From the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Regional Tour
The Honorable Brian Ball, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade and representatives from his office and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) were hosted by the FRA for a regional tour on August 28, 2018. The day began at NSWC Dahlgren with a base overview and tour, which included a stop at the “Rail Gun” lab. From there the group traveled to the University of Mary Washington’s Stafford Campus for a lunch with local government officials, FRA board members and investors. Dr. Troy Paino, President of the University of Mary Washington and Dr. Janet Gullickson, President of Germanna Community College provided an overview of their academic programs aligned to meeting regional workforce demands. The Secretary and Stephen Moret, President of VEDP went on to give an overview of the state’s economic development priorities and answer questions from the audience. After lunch, the tour continued with a visit to GEICO’s 5,000 employee operation and then moved on to a facility tour of iDX. The day concluded with a tour and tasting at the A. Smith Bowman Distillery.
Modern Day Marine
Modern Day Marine, a trade show geared towards defense contractors and manufacturers, took place September 25-27th at Marine Corps Base Quantico. The Fredericksburg Regional Alliance was present along, with the City of Fredericksburg, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford Counties. Modern Day Marine is a premier military equipment, systems, services, and technology exposition that are visited by defense contractors from around the world.
Arlington & FRA UK Call Trip
The Fredericksburg Regional Alliance at the University of Mary Washington and Arlington County Economic Development shared a joint call trip utilizing the UK based lead generation firm, Springboard Marketing Limited. From October 8-12, the FRA and Arlington visited prospects in Cardiff, Wrexham, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cambridge, and London. Along with one on one meetings, the team had group morning breakfasts which included multiple companies every morning. In total, the FRA had over 50 meetings in the UK, and multiple prospects for the region came out of the call trip.
The purpose of the trip was to build on the joint success of Arlington and Spotsylvania’ Counties successful work on attracting Lidl’s US Headquarters and flagship distribution center.
FRA Annual Meeting
Wednesday, October 24th the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance at the University of Mary Washington hosted our 18th Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Place Fredericksburg. Linda Worrell, FRA Board Chair, welcomed over 80 investors and guests. Guest speakers included Steven Jast, President of Research on Investment, and John Loftus, Sites & Buildings Manager at Virginia Economic Development Partnership, who discussed lead generation and real estate inventory in the Fredericksburg Region and Virginia generally. The evening included networking among the investors and the reelection for new terms on the FRA Board of: Lloyd Harrison, President and CEO- Virginia Partners Bank, Michael McDermott, President and CEO- Mary Washington Healthcare, Samuel Proctor, CEO- Froehling and Robertson, and Benjamin Thompson, Land Use and Development Director- Luck Companies.
For a full list of the FRA Board of Directors, please visit our website.
Fredericksburg Baseball
Welcome to Fredericksburg, Potomac Nationals!
The City of Fredericksburg announced on Tuesday, November 13th the approval of the development and shared use agreement with the Potomac Nationals, for the team to move to the city. A $35 million stadium will be built at Celebrate Virginia South by the Potomac Nationals with the City of Fredericksburg considered a tenant, paying $1.05 million annually over 30 years. Revenue from the stadium will cover the costs for the city. The official new name for the team has yet to be announced, but it will include Fredericksburg.
First pitch for the new Fredericksburg team is set for 2020.
For more information on the new stadium and team, please visit their website.
FRA | UMW Cob Speed Networking
The Fredericksburg Regional Alliance in collaboration with the University of Mary Washington’s College of Business presented Speed Networking on November 14th in Woodard Hall. The event consisted of over 25 local professionals and UMW College of Business students paired up. Each session lasted 3 minutes before the students were instructed to move on to the next professional. The end of the night left some open time for students and professionals to network as they chose.
The FRA would like to thank all local professionals who volunteered their time for this event.
If you are interested in being on the email list of professionals for these events, please email Kellyn Staneart at [email protected].
Piovan Ribbon Cutting
Universal Dynamics (Una-Dyn) recently opened its manufacturing in Spotsylvania after moving from Woodbridge. This new facility is also the headquarters of the Pon Group in North American, the parenting company of Una-Dyn. The grand opening and ribbon cutting of the facility occurred October 4, 2018, and included industry leaders, VEDP President and CEO Stephen Moret, Spotsylvania local government officials, the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance at the University of Mary Washington. Live demonstrations of new technologies and planned tours also occurred.
