Target Sectors
#1 Timber-Harvesting County in Virginia • Easy Access to Ports • Interstate Frontage
Agribusiness & Forestry
Brunswick County ranks first among Virginia counties in timber harvest volume and value, making forestry a cornerstone of the local economy for generations. We’re home to long-established local and national forestry and lumber companies and receive support from the Virginia Department of Forestry.
The IDA has also partnered with Old Dominion Organic Farms, a 12th-generation family-owned organic farm, to establish a new produce packing and processing facility. The $4.2 million facility is being built in the I-85 Business Center Park. Operated by ODO Farms, the facility will process and pack produce from ODO and over 20 other local farmers in southern Virginia.
Access to export markets
- Interstate 85 and US 58 run directly through the county and Interstate 95 is just over the county line.
- The Port of Virginia, less than a 2-hour drive away, is the deepest & widest port on the US East Coast and has the largest cranes.
- Richmond Marine Terminal, a 1-hour drive, has 3 barges in rotation with a combined capacity of 500 FEU.
Distribution & Logistics
I-85, I-95, US Highway 58, and the Port of Virginia connect you to markets throughout the US and the world.
Our highway network is a major asset for logistics:
- Interstates: easy access to the north-south corridors of Interstate 85 and Interstate 95.
- U.S. Routes: served by key highways such as US 58, which connects to eastern and western markets.
- Motor freight carriers: Many major East Coast carriers serve Brunswick County, and major logistics companies have facilities in the nearby region include FedEx, UPS, and UPS Freight.
Join companies like Utz and Frito-Lay by locating your distribution center in Brunswick County.
Data Centers
Microsoft’s largest footprint in the world is located right here in Southside Virginia. The state of Virginia hosts the largest data center market in the world and is home to 35% (almost 150) of all known hyperscale data centers worldwide.
Why Brunswick County is a prime location for your data center:
- located outside of the blast zone for security,
- lots of available space,
- fiber backbone,
- competitive construction costs
- affordable and abundant electricity, and
- low personal property tax rate for data centers of only $.40 per $100 of assessed value.
The state also offers an exemption from retail sales and use tax for qualifying computer equipment purchased by data centers that meet statutory investment and employment requirements. Virginia was the first state to allow the tenants of colocation data centers to receive the benefit of the sales tax exemption.
Virginia Beach is the landing point for four new transoceanic fiber connection cables and is less than a 2-hour drive away.
Unmanned Systems
Brunswick County’s location in Virginia’s Beyond Horizon Corridor and proximity to the defense industry in Washington, DC, and Hampton Roads makes it for Unmanned Systems. Companies like UPS and DroneUp have performed UAS testing here in the county.
In partnership with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, Joint Force Development Directorate, Operational Experimentation branch, DroneUp conducted an experiment in Lawrenceville to determine if autonomous delivery of a specified payload to identified recipients under field conditions could be proven viable. The special operations experimental team also included Pale Horse Weapons Institute, Daniel Defense, Ultimate Training Munitions (UTM), and WeaponLogic.
An FAA-approved UAS Test Site is located in Blackstone (see map at right), which is also home to Textron Systems’ Aerosonde Center of Excellence and the headquarters of UAV Pro. Virginia is also home to two NASA facilities focusing on UAS research, Langley Research Center and Wallops Flight Facility,
A testing, training, and R&D center is located less than an hour from Brunswick at Richard Bland College in Petersburg. It was developed in partnership with DroneUp.
Virginia is one of nine participants in the FAA’s BEYOND program, which continues the work of the highly successful UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) by focusing on enabling routine, scalable operations beyond visual line of sight. Virginia’s BEYOND team is advancing UAS applications for infrastructure inspection, insurance damage assessment, and package delivery.
Advanced Manufacturing
As the Northernmost right-to-work state, Virginia has very low unionization rates, and the skilled workers in Brunswick County are accustomed to shift work.
Glen-Gery’s Lawrenceville Brick plant is Virginia’s Finest Brickmaker. The plant dates back to 1946, manufacturing facebrick and pavers in the town of Lawrenceville for residential and commercial architecture. To this day, many of Virginia and North Carolina’s most notable buildings still feature original brickwork of Lawrenceville Brick, including UNC and NC State, as well as almost every building at the Fort Lee training facility.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company also operates a manufacturing and distribution facility in Lawrenceville. The company produces mulch and other lawn and garden products and is a notable employer and business in the county. In October 2024, the facility was recognized for achieving 31 consecutive years of incident-free operations, a testament to the caliber of employees in Brunswick County.
Food & Beverage Processing
Brunswick County’s accessibility to some of the country’s most populated metro areas makes it a prime location for companies that need to get product to market quickly, and our advanced logistics infrastructure enables global connectivity. Our strong agribusiness sector also contributes to a robust supply chain for the industry.
Old Dominion Organic Farms, a 12th-generation family-owned organic farm, is establishing a new produce packing and processing facility in the I-85 Business Center Park. The $4.2 million facility will be operated by ODO Farms, and will process and pack produce from ODO and over 20 other local farmers in southern Virginia.
With the second-largest food and beverage processing sector in the Southeast, Virginia offers a diverse ecosystem of partners and suppliers for food and beverage processors, including dozens of packagers and bottlers, 160+ warehousing and distribution establishments (including expansive cold storage options), and 43,000 farms.
