CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Moments after donning hard hats and tossing symbolic shovelfuls of dirt at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new $200 million Afton Scientific facility in Charlottesville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, touted the day as an example of their work to bring jobs to the region and the Commonwealth.

“It’s an absolute boost, not for me, but for Virginia,” Earle-Sears said. “As Afton grows, then so grows the rest of Virginia. We’re talking jobs.”

Earle-Sears said the job growth she believes the current administration has helped fuel would continue if she’s elected governor.

“You don’t get there passively,” Earle-Sears said. “You have to make a determined effort why you’re better than the other states and you see, we’re doing much better. We’re going to continue that.”

Most recent polls showed Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger with a double-digit lead over Earle-Sears as early voting began last week.

Gov. Youngkin credited his partnership with Earle-Sears for helping to make Virginia an attractive site for businesses, through streamlining regulations, supporting talent-development programs and promoting Virginia as a right-to-work state.

He said he and Earle-Sears have been active suitors attracting businesses to invest in the Commonwealth.

“We’ve gone to get them,” Youngkin said. “Part of bringing businesses is going and telling businesses, ‘We want you.’ And I think that’s something that Winsome and I do incredibly well. We’re on the phone talking to businesses and saying, ‘We need you to come to Virginia.’ And they say to us, frequently, ‘We’re not hearing from the other governors and lieutenant governors.”

Of course, Afton Scientific – which manufactures sterile injectables for pharmaceutical companies – opened in Virginia in 2004 and CEO Thomas Thorpe, who has a master’s degree from UVA, credited not just Youngkin but past administrations with supporting the company’s growth in the Commonwealth.

“From the governors of past to the current Youngkin administration, the message has been clear,” Thorpe said. “Virginia is open for business, especially when it comes to securing world class opportunities in the life sciences.”

Earle-Sears said Eli Lilly – which earlier this month announced plans to build a $5 billion manufacturing facility in Goochland County – had over 400 suitors to move their facility.

“They saw things happening here,” Earle-Sears said. “And others were moving their businesses here. They want to be a part of success. Success breeds success. With me as governor, that will continue because I know how to do it. I’m ready to take command on Day 1.”

During a post-event interview session with local media, including Cville Right Now, Youngkin pushed back on statistics that indicate the Commonwealth’s economy is sagging.

“This great Commonwealth of ours is absolutely soaring and it’s because of the work we’ve done over the last three and half years to make it the best business ecosystem in America,” Youngkin said. “These are all the things that we’ve done together and Winsome will continue to do it. I think this is so important. when you have an aircraft that is soaring, you want to keep going up, not bring it down. And Winsome will keep it going up.”

CNBC, which named Virginia the top state for business in 2024, dropped the Commonwealth to fourth this year.

Youngkin said CNBC’s methodology was flawed.

“We are the No. 1 state in America for business,” Youngkin said. “What CNBC did in their most recent ranking is they changed the criteria and they created something that they thought was going to assess the future of a state, which was the federal government’s presence. I thought that was completely wrong and we’re demonstrating it’s completely wrong.”

For Earle-Sears it was a rare public appearance in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area. Asked about the infrequency of her visits to the region, Earle-Sears said, “I’m always here. I have some favorite stores that I shall not name, because I don’t want everybody to go and take my stuff. But I’m all over this great Commonwealth.”