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Glenn Youngkin’s $156 Billion Legacy

During Glenn Youngkin’s term as Governor of Virginia, CEOs committed $156 billion of investment to the Commonwealth – more than the previous six gubernatorial administrations combined.

As he prepares to leave office, we spoke with Youngkin about how he pulled it off.

A key life sciences competitor Virginia had to beat: its southern neighbor, North Carolina.

  • “In North Carolina, they’ve got everything,” Jay Biggins, a veteran site selector whose firm works with Eli Lilly, told me this Fall.

North Carolina had a record-breaking year of wins, capped by Novartis announcing a flagship manufacturing hub just last month.

  • That success has stretched the supply of construction, labor, and sites, Biggins says, which has led some companies to examine other markets with the "starter ingredients” to become emerging life sciences clusters.

Beyond the press releases, the eye-popping figures, and the groundbreaking ceremonies, the life sciences cluster being formed in Virginia will have real life impact for decades to come.

Biggins gave us a glimpse into the future:

  • “You think of those three dots where those companies are – the region between them will start filling in with employees working within reasonable commuting distance of at least two of them, if not all three.
  • If you’re moving a family to take a job, you want mobility to take other jobs without moving your family again.”
  • “Those are reasons why clusters are so powerful.

Jay Biggins

Executive Managing Director

Jay is the Executive Managing Director at Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co., one of the most highly regarded site selection and incentives advisory firms in North America. BLS & Co. helps manage the complexities associated with finding optimal locations and securing incentives to support new ventures.

Source:
Standard & Works
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