Category: Economic development
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The Costs of Avoidable Hospital Visits in Virginia and a Proven Solution
by James C. Sherlock I have written often of the costs of (1) avoidable emergency care and (2) avoidable hospital admissions for chronic diseases. Each type of excess costs could be prevented by timely visits to primary care practitioners and following their prescriptions for treatment. The avoidable costs are largely paid by Virginia’s Medicaid program…
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Portsmouth: Chaos + Casino = Chaos
by James C. Sherlock Portsmouth has a lot of problems. Look for them to get worse in February when its new casino is scheduled to open. A key thing you need to know about the casino is that it is the realization of Louise Lucas’ vision. Senator Lucas has spent 22 years promoting a casino…
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More Solar Generation Approved
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Charlotte County Board of Supervisors has approved the development of the largest solar project in the Commonwealth and one of the largest east of the Mississippi River. As reported by the News & Record, the 800-megawatt Randolph Project, debated by the board for almost a year, will occupy approximately 6,000 acres. …
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“Richmond Real” and the City’s Limited Pool Hours for Kids
by James C. Sherlock On June 9, the Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) offered a story on Mayor Stoney’s new slogan for the City of Richmond: “Richmond Real.” The RTD piece offered a positive account of the new marketing slogan devised under what Richmond Free Press (RFP) has called a “secretive” project led by the West…
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Virginia Strategic Imperatives: Train and Retain More Teachers and Nurses
by James C. Sherlock Governor Glenn Youngkin wants to make a lasting difference in Virginia. He wants to leave it better than he found it. In the years I have been writing about healthcare and education in Virginia, there is a recurring theme in both fields: not enough practitioners; specifically, registered nurses and teachers. I…
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Highest Need Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Without adequate primary medical, dental and mental health care, people cannot function properly. They often go through life sick and untreated. By “sick” in this case I refer to less well than achievable with proper primary care. Just because there is adequate access to primary care in a particular area does…
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How Many Pieces Did You Say It Will Take To Build This Plant?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There is more good news for the Commonwealth. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Governor Youngkin announced on Wednesday that the Lego Group will invest at least $1 billion to build a new manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County. It would be Lego’s only manufacturing facility in the United States. The company projected…
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Time to Play Hardball
by Carol A.O. Wolf The recent dust-up concerning the fate of the Arthur Ash Jr. Athletic Center is, in the words of the great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, “déjà vu all over again.” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney is once again pitching a big can’t-lose — this time promising a brand new mini-city complete with state-of-the-art…
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Commonwealth Set for Major Broadband Expansion
by Dick Hall-Sizemore One of the issues underlined by the pandemic was the need for all areas of the state to have access to broadband internet. Without access to broadband, kids (and adults) in rural areas cannot take advantage of courses offered online. To the extent that more people will be working remotely, rural areas…
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Virginia Snags Another Fortune 500 H.Q.
by James A. Bacon Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Technologies has announced that it will establish its global headquarters in Arlington. Following the recent decision of The Boeing Company to relocate its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, the move cements Northern Virginia’s standing as the leading defense/aerospace cluster in the United States. “The location increases agility in…
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Virginia’s Economic Recovery Among Weakest in the Nation… Says Virginia’s Top Economic Developer
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin, Republicans, and other critics of the previous governor’s economic policies are not the only ones who are worried about Virginia’s slow rate of economic growth. Jason El Koubi, CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, finds the Old Dominion’s lagging economic performance to be troubling, too. Virginia currently…
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Why Not Virginia for Semiconductor Manufacturing Expansion?
by James C. Sherlock Among the things that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made clear is the vulnerability of Taiwan and with it, the access of the U.S. economy to the 90% of advanced computer chips manufactured there. The national security requirement for domestic chip manufacturing brings opportunity. It is the nation’s most urgent…
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The Boeing Announcement Is a Vote of Confidence in Virginia
by James A. Bacon The Boeing Company’s decision to transfer its official headquarters location from Chicago, Ill., to Arlington gives Virginia significant bragging rights. The move will have little detectable short-term economic impact. The more consequential news is a promise to “develop a research & technology hub” in the area “to harness and attract engineering…
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Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouths
by Dick Hall-Sizemore While perusing today’s edition of the Roanoke Times, I ran across an article that astounded me. It concerned a meeting recently in Southwest Virginia about the Coalfields Expressway. I remembered hearing about this proposed highway many, many years ago and thought that it had been dismissed as a pipe dream. It turns…
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Planning for Telecommuting’s Effects on Virginia
By James C. Sherlock I think that we don’t yet realize the full impact of the revolution being wrought by the telecommuting that accelerated during COVID. I am sure I don’t. But Virginians, and our state and local governments, must try to figure it out. We are moving towards a world in which white collar…