Chris Lloyd leads the McGuireWoods Consulting infrastructure and economic development team where he specializes in site selection and economic development incentives negotiations. Since 1998, Chris has provided holistic site selection and incentives negotiation services to dozens of high profile, corporate expansions and relocations across the country.
Chris has also been the principal architect of state public-private partnership legislation now used around the country to speed infrastructure development as well as authored successful legislation to modernize state economic development agencies. As a result of this work, Chris is a frequent speaker on the intersection of economic development best practices and policy.
Prior to joining McGuireWoods Consulting, Chris served for nearly five years in the Office of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade under Virginia Governors Allen and Wilder. In this position, he was responsible for legislative, budgetary, and regulatory coordination and development within that Secretariat which managed the state’s economic development programs.
Chris graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1993. He lives in Richmond with his wife, Megan, and two children.
Experience
- Site selection and incentives negotiations (including passage of legislation amending an existing incentive program) for the headquarters relocation of one of the world’s largest hotel companies. The firm has continued to support the company with public affairs representation, incentives compliance, and through subsequent corporate expansions.
- Site selection, incentives negotiations, public policy activities, and incentives compliance for dozens of hyperscale and colocation data center projects and developers across multiple states representing nearly $100 billion in capital investment and thousands of new jobs.
- Site selection and incentives negotiations for the development of four aircraft maintenance and repair operations (MRO) facilities for the leading corporate jet manufacturer. Additional services include incentives compliance and public affairs support.
Events
- Speaker, "Policy and Project Trends in Economic Development," Southern Municipal Conference, October 23, 2025
- Panelist, "Illinois Economic Development Association 2025 Site Selectors Forum," IEDA, September 23, 2025
- Presentation, "Christopher Lloyd on the impact of tariffs on manufacturing development," Institute for Real Estate Operating Companies, May 27, 2025
- Presentation, How Does Maine Stack Up? – A Site Selector’s View, October 30, 2024
- Presentation, 2024 National Legislative & Presidential Update: Implications for Tax Professionals, October 21, 2024
- Speaker, Team California’s Meet the Consultants Site Selection and Economic Development Forum, August 4, 2024
- Speaker, Richmond Development Opportunities, February 13, 2024
- Speaker, "Data Centers Case Study," Site Selectors Guild Fall Forum, October 2023
- Keynote Speaker, "2021 ED Now: Planning for Economic Development Success," OhioSE Economic Development, October 15, 2021
- Speaker, "Team Volusia EDC Board Meeting," Team Volusia EDC Board Meeting, August 6, 2021
- Speaker, "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): How this hot topic connects to economic development," Indiana Economic Development Association, August 2, 2021
- Speaker, "The New Incentives Landscape," Hot Topics in State and Local Tax 2021, Practising Law Institute (PLI), Webinar, March 9, 2021
- Speaker, Reopening Virginia: Considerations for Employers and Businesses, June 12, 2020
- Speaker, Reopening Colleges and Universities: COVID-19 Funding, Legal Insights and Safety Protocols, May 29, 2020
- Speaker, Bridging the COVID-19 Gap – How to Preserve Incentives When the Future Is Unclear, May 4, 2020
- Speaker, Is Winter Coming? Avoiding the Game of Thrones Incentives Political Feeding Frenzy, Institute for Professionals in Taxation, November 14, 2019
- Keynote Speaker, 136th Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting 2018, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, June 7, 2018
- Speaker, "Econ Dev Talks," International Economic Development Council, December 20, 2017
- Speaker, Bladen County Committee of 100 Annual Meeting, July 19, 2017
- Speaker, 2017 Infrastructure Outlook, Webinar, March 2, 2017
- Speaker, Two-Part Food and Beverage Industry Outlook Presentation, February 24, 2017
Podcasts
- Featured Guest, "LIVE from the 2025 #AmericanSouth Summit - Tim Gibbs & Chris Lloyd," The SEDC Podcast, May 8, 2025
Insights
- Author, Virginia Executive Order No. 3 Aims to Speed Up Housing Approvals, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, January 22, 2026
- Quoted, "DATA CENTERS: State Legislation Seeks to Capitalize on Data Center Boom," Site Selection Magazine, July 2025
- Quoted, "Phoenix’s tech momentum fuels Arizona’s strong business attraction ranking," Phoenix Business Journal, May 2, 2025
- Quoted, "GJEP hosts annual economic summit," The Daily Sentinel, April 28, 2025
- Quoted, "GJ has economic allure, but has hurdles to clear," The Business Times, April 28, 2025
- Author, Virginia Governor Returns Data Center Bill to Assembly, Regulations Pending, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 14, 2025
