COLLINSVILLE, VA – Eastman, a global specialty materials company, will invest more than $7.7 million to expand its manufacturing presence in Henry County, company and local officials announced today.

Eastman will add capacity at its Patriot Centre facilities and expand into a former furniture facility in the adjacent Bowles Industrial Park. This effort will allow the company to keep up with growing demand within its performance films, paint protection and window film products produced in Henry County and sold under Eastman’s portfolio of brands.

This expansion will create additional production space at the company’s current warehouse in the Patriot Centre, which supports an additional facility in the business park as well as the company’s production facility in Fieldale. The warehouse functions will move into the former Stanley Furniture facility in the Bowles park, which is adjacent to the Patriot Centre. Eastman will lease space in that building.

Eastman employs 776 people at its Henry County facilities. While this expansion will not immediately result in additional positions, company and local officials are confident that future job growth is possible.

“This expansion is just another example of Eastman’s commitment to growing with our customers around the world,” said Travis Smith, vice president and general manager of Eastman’s Performance Films business. “Our continued investments further solidify Eastman’s commitment to the window and paint protection films markets and to making our manufacturing site in Henry County a state-of-the-art facility that produces the world’s highest quality films products.”

Describing the upgraded Port of Virginia as the “most modern, efficient and most productive in the Western Hemisphere,” state officials, port executives and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam today announced the completed $320 million expansion of the port’s Virginia International Gateway (VIG) facility in Portsmouth.

“The completion of the VIG expansion … cements Virginia’s status as home to a world-class port,” Northam says. “That reputation will help drive economic investment and job creation across the commonwealth.”

The VIG terminal now features the largest cranes on the East Coast, four 170-foot-tall ship-to-shore cranes, which arrived at the port in the January. The project increases cargo and container capacity by expanding the berth at VIG another 800 feet to accommodate as many as three ultra-large vessels at once. The port also added 26 rail-mounted gantry cranes at the terminal, creating more room to stack and sort shipping containers.

The port system’s overall goal is to expand capacity at VIG and the port’s other major marine cargo facility, Norfolk International Terminals, by 40 percent in the next 14 months.

“Today we celebrate a major milestone in the most ambitious construction project ever undertaken at the Port of Virginia,” says Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart. The port launched the project in early 2017.

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that CNBC has named Virginia America’s “Top State for Business” in 2019. CNBC unveiled Virginia as the top state for business this morning during a live broadcast from Shenandoah River State Park, and Governor Northam was on location to discuss the announcement. The top ranking is determined by CNBC following an extensive study of all 50 states based on 64 metrics in 10 categories of competitiveness. Virginia is tied with Texas for most years named top state for business by CNBC, with wins in 2007, 2009, 2011, and now 2019.

“I am proud to bring the title of America’s top state for business back to Virginia,” said Governor Northam. “One of my primary goals has been to make Virginia the number one place to do business, and to do it in a way that benefits all Virginians and every region of the Commonwealth. This recognition underscores our work to build an inclusive and diversified economy, invest in our workforce, and create quality jobs—and is proof that companies of many different sizes and industries can find a home in Virginia.”

Since Governor Northam took office in January 2018, the Commonwealth has secured more than $18.5 billion in statewide capital investment and created 50,000 new jobs. Governor Northam has announced $2.5 billion in new capital investment in Virginia’s distressed communities, including significant projects with Volvo and Microsoft. Virginia has attracted major investments from leading companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Micron, and many other prominent businesses are choosing to deepen their roots in the Commonwealth.  

Litehouse, Inc. to invest $46 million in first East Coast production facility

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Litehouse, Inc., a leader in refrigerated salad dressings, dips, cheese, freeze dried herbs, and other innovative consumer packaged goods, will invest $46 million to acquire and expand Sky Valley Foods and establish its first East Coast production facility in the City of Danville. The company will retain the Sky Valley Foods employees and create an additional 160 new jobs over the next five years. Virginia successfully competed with Utah and South Carolina for the project.

“Litehouse’s decision to take root in the City of Danville and establish its first East Coast production facility is another great example of how Southern Virginia’s industry-responsive training programs and highly skilled workforce create an ideal environment for manufacturers to thrive,” said Governor Northam. “This flourishing company sets the bar for corporate responsibility in its industry, and we look forward to many years of shared prosperity for Litehouse, its dedicated owners-employees, and the Commonwealth.”

Litehouse, Inc. is a leader in refrigerated salad dressings, dips, cheese, freeze dried herbs and other innovative and delicious products. Founded in Hope, Idaho by the Hawkins family in 1963, Litehouse is proud to be a 100 percent employee-owned company. Each of the employee-owners is committed to providing great-tasting, high-quality food made with real ingredients and crafted with care. The company has five other manufacturing facilities in the United States located in Michigan, Utah, and Idaho. Litehouse’s award-winning products are available in North America through general retail, e-commerce, foodservice, deli, club stores, and value-added goods such as meal and salad kits.

Bryce Simmons was selected to serve as the director of the Patrick County Economic Development Authority and Geri Hazelwood was named acting county administrator in dual votes following a closed session discussion of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors on Monday.

The tally on Simmons was 4 to 1, with supervisors Rickie Fulcher, Jane Fulk, Crystal Harris and Karl Weiss supporting the selection, Hazelwood said. Lock Boyce voted against the motion.
“We had good candidates to apply for the economic development director position,” Hazelwood said, noting that when it came to a final decision, the board and the hiring committee settled on Simmons.

