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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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Selling Virginia Delicacies Along the Commonwealth's Tourist Trails
From fourth-generation oyster farms to award-winning distilleries, Virginia’s food and beverage trails offer a bounty for hungry travelers. Here’s how some of those businesses have benefited from being on these trails.
09.26.2022
Following The Crooked Road: A Conversation With René Rodgers
Dr. René Rodgers is head curator at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, where she leads the museum’s collections, permanent and special exhibits, and other educational programming.
Carter Family Fold, Scott County
09.26.2022
Heritage Music Shapes the Future of Southwest Virginia on The Crooked Road
As U.S. Route 58 winds west along the southern border of Virginia into the Blue Ridge Mountains, the road takes on another name — drawing on the distinctive music for which southwestern Virginia is known.
McAfee Knob, Roanoke County
09.15.2022
The Heart of the Appalachian Trail
Virginia Offers Challenge and Respite as Midpoint for Thru-Hikers It happens every spring and fall in Virginia. In the south, on the Tennessee border, they come just as the dogwoods bloom.
09.13.2022
The Story Behind an Iconic American Hike: A Conversation With Philip D'Anieri
Philip D’Anieri is a lecturer in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning, where he teaches courses on the built environment.
05.06.2022
America's Corporate Hometown
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.
04.01.2022
'We Go to Space to Improve Life on Earth': A Conversation With Peter Beck
Peter Beck is CEO, CTO, and founder of Rocket Lab, a private space company with commercial launch sites in New Zealand and Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Aurora Flight Sciences, Manassas
America's Unmanned Future
The age of autonomous vehicles has arrived. Autonomous shuttles, cars, farm equipment, mining equipment and trucks, on-highway trucks, and construction equipment will be here soon or are already commercially available.
Denbigh High School Aviation Academy, Newport News
Training Mission: Denbigh High School Aviation Academy
Denbigh High School's Aviation Academy is a Top-Flight Launch Pad for Rising Talent Attitude Equals Altitude That’s the philosophy at Denbigh High School’s Aviation Academy in Newport News in Hampton Roads, a nationally recognized STEM site designed to put no limits on how high students can soar.
Wing debuted its U.S. drone delivery trials in Christiansburg in 2019.
A Welcoming Atmosphere
With Wing, Google Pioneers Drone Delivery in Virginia On a gravel lot just off of Welcome Street in Christiansburg in Montgomery County, an array of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recharging pads is flanked by office trailers and shipping containers.
Virginia's Place in Space: A Conversation with Dale Nash
Dale Nash is CEO and executive director of Virginia Space, the owner and operator of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), at Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
SpaceX Capsule Testing NASA Langley
Lowering the (Sonic) Boom at NASA's Langley Research Center
On a bright, early morning in the Mojave Desert in November 2021, test pilot Nils Larson will climb into a 97-foot-long airplane resembling something out of “Star Wars.” The nose, from tip to the single-seat cockpit, will be as long as the rest of the aircraft.
NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Accomack County
Opening the Final Frontier at the Wallops Flight Facility
On a chilly, cloud-streaked day in February, a 133-foot-tall rocket sat on a launchpad, venting steam from its liquid oxygen tanks. With the Atlantic Ocean tumbling against a beach just a stone's throw away, a flight director counted down to liftoff.
Aeroprobe, Christiansburg
04.01.2022
Aeroprobe Sets Companies Up for Speed
Formula 1 race cars, wind turbines, NASA rockets, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) optimize performance based on how air flows around their surfaces at various speeds, altitudes, and temperatures.
Autonomous Vehicle Companies Build Foundation of Trust
When Andy Schaudt addresses an audience, he typically asks how many of them have ever ridden in an automated vehicle. At best, a smattering of hands reach skyward. He then recasts the question: How many have ever used cruise control in their cars?
Lidl, Spotsylvania County
04.01.2022
Home Away From Home
International Companies Find Advantages in Locating U.S. Headquarters in Virginia Foreign companies looking for a launching point to serve the U.S. and North American markets have many choices on where to plant their flag. Virginia has proven fruitful as that launching point for many of them.
Amazon HQ2 rendering
Innovation Lives at National Landing
New Amazonians are onboarding. Construction milestones are being met. From timelines to pipelines, Amazon’s mammoth HQ2 undertaking is on time and full speed ahead.
Factors in Corporate Headquarters Location Decisions: A Conversation With Top Site Consultants
In the competitive realm of corporate headquarters location decisions, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the way companies operate and could have major ramifications on office space moving forward.



