Knob Rock, Dickenson County

Grow in Virginia

Forestry in Virginia

Virginia is located within the Southeastern “wood basket” region, which produces over 60% of the total volume of timber harvested in the country. More than half of the state – 16 million acres – is covered by forestland.

 

 

Back Of The Dragon, Tazewell County

Virginia Wood Products Companies

Wood Products Value Chain

Virginia’s wood products industry spans the entire value chain, from a thriving forestry sector to primary wood processing, engineered wood products, finished wood products manufacturing, paper and packaging manufacturing, and a growing wood byproducts industry. In this thriving ecosystem, companies have access to the suppliers, partners, and customers they need to prosper.

Sawmills

Virginia’s 150+ sawmills, which employ more than 4,100 people, produce primarily hardwood (72% in 2016). In 2019, Virginia had a total production of over a half million MCF of timber production resulting in nearly 7 billion board feet. ArborTech in Blackstone is the largest producer of southern yellow pine board footage. Virginia is the northernmost state with access to yellow pine.

Engineered wood products (mass timber)

Virginia is home to 99 companies, employing over 5,700 people, that manufacture a wide range of traditional and innovative wood products — veneer, plywood, engineered wood products, and similar products.

Finished wood products (furniture, cabinets, etc.)

Virginia is home to 450+ companies that produce finished wood products like furniture and cabinets, and employ almost 10,000 people. Historically, Virginia was part of an industry cluster that constituted a third of furniture manufacturing in the U.S. Finished wood products remain a thriving industry subsector in Virginia, as furniture companies have moved toward higher-end manufacturing.

Paper and packaging

Virginia’s 120+ paper and packaging companies, which employ almost 8,000 people, include major Fortune 500 companies like WestRock and International Paper. Several regions across Virginia have paper packaging clusters such as the Roanoke Region, Greater Richmond, and the Shenandoah Valley due to their strategic proximity to major interstates and customers.

Three Virginia Locations Serve Speyside Bourbon Cooperage

Just two years after deciding to open its first U.S. stave mill operation in Bath County, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage announced a $26 million investment to establish a new cooperage in Smyth County and invested $9 million in a new stave mill facility in Washington County.

Read the case study. 

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, Washington County

A Search for Talent Leads England Furniture to Virginia

England Furniture’s employees had been working overtime at its headquarters in Tennessee, and the management team sought a new, strategically located facility with the space and dedicated workforce to accommodate continued growth.

Read the case study.

England Furniture, Lee County

America’s Top State for Talent

Ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for education by CNBC, Virginia is home to more than 225,000 workers in the wood products industry and related occupations.

Strategic Mid-Atlantic Location

Virginia’s location offers major advantages for the wood products and related industries. Virginia is located within the Southeastern “wood basket” region, which supplies over 60% of the total volume of timber harvested in the U.S. The Commonwealth’s central position on the East Coast is ideal for import and export of wood products through The Port of Virginia and provides ready access to suppliers and to major hubs of economic activity along the Northeast corridor, across the Southeast, and throughout the Midwest.

Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth
Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth

World-Class Logistics Infrastructure

In Virginia, a modern and expanding network of roads, railways, ports, and airports allows for efficient operational logistics — domestically and internationally — and a consistent flow of cargo. Virginia’s transportation system is integrated with the Eastern United States’ vast network of highways, interstates, and double-stack freight rail. This transportation system connects several important manufacturing and population centers across the Southeast, Northeast, and nation’s Heartland with The Port of Virginia’s three deepwater marine terminals in Norfolk Harbor and two inland port locations. The port, through its $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Project, is expanding its assets, capabilities, and reach and creating one of the most advanced ports in the Western Hemisphere.

6 Major Interstates

including major North-South and East-West trucking routes

180K TEUs

of paperboard, paper, and wood pulp moved through The Port of Virginia in 2022

3,000 Miles

of railways (anchored by Class 1 railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern)

The Turman Group, Bedford
The Turman Group, Bedford

An Attractive, Stable, and Predictable Operating Environment

  • Virginia has had a stable 6% corporate income tax rate, one of the lowest in the nation, since 1972.
  • Sound economic policy and prudent financial management has earned Virginia a AAA credit rating since 1938 — longer than any other state.
  • Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state along the I-95 Corridor.
  • Virginia has the 5th-lowest private-sector unionization rate in the country at 2.4%.
  • In 2012, Virginia established an economic development incentive program created specifically to suit the unique aspects of forestry. Administered by VDACS, the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund is used by the Commonwealth in partnership with local governments to support new and expanding forestry businesses that are committed to sourcing wood products from Virginia landowners, loggers, and sawmills.