• Employs more than 26,600 people at 190 firms
  
  
• Benefits from key military bases in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia
  
  
• Virginia ranks first in the nation for U.S. Department of Defense Prime Contracts ($54.7 billion in FY 2010)
  
  
• Benefits from R&D assets such as DARPA and the National Institute of Aerospace

• Location of NASA Langley Research Center and NASA Wallops Flight Facility
  
  
• Is the location of Rolls-Royce's new Crosspointe production facility
  
  
• Home to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
  
  
• Has a direct economic output of $5.8 billion
  
  
• Central location on the Atlantic Coast provides interstate and rail access to the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest
  
  
• Access to international markets provided by the Port of Hampton Roads and Washington-Dulles International Airport
  
  

• Worker's compensation and unemployment insurance payroll expenses are consistently among the lowest in the nation
  
  
• 6% corporate income tax accounts for less than 10% of total state tax revenues and has not changed in over thirty years
  
  
• Manufacturers receive broad sales tax exemptions for purchases of machinery, tools, replacement parts and raw materials used in the production process, as well as all utilities delivered through pipes, mains, and lines for all purposes
  
  
• Virginia does not tax accounts receivable, inventory, computer software or other intangibles, and does not levy a license tax on gross receipts
  
  
• The primary local taxes apply to real estate and machinery and equipment
  
  
• There are no school taxes in Virginia
  
  
• Virginia has extremely reliable electric service at very competitive rates—average cost per unit of electricity for the industrial sector is 6.13 cents in Virginia, compared to 6.68 cents for the nation
  
  
• Unsurpassed quality of life—health care, educational and recreational benefits for families rank among the finest available anywhere in the United States
  
  

• Two of the nation's largest railroads, CSX Corporation and Norfolk Southern Corporation, have extensive infrastructure throughout the State
  
  
• Fourteen railroads operate on more than 3,500 miles of railway in Virginia, of which 3,147 miles are Class I—one of the strongest rail networks in the nation
  
  
• Six interstate highways and direct, double-stacked rail connections provide quick access to Northeast, Southeast and Midwest markets
  
  
• 14 commercial airports serve the Commonwealth, including two of the nation's largest, Washington Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington National
  
  
• The Port of Virginia is one of the three largest container ports on the U.S. East Coast and a leading gateway for the entire U.S. market. The Port boasts the single best infrastructure on the East Coast with a 50-foot ice free channel, no overhead obstructions, on-dock rail service (two Tier 1 railroads) and easy access to ocean lanes. Home to the largest, most efficient cranes in the world, the Port of Virginia is the only marine terminal capable of handling the ships of tomorrow
  
  
• The Port links directly to 80+ foreign ports and reaches 200+ countries, boasting 22-day transit from Asia
  
  

• Aviation Maintenance Technology

• CAD/CAM
  
  
• Engineering Technology
  
  
• Industrial Electronics
  
  
• Industrial Production
  
  
• Industrial Technology
  
  
• Mechanical Engineering Technologies
  
  
• Welding

In Hampton Roads, The City of Newport News offers an aviation magnet school program to its high school students.  The Aviation Academy is a specialized four-year program to prepare highly motivated and successful high school students for careers in engineering technology with an emphasis on aviation and computers.  Aviation classes cover pre-engineering subjects: physics, electricity, materials, fluids, pneumatics, and aircraft design.  Students earn college credit for some of their classes.

• Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing

• Commonwealth Center for Aerospace Propulsion Systems

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

• Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

• NASA Langley Research Center

• NASA Wallops Flight Facility

• National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion

• National Institute of Aerospace

• Old Dominion University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center

• University of Virginia
• Aerospace Research Laboratory
• Rotating Machinery and Controls Laboratory


• Virginia Tech’s Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering

• Virginia Space Grant Consortium
  
  

• Over 16,000 people exit the U.S. military from bases in Virginia each year
  

• The Pentagon
  
  
• Central Intelligence Agency
  
  
• Department of Homeland Security
  
  
• Defense Technical Information Center
  
  
• Fort Belvoir
  
  
• Fort Eustis
  
  
• Fort Lee
  
  
• Langley Air Force Base
  
  
• Marine Corps Base Quantico
  
  
• Missile Defense Agency
  
  
• National Ground Intelligence Center
  
  
• National Reconnaissance Office
  
  
• Naval Air Station, Oceana
  
  
• Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren
  
  
• Navy Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force
  
  
• Norfolk Naval Base
  
  
• Office of Naval Research
  
  
• Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command

Virginia's Skilled Workforce