The Automotive Industry in Virginia

Liebherr USA, Newport News

Goodyear, Danville

Volvo Trucks North America, Pulaski County

Automotive Industry

Mack Trucks, Roanoke County

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Top automotive companies choose to locate or expand in Virginia for its thriving automotive ecosystem, skilled workforce, innovative culture, outstanding logistical advantages, competitive cost of doing business, and top-ranked business climate.

In the past decade, over 80 automotive projects have been announced in Virginia, representing more than 8,000 jobs and $4.5 billion in investment. These companies include truck and van manufacturers Volvo Trucks North America, Mack Trucks, and Morgan Olson; automotive parts manufacturers STS Group and IAC; and a leader in self-driving vehicle systems, Torc Robotics — an industry trailblazer with origins in Virginia.

Why Virginia?

1 Thriving Automotive Industry Ecosystem

3 Dynamic Center of Automotive Innovation

5 America’s Top State for Talent

7 Strategic Mid-Atlantic Location

9 World-Class Logistics Infrastructure

11 Robust Portfolio of Project-Ready Sites

13 Attractive, Stable, and Predictable Operating Environment

15 Exceptional Quality of Life

Thriving Automotive Industry Ecosystem Illustrative Examples A diverse, steadily growing ecosystem of automotive manufacturers, innovators, and customers already thrives in Virginia, with ready access to specialized supply chains and a strong manufacturing base. The Commonwealth’s automotive companies span the entire value chain and all major industry sub-sectors, including manufacturers of auto parts and tires, vehicle assembly operations, and suppliers of parts, materials, and subcomponents, among others. Industry leaders in Virginia include Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen, Micron, Eldor Corporation, Perrone Robotics, Tenneco, Mack Trucks, Yokohama, Goodyear, and Toray.

Dynamic Center of Automotive Innovation Virginia ranks 10th nationwide and third in the Southeast in research spending in areas relevant to automotive manufacturing. In 2021, Virginia’s public universities invested more than $400 million in automotive research. Major automotive research centers include a Federal Highway Administration Highway Research Center; the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center; the Racing College of Virginia; and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute — a renowned center for transportation research, analysis, and development. Motorsports is a major contributor to automotive innovation, which has historical and cultural roots in Virginia. VIRginia International Raceway and other facilities throughout the state serve as test sites for the automotive industry.

Torc Robotics, Montgomery County

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Torc Robotics, a Virginia-based company acquired

by Daimler Trucks in 2020, is a leader in self-driving vehicles specializing in commercializing heavy-duty, self-driving vehicle technology.

Virginia has been one of the leaders among all the states across the country when it comes to automated vehicles.

TOM McMAHON Former Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Government Relations, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), the second-largest university-level transportation institute in the U.S., is committed to finding solutions to the greatest transportation challenges facing the world. The Institute offers a number of unique infrastructure-related programs helping to define the technological innovations of tomorrow in the transportation industry, including: ■

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Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Virginia Smart Roads is a state-of-the-art, closed test-bed research facility managed

by VTTI in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation and is proving ground for new transportation technologies including commercial vehicle logistic technologies. The facility offers 2.5 miles of roads, a reconfigurable urban setting, weather towers to create a variety of conditions, and light towers to replicate most highway lighting conditions.

Virginia Automated Corridors allow the testing of any automated vehicle on Virginia roads under the guidance of VTTI.

Virginia Smart Roads at VTTI rendering

America’s Top State for Talent Ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for Education

by CNBC, Virginia is home to almost 260,000 workers in the automotive industry and related occupations. Employers can draw from the tens of thousands of skilled workers in transportation equipment manufacturing industries in Virginia, including the East Coast’s largest shipbuilding cluster, and from the thousands of service members exiting the armed services from military installations in Virginia each year. Virginia is home to excellent K-12 schools — No. 1 in the South according to WalletHub — and the No. 2 higher education system in the U.S. according to SmartAsset, ensuring a steady flow of new talent every year.

The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program — VEDP’s world-class customized talent acquisition and training solution — is available to new and expanding companies to ensure they can quickly attract and onboard high-quality employees. The program is offered at no cost to qualified companies as an incentive for job creation.

As an alternative, Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) grants are available for companies that prefer to manage their own recruitment and training.

I have worked with workforce development programs in four different states throughout the Southeast. The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program has been the most engaged that I have worked with.

STEVEN PARKER General Manager, Morgan Olson

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HOME OF THE WALK-IN STEPVAN

Morgan Olson, Pittsylvania County

Morgan Olson Steps into Southern Virginia In 2019, Morgan Olson, North America’s leading manufacturer of all-aluminum walk-in step vans, announced the transformation of a 925,000-sq.-ft. former furniture manufacturing plant in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, into a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing facility, creating 703 new jobs. The plant was operational by June 2020.

