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Recent Articles from Cathy Jett
Pharma hub workforce training wins $3.9 million grant
The talent pipeline for the Richmond-Petersburg region’s growing advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotech industries is getting a boost from a $3.9 million federal grant. Announced in mid-January, the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge grant was awarded to the Community College Workforce Alliance in Disputanta, a shared division of Brightpoint and [...]
Shenandoah Valley Big Deal: Dairy producer again expands in Frederick County
Dairy company HP Hood has nearly completed the $83.5 million expansion and upgrade of its Frederick County plant, which will allow it to increase production and meet future customer demand. A new machine to fill and seal milk containers was installed and went into production in December 2024, and a new warehouse and processing room […]
Southern Va. Big Deal: Microporous’ mega project
Microporous’ decision to invest $1.35 billion to build a battery component plant in Pittsylvania County is a mega deal not just for the region but for the state. “The company will create over 2,000 jobs in multiple phases and the potential is there for, frankly, additional job creation beyond that,” says Matt Rowe, the county’s […]
Southern Va. Year-in-Review: Major projects landed in region
For Danville and Pittsylvania County, 2024 was a monumental year. In November 2024, battery-component manufacturer Microporous broke ground on a $1.3 billion plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, where it expects to create 2,015 jobs. The following month in Danville, Caesars Virginia hosted the grand opening of its $750 million casino. “All […]
Chesterfield’s Springline development moves forward
Timmons Group expects to move its headquarters from a Chesterfield County office park into the county’s new Springline at District 60 mixed-use project in the first quarter of 2025. The five-story, 150,000-square-foot building is one of three buildings in the first phase of the development near the Chippenham Parkway and Midlothian Turnpike intersection that should […]
George Mason, school districts to launch data science lab school
George Mason University and several Shenandoah Valley school districts are partnering to launch a regional lab school in August 2025 that will focus on data literacy to provide students with training in this high-demand field. The Shenandoah Valley Rural Regional College Partnership Laboratory School for Data Science, Computing and Applications will be located at the […]
Harrisonburg coworking hub slated to open in December
UPDATED NOV. 1 James Madison University in Harrisonburg has long wanted to be more involved with innovation and entrepreneurship in the Shenandoah Valley region. So, when a co-founder of the Staunton Innovation Hub coworking space announced plans in 2022 to renovate the historic Wetsel Seed building into the Harrisonburg Innovation Hub (HIH), JMU pre-leased 1,000 […]
Staunton Crossing industrial site gets ready for business
A $9 million state grant is helping Staunton reach the finish line on Staunton Crossing, its long-awaited industrial site. The state Virginia Business Ready Sites Program (VBRSP) development grant awarded Aug. 8 will help pay for a 1 million-gallon water tower and water supply lines, which will help complete water and sewer access to the 300-acre site. […]
Culpeper tech zone attracts data centers
A Dallas-based developer seeking to build its fourth data center campus in Virginia had a problem. Finding sites large enough was getting difficult in Northern Virginia, where DataBank has two locations in Ashburn’s Data Center Alley and one in McLean. “Virginia is still a solid data center market,” says DataBank Chief Operating Officer Joe Minarik. […]
Richmond switches up stadium funding plan
UPDATED JULY 16 Richmond City Council this spring pitched a bit of a curveball on financing of the city’s new baseball stadium. On May 8, councilors approved a plan that they say would save the city money and get the replacement stadium — part of the proposed Diamond District — completed in time to meet […]
