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
Historic Virginia Companies, Then & Now
BWX Technologies, Inc., started out as a boiler manufacturer.
07.13.2026
Southern Virginia’s Advanced Manufacturing Renaissance
Since Drake Extrusion opened a plant in Southern Virginia to make polypropylene fibers and yarns 31 years ago, the company weathered the collapse of the region’s traditional industry and global downturns and never laid off a worker.
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
Historic Universities, Future-Forward Workforce
For more than 300 years, Virginia’s universities have helped produce generations of political leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, and business executives who shaped the economy in the Commonwealth and beyond.
07.13.2026
Alexandria’s Light Bulb Moment
Alexandria is known for Old Town’s historic shops and homes that are as inviting as they are immaculately preserved.
07.13.2026
A History of Innovation
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.
07.13.2026
A Proving Ground for Cutting-Edge Technology
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.
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.
07.13.2026
Disrupting Conventional Historical Wisdom
Christy Coleman is the executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an educational Virginia state agency that offers programs and resources about early American history through its living history museums, Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
videoNEXT products on display in the Saudi Telecom booth at Gitex Dubai 2018.
Virginia’s Exporters of Service Find Success Abroad
With the global threat of terrorism on the rise, Virginia technology security services firms are parlaying security concerns into surging revenue growth overseas. Chantilly-based videoNEXT, which provides security and surveillance management software to U.S.
Tim Sands' Bold Vision for Virginia Tech
Timothy D. Sands is the 16th president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, joining the university in June 2014. VEDP’s President and CEO, Stephen Moret, recently spoke with President Sands about exciting new developments at Virginia Tech.
04.16.2022
Greg LeRoy Puts Good Jobs First
Greg LeRoy is the founder and executive director of Good Jobs First, a national policy resource center promoting corporate and government accountability in economic development. Good Jobs First provides information on best practices in state and local job subsidies.
Remaking Economic Development
Amy Liu is vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and the Adeline M. and Alfred I. Johnson Chair in Urban and Metropolitan Policy.
SYKES Enterprises, Inc., Wise County
04.16.2022
High Tech Comes to the Coalfields
The year 2006 marked a turning point for the town of Lebanon, for Russell County, and for the Southwest corner of Virginia: CGI, a Canadian company with a strong presence in tech-heavy Northern Virginia, located its first U.S. onshore delivery center in Lebanon.
Virginia State University
On Target for Tech Talent
How Virginia's Plan to Double its Tech-Talent Pipeline by Aligning Resources at All Levels Hits the Bull's-Eye When it comes to building a comprehensive strategy for increasing talent to meet the technology workforce demands of today and tomorrow, there is a nationwide call by employers for talent with skills that include a particular focus on software development, engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, user experience design, and user interface design — all competencies with roots in computer science.
The Motley Fool, Alexandria
The New Dominion
In 1969, an ad agency in Richmond developed one of the most enduring tourism marketing slogans of all time — Virginia is for Lovers. In the decades since, the slogan became legendary; not only because it was catchy, but because it was true.
Kollmorgen, Radford
04.01.2022
On the Front Lines
Kollmorgen Ramps Up Production to Support Global COVID-19 Response Employees at Kollmorgen's Radford facilities go to work each day knowing they’re helping to save lives as the world faces the COVID-19 crisis.
04.01.2022
Range: The Case for the Liberal Arts
Dr. Katherine A. Rowe is the 28th president of William & Mary, a position she’s held since 2018 after serving as provost and dean of faculty at Smith College in Massachusetts.



