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Recent Articles from Beth JoJack
VTCSOM seeks to create neurosurgery department
Administrators at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are working toward establishing a department of neurosurgery, a step up from its smaller program. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) received the school’s proposal for creating the new department in early August and could vote on it as soon as Oct. 24, […]
Wallops Island lifts off with Rocket Lab addition
Rocket Lab USA is boosting the visibility of one of the United States’ lesser-known spaceports on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Since January, the California-based aerospace company has launched three successful missions from its Launch Complex 2 at Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Rocket Lab selected the spaceport, located within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County, a[...]
EarthLink support center approaches completion
By mid-August, construction workers had gotten up a big portion of the steel framework for the 28,000-square-foot, two-story building that will house EarthLink’s customer support center at Project Intersection, a new business and industrial park in Norton. Employees of the Atlanta-based high-speed internet service provider should be able to move into the building by March […]
Blue Ridge festival rocks on — for now
UPDATED SEPT. 11: The Blue Ridge Rock Festival was canceled on Sept. 9 due to severe weather, including storms and hail. The festival’s organizers said they would provide refund details early during the week of Sept. 11. The Blue Ridge Rock Festival is on track to sell out this year, with organizers expecting more than […]
Satellite internet improves mobile health care
The Health Wagon got its start in 1980 when Sister Bernadette Kenny, a nurse practitioner, began dispensing free, much-needed health care to people in rural Appalachia from her Volkswagen Beetle. “She was thinking outside the box,” says Health Wagon President and CEO Teresa Tyson. Kenny served as inspiration, Tyson says, when the health care […]
Big deals
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Appomattox: In November 2022, Virginia MetalFab, a precision sheet metal fabricator, moved from Nelson County’s Gladstone area to nearby Appomattox, where it’s leasing the former Thomasville Furniture plant, which shuttered in 2011. Founded in 2002, Virginia MetalFab manufactures metal parts and assemblies for industries ranging from utilities to transportation and technology.[...]
FloydFest cancelation causes economic ripples
FloydFest, a five-day celebration showcasing more than 100 performers, has had an annual regional economic impact of about $4 million since its 2002 founding, according to festival organizers. Even so, county officials and local business owners seem to be taking a “c’est la vie” attitude to the cancelation in April of this year’s FloydFest, which […]
Riverdale project could be ‘transformative’
Partnering with the city of Roanoke, developer Ed Walker started redevelopment of 100 acres encompassing the sprawling, former campus of American Viscose, a rayon plant that closed in 1958. “This is a chance we have as a community to really do something transformative,” Roanoke Economic Development Director Marc Nelson says. Located in the city’s southeast […]
German auto parts maker revamps Salem GE plant
Most everyone in the Roanoke Valley either worked at the former General Electric Co. facility in Salem or knew someone who had, says Renée Turk, the city’s mayor. “On some level, it meant a lot to the entire community,” she says of the manufacturing plant, which opened in 1955. After employing more than 3,000 workers […]
Westward ho!
Southwest Virginia’s leaders feel confident their region will be home to the state’s next inland port. “The planets are aligning for us right now,” says state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County. “Our localities are excited about it. The state seems to be excited about it.” During the Virginia General Assembly’s regular session, Pillion and two […]
Fed’s Fifth District economy stays the course
Economic activity in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District was little changed in recent weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released March 6. Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathered from the nation’s 12 Federal Reserve Banks. It is compiled from […]
Alliance for Building Better Medicine receives $1M award
The Alliance for Building Better Medicine — a group of public and private pharmaceutical manufacturers and research organizations in Richmond and Petersburg — will receive a $1 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Richmond-based innovation incubator Activation Capital, which convened the alliance four years ago, announced last week the group would receive an […]
MicroStrategy’s fortunes rise as bitcoin sets new record
Tysons-based tech company MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, has been riding a recent surge in the cryptocurrency, which hit an all-time high of $69,324.58 Tuesday morning before falling off somewhat in the afternoon. As of Feb. 25, MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries held a total of 193,000 bitcoins, which was worth $13.38 billion […]
Virginians bet nearly $653M on sports in January
Virginians bet more than $652.87 million on sports in January, up 27.2% from January 2023, according to data released Friday by the Virginia Lottery. January’s handle is a 3.11% increase from December 2023, when Virginians bet about $633 million on sports. Virginia bettors won more than $578.5 million in January and more than $569.57 million […]
Hitt Contracting promotes senior leadership
Falls Church-based general contractor Hitt Contracting announced Thursday four promotions and one retirement in its national business. Jeremy Bardin, Hitt’s co-president since 2017, will retire in December. Replacing Bardin as co-president, Evan Antonides has been promoted to oversee Hitt’s Southeast and Texas operations and its mission-critical work nationwide, and will serve alongside Dr[...]
