It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to explain why a massive industrial expansion resulting in hundreds of new jobs is a big win for the local economy. But if it did, L3Harris Technologies has lots of them who could do the math.
L3Harris’s Orange County plant builds solid rocket motors for national defense programs, and it’s embarking on a $1.27 billion expansion that will more than double its manufacturing footprint. The company expects to hire more than 350 new employees to work at the burgeoning campus at 7499 Pine Stake Road off U.S. Route 522.
The expansion and anticipated job growth were announced and celebrated by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery, L3Harris leadership and the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday morning (April 15) at the Orange County Public Safety Building.
It was great to see Spanberger back in Orange. A frequent visitor during her three terms representing the 7th Congressional District, she told an appreciative audience of about 80 people, mostly county staff and L3Harris employees, that she was happy to be back and take part in the exciting economic development announcement. She said that as Orange County’s previous representative in Congress, she was especially pleased that the plant’s major expansion would strengthen the community and help “make sure that people right here have tremendous opportunity for jobs right here in the county.”
In her remarks preceding the governor’s, Secretary Chenery framed the L3Harris expansion effort as a lengthy, collaborative project begun before Spanberger took office. “We all know that economic development is a team sport. This one feels like the ultimate one, and there were so many partners that came together to make this possible. One of the things that we pride ourselves on in Virginia is the stability and the commitment to long-term economic development projects and economic development growth,” Chenery said.
She continued, “The partners in this case include Orange County, of course, the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, L3Harris, the Governor’s Office—we’re proud to be here and part of this today—the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, but also the [former Gov. Glenn] Youngkin administration. And so we recognize the longevity of a project like this and the longevity and the stability that you find in Virginia and the economic ecosystem that comes together to make something like this possible.”
Building on the theme of longevity, reliability and stability, Gov. Spanberger said that during an era of global uncertainty, “as businesses of all sizes are trying to plan into the future, five, 10, 25, 50 years into the future, what Virginia endeavors to offer is an environment that at this moment seems increasingly rare: an environment of stability and predictability.
“And as Secretary Chenery mentioned, the announcement here today is one built on years’ worth of work. And so when companies are deciding where to make a billion-dollar investment, the fact that Virginia is a reliable partner matters as much as any incentive that we can put on the table,” Spanberger said.
The governor presented a flag flown over the State Capitol to L3Harris executive Mark Farley and said she hoped he would fly it over the Orange County facility once the expansion is complete.
In his speech, Farley made it dauntingly clear that the success of Orange County’s rocket-making business is tied to current and future wars.
He said, “By integrating advanced automation, robotics, digital simulations, predictive analytics and next-generation manufacturing processes, we are laying the groundwork for sustained and scalable productions for decades to come. Here in Orange County, the vision takes shape with what will become the Virginia Advanced Propulsion Facilities, an expansive campus designed to support the urgent defense needs of our nation.
“To give you an impact of this announcement, before this expansion, we produce hundreds of rocket motors a year. After this expansion, we’ll have the capability to produce thousands, and that’s transformational. It represents a new era of readiness for defense programs that depend on our propulsion,” he said.
For those wondering what exactly Gov. Spanberger’s role was in sealing this complex deal, a press release from her office explains that she “approved two grants of $12.5 million and $500,000 from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Orange County with the projects.” Spanberger also signed off on “a performance-based grant of $5 million from the Virginia Investment Performance Grant, an incentive that encourages continued capital investment by existing Virginia companies. Funding and services to support L3Harris’ employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.”
Further, the press release states, “The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Orange County, the Central Virginia Partnership, and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia.”
Other speakers at the Orange County event included J. Bryan Nicol (District 5), chair of the board of supervisors; Crystal Coleman, supervisor representing District 4, where the L3Harris plant is located; and Julie Wikete, L3Harris’s Orange County site director, who noted with a proud smile that the manufacturer supplied components powering the Artemis II spacecraft that recently returned from a trip around the moon.
After the presentation, several supervisors shared their thoughts with me about the anticipated impact of L3Harris’s expansion. I asked Jason Capelle (District 1) what was exciting about the day’s big announcement. He said, “Well, it’s always exciting when you get economic development—350 jobs, that’s pretty exciting. Not to mention the investment, but really, the jobs are probably the most important thing that we need in Orange County.”
Coleman, fresh from her successful speech before an enthusiastic crowd, said, “It’s just a wonderful day for Orange County, and for our commonwealth and for the nation, really, because the project here is going to serve our whole country.”
As for the local plant, she said, “That facility has been there since I was a kid. I can remember when that when they first broke ground on that facility. And it has had some expansion, and now this expansion is just going to be icing on the cake, bringing over 350 jobs to our community, which we need—and a great investment to bring more revenue to our county, which we really need. And it’s tucked away. So it’s not overly intrusive, and there’re no major concerns from that aspect.”
