Chamber of Commerce Promotional Overview

Come See the Historic Richmond Region

Where business meets pleasure.

Selecting a place to locate your business is a complex process involving thousands of decisions. When you consider the Historic Richmond Region, though, you may find your biggest decision is surprisingly easy.

The Historic Richmond Region combines a superior business climate

Henrico County

with an unparalleled and highly sought-after quality of life. Ideally situated in the very heart of the East Coast economic corridor, the region includes Virginia’s famous capital city, Richmond, as well as the picturesque

Hanover County

counties

of

Chesterfield,

Hanover, and Henrico. Offering easy land, sea, and air access to national and

international

markets,

the

Historic Richmond Region is a prime strategic location.

Chesterfield County

Here, business is a breeze.

Business Incentives.

Lifestyle Advantages.

An educated labor force, moderate costs, a diverse and stable economy, aggressive financial incentives, and a large and varied inventory of commercial sites and buildings make the Historic Richmond Region a compelling option for you. But it’s the exceptional lifestyle you’ll find no where else that propels this area to the top of your list.

Spanning five centuries of American history, the Historic Richmond Region is a unique and perhaps unexpected mix of cultural sophistication and legendary Southern charm. Easy, fun, accessible, and affordable, the region features some of the most distinctive and best-preserved historic neighborhoods in the U.S., as well as awardwinning new communities. Excellent schools, colleges and universities, arts, entertainment, sports, and natural attractions come together to form a cosmopolitan region rooted in a rich cultural heritage—and an especially

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desirable package for families. The

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Historic Richmond Region is easy to

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love for residents and businesses alike, and an easy choice for you.

Come See the Historic Richmond Region

Where business history is made.

The Historic Richmond Region has been a thriving business location since 1607,

when the first English

explorers noted the James River rapids as a source of power. In 1611, the “Citie of Henricus” was founded as the second permanent English settlement after Jamestown, which is less than 60 miles away. The buildings and streets and homes and landscapes here have been inspired by the people who did the same for a nation.

People

like

Pocahontas,

George

Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John

State Capitol Building

Marshall, Patrick Henry, Maggie Walker, Edgar Allan Poe, “Bojangles” Robinson, James Dooley, Arthur Ashe and Harry F. Byrd.

O u t O f A m e r i c a ’s P a s t The gauntlet for the American Revolution was thrown down here when “Give me liberty or give me death!” reverberated off the walls at

James River

St. John’s Church. Thomas Jefferson designed the Virginia State Capitol, and the nearby Governor’s Mansion

Here, business is a breeze.

is the nation’s oldest continuously-

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Into the Global Future

occupied governor’s residence. That mansion was also occupied by the

Twenty-first

century

business,

nation’s first elected

too, builds on the strong founda-

African-American

tion of the Historic Richmond

governor, L. Douglas

Region. Powerhouses like Alcoa,

Wilder, in 1990.

Dominion

Resources,

Ethyl

Corporation, CSX and Circuit And of course, the Historic

City make their corporate head-

Richmond

quarters here. Internationally

Region is a living

acclaimed companies such as

memorial to a nation

Motorola, Trigon, Capital One,

riven by civil war.

Media General, Chesapeake

The Capitol Building

Corporation, and Hunton

of the Confederacy, a

and Williams repre-

pristine example of neo-

sent the diversity

classical architecture, is one of

of industries that

the area’s premiere tourist attractions.

The

molten

metal

thrive here. From

for

semiconductor man-

Confederate cannons and the first ironclads

was

poured

and

pounded at Richmond’s Tredegar

Ironworks,

the

ruins of which can be visited today.

Cobblestone

streets

serve as foundations for monuments to Civil War and Civil Rights icons alike: Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Ashe, Robinson, and Walker.

ufacturing and biotechnology research to finance, healthcare, education and law, the Historic Richmond Region is host and home to some of the world’s most important and successful businesses. It’s easy to see the future from here.

Come See the Historic Richmond Region

Where the answer is“yes.”

World-class corporations choose to do business in the Historic Richmond Region for a very simple reason: it’s easy. We work hard to make it that way; we look for ways to say “yes.”

