The Helix building will be the centerpiece of Amazon's HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington. Rendering courtesy Amazon.com Inc.
After the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020, many industries hit pause on big decisions. But it didn’t take long for Virginia’s economic development departments to perk back up.
In May 2020, Microsoft Corp. announced it would expand its presence in Reston Town Center by launching a software development and research hub, creating 1,500 jobs. And in August 2020, T-Mobile USA Inc. said it would build a call center in Henrico County, creating 500 full-time jobs and increasing the center’s employment to 1,300 total jobs. Meanwhile, in Hampton Roads, federal contractors won numerous Department of Defense contracts to build ships and submarines last year, which will create more skilled jobs over the next decade.
In the Roanoke and New River valleys, the truck building industry continued to grow. Mack Trucks began producing medium-duty trucks for the first time since 2002, rolling out of the Valley TechPark last summer. In Pulaski County, at the Volvo Trucks North America plant, a new VNR Electric truck line is set to come online this year. And at Blackburg Industrial Park, Torc Robotics said in August 2020 it would create 350 software development jobs to support the company’s work to commercialize self-driving trucks for Daimler Trucks North American LLC, its owner.
