This week has been a productive one for economic development in Virginia.
On Wednesday, Governor McDonnell traveled to Lynchburg to personally congratulate The Babcock & Wilcox Company and cut the ribbon on its new engineering facility. The 50,000-square-foot building will house an engineering and design team of up to 200 that is working on the new B&W mPower™ nuclear reactor.
It will be a zero-emission operation, contributing to the reduction of an estimated 57 million metric tons of CO2 during the lifetime of each reactor. In addition, the reactor’s air-cooled condenser, underground containment and small site footprint will help minimize environmental impact.
B&W’s continued innovation in the area of clean energy technologies and its efforts to reduce power plant emissions remain unprecedented in the industry. The company’s success has helped to put Virginia on the map as a center for nuclear technology.
On Thursday, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, wearing his Chief Jobs Officer hat, joined business and government officials in King William County to break ground on a 12-mile natural gas pipeline project along U.S. Route 360.
The pipeline will start at the end of the existing trunk line in Hanover County at the intersection of U.S. Route 360 and Walnut Grove Road. It will turn off of Rt. 360 at Mount Pleasant Road and end at the Nestlé Purina facility in Fontainebleu Industrial Park. Construction will begin in May and be completed by the end of the year.
The new infrastructure will allow Virginia Natural Gas to serve the County for the first time and expand Nestlé Purina’s ability to reduce emissions and improve the plant’s operating efficiency.
While neither announcement touted a new company’s entrance into Virginia, both events represent activity that is vital to the Commonwealth’s economic development success. The importance of expansions of existing Virginia companies cannot be underestimated. Their growth and success sends a powerful message to other corporate decision-makers that Virginia is a great place to do business. Last year, about 12,000 of the total 17,000 jobs announced in Virginia were created by existing Virginia companies. About 83 percent of the investment in Virginia in 2009 came from expansion projects.
And whether the project is an expansion or a new company locating in the Commonwealth, appropriate infrastructure is a must. Many industrial projects require natural gas to even consider a location during the site selection process. In the past, King William County was not considered for these projects because this kind of infrastructure was not in place. The new gas pipeline will open doors for the County to compete for a variety of projects for the first time.