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2005 Year in Review

Jobs and Investment are the name of the game in the Virginia’s Gateway Region.  During the past year alone, the region has added 2,400 new jobs and more than $115 million in new capital investment to strengthen and diversify the region’s economic base.  Among the companies which have moved and are expanding in the region are:

 

Company
Locality
 Jobs
Investment
StarTek Petersburg 500 $4,500,000
Goya Foods Prince George 60 $5,100,000
Reyes Holdings, LLC Prince George 120 $7,500,000
Service Center Metals Prince George 32 $28,000,000
Short Run Stamping Co., Inc. Petersburg 10 $1,000,000
McGill-Leprechaun Sussex 25 $5,000,000
Waverly Particleboard LLC Sussex 150 $450,000

 

Current national trends indicate that between 75 and 80% of all new jobs created come from existing industries, thus keeping them invested – both financially and philosophically – is a priority of the Virginia’s Gateway Region.   During the past year, one-on-one meetings were conducted with several major employers throughout the region with a primary focus on gauging the companies’ health and providing any needed workforce and/or economic development support.

 

Since April 2005, Virginia’s Gateway Region has been led by C. Renee Wyatt, who brought to her position more than 10 years experience in business development, marketing and public relations.  She brings to the organization her expertise in packaging and marketing communities.  As a testament to her leadership, during the last nine months the Gateway Region has:

 

  • Launched a new world-class website designed to provide customized data and site location tools.
  • Newly designed collateral and marketing materials, including the region’s Facts at a Glance (in multiple translations), a comprehensive “Guide to Doing Business” (print version and interactive CD) and Industry Profiles for the Metals and Distribution industries.  An electronic version of the Gateway Region’s marketing materials is available on our website at www.gatewayregion.com.           
  • Designed and distributed printed marketing materials created to highlight the assets in the region to site selection consultants and to provide a point of contact for our existing industries.
  • Developed the VGR research library complete with thousands of data points and mapping highlighting the region’s transportation network and existing economic development zones.

 

Virginia’s Gateway Region continues to actively market the region domestically and internationally at strategically selected trade shows, conferences and marketing missions. We are focused on conveying the message that the Gateway Region is rich with the business infrastructure needed for new and existing operations to flourish.  

 

A new day is dawning and this organization is poising itself to meet the challenge of enhancing lead generation, marketing the region worldwide, while promoting opportunities for new and existing businesses within the Region.   We are working diligently on behalf of our communities to provide a regional voice and to ensure a bright future and economic prosperity for all businesses within the region, and therefore, providing long-term employment opportunities for our citizens.

 

ACCOLADES

  • Ranked 19th of the nation’s 361 metropolitan statistical areas for long-term economic strength (Policom Corporation, 2004)
  • Petersburg metro area named one of the nation’s 20 best places for business and careers, rated 14th  among the 150 largest metro areas (Forbes magazine, May 2005)
  • One of America’s top 25 large metro areas for doing business, rated 23rd (Inc. magazine, May 2005)
  • A five-star metro area for logistics operations with a rank of 33 (Expansion Management and Logistics Today magazines, September 2004)
  • Ranked 11th of the nation’s top 50 metro areas for business expansions and relocations, and ranked 3rd for metros with populations between one and two million (Expansion Management, July 2004)
  • A four-star community for business quality of life (Expansion Management, May 2004)
  • One of America’s most livable communities (Partners for Livable Communities, April 2004)

                                                                                                                   

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