Christy Morton, senior vice president of policy and strategic partnerships at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, says economic development has changed a lot in recent years, and the state’s business community has had to adjust.
She summarized five such trends during her talk at rvatech’s recent Drive conference — labor scarcity, large project opportunities, speed to market, prioritizing energy and the decline of large office projects. She noted recently announced megaprojects in Chesterfield County from toymaker Lego Group and vertical farming company Plenty Unlimited are indicative of some of these trends.
Here’s what she said about each of them:
Labor scarcity — Before the Covid-19 pandemic, labor participation in Virginia was around 66%. That number dropped drastically during the first lockdowns and has rebounded to 64%. But Virginia has 117,000 fewer people working than before the pandemic. As a result, employers are fighting to hire qualified candidates, and…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
