INDUSTRY

Lockheed Martin opened a $35 million center in Suffolk Monday for developing high-performance modeling and simulation to find solutions to national defense concerns. Gov. Mark R. Warner used the occasion to announce the Virginia Modeling and Simulation Initiative. The $1.45 million plan includes the creation of an Institute for Homeland Security and Crisis Management with Old Dominion University and private contractors to provide a platform for emerging nonmilitary simulation and modeling activities. Hampton Roads already is home to an emerging modeling and simulation industry, a statement from the governor's office said. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission estimates the industry currently employs more than 4,000 people and contributes $412 million a year to the region's economy, primarily through the modeling and simulation activities of U.S. Joint Forces Command. The Lockheed Martin center will add 50 jobs that its vice president, Richard C. Marr, has said will have a median annual salary of more than $100,000. The interior of the building was designed by a company founded by two former executives from Walt Disney Imagineering.