Virginia Economic Review

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

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.

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.

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.

Alexandria is known for Old Town’s historic shops and homes that are as inviting as they are immaculately preserved.

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.

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.

From its humble 1887 beginnings selling food-flavoring extracts and spices from a pushcart on Richmond’s Broad Street, the company formerly known as The C.F. Sauer Company enters the new decade as Sauer Brands, Inc., a leading packaged-food manufacturer.

In the spring of 2018, Kristen Wilson wanted to jump back into full-time work after spending several years at home with her two children.

A confluence of geographical, workforce, and other advantages has put Hampton Roads in a strong position in the caffeinated beverage industry.

Brantley Ivey, general manager of River Ridge Land and Cattle Co. and managing partner of Landcrafted Food, recalls overhearing a farmer comment at the Virginia Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade: “If you’re not selling everywhere you can domestically, don’t consider exporting.”

Beth Macy is a three-time New York Times-bestselling author. She is the author of “Factory Man,” “Truevine,” and “Dopesick,” books that tell separate stories, but all stories through which the challenges, issues, prospects, and hopes of rural America are studied in different ways.

Seth Martindale is a senior managing director with CBRE Consulting. He has extensive experience in real estate strategic planning, working with both private and public sector clients.

Ben Davenport has been a champion for economic development in rural Virginia for decades. Davenport is chairman of First Piedmont Corporation as well as Davenport Energy.

Companies Find Tech Talent in the Mountains and Valleys of Virginia Big cities have long been synonymous with economic opportunity. But what if that's not universally true?

Virginia Talent Accelerator Program Delivers Custom Workforce Solutions to Companies How does a company find and train the skilled employees that will ultimately determine whether it succeeds or fails?