Going Global Defense Initiative receives funding for second year

Published August 14, 2014 by Veronica Garabelli

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s (VEDP) Going Global Defense Initiative (GGDI) has been given the green light for another year.

VEDP announced Thursday it has allocated almost $2 million for the program for its second year. The initiative aids Virginia’s defense-related companies that have been negatively impacted by defense budget cuts by helping them generate international sales.

According to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office 5,000 defense companies in Virginia are facing U.S. Department of Defense spending cuts of more than $300 billion during the next five-plus years.

GGDI enrolled 160 defense companies in its first 10 months but was unable to enroll more companies because of limited resources. One hundred of those firms traveled abroad in pursuit of new business and 73 companies projected an average increase in their international sales of 130 percent.

VEDP is a state-created marketing organization that aims to promote economic expansion in Virginia.