News & Features
Virginia Economic Review
Our quarterly publication, Virginia Economic Review, provides an insider look at Virginia’s economy, its diverse array of world-class companies, its amazing talent, and its stunning natural beauty, as well as insights from national thought leaders.
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07.13.2026
A Broader Stage
Brent Ward likes challenging projects. As a co-founder of design firm Riggs Ward, his job is to help bring stories to life, through displays of artifacts, graphics, soundscapes, and interactive digital media.
07.13.2026
Virginia: Where the American Experiment Took Root
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.
Best Medical Ships Crucial Cancer Therapies Worldwide, With VEDP’s Help
Best Medical International manufactures a crucial product that helps its users battle devastating cancers. Now, with an assist from VEDP, the company is getting its products into the hands of people who desperately need them.
ivWatch, Newport News
Thinking Globally, Recruiting Locally
When Lydia Ruffin began work as a restaurant server, her goal was to support herself through school. She could not have anticipated how profoundly that entry-level job would shape her career.
10.15.2025
Growing From the Inside Out
While most waterproofing products do their job entirely on the outside of a surface, Alchemco, Inc.’s products work from the inside out. The company has used VEDP’s International Trade services to pursue a similar inside-out path for its growth.
Big Discoveries, Big Plans
Quokka entered the cybersecurity world with a big reputation — under its previous name, the company landed on the front page of The New York Times after discovering a critical security vulnerability in some Android smartphones that sent user data to Chinese servers.
T.R.U. Ball/AXCEL Archery, Amherst County
Hitting a Lofty Target
Imagine using a bow and arrow to hit a target the size of a DVD that’s 70 meters away — the wingspan of two Boeing 737 airplanes side by side. That’s the challenge faced by Olympic archers. Ben Summers and his family know it well.
T.R.U. Ball/AXCEL Archery, Amherst County
Hitting a Lofty Target
Imagine using a bow and arrow to hit a target the size of a DVD that’s 70 meters away — the wingspan of two Boeing 737 airplanes side by side. That’s the challenge faced by Olympic archers. Ben Summers and his family know it well.
Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia County is partnering with Vanguard Renewables to convert cow manure into natural gas.
From Milk to Mollusks
When Jeremy Moyer was 6 years old, he started following his dad around their 1,000-acre dairy farm in Amelia County. By the time he was 12, he was getting paid to do chores around the farm. Now, at 42, he runs the farm with his father and brother.
Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia County is partnering with Vanguard Renewables to convert cow manure into natural gas.
From Milk to Mollusks
When Jeremy Moyer was 6 years old, he started following his dad around their 1,000-acre dairy farm in Amelia County. By the time he was 12, he was getting paid to do chores around the farm. Now, at 42, he runs the farm with his father and brother.
Haleon, Richmond
A Biopharma Booster
Like his fellow Type 1 diabetics, Alec Smith took insulin every day to regulate his blood sugar.
Rethinking the Impossible
Speed and efficiency are essential competitive edges for any manufacturing operation. Yet the growing adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques isn’t just boosting efficiency with how goods are produced — it’s changing the types of goods that can be made and where they are produced.
Organizing the Skies
Sixty years after The Jetsons promised a future of personal-sized spacecraft that moved people and things safely through crowded skies, that vision, or something like it, is ever closer — thanks to a Virginia company that’s a global leader in building digital air highways.
A Partner in Solving Crucial Logistics Issues
Mike Coleman is president and CEO of CV International, a Norfolk-based global logistics, freight forwarding, and trade compliance services provider, and Capes Shipping Agencies, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides ship agency, cargo forwarding, and logistics management services to clients.
The Quest for Supply Chain Balance
Early in the morning of March 27, a container ship about as tall as the Eiffel Tower left the Port of Baltimore going approximately 9 mph. The ship, named the Dali, was fully loaded with cargo and weighed nearly 100,000 tons.
03.20.2024
Global Capital, Local Impact
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a sometimes overlooked, but vital, cornerstone of the U.S. economy. Investments from overseas create high-quality, skilled jobs that pay higher-than-average wages. In 2022, foreign direct investment to acquire, establish, or expand U.S.
Tools of the Trade
When Dutch secondary packaging solutions provider BluePrint Automation decided to open a U.S. location in 1987, the company chose a site in Chesterfield County near Richmond, due in part to the regional talent market and multiple nearby ports that could facilitate importing.
03.18.2024
A Deep Dive Into Asian Markets
Dennis Meseroll is co-founder and executive director of Tractus Asia Limited, a global foreign direct investment advisory firm based in Thailand that specializes in advising and assisting companies with investment and location decisions in Asia.