Morgan Olson received support from the Commonwealth’s world-class custom workforce

initiative, the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. The Program’s support ranged from training operators on assembly procedures to creating what is known as Morgan Olson’s Leadership Academy, an immersive program tackling topics such as emotional intelligence, A3 thinking, conflict resolution, and managing across generations. The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program enabled Morgan Olson to hire more than 700 employees in about half the originally planned time.

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Strategic Mid-Atlantic Location Virginia’s central location provides important advantages for automotive and related companies, including proximity to major clusters of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the Midwest and the Southeast, as well as access to major hubs of economic activity along the Northeast corridor, across the Southeast, and throughout the Midwest. Virginia is also ideally positioned for the export and import of automotive products.

These facilities and work environment give us not only a tremendous competitive edge to create autonomous vehicles and robotics, but also attract high-tech staff who want to be part of the historic gold rush in robotic vehicles while embracing the rich and diverse lifestyle in the heart of Virginia.

PAUL PERRONE CEO, Perrone Robotics 7

Perrone Robotics Powers Innovation in Virginia Perrone Robotics, Inc. has been refining and manufacturing its autonomous car software at its Albemarle County headquarters and test track since 2003. In addition to its turnkey solutions kits, which allow existing vehicles to be retrofitted as autonomous vehicles, the company provides services ranging from last-mile shuttles to logistics and work site operations.

Since 2003, Virginia has hosted the first FAA-approved drone delivery (Wise County, 2015) and the country’s first commercial drone delivery service (Christiansburg, 2019) and become the first state to allow unmanned personal delivery devices to operate on sidewalks, shared-use paths, and crosswalks. In 2019, during a successful three-month open-road trial in the company’s hometown of Crozet, Perrone’s Autonomous Vehicle, Neighborhood Use, or AVNU, became the first fully autonomous shuttle to operate on public streets in Virginia.

Albemarle County was a natural choice for Perrone’s headquarters and prompted the company to again select Virginia for the $3.8 million expansion of its research and development operation after a national search in 2017. VEDP supported the project’s creation of 127 new jobs through the state-funded Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP), which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs to support employee recruitment and training activities.

Nearly a century after the unmanned systems industry first took off from a Virginia runway, the Commonwealth is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and offers an environment that fosters the growth of innovators like Perrone Robotics.

Perrone Robotics, Albemarle County

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World-Class Logistics Infrastructure In Virginia, a modern and expanding network of roads, railways, ports, and airports allows for efficient operational logistics — domestically and internationally — and a consistent flow of cargo. Virginia’s transportation system is integrated with the Eastern United States’ vast network of highways, interstates, and double-stack freight rail. This transportation system connects several important manufacturing and population centers across the Southeast, Northeast, and the nation’s Heartland with The Port of Virginia’s three deepwater marine terminals in Norfolk Harbor and two inland port locations. The port, through its $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Project, is expanding its assets, capabilities, and reach and creating one of the most advanced ports in the Western Hemisphere.

2nd

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3,000 miles

300k+ tons

densest roadway and railway networks in the Southeast

major interstates, including major North-South and East-West trucking routes

of railways (anchored by Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern)

of air cargo handled annually by Washington Dulles International Airport

71

NEW JERSEY

68 70 M A R Y L A N D Baltimore

OHIO

Interstate

58

U.S. Highway

288

66 WEST VIRGINIA

79

77

SBY

Charleston

State Route

250

95

33

SHD

CHO

220

64

LWB

81

15

29

19

GSO

26

Greensboro

TYS

85

NORTH CAROLINA

77

95 ORF

58

85

40 RDU Raleigh

40

Norfolk

360

Danville

77

58

TRI

64

RIC

PHF

29

81

Bristol

TENNESSEE

40

288

501

221 23 ¡

13

Richmond

LYH

Roanoke

77

17

64

ROA

KENTUCKY

Knoxville

301

Charlottesville

60

75

DELAWARE

DCA

21 1

Railroad

64

Washington, D.C.

IAD

The Port of Virginia 64

BWI

Winchester

Commercial Airport

95

95

One of the Most Advanced Ports in the U.S.

2

auto import yards are often used by automotive carriers at the Newport News Marine Terminal

5

terminals comprise The Port of Virginia and operate on a combined 1,577 acres, including three deepwater terminals

RoRo cargo

Norfolk International Terminals and Newport News Marine Terminal are both deepwater terminals that are uniquely equipped with modern berths to handle roll-on-roll-off (RoRo) cargo

41 minutes

average turn time for motor carriers in 2022, significantly below the industry standard of 60 minutes

$1.4 billion

modernization and expansion project on track to create the deepest, widest, and safest commercial shipping channels and harbor on the East Coast Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth

Source: The Port of Virginia

Robust Portfolio of Project-Ready Sites With 300+ fully characterized sites of 25 acres or larger, dozens of certified sites, and a growing inventory of spec buildings and virtual buildings, Virginia is continuously expanding its portfolio of real estate options for the automotive industry. For large OEM projects, Virginia has two business-ready megasites, which are fully zoned and characterized with infrastructure in place or deliverable within 12 months. Companies looking for ready-built options have ample choices among the thousands of existing buildings with space for lease, representing over 20 million square feet of industrial space for lease, including more than 440 industrial buildings with 10,000 or more square feet available. Construction is underway on an additional 14.6 million square feet of industrial space.

