The Roaring 20 award honors Hampton Roads’ 20 most dynamic businesses based on revenue and employee growth. Further, the award recognizes the region’s fastest growing companies that are making significant contributions to the region’s economy. The port is among the winners that are being profiled in a special section included in Inside Business and honored at an awards banquet on Nov. 3.
“The entire Port of Virginia team has worked exceptionally hard at reinventing this port and making it a catalyst for commerce across all of Virginia,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “A significant part of that effort was to create a solid – profitable — financial foundation from which we can operate, expand, reinvest and develop our reputation as a primary gateway for global trade on the US East Coast. Being recognized for financial stewardship among the other award recipients is an honor.”
In order to be eligible for the award companies must:
- Be headquartered in the Hampton Roads area
- Have experienced consecutive annual revenue growth from 2013-2015
- Been founded prior to fiscal year 2013
- Have reported gross revenues of at least $2 million in 2015
In September, Gov. Terry R. McAuliffe announced that the port posted an annual operating income of $4.76 million, the second year in a row that the port completed its fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) with profitability. The port budgeted an operating income of $2.69 million for fiscal year 2016, and the result was $2 million ahead of budget. In fiscal year 2015, the port posted a $13.6 million profit, which was a $28.5 million improvement in operating income compared with the prior fiscal year.
The port closed fiscal 2016 (July 1 – June 30) having handled a record-setting 2.573 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Highlights of fiscal year 2016 include:
- TEUs: 2,573,635, up 2.5%
- Container units: 1,460,704, up 1.3%
- Rail containers: 511,096, up 9.7%
“We are proud to have posted solid financial results for the second year in a row,” said John G. Milliken, chairman of the Virginia Port Authority Board (VPA) of Commissioners. “Our task, however, is not to make money for its own sake, but to put our resources to work creating economic growth and jobs across Virginia. Positive financial results allow us to move forward on our plans to expand Norfolk International Terminals and Virginia International Gateway and, ultimately, build a new terminal on Craney Island.”
An independent panel of judges of local business leaders and university business faculty worked with national accounting firm Cherry Bekaert to evaluate and assess the criteria. Finalists were chosen based upon a formula that took into account both dollar growth and percentage rate of growth over the company’s three most recent completed fiscal years. Other judging criteria included critical factors that resulted in company growth, challenges, obstacles overcome and the future outlook of long-term sustainability.
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The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VPA owns and through its private operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals, LLC (VIT), operates four general cargo facilities Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and the Port of Richmond. In fiscal 2013, The Port of Virginia provided more than 374,000 jobs and generated $60.3 billion in total economic impact throughout the Commonwealth.
