Virginia’s Center for Advanced
Manufacturing & Research
The Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor (BRIC) is a coalition of businesses dedicated to advancing Virginia’s fastest-growing region— from Danville to Martinsville to Roanoke and Blacksburg, and the counties throughout the corridor. The region is built on its rich history of manufacturing, which was battered by U.S. trade policy a generation ago.
Now, the region is back and stronger than ever, thanks to hard work, foresight, and a clear eye to the future. Today, the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor has reinvented itself as Virginia’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Research, attracting investment from around the world.
Cardinal News
Virginia announces $126 million in grants to prepare large industrial sites for new business
In Southside and Southwest Virginia, more than a dozen localities will get more than $48 million of the grants package to help develop large industrial sites to appeal to prospective new companies.
August 8th, 2024
by Matt Busse
Cardinal News
July 18th, 2024
Coalition aims to boost economy, transportation in Southwest and Southside.
by Matt Busse
For Virginia to continue growing, the Commonwealth needs to diversify its economy beyond Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads.
The Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor is home to +710,000 people.
Global companies are investing and operating facilities in the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor.
Key economic trends, such as wage growth, now outpace the rest of Virginia. (Annual Average Wage Growth: 5.7% BRIC, 4.3% VA: 2023)
Accessibility in and out of the region is vital for the industrial sites and skilled workforce, but through public investment, the infrastructure upgrades can be made.
Over 3.1 million people live within a one day’s drive, propelling the region’s ability to support new jobs.
Virginia Legislators Endorse Highway Upgrades to Break Economic Stranglehold on Region's Economy
A bipartisan group of Virginia legislators recently endorsed significantly upgrading Route 220, the weak backbone of one of Virginia's fastest-growing economic corridors, which maintains a stranglehold on the region's economy. This is preventing Virginia from seizing the opportunities of two unprecedented economic trends that are now exploding: biomedical research and a dramatic resurgence of advanced manufacturing.
“The U.S. Navy’s Advanced Training Defense Manufacturing program in Danville will soon be able to train even more students thanks to a new 100,000-square-foot facility that is breaking ground Wednesday. The groundbreaking coincides with the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research’s third ATDM summit.
The new facility, called the Regional Training Center, will train 800 to 1,000 students per year in accelerated four-month programs to help fill critical vacancies across the defense industry.”
“New migration data shows an uptick of people moving into some rural areas
Most of Virginia is seeing more people move in than move out. It’s Northern Virginia that is driving the state’s overall out-migration....Most of rural Virginia is seeing more people move in than move out. Tht runs counter to a lot of what we think but it’s true”
“Almost 20 industrial sites in Danville and Pittsylvania County are being upgraded to shovel-ready status, and these localities now have the highest number of developed industrial sites in the state, according to Virginia Economic Development Partnership qualifications.
“Southern Virginia leads the commonwealth in the number of prepared sites, one of the reasons for the success they are achieving in business attraction...this area of Virginia sees about a quarter of the state’s leads on economic development projects, said Linda Green, executive director of SVRA.”
Innovator Spotlight
Virginia Tech stands as a beacon of innovation in life sciences and biomedical research, anchored by two leading institutes.
Population Strength
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More than 710,000 people live throughout the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor—more than live in Prince William, Virginia Beach, and Loudoun. It’s even larger than Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
Additionally, 3.1 million people live within one hour’s drive—propelling the region’s ability to support new jobs.
The Corridor is roaring back to life, with more people moving in than out—outpacing Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
Institute for Advanced Learning and Research
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Some 200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Navy chose
Danville’s IALR to shape the new industry of additive
manufacturing. The center trains hundreds of workers to manufacture parts for its fleet of submarines, through military-grade 3-D printing at industrial scale. The expertise enables the U.S. Navy to protect our national security by patrolling dangerous hot spots around the world—from the South China Sea to the Suez Canal—thanks to training developed at Danville’s IALR.
