For the Record – August 2016

EASTERN VIRGINIA
 Farmhouse Brewing Co. , in a partnership with Back Bay Brewing Co. and general contractor Axis Global Enterprises Inc., will renovate the historic Wood Family farmhouse at 1805 Kempsville Road for Back Bay’s second brewery in Virginia Beach. The capital investment for the farmhouse brewery project is $1.4 million for the improvements and equipment. The Virginia Beach Development Authority has approved a $35,000 Economic Development Investment Program grant for the expansion, based on capital investment. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 Huntington Ingalls Industries  said in June that its Newport News Industrial subsidiary would undergo a 52,000-square-foot expansion at its headquarters facility in Newport News. The expansion will support the company’s heavy steel fabrication in the commercial nuclear power industry and will create at least 120 new skilled trades jobs. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in fall 2017. Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of engineering, manufacturing and management services. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc.  shares surged as much as 25 percent June 17 after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ended a probe of formaldehyde in the company’s flooring without issuing a product recall. The Toano-based company agreed to not sell laminate flooring made in China — which it stopped offering more than a year ago — and will continue offering free tests for any of the 600,000 customers who purchased the product. (Bloomberg)

 Sera-Brynn , a Suffolk-based cyber risk management firm, has expanded with the opening of a second office in the Oyster Point area of Newport News. Sera-Brynn cited rapid growth as the reason for adding another office. The company anticipates another expansion later this year to further enlarge its geographic footprint. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Hampton Roads-based  TowneBank  and Monarch Financial Holdings Inc. merged in June. When the deal  was announced in December, it was valued at $229 million. TowneBank had assets of $6.37 billion as of March 31. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Studio Center will move to a new location in Virginia Beach. The expansion will add 20 full-time jobs to the company’s workforce of 33. Studio Center is moving its video production services to 149 Business Park Drive, next door to its other location. The company will invest $1.2 million in the real estate and add $1 million in improvements and $800,000 in business property. Based on the capital investment, the Virginia Beach Development Authority has approved a $150,000 Program grant. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
New York-based Handsome Brook Farm LLC will invest $6.4 million to establish a new pasture-raised egg processing operation in   Berryville   and  Clarke County . The project will create 105 jobs, making it the largest jobs announcement on record for the county. The business has committed to purch asing over $50 million in Virginia-sourced eggs over the next three years and plans to contract with more than 100 Virginia farms. Incentives included a $200,000 grant from the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which Clarke County and Berryville are matching with local funds. (News release)

 Staunton Frontier LLC  plans to bring retail, restaurants and lodging to a 42-acre area off U.S. 250 and Frontier Drive on land adjacent to Sheetz in Staunton. The anticipated development is across the street from another mixed-use development called Staunton Crossing, which has nearly 300 acres available. Ryland Winston, co-manager for Staunton Frontier, said four of the five outparcels are committed to a retailer and three restaurants. (News Leader)

The  Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation  is mo ving forward with plans to manage the privately owned Natural Bridge and surrounding property as one of its 37 state parks . The nonprofit organization Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund purchased the 1,500-acre property in 2014 with the goal of eventually donating it to Virginia for a state park but ran into financial problems. Natural Bridge will be managed and marketed as a state park beginning Sept. 24, but the land will not be transferred from VCLF to the state until it is debt free. (The Roanoke Times)

A  Walmart  store in Timberville opened in  July. Timberville Town Council voted in September 2014 to allow the Bentonville, Ark., retailer to build a Supercenter at the site, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held a year later. The 126,000-square-foot store is located at the corner of New Market Road and South Main Street in Timberville. (Daily News-Record)

Nearly 500 acres in Weyers Cave have been rezoned from general agriculture to industrial after a vote from the Augusta County Board of Supervisors. Augusta County Economic Development Director Amanda Glover said without the proper zoning for the land, the county might have lost out on the business opportunity. Currently, the land is leased, and there are people living and farming on it. (News Leader)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Alcoa will invest $8.59 million in Henry County to expand its aerospace forging capabilities, adding 15 new jobs in the process. “Alcoa will now produce 3D-printed titanium, specialty metals, plastic parts for aerospace, medical and energy applications, all of the needs that are growing dramatically around the globe,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said. Incentives included $80,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Danville-based Averett University recently received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education for its undergraduate nursing program. The program received a five-year accreditation, which is the maximum term for a new program. The program currently enrolls almost 100 students and graduated its first 16 students in December. (Danville Register & Bee)

