Governor Glenn Youngkin: Hitting The Accelerator In Virginia

The commonwealth of Virginia has been a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation since its founding and is pioneering new models for economic development in the 21st century. We are hitting the accelerator to foster a best-in-class business environment that builds on Virginia’s tremendous assets: a strategic mid-Atlantic location that facilitates seamless domestic and global connectivity; exceptional rail, roads and marine infrastructure; competitive business costs; a top-rated education system, and a robust workforce in a “right-to-work” state.

 From the sweeping landscapes of the Shenandoah Valley to the coastal plains of Chincoteague, to the nation’s historic landmarks of Jamestown and George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Virginia is also an incredible place to live.

Virginia continues to boast a strong labor market with a high labor force participation rate and low unemployment levels. Our administration has facilitated waves of economic investments and business expansions to reinvigorate job growth and opportunity, welcoming companies committing nearly $71 billion in capital investment and major corporate partners like Boeing, Amazon Web Services, Raytheon and the LEGO Group, along with major expansions from Hilton, Northrop Grumman and Framatome.

We’ve delivered a historic $5 billion in tax relief for Virginians and working families, reaffirming our dedication to lowering the cost of living. We have modernized the Commonwealth’s regulatory processes, streamlined permitting, eased licensing restrictions for dozens of occupations and, ultimately, reduced business costs. We’ve also implemented a state tax exemption for military retirement pay and provided additional compensation and salary increases to support our men and women in law enforcement, fulfilling our commitments to Virginia veterans and law enforcement. Collaboration with our general assembly has been key to this great progress.

At the height of Virginia’s behavioral health crisis, we launched historic efforts to transform our overwhelmed behavioral health system through Right Help, Right Now, a plan that provides Virginians pre-crisis, in-crisis and post-crisis help. Our work has also been incremental in revamping our childcare system, which is critical to ensure all Virginians can work and provide for their families. The recently announced Building Blocks for Virginia Families initiative will ensure every low-income working family currently receiving public support continues to have access to high-quality early-childhood and after-school programs, with more than $448 million annually in total investment. We have embraced innovation and common sense, especially when it comes to developing Virginia’s All-American, All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to deliver reliable, affordable and increasingly clean power for the Commonwealth’s future.

We signed the largest K-12 and higher education budget in Virginia’s history, launched a lab school initiative to inject choice and innovation into the Commonwealth’s public school system, raised teachers’ salaries 12 percent, passed the Virginia Literacy Act to improve literacy among elementary school-age students, renewed Virginia’s focus on career and technical education and implemented the ALL In Virginia plan to tackle persistent learning loss stemming from forced pandemic school closures through targeted tutoring in math and reading. We are building the workforce of the future in Virginia so that industry leaders continue to establish roots here and reinvest.

Our world-class Virginia Talent Accelerator Program earned the Commonwealth the No. 1 ranking in the U.S. for customized workforce training by Business Facilities. This initiative accelerates new facility startups through the direct delivery of recruitment and training services that are fully customized to a company’s unique products, processes, equipment, standards and culture. All program services are provided at no cost to qualified new and expanding companies as an incentive for job creation. The Commonwealth’s workforce is equipped with in-demand, marketable skills to grow the talent pipeline and ensure our corporate partners have a constant stream of talent available to match their growth. This is Virginia’s advantage.

Our administration has transformed the way government works, expanded opportunity and delivered for Virginians—and we aren’t stopping here. The Commonwealth of Virginia was built on grit, determination and ingenuity and seeks to attract and retain companies that are building their future in the same fashion. I am honored and humbled to serve as Governor, and we want business leaders to know that Virginia is the best location in the nation to live, work and raise a family.