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.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has existed as a business venture since its inception in 1607, when the Virginia Company of London formed a joint-stock company to bring profits to shareholders and establish an English colony in the New World.

Virginia’s higher education system, consistently ranked as one of the best in the country, is well established as an elite talent incubator. But the Commonwealth’s universities, both public and private, also serve as a launching pad for startup companies.

Paul's Fan Company in Buchanan County was founded in 1958 as a small machine shop servicing the coal mining industry. It evolved over the years to focus on improved mine ventilation, producing turnkey industrial ventilation solutions for companies.

Tom Walker is the founder and CEO of DroneUp, a provider of drone delivery and flight services that has operated out of Virginia Beach since its founding in 2016.

The field of cybersecurity is as old as the computer, but it’s only in the past decade that it went from being a periphery issue to a cornerstone of government budgets and one of the fastest-growing career fields.

The Innovative Virginia Cyber Range is Giving Students in Virginia — and Beyond — a Chance to Hone Their Cybersecurity Skills Between 2010 and 2014, the U.S.

Virginia is a national leader in the cybersecurity and technology industries, offering tech firms access to the highest concentration of tech talent and the third-largest tech industry workforce in the country.

Steve Morgan is the founder of Cybersecurity Ventures, a leading cybersecurity research company that provides data and insights on global cybercrime to C-suite executives, and editor-in-chief of Cybercrime Magazine. Before starting the company, he worked for antivirus giant McAfee Corp.

Virginia Universities' Transdisciplinary Research is Driving Digital Security Advancements The world’s increasing connectivity offers more opportunity for cybercriminals. The FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report cited a 69% increase in complaints of suspected cybercrimes.