systems industry, the Alliance joined VEDP for a number of prospect meetings and visited the fabrication plant of a major offshore wind company that is considering Hampton Roads.
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Sea Air Space Conference, Washington, DC — Portsmouth and Virginia Beach economic developers joined the team on this mission, which is also attended by Hampton Roads companies like Huntington Ingalls.
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WIND Europe, Bilbao, Spain — This offshore wind focused event was done in partnership with Virginia Beach and the Business Network for Offshore Wind. The Alliance, PM&P, and Virginia Beach held 30 meetings. Many companies the Alliance team spoke with were particularly interested in the Virginia Offshore Wind Landing, a collaborative space available to them as they hold meetings in Hampton Roads and evaluate entering the U.S. market.
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Business Facilities LiveXchange, Charlotte, NC — Alongside the Port of Virginia, the Alliance had over a dozen meetings with top site selectors and reminded them about the logistical superiority and ideal business environment that can be found in Hampton Roads.
Over the next quarter the Business Development team has nearly a dozen more trips scheduled, both domestically and internationally. In addition, the Alliance is making strides to improve the business climate we market to prospective companies in myriad ways, including working with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission to advance more sites to business-ready status and developing a comprehensive energy master plan for our region. Ensuring that the region is not only known to prospective businesses but also has the sites and capacity to house both current and future businesses is the core mission of the new Hampton Roads Alliance. We hope you’ll join us in these efforts and do your part to lift Hampton Roads to new heights.
Your Ally in Economic Development,
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Consultant Connect Top 50 - Nicole Ryf | Each year Consultant Connects ask its robust site selector community and economic development partners to nominate individuals that they feel are top-notch and worthy of the title “Top 50 Economic Developer.” This year, the Alliance's very own, Nicole Ryf, was selected. Congratulations, Nicole! | Blueprint Aims to Keep Virginia a Top State for Business | Over the past decade, the Virginia Chamber has been convening business and regional leaders to collect feedback for its “Blueprint Virginia: A Business Plan for the Commonwealth.” The latest version, “Blueprint Virginia 2030,″ collected feedback from 7,150 Virginians throughout 2021. | IRG to Develop Nearly 1 Million Square Feet Near The Port of Virginia for Unis | One of the nation’s largest industrial real estate developers, Industrial Realty Group, has lined up a pair of sites near the Port of Virginia where it plans to develop nearly 1 million square feet for third-party logistics company, Unis. | TechArk Solutions to Expand in the Norfolk Innovation Corridor | The Norfolk Department of Economic Development announced that TechArk Solutions plans to expand its Norfolk-based headquarters. TechArk will invest over $100,000 to improve its present facility located within the Norfolk Innovation Corridor and create eight new high-tech, high-wage jobs in Norfolk. |
New Regional Internship Collaborative, Hopes to Prepare High School, College Students
| The 757 Regional Internship Collaborative started with representatives from Old Dominion University and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council with the goal of creating a pipeline for internships in the 757. | Southside Hampton Roads Cities Will Be Connected to Ultrafast Internet Fiber Ring | Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Suffolk will connect to a 119-mile fiber ring that could bring the "fastest internet speeds on the East Coast." | Sports Medicine Company to Expand in the City of Norfolk, Creating 92 New Jobs | Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that Embody, Inc., a Norfolk-based medical device company developing novel collagen-based technologies for soft tissue repair, will invest $5 million to expand its headquarters at Innovation Research Park at Old Dominion University in the City of Norfolk. | Virginia Beach’s Iconic Salt Water Taffy Maker Plans Major Expansion | The iconic Virginia Beach candy maker, Forbes Candies, is expanding. It has outgrown the company’s building on Taylor Farm Road. A deal is in the works to build a new factory that will increase taffy production and keep up with demand. | |
This issue of Virginia Economic Review explores the life sciences industry in Virginia, including public and private research and development, medical laboratories, pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturing, and distribution of healthcare products. | NAS Oceana and the City of Virginia Beach Development Authority hosted the Future Base Design (FBD) Industry Day event on April 20, 2022 that brought together Navy and City leadership to discuss future development opportunities at the Former Horse Stables parcel. |
Certified Origins to Invest $25M
to Establish First U.S. Olive Oil Production Facility in the City
of Newport News
| Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that Certified Origins, an Italy-based company focused on providing fresh and authentic extra virgin olive oil, will invest $25 million to establish its first U.S. production facility in the City of Newport News to meet increased demand for its branded and private-label products. | Portsmouth Casino Project Drives ‘Record’ Economic Investment in City, Mayor Says | Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover touted “record breaking” economic investment in the city in his annual State of the City address. Glover said businesses invested $469 million into the city in 2021 — ventures which created 815 new jobs. | Williamsburg Named Among Best Small Towns by Southern Living | Williamsburg earned a big shoutout in the “The South’s Best 2022″ edition of Southern Living, coming in at No. 2 in the magazine’s ranking of the Best Small Towns in the South. | NEARSHORE Is Coming to Our ‘Shores’ | NEARSHORE announced plans to open an office in Virginia Beach Town Center to provide remote communication and IT solutions that will empower the regional maritime industry. | Perdue AgriBusiness Plans $59M Chesapeake Expansion | Perdue AgriBusiness will invest $59.1 million and expand operations in the city of Chesapeake, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced. | Breeze Airways announces Norfolk to New York flights starting at $49 | |
The budget airline Breeze Airways is continuing to add nonstop flights out of Norfolk International Airport.
Hampton Roads travelers will now be able to take nonstop Breeze flights to Westchester, New York, beginning on June 30, the airline announced.
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Woods Rogers, Vandeventer Black Law Firms to Merge July 1 | Woods Rogers PLC and Vandeventer Black LLP announced that the two law firms have agreed to merge as Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, creating the state’s fifth-largest firm, with more than 130 attorneys and a total workforce of 250 people. | Wind Turbines Still on Track East of Virginia Beach | The two turbines Dominion currently operates are the pilot structures involved in its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and the turbines have performed well so far. As a result, Dominion is continuing its plans to go big, with 176 new turbines extending outward an additional 15 miles by the end of 2026. | |
Riverside Smithfield Hospital Certificate of Public Need Approved | The Virginia Department of Health’s announced approval for a Certificate of Public Need to establish a new full service general acute care hospital in Isle of Wight County. The decision is a tremendous win for the people of Isle of Wight and Surry Counties and all the people who make Western Tidewater their home. | 10 CEOs Reshaping Healthcare | The CEO Forum Group released its list of 10 CEOs "who have created new value to elevate healthcare and society." The list includes Sentara President and CEO Howard Kern. Howard and Sentara were selected for their exceptional work in the Integrated Healthcare category. | |
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