By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Virginia has secured more than $100 billion in corporate investment commitments since January 2022.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced it during a press event at the future site of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Spotsylvania County. According to the governor’s office, that investment total exceeds the combined amount secured under the past two administrations. It includes more than 265,000 new jobs and over 15,000 new business starts across the commonwealth.
That’s about the cost of 1,200 F-35 fighter jets.
Youngkin signed Executive Order 49 at the event, making permanent the Made in Virginia Investment Accelerator, a state-led program designed to streamline site development, permitting, infrastructure planning and workforce coordination for major business projects.
The program supports companies planning to invest more than $250 million or create at least 250 new jobs in Virginia. It focuses on six key sectors: energy, data centers, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, supply chain management, and commercial aerospace and defense.
“Virginia isn’t just competing to win. Virginia is winning,” Youngkin said in a statement. He pointed to $9 billion in tax relief, regulatory reforms, and expanded infrastructure investments as key factors behind the surge in corporate interest.
The governor’s office said the investment accelerator brings together state agencies responsible for permitting, transportation, workforce training, economic development and energy planning. It is led by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Secretary of Commerce and Trade Juan Pablo Segura.
“We are setting business investment records because of the Governor’s leadership and his signal to the market that Virginia wants to partner with the business community, wants to innovate with private industry, and wants to support private investment as much as possible,” Segura said.
Partner agencies include Virginia Housing, Virginia Energy, the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The Kalahari project, which hosted the executive order signing, is expected to become the largest indoor water park on the East Coast and is one of the state’s major tourism and hospitality investments.
