Stafford’s business growth in the last five years has propelled the County’s average weekly wage to $771 a week – more than $40,000 a year – for the first time, placing the county second, by percentage, in the Commonwealth in terms of average weekly wage growth.

According to the Virginia Employment Commission, Stafford experienced an increase of 43.3 percent in its average weekly wage from 2002 to 2007.

Statistics from the Virginia Employment Commission also indicate that Stafford is fourth in the Commonwealth in terms of the growth in businesses, by percentage, with an increase of 36.7 percent from 2002 to 2007. In addition, the Commission’s data places Stafford third in the state in at-place employment growth with a 34.3 percent increase. Stafford now has 2,132 businesses and 34,832 individuals employed in the county.

"I am very pleased that Stafford’s continued efforts to attract businesses and good paying jobs to our community are working,” said Deputy County Administrator and Economic Development Director Tim Baroody. “Our goal is to make Stafford an employment center so that our residents do not have to commute out of the county to earn higher salaries.” 

Professional and Technical Services jobs more than doubled during this five-year period in Stafford. “As more companies that provide professional business services open offices in Stafford, more job opportunities are created for our citizens closer to home, improving our collective quality of life,”  Mr. Baroody said.

For more information on the Department of Economic Development, please call (540) 658-8681 or visit its Web site at www.GoStaffordVa.com.

 

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