to a growing consensus that the Commonwealth can deliver what companies need, at the speed of business. Lilly, AstraZeneca, and Merck will bring a combined $12.5 billion in investment, 1,750 direct jobs, another 2,570 indirect jobs, and most importantly, advanced manufacturing facilities producing drugs to make Americans healthier. Lilly’s new manufacturing facility in Goochland County positions Virginia as a cornerstone of America’s domestic pharmaceutical supply chain, producing both critical cancer drug components and finished medicines. AstraZeneca is establishing two new manufacturing facilities in Albemarle County, which is the largest single manufacturing investment in the company’s history. Rounding out the trifecta, Merck, a company with an 80-year history in the Shenandoah Valley, is starting construction on a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility expansion at its Elkton site in Rockingham County. What appears as sudden success is the result of a strategy that has been years in the making in the Commonwealth. For decades,Virginia has cultivated partnerships and aligned education, workforce, research and development, sites, and logistics to the needs of an industry defined by precision, scale, and speed. Today, Virginia’s biopharma advanced manufacturing ecosystem is on fire. Lilly’s Chair and CEO David A. Ricks highlighted Virginia’s strategy in his remarks during the Lillly announcement saying, “We chose Virginia because we have learned we have reliable partners here and great people who turn commitments into results. Virginia has infrastructure, transportation networks, utilities, a digital economy to support us, and all those things are just vital to a complex operation like the one we’re setting up here. Virginia has momentum.” At the core of the strategy is Virginia’s renowned education system, where we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into education and research. Virginia has been ranked No. 1 in education for the past three consecutive years by CNBC.Virginia’s K-12 system, colleges and universities, and workforce 51 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12 VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
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