Virginia Scores Three Major Acknowledgements from Site Selection Magazine

Wetzler, Germany - During his European mission, Governor Jim Gilmore today announced that Site Selection, a widely-read economic development trade magazine, ranked one of Virginia's economic development projects among the publication's highly acclaimed "Top 10 Deals of 2000." Capital One's $700 million expansion and creation of 8,000 new jobs made the top 10 list. The major financial services provider is expected to distribute these new jobs between its current Henrico County, Chesterfield County, and Fairfax County locations, and a new campus to be built in Goochland County. In addition to capturing more deals in the magazine's top 30 ranking than any other state, Virginia's state level economic development arm, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), was named Top Development Group in the same issue. In 2000, Virginia broke its all time records for announced employment and investment with $6.5 billion and 48,771 new jobs. In Site Selection's March issue, the Commonwealth ranked number one for the highest per capita job creation in the United States. 

"Virginia had a record breaking year in 2000 for announced investment and jobs and it is a great honor to be recognized by this leading economic development magazine for our successes," said Governor Gilmore. "Economic Development has been a priority of my administration and I am pleased to see these accolades for our dedicated marketing team."

Virginia also had a great showing in the "Top Deals of 2000: Very Honorable Mentions" with four projects mentioned - more than any other state. Virginia's new or expanding facilities included on the honorable mention list are:

• America Online, Prince William County: $641 million investment, 1,325 jobs
• Dominion Semiconductor, Manassas: $700 million investment, 600 jobs
• Infineon Technologies, Richmond: $1.1 billion million investment, 1,100 jobs
• U.S. Data Port, Prince William County: $1.4 billion investment 

VEDP was one of only four states that won the Top Group honor based on new capital investment and new jobs, plus per-capita capital investment and per-capita jobs. Site Selection also reviewed each nomination for evidence of new, value-adding services and programs to benefit both prospective new firms and existing companies, as well as leadership, problem-solving, innovation and cooperation. Site Selection cited such innovations as VEDP's VirginiaScan, the latest Web-enabled site search tool, as a factor contributing to Virginia's popularity among corporate site selectors.

"The Commonwealth is truly a place for business and there couldn't be a better time or place for these impressive recognitions," said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Barry E. DuVal. "Especially in light of the recent economic turndown, it is more important than ever that economic development officials aggressively recruit new companies and whole-heartedly support expanding existing Virginia businesses. Trade and investment missions, like this current European mission, are exactly the type of activities needed to continue to build interest in Virginia."

An awards ceremony will take place on May 13th at the International Development Research Council's Spring World Congress in Seattle, Washington. The Greater Richmond Partnership was also named a Top Group in this year's ranking. Read Virginia's success stories at www.siteselection.com.