Chesterfield Firms Part of Export Boom

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports today that exports from Virginia companies have reached an all-time high. The article mentions two Chesterfield county firms, Premier Pet Products and Filtrona Richmond, as companies benefiting from this export boom.

>>Read the Richmond Times-Dispatch article

German Automotive Supplier Will Open Facility in Chesterfield

Chesterfield Economic Development has announced that ept Automotive has leased 46,300 square feet of manufacturing space in River's Bend in Chesterfield County for a new facility to produce electrical connectors for the automotive industry.

The $5 million manufacturing operation will open in October and is expected to create more than 50 jobs during the next three years.

ept (Electronic Precision Technology) automotive is a subsidiary of ept GmbH, Peiting, Germany, located about 60 miles southwest of Munich. A global supplier to the automotive industry for integrated solutions for electrical connection technology, the firm has more than 700 employees.

Chesterfield County Launchs Citizen Wi-Fi

Chesterfield County has launched a new service called Citizen Wi-Fi. The service enables library users and people visiting several other county buildings to access the Internet through their own wireless-enabled devices, such as laptops and PDAs.

There is no charge for this service, however, customers must have their own equipment, wireless card and software. The county’s Wi-Fi access is as secure as any open public access network, such as dial-up Internet accounts or public telephones, although it is recommended that customers use an SSL-encrypted Web page prior to sending or receiving confidential data.

To access the service, customers will need a Wi-Fi compliant (802.11 b/g) device installed on their laptops or PDAs, equipped with a standard Internet browser, to access the network. The system will work with either Mac or PC computers as long as the computer or PDA is equipped with a wireless card and the appropriate software.

For more information visit the Citizen Wi-Fi web page.