Infrastructure
With access to major road ways, railways, airports, and shipping ports, VMR is fully connected to other states and countries. With a strategic location at the midpoint of the East Coast, Virginia’s Manufacturing Region enjoys unparalleled access to major markets. Almost 40% of the U.S. population is accessible within 500 miles. The workforce draws from both Richmond-Petersburg and Virginia Beach-Norfolk metropolitan areas, and is a short drive from Washington, D.C. and Raleigh Research Triangle Park (RTP). With direct access to rail, sea and airports, the region is a prime business location for companies seeking a gateway to global markets.
The Port of Virginia, the third largest container port on the US East Coast and easily accessible via road or rail.
Ports
- Global service from more than 75 international shipping lines with 3,000 sailings annually to more than 250 ports in 100 foreign countries
- The deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast, capable of handling the largest vessels afloat and the next generation of mega ships
- Large volume cargo-containerized, breakbulk, heavy lift, roll-on/roll-off, LASH, liquid, and dry bulk facilities
- The Richmond Marine Terminal is multimodal freight and distribution center located about 60 miles north along interstate I-95.
- Service to northern Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, Iceland, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America
- Service for ocean-going vessels up to 525 feet plus and drawing up to 22 feet
- 250,000 square feet of covered warehouse capacity with 18 acres of open storage
photo: Joe Ravi (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
International Airports
Richmond International Airport
- A provider of flights to domestic destinations, and access to global destinations
- Also provides freight services
Washington-Dulles and Reagan International Airports
- Located in Northern Virginia
- These airports provide direct national and international to all destinations worldwide.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
- Domestic and International flight providers
- Used widely by UPS and FedEx
Norfolk International Airport
- Provides international and domestic flights
- Also provides freight and air express service
Domestic Airports
- Chesterfield County Airport
- Dinwiddie County Airport
- Wakefield County Airport
- Lynchburg Regional Airport
- Allen C. Perkinson Airport
- Chase City Municipal Airport
- Crewe Municipal Airport
- Emporia-Greensville Regional Airport
- Farmville Regional Airport
- Lake Country Regional Airport
- Lunenburg County Airport
- Mecklenburg-Brunswick Regional Airport
Highways
- Interstate 95: North to South from Canada to Miami
- Interstate 85: Southwest to Alabama
- Converge in Petersburg providing North-South service along the entire East Coast
- I-64: Major east-west corridors
- U.S. 460: provides access East to the Norfolk-Hampton Roads area and the Port of Virginia; West access towards Missouri
- I-295 & U.S. 288: beltway roads connect I-95 to I-64, and each to arterials
Trucking
- Over 60 trucking lines each with more than 15 trucks located in the region
- 6 of 13 transload stations are located in VMR with another nearby in Richmond
Rail
With CSX and Norfolk Southern in the region it’s easy to transport goods and machinery anywhere using rail. VMR is fortunate to have both Norfolk-Southern and E/W rail service. MAMaC offers direct access to the CSX main line via an on-site rail spur. CSX has 21,000 miles of track, access to 70 ports, and nationwide transloading and distribution services.
- Double Stack rail route provides 2-day trip from the Port of Virginia to Chicago
- Rail-sided sites available across the region
- At least six intermodal sites are positioned in the region (half of all facilities in the entire state are clustered locally)
Utilities
- The region is served by reliable Mid-Atlantic electric provider Dominion Virginia Power, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, as well as local electric cooperatives Prince George Electric Cooperative, Southside Electric Cooperative, Appalachian Power, and Central Virginia Electric Cooperative offering more personalized service in particular parts of the region, at rates often lower than the national average. Many local industrial sites have redundancy or redundancy potential, accommodating near-100% uptime for modern production and operational requirements.
- Communities work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to ensure adequate resources are available to local industry. Water and wastewater is generally provided by its corresponding local government authority. Already serving major water users, parts of the region are equipped to handle special industrial needs such as reclaimed water, spring quality, no pre-treatment, and
more. - Columbia Gas of Virginia serves the region with natural gas, drawing from a major distribution pipeline running through the region, with another pipeline project in the works by Dominion to supplement existing capacity.
- List of electricity and gas providers in VMR