For the Record – Eastern Virginia, September 2013

Texas-based Atomized Products Group Inc. (APG) will create 26 jobs and invest $4.3 million to establish an operation in Chesapeake. APG manufactures, markets and distributes metal powders and TEXEX brand battery expanders.  (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A 112,000-acre block off Virginia Beach’s shoreline will become the nation’s second offshore lease sale for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the auction on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf will take place Sept. 4. It will be sold as an entire block to one of eight companies. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

One of Virginia Beach’s most historic hotels officially changed hands with the closing on The Cavalier Hotel.  Local developer Bruce L. Thompson and a group of partners known as Cavalier Associates LLC purchased the property for $35.7 million in July. The hotel, which has hosted presidents and other celebrities, first opened in 1927. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Enterprise Holdings purchased two properties in York County that will soon become the new Virginia operations center for its Enterprise Fleet Management affiliate. Enterprise operates under the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car brands. The new corporate office, training center and fleet management location will be located near Water Country USA in Williamsburg. Enterprise, which is relocating from Newport News, bought the property for an undisclosed price from GAC-HEL Inc. (VirginiaBusiness.com)   

Kroger Marketplace opened at 3901 Holland Road in Virginia Beach in July. The marketplace is a new concept for the grocer, expanding the traditional supermarket to include clothing, jewelry, housewares, appliances and toys across 123,000 square feet. It’s the first new store that Kroger Co. has built in Hampton Roads since it entered the region 12 years ago, when it took over nine former Hannaford Bros. locations. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, also plans to open Marketplace stores in Portsmouth and North Suffolk. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Lyon Shipyard in Norfolk is one of 12 shipyards nationwide that will share $9.46 million through the federal government’s Small Shipyard Grant Program, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced in July. The company won a $779,000 grant for a numerically controlled lathe. It will be used for work on propulsion-type systems, such as propeller shafts, said Ken Kimball, vice president for finance. The computerized lathe will provide greater accuracy and save on labor costs, he said. (The Virginian-Pilot)

MacArthur Center is adding four new stores this fall. The stores include The Art of Shaving, an upscale shaving shop; G By Guess, a retail offshoot of the denim and fashion brand Guess Inc.; Brighton Collectibles, a designer of jewelry, handbags and shoes; and Torrid, a fashion chain for plus-size women. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Strickland & Jones PC was named Norfolk’s 2013 Small Business of the Year by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Strickland & Jones is a public accounting and consulting firm with offices in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.  (News release)