Virginia Chamber Economic Summit
By: Neil Williamson, Free Enterprise Forum President
The 2024 Virginia Economic Summit and Forum on International Trade lived up to lofty expectations. On December 6th, over 500 business leaders from across the Commonwealth gathered at The Richmond Convention Center to learn business and political insights on Virginia’s business climate and economic competitiveness. This also marked the first time the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees for Virginia’s 2025 governor race addressed the same audience, albeit 5 ½ hours apart.
Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, spoke in the morning and focused her remarks on Virginia’s right-to-work status, which prohibits employers from requiring employees to belong to a union, saying that repealing the state’s law “will cost us billions in capital investments and tens of thousands of jobs.”
Representative Abigail Spanberger, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor, addressed the audience in the afternoon. In her remarks, Spanberger, who completes her third term in Congress at the end of the year, did not address Virginia’s right-to-work legislation. Her focus was on educational investment as a business priority. “Investing in our workforce shouldn’t start when someone turns 18, and I know this organization understands that.”
In a surprise appearance, Senator Tim Kaine expressed his concerns about the incoming Trump administrations tariff policies, highlighting a potential 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico which he predicted would be “very, very painful.”
Jason El Koubi, President & CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, called out three priorities that form the foundation of Virginia’s business climate:
- Raise the profile of Virginia’s powerful story
- Sustain momentum on project-ready sites investment
- Position Virginia as a Top State for Talent
El Koubi called out Virginia’s lack of promotional spending as compared with other competing state economic development offices. He specifically mentioned Michigan’s recent Pure Opportunity™ efforts including high profile college football game advertisements.
Attendees also heard perspectives on local and regional economic development, the impacts of international trade on Virginia’s economy. Strategic investment in supply chain infrastructure and economic regionalism were also discussed.
Virginia Chamber President/CEO Barry Duval received many accolades for his work as he is retiring in 2025. Duval plans to complete the upcoming Blueprint 2035 (to be released at the 2025 Economic Summit) prior to his retirement.
The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce served as a host sponsor for the Summit and Forum, which was presented by the Virginia Chamber Foundation and Virginia Economic Development Partnership.