Here’s two more reasons why it’s a good time to be in Suffolk:

Thanks in part to officials especially concerned with the city’s economic well being, Lockheed Martin broke ground Tuesday afternoon in Suffolk’s northern end for its $30 million Global Vision Integration Center.

Further, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy held a ceremony that morning to kick off its expansion of the Lower School.

There is a connection of sorts. Think of it this way: With Tuesday’s ceremony, NSA has shown it’s able to afford such an expansion and thus improve the quality of its students’ education. Also, the students at NSA could well grow up to be the workers and the leaders at the GVIC years from now.

Lockheed Martin’s arrival is another sign that Suffolk is able to attract and handle such a major corporation’ settlement.

The facility will measure 50,000-square feet and employ 50 people. It is expected to open in July 2004 in Bridgeway Commerce Park off Harbour View Boulevard.

GVIC, by the way, will become a key node on Lockheed Martin’s network of facilities linking company experts with customers in the development, analysis and visualization of systems based on integrated information and communication networks.

Suffolk is becoming a hub for technology, reminiscent of the Research Triangle in North Carolina.