Suffolk, Virginia - Economy

Economy

In modern times, Suffolk remains a major peanut processing center and railroad and highway transportation hub. It hosts a diverse combination of industrial, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and hospitality businesses, as well as active farming.

Planters' Peanuts continues to be a major employer, now owned by Kraft Foods. Other large employers in the City of Suffolk include Unilever, Lipton Tea, Wal-Mart, Target, QVC, and two major modeling and simulation companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Lockheed Martin bases its Center for Innovation in Suffolk. The Center for Innovation is called 'The Lighthouse' because the campus is built around a lighthouse and actually envelops the lighthouse.

Suffolk experienced a boom in its high tech economy given the presence of the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) facility located in north Suffolk near the intersection of US 17 and Interstate 664. In 1999, JFCOM stood up and through the decade JFCOM steadily grew the number of defense contractors it employed until it reached over 3,000. By September 2010, however, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended JFCOM disestablishment to the President as a matter of reallocating and rebalancing the U.S. Department of Defense budget so as to better address the changing needs and fiscal demands of the Department. The announcement led to speculation about what impact the disestablishment of JFCOM would have on the Hampton Roads economy in general and (more specifically) the sustainment of businesses located in the Harborview section of Suffolk. In August 2011 JFCOM was disestablished, however, many critical JFCOM functions like joint training, joint exercises and joint development were retained in the buildings vacated by JFCOM in north Suffolk but under the auspices of the Joint Staff J7 Directorate, and is now referred to as either "Pentagon South" or "Joint and Coalition Warfighting".

By summer 2013, city officials expect the Naval Network Warfare Command, NNWC Global Network Operations Center Detachment, Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command and Navy Cyber Forces to occupy the other buildings vacated by JFCOM. These commands are a boon to north Suffolk and will bring an estimated 1,000 additional employees, counting military, civilians and contractors. The estimated annual payroll is estimated to be $88.9 million.

In 2002, the new Louise Obici Memorial Hospital was completed and dedicated. The hospital was acquired in 2005 by the Sentara Health System.

Each year in the fall, the City of Suffolk hosts Suffolk Festivals Incorporated's annual Peanut Fest; the 2007 Peanut Fest was the 30th since its inception.