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Recent Articles from Stephenie Overman
Growth in the valley
It can take a village — or a valley — to attract a multinational corporation. Shenandoah Valley economic and workforce development officials combined forces to entice Northrop Grumman to locate a 315,000-square-foot advanced electronics manufacturing and testing facility on a 63-acre site in Waynesboro, a project announced in November 2023. Construction of the $200 million-plus […]
Changing of the guard
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. William G. Kelly covered a lot of ground during his first year as president of Christopher Newport University. “I wanted to commit myself to listen and learn, so I invited students to walk with me at 6:30 a.m. every single Wednesday,” Kelly says, estimating that about 15 students and […]
The retail experience
Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall entertains its Tea Club members with monthly tastings, while nearby New Dominion Bookshop offers story times and “Friday Night Writes,” an event featuring emerging writers. And about a mile north at McIntire Plaza, outdoor gear and clothing consignment shop High Tor Gear Exchange has hosted outdoor equipment […]
Assembled with care
If you’re trying to visualize what powers manufacturing growth around Roanoke these days, picture 3D-printed helicopter blades and robotics, not old-style grommets. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing produces objects by creating a series of consecutive layers, as opposed to “subtractive” manufacturing, which removes material to carve out an object. Advanced manufacturing c[...]
Natural selection
Natural gas as a source of energy for Virginia power plants is set to reach its final days by the middle of the century — or is it? The Virginia General Assembly set that deadline in 2020 when it passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires the state’s two major electric utilities to shift […]
A fair share
Virginia’s first Black governor says it’s past time for the state’s historically Black colleges and universities to receive their fair share of the pie. Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a Virginia Union University alumnus, jokes that he has been advocating for increased state funding for Virginia HBCUs “for about a hundred years.” The Biden administration […]
Fix-it shop
Since becoming Arlington County’s economic development director in November 2022, Ryan Touhill’s most pressing challenge has been sharply delineated: The county’s office vacancy rate has hit 23.7%, nearly twice the national rate of 13.1%, a record high itself, according to the National Association of Realtors. Like other localities, Arlington is coping with multiple factors that [...]
Residential roller coaster
Last year began on a high note for the Hampton Roads residential real estate market, with home prices and apartment rents soaring. According to the Real Estate Information Network, monthly median rent costs rose 20.4% compared with 2021, with median rents of $1,800. But by the fourth quarter of 2022, rent growth slowed and sales […]
Serving a repurpose
In Alexandria’s Old Town North, a collection of three brick office buildings built in the 1980s is being transformed into Tide Lock, a community of 234 luxury apartments and condominiums featuring Potomac River views and space for retail and a nonprofit music school. And last summer in the city’s Alexandria West neighborhood, tenants began moving […]
Reaching the majors
Reaching the “major league” in academic research boosts Old Dominion University’s clout in attracting top talent and grants, emphasizes the university’s vice president for research. Achieving the R1 research classification “enhances the reputation of the university,” says Morris Foster, and “helps in the talent [recruitment] area … [because] some students will only go to an[...]