Coleman said she’s delighted that the local plant’s site director, Julie Wikete, has been in touch with the local schools: “She’s already been working with the schools and doing outreach, so our students know that there are options—whether you go to college or whether you have some career tech skills, there will be opportunities here for folks that want to stay here, live here, work here. And that’s exciting.”
I also chatted with board chair Nicol. He and I discussed the gracious acknowledgment by Gov. Spanberger and Secretary Chenery of the Youngkin administration’s role in helping to support L3Harris’s expansion in Virginia.
With his characteristically upbeat attitude, Nicol said, “The mark of excellence is when you can collaborate, communicate and cooperate for the betterment of the commonwealth and the county. And that’s what we’ve been able to illustrate here, from, you know, back in the Youngkin administration, into this incredible Spanberger administration, where they are as bullish on making great announcements like this in the commonwealth [just] as we are, here in Orange. You do that by coming together, and you don’t do that by being apart. And I think that’s the key.”
A juvenile, no age reported, has died as the result of a motorcycle crash on Rolling Hills Drive in Orange County on Thursday, April 16.
According to the Virginia State Police (VSP), the motorcycle went off the road at about 7:15 that night and hit a tree. The man driving the motorcycle was taken to an area hospital for injuries and is reported in stable condition. His young passenger was critically injured and died of those injuries on Saturday, April 18.
Byrd Street requested further details, including the age of the victim and a more precise location of the crash, but because a juvenile was involved, VSP Public Relations Coordinator Matthew Demlein said he was limited in the information he could share.
On Sunday afternoon at James Madison’s Montpelier, Dr. Kelley Fanto Dietz, Montpelier’s chief advancement officer, gave a talk from her book, “Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine,” for an audience of about 50, including members of the Orange County African American Historical Society.
Dietz emphasized the diverse West African origins of the recipes that enslaved men and women used in plantation kitchens and in meals they made for their own families. Enslaved families typically had their own gardens, she explained, where they raised vegetables to supplement the meager food that plantation owners doled out to them. In those kitchen gardens, African Americans raised okra, hot peppers and other vegetables that they or their ancestors had grown before being forcibly removed from their homeland. This was “food as survival,” Dietz said, but also “a cultural expression of these people’s roots.”
In regard to Montpelier, Dietz said Dolley Madison was renowned for her fabulous dinner parties that she hosted alongside her husband, President James Madison. It wasn’t just the company and the conversation that were first-rate, she said, but also the elaborate menus—a credit to the enslaved cooks working behind the scenes to prepare delectable meals.
Dietz observed that, contrary to many people’s assumptions, enslaved cooks typically knew how to read. They had to be able to read recipes, especially since the mistress of a plantation household would not have wanted to spend hours each day reading recipes aloud to her cooks.
“Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine” is for sale at Montpelier’s gift shop and available online.
If you were born between April 20 and May 20, you are ruled by Taurus the Bull. Taurus folks are often accused of being stubborn, but what your consistency really shows is that you’re committed to your goals. In love and relationships, as in your work, you go all out, with both toughness and sensitivity. Taurus can be old-fashioned because you say what you mean and you mean what you say. You serve as the anchor for people around you, especially during chaotic times. Trust yourself and be the stillness at the heart of the storm. —Artemis Dandelion
People celebrating birthdays under the sign of Taurus include Lyle Sanford (April 21), Willow Drinkwater (April 26), Joanie Palmer (May 2), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (May 2), Patrick Hand (May 3), George Clooney (May 6), Sandra Smith (May 7), Richard Knox Robinson (May 12), Dell Shotwell (May 16), Gerilee Hundt (May 19).
Artemis Dandelion offers celestial insight and guidance but modestly declines to predict the future. The Orange resident uses a nom de plume because she is fond of plumes.
We got a little rain in Rapidan on Sunday morning, just enough to dampen the dandelions, but we need more, lots more, to lift us out of a severe drought. Here are the latest stats from Virginia Tech’s Northern Piedmont Research Center. Note that data is collected at 8 a.m. each day, not at midnight.
Mary Catherine Herring Wright, 86, Orange.
Spring art classes, workshops, The Arts Center in Orange, April-May, plus summer day camps
TRIAD Educational Series: “Phone, Email, Text & Artificial Intelligence Scams,” presentation by Shawn L. Smith, state director, Senior Medicare Patrol, free and open to all, with refreshments provided; Orange County Public Safety Building, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 22
Rapidan River Master Gardeners annual plant sale, Carver Center, 9432 North James Madison Highway, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, April 25
Drum Circle led by Don and Pam Whitaker (bring a drum or borrow one during event), free and open to all, The Music Room, 135 E. Main St., Orange 6-7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 25
Orange County Board of Supervisors regular meeting, 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 28
Virginia income tax due, Friday, May 1
Young Band Concert, free and open to all, The Music Room, 135 E. Main St., Orange, 2 p.m., Saturday, May 16
BRAVO spring concert, free and open to all, The Music Room, 135 E. Main St., Orange, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 21
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