Global Shipping Container Company Announces Virginia Expansion

A global shipping container company announced plans to expand its headquarters in Virginia with a $30 million investment.

ZIM American Integrated Shipping Services Company, a subsidiary of the publicly held international cargo shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd, based in Israel, chose the Hampton Roads region to relocate and expand its U.S. headquarters.

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Gov. Youngkin Announces Famed Fireworks Maker Pyrotechnique by Grucci Expansion in Virginia

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the commonwealth beat out New York in a bid for a new location of a sixth-generation pyrotechnic company that contracts with the Department of Defense to expand in Pulaski County.

The New York-based Fireworks by Grucci, has an existing presence in the commonwealth through its manufacturing arm, Pyrotechnique by Grucci. The former is an American company that has supplied thousands of celebrations with its pyrotechnic arts since 1850, notably eight presidential inaugurations and four Olympic Games.

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Virginia Companies, Research Universities Get $1.5 Million in Tech Grants

Rotunda at University of Virginia

Virginia companies and research universities will receive more than $1.5 million to fund 24 technology-related projects in the commonwealth.

The technology funding will be awarded through the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation’s Commonwealth Commercialization Fund. The program was launched in 2020 to promote technologies that could yield more economic development and job creation in the state, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office.

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Virginia Gov-Elect Youngkin Taps His Nonprofit’s CEO Caren Merrick to Serve as State Sec of Commerce and Trade

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has tapped Caren Merrick to be his Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Merrick currently helms Youngkin’s non-profit VA Ready, which Youngkin started in June 2020, a month before announcing his departure from the Carlyle Group.

“Virginia’s jobs machine has stalled out, and Caren is going to play a pivotal role on the team that will jumpstart our economy and reinvigorate job growth here in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a Tuesday press release. “Caren is an innovator, a business builder, and a true leader in workforce development—the kind of experience needed to develop talent, train workers, attract investment, and make Virginia the best state to start a business as we set out to add 400,000 jobs and launch 10,000 startups.

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New Virginia Gov. Youngkin Announces More Transition Officials

Glenn Youngkin announced a 113-member list of legislators, law enforcement, business owners, and Republican Party of Virginia officials that will be part of his transition “landing teams” — separate from the transition steering committee he announced earlier in November. The teams will coordinate with Governor Ralph Northam’s cabinet.

“In order to change the trajectory of our great Commonwealth, our transition team is utilizing the vast experience of business owners, law enforcement officials, veterans, healthcare providers, industry experts, and—most importantly—parents to determine how government can begin to serve Virginians better and start delivering on our Day One promises of better schools, safer streets, a lower cost of living, and more jobs,” Youngkin said in a Wednesday press release.

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