will always be consistent,” he says. This stability enables
companies to accurately forecast their costs from one year
to the next, he adds.
Certainly, no state has the perfect business recipe, and
Virginia has its share of challenges. Companies struggle
with the fierce road congestion in the northern part of the
state. Unlike the Port of New York/New Jersey or the Port
of Miami, the Port of Virginia lacks proximity to a major
consumer base.
Furthermore, Virginia has to compete against the more
aggressive incentive packages developed by its southern
neighbors. “It’s a very competitive market,” says Levy.
“There are states that will provide very attractive incentives
to the point where they will provide free land, they will provide all sorts of tax credits, and they will provide, in some
cases, cash and, in a few cases, even build the facility for
you.” In spite of these challenges, Levy says, Virginia holds
its own because of its innate advantages in geographic location, infrastructure, and labor.
“Our population is continuing to grow, and our economy is continuing to grow,” says McClintock of the state’s
Economic Development Partnership. “That shows the
environment is still conducive to business and development, and therefore, we are still considered vibrant and
relevant.”
according to McClintock.
VIRGINIA IS READY TO WORK
Companies like Vitamin Shoppe are finding that Virginia
doesn’t just offer the physical infrastructure to support a
distribution center; it can also provide the workers needed
to staff that DC. “The Ashland area has been very welcoming … and we have been able to find many skilled, qualified
candidates to join our team,” reports Tannenbaum.
Overall, the labor force in Virginia is growing at a rate
that’s twice the national average, according to the Virginia
Economic Development Partnership. In the logistics and
distribution sector alone, Virginia employs 68,500 people.
Every region of Virginia is served by community colleges,
some of which offer truck driving schools, forklift driving
academies, and warehouse management system training.
In addition, Virginia boasts a network of universities that
provide logistics-focused research and education. Old
Dominion University, located in Norfolk, is known for its
Maritime Institute, which provides maritime, port, and
logistics management education, training, and research.
The recently formed Commonwealth Center for Advanced
Logistics Systems connects local businesses seeking help
resolving logistics problems with students and professors
at the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth
University, Virginia State University, and Longwood
University.
The labor market also benefits from the strong military
presence in the state. According to McClintock, 23,000
people a year are being discharged from the military and
are looking for work in industry. Many of these veterans
possess significant logistics skills because Fort Lee in central
Virginia is the Army Sustainment Center of Excellence,
a focused training base for military supply, subsistence,
maintenance, munitions, and transportation. In addition,
the base is home to the U.S. Army Logistics University
and the U.S. Army Transportation School. “The military
is a constant feeder to our labor force of educated, highly
skilled, highly disciplined people who are ready to go to
work,” says Held.
On top of that, Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state on the East Coast, meaning that workers cannot
be required to join a labor union in order to be employed,
and its Jobs Investment Program provides companies with
state-funded grants for job training.
A RECEPTIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE
The jobs training program and right-to-work status reflect
the state’s business-friendly environment. “It’s very easy
to do business in Virginia in terms of dealing with elected
officials, getting economic incentive packages approved,
and getting permits fast-tracked,” says JLL’s Levy. “Virginia
has a very pro-business approach.”
The state also offers a competitive tax structure,
McClintock says. “We’ll never be the lowest, but our taxes
