THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070274
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 81 lines
Virginia emerged as one of the biggest winners in the war for migrating jobs and businesses, according to a new study by Dun & Bradstreet that was released Monday.
Virginia ranked sixth among the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in job creation and retention within its borders.
Dun & Bradstreet, a leading provider of business-to-business credit and marketing information, tracked where businesses moved - and where they had been - between 1991 and 1995. It found that more than 56,000 moved across state lines, resulting in the relocation of more than 1 million jobs during the four-year study period.
Several Southern and mid-Atlantic states landed in the top 10. Virginia gained 13,444 jobs and 397 companies from 1991 to 1995. Georgia took top honors with 35,064 new jobs and 729 new employers. Tennessee, which finished third, gained 15,990 jobs and 163 companies. Others in the region included Florida and Maryland, which finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
California and New York were the biggest losers, according to the Dun & Bradstreet study. They ranked second-to-last and last, respectively. North Carolina finished No. 14.
``We're pleased that the program and policies from recent years are bearing fruit,'' said Rick Richardson, a spokesman for the Virginia Economic Development Department.
The study shows that Virginia's job gain was consistent with some notable increases in 1993 and 1994, the first two years after the recession, and 1995, said Steven Hess, one of the study's authors.
``I think Virginia's in a unique situation,'' Hess said. ``A vast majority of the businesses are coming from Washington, D.C. It's that moving-from-the-inner-city-to-the-suburb effect.''
California, the New Jersey/New York City metropolitan area and Maryland are the main areas from which Virginia draws most relocating companies, Hess added. Manufacturing also proved to be the main industry that the mid-Atlantic states attracted.
Despite Virginia's high ranking, the study likely doesn't include three large computer chip plants - Virginia's largest economic development coups. That's because those plants are new operations. Dun & Bradstreet counted only businesses that moved, said Hess, director of analytical services.
``This is strictly relocations, which we termed business migration,'' Hess said. ``Job creation from startups or new facilities or branches are not going to be here. We also are not going to pick up business failures from this study.''
In 1995 and 1996, the Old Dominion garnered national headlines with the news that three new semiconductor plants, the ``brains'' on computer chips, would be built here. In April 1995, Motorola announced a $3 billion plant in Goochland County; IBM and Toshiba followed with an announcement in August 1995 of a $1.2 billion joint venture in Manassas. Motorola and Siemens AG struck a joint venture for another $1.5 billion plant outside Richmond in May 1996.
Although other parts of the state have earned more national press for their business expansions, Hampton Roads has been drawing its fair share.
Virginia Beach created 9,802 jobs from 1989 to 1995, according to its Economic Development Department. The city boasts 2,657 new jobs and more than $130 million in capital investment between July 1, 1995, and June 30, 1996. During that period, 19 new companies relocated to the city, and 24 companies were retained or expanded.
In 1996, the Japanese synthetic paper manufacturer YUPO Corp. committed to a $100 million investment in a paper plant in Chesapeake. Other companies like Gateway 2000 and Iceland Seafood Corp. have also relocated or expanded to Hampton Roads.
``We work hard in this industry, but we don't always have the proof to show our efforts,'' said Don Goldberg, Chesapeake's economic development director. ILLUSTRATION: [List]
Dun & Bradstreet...]
State, net jobs gained, net firms gained
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: EMPLOYMENT