Hampton Roads residents know well that the regional economy leans heavily on the three pillars of defense, tourism and hospitality; and trade through the Port of Virginia. Each has been affected in some way by the Trump administration, creating a shifting landscape that the public and private sectors must both navigate.
To remain competitive, our communities need all three to thrive, but Hampton Roads can ill afford to relinquish its reputation as a center for military activity and a destination for defense spending. That lends additional importance to a conference in Norfolk this week focused on how to best position our region for growth while continuing to serve the national interest.
Since his return to office last year, President Donald Trump has moved to significantly expand federal defense spending with the help of his Republican allies in Congress. The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” passed last year and signed by the president in July, included $156 billion for defense, and the National Defense Authorization Act, passed in December, set the Pentagon’s annual budget at about $900 billion.
The total — $1 trillion — is a staggering sum, and came at the expense of spending on domestic programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), among others.
However, those measures also mean a windfall for Hampton Roads, home to about 80,000 active-duty servicemembers, roughly 200,000 veterans, and a host of private contractors that support the Department of Defense.
The OBBB, for instance, included nearly $30 billion for shipbuilding. That’s not simply a boon to Newport News Shipbuilding, but money that supports regional employment in wages and benefits for thousands of Virginians here. One can certainly question Washington’s priorities with its budget decisions, but cannot deny that a substantial and sustained investment in defense will fuel the Hampton Roads economy.
In last year’s “State of the Region” report, researchers at ODU noted that defense spending in the region jumped from about $10 billion in 2000 to about $28.6 billion in 2024. They project that number to grow, with an estimate of $30.4 billion by 2027.
None of that is a given, however, and the commonwealth — driven by leaders in Hampton Roads — must work to ensure that our region remains a preferred destination not only for military installations but for the businesses that ensure our armed forces are the best equipped in the world.
That takes more than building a welcoming business climate, though that’s certainly part of it. It means forging strong public-private partnerships among local and state government, military officials and defense leaders; protecting installations from climate change; supporting servicemembers’ families through employment opportunities and child care; and, of course, making the commonwealth a destination for veterans once they leave the armed forces.
All of those issues are among the topics set for discussion in Norfolk this week.
The Virginia Defense Forum will bring together elected officials, civilian advocates, defense industry leaders and other essential stakeholders on Wednesday and Thursday for wide-ranging conversations about our thriving defense industry and how to protect it.
This inaugural event, hosted by the Association of Defense Communities, has tremendous promise for our region and the larger commonwealth. Virginia is already home to the personnel, it is home to the bases, and invests in the essential infrastructure, but it must demonstrate a continued willingness to make the military community and the defense industry a top priority through its policies.
That’s true in Richmond, but that must also shine through at the local level. Municipal and county officials have long been willing partners, recognizing how valuable it is to cultivate a military-friendly reputation. But even as we look to diversify our economy and employment base, we must hold fast to what has powered our communities for generations.
This week’s conference should help illuminate constructive ways to do so, and should serve as an incubator for fresh ideas that can be implemented as we look to the future.