Gov. Bob McDonnell is continuing his quick four-day job creation mission to Ireland and Great Britain today with a series of meetings at the Farnborough Airshow.
While at the airshow, McDonnell is promoting Virginia’s aerospace industry and locations statewide, including the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Prince George County. In 2011 the governor released a new study that found Virginia’s aerospace industry contributed $7.6 billion per year to the economy of Virginia and supported 28,110 jobs in 2009 through direct impacts and ripple effects. Aerospace directly employed 9,029 workers and created $4.3 billion in annual economic output in 2009.
Earlier in the week, McDonnell spent two days in Ireland where he met privately with Taioseach Enda Kenny, the Prime Minister of Ireland and held a breakfast with the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. The governor leads two to three overseas missions a year, and this is his final economic development mission this year.
“States are competing against each other and the world for job-creation and economic development opportunities. I want more markets opened up to Virginia goods, and I want more overseas companies setting up shop in Virginia,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell first attended the Farnborough Airshow in 2010, and in 2011 attended the Paris Airshow. The following six companies joined CCAM as a result of meeting with the governor at previous airshows: SIEMENS (Germany); Sulzer Metco Management (Switzerland); Northrop Grumman/NNSB (USA); Chromalloy (USA); Sandvik (Sweden); Aerojet (USA); and, Rolls-Royce (UK).
In addition, as a result of meetings the Governor held at the 2010 airshow, DRS Technologies, Inc. will be relocating its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Arlington County, bringing $10 million of capital investment to the region.
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