Virginia Economic Review

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.

Why So Many Executives Choose Virginia for Their Corporate Headquarters The last few decades have solidified Virginia’s position as America’s hometown for corporate headquarters. In total, 580 companies have relocated to or expanded headquarters offices in Virginia in the last decade.

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?

Virginia looks to increase the availability of development-ready sites with a two-pronged approach of characterization and development, working to bring business-ready sites online with greater speed and transparency than ever before.

...and How One State Has Set Out to Tackle It The Brookings Institution recently published a troubling analysis highlighting an expanding economic divide between metro areas (especially large ones) and rural areas in the U.S., as large metro areas have enjoyed considerably faster growth than smaller metros and rural localities.

Tom Barkin is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Barkin joined the Richmond Fed in January 2018. In his time in Richmond, Barkin has taken an interest in the issues leading to a divide between urban and rural areas in the Fed’s Fifth District.

Joel Salatin is the owner and operator of Polyface Farms in Augusta County, which focuses on sustainable, environmentally friendly agriculture. He has authored 11 books, including “Salad Bar Beef,” “Pastured Poultry Profit$,” and “The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer.”

Food and beverage processors operate in an industry where even the most successful companies depend on low margins and economies of scale. That means even the smallest advantage can be a differentiating factor when locating a new facility.

From the Port to Cold Storage to Packaging, Virginia's Supply Chain Helps Feed America and the World The information age has empowered consumers to demand more from their products. Deloitte’s 2019 Future of Fresh study found that two-thirds of U.S.

It's challenging to remember a time when Virginia — the nation’s third-largest seafood-producing state — wasn’t known for its flavorful, briny oysters and succulent clams, but the late 1990s and early 2000s were a dark era for shellfish producers.

Virginia's Surging Craft Beverage Industry Virginia's first brush with alcoholic beverage production came in 1620, when English settler George Thorpe distilled the first batch of corn whiskey in what would become the United States at the Jamestown settlement near Williamsburg.