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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WCS Logistics, Frederick County
In Complete (Climate) Control
Food and beverage and pharmaceutical companies rely on Virginia’s cold chain infrastructure to succeed.
02.06.2026
Eli Lilly commits $5B to Virginia
Lilly will build a fully integrated manufacturing site in Goochland County, creating 650 jobs and enhancing the U.S. supply chain for advanced drug products.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Civica Rx expanded into Virginia in 2021, building a sterile injectable drug manufacturing facility in Petersburg. The company turned to the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program to fill approximately 300 positions.
01.05.2026
Bespoke Training for Emerging Workforce Needs
New or expanding companies want to know that they will be able to hire workers with the skills they need. While outside training providers offer established but generic faculty, facilities, and programs, in-house solutions allow for customization but require significant investment.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Civica Rx expanded into Virginia in 2021, building a sterile injectable drug manufacturing facility in Petersburg. The company turned to the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program to fill approximately 300 positions.
01.05.2026
Bespoke Training for Emerging Workforce Needs
New or expanding companies want to know that they will be able to hire workers with the skills they need. While outside training providers offer established but generic faculty, facilities, and programs, in-house solutions allow for customization but require significant investment.
A Conversation with Spencer Marsh, Chief Scientific Officer at Tiny Cargo
Are you a transplant, a boomerang, or a lifelong Virginian? What brought you to the Commonwealth in the first place? I’m a transplant — I was born in Missouri, then lived in Ohio, Georgia, and South Carolina. I attended Clemson University and, after earning my Ph.D.
The Art and Science of Commercialization
Drake Goolsby is chief commercialization officer at Luna Labs, a Charlottesville-based company that helps develop advanced technologies in biotech, advanced materials, and engineered systems for government, military, and industrial clients.
The Art and Science of Commercialization
Drake Goolsby is chief commercialization officer at Luna Labs, a Charlottesville-based company that helps develop advanced technologies in biotech, advanced materials, and engineered systems for government, military, and industrial clients.
12.09.2024
Prioritizing Productivity: A Conversation with Brett Vassey
Brett Vassey is president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA), a trade association that supports manufacturing operations across Virginia.
T.R.U. Ball/AXCEL Archery, Amherst County
Hitting a Lofty Target
Imagine using a bow and arrow to hit a target the size of a DVD that’s 70 meters away — the wingspan of two Boeing 737 airplanes side by side. That’s the challenge faced by Olympic archers. Ben Summers and his family know it well.
Haleon, Richmond
A Biopharma Booster
Like his fellow Type 1 diabetics, Alec Smith took insulin every day to regulate his blood sugar.
Rethinking the Impossible
Speed and efficiency are essential competitive edges for any manufacturing operation. Yet the growing adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques isn’t just boosting efficiency with how goods are produced — it’s changing the types of goods that can be made and where they are produced.
The LEGO Group rendering, Chesterfield County
Brick By Brick: The Lego Group Builds a Sustainable Future in Virginia
The LEGO Group’s new manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County is designed to support the company’s sustainability ambitions. From building practices to construction materials to operating functions to landscaping, the LEGO Group’s only U.S.
09.26.2023
Life Sciences & Quantum: A Faster, Safer Way to Develop Drugs
Recent moves from computer titans such as Google and IBM and pharmaceutical giants like Roche and Merck & Co., Inc. suggest drug research might prove to be among quantum computing’s first killer apps. The reasons? Time and money.
09.26.2023
Virginia Diodes Works to Fill the Terahertz Gap
Modern life is shaped by electronic devices that employ many frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, from radio and television broadcasts, to cell phone, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi signals, to visible light displays and high-frequency medical imaging.
MOOG, Galax
06.08.2022
The I-81 Corridor Manufacturing Success: I81-177 Crossroads
While many drivers along the Interstate 81 Corridor focus on the beauty of the surrounding mountains, I-81 is the backbone that connects a thriving manufacturing industry. Unlike many interstate systems, I-81 circumvents major metro areas to connect smaller and mid-size cities.
Positioned to Thrive
Medical Device Manufacturer Embody Sets Stage for International Growth For Norfolk-based Embody, Inc., the six-year process of product development, preclinical testing, and compliance hurdles to get its collagen-based tendon and ligament implant, Tapestry, into the U.S.
James Madison University
Creative Partnerships Solve Workforce Needs in the Shenandoah Valley
Partnership With JMU, BRCC Helps Merck Fill Need for HPV Vaccines In 2019, Melissa Lubin learned that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc., was competing for a billion-dollar expansion in Elkton, a town in the Shenandoah Valley.
Research Partnerships and Treatment Breakthroughs in Hampton Roads
The highly transmissible omicron variant of the novel coronavirus upended perceptions about proper mitigation. People who had been wearing fabric masks began switching over to N95 and KN95 respirators, leading to greater demand for respirators.



