Mining for talent
At the end of October, United Way of Southwest Virginia broke ground on its $25 million project to convert a former Kmart store in Abingdon into a regional workforce development and child care hub. It’s an attempt to address the region‘s workforce shortage, one of the most pressing issues among area employers. “There’s a lot […]
Nation’s first Goodwill-owned supermarket to open in NW Roanoke
Roanoke-based Goodwill Industries of the Valleys broke ground Nov. 14 on Melrose Plaza, a community hub that will be anchored by the nation’s first full-scale, full-service grocery store owned and operated by a Goodwill organization. Slated to open in December 2024 in a Northwest Roanoke food desert, the 25,000-square-foot Market on Melrose is expected to […]
Clean energy development could draw $8.5B in investments
Wise County and neighboring localities may become home to a massive clean energy development that could attract up to $8.25 billion in capital investments, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 1. An agreement between Wise County, the Energy DELTA Lab and Dallas-based Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer aims to develop 65,000 acres of former coal […]
Norfolk makes economic development head permanent
The City of Norfolk will keep Sean Washington as its director of economic development permanently after serving as interim director since August 2022, the city announced Tuesday. His appointment was effective Nov. 6. Before serving as interim director, Washington was assistant director from November 2020 through August 2022, but he’d worked in the department since […]
Pittsylvania site is top contender for $100M battery project
Updated 4:15 p.m. Nov. 28 The Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County is the top contender for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing project that could top $1 billion in investments and about 1,500 jobs, according to its CEO. Tennessee-based Microporous, whose legal entity is MP Assets, confirmed early Tuesday that it has been […]
International logistics company to expand in Norfolk
Katoen Natie Norfolk, a subsidiary of Belgian international logistics service provider and port operator Katoen Natie, will invest $59.9 million to expand its Norfolk facility and create an estimated 76 jobs. Katoen Natie Norfolk will add a 450,000-square-foot warehouse and rail yard, and expand its existing rail spur, which will allow more room to load […]
Va. Beach digital solutions company to add 300+ jobs
Virginia Beach-based Doma Technologies, a software company founded in 2000, will invest $3.7 million to expand in the city, adding about 307 jobs in the next three years and bringing its total to about 500 employees, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The expansion will include a new 69,000-square-foot facility. Doma is currently located along London […]
Lynchburg association lands $310k in grants to aid downtown efforts
With help in part from three state grants, Downtown Lynchburg Association is working to brighten the city’s scenic Bluffwalk for the holidays and fill downtown stores. DLA combined a $75,000 Virginia Main Street Downtown Investment Grant with other funding to launch Bright Nights on the Bluffwalk, an eight-week event set to kick off Nov. 17 […]
Northrop Grumman to establish $200M Waynesboro facility
Falls Church-based Fortune 500 defense contractor Northrop Grumman will invest more than $200 million to establish an advanced electronics manufacturing and testing facility in Waynesboro, creating an estimated 300 jobs over the next five years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. “Northrop Grumman’s expanding Virginia footprint sends a powerful message that the commonwealth is a ma[...]
Siemens Gamesa cancels $200M Portsmouth wind blade factory
Amid failing turbine components and financial challenges, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said Friday it has “discontinued” its plans to build the nation’s first offshore wind-turbine blade manufacturing facility at the Port of Virginia’s Portsmouth Marine Terminal. “Siemens Gamesa will continue to meet our obligations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. [...]
Warner condemns FBI HQ site selection in Md. as ‘corrupt’
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday that the FBI headquarters site selection — choosing Greenbelt, Maryland, over Springfield — was “corrupt” and that he expected better from the Biden administration. Warner’s comments followed a Thursday morning email by FBI director Christopher Wray to the agency’s entire workforce, saying that a former political appointee to the [&he[...]
Newport News Shipbuilding expands to Norfolk
With the largest workload it’s had in four decades, Newport News Shipbuilding has had to get creative about how to use the limited footprint at its shipyard in Newport News. So when an opportunity to set up a second campus not far away — on the other side of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, in Norfolk […]



