It's just one example of how the Institute has become a regional catalyst for applied research, advanced learning, manufacturing advancement, and more
Virginia Tech
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Virginia Tech is one of the country’s top research universities. Its transdisciplinary approach fosters collaboration through knowledge, discovery, and expertise.
Virginia Tech invests more than $650 million in research—rising 17% in 2023 and empowering Tech to excel in each of its endeavors.
Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine is home to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke, which has quickly become a destination for world-class researchers and one of the country’s fastest growing academic biomedical research enterprises.
The facility brings together researchers, clinicians, undergraduate, and graduate students to address, advance, and develop solutions related to health and diseas
A Manufacturing Center Is Reborn
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The Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor spans from Danville-Pittsylvania, to Martinsville-Henry, to Roanoke, Blacksburg, and neighboring counties. The region fueled Virginia’s economy throughout the 20th century, thanks to quality manufacturing of textiles, furniture and other goods. But like many states in the southern U.S., the region was devastated when the North American Free Trade Agreement forced many factories to close starting in the 1990s
But the region took charge of its destiny— and turned things around. Today, the blue Ridge Innovation Corridor has roared back to life thanks to investment in a strong workforce and major building-ready industrial sites. Global companies are investing here like never before—and the region is once again Virginia’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Research.
Virginia’s Top Building-Ready Industrial Sites
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Building-ready industrial sites and vast plots of land make the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor a picturesque capital for manufacturing, development, and investment. The Corridor boasts tremendous acreage that can be configured to meet a wide range of development needs. The sites have direct access to water systems, sewer systems, electric power capacity, natural gas, existing fiberoptic networks, and are situated along existing railways and roadways.
The Corridor has extensive real estate listings that show major sites actively being marketed throughout the region.
• Rocky Mount: +40 acres
• Roanoke: +80 acres
• Franklin County: +180 acres
• Franklin County: +190 acres
And many more!
In addition to real estate opportunities, the Corridor highlights three industrial mega sites, ready for continued national and global investment. The Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill is one of the largest building-ready sites on the East Coast. The publicly owned 3,500-acre site is strategically located within one day’s drive of 60% of the U.S. population and two-thirds of the country’s industrial base. The site is situated along Route 311 and the future Danville Expressway, with direct access to the Industrial Connector Road.
Commonwealth Crossing in Martinsville-Henry is home to Press Glass of Poland, Crown Holdings (a 130-year-old company doing business in 40 countries around the world), and
the Commonwealth Centre for Advanced Training. The 726-acre park includes two pad-ready industrial sites that offer utility connections and transportation access through the Norfolk Southern Railway main line and Route 220. The site is just 30-minutes from the FedEx Mid-Atlantic Hub in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Summit View in Franklin County is 550 acres of industrial site-ready infrastructure that features in-place utilities and central location from downtown Roanoke, with proximity to the nearby air freight terminal in Greensboro.
Easier Access to Drive Economic Development
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Economic development is built on three pillars: A trained workforce, critical infrastructure, and transportation. The region’s strategic location includes more than 3.1 million people who live within an hour’s drives. This means the Corridor has access to workers and can sustain even more job growth.
The region boasts unique infrastructure assets—from the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, to the Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine, the Virginia Tech Fralin Life Sciences Institute, and many of Virginia’s state’s top site-ready manufacturing locations, all in one place.
Freight rail access is strong, with easy access to the global markets along the Norfolk Southern lines that cross directly east to the Port of Virginia. Passenger air service is anchored by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport, and freight air service is provided by the FedEx Mid-Atlantic hub in Greensboro. Highway and roadway access are built around connections to Interstate 81, Route 58, Route 29, and Route 220. But too many of these connections are outdated.
Route 220 requires immediate upgrades to bring workers in and to transport manufactured goods out to market. For the Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor to enable Virginia to thrive, upgrades to Route 220 are necessary and urgent.
