The Navy says its economic impact for the Hampton Roads area topped $14.6 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Green jobs for a solar-manufacturing company may be coming to Henrico County. Newly formed United States Green Energy is searching for a place to start manufacturing photovoltaic products for residential and commercial use. Henrico is in the running, as is Spotsylvania County and Durham, N.C., said Robert Bennett, one of the owners of the startup solar firm.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration announced today a consolidation of the city’s departments of economic development and community development.

Governor tells reporters in a conference call that Virginia is in the hunt for a sizeable economic development being considered by a Dubai-based company,

Aerospace company Raytheon Co. has announced plans to consolidate about 1,500 jobs in Northern Virginia.

When one drives into Danville it’s hard to miss the factories. Or, more precisely, the big majestic buildings that formerly were factories—one-time shrines of the South’s manufacturing economy. A good number of these structures are now dark, lifeless hulks that seem to literally and figuratively cast a shadow over a proud city and region.

Caroline County received the Community Economic Development Award (CEDA) from the Virginia Economic Developers Association at its spring conference in Williamsburg on March 13. This is the second time in three years Caroline has won the CEDA Award. Caroline won the CEDA in competition with other Virginia communities with populations from 15,000-40,000. Caroline has a population of about 26,000.

Amateur and college sports are back in the plans for Richmond’s North Boulevard. A revised vision for the $420 million Boulevard Gateway project calls for keeping Sports Backers Stadium, a soccer and track facility owned by Virginia Commonwealth University. Officials said yesterday that the venue would anchor a sports complex that could include an indoor/outdoor tennis facility for VCU and a new Arthur Ashe Center for the city.

A Richmond economic development official has been charged with cocaine possession. C. Cary Brown, 45, of the 600 block of West Franklin St., was arrested Nov. 13 after a Nov. 4 traffic stop at Leigh and Lombardy streets by Virginia Commonwealth University police.

When companies are shopping for a place to do business, they won’t find Henrico County on the discount rack. While some communities may offer overly generous incentives to lure employers, Henrico has largely succeeded on its own merits, said Frederick T. Agostino, executive director of Henrico’s Economic Development Authority. “Henrico County really sells itself on the quality of life that exists here and the price you pay for that quality of life,“ Agostino said.

Virginia and South Carolina sparred over jobs, and the Old Dominion won. An automotive supplier will create 318 jobs in Virginia by the end of 2013 after it closes a South Carolina plant and consolidates manufacturing operations in Newport News. Continental AG will spend $194 million to expand its 366,000-square-foot Tidewater facility to handle increased production of parts for gasoline fuel injectors.

The Greater Richmond Partnership is re-evaluating its mission in light of the downturn in the national and global economies. The regional economic development agency released an action plan this week. In the next 90 days, it will review what industries to target, how to assist companies in growing and declining markets, ways to help dislocated workers and how to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

Amid news of layoffs, bailouts and closures, good economic news emerged in Chesterfield County yesterday. A kosher, vegetarian food manufacturer plans to invest $59.3 million to build a food-processing plant at the Ruffin Mill Industrial Park just north of Colonial Heights. An estimated 260 jobs will be added when Sabra Dipping Co. opens its 110,000-square-foot-plant by mid-2010.