- Author, Virginia Legislative Session Concludes on Positive Note for Data Center Industry, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, February 27, 2025
- Author, Virginia’s Data Center Industry: A Look Back for Insight on Future Legislation, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, January 8, 2025
- Author, Virginia Finalizes Review of Data Center Industry, Offering Guidance for 2025, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, December 9, 2024
- Quoted, "Virginia is for HQs: Commonwealth attracts major companies," Virginia Business, October 31, 2024
- Author, "How Does Maine Stack Up? – A Site Selector’s View," McGuireWoods Consulting, October 30, 2024
- Author, "2024 National Legislative & Presidential Update: Implications for Tax Professionals," 2024 IPT Credits and Incentives Symposium, October 20-23, 2024
- Mentioned, "State economic forum drops by Tulare County," The Sun Gazette, August 16, 2024
- Author, Demand for Data Center Projects Remains High Across Virginia With Varying Levels of Regulation, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 5, 2024
- Mentioned, "Louisiana Economic Development to undergo major restructure under new law," Nola.com, June 11, 2024
- Author, With JLARC Study, Virginia Continues Review of Data Center Industry, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 28, 2024
- Co-author, "How to Overcome NIMBYism in Data Centers," Area Development, May 2024
- Mentioned, "Long Beach Economic Partnership Launches Inaugural “All Ready Here” Site Selectors Conference," Morningstar, May 2, 2024
- Author, Louisiana Senate Commerce Committee, SB 494, (39:00), April 17, 2024
- Author, Data Center Industry Sees Increased State-Level Legislative Efforts in Virginia, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, January 24, 2024
- Mentioned, "Virginia plays ‘catchup’ on megasites; bill would speed up game," Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 2024
- Author, 2023 Top States Commentary: The Importance of Speed to Market, Area Development, September 2023
- Author, Virginia Resets Data Center Equipment Assessments, Tax Changes on Horizon, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 31, 2022
- Author, Data Centers Still Critical in 2022 for Infrastructure, Environmental and Policy Developments, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, February 22, 2022
- Quoted, "Fine Tuning: P3 projects have a lot of moving parts and the details matter," Institutional Investing in Infrastructure, October 1, 2021
- Quoted, "The U.S. Workforce is Changing – Opportunities and Challenges for Companies," Transatlantic Business and Investment Council, September 23, 2021
- Quoted, "Incentives Brighten Site Selection Decisions," Inbound Logistics, August 27, 2021
- Author, American Rescue Plan Implementation, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, July 29, 2021
- Guest, "America’s Top States for Business," The News with Shepard Smith, CNBC, July 13, 2021
- Quoted, "How remote work changed the way companies think about where to keep offices," CNBC, July 7, 2021
- Quoted, "After Wisconsin’s Foxconn debacle, states and companies rethink giant subsidies," CNBC, June 29, 2021
- Quoted, "Texas outshines Arizona, all other states, in luring California headquarters relocations," Phoenix Business Journal, June 29, 2021
- Quoted, "Site selector: Phoenix positioned well for both office, industrial coming out of Covid," Phoenix Business Journal, June 18, 2021
- Quoted, "Economic momentum is strong, but lack of external perception could hurt us," Richmond Time Dispatch, May 9, 2021
- Author, "There is No Infrastructure Santa Claus – How Rural Communities can Meet their Infrastructure Needs," 2018 Annual NREDA Conference, November 7, 2018 (Presentation)
- Author, "Winning Economic Development Strategies," 10th Winchester-Frederick Business Forum Luncheon, September 27, 2018 (Presentation)
- Author, "The Foundations of Virginia Economic Development Policy," Virginia Institute for Economic Development, September 19, 2018 (Presentation)
- Author, Trump Orders Streamlined Permitting for Infrastructure Projects, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 17, 2017
- Author, Maryland Approves Public-Private Partnership (P3) Legislation, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 24, 2013
- Named to “Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame: Volume 1,” Southern Business & Development, 2025
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Economic Development Law, 2020
- President’s Award, Virginia Economic Developers Association, 2017
McGuireWoods Consulting
McGuireWoods Consulting LLC (“MWC”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the McGuireWoods LLP law firm. From time to time, various McGuireWoods lawyers provide non-legal services to MWC clients, but MWC cannot provide legal services or advice. Therefore, any work MWC performs for a client does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship or privilege. Should you require legal services from McGuireWoods, as well as consulting services from MWC, you must engage the law firm separately.