The Business Edge We want your business, and to win it, we’ve gone to great lengths to make the Historic Richmond Region business-friendly. The City of Richmond and Chesterfield County offer state and local tax and other incentives through Enterprise Zones. There are four economic development offices to help companies with relocation and expansion.

And

our

innovative

Workforce One initiative builds a regional workforce to meet current and future employer demands and support economic growth.

In

fact,

Greater

Richmond

Partnership, Inc. was established in 1994 to market our region and facilitate businesses like yours during relocation and expansion efforts. We find ways to say yes to you, so you’ll say

Here, business is a breeze.

yes to the Historic Richmond Region.

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Inherent Benefits

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State taxes, local taxes, and sales and

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use taxes in the Historic Richmond

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Region are among the lowest in the nation. Business operation and building costs are below the U.S. average, and the cost of living is famously low for an area that offers such a sophisticated standard of living. Local government is fiscally conservative and business-oriented, as are more than 100 professional and trade associations located here.

Natural Advantages We do everything we can to accommodate business, but there are some advantages we can’t take credit for.

Our location, for instance, is one of our biggest assets. The Historic Richmond Region is literally a major crossroads, where Interstate 64 bisects Interstate 95, one of the busiest trade routes in the nation. Proximity to markets is impressive: more than 50% of the U.S. population is within 750 miles. Richmond is a hub for both UPS and Federal Express, and CSX and Amtrak provide rail freight and passenger service. The Port of Richmond Terminal provides easy access to international markets, as does Richmond International Airport, just 10 minutes from Downtown.

With features like this, it’s easy to see how business gets done.

Come See the Historic Richmond Region

Where life is beautiful.

There’s an easy way to sum up the Historic Richmond Region’s stunning success as a center of trade and commerce: companies love doing business here because their employees love living here.

Our Quality of Life The Historic Richmond Region offers all the benefits of a big city and the warmth of a small town. Traffic jams are all but foreign to us; the average commute is 22 minutes. Around every

Fan District

corner is another “pocket of discovery.”

The four seasons visit us each year, but overstay their welcome only occasionally. And the ocean, mountains, lakes, attractions and the nation’s capital are all just a few scenic miles away.

A Family Place The Richmond Region is a great place Black History Museum

Shirley Plantation

for people of all stages of life. Young families, retirees, empty-nesters, and single

people

find

the

Historic

Richmond Region ideal. Our neighborhoods are friendly and varied. Housing

Here, business is a breeze.

is

affordable

and

architecturally

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diverse. Our schools and colleges are exceptional, as is our healthcare.

Our population is culturally diverse.

From architectural gems to music festivals to whitewater rafting through Downtown, life here is a feast.

A Creative Spirit Inventive thinking and an enterprising spirit are everywhere in the Historic Richmond Region. Entrepreneurialism is alive and well and keeps our economy humming. Performing and fine arts are as integral as the James River.

Our architecture is remarkable, our thinking is sophisticated, and our imaginations are unlimited.

A m e r i c a ’s H i s t o r y There are few places in the United States that are as historically significant as the Historic Richmond Region.

That’s because our history spans five centuries. From the colonies to the Revolution,

the

Civil

War,

the

Victorian era, suffrage and civil rights, the history of the Richmond Region represents not just Virginia, not just the South, but the entire nation.

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Come see how easy it can be.

The Historic Richmond Region is a dynamic hub of national and inter-

W e ’ d L o v e To S h o w Yo u A r o u n d

national business offering a diverse and stable economic base, a prime

Once you consider what you’ve read,

location, and a quality of living that

we invite you to visit us in person, to

is second to none.

tour the area, to talk with us and our fellow business people and residents

We’ve touched on just a few broad features of the Historic Richmond

and to get a feel for who we are and what we have to offer you.

Region in this brochure, and we’ve detailed the latest demographic, oper-

Let us show you around the Historic

ational, and financial data in the

Richmond Region, where business is

insert to the right. But we’ve discov-

a breeze.

ered, in the course of helping hundreds of businesses relocate or expand here, that words cannot possibly convey the many attributes that make the Historic Richmond Region so easy to love—and such an easy choice for businesses like yours.

Here, business is a breeze.

901 East Byrd Street Suite 801 Richmond VA 23219-4070 Phone 804-643-3227 800-229-6332 Fax 804-343-7167

Here,business is a breeze.