Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development

Bio & Life Sciences

Virginia Beach Offers an Environment Where Bio & Life Sciences Companies Can Thrive

Virginia Beach serves as a vibrant hub for both established and emergent companies in the bio and life sciences sector. The City’s strategic location on the U.S. East Coast, talent pipeline, bio networks/industry associations, capital access, incentive programs, and commitment to innovation are what makes Virginia Beach a natural “fit” for this industry.

Location Matters

The City of Virginia Beach is situated between two major life science clusters: the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina and the BioHealth Capital Region, which encompasses the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Given the City’s proximity to these bio hubs, a number of companies in this industry choose Virginia Beach for their business so they can benefit from the advantages that these large clusters provide and get the perks of operating in a smaller community.

Why Virginia Beach?

The benefits of establishing a business in Virginia Beach go well beyond its strategic location and proximity to other bio hubs. The City promotes an entrepreneurial ecosystem that fuels and facilitates innovation in addition to partnering with established companies such as Sentara Healthcare and LifeNet Health to drive advances in healthcare.

Virginia Beach represents an opportunity to join a budding bio and life sciences cluster with promising growth opportunities and competitive advantages that are difficult or impossible to find in other bio hubs.

Logistics Hub on the East Coast

The Virginia Beach area is home to the Port of Virginia, the third largest on the U.S. East Coast, and a superior multi-modal distribution network for moving goods quickly and efficiently across the country and overseas.

Lower Cost of Doing Business

Doing business in Virginia Beach is cost effective when compared to other bio and life sciences clusters in the country: labor costs, utility rates, and taxes are generally lower.

Higher Ed & Research Facilities

The area’s higher education system and research facilities produce highly qualified candidates with skills specific to the bio and life sciences sector.

Bio Accelerator & Startup Funding

Virginia Beach has its own bio accelerator facilities and funding program that provide the support needed to startup firms and companies that are new to the market.

Exceptional Quality of Life

Virginia Beach offers a superior quality of life to its residents and visitors and a safe place to raise a family, which plays a big role in attracting and retaining the best talent to our City.

Favorable Regulatory Environment

International firms entering the U.S. market will be pleasantly surprised to find fewer regulations, which are made even easier to navigate thanks to our team of experts.

City leadership supports the development of a bio cluster in Virginia Beach and provides resources to the private sector that facilitate market entry and success.

Higher Education & Research Institutions

More than 21,000 people are currently employed in the life sciences field in Virginia Beach (Source: VEC Community Profile 2020). The City also has a wealth of talent at its fingertips with local academic and research institutions that continue to produce highly qualified graduates every year.

Old Dominion University The College of William & Mary Eastern Virginia Medical School	The Sentara College of Health Sciences Norfolk State University Tidewater Community College

Talent Attraction & Retention

Given the stiff recruiting market and low unemployment rate, factors like quality of life can make a significant impact on a company’s ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce. Virginia Beach has natural assets and a long list of advantages that makes talent acquisition easier for employers.

Did you know that Virginia Beach is regularly recognized as one of the best places to live in the United States? Learn more about our quality of life.

Virginia Beach: a Magnet for All Kinds of Biotech

Biotechnology is a broad, interdisciplinary field with many sub-sectors. Virginia Beach appeals to a variety of biotech firms and often attracts those in one of the four following sub-sectors, due to the unique assets found in our community.

BioAg

Companies that apply the principles of biotechnology to agricultural uses to make horticultural, aquacultural, and agricultural methods more efficient and profitable.

Agriculture is the third-largest industry in Virginia Beach, generating $134 million in economic impact annually. BioAg has received a lot of attention in recent years, as local farmers seek to diversify. Virginia Tech, a leading research institution in the Commonwealth, represents an outstanding information resource for local growers. Through the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech provides graduate training of the highest quality for students in horticulture and related plant sciences.

Medical Device Manufacturing

Companies that use medical technology in the research, development, production, and marketing of systems and devices for medical applications.

