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Recent Articles from Paul Bibeau
A gust of new jobs
Twenty-seven miles as the seagull flies off the coast of Virginia Beach, two wind turbines, each about 600 feet tall — taller than the Washington Monument — have the ability to generate 12 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3,000 homes. In three years, 174 more wind turbines will join them with more than 200 […]
Chesapeake preps 1,400-acre industrial park
Whenever a big economic development announcement from another state pops up in the news, Hampton Roads Alliance President and CEO Doug Smith can count on his phone ringing. “I get a call from somebody saying, ‘Why didn’t we get that?’” says Smith. “And the answer is real simple: We didn’t have 500 acres or 1,500 […]
CarLotz, Need Supply founders launch schools startup
For about a decade after meeting at a business function, Michael Bor and Chris Bossola met for lunch periodically, swapping stories about their shared experiences in launching and scaling companies. Their conversations eventually landed on what they say could transform funding for public schools nationwide. The two have plenty of entrepreneurial experience. Bossola founded Richmond-based […[...]
Tech students dig into high-tech mock mine
Robots don’t belong on volleyball courts, but for more than a decade Virginia Tech students had no other large, sandy place to test out mining robots. It was “a real lost opportunity” that students didn’t have a dedicated space to work with mining machines, says Erik Westman, a professor and interim department head at Tech’s […]
Balance of power
Chris Rawlings was a mechanic who wanted to be a pilot. He left the Marine Corps in 2008 after deploying twice to Iraq, where he supervised an aircraft maintenance team, going on to perform similar duties as a civilian contractor in a hangar at Fort Eustis. But his plan was to get back into the […]
McLean startup raises $75M for air taxi network
Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis” predicted cities with flying cars, while Hanna-Barbera followed that vision 35 years later with “The Jetsons” and its commuter “skyways.” Now, however, air taxis are close to becoming reality. The industry could generate up to $16 billion in new business investments in Virginia and carry as many as 66 million […]
Civilian life
Paul Valentine is on a winding career path. After leaving the Army more than a decade ago, he got his commercial driver’s license at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. He was taking classes to try to get an engineering degree as well but quit to take full-time work at trucking companies after his […]
State’s oldest bank to trade on Nasdaq
In 1858, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association bought George Washington’s former home, seeking to preserve the historic estate for a country on the brink of civil war. A key player in this transaction was Alexandria-based Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co., which also protected the association’s assets during the Civil War. Now, the 171-year-old […]
Tech researchers aim to transform power grid
Across the American landscape about 3,000 more wind turbines have popped up every year since 2005, and more than 2.7 million homes in the U.S. now sport solar panels. The power grid also is transforming, but the system is still better suited to centralized coal-fired plants, not widely dispersed sources of renewable energy. A four-person […]
U.Va. leads Pentagon hypersonic project
Like a “Top Gun” fighter pilot, Christopher Goyne feels the need for speed. Goyne directs the University of Virginia’s Aerospace Research Laboratory and leads a new team developing hypersonic engines that will enable more maneuverable missiles, jets and — eventually — spacecraft via a $4.5 million Department of Defense award announced in October. Under the […]
