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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Making Up for Lost Time

When a naval ship is at sea, dozens of critical electronic systems onboard need to operate perfectly, or missions and lives could be in jeopardy. Those systems require consistent power to operate, but the power provided by the ship’s generators is often unreliable.
Will Payne
12.08.2023

Betting on Energy Innovation: A Conversation With Will Payne

Will Payne is managing partner of economic development firm Coalfield Strategies, the director of InvestSWVA, a public-private partnership aimed at attracting companies to the western portion of Virginia, and an adviser to the Energy DELTA Lab research and development facility in Wise County.
Energy DELTA Lab Data Center Energy DELTA Lab rendering
12.08.2023

A Hub for Energy Research in Southwest Virginia

His hair and mustache grayed, 74-year-old Mike Quillen is no longer flexible enough to regularly walk the mines of Southwest Virginia, where he started a career that saw him build a company that became the sixth-largest coal supplier in the world — although he does plan to be underground for his 75th birthday.
Framatome, Lynchburg
12.08.2023

State of Acceleration

After passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) three years ago got the ball rolling toward a cleaner, more productive energy future, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 2022 Energy Plan has the Commonwealth poised to meet significant needs in the future.
Oyster shucker Deborah Pratt, of Middlesex County on the Middle Peninsula, has won the National Oyster Shucking Championship Contest 11 times.

America's Seafood Leaders

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.
Michael Shaps Wineworks Michael Shaps Wineworks, Albemarle County

From Grapes and Grain to Glass

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.