NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Increases in tonnage at the Port of Virginia, a robust defense budget and strong performance from the hotel industry highlighted the State of the Region report at a packed luncheon Tuesday at the Waterside Marriott.

Old Dominion University economics professors Robert McNab and Vinod Agarwal detailed the trends and the data, amidst a government shutdown and effects beginning to emerge on the Hampton Roads economy from tariffs.

McNab told reporters afterward that the length of the shutdown will be a determining factor for both the economic impact and the point at which Congress can resolve it.

"What I suspect what will happen is that the pain of the shutdown — the TSA lines, the air traffic control delays, the unanswered phones at Social Security and the IRS, the tra

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