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Charlottesville chamber CEO to step down
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Elizabeth Cromwell will step down in February after four years helming the organization, the chamber said Tuesday. Cromwell’s last day is Feb. 17. Andrea Copeland, the chamber’s director of committee engagement, has been named interim president to manage the organization until a new president is named. The […]
$100M donor gift to launch U.Va. biotech institute
The University of Virginia will build a biotechnology institute funded with a $100 million donation from Charlottesville investor Paul Manning and his wife, Diane, the university announced Friday. Along with the Mannings’ gift, U.Va. will contribute $150 million, and the state has allocated $50 million in initial investments for the institute in its 2022-24 budget, […]
Fertility testing startup to establish $1.4M Albemarle HQ
Life sciences startup PS-Fertility Inc. will invest $1.4 million to establish its headquarters and operations in Albemarle County and plans to create 31 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. PS-Fertility Inc. will commercialize a male fertility diagnostic technology that was originally developed at the University of Virginia. The company will lease 4,000 square feet at […]
VCU names medical school dean
Dr. Arturo P. Saavedra will be the next dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs at VCU Health, the university announced Monday. His appointment is effective April 15. Saavedra is currently chair of the University of Virginia’s dermatology department and interim CEO of the U.Va. Physicians […]
$1.2B WillowTree purchase completed
Telus International Inc.’s $1.225 billion purchase of Charlottesville-based software company WillowTree Inc. has been completed, the Canadian tech company said Wednesday. The acquisition was announced in October 2022. The purchase included $210 million of assumed debt, of which $125 million was to be settled in Telus subordinate voting shares. Approximately $160 million will be reinvested [...]
U.Va. credit union names new COO
The University of Virginia Community Credit Union in Charlottesville has named Belinda Tucker as chief operating officer, the institution announced Monday. Tucker will report directly to Susan Gruber, the credit union’s president and CEO. In her new role, Tucker will support the credit union’s marketing, retail delivery strategy, loan servicing operations member service center and [&he[...]
Lawyers aim to lower barriers to legal advice for startups
It takes a lot to start a business — a marketable idea, available capital and good advice, among other resources. Tricia Dunlap puts legal guidance in the same bucket. A former history teacher who became a lawyer in her 40s, Dunlap started her own Richmond-based law firm, Dunlap Law PLC, in 2015 to help “un-lawyered […]
Telus International to acquire WillowTree for $1.2B
Charlottesville-based WillowTree Inc., recently recognized by Adweek for being one of the fastest-growing agencies in the nation, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Canadian tech company Telus International Inc. for $1.225 billion, Telus announced Thursday. The acquisition is expected to close in January and is subject to regulatory approvals. Under the agreement, […]
Two Va. agencies make Adweek’s fastest growing U.S. agencies list
Two ad agencies that call Virginia home have landed on Adweek’s 2022 list of the fastest-growing U.S. ad agencies, the publication announced Monday. Richmond-based creative agency Dotted Line ranked third on the list of Adweek’s fastest-growing agencies in the Southeast, and No. 22 on the list of the nation’s 75 fastest-growing agencies. Charlottesville-based Willow Tree [&hellip[...]
Lead on
Not long after D’Ivonne Holman became director of development for Northern Virginia family services nonprofit Britepaths in 2018, she signed up to participate in Leadership Fairfax, a leadership development organization focused on local and regional challenges in Fairfax County. Her boss, a Leadership Fairfax alum, encouraged her to apply. She was accepted into Leadership Fairfax’s [&h[...]
EY names eight Virginians mid-Atlantic entrepreneurs of year
Eight leaders from six Virginia businesses have been named winners of Ernst & Young LLP’s Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2022. The winners, named in early July by the Big Four multinational professional services company, include: 10Pearls | Imran Aftab, co-founder and CEO, Vienna Aireon LLC | Don Thoma, founder and CEO, McLean ID.me […]
VCU’s theater department receives $5M donation
Virginia Commonwealth University has received a $5 million donation from Charlottesville resident James H.T. McConnell Jr. for the Department of Theatre in the School of Arts, the university announced Thursday. The gift will create three endowed funds to promote education and social awareness and to examine social justice through the lens of theater, according to […]
