Cost

Lower

The Fredericksburg Region has one of the lowest overall tax burdens of any metropolitan area in the nation, partly due to a state corporate income tax that hasn’t increased since 1971, making it one of the country’s lowest at 6%. The Region also offers significant labor cost savings compared to nearby Richmond and Northern Virginia, with unemployment insurance costs in the moderate to low range (2.6% for new employees) and workers compensation costs the second lowest in the nation.

Friendlier

Virginia has a reputation for public policy that encourages and protects business investment. Labor legislation and mandated costs are similarly favorable, allowing businesses in the state to maintain labor costs competitive with locations in Maryland and West Virginia. Virginia does not allow automatic cost of living increases in Competitively Priced Utilities workers' compensation benefits for the totally disabled, as is the case in Maryland, and employers in Virginia are more likely to be successful in contesting workers' compensation and unemployment insurance claims than employers in West Virginia.

Competitive

Competitively priced power and other utilities are another important source of cost savings for businesses locating in the Fredericksburg Region. InsteelReliable electric power is readily available in the Region from two well established and experienced companies: Virginia Power and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. Natural gas is available from another company with a long history in the State: Columbia Gas of Virginia. Telecommunication services, including WATS lines, fiberoptics, teleprinter services, and a wide variety of other business and industry resources, are available from Verizon. Contact persons for all these companies are listed below.

• Dominion Virginia Power
  Mr. Kent Hill
  Economic Development Director
  701 East Cary Street
  Richmond, Virginia 23261-6666
  Phone: 1.804.771.3424
  Fax: 1.804.771.3782
  http://www.dom.com

• Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
  Mr. C. David Hudgins
  Director, Economic Development
  Innsbrook Corporate Center
  4201 Dominion Boulevard
  Richmond, Virginia 23060
  Phone: 1.800.656.0220 / 1.804.968.4068
  Fax: 1.804.968.4010
  http://www.odec.com/

• Columbia Gas of Virginia
  2980 Fairview Park Drive
  Falls Church, Virginia 22042
  Phone: 1.703.204.7466
  Fax: 1.703.204.5447
  http://www.columbiagasva.com/

• Verizon
  Jeffrey Merriman
  Manger-Economic Development
  600 E. Main Street, Suite 1100
  Richmond, Virginia 23219
  Phone: 1.804.772.1913
  Fax: 1.804.772.3686
  http://www.verizon.com/