ChiefExecutive.net

Advantages

Virginia reached its pre-Recession employment peak late last year, with most job gains coming from education and heath services.

Challenges

In general, the state’s dependence on government spending darkens the economic horizon. High-tech jobs, an economic driver nationally, shrunk by .8 percent last year. Professional and business services, a key cluster, also shrunk last fiscal year, reflecting contraction in defense spending.

Key Contacts

Economic Development Partnership

Dan Gundersen, Interim President & CEO / Chief Operating Officer
804-545-5616
901 East Byrd Street
P.O. Box 798
Richmond, VA 23218-0798
DGundersen@yesvirginia.org
http://www.yesvirginia.org/

CEO Comments

“Our trade policies have not been good for us as a whole and are subject  to get worse  with the additional trade policy. We have employed as many as 375 employees. After, 2008 we are now down to 200. The Feds are picking winners and losers without any consideration of their value to the communities within Southside Virginia.”

“Virginia has … consistently ranked in the top 3 in offering not just competitive incentives for business, but also packages that improve the skill sets to hire a qualified, work-ready workforce.”

“VA is most fair in setting rules and regulations and standing by those rules.  Not easy but if you comply you usually are not hassled.”

Current Developments

2015 Regional Report: The Southeast
October 8, 2015

How Mike Petters Got a Huntington Ingalls Spinoff into Ship Shape
March 2, 2016

Evolving an Entrepreneurial Venture With Appian’s Matt Calkins
March 24, 2015