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OpTech expanding Loudoun satellite plant

Optimum Technologies, a Sterling space flight hardware designer and manufacturer, plans to expand its Loudoun County satellite manufacturing plant, a project expected to create 40 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.

Known as OpTech, the company will invest $999,000 in the expansion, according to the governor’s office. OpTech was founded in Virginia in 2015 and specializes in aerospace products related to satellite, ground and missions systems engineering and includes the U.S. Department of Defense among its customers. The company also holds civil and commercial contracts.

“OpTech continues to expand due to high growth in the space sector,” Timothy Rumford, OpTech’s executive vice president, said in a statement. “We have seen great demand for our hardware and services and have outgrown our original [satellite manufacturing facility] that was opened in 2022. Our new facility will give us approximately five times the capacity and help continue our growth plans and, in turn, help support our nation’s needs for rapid and low-cost access to space.”

OpTech was founded by CEO Jeffrey Gick and Chief Operating Officer John Hildebrand, who both were employed at Orbital Sciences Corp., while Gick worked previously at Hughes Space & Communications, and Hildebrand was at Lockheed Martin and United Space Alliance earlier in his career.

“Optimum Technologies’ decision to expand its manufacturing facility in Loudoun County demonstrates the trust manufacturers have in Virginia,” Youngkin said. “The company is a key component of the Northern Virginia aerospace industry, and we are gratified to see this investment.”

According to the governor’s office, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Loudoun County to secure the project, and the Virginia Jobs Investment Program will support recruitment and training of the new employees at no cost to OpTech.

Pump, valve manufacturer to expand in Henrico

KSB USA/North America, a Henrico County-based pump and industrial valve supplier, will invest $25 million to more than double the square footage of its facility there, a project expected to create 32 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.

As part of the expansion, KSB will add another loading dock office space and update its shipping and receiving area, as well as employee common areas.

“KSB’s expansion of its Henrico County facility is just the latest example of the resurgence of manufacturing in Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The Greater Richmond region offers the skilled workforce to support KSB’s continued growth, and we thank them for their investment in Virginia.”

A subsidiary of Germany-based KSB Group, KSB USA/North America has operated in Henrico since 1988. The company manufactures pumps, valves and mixers and provides spare parts and services, which include testing, automation and distribution services at the Henrico facility. Through a network of representatives and distributors, KSB serves varying industries, including energy, chemicals and petrochemicals, amusement parks, food and beverage processing and others.

“With initiatives like service efficiency consulting, regional sales and distribution, and expanded operations, today’s groundbreaking of our Henrico County facility will lead to positioning KSB as a market leader in several strategic target segments in the USA,” Luis Maturana, regional executive officer for KSB North America, said in a statement. “This state-of-the-art site, featuring an expanded warehouse, workshop and sustainable infrastructure, is an investment in our future as a market leader.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Henrico County to secure the project for Virginia. VEDP will support the company’s employee training through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, a three-year incentive program that provides cash grant reimbursements for associated human resources costs after a company has had new employees on the payroll for at least 90 days.

Smithfield separates from European arm

Smithfield Foods announced Tuesday that its European operations have been carved into an independent subsidiary. The action takes place a little over a month after Smithfield’s Chinese parent company, WH Group, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong, announced plans to take the company public in the United States. 

Smithfield Europe, now to be called Morliny Foods, will operate as a subsidiary of the WH Group, like Virginia-based Smithfield Foods. 

“It’s the right time to establish our North American and European operations as stand-alone businesses empowered to execute distinct strategies addressing different market environments and opportunities,” Smithfield Foods President and CEO Shane Smith stated in a news release. “In doing so, we provide our respective management teams with increased decision-making agility, optimizing the performance and prospects for each business.”

A spokesperson for Smithfield declined to comment beyond the press release Tuesday. 

Smithfield Foods was delisted on the New York Stock Exchange after WH Group purchased the company in 2013 for $4.7 billion. On July 14, the parent company announced that Smithfield Foods businesses operated in the United States and Mexico would be listed on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. 

S&P Global Ratings released a research update Tuesday that stated Smithfield Foods’ credit profile has been unaffected by the European carveout and that WH Group is likely to remain in charge of the business.

“While we are aware of WH Group’s proposal to list Smithfield on a U.S. stock exchange, we currently believe the parent would maintain a substantial long-term majority stake in the business,” the credit reporting agency said. “As such, we continue to believe Smithfield remains important to the group’s long-term strategies and is unlikely to be sold.” 

The largest pork producer in the United States, Smithfield has about 35,000 employees nationwide, according to a company spokesperson.

In January 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made headlines for taking the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill out of the running for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. electric vehicle battery factory over concerns about a project partner’s ties to the Chinese government. The same year, he signed a bill prohibiting foreign adversaries of the United States from “acquiring or transferring any interest in agricultural land.”

In March 2023, Smith told the Wall Street Journal that Smithfield Foods is “as American today as we were in 2013.”

South Asian yogurt manufacturer to open Frederick County facility

Desi Fresh Foods, a producer of Indian-style spoonable and drinkable yogurt products, is opening a new manufacturing facility in Frederick County, creating 56 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday. 

The New York-based company will “invest a significant amount of money to open a new manufacturing facility,” according to a news release. Desi Fresh Foods and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership did not immediately return a request for comment on what amount company officials expect to spend.

The company is also committed to sourcing “a significant amount” of dairy ingredients from farmers in Virginia, according to the release. 

Patrick Barker, executive director of the Frederick County Economic Development Authority, said the Desi Fresh Foods facility will be located at Stonewall Industrial Park in Winchester.

“After an exhaustive search, we are thrilled to be opening our new facility in Northern Virginia,” Larry LaPorta, CEO of Desi Fresh Foods, said in a statement. “This move will not only allow us to streamline operations and increase production, but give us access to quality, essential ingredients that will help foster the growth of Desi Fresh Foods in the future and set us up for long-term success.” 

When Desi yogurt products were first created, according to the company’s website, if you visited an Indian grocery store in the United States, you would only find American style and brands of yogurt, which prompted the creation of Desi’s dahi, or South Asian yogurt. 

In 2018, Illinois’ Raymundo’s Food Group, a portfolio company of Florida’s AUA Private Equity Partners, purchased Desi Natural Dahi assets from Derle Farms, a New York milk and yogurt distributor. In 2023,  ICV Partners, a Miami- and Atlanta-based private investment firm, purchased Desi Natural and related assets from Raymundo’s Food Group.

Desi Fresh Foods’ product line also includes Desi Natural Paneer and Desi Natural Lassi and Yogurt Drinks.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with the Frederick County Economic Development Authority to secure the project for Virginia, which competed with Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Youngkin approved a $150,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund and a $150,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to assist Frederick County with this project.  

Support for Desi Fresh Foods’ job creation will also be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a discretionary incentive program that provides free customizable workforce recruiting and training services for eligible businesses locating or expanding in Virginia

Hand-built electric classic sports cars to be built in Danville

RBW Sports & Classics, a United Kingdom manufacturer of hand-built electric vehicles that have designs inspired by British sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s, