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Everything is not awesome
When Lego Group representatives toured Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park on a winter day early this year, they didn’t speak. As with most industrial site visits, the county economic development authority staffers conducting the tour didn’t yet know which company they were working with, although they’d answered a site consultant’s request for proposal. The execs […]
NY publishing company to expand in Orange County
MPS, a division of New York-based Macmillan Publishers, will invest more than $26 million to expand its distribution operation in Orange County, creating an estimated 10 jobs, the county announced Wednesday. The investment will occur over the next three years. MPS is expanding its current 400,000-square-foot facility by 200,000 square feet. “This is wonderful news […]
SWVA projects recommended for $10.6M in federal funds
Eight Southwest Virginia economic development projects totaling $10.6 million have been recommended for federal funding under Virginia’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization grant program, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith announced Friday. Referred to the federal Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement for approval, the projects include $2.347 million to [...]
Former commerce secretary returns to Williams Mullen
Former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball is returning to his former law firm, Williams Mullen. Ball rejoined Williams Mullen on Oct. 10 as of counsel in its corporate section, supporting and serving the firm’s Economic Development Team and aiding clients with business expansion needs. He’ll be based in the firm’s Richmond office. […]
Hitachi Energy plans $37M expansion in Halifax County
Hitachi Energy Ltd. will invest $37 million to expand its operation in Halifax County, creating 165 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. The technology company will add 26,000 square feet to its existing facility in the county to make space for a new production line of large transformers to support the utility and renewable energy […]
Roanoke County names economic development director
Megan Baker will be the next director of economic development in Roanoke County, the county announced Monday. Baker will start Oct. 24. She will replace Jill Loope, who announced her retirement in July. Loope will assist with Baker’s transition, then head up the tourism department in Roanoke County’s parks, recreation and tourism department until she […]
Reading the room
In 2017, David Kern, a retired Naval submarine officer turned entrepreneur, had a lightbulb moment. While working on a data analytics project at a desk in the Naval Station Norfolk annex, he realized that his company, Virginia Beach-based Kern Technology Group LLC, needed to shift from focusing on product development to becoming a service contractor. […]
Coming home
As a kid growing up in Virginia Beach, “Scotty” Gray saw military aircraft so routinely that he wanted to become a pilot. Today he is U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Christopher (still “Scotty”) Gray, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, where he oversees an area that stretches from Wisconsin to North Carolina and includes 14 installations — […]
Full speed ahead
No other region of Virginia moves the entire commonwealth forward like Hampton Roads. Sure, Dee Cee is about technology, government contracting and national politics. And Richmond is about politics that are generally more local. Hampton Roads, on the other hand, is about the military and commerce. The ports, the railways, interstates, tunnels, trucks and air […]
Surf’s up for Chesterfield’s The Lake
It took a lot to make The Lake happen. Developer Brett Burkhart had to nail down $323 million in financing, obtain a slew of permits and get Chesterfield County to offer performance grants or tax rebates. That took seven years, but he finally got it done, and clearing is underway on the 105-acre site on […]
Rudee Loop getting a fresh makeover
One of the East Coast’s most prime pieces of undeveloped real estate, Virginia Beach’s Rudee Loop, could soon find new life. In August, the city released four proposals that could turn the 11-acre site from what Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson described as a concrete-strewn “mess” into a multiuse destination for surfers, anglers and other tourists. […]
Vantage point
Norfolk leaders have high hopes for redevelopment projects that will reposition older properties — from an aging mall to an underused marine terminal — to better match modern market demands. “We are always asking, ‘What can we do that allows for some sort of creative transformation to actually happen?’” says Sean Washington, the city’s acting […]
