When the lights go on at the Altria Group Inc. headquarters today, they will signal the arrival of the latest Fortune 500 company to the Richmond area.

Altria bid farewell Friday to New York City and joins its Henrico County-based subsidiary, Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, in Virginia.

The move was expected, having been announced as a next step after Altria spun off its international cigarette division. Philip Morris International became a stand-alone unit Friday.

The relocation won't bring many employees to the Richmond area -- company officials have said only a small number made the move from New York. Philip Morris USA had 5,630 full-time equivalent employees in the Richmond area as of Jan. 1.

But the move helps keep the Richmond area on an even keel in the number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies that have headquarters here.

They are the nation's largest publicly-traded companies by revenue, as ranked annually by Fortune magazine.

One local Fortune 500 company, Goochland County-based Performance Food Group, announced in January that it agreed to be acquired by two private equity firms for $1.3 billion, in a deal expected to close in June. That would remove the company from the Fortune 500.

"With Performance Food going private, [the Altria relocation] will effectively swap out one [company] for another and keep our total number of Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the Richmond area at 13," said Greg Wingfield, president of the Greater Richmond Partnership. The regional economic development group has made one of its goals recruiting more corporate headquarters to the area.

Having a significant number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies here can give the Richmond area an edge in attracting new businesses, Wingfield said.

Altria ranked 23rd on the 2007 Fortune 500 list, with more than $70 billion in revenue. The spinoff of its international cigarette division takes a huge chunk out of its revenue, but Philip Morris USA brought in about $18.5 billion in revenue in 2007, more than enough to keep Altria on the Fortune 500, even without the international business.

Altria owns Philip Morris USA, Pennsylvania-based cigar company John Middleton Inc., and a 28.6 percent stake in Britain-based beer maker SABMiller PLC.
Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or jblackwell@timesdispatch.com.