Recent Articles from Bernie Niemeier
Letter from the Publisher
In the wake of the tragic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Port of Virginia stepped up to offer its support and immediately began taking on any cargo needing to be redirected our way. Apparently caused by a power outage aboard the container ship that collided with the Key Bridge, the accident shut […]
How’s your confidence?
Business always has its up and downs. We’ve all been through more than a few. As au courant as the dot-com economy might seem, that bubble floated skyward decades ago, bursting in 2002. It wasn’t just a small dip. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the tech stock-heavy Nasdaq index rose by 800%, […]
Got news?
If you’ve been missing out on some local news events lately, it’s likely because local news is increasingly underreported. A report from the University of North Carolina found that between 2005 and 2020, the U.S. lost 2,100 — or roughly one-quarter — of its local community newspapers. Four years later, this trend toward “news deserts” […]
Long-range forecast
In this 2023 issue of Hampton Roads Business, several experts give us their takes on what the region will look like in 20 years. A lot of what we think about Hampton Roads surrounds its strategic significance to the U.S. military as home to the world’s largest naval base and the nation’s largest military shipbuilding […]
A powerful history
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Virginia 500 — The 2023 Power List. Our hope is that you will find it to be an insightful and helpful guide to the commonwealth’s top leaders in business, government and higher education. Virginia’s long reputation as a power center — producing eight U.S. presidents, including George Washington, […]
A new economy
Welcome to the inaugural edition of StartVirginia, a product of Virginia Business magazine. While our editors have chronicled the economy of our commonwealth for more than 37 years, it’s almost impossible to start at the very beginning. Our state traces its business beginnings to the Virginia Company, chartered in 1606 by King James I of […]
Crown jewels
The Port of Virginia and its surrounding maritime community are the crown jewels of economic development in Virginia. Fewer than half of U.S. states have any coastline at all, not to mention the combined industrial, commercial and military presence that makes Hampton Roads an enduring source of growth for the commonwealth and the nation. Consistent […]
Is ESG another CRT?
In January, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined a group of 24 other state attorneys general in challenging a U.S. Department of Labor rule allowing fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria such as climate change in making investment decisions for retirement funds. The AGs argued that ESG practices work against investment […]
A library of business intelligence
Admittedly, many of my personal business memories start from more than just a short while ago — pre-internet days to say the least. Now that everything is online, we don’t hear much about libraries anymore, except maybe in the case of public schools. Politics aside, I’m delighted people are still interested in reading words on […]
Reimagining the corporation
Welcome to the New Year! 2023 is a new one indeed. Business as usual isn’t so usual anymore. Tech companies are downsizing faster than local daily newspapers. Starbucks baristas are the new trend in organized labor. Amazon’s growth is slowing. Global consumption and supply chains can no longer be taken for granted. Twitter is, well, […]