“As a born native of Patrick County, I am excited to return as the Economic Development Director. I believe my experience in project management, procurement and customer service as a public servant will be beneficial to the growth of Patrick County,” Simmons said. “My office will always be open to lend an ear and work towards a common goal.”

Employed by the City of Danville as Public Works Chief Engineer, Simmons officially begins his duties in Patrick on May 28.

From The Enterprise

Patrick County and the Dan River Region Collaborative (DRRC) are pleased to announce that Patrick County has been designated as a certified Work Ready Community (WRC). The nationally recognized designation by the Commonwealth of Virginia and American College Testing (ACT) will help Patrick County attract new businesses and jobs in addition to strengthening the skill sets of the region’s high school students, job seekers and incumbent workforce.

Partners like the DRRC, the West Piedmont Workforce Development Board, Patrick Henry Community College, Patrick County Public Schools and regional employers supported Patrick County’s efforts to achieve this important national certification. Some of the supportive regional employers include Ten Oaks, Narrowflex, The Results Companies and Capewell Aerial Systems, LLC. To become certified, a locality must achieve benchmarks in three areas of performance: high school graduation rate, number of National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) credentials attained in the locality and number of employers recognizing the NCRC.

“Today’s achievement by Patrick County demonstrates to our existing companies, as well as prospective employers, that we have a trainable workforce with the foundational skills to compete,” stated Dr. Julie Brown, Program Director, Dan River Region Collaborative (DRCC). “We have a significant number of localities in Southern Virginia that are certified as Work Ready Communities with more announcements on the way. When we work together as a region, great things are possible.”

While the Commonwealth has been getting a lot of attention from emerging high-tech growth sectors, Virginia hasn’t lost sight of its traditional growth industries.

Business Facilities Chief Business Officer Ted Coene presents the 2018 State of the Year Award to Stephen Moret, President and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. (Photo: Neil Eisenberg)

The State of the Year designation is based on BF’s evaluation of Virginia’s economic development strategy and the economic impact of the top projects the state secured in 2018.

“Virginia has an economic development strategy that is fully leveraging the Commonwealth’s impressive assets and producing spectacular results,” BF Editor in Chief Jack Rogers said. “VA already was home to a bevy of Fortune 500 headquarters when it landed Amazon’s HQ2. The state has invested wisely in 21st century infrastructure, supporting the nation’s leading data center hub with a robust fiber optic network, and its world-class universities are producing the talent for emerging growth sectors like cybersecurity and unmanned aerial vehicles.”

The Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition has been called the “Academy Awards of Water.”

And on Saturday, the 29th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting was held with entries from five continents making this “truly an international event,” said Robert Smith, owner of Grand Springs Water in Alton, who came home with a silver award for having the second best water in the world and the best in the United States.

The competition consists of entries in five different categories of products from around the world including Best Municipal Water, Best Bottled Water, Best Sparkling Water, Best Purified Water and Best Flavored Essence Sparkling.

The most prestigious award is to receive the Best Bottled Water in the World award.

Grand Springs Water of Alton has received this prestigious award twice in years past winning it back to back in 2008 and 2009, Smith said.

Region Recruits Companies From a Variety of Industries

The Southern Virginia region is pushing past its legacy of tobacco production and textile manufacturing to recruit a diversified group of companies.

“When the city of Danville was a mill and tobacco-processing town, we had two industries, and those got wiped out, and we got wiped out,” says Linwood Wright, a former Danville mayor who serves as a consultant to the city’s office of economic development. “Today we only have one tobacco processing plant, Japan Tobacco Inc., and it is state-of-the-art.”

Danville scored two huge economic development projects last year with Essel Propack’s expansion and PRA Group Inc.’s decision to establish a call center. The two announcements alone amounted to $46.2 million in capital investment and 545 new jobs.

The city had worked with PRA on the call center deal for some time. The Norfolk-based debt recovery company is investing $15.1 million in the call center and expects to create 500 jobs. Danville competed with several states for the project.

PRA bought an Airside Industrial Park building that had housed a Telvista call center. About 300 people lost their jobs when Telvista closed the call center in March. “PRA will pay their employees close to twice what Telvista was paying their employees,” Wright says.

Essel Propack, an India-based specialty packaging company, plans to spend $31.2 million in expanding its Danville manufacturing operations. The project will allow the company to double production at the Danville facility.

The city competed with Brazil and Argentina for the expansion project, which is expected to create 45 additional jobs. Essel Propack has more than 2,850 employees worldwide, including 252 in Danville, its only U.S. manufacturing operation.

 51,250-square-foot, $25.5 million Center to enhance Southern Virginia’s advanced manufacturing field

(DANVILLE, Va.) – The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) is pleased to announce plans to build a 51,250-square-foot Center for Manufacturing Advancement (CMA) on the IALR campus. The innovative CMA will offer a platform for leading-edge business success specifically targeted at manufacturing companies establishing or expanding their presence in Southern Virginia.

“The skill sets and demand for advanced manufacturing labor are continuously growing alongside the endless evolution of technology,” said Mark Gignac, Executive Director of IALR. “IALR has proudly championed the growth of this sector as one path toward regional economic transformation with the Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining Technology; temporary, rapid-launch space for companies to use as they build, upgrade or occupy a permanent new facility; and economic development support to help attract new manufacturers to the area to benefit from the workforce pipeline and other regional assets of Southern Virginia. This new Center for Manufacturing Advancement will allow us to continue these activities on a larger scale and to promote business success in a collaborative, innovative setting.”