Chris Chmura was quoted in a recent article on virginiabusiness.com:

“Health care has grown across the country, but in Richmond we seem to have a greater concentration than in some other areas,” says Christine Chmura, president and senior economist of Chmura Economics & Analytics in Richmond.

Indeed, the top 20 private employers in the Richmond region in 2009, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, included the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (No. 1), HCA Virginia Health System (No. 3) and Bon Secours Richmond Health System (No. 6). In addition, health insurer WellPoint (Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield) stood at No. 11, and Coventry Health Care tied for 40th.

The health-care sector will propel additional growth. Bon Secours, for example, is building a $30 million ambulatory care campus in Chesterfield County that is expected to employ 100 people. HCA plans a 97-bed, $183 million hospital on 60 acres in Goochland County, with completion in 2012. The VCU medical campus recently completed a 125,000-square-foot, $71.5 million molecular medicine research building, and plans are under way to construct a $158.6 million, 200,000-square-foot School of Medicine Education Building.

VCU has changed the face of the city. The university has built engineering, business and nursing schools and fueled development of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. It has grown to nine buildings and scores of tenants employing some 2,000 people. And as proudly proclaimed on a banner above Broad Street, VCU has declared 2010 the Year of the Environment to highlight the role of universities in improving sustainable practices.

Even the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts sees green as a primary color in its palette. Its expansion, to be completed in May, includes a 3.5-acre sculpture garden that officials say will provide “a refreshing urban green space” and “a relaxed outdoor oasis.”

The museum’s $150 million expansion is a major contribution to the cultural wealth of the region — and beyond. “We are proud that Virginia has the most comprehensive statewide art museum in the nation,” says Alex Nyerges, the museum’s director. 

Also on the cultural front, Richmond CenterStage has blossomed in the heart of downtown, pumping fresh blood into the venerable Carpenter Theatre as part of a 179,000-square-foot complex of performance venues and community spaces.

Such amenities signal significant change, Chmura says. She recalls when the city skyline sported the headquarters of three major banks — all now parts of larger financial institutions. Just as the skyline has changed, the city has become more of a central location for cultural attractions and other amenities, she says. “Perhaps as a result of these things, we’ve seen a lot more people living in lofts and condos downtown than we have in the past.”

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