Shentel to sell cell towers portfolio for $310.3M
Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) has entered into an agreement to sell its portfolio of cellular towers and associated operations to Vertical Bridge Holdco for $310.3 million in cash, the Edinburg-based company announced Friday, a move that appears to largely transition Shentel out of the last remnants of its cellular phone business. Vertical Bridge is the nation’s […]
Va. housing market off to slow start in 2024
The housing market in Virginia had a relatively slow start in 2024, according to January data released Feb. 23 by Virginia Realtors. In January, 5,640 homes sold in the state, only 31 more sales than January 2023. Overall in 2023, Virginia home sales dropped 20% compared with 2022 and were the lowest the market had […]
Philanthropy: Accelerating advances
Over the past year, Virginia philanthropists continued to support medical research and higher education, with several demonstrating their commitment through subsequent donations. Northern Virginia philanthropists Dwight and Martha Schar carried on their longtime support of Falls Church- based Inova Health System, providing a $75 million matching gift to the health system in May 2023. Inova [&helli[...]
Amentum secures $591.6M Navy contract
Chantilly-based federal contractor Amentum Services has won a $591.6 million contract from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to support eligible allied naval forces, the company announced Tuesday. Under the contract from the NAVSEA International Fleet Support Program Office, Amentum will provide life-cycle support and follow-on technical solutions — including system upgrades; systems i[...]
United Way of SWVA spins off workforce programs
The United Way of Southwest Virginia is spinning off its workforce development programs by establishing a new nonprofit, EO, to oversee them, UWSWVA announced Feb. 20. EO, which stands for Endless Opportunity, is also Latin for “go.” The new nonprofit will manage what has been the UWSWVA’s $10 million portfolio of grant-funded workforce development programs, […]
Va. Kaiser employees set to picket in Springfield
More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across the nation are threatening to strike beginning Wednesday morning if union leaders cannot come to an agreement on a new labor contract with the health care company, but Kaiser says it would only minimally impact “a few optometry departments and pharmacies in Virginia.” Unlike other recent labor actions, […]
Virginia Natural Gas names chief admin officer
Virginia Natural Gas has named Shannon Pierce as its vice president of strategy and chief administrative officer, the Virginia Beach-based utility announced Monday. Pierce, a native of Surry, most recently served as vice president of growth and chief external affairs officer at SouthStar Energy Services, a subsidiary of VNG’s parent company, Southern Company Gas. She […]
Sentara Halifax plans new, smaller hospital
Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston is investing $70 million to construct a new acute care hospital to replace its aging predecessor, with completion set for late 2025 or early 2026. The new hospital will be about a third the size of the existing 300,000-square-foot facility, which is licensed for 192 beds. Sentara Health […]
Building equity
When BB&T recruited Thomas Ransom, a Black economics student at Hampden-Sydney College, to join its management development program in the late 1990s, he quickly had to pick up the world of banking and its culture. The Urbanna native says he’d never met a banker before starting at BB&T and certainly didn’t know what moves to […]
CBN, Regent University founder Pat Robertson dies at 93
Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson, a one-time GOP presidential hopeful and also chancellor, founder and CEO of Regent University in Virginia Beach, died June 8 at age 93. Robertson started CBN in 1960, revolutionizing religious broadcasting with its flagship program “The 700 Club,” a syndicated evangelical newsmagazine show he hosted for 60 years. During […]
Norfolk purchases struggling MacArthur Center
In early June, Norfolk City Council members approved plans for the city to purchase the struggling MacArthur Center downtown mall for up to $18 million. The 23-acre mall is owned by Wells Fargo & Co., which holds the mall following a loan default by MacArthur Center’s previous owner, Connecticut-based Starwood Property Trust. MacArthur Center was […]
Not by coincidence
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander has a vision for his city that includes increasing revenue without creating additional taxes for residents. His focuses in achieving that goal include tourism, hospitality and entertainment — familiar parts of neighboring Virginia Beach’s economy. However, unlike Virginia Beach, he points out, Norfolk doesn’t have a reliable seasonal tourism base. It [[...]
