Goochland County officials say they have discussed creating a direct hiring pathway between local schools and Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant building a $5 billion manufacturing plant in the county that is expected to generate more than 650 permanent jobs. County Administrator Jeremy Raley says the goal is simple: give Goochland students a real shot at those positions once the facility is up and running.
Raley told Axios that officials have discussed creating direct hiring pathways with Eli Lilly and local K-12 partners, and that the company has expressed support for the idea, according to Raley. Still, hiring commitments and specific classes tied to those jobs remain unclear, per the same report. Eli Lilly first announced plans for the facility on September 16, 2025, telling investors it would build what it called a $5 billion manufacturing facility just west of Richmond in Goochland County, according to investor.lilly.com.
The company has said the site will bring more than 650 new high-paying jobs to Virginia, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians, per the same release. Eli Lilly broke ground on the Goochland facility in September 2026, the Axios report notes, and the plant is scheduled to begin operations in 2030, according to the seed reporting.
Why Lilly Picked Goochland
Eli Lilly has said Goochland County was selected from hundreds of applications based on several criteria, including workforce potential in the Greater Richmond Region, per investor.lilly.com. That workforce angle is central to what county officials are now trying to build on. Raley said his community often gets asked whether he can land another Lilly-style investment, and that officials are working hard to do so, according to Axios.
As part of that effort, Goochland is courting more pharmaceutical manufacturers to build an industry hub around the Lilly plant, the Axios report states. The county's economic development workforce-assistance page says businesses can partner with the school district through job shadowing, internships, externships and registered apprenticeships, experiences that often lead to full-time employment after graduation. The district also operates an advanced manufacturing, mechatronics and robotics academy, per the Axios reporting.
A Statewide Training Push Takes Shape
Eli Lilly has committed $40 million toward the Virginia Center for Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, a regional workforce training hub, according to WRIC. That center will include pilot-scale and hands-on training in Goochland County and is targeted to open in 2028, the station reported. Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca and Merck together committed $120 million to develop the center, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
Those three companies have announced more than $12.5 billion in combined capital investment across Virginia's life sciences sector since late 2025, per the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The planned training network is meant to let students progress from micro-credentials to certifications and degrees through classroom, laboratory and simulated manufacturing training, according to a statement from Governor Glenn Youngkin's office carried by AstraZeneca, and the center is intended to produce 2,000 to 2,500 trained professionals annually. Virginia is also helping Eli Lilly recruit and train workers through its Talent Accelerator Program, support confirmed by the VEDP.
Raley's Longer-Term Vision for Students
Raley envisions introducing students to pharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing careers as early as kindergarten, according to the Axios report. Virginia officials, including Megan Healy, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership's workforce chief, and Kristen Dahlman, a Virginia commerce and trade official, are part of a broader push to adapt the state's GO TEC school-to-career training model — which currently introduces middle schoolers to technical careers — for the biopharma sector, per the same reporting. Virginia is simultaneously expanding community college training for manufacturing operators statewide, the Axios story adds.
A separate workforce effort is already underway regionally: a $3.9 million federal Good Jobs Challenge grant is supporting pharmaceutical and biotech workforce training in the Richmond-Petersburg region, according to Virginia Business. A Reynolds Community College study cited in that report estimates the region will need 6,000 new hires over the next 10 years, and the initiative aims to enroll 280 people over three years with a commitment to placing 228 of them in jobs. The grant will also fund on-the-job training with wage reimbursements for employers and supportive services like transportation and child-care assistance, per the same account.
Money, Taxes and Local Stakes
On the local budget side, Goochland's five-year capital plan includes $46 million for schools, covering career and technical education expansion and upgrades at Goochland High School, according to county budget documents. County officials have projected that the Lilly investment could increase Goochland's annual tax revenue by approximately $5 million per year, per the same documents. Those same slides acknowledge the competitive landscape directly, noting that neighboring New Kent and Powhatan counties would gladly take the investment if Goochland does not move fast enough.
For now, the vision Raley has described — students graduating straight into jobs at Eli Lilly's new plant — is one officials are actively pursuing. Hiring commitments and specific classes tied to those jobs remain unclear, the Axios reporting emphasizes, even as the statewide training infrastructure around the plant continues to take shape.
