Virginia Economic Review

Food and beverage and pharmaceutical companies rely on Virginia’s cold chain infrastructure to succeed.

While most waterproofing products do their job entirely on the outside of a surface, Alchemco, Inc.’s products work from the inside out. The company has used VEDP’s International Trade services to pursue a similar inside-out path for its growth.

Joe Dunlap is the founder of BlueJ Advisors, a supply chain consulting firm for owners, operators, and investors. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at CBRE, where he oversaw the company’s supply chain practice, and has decades of supply chain experience with Accenture, FORTNA, Dematic, and UPS.

Stephen Edwards has served as the CEO and executive director of The Port of Virginia since 2021.

It’s not the first time Washington Dulles International Airport, having served record numbers of passengers the past two years, has eyed an expansion of its operations, infrastructure, and ultimately, air cargo volume. But this time, circumstances are different.

Sam Northington doesn’t want any military veteran to struggle like his dad did. After 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, his father retired as a master sergeant and went back to college to get his teaching credentials. “That didn’t really fit him. He never really taught,” Northington recalled.

When President Donald Trump announced in June he would “unleash drone dominance,” it’s no surprise that the Commonwealth looked to NASA and its 108-year-old Langley Research Center in Hampton for guidance.

If you imagine timelines as train tracks and key events as moments when tracks converge, this is a pivotal time for rail in Virginia.

Virginia’s transportation network faces congestion issues that come with population growth, and air travel is no exception.

With its strategic Mid-Atlantic location, deep water ports, expanding highway and rail networks, and a business-friendly environment, the Commonwealth is fast becoming a warehousing and logistics powerhouse.

As Virginia businesses build out and improve their cold chain infrastructure, they must be creative to grab a stake in the nation’s $42 billion business.

Connections are an essential foundation of business success — and businesses trust Virginia’s infrastructure to provide a multimodal transportation system that reliably connects them to suppliers, customers, and partners.

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.

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.

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.