An extraordinarily attractive setting for professional services
Winchester, Virginia’s proximity to the Washington, DC metro area, the size of our region’s population, and the nature of our city’s business community make our area a particularly attractive market for a wide range of professional services. In addition, doing business here is delightfully affordable — thanks in no small part to reliable utilities at competitive rates — and convenient for both commercial and general aviation travel.
Most important to owners of professional service businesses and practices is our city’s workforce pipeline, which provides top-quality education at all levels from high school through graduate business degrees, ensuring a steady supply of qualified and motivated employees. In addition, local education providers offer programs specifically designed to help existing employees add new skills that allow them to take on positions involving greater responsibility.
At the high school level, John Handley High School offers career-focused courses in accounting, marketing, and computer information systems, along with work-based programs that give students valuable real-world experience with local employers. Laurel Ridge Community College builds upon those skills with career development classes in accounting, business administration, management, and supervision — and Shenandoah University offers undergraduate degree programs in business administration, economics, finance, and other in-demand areas, along with MBA and Organizational Leadership degrees.
Winchester also has a healthy base of existing employers that have a need for the services of other firms, and whose employees may benefit from what your firm offers. Among the largest are FEMA’s disaster operations center, which with 600 staff members is second only to FEMA’s Washington headquarters. Navy Federal Credit Union operates a regional contact center here, employing more than 1,000 people who support members with mortgage counseling, investment, insurance information, and more. Other large employers are the corporate headquarters of cabinetry manufacturer American Woodmark Corporation, whose local facility oversees everything from product development to investor relations to management information systems, and Trex, whose new global headquarters is expected to bring approximately 350 new jobs to the Winchester area in the areas of engineering, R&D/product development, information technology, human resources, operations, sales, supply chain and production.