A company planning a $250 million investment in the region has signed a purchase agreement with the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority for a 300-acre site at the industrial mega park site on Berry Hill Road in Pittsylvania County. There are no details about what company will ultimately build on the site or what the company produces — or even how many jobs can be expected. The project itself is code-named Project 950. (Danville Register & Bee)

Michelin North America and Alton-based VIRginia International Raceway announced that Michelin will become the title sponsor for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, the track’s largest race of the year. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race takes place Aug. 26 to 28. VIR is the only track in the greater mid-Atlantic area and one of only 12 tracks nationwide selected to host the WeatherTech Championship in 2016. (News release) 

Performance Livestock and Feed Co. will invest more than $4 million to establish a feed production operation in Henry County, creating 32 jobs. The North Carolina-based company will commit to purchasing $11 million in Virginia-sourced grains and other feed ingredients. Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $100,000 grant from the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which is being matched by Henry County. The company also received a Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission grant. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

TMI AutoTech, producers of the Ariel Atom supercar, unveiled its new production facility in South Boston in June. The new facility is twice as large as the first and will allow TMI to add production of a second vehicle. This will result in 20 new jobs and $525,000 in capital investment over the next two years. TMI also plans to expand into producing precision designed parts for other manufacturers including carbon-fiber composite parts. (The Gazette-Virginian)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Renovation work is underway to transform the former Executive Plaza in Bristol into  The Bristol Hotel , a $20 million project that plans to open in 2017. The seven-story, 53,000-square-foot hotel will have 65 guest rooms, a fine dining restaurant, ground floor and rooftop bars, meeting space and other amenities, according to developer Marcus McCall. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Plans to develop what’s called a pad-ready site at the Greenfield industrial park were approved in June by the  Botetourt County  Board of Supervisors. The 14-acre site, across International Parkway from where Eldor Corp. of Italy plans to build its East Coast manufacturing and distribution facility, will be the only one of its kind in the Roanoke Valley, County Administrator Gary Larrowe said. (The Roanoke Times)

After more than three decades of offering wines, Floyd-based  Chateau Morrisette  plans to soon add cider and eventually craft beer to its palette. The family-owned Chateau is slated to begin serving its own ciders in August in an effort to meet growing interest in craft beverages. The winery also has filed for a beer license with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control as part of long-term plans to establish its own brewery. (The Roanoke Times)

Developer  Creative Boutique Hotels  (CBH) held a ground-breaking ceremony in June for the 33-room Western Front Hotel in downtown St. Paul. The $7.3 million boutique hotel is expected to open by summer 2017.  The hotel will be developed utilizing the former Willis and Dye buildings. In addition to guest rooms it will include a restaurant and music venue; rooftop dining; a rooftop bar and outdoor entertainment spaces. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A year after announcing it was closing a facility near  Bonsack , HSN Inc. will begin to downsize. The Florida-based company, formerly k nown as Home Shopping Network, will begin the gradual process of laying off 257 workers starting Aug. 10, according to a layoff notice filed with the state. HSN announced in June 2015 that it would close its Roanoke order fulfillment facility because it could not accommodate the company’s expansion needs.  According to HSN spokesman Brad Bohnert, HSN expects to fully close the facility in April 2017. (The Roanoke Times)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
 CyrusOne  has completed its newest 30-megawatt facility on the company’s Northern Virginia campus in Sterling. Completion of the Sterling II data center expands the scope of the 129,000-square-foot Northern Virginia campus. The Dallas-based company also has purchased 40 acres in the Kincora mixed-use project in Loudoun County where it plans to build a $1 billion data center. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Arlington-based  Dominion Dental Services  has changed its name to Dominion National. The company said the new name reflects Dominion’s geographic expansion and growing portfolio of products and services. The company provides dental and vision benefits for employer groups, municipalities, associations, individuals and health plans across the country. Dominion, which incorporated in 1996, has nearly 850,000 members. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 Grant Thornton LLP  will invest $15.75 million to consolidate its Northern Virginia offices to Arlington County. The move will retain 994 jobs and create another 348. The Chicago-based accounting and advisory firm currently has offices in Alexandria and McLean. Incentives included a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund.  (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Sterling-based  Neustar  intends to separate into two publicly traded companies. One company will include the majority of Neustar’s information services, while the other will focus on providing order management and numbering services. Lisa Hook, the president and CEO of Neustar, will head the information services company, which will be rebranded. Paul Lalljie, Neustar’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, will lead the order management and numbering services company, which will retain the Neustar name. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Arlington-based  Snagajob  has purchased rival hiring platform PeopleMatter for an undisclosed amount.  PeopleMatter, which is headquartered in Charleston, S.C., has more than 47,000 locations using its service. (Washington Business Journal)

