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Daniel G. Jones is the economic development director
and serves as staff to the Industrial Development Authority. The IDA
meets as needed in the county administration building.
Powhatan's economy is
changing due to surrounding area's growth ... as described below.
Local economy's undergoing changes
Slowly but surely, Powhatan is undergoing a
transformation. No longer can workers count on lifetime jobs with mainstay
manufacturers, and the former banking hub is now more like a financial
byway. But as fast as those sectors decline, others are filling the gap:
high-tech manufacturers, including White Oak Semiconductor, are
producing good-paying jobs, while credit-card and insurance companies
are picking up where departed bank and brokerage headquarters left off.
Overall gains in jobs
Richmond's tobacco industry alone lost 1,000 jobs last year, while
the metropolitan area as a whole gained 12,000. And bankers are keeping
their bags packed.
At the same time, Capital One Financial Corp. and other firms in the
consumer sector surge forward, adding jobs at a booming rate. By the end
of this year, Capital One may surpass Philip Morris USA as the area's
largest employer.
But in the end, the changes more affect Richmond's reputation as a
tobacco and paper powerhouse than its economy, which has pretty much
maintained its steady course for the last few years.
Subtle' changes
"Most of the changes continue to be subtle, but the basic trend
is continued growth, and most of that on the services side," said
Christine Chmura, director of operations and senior economist at Capital
Research and Analytics in Richmond.
Perhaps the only development in the last year that can be considered
anything but subtle is Motorola Inc., or the lack thereof. The mere mention of it makes Richmonders both rejoice and cringe.
Last year, the company postponed plans for a $3 billion plant in
Goochland County that would produce new-generation memory chips.
Some Richmonders speak of the project in the present tense, others in
the past. But most continue to pin their hopes on the plant opening and
eventually employing 5,000 people as well as towing the peripheral
companies that inevitably follow. "Two and a half years ago, we had virtually no semiconductor
service side. Today, we have 65 new vendors and suppliers for White Oak,
spread out through the metropolitan area," said Gregory H.
Wingfield, president of the Greater Richmond Partnership. And as far as staffing is concerned, the Motorola stall may have
given Richmond a reprieve.
Lowest unemployment rate
Long declining unemployment rates broke records in April, which saw
the lowest unemployment rates for that month since such statistics
started being tracked statewide in 1950. Virginia also had the lowest
rate on the east coast and the fourth lowest in the country that month.
While that's good news for anyone looking for a job, it's not such
good news for companies in search of workers, and there's no relief in
sight. Tight labor markets usually mean a wage hike, and Wingfield said if
Motorola suddenly opened, Richmond would need a migration of workers
into the area to fill them. There are many local underemployed workers, though, and Wingfield
said those people are already being trained to fill high-tech jobs on
the horizon.
New companies investing in area
Perhaps other notable investments provide the best look at where
the economy is headed. Hewlett-Packard will sink $35.4 million in a new
Henrico County plant that will create more than 700 jobs; Elliptus
Software Solutions, Inc., announced plans to bring 250 jobs to
Chesterfield County and invest $50 million; and Cavalier Telephone
committed to a $50 million investment that would create 200 jobs.
The small to medium sized companies that provide services to their
larger counterparts, such as The Martin Agency and Edge Management, Inc.,
also contributed significantly to the job growth. As a whole, the
services sector grew by 4,000 jobs last year. "I like the mix of
service, manufacturing, distribution, biotech, high tech. I think we're
really the envy of a lot of communities across America," Wingfield
said.
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