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Recent Articles from Stephenie Overman
A step up the ladder
Internships often help college students learn what they want to do as a profession by expanding their horizons, providing on-the-job experience or helping them change paths to follow a new passion. For instance, an internship helped Virginia Commonwealth University student Oscar Kemp discover that his interest in domestic social work applied just as well to […]
Fighting back
Inflation and supply chain problems have pushed up the price of citric acid by 200%. That’s a problem for Crystal Wellman because citric acid is a primary ingredient in bath products she sells at Sugar + Spruce, her bath, body and skin care products shop in downtown Fredericksburg. Wellman could try just raising prices, but […]
Hitting home
“The stereotypical view is that every young lawyer wants to work from home,” unlike their older peers, observes Victor O. Cardwell, principal and chairman of Roanoke-based Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC. Indeed, 51% of baby boomer attorneys report being eager or very eager to get back to the office, but just 22% of their millennial […]
Watershed moment
Hampton Roads is besieged by hurricanes, nor’easters and full moon tidal surges, but it’s not just coastal Virginia homes and businesses that are threatened by increased flooding. “Climate change is causing the state as a whole to deal with flooding and flood- related issues. It impacts a lot of people throughout the state,” says Michael […]
New IDA director is no stranger
When Kristy Johnson moved to Halifax County from Georgia in 2008, the community welcomed her family with open arms, she says. Now she has the opportunity to return the favor as the new executive director of the county’s Industrial Development Authority. Johnson’s no stranger to the organization. She’s worked for the IDA since 2009 in […]
JMU-led pact seeks to increase labor participation
The Shenandoah Valley’s economy is rebounding, but the region is struggling with a poor labor force participation rate, even compared with the national rate of 61%. In Augusta, Bath, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, only 50% of potential workers are actually employed, says Jay Langston, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, calling […]
Plastics company to revive textile mill site in Hurt
At the site of what was once a Burlington Industries textile mill in Hurt, Staunton River Plastics is building a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Staunton River Plastics is the first tenant for the newly named Southern Virginia Multimodal Park, says Linda Green, executive director at the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance in Danville. Burlington Industries, once known […]
Roanoke plant still empty after FreightCar America exit
More than two years after FreightCar America left town, eliminating about 200 assembly jobs, the buildings once occupied by the railcar manufacturer in downtown Roanoke remain empty. Chicago-based FreightCar America opened its Roanoke plant in 2005, leasing space at the East End Shops, a locomotive workshop and maintenance complex of about 900,000 square feet of […]
Pittsylvania, Danville governments see labor gap, too
Businesses aren’t the only organizations finding it difficult to hire employees. Amid dropping state unemployment rates and a nationwide labor shortage, Danville and Pittsylvania County have been seeking new ways to interest people in working for local government. Pittsylvania’s Board of Supervisors approved $1,000 employee referral and sign-on bonuses in July, says Holly E. Stanfield, [&helli[...]
Silver Line will miss Labor Day target
Problems plugging Silver Line Phase 2 into the rest of the Washington transit system are delaying the project’s transfer from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The transfer’s target date was Labor Day, but it’s not clear how long the transfer will be delayed, according to Marcia McAllister, […]
Chesterfield fintech Paymerang to be acquired for $475M
Chesterfield County-based payment and invoice automation company Paymerang has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Atlanta-based corporate payments processor Corpay for $475 million, according to an SEC filing by Corpay and a news release. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of the year, subject to regulatory approval and standard […]
VTG awarded $130M defense contract
VTG, a Chantilly-based engineering firm, has been awarded a five-year, $130 million contract by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Integrated Warfare Systems Engineering Group, the company announced Tuesday. The contract is to provide end-to-end engineering services, spectrum management and test and evaluation support for Navy warfare, control and C5I (command, control, communications, cyber a[...]
Sterling drone-jamming firm to be acquired by Taser maker Axon
Dedrone, a Sterling-based maker of drone-jamming and detection devices, has reached an agreement to be acquired by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser manufacturer Axon Enterprise. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, the companies announced Monday, and terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dedrone’s portable gunlike jammers can thwart aerial drones […]
Chartway Credit Union names new CFO
Virginia Beach-based Chartway Credit Union has hired Sander Casino as its chief financial officer, the credit union announced Wednesday. Casino was most recently senior vice president of finance for Raleigh, North Carolina-based Local Government Federal Credit Union and its affiliate Civic Credit Union. Before joining LGFCU in 2012 and Civic in 2018, Casino was with […]
Lighthouse Labs leader has ‘deep heart for entrepreneurship’
Explaining how she became involved in supporting entrepreneurism, the new managing director of Richmond-based accelerator Lighthouse Labs jokes that “it was all accidental.” As a James Madison University senior putting herself through school, Debbie Irwin couldn’t find a class that lined up with her work schedule, so her dean suggested writing a senior thesis instead. […]
Prime for development
In the past year, Amazon.com continued its march across the commonwealth, announcing plans to build a 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center and a 219,000-square-foot delivery station in Virginia Beach, which are collectively expected to produce more than 1,000 jobs. About 60% the size of the Pentagon, Virginia’s second largest building belongs to Amazon — a 3.8 million-square-foot […]
Fahrenheit Advisors announces new COO
Richmond-based consulting firm Fahrenheit Advisors has added Kris Cravey to its executive ranks. Cravey, formerly chief people officer at Virginia Beach-based DroneUp, will be chief operating officer at Fahrenheit Advisors, the company announced Tuesday. In his new role, he will take primary responsibility for overseeing the execution of Fahrenheit Advisors’ strategy, growth and client servi[...]
VIPC taps Benevento as permanent president and CEO
Joe Benevento will remain as the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp.’s president and CEO permanently after serving in the role on an interim basis since September 2023, VIPC announced Wednesday. Benevento took over as interim CEO when Bob Stolle announced he was stepping down. A not-for-profit corporation created in 1985 by the General Assembly as an […]
Hollins president to chair national board
Hollins University President Mary Dana Hinton has been elected chair of the board of directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the university announced April 17. Hinton begins her term on July 1 and leads a board of four officers and 14 board members. NAICU focuses on representing private, nonprofit higher […]
Norfolk mayor says apartments, hotel could replace MacArthur Center
MacArthur Center mall in downtown Norfolk is expected to be replaced by a major mixed-use development, which could be called “The Anchorage,” featuring a 400-room, military-themed hotel and 518,000 square feet of high-rise residential space, Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander announced April 12 during his State of the City speech. “MacArthur Mall demands a bold vision […]