 Tegna Inc.  is moving its headquarters to Boro Tower, a new 20-story trophy office tower to be built in Tysons. Tegna, the former Gannett Co., which changed its named last year after spinning off its print division, will lease the top floors of the building, or about 60,000 of the building’s 440,000 square feet, starting in early 2019. The company is relocating from its current headquarters at 7950 Jones Branch Drive in McLean. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Consumers who bought or leased  VW  or Audi vehicles in the state may be eligible for  compensation due to a $14.7 billion federal settlement addressing Volkswagen’s emissions cheating. The German automaker, whose North American headquarters are in Herndon, has acknowledged equipping certain vehicles with illegal and undisclosed software designed to skirt emissions laws. As part of the settlement, Virginia will receive more than $100 million, and qualified Virginia VW owners will receive tens of millions more in direct compensation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Afton Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of Richmond-based NewMarket Corp., has invested in a petroleum-additive plant in Brazil. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The plant at Bayer Industrial Park, in Belford Roxo, Rio de Janeiro, will be operated by Afton Chemical Indústria de Aditivos Ltda — a Brazil-based subsidiary of Afton, which makes chemical additives for petroleum products. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Eastern Virginia Bankshares Inc., the parent company of EVB bank, is relocating its headquarters to the Innsbrook business park in Glen Allen. The company expects to move in early fall, but EVB’s main bank office will remain in Tappahannock. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The holding company for Henrico County-based specialty insurance provider Kinsale Insurance Co. plans an initial public offering that could raise up to $100 million. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. filed registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 1 to sell stock to the public. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Pacific Life Insurance Co. has completed the purchase of a new term life insurance platform from Henrico County-based Genworth Financial and will establish a business center in Lynchburg.  The Newport Beach, Calif., company expects to create 300 jobs during the next three years in Lynchburg. It expects to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2016. Genworth said in February that it was ending the sale of term life insurance and fixed-annuity products, saying it would lay off 200 employees in Lynchburg and 70 at its Henrico County headquarters. (Virginia­­­­-Business.com)

Standard Insurance Co. plans to open an office in Altavista, which it expects to employ 200 people by 2019. The Portland, Ore.-based company, whose marketing name is The Standard, plans for the office to be operational in September.  Standard sells insurance products for groups and individuals, retirement plans products and services, and individual annuities. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Petersburg-based Virginia State University has been cleared of the accreditation warning that was placed on the school last June and extended in December. The board of trustees for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges voted in June to lift the sanction. Makola M. Abdullah, VSU’s president since February, said faculty, staff and administrators “worked together in an incredible way” to provide the necessary documentation required for the on-site evaluation in April by a SACS team. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Le Bleu Central Virginia has announced the grand opening of its business in Richmond. Le Bleu has been purifying and bottling water in its North Carolina headquarters for over 25 years, using a patented, five-step process resulting in “Ultra Pure Water.” The new company will provide distribution services of Le Bleu Ultra Pure Bottled Water to businesses and homes across 22 counties in Central Virginia. (News release)