Va. Beach tech firm to expand with enormous $54 million green energy facility and 1100 new jobs

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Dec. 5 that Global Technical Systems (GTS), a premier provider of advanced engineering solutions for defense, homeland security, and related U.S. Government and international customers, will invest $54.7 million in a new, electro-mechanical energy storage system manufacturing operation in the City of Virginia Beach. Virginia successfully competed against Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C. for the project, which will create 1,110 new jobs with an average annual salary of $74,000.

“Global Technical Systems has called Virginia Beach home for 20 years, and an expansion of this magnitude is transformational for the city and the region,” said Governor McAuliffe, speaking at the event. “Creating well-paid, 21st-century jobs is fundamental to our mission to diversify and build the new Virginia economy, and today’s major announcement is another step forward. GTS models how traditional, defense-oriented businesses can expand their horizons and create new technologies with commercial applications that can change the world. We are proud to have GTS on the Commonwealth’s corporate roster, and excited about the company’s next chapter of growth.”

The company will construct a 500,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing center to produce and distribute 100 percent green energy storage systems using advanced composites and engineering technologies. The new facility will be located on approximately 30 acres of land currently owned by the City of Virginia Beach, at the site of the former Owl’s Creek Golf Course. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2018 and the facility will be operational in 2019.

Founded in Virginia Beach in 1997, Global Technical Systems is a family-owned, small business led by Terry and Yusun Spitzer.