Beth Danziger of NBC 12 reported yesterday about the opening of Westchester Commons at Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike later this week. Her report included an interview with Chesterfield Economic Development director Will Davis.
The Richmond-Times Dispatch had an article in the Metro Business section yesterday about the opening of Westchester Commons this week. Times-Dispatch writer Louis Llovio reports on the transition of of the area from a rural to urban area.Read the entire article on the Times-Dispatch web site >>>
When John Watkins looks out across the wide open landscape that used to be his playground, he doesn't see Westchester Commons, one of the largest retail developments in the Richmond area.
The Republican state senator from Powhatan County points over a half-built row of retail stores. "That is where my parents lived. Where I grew up."
Then he turns to another spot a few hundred yards north, this one between two buildings. "That's where my house was. Where I raised three kids," Watkins said.
The land has changed since Watkins was boy.
Acres of trees spread out as far as the eye could see back then. He and his cousins camped out in the woods and had the run of the place.
His family had owned the property since 1876. Watkins Nursery operated there before moving to Amelia County.
Now, the land has been stripped of those trees and is becoming one of the Richmond area's newest shopping centers.
Westchester Commons is the retail component of the Watkins Centre development at state Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County.
Watkins Centre was zoned in 2006 for 1.3 million square feet of retail space and 2.1 million square feet for offices on 640 acres.
The Greater Richmond Partnership has developed an online centralized career resource center, RichmondJobNet.com, organized to simplify the job search process using a comprehensive listing of area job boards, tools and tips for job seekers including resume, cover letter and interview preparation. Resources for those interested in starting their own business are available as is a comprehensive career event calendar including job fairs and educational opportunities.
Foreign-based food companies seem to have a particular taste for the Richmond area.Read the entire article on the Times-Dispatch web site. >>
Fiorucci Foods, an Italian meats company, has had a plant in Chesterfield County since the late 1980s. So has Maruchan Inc., a maker of those instant noodles that so many college students depend on for quick, inexpensive meals.
Goya Foods Inc., an international seller of Latin American cuisine, opened a $5.1 million distribution center in Prince George County in 2006 to ship some of its more than 1,500 products to markets in the Southeast, where demand for its products has been growing.
Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc., a Canadian-based company, announced plans in April to open a coffee-roasting facility in Ashland that will employ 85 people.
Last week, Sabra Dipping Co., a kosher, vegetarian food manufacturer, broke ground on a $59.3 million food-processing plant just north of Colonial Heights. Sabra is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Strauss Group, Israel's second-largest food and beverage company. The plant is expected to employ 260 people when it opens by mid-2010.
For food companies, it is often more practical and economical to manufacture products closer to their end markets, said Will Davis, Chesterfield's economic-development director.
"A $60 million investment and 260 jobs, even in an up economy, is a home run," said Pat Gottschalk, Virginia's secretary of commerce and trade. "Frankly, in a down economy, it is a grand-slam home run."
The entire Richmond area benefits from geographic advantages.
"Richmond was a very good location for us, because it is next to the port, and we import everything from Austria to Norfolk," Roos said. "It is a very central location."
The international flavor of food companies in the Richmond area was a key ingredient in attracting the region's newest maker of cultural cuisine, local economic developers said.
State and local economic development officials worked for about a year to land an investment by Sabra Dipping Co., a maker of kosher, vegetarian foods such as salads and hummus.
Construction on a $100 million, 50-acre Olympic training facility in the Waterford Business Center in Chesterfield County could begin in February.
The project at Route 288 and Powhite Parkway, announced yesterday at Chesterfield's Department of Economic Development, is the brainchild of Steve Burton, CEO and chairman of SportsQuest, a company he developed for this purpose.
The somewhat arcane but vital business of keeping you alive is thriving in Chesterfield County.
In a nondescript building off an industrial stretch of Bellwood Road between Interstate 95 and the James River, a Japanese chemical company is busy producing a fine, white powder used to test the safety of injectable medications and artificial joints.
