Hampton Roads

With its diverse economy and the fastest-growing port on the East Coast, Hampton Roads is a region engineered for the future of global business, offering an integrated transportation network, technical innovation, and a skilled workforce.

Hampton Roads Alliance

 

 

Rudee Inlet, Virginia Beach

Key Companies in Hampton Roads

Home to rapidly growing sectors from information technology to logistics to manufacturing, Hampton Roads attracts a diverse array of companies.

Phoenix Group, Chesapeake
Phoenix Group, Chesapeake

Regional Highlights

Hampton Roads attracts and retains world-renowned businesses for many reasons. Comprising 11 diverse communities (the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, and the counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton), Hampton Roads has been a commercial and trading center since 1607. The region maintains a superior infrastructure to easily move goods between national and international markets. The Port of Virginia, offering the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast, is vital to businesses that depend on Virginia’s ports for worldwide access.

We chose to locate a new facility in Norfolk because of the thriving business climate in the city and Commonwealth. We have the opportunity to attract a diverse workforce that will make significant contributions to ADP and add value to the client experience.

Debbie Dyson Vice President of Client Experience and Continuous Improvement, ADP

Location

Hampton Roads is a global gateway that offers unparalleled connectivity. The region is home to the two highest capacity (160 terabits/second) transatlantic subsea cables in the world, and the Port of Virginia is one of the Top 6 Most Advanced Ports in the U.S.

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth
Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth

  • The two airports in Hampton Roads provide over 160 flights per day to 26 airports of which 17 are major hubs and international gateways.
  • 60% of residents work in a different city than they live, giving the region a cohesive culture and community.
  • Residents enjoy an average commute time of 24 minutes. Just 22% of the region is congested during peak commute times, compared to nearly 60% in larger cities like Los Angeles.
  • The Northeast Regional Amtrak route, which runs between Boston and multiple points in Virginia, connects the Hampton Roads area with both the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast corridor.

The Hampton Roads Region

Tech Talent Development in Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the state’s second most populous area with one of the world’s largest populations of active-duty military personnel. The region boasts the largest concentration of college students in Virginia, with more than 100,000 individuals enrolled across the region’s 33 universities, colleges, and trade schools.

Higher Education

  • Old Dominion University: The region’s leading polytechnic institution offers degrees in business analytics, cybersecurity, computer science, modeling and simulation engineering, database administration, general information technology, and more. The Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center is an enterprise research center of ODU focusing on advances in modeling and simulation, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
  • Norfolk State University: A comprehensive urban public institution, is one of the 107 historically black colleges in the United States. The Computer Engineering Technology program prepares graduates for careers in computer systems maintenance, support, and manufacturing integration.
  • Tidewater Community College: Tidewater Community College is a network of four physical locations and an online program that serves 27,000+ students annually. Providing 150+ programs, TCC offers degrees, certifications, and apprenticeship programs that build and support the local workforce. Virginia’s first registered cybersecurity apprenticeship was established by building a partnership between Tidewater Community College and Yorktown-based Peregrine Technical Solutions.
  • ECPI: As the 6th-largest producer of computer science (CIS) bachelor’s and associate degrees in the U.S., ECPI University produces a steady stream of talented graduates for Hampton Roads companies. 350 students graduate with a degree in Computer Science in Hampton Roads annually, and ECPI produces 18% of all CIS undergraduate degrees in Virginia.

K-12

  • New Horizons Regional Education Centers: Operated by the Virginia Peninsula’s school divisions as the Commonwealth’s oldest and largest multi-campus regional education organization. Within the Information Technology Program, students pursue a one- or two-year program in computer programming, CISCO networking & cybersecurity, or cybersecurity systems technology.
  • Governor’s STEM Academies: The region hosts six academies focused on educating high school students in fields including IT, computer science, and business

Workforce Training

The Applied Research Center (ARC) is the flagship research facility for the Applied Research Center Consortium, a collaboration of four Virginia colleges (Christopher Newport University, Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, and the College of William & Mary) and the Jefferson Lab. Its mission is to advance the use of processes that control energy to create and modify materials, structures, and devices for high-value-added manufacturing in aerospace, automotive, marine, and semiconductor industries.

Cape Henry Associates, Hampton Roads
Cape Henry Associates, Hampton Roads

Virginia Values Its Veterans

Home to every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, over 120,000 active-duty, reserve, and civilian personnel are located in the region. Hampton Roads is known around the world for its distinguished military presence. With a total of 15 installations, including Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base, and over 80,000 active-duty military personnel, the region has one of the largest concentrations of armed forces in the United States.

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News
Lockheed Martin, Hampton Roads
Sera Brynn, Suffolk
Virginia Beach Town Center

Jefferson Lab

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory. Scientists worldwide utilize the lab’s unique particle accelerator, known as the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), to probe the most basic building blocks of matter — helping to better understand these particles and the forces that bind them — and ultimately, the world. In addition, the lab performs advanced computing and applied research with industry and university partners.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin has 24 facilities and more than 2,500 employees in Virginia. Its Center for Innovation (the Lighthouse), located in Suffolk, provides both a physical and virtual portal into the vast network of Lockheed Martin laboratories, research centers, and engineering facilities. Designed as a 50,000-squarefoot, high-end laboratory, the Center is part of Lockheed Martin’s investment in global research and development programs and infrastructure.

Sera-Brynn

The company was founded in 2011 by former members of the U.S. intelligence community. Today, Sera-Brynn is listed as one of the world’s top-ranked cyber compliance and risk management firms. The company recently launched a new software-as-a-service offering, backed by blockchain technology, that helps organizations manage their security and regulatory compliance.

Mythics

Mythics, an Oracle systems integrator founded in the year 2000, has grown from a garage-based tech firm to a billion dollar IT powerhouse. Mythics represents a variety of Oracle product lines including cloud, software support, hardware, and engineered systems. In 2017, Mythics moved its headquarters to a penthouse suite in Virginia Beach’s Town Center. The 39,000 SF office space allowed them to add 30 employees to their existing team of over 200 FTEs.

Living in Hampton Roads

A region of sunshine, beaches, arts, and sports, Hampton Roads is the perfect place to live, work, and play. The water defines the region’s sense of place, offering nearly 3,000 miles of shoreline and outdoor activities like surfing, fishing, and boating for every weekend warrior.

Comprised of 17 diverse localities, each community has its own unique identity and culture. From the bustling metropolitan core of Norfolk, to the sunny oceanfront of Virginia Beach, the rolling farms of Suffolk, and the rich history of Yorktown, every lifestyle can be found here. Diverse living options are abundant with housing that averages 3% less than the national average.

Between the New York Times-recognized Chrysler Museum, the ever-changing exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), two thriving art districts — the Vibe District in Virginia Beach and the NEON District in Norfolk, there is no shortage of cultural opportunities in Hampton Roads.

The region has a growing music scene with festivals, local, and national acts performing across all genres. Every summer, the American Music Festival brings together the largest outdoor music crowd on the East Coast at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. The many live entertainment venues include the Hampton Coliseum, Ferguson Center for the Arts, Norfolk Scope, the NorVa, Harrison Opera House, Sandler Center, and Portsmouth Pavilion.

Virginia Beach Boardwalk
Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News