Virginia Economic Review

BWX Technologies, Inc., started out as a boiler manufacturer.

Virginia has a long history as a site where revolutions can take root. In recent decades, that revolutionary spirit has attracted entrepreneurs and startups who see Virginia as a place where new ideas grow into powerful energy disruptors.

It’s not exaggerating to say that Virginia has been part of the internet since day one. The Commonwealth’s proximity to the federal government in Washington, D.C., makes it a natural place to deploy new technology. In Northern Virginia, network connectivity traces its roots to the U.S.

In the months leading up to July 1776, the Second Continental Congress entrusted a Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, to draft the formal document declaring the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. The 13 British colonies in mainland North America had disparate interests and cultures.

Recent major biopharmaceutical announcements have sent a clear signal from the industry: Virginia is the future of biopharma manufacturing.

Food and beverage and pharmaceutical companies rely on Virginia’s cold chain infrastructure to succeed.

Joe Dunlap is the founder of BlueJ Advisors, a supply chain consulting firm for owners, operators, and investors. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at CBRE, where he oversaw the company’s supply chain practice, and has decades of supply chain experience with Accenture, FORTNA, Dematic, and UPS.

Stephen Edwards has served as the CEO and executive director of The Port of Virginia since 2021.

It’s not the first time Washington Dulles International Airport, having served record numbers of passengers the past two years, has eyed an expansion of its operations, infrastructure, and ultimately, air cargo volume. But this time, circumstances are different.

Sam Northington doesn’t want any military veteran to struggle like his dad did. After 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, his father retired as a master sergeant and went back to college to get his teaching credentials. “That didn’t really fit him. He never really taught,” Northington recalled.

When President Donald Trump announced in June he would “unleash drone dominance,” it’s no surprise that the Commonwealth looked to NASA and its 108-year-old Langley Research Center in Hampton for guidance.

If you imagine timelines as train tracks and key events as moments when tracks converge, this is a pivotal time for rail in Virginia.

Virginia’s transportation network faces congestion issues that come with population growth, and air travel is no exception.

With its strategic Mid-Atlantic location, deep water ports, expanding highway and rail networks, and a business-friendly environment, the Commonwealth is fast becoming a warehousing and logistics powerhouse.

Connections are an essential foundation of business success — and businesses trust Virginia’s infrastructure to provide a multimodal transportation system that reliably connects them to suppliers, customers, and partners.

VEDP Vice President of Knowledge Work Meghan Welch spoke with Steven Chen, the founder of PFP Cybersecurity, about the cybersecurity funding environment in Virginia.

Candice Ling is a senior vice president at Microsoft and head of the company’s federal government business unit. Previously, she served as the company’s government industry lead in Asia.

Brad Medairy is executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, a Virginia-based Fortune 500 company where he leads the national cyber account and focuses on the cyber missions of national-level clients like the FBI, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S.