Nov. 16--The business landscape in the Richmond area is significantly changed from a year ago, transformed by a national economy that is veering toward recession.

Corporate names long associated with the region have been absorbed into other companies, moved away or soon will.

And the financial crisis has pummeled the stocks of most other public companies.

"You couldn't say that the Richmond area is isolated," said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist in the Richmond office of Capitol Securities Management Inc.

"Richmond companies truly are global, in the sense that macroeconomic [and] global events will impact some of these companies."

It is not all doom and gloom. The Richmond area has had some bright spots this year, and is poised for more with developments such as the expansion of Fort Lee. And the stocks of many area companies on the Forbes 1000 list, while down, are doing better than the S&P 500 index, which is down 40.5 percent for the year. Owens & Minor Inc. is prospering, its stock down only 7.6 percent for the year.

But it is undeniable that Richmond's corporate scene is forever changed.

Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last week and Chesapeake Corp. may soon follow.

Other local publicly traded companies are having financial problems, and experts worry about their long-term survivability.

Thousands of jobs have been cut or will be cut over the next several months. State government is not immune to the turmoil and is laying off workers as well.

Much of the changes locally this year "is a function of what has taken place in the macroeconomic environment," Engelke said. For instance, problems at LandAmerica and Genworth Financial are related to the real estate crisis.

More tumult could be on the way as the fallout from the financial crisis and economic slowdown continues.

The most optimistic economists see a recovery by mid-2009, but most believe one is not likely until late 2009 or 2010.

Yet not all local companies are doing poorly in the economic turmoil. Some have even expanded and made acquisitions.

The expansion at Fort Lee, which is in the process of nearly doubling its size, should bring additional jobs and businesses to the area, especially construction and service firms.

The Richmond area still benefits from companies that have relocated operations here in recent years, such as tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. and packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp.

And coming in the next couple of years is an aircraft engine assembly and test site in Prince George County operated by Rolls-Royce PLC.

Those moves have come, in part, because Virginia is seen as friendly to business interests, which could work to the state's and Richmond region's advantage during an economic downturn, said Steve Marascia, an analyst at Anderson & Strudwick brokerage in Richmond.

"Companies, over the last four or five years, have been emphasizing lower operating costs," Marascia said.

Here are some of the changes in the Richmond-area corporate landscape. The stock price is reflected as of Friday's close:

Albemarle Corp.

Stock: $22.60 per share; down 45.2 percent this year

The Richmond area lost one of its Fortune 1000 corporate headquarters this year when Albemarle, a specialty chemicals company, moved its headquarters to Baton Rouge, La. Most of Albemarle's administrative operations already were there.

Altria Group Inc.

Stock: $16.26 per share; down 30.2 percent this year

The parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA spun off its international cigarette business this year, and Altria moved its headquarters from New York City to Henrico County.

The Richmond area has increasingly become the center of Altria's manufacturing, management and research. Yet shrinking U.S. cigarette consumption means job reductions.

Altria, which already had announced a $1 billion cost-reductions plan through 2009, confirmed last week that it expects to make further job cuts among administrative staff in the Richmond area to control costs in "challenging" economic conditions.

The Brink's Co.