By Elizabeth Hillgrove
Gov. Bob McDonnell will be courting Dutch, German and British companies over the next week, promoting Virginia from the shores of Europe.
Officials with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) office say trade missions prove to be effective because of “overwhelming success” with international companies settling in Virginia.
Suzanne West, VEDP spokesperson, said the office doesn’t specifically quantify the results of the trade missions, but notes the reason governors continue making the trips is because international presence in Virginia keeps growing.
Right now there are more than 700 companies with foreign parent countries operating in Virginia, the majority of which are European. Virginia has seen $18.7 billion in foreign direct investment, $14 billion of which comes from European companies, cumulatively as of 2006.
This week McDonnell said he called Texas Gov. Rick Perry to congratulate him on CNBC dubbing the Lonestar state the most business friendly, but he told him he “can’t expect to hold onto that next year, we’re gonna be back.” Virginia came in second place in the CNBC national survey.
The first official European trip for McDonnell, it follows in the tradition of his predecessors. McDonnell’s wife Maureen — who has taken the Virginia wine industry under her marketing wing recently — will be accompanying her husband, touting Virginia wines in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands.
The Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng, the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore and Virginia Tourism Corporation President and CEO Alisa Bailey will join the McDonnells in promoting Virginia wines, pork, peanuts, seafood, and several other specialty food products. They’ll engage in one-on-one meetings with potential buyers and feature these Virginia products at sampling receptions.
The Republican Party of Virginia said the trade missions are sensible standard practice for Virginia governors across party lines.
“These are so routine, governors in both parties go overseas, no matter who’s in office, because it’s a fairly ecumenical effort to build up Virginia in the eyes of possible foreign business contacts,” said RPV spokesperson Garren Shipley.
The Democratic Party of Virginia could not be reached for comment.
McDonnell said he asked the General Assembly during the 2010 session for the tools to expand Virginia’s presence overseas, including establishing trade offices in China, India and the United Kingdom. He said getting Virginians “back to work” is his priority and that an influx of foreign companies could bring job creation to the Old Dominion
“We need to sell Virginia products to the world, and invite the world to invest and create jobs right here.” said McDonnell. “This trade mission is an excellent opportunity to strengthen Virginia’s relationship with European companies that already have a Virginia presence and to share Virginia’s story with prospective corporate investors.”
The governor said that international companies provided “49 percent of new capital investment of projects worked by Virginia.” European companies settled in Virginia include the United Kingdom-headquartered Rolls-Royce, the German-headquartered Volkswagen of America, Inc., and the French nuclear energy and renewable energy company of Areva.
