McDonnell Announces 200 New Jobs in Montgomery County

In demonstating once again why Virginia is the best state in America for business, Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office announced another major win for our Commonwealth:

Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that advertising agency Modea will invest $10 million to expand operations and build a new corporate headquarters site in Montgomery County. The agency specializes in building brands in the online space. Virginia successfully competed with Illinois, North Carolina and Texas for the project.

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McDonnell said, “Modea, a successful advertising agency that has been located in Montgomery County for five years, will establish its new corporate headquarters and expand operations at the former Blacksburg Middle School. This 6.1-acre, refurbished site met the agency’s needs for expansion and can accommodate future growth. In addition to the significance of a $10 million investment and 200 new jobs, this project is a great success story of re-purposing an existing property.”

“Modea does work for many big-name clients from its location in Montgomery County,” said Jim Cheng, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “With this expansion and the establishment of new corporate headquarters, the agency can increase its footprint in the advertising world. Two hundred new employment opportunities, all paying above-average salaries, is great news for the region and the Commonwealth.”

Modea was ranked 221st among the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States by Inc. Magazine in 2010. The firm’s revenue grew 1,335 percent ($3.3 million) over a three year period. Within the advertising and marketing industry, Modea ranked 27th in the country.

“We are thrilled to be able to locate our headquarters in downtown Blacksburg, one of the most well balanced places to live in the country. This long-term commitment will allow Modea to take our agency to the next level,” said Aaron Herrington, co-founder of Modea.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Montgomery County to secure the project for Virginia. The company may be eligible to receive a Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit. Through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance (VDBA) will provide funding and services to support the company’s recruitment and training activities.

“We are extremely pleased that Modea is expanding and bringing additional high-paying jobs to this area,” said Board Chair Jim Politis. “The sale of this property will benefit our schools at a critical time when the County is seeking to return non-productive assets to the tax rolls. We are also pleased to be working with the Town of Blacksburg on the Master Plan for development and rezoning of this property.”

Not only is it great that Virginia was able to beat three other states for the right to house Modea’s corporate headquarters, this is also great news for the people of the New River Valley.  Although the Commonwealth has the fourth highest number of new jobs in the nation since the beginning of the McDonnell Administration, only nine percent of those new jobs have been created in southwestern Virginia.  Both the addition of 200 new jobs to the NRV and the $10 million project will be a major boon to the NRV’s economy.  The project will also benefit the Town of Blacksburg as Modea has decided to construct its new headquarters on the site of a vacant school in downtown Blacksburg that the town has been struggling to sell for years.

Modea was founded five years ago by two Virginia Tech graduates.  Since then it has grown to serve some high-profile clients like Verizon, T-Mobile and HTC.  Thankfully, they chose to stay home and reinvest in the Commonwealth.

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About the author

Jason Johnson

A lifelong political junkie, Jason caught the political bug as a fifth grader after meeting George Allen in 1993. Since then he has studied political science at both the undergraduate and graduate level. When not perusing the blogs or volunteering for conservative Republicans, Jason enjoys cheering on his beloved Virginia Tech Hokies and spending time at his Bedford County home.