Virginia Beach has an established manufacturing base mainly due to its strategic location on the U.S. East Coast and its proximity to The Port of Virginia. Situated in a key logistics hub, and within a Foreign Trade Zone, the City is well-positioned to serve manufacturers looking to import, export, or ship their goods domestically and internationally. More than 25% of the region’s manufacturers are located in the City of Virginia Beach (Source: BLS 2nd Qtr 2020), a number of them producing medical devices and equipment.

Cosmetics

Companies that use biotechnology to discover, develop, and produce components of cosmetic formulations to minimize the impact on the environment.

Cosmetics companies who wish to enter the U.S. market often find it daunting as laws and regulations tend to differ significantly from those of their home country. The City of Virginia Beach provides extraordinary service to newcomers, helping them alleviate compliance concerns by making the necessary introductions to industry specialists and helping them navigate the reality of doing business in the U.S. Additionally, Virginia Beach is relatively close to Washington, D.C. and therefore in close proximity to key federal agencies (NIH, DARPA, FDA, and NSF) which is also an advantage to companies in this sub-sector.

Digital Health

Companies that focus on integrating technology into healthcare to enhance patient care, improve healthcare access, and offer new insights into real-world applications.

Healthcare is a key economic driver for Virginia Beach. The City is home to a number of hospitals and medical facilities, including Sentara Healthcare, which hires more than 30,000 employees throughout the region. With the growing need for medical wearables, as well as innovation in sharing or accessing healthcare data, Virginia Beach is a great market for companies that focus on developing digital health products. The new ultra-high bandwidth subsea data cables coming ashore in the City also represent an asset for this sub-sector.

VABEACHBIO – Our Local Bio Accelerator

The City of Virginia Beach opened its very own bio accelerator in the summer of 2021 which features wet/dry lab space with BSL-2 capability along with office space and conference rooms. Its business development programming includes mentoring and networking opportunities, as well as an introduction to capital and incentives programs. Learn more here.

Additional Benefits to Bio & Life Sciences Companies

Did you know that members of our bio accelerator program also get access to several bio networks? The Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development works in collaboration with the following industry associations:

OBN (Oxford Bio Network) - the most active life sciences membership group in the UK AseBio – the Spanish Bioindustry Association with nearly 300 members	Bioga – the business association that brings together life sciences and biotech companies located in Galicia, Spain. Virginia Bio – the premier trade association representing the life sciences industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development consists of a small team of business development professionals and support staff who are responsible for recruiting national and international businesses to Virginia Beach, while also providing assistance to the City’s existing business community.

Our team members responsible for providing assistance to bio and life sciences companies include:

Email: dcowhey@vbgov.com Phone: +1-757-385-6455 Virginia Beach Office	Email: valvarez@vbgov.com Phone: +34639535736 Madrid (Spain) Office	Email: cmacdowe@vbgov.com Phone: +44 (0)7788 755300 Ipswich (UK) Office

We are actively working with domestic and foreign businesses who wish to establish a presence in the City to support the development of the local bio and life sciences hub and help them take advantage of the multitude of current and future opportunities that this industry will bring to our City.

Our services are:

Confidential – As we work together, our team will learn about your company’s plans to expand in the U.S. market, the number of employees you will need, and the services you will be providing. We do not disclose any sensitive information until you have selected Virginia Beach as the official site for your relocation or expansion.
Comprehensive – From conducting market research to planning your community visits, helping you through the site selection process, or with permitting, making key introductions, and everything in between, we make the expansion/relocation experience as easy as possible!
Continuous – Our team is dedicated to providing an ongoing service from the moment you initially contact us, to the day your business begins operating in our City, and beyond. We will be your go-to resource for all your business needs and you’ll also benefit from personalized expatriate support if you need it, where we can help with things such as purchasing a car, finding a school for your children, and helping you find a place of residence in a good neighborhood.
Completely free of charge – The Department of Economic Development is a division of the City of Virginia Beach. As a public entity whose mission is to grow the local economy through job creation and investments in our community, we will work with you at no cost to your company.

While Virginia Beach is often the location of choice for startups and new-to-market companies, the local industry also encompasses large, global companies with a long history of success and strong name recognition such as LifeNet Health and Operation Smile.