Recent Articles from Richard Foster
Virginia Business wins three national journalism awards
Virginia Business won three national journalism awards June 21, placing silver in three categories at The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2024 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The magazine took home a silver award in the Best Magazine Cover Category for the November 2023 cover, an AI-generated photorealistic illustration of […]
Dollar Tree, a Virginia corporate success, faces new pressures over history of violations
Virginia inspectors have levied $1.9 million in fines against Dollar Tree and Family Dollar in the past 10 years for health and safety violations, according to a VCIJ at WHRO analysis. Federal inspectors have forced the stores’ parent company to pay millions more. Now, worker advocates and activist investors have increased calls to improve store […]
Virginia Business announces 2024 Va. CFO Awards winners
Virginia Business recognized some of the state’s top chief financial officers from nonprofits and businesses across the commonwealth Thursday at its 2024 Virginia CFO Awards ceremony. This year’s Virginia CFO Awards black-tie banquet — the largest annual gathering of CFOs in Virginia — was held at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. “Being nominated for these […]
These 39 Va. companies made the 2024 Fortune 1000
Thirty-nine companies headquartered in Virginia are on Fortune magazine’s 70th annual Fortune 1000 list, with 24 Virginia companies again making the elite Fortune 500. Several of the Virginia companies saw their fortunes rise this year on the list, with top-ranked Virginia company Freddie Mac moving up nine spots to No. 36 on the overall Fortune […]
Virginia’s fundamentals remain strong after unsuccessful arena competition
As Virginia celebrates Economic Development Week, there is no better time to recognize that when it comes to success in economic development, fundamentals matter most. Incentives, public sector support, personal connections and various intangibles — like, say, letting a CEO pick his favorite Grateful Dead concert to play during a recruitment dinner — can undoubtedly […]
Virginia Business wins 16 Va. Press Association awards
Virginia Business won 16 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2023 News & Advertising Contest, the state organization announced Saturday. The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. This year’s contest was judged by members of the Missouri Press As[...]
Boeing CEO Calhoun to step down by year-end
Amid ongoing bad press over production problems and fallout from a high-profile January incident in which a 4-foot wall panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet cabin in mid-air, Boeing announced Monday that its president and CEO, Dave Calhoun, would step down from his position leading the embattled Arlington County-based Fortune 500 […]
‘Bipartisanship’ fizzled in General Assembly this session
RICHMOND, Va. — Democrats and Republicans emphasized bipartisanship and working across the aisle after the election, in press conferences and throughout the legislative session, but the sentiment seemed to fizzle by the end. Lawmakers wrapped up the busy 60-day session on March 9 after they passed a biennial budget and over 1,000 bills—a total which excludes certain […]
To support a more inclusive workforce, Va. lawmakers must unite around this bill
Virginia’s worker shortage is one of the commonwealth’s biggest barriers to economic growth and prosperity: According to data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are just 60 available workers for every 100 open jobs statewide. But Virginia’s talent-starved labor market is hardly unique. Nationally, there are seven workers for every 10 available jobs. The mismatch between available [...]
CoStar Group moving global HQ to Arlington
UPDATED: Feb. 16, 10 a.m. CoStar Group, which already has a major presence in Richmond, will invest $20 million to move its global corporate headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Arlington County’s Rosslyn area, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. Known for its online real estate marketplaces Apartments.com and Homes.com, the real estate analytics and data […]
Why Alexandria’s new entertainment district is everyone’s business
As lawmakers negotiate the future of a $2 billion deal to build a new entertainment district in Alexandria, leaders across public and private sectors in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region are weighing the potential benefits. Without discounting concerns of local residents, I would like to present how this entertainment district will help Northern Virginia’s future growth and […]
Electra aircraft backlog hits $8B
Manassas-based aviation startup Electra.aero has surpassed 2,000 orders for the electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft it’s developing, totaling an $8 billion backlog, the company announced Tuesday. Electra signed a letter of intent in December 2023 to deliver its blown-lift, fixed-wing eSTOL aircraft to Finnish regional private air carrier startup Lygg, followed by similar [&he[...]