Recent Articles from Ralph Berrier Jr.
Herndon tech distributor names new president
Four Inc., a Herndon distributor of technology products to the government, announced earlier this month that it has named a new president and CEO to replace former leader and co-founder Jeff Nolan, who is now executive vice chair of Four’s board. David Stewart, previously Four’s chief operating officer, began his new role Feb. 5, according […]
BWXT wins $2.1B in U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts
The U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has awarded BWX Technologies contracts totaling about $2.1 billion, the Lynchburg-based nuclear components and fuel supplier manufacturer announced Wednesday. The contract involves nuclear reactor component manufacturing and material procurement for Columbia and Virginia class submarines and Ford class aircraft carriers. The work will be performed at the B[...]
Capital One, Discover shareholders approve $35.3B acquisition
The proposed $35.3 billion blockbuster acquisition of Discover Financial Services by Capital One Financial has been approved by each company’s shareholders, the credit card giants announced Tuesday. Stockholders representing 85.1% of the total number of outstanding shares of Capital One common stock were in favor of the acquisition at a Tuesday meeting held in McLean. […]
Derivatives exchange to add 33 jobs in Fairfax
Nodal Exchange, a derivatives exchange, will invest $300,000 to expand its Fairfax County operations, adding 33 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. “Nodal Exchange’s expansion in Fairfax County demonstrates Virginia’s ability to attract and retain global financial technology leaders,” Youngkin stated in a news release. “As North America’s largest [...]
Reports of NoVa housing market’s demise are greatly exaggerated, experts say
“See the rats run,” a Facebook post put up Saturday reads. It’s illustrated with a map purportedly of Arlington County — a map covered with dozens of ovals indicating where houses are on the market. Many of the ovals are labeled “coming soon” or “new.” In the wake of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s […]
Bon Secours plans $370M expansion of Henrico hospital
Bon Secours Mercy Health plans to break ground this summer on a $370 million renovation and expansion of Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in western Henrico County, the hospital’s president said Friday. “Since the hospital opened in 1966, this is the most transformative project that we’ve taken on,” Bryan Lee said in an interview with […]
Status of federal agency’s lawsuit against Capital One unclear
A lot has happened since Jan. 20, as the Trump White House employs “shock and awe” tactics at lightning speed. Among the consequences is the shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government watchdog over private industry. Specifically, the CFPB’s pause in work leaves in question a major federal lawsuit against McLean-headquartered Capital One […]
Tysons’ Alarm.com buys stake in remote video monitoring company
Alarm.com has acquired a majority stake in CHeKT, a Louisiana-based cloud platform for remote video monitoring services, according to a Tuesday announcement by the Tysons home security tech company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to Alarm.com, the acquisition strengthens its “market opportunity in the emerging professional video monitoring space.” Moving forward, [&h[...]
Kaine, Warner want answers from FAA about possible Musk intervention
In the wake of the fatal Washington, D.C., collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an airplane, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with other Democratic lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia, want assurance that leaders at the Federal Aviation Administration will notify Congress if billionaire Elon Musk directs the agency to take any […]
Trump’s steel, aluminum tariffs could impact Va. economy
President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports Monday. Now, the world waits to see what impact they will have. “If you look at the behavior of investors, investors are signaling again that they don’t believe these tariffs will be long-lived,” said Bob McNab, chair of Old Dominion University’s Department of Economics […]
Va.’s first onshore wind farm sells power to Google
Even as political winds shift in Washington, D.C., a long-delayed onshore wind farm in Botetourt County might finally be sailing to completion. Charlottesville-based Apex Clean Energy announced in December 2024 that it has reached a deal for Google to purchase the full capacity of Rocky Forge Wind, a wind farm the Charlottesville company has been […]
Big tech company to buy power from Va.’s first onshore wind farm
Even as political winds shift in Washington, D.C., a long-delayed onshore wind farm in Botetourt County might finally be sailing to completion. Charlottesville-based Apex Clean Energy announced Wednesday that it has reached a deal for Google to purchase the full capacity of Rocky Forge Wind, a wind farm the Charlottesville company has been working to […]
Coming to town
People who attended the annual Virginia Fire Rescue Conference in February could buy the latest rescue equipment, tools, turnout gear, radios, oxygen tanks — even a 30,000-pound pumper fire truck. “If you’ve got your checkbook … you can drive that truck home,” says Christian Eudailey, executive director of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, which organizes […]
VCEDA seed grants sow small business growth
Adam Patterson knew if his fashion design company was going to thrive in his hometown of Big Stone Gap, he needed capital — and a new sewing machine. “Mine was so old, it sewed crooked stitches,” says Patterson, founder of Jones-Hurst Designs. Patterson received a $10,000 grant in September from a Virginia Coalfield Economic Development […]
In the pipeline
As Andre Marshall was speaking to a reporter about cybersecurity in late July, one of the biggest technology failures in recent memory was unfolding in real time. A worldwide Microsoft Windows outage on July 19 brought airports, banks, subways — and even the Marshall household — to a standstill. George Mason University’s vice president for […]
Broadband aid
A couple of Holstein cows poke their heads through the metal gates of the barn as Mark Sowers fiddles with one of his most important pieces of farm equipment — a smartphone. Sowers opens an app on his phone that gives him real-time information from the nearly 300 milking cows that roam Huckleberry Dairy, the […]