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Companies sue over Valley medical marijuana permit
Seven businesses are suing Virginia over a disputed medical marijuana permit in the Shenandoah Valley region, citing violations of FOIA and VAPA laws.
Farm Credit of Virginias CEO to retire
Brad Cornelius will retire in late 2025 after leading Farm Credit of the Virginias for five years. He grew the cooperative's loan portfolio to $2.3B and 12,500 customer-owners.
Tariffs, policy shifts cloud economic outlook, Barkin says
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin says U.S. economy looks solid by data, but tariff policies and uncertainty are clouding forecasts and business confidence.
Company behind Chesterfield indoor farm files for bankruptcy
Plenty Unlimited, a San Francisco-based agricultural technology company that counts tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt among its investors, has filed for bankruptcy but plans to continue operating its vertical strawberry farm in Chesterfield County throughout the restructuring, according to a company announcement. “This is a challenging time for the vertical farming industry and [[...]
Trump probes lumber, timber imports for potential tariffs; names furniture as derivative product
WASHINGTON – Does the U.S.’ reliance on imported lumber and timber constitute a threat to national security? That’s what the Trump Administration aims to find out through a new executive order. “The wood products industry – composed of timber, lumber, and their derivative products (such as paper products, furniture, and cabinetry) – is a critical manufacturing […]
New indoor farming operation to bring 118 jobs to Carroll County
U.K.-based business development firm Oasthouse Ventures, which specializes in low-carbon greenhouses, is investing $104.8 million to construct its first U.S.-based controlled environment agriculture operation in Carroll County, where it plans to produce tomatoes. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday that the project will initially create 118 jobs, with a total of 265 full-time and part-time positi[...]
Virginia Agribusiness Council appoints new CEO
The Virginia Agribusiness Council announced Monday that it is appointing Trey Davis, an agriculture industry veteran, as its new president and CEO effective March 3. The council is a nonprofit member organization that advocates for government policies that support Virginia’s agriculture industry and provides resources and education for agribusiness professionals. In his new role, Davis [&hel[...]
US trade war could raise prices, economists say
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau managed to separately negotiate a monthlong pause on Monday with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on a trade war that was scheduled to begin on midnight Tuesday. However, as of late Monday afternoon, the Trump administration was still prepared to impose a 10% tariff on […]
Smithfield Foods raises $522M in first day on Nasdaq
Smithfield Foods officials rang the opening bell Tuesday at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, as the packaged meat and fresh pork giant launched its initial public offering of 26 million stock shares at $20 per share on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, raising $522 million. The offering consists of 13,043,479 shares of common […]
Perdue Farms agrees to $4M settlement in child labor probe
Perdue Farms has agreed to pay $4 million in restitution to settle a federal investigation into alleged child labor violations at the company’s poultry processing plant on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced it had launched a probe into alleged child labor violations at the […]
Smithfield Foods files for IPO
Virginia’s Smithfield Foods announced Monday it has filed a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering. This is the first step toward the pork and packaged meats giant’s plan of selling common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SFD. In November 2024, Smithfield’s […]
The First 100 Days: What to Expect
In anticipation of a new president taking office, BridgeTower Media spoke with experts across several industries — agriculture, banking and finance, energy, health care and manufacturing — to explore how the incoming Trump administration might affect those industries. The stories in this feature provide expert insights into what organizations can expect as a new administration […]
