REGIONAL VIEW: THE YEAR IN REVIEW eastern virginia Bigger by Elizabeth Cooper O
nline retailing giant
Amazon.com Inc. continues to expand its footprint in Virginia,
bringing 1,500 jobs total to Suffolk and Chesapeake with the construction of operations facilities in those cities. Located less than two miles apart, both facilities are slated to open this year. In Suffolk, Amazon is building a
$230 million, multistory robotics fulfill- ment center in Northgate Commerce Park. At 95 feet and five stories tall, the facility will be the state’s largest industrial building and second in overall size to the Pentagon. A thousand employees, working in conjunction with robots, will pick, pack and ship customer orders, including books, home goods and electronics. Amazon also is investing $50 million to build a 650,000-square-foot import process- ing center in Chesapeake’s Western Branch section. The first of its kind in Virginia, the processing center will employ 500 workers. Amazon is eligible for up to $250,000 in state funding for the Chesapeake project and up to $500,000 for the Suffolk project. Vinod Agarwal, an economics professor
in Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business who produces eco- nomic forecasts for the region, believes Amazon’s decision to expand into Hampton Roads will pave the way for other large companies to look twice at the region. “Since Amazon has decided to come here, it gives the signal to other busi- nesses to look at the area in a much more positive fashion.” Agarwal adds that the deal exemplifies
the benefits of working as a region to attract industries. “If Suffolk and Chesapeake had worked separately, they may not have gotten it,” he says. “This is a good sign for doing things on a regional basis.”
16 | MARCH 2021
boxes Manufacturing sector expanding in the region
In Suffolk,
Amazon.com Inc. is building what will be the state’s largest industrial building, a robotics fulfillment center.
Chesapeake Also in Chesapeake, railway equipment
manufacturer Plasser American Corp. is investing $52.6 million to add a 45,000- square-foot, three-story office building and an 82,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to its operations. The company also will renovate its existing infrastructure and add manufacturing equipment. Founded in Chesapeake in 1970, Plasser American employs more than 300 people in the city. Meanwhile, Oregon-based Total Fiber
Recovery LLC is establishing its first pulp recycling facility in Chesapeake. The $49 million project is slated to begin operations this year and is expected to create 68 jobs. The plant will annually process 300,000 tons of mixed paper and recycled fiber from local materials recovery facilities, and the resulting pulp product will be repurposed into boxes at domestic and international paper plants.
Suffolk Along with the Amazon fulfillment
center, Suffolk will be home to the first U.S. production facility for international olive oil manufacturer Acesur USA LLC. The Spanish company purchased a former furniture manufacturing facility on 10 acres of land at 1010 Obici Industrial Blvd. for $5 million to handle the bulk of its oil imports from Argentina, Australia and Spain. In addition, Acesur plans to invest
another $6 million in renovations and equipment. The facility, which will be constructed
in phases and include office space, ware- housing and production areas, is set to bring 29 jobs to Suffolk. Acesur has been producing, packaging and marketing olive oil since 1840, bottling brands such as Coosur and La Española. It exports to more than 80 countries.
Newport News
In June 2020, ship repair company S23 Holdings LLC announced that it will locate its corporate and industrial campus in Newport News. The company, whose affiliates include East Coast Repair and Fabrication (ECR), is investing $64.4 million on the project, which is expected to create 332 jobs.
ECR purchased 84 acres for the
new facility at the foot of the Monitor- Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel for $17.1 million in 2019. With the new facility, S23 and its affiliates will be the only small ship-repair company with deep- water access in Virginia. The company won a major ship repair deal with the U.S. Navy in 2020, sharing a $217 million contract with seven other local contractors.
Hampton Huntington Ingalls Industries is building
its 20-acre Unmanned Systems Center of Photo by Mark Rhodes
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