Provided by the Prince William County Department of Economic Development
January 29, 2015 – Prince William County, Va. – More than 30 Prince William County world-class amenities and golf destinations made the “Top” list in the Washington Business Journal’s Book of Lists 2015. Six of the community’s prime golf courses were rated in the Top 25, which include Old Hickory Golf Club (#5), Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (#6), Stonewall Golf Club (#8), Bristow Manor Golf Club (# 11), Dominion Valley Country Club, (#15) and Piedmont Club (#20).
As a top-rated golf destination the County is also primed for this year’s golf season, as the future venue for the Tiger Wood’s Foundation 2015 Quicken Loans National Golf Tournament, to be held July 27 – August 2, 2015 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
“Prince William County is home to a significant number of topflight facilities,” said Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. “ The quality of life, cultural resources and rich heritage all add to the character of the community and strengthen the County’s reputation, as a highly-desirable location that families choose to live and businesses seek to locate.”
Outdoor sports, wildlife and nature conservation play a major role in the community with golf, camping, hiking, horseback riding, fishing and boating being the most popular leisure time activities.
Prince William County boasts some 24,000 acres of historically rich parkland and is home to Manassas National Battlefield Park, Leesylvania State Park and the largest protected forest area in the Greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.
The vast array of outdoor pursuits and lifestyle opportunities in the County increased last year with the recent addition of Elite Shooting Sports LLC, one of the most advanced and largest indoors shooting facilities in the nation. The first publicly accessible Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course in the Greater Washington, DC metropolitan area opened at the new Potomac Shores Golf Club in Dumfries, Va. Potomac Shores also ranked in Golf Digest’s Top 10 best new golf courses in the country.
In addition Gander Mountain, the nation’s largest network of retail stores for outdoor lifestyles, opened in Woodbridge, Va. While Cabela’s Inc., the outdoor gear and sports equipment retailer, announced it will open its third Virginia location and hire around 190 staff in Gainesville, Va in 2015. The two national specialty retailers join REI(Recreation Equipment, Inc.), which opened its Woodbridge Va. store at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center in 2012.
The National Museum of Marine Corps also came into the spotlight in the WBJ Book of Lists as one of six venues to watch. In March, the Museum will break ground on a further 88,000 sq. ft. space that will include a movie theatre and Sports Hall of Fame. Construction is slated to be complete by 2017. Jiffy Lube Live, an outdoor live performance amphitheater, ranked #5 in the Top 25 arenas and show venues and Potomac Nationals ranked #8 in Top high-end season ticket prices and #15 as a venue. While not on the list, but yet another unique attribute to the County’s host of cultural attractions is the Hylton Performing Arts Center. This elegantly styled opera house opened in 2010 and provides for an intimate theatrical experience of the arts – symphonies, dance, opera and theatre.
Potomac Mills, Virginia’s largest outlet mall, claimed the #4 spot on the Top 25 List of Malls and Shopping Centers, followed by Virginia Gateway at #6 and Manassas Mall at #16. In 2014, each one of these high-value retail destination continued to evolve as highly-contemporary shopping venues and remain strong magnets for local residents, domestic and international visitors.
Claiming the #22 spot for the Top 25 Women-Owned businesses was Employment Enterprises Inc. Able Moving & Storage Inc. moved to #8 for Top Office Moving Companies with WDP & Associates also in the #8 spot, out of the area’s Top 25 Engineering Firms. Sareen & Associates Inc., joined the Top 50 accounting firms ranked by metro-area professionals at #50.
American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), the international biological resource center and research organization located in Innovation Park was ranked the 2nd largest bioscience employer in the metro-area. Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge, Va. did not make it in the Book of Lists, but started major construction in 2014 to enhance its new state-of-the-art surgical services facility, slated to open this year. Sentara is joined by Novant Health Prince William Medical Center and more than thirty major medical and specialist establishments. Novant’s newest addition – a 60-bed inpatient facility opened in Haymarket, Va. in 2014.
Residential development communities also received recognition with three Prince William County locations ranked in the WBJ Book of Lists Top 50 wealthiest zip codes in the National Capital Region. Those include zip code 20143, (Catharpin – #12), zip code 20169, (Haymarket – #27) and zip code 20181 (Nokesville – #45).
Adding to the County’s list of world-class amenities in 2014 was the Prince William Science Accelerator and the Virginia Serious Games Institute (VSGI). Nestled in the center of the County’s largest corporate park, the Prince William Science Accelerator is the only public-private commercially available wet laboratory space in Northern Virginia to meet the needs of future life sciences tenants.
Nearby in George Mason University’s Prince William Campus is the VSGI which supports early-entry entrepreneurship into the electronic simulation, modelling and serious game design industry.
The County’s many transit-orientated improvements also made the Top 25 List of Transportation Projects. Those were: Route 29 and Linton Hall Road (#6); Interstate 95 Auxiliary Lane and Shoulder Safety Improvements (#16); and Interstate 66 Active Traffic Management System (#19).
Lastly, Prince William County Department of Economic Development ranked #8 in Top Economic Development Agencies ranked by budget, Prince William Chamber of Commerce ranked #6 in the Top 25 Chambers of Commerce by most recent revenue and Prince William County Government ranked #36 in Top 50 Largest Employers.
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