Fairwinds Landing project breaks ground in Norfolk
Developers broke ground Thursday morning on the Fairwinds Landing maritime operations and logistics center supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. The development project at Norfolk Southern Corp.’s Lambert’s Points Docks in Norfolk is being spearheaded by Fairwinds Landing LLC, a partnership between The Miller Group, Balicore Construction and Fairle[...]
TCC expands Skilled Trades Academy
Tidewater Community College has kicked off the expansion of its Skilled Trades Academy, adding more space and more courses to its Portsmouth facility. The academy opened in 2019 with 20,000 square feet of space, and currently has three classrooms at 3303 Airline Blvd., which is enough room to hold three to six courses at a […]
Pembroke Square scales back some parts of project
Pembroke Square, the $200 million redevelopment of Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach, is moving forward but at a smaller scale, according to the president of Pembroke Realty Group. Pembroke Square Associates LLC first announced plans for the redevelopment of the aging mall’s 54 acres in November 2021, with groundbreaking for its first phase having taken […]
Navy awards $1.1B more for sub construction
General Dynamics Corp.’s Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat Corp. has received nearly $1.1 billion more from the Navy to continue building Virginia-class submarines, and its teammate, Newport News Shipbuilding, has received a $305 million chunk of that award to procure long-lead time material and components for the next two hulls. The contract modification, announced by the […]
SAIC lands $249M Navy air warfare contract
Reston-based Science Applications International Corp. will continue servicing combat instrumentation platforms used by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division for training and test evaluation under a potential $249 million contract, the Fortune 500 contractor announced Tuesday. Under the contract, SAIC will perform systems design and integration, hardware and software upgrades and modificati[...]
Forvis names new Va. managing partner
Forvis has named Jennifer Wold as managing partner of its Virginia practice unit, the accounting firm announced Monday. Wold’s role becomes effective June 1. She succeeds Tom Hazelwood, who has served as managing partner for the past year. Wold will oversee offices in Richmond, where she will be based, and in Norfolk. She is a […]
Potomac Yard-VT Metro station opens in Alexandria
In its heyday during World War II, Potomac Yard handled freight for six different railroads and employed 1,500 workers to keep trains moving, until it succumbed to economic pressures. On Friday, after decades of planning, the transformed former rail switching yard opened as Metro’s 98th station, serving the Yellow and Blue lines between the Braddock […]
Richmond loft apartment community sells for $14.8M
A 70-unit apartment community in Richmond’s Manchester neighborhood sold for $14.8 million May 12. Putnam Mill LLC, an entity connected to First Priority Management of Washington, D.C., purchased The Mill at Manchester Lofts, a former paper mill and warehouse that now consists of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom loft style apartments at 815 Perry St. […]
Shenandoah Valley SBDC names new director
Shenandoah Valley’s Small Business Development Center, based in Harrisonburg, has named Allison Dugan its newest director. Dugan started with the regional SBDC as a part-time program manager in 2014 and became a business adviser in 2015, adding the title of assistant director in 2019. She took on the leadership role May 1, after serving as […]
REC promotes principal engineering manager
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative has named Lee Brock as its principal engineering manager, the Fredericksburg-based utility announced Tuesday, In the new role, Brock will lead and coordinate engineering, design and construction for REC’s large-scale power projects and focus on response and service to new members in the large commercial and industrial space. Her team will also […]
NG receives $244.6M for ballistic missile work
Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a $244.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract to continue work on ballistic missile defense system capabilities, the Pentagon announced May 9. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract continues development, integration, testing and fielding of complex advanced discrimination techniques, operation and sustainment of [...]
Snyder, Harris reach agreement on Washington Commanders sale
Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has reached an agreement for the reported $6 billion sale of the Ashburn-based NFL team to a group led by Bethesda, Maryland-based billionaire Josh Harris. News of the sale was posted on the team’s website and on Twitter Friday afternoon. “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement for […]
Boeing reaches $40B deal with Ryanair
Irish air carrier Ryanair plans to order as many as 300 Boeing 737 MAX-10 aircraft from Arlington County-based Fortune 100 contractor Boeing Co. in a $40 billion deal, the two companies announced Tuesday. Subject to approval by Ryanair’s stockholders, the deal includes a firm order from the airline for 150 aircraft and an option for […]
