Cheers! Local Food and Beverage Companies Serve Region and Nation

The Roanoke Region has an established food and beverage manufacturing industry made up of nearly 50 firms employing more than 1,800 people in the region. Companies in the region include everything from large production breweries and smaller craft beer operations to dairy and meat products to soft drinks to commercial baking and food packaging.

What’s more, businesses benefit from Virginia Tech (VT), the Commonwealth’s premier research university and industry partner. VT has the only food science program in Virginia and one of the premier food science programs worldwide with a curriculum fully accredited by the Institute of Food Technologists and Master Brewers Association of the Americas. The Department of Food Science and Technology has specialists in topical areas ranging from microencapsulation to food safety and includes a brew house and pilot plant.

Strategic Advantages

• Plentiful supply of water with current demand only 43 percent of available daily supply.
• High water quality – water quality reports available showing all regulated substances well within ideal goals in treated water.
• Low business costs including construction costs, costs of doing business, and affordable cost of living below the national average.
• Two-thirds of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive providing fast, convenient access to your markets.
• Virginia is the sixth-lowest tax burden on new investments in the U.S.
• Virginia is a right-to-work state.