The seaports are just one reason why Virginia has become the Distribution Capital of the East Coast. The Old Dominion's ground transportation network is another. Consider the facts:

• Centrally located on the Eastern Seaboard, Virginia is within 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) of more than 151 million people and 301,000 manufacturing firms.
• Virginia has more than 55,000 miles (88,500 kilometers) of interstate, primary and secondary roads, including six major interstate routes: I-95, I-85, I-81, I-64, I-77 and I-66.
• Two of the nation's largest railroads are headquartered in Virginia -- CSX Corp. in Richmond and Norfolk Southern Corp. in Norfolk.
• Virginia has more than 3,305 miles (5,319 kilometers) of track. Direct rail service from Virginia to every point in the nation is available through Norfolk Southern and CSX.
• Nearly 60 percent of the nation's total personal income and consumer expenditures are within 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) of Central Virginia. Major cities within 350 miles (560 kilometers) are New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Charleston, W. Va.

      Because of numbers like those above, some of the largest logistics facilities in America can be found in Virginia. Wal-Mart Stores operates a 2 million-sq.-ft. (185,800-sq.-m.) distribution center in Eastern Virginia just off I-64; Target Stores operates a 1.6 million-sq.-ft. (149,000-sq.-m.) distribution center at the intersection of I-81 and I-64 near Waynesboro; Hewlett Packard, which is merging with Compaq Computers, operates a 1.44 million-sq.-ft. (134,000-sm.-m.) plant in Richmond; and Volvo operates a 1 million-sq.-ft. (93,00-sq.-m.) center in Radford, in Southwestern Virginia.
      While Wal-Mart's move into Louisa County represents the largest logistics facility project of the year in Virginia, it is far from alone. On Aug. 9, K-B Toys announced that it would locate a distribution facility in the former eToys complex in Blairs between Danville and Lynchburg. The company will invest $10 million and bring 150 jobs to the 430,000-sq.-ft. (40,000-sq.-m.) building that was left vacant when the online toy seller went bankrupt.
      The Blairs facility will serve as the primary fulfillment center for K-B Toys' online subsidiary, Kbkids.com. More than 90 percent of the company's Internet orders will be shipped from this plant.
      "Before Christmas is done, we will have shipped 2 million packages out of this facility," Kbkids.com Vice President Mike Wagner said at the press conference announcing the deal. "We looked at a number of different states and facilities. Working with the people in this region of the country was the easiest by far. They did everything possible to make this happen."
      They -- meaning the state and local officials -- also did everything possible to make sure that K-B Toys picked Virginia over Alabama and Georgia, the two main competitors for the project. K-B Toys received a $250,000 grant from the Tobacco Regional Opportunity Fund and another $250,000 in incentives from Pittsylvania County.
      Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore justified the expenditures by saying that the money would secure badly needed jobs for a county hit hard by eToys' failure. "The job creation from this project is especially significant to Pittsylvania County and the surrounding counties," Gilmore said. "Not only will K-B Toys create 150 year-round jobs, but it will also create up to 950 seasonal jobs by 2003."