The Port of Hampton Roads is an Economic Magnet

We have reported on how successful Virginia companies like Micron Technologies drive an economic engine of job creation. Not only do they create jobs and contribute new tax revenue, but they influence other economic sectors in the region.

Virginia Business Magazine shows what effects the Port of Hampton Roads expansion has had on the entire state economy.

"The expansion taking place at the Port of Virginia is the key to industrial development throughout the state," says Rob Starner, executive director for the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC), a national group devoted to industrial development and management.

Already the second busiest general cargo port on the East Coast, a new terminal in Portsmouth under construction by APM Terminals Virginia (a subsidiary of the Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk) will double cargo capacity in the next few years. Increased traffic from container ships will require support services such as warehouses, distribution centers, transportation hubs and assembly operations.

Combined with a willing workforce, our efficient port system has shipped more than $12 billion in Virginia merchandise overseas. Of the 5,700 Virginia companies that shipped goods internationally in 2004, more than 4,700 were small businesses.

We are strong not only because of our workers and infrastructure, but because of our committment to free enterprise principles. The article continues to say:

Plus, Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state in the East. "Given the labor problems they've experienced at West Coast ports, this really generates industrial activity here," adds David M. Williams [managing director for commercial and industrial brokerage with Grubb and Ellis/Harrison and Bates].

You can read more about why Right-to-Work is vital to a succesful economy here and here.