Recent Articles from Kate Andrews
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Jennifer V. Montague
In 2023, Montague was named president and COO of Columbia Gas, after serving as parent company NiSource’s senior vice president and chief customer officer. Her time in the energy industry goes back decades, having previously worked at BP and Commonwealth Edison. Montague also serves on boards for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, UNCF Richmond and […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Benita Thompson-Byas
Thompson-Byas joined the company started by her brother Warren Thompson right at its launch in 1992. Over the past three decades, Thompson Hospitality has grown from a group of 31 Big Boy restaurants to become the nation’s largest minority-owned hospitality business. Thompson-Byas is in charge of the company’s partnership with Compass Group, including more than […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Deirdre C. Gonsalves-Jackson
Trained as a biologist, Gonsalves-Jackson leads Virginia Wesleyan’s online, Japanese, evening and weekend programs under the umbrella of the VWU Global Campus. She’s been recognized for STEM outreach and has received multiple teaching and community engagement awards. In 2024, she was promoted from dean to vice president. FIRST JOB: My first job after graduating college […]
White House decisions weigh heavily on Va., Hampton Roads economies, experts say
While federal workers ponder taking a buyout offer from President Donald Trump and a now-rescinded federal funding freeze memo caused confusion and worry over the status of major economic development projects in Virginia, economists at Old Dominion University say uncertainty in Washington, D.C., is the major factor affecting the state’s and Hampton Roads’ economic futures […]
Fairfax casino bill moves forward in Va. Senate
A Virginia State Senate bill that could bring a casino to Tysons won a vote in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, pushing it forward to a full Senate vote later in the Virginia General Assembly session. If passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Fairfax County voters would have the […]
Trump’s pause on $3T in federal funding could impact Va.
Update, 7:30 p.m. A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal spending until at least Feb. 3, but the White House did not immediately respond to the judicial order. On Monday, Trump ordered a freeze on more than $3 trillion in federal financial assistance, including grants and loans backing economic development and […]
Smithfield Foods raises $522M in first day on Nasdaq
Smithfield Foods officials rang the opening bell Tuesday at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, as the packaged meat and fresh pork giant launched its initial public offering of 26 million stock shares at $20 per share on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, raising $522 million. The offering consists of 13,043,479 shares of common […]
Something in the Water called off, found in breach of contract
Something in the Water, music and fashion mogul Pharrell Williams’ Virginia Beach music festival, has been called off after missing an extended deadline Monday. Last week, Virginia Beach officials gave concert organizers a five-day deadline to meet the city‘s requirements for a lineup of performers and a start to ticket sales for the April 26-27 […]
HII closes on South Carolina plant acquisition
Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Monday it has closed on its purchase of a metal fabrication manufacturing facility in South Carolina, which will now be part of its subsidiary Newport News Shipbuilding. The company did not disclose financial terms. In December 2024, HII said it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all […]
$40M Diamond District lawsuit dismissed in Richmond
A Richmond Circuit Court judge dismissed a $40 million lawsuit over the city‘s $2.44 billion Diamond District project last week, in which a Connecticut developer claimed its former partners, including Richmond’s Thalhimer Realty Partners, cut it out of the development deal. Judge Bradley B. Cavedo ruled Jan. 22 in favor of defendants Thalhimer, a subsidiary […]