Look for Northern Virginia's connections to the federal government to attract large aerospace companies and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area to reel in activity associated with the mammoth seaport at the Port of Virginia.

Target Corp. is investing $65 million in a new 162-acre East Coast import warehouse in Suffolk. The investment will allow Target to hire 250 employees initially and another 250 within three years for the 1.5 million square foot facility. Virginia successfully competed with Georgia and South Carolina for the project.

"Target and the Port of Virginia enjoy a significant level of business that will enhance Target's overall global supply chain method," said J. Robert Bray, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.

Wal-Mart found advantages to locate a food distribution center in Louisa County, between Richmond and Charlottesville. Construction on the 880,000 square foot facility began in spring 2002, with planned service to stores expected in spring 2003. Virginia successfully competed with Maryland for the $40 million investment. About 400 people are expected to begin work there this fall, with the total work force growing to 600 within three years.

"The Louisa County food distribution center will provide Wal-Mart the opportunity to better serve the growing number of customers who shop for groceries at our stores in the eastern United States," said Rollin Ford, senior vice president of logistics for Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. operates 68 Wal-Mart stores and Wal-Mart Supercenters, 10 SAM's Clubs and two distribution centers in Virginia, employing 26,747 associates.

Turning to automotive, Ford Motor Co. has found a home in Norfolk, where it recently announced the expansion of its assembly plant there with the addition of a 350,000 square foot body shop. This expansion will generate up to 200 new jobs over the current employment level of 2,400. During the next three years, Ford will invest about $375 million to expand the Norfolk facility, which assembles the F-150 pickup trucks.

IT and Electronics

While markets for electronics and components, IT, nanotechnology, semiconductors, software development and telecommunications have been soft nationally, Virginia's Micron facility in Manassas just announced a new pilot line for 300mm wafers.

The Virginia Microelectronics Consortium has played a big role in this industry. The microelectronics-related research activities of Virginia's institutions of higher learning include efforts in the following areas: synthesis and manufacturing of semiconductor and packaging materials, microelectronic circuit design, microelectronic device fabrication, circuit testing/ device characterization, reliability modeling, photonics, millimeter/ microwave technology and communications.

Comcast Cable Communications of Philadelphia has announced plans to invest $21.5 million in Prince William County in the Innovation@Prince William Business Park. The company's new 100,000 square foot facility will serve as a Comcast Technology Support Center. Virginia successfully competed with Maryland and Michigan for the project.

Comcast Cable, the third largest cable company in the United States, serves more than 1.5 million customers in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

"After an extensive multi-state search, Comcast selected Prince William County for multiple reasons," said Jaye Gamble, regional vice president for Comcast's Washington Metro/Virginia Region. "We were most impressed with the commitment from the county and the state to this project. The commitment to reduce costs and provide rapid review and approval of the tenant improvement plans reflects the county's favorable business environment."

Primary Industries

The Commonwealth draws economic strength from the host of manufacturers involved in primary industries, such as fabricated metal products, food processing and beverages, furniture and fixtures, natural resources and mining, paper processing, plastics and rubber, printing and publishing, steel, and wood products.

When Frito-Lay decided to undergo an expansion, it chose to invest $30 million and 100 new jobs in two additional product lines at its Lynchburg facility.

"Lynchburg has provided us with great opportunities to maintain our successful operation and we continue to grow," said Barbara Buchanan, region vice president of Frito-Lay. "We're delighted to expand our Lynchburg facility and continue providing the region with [our] snack."

The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide work force training services.

Plastics manufacturers find Virginia attractive since the commonwealth offers a large concentration of automotive, electronics, aerospace, food processing and biomedical manufacturers.

Plastics manufacturers are located throughout the state. Yupo Corp. America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oji-Yuka Synthetic Paper Co. Ltd. of Japan, chose to locate in Chesapeake primarily because Mitsubishi Chemicals is next door.

"We looked at sites throughout the U.S. East Coast," said Paul A. Mitcham, national marketing manager for Yupo.

EsselPropack America LLC, the world's largest laminated and plastic tube manufacturer, chose the Danville region for its first U.S. manufacturing facility. Danville's region of Southside has been particularly hit hard by downturns in the textile and furniture industries.

"We selected Danville because the area offers adequate industrial infrastructure, a skilled work force, a quality education system to train our employees, excellent transportation access, and significant cost benefits," said Manuel Diez, manager of EsselPropack America LLC. The company, which is headquartered in India, plans to create 81 new jobs through a $21 million investment.

Virginia successfully competed with North Carolina for the investment.

Bioscience and Services

Bioscience and services - ranging from alternative energy, call centers, headquarters, medical devices, pharmaceutical and photonics - abound throughout the state.

In May, Eli Lilly and Co. announced plans to invest $425 million in a new insulin manufacturing facility in Prince William County. A new 600,000 square foot facility will formulate, fill and package Humalog(r) and Humulin(r), Lilly's biotechnology products used worldwide in the treatment of diabetes. The project will create more than 700 high-tech jobs.

Virginia successfully competed with North Carolina and South Carolina for the project.

"We felt it was important to geographically diversify our insulin manufacturing sites," said Sidney Taurel, chairman, president and CEO of Eli Lilly. "As we reviewed possible locations, we concluded that Prince William County offered the best trade-off between cost of operations, quality of life and the ability to attract and retain a skilled work force."

The new facility will allow Lilly to diversify its current insulin manufacturing locations, while providing additional manufacturing capacity for both existing and potentially new diabetes products.

Karen E. Thuermer is a freelance business writer from Alexandria, Va.