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.

As the world continues to struggle with drug supply chains and critical shortages, clusters of activity have emerged to move the needle of medication affordability and accessibility.

John Newby is the CEO of Virginia Bio, the nonprofit statewide trade association that serves and promotes the life sciences industry in Virginia.

Eric Arocho is associate vice president at Eli Lilly and Company and the site lead on the company’s facility in Goochland County, announced last year.

Pam Cheng is executive vice president of global operations and IT and chief sustainability officer at AstraZeneca, which recently announced a new facility in Albemarle County — the company’s first in Virginia.

Dave Maraldo is the senior vice president of Human Health Manufacturing Operations at Merck, one of the five largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world.

Merck’s expansion at its Rockingham County site, announced in late 2025, represents the continuation of a long, mutually beneficial tenure in the Commonwealth.

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.

A lot changed in Virginia’s life sciences industry in the space of about a month last fall. Between Sept. 16 and Oct. 20, biopharmaceutical manufacturing giants Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca, and Merck & Co.

Recent major biopharmaceutical manufacturing announcements are positioning Virginia for a broader reshoring effort in the pharma industry. COVID-era supply chain disruptions and resulting shortages exposed the risks of over-reliance on overseas production for essential medicines.