Take pride, Virginians, we are home to 30 of the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies in the United States.
Surprisingly, Richmond is tied with Northern Virginia, with 12 each. (Huzzahs for my home town!) On a per capita basis, Richmond is a real stand-out. Hampton Roads has three Fortune 1000 companies, Smithfield one and Roanoke one. But my sentimental favorite is Abingdon, home to Alpha Natural Resources, a coal mining giant formed only a couple of years ago.
Peruse the list here.
(comments below)
There are a few people in NOVA who would like to help Richmond with that per capita problem.
good one Ray!
I wonder how many employees these companies add to their respective metro areas.
I wonder if any of them have more employees than VDOT at 9000 taxpayer funded positions?
And of course, I wonder how involved these giants of industry are involved in the transportation issue.
Are they advocating for higher taxes for Transportation?
Or.. perhaps they’re advocating for more transit and TOD development to provide their employees with near-by affordable housing rather than having them drive 100 miles a day to their jobs.
And.. of course .. check out the website: Money in State Politics
http://www.followthemoney.org/index.phtml
to see where these giants of industry really put their money/mouth at… 🙂
To the editor,
I am seeing a lot of stories in the news these days about ethanol. The enthusiasm for the product is tied to the fate of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), an additive mixed into gasoline. However, studies have found that MTBE to be carcinogenic if it seeps into a water source.
Other countries and states increasingly banned MBTE due to contamination concerns. Now, companies wishing to comply with new laws — and worried about the potential for legal liability — are turning to ethanol as a replacement for the additive. Some of the rising gas prices at the pump are related to the rising prices for ethanol.
Its important to remember that MBTE was created by the Ethyl Corporation in Richmond, VA. After environmental concerns were raised, Ethyl used NAFTA to try to sue Canada for not accepting MBTE. The Times Dispatch editorial page applauded this despite the protests of environmentalists worldwide. Local public station WCVE refused to air a nationally syndicated show that was critical of Ethyl and MBTE. Since then, the Ethyl Corporation has changed its name and works on new products.
Ethyl’s former C.E.O., Gottwald, should be held accountable for what is happening now. Corporate greed has lead to current environmental and economic problems. MTBE is an international news story with a big local component. Gottwald’s culpability should not be buried behind other business headlines.
MBTE was developed to replace Tetraethyl Lead, a really nasty compound, which however made engines last longer, thereby eliminating certain othe environmental problems.
Greed undoubtedly played a part, after all greed is a critical component in incentive. But I doubt the effects of MBTE were known at the time, so stupidity may be as culpable as greed.
Considering what would be involved in cleaning up the problems, I wouldn’t count on getting any meaningful accountability.
Okay, 1000 companies, 50 states, so the expected number of firms based in Virginia is 20. With DC and Puerto Rico it is probably slightly less than 20. But of course Virginia is in the top 15 in state populations (surely South Dakota and Wyoming etc. have less than their alloted 20), so a total of 30 for us is not out of line and might even be statistically disappointing. The largest private sector employers in Virginia (Wal-Mart, Northrop Grumman)do not have their headquarters here.
Anonymous 7:45, you’re such a party pooper! Yes, you are correct: If compared to Virginia’s share of population and GNP, the Old Dominion probably has an unremarkable share of Fortune 1000 companies. But look at the trend, man. How many Fortune 1000 companies did Virginia have 30 years ago, when corporate headquarters were located overwhelmingly in the Midwest and Northeast?
I think you’ll find that Richmond has largely held its own as a regional center of corporate headquarters, maybe gained a small amount. But Northern Virginia has emerged as a powerhouse. Hampton Roads is a laggard, admittedly: Only three companies in a metro area of 1.5 million people. However, even Hampton Roads is gaining. Amerigroup and Dollar Tree are relatively new to the corporate scene — neither company existed 30 years ago.
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