Size and certification status of sites across Virginia

40+

sites are certified as project-ready under the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program

11

12

of Virginia’s certified parks have graded pad sites available for construction

12-18 mos. for project-ready sites to have utilities on-site and all infrastructure in place

The Southern Virginia Megasite is a large, shovel-ready, publicly owned site in Southern Virginia near Danville. The site offers numerous advantages: ■

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Southern Virginia Megasite, Pittsylvania County

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2,500+ acres of developable land (largest contiguous parcel is 2,100 acres) 200-acre graded pad, expandable to 800+ acres Infrastructure for typical large industrial projects deliverable on an aggressive schedule Dual-feed 300 MW electricity work completed Q2 2023 Class I rail line on-site (Norfolk Southern) connecting site to The Port of Virginia Planned and fully funded 2-mile industrial connector road, which will connect the site directly to the designated Interstate 785 Environmental, cultural, historical, wetlands, geotechnical studies and confirmations in place Capability of fully supporting 100% renewable energy Easy access to skilled, competitively priced labor in Danville-Greensboro areas Strong regional training assets Simple and competitive negotiations of land transactions with property under public ownership

The Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center (MAMaC) is a large, shovel-ready, publicly owned site designed to accommodate heavy industrial users. The site offers numerous advantages: ■

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Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center, Greensville County

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1,600 publicly controlled acres available for development 400-acre site, expandable to 720 acres Infrastructure for typical large industrial projects deliverable on an aggressive schedule Secured Right of Ways for Electrical and Natural Gas extensions Strategic location along Interstate 95 with interstate visibility and two interchanges Easy access to the adjacent National Gateway rail line, CSX’s primary intermodal train corridor connecting The Port of Virginia and international markets to major markets in the Midwest Easy access to The Port of Virginia by road and rail Capability of fully supporting 100% renewable energy Environmental, cultural, historical, wetlands, and geotechnical studies and confirmations in place Ability to draw competitively priced labor from the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions Simple and competitive negotiations of land transactions with property under public ownership

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Volkswagen Group of America, Fairfax County

Torc Robotics, Montgomery County

O’Sullivan Films, Inc., Winchester

Attractive, Stable, and Predictable Operating Environment Ranked one of America’s top states for business, Virginia is frequently recognized for its favorable regulatory climate and consistently rated one of the best-run states in the country. Having maintained an AAA bond rating since 1938, longer than any other state, Virginia offers a stable tax environment and competitive wages, construction costs, and industrial lease rates. Virginia also has one of the oldest right-to-work laws and 5th-lowest private-sector unionization rate in the country at 2.4%. In every region, Virginia is at low risk for natural hazards, so automotive industry operations are at low risk for disruption.

Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state along the I-95 Corridor.

Virginia has had a stable 6% corporate income tax rate, one of the lowest in the nation, since 1972.

Sound economic policy and prudent financial management has earned Virginia an AAA credit rating since 1938 — longer than any other state.

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Exceptional Quality of Life

With a competitive cost of living, a mild four-season climate, and a diverse range of natural and cultural attractions, Virginia offers an exceptional quality of life. Vibrant urban centers and picturesque small towns are alive with arts, culture, history, and stunning landscapes. Outdoor enthusiasts are within easy driving distance to the scenic shorelines of Virginia’s beaches and rivers as well as hiking trails and mountain vistas. For these reasons and many others, Forbes ranked Virginia No. 1 in the U.S. for Quality of Life.

Tinker Cliffs, Botetourt County

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The Omni Homestead Resort, Bath County

Virginia Creeper Trail, Washington County

Smith Mountain Lake, Bedford County

Carpenter Theatre, Richmond

Sandbridge, Virginia Beach

Old Town Winchester

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VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) is a multi-purpose road course that offers professional and amateur auto and motorcycle racing, drawing tens of thousands of spectators every year. VIR is a key testing facility for the automotive industry, which makes use of its uphill S-curves and sharp elevation changes.

Expertise • Collaboration • Innovation • Solutions The Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals is committed to Virginia’s economic success, and connects industry-leading businesses to the resources they need to make relocations and expansions successful.

From site selection, customized research, cost analysis, and coordination with public and private partners, to discretionary incentives and workforce solutions, VEDP’s services are tailored to companies’ unique requirements.

To learn more about VEDP’s expertise and resources, visit VEDP.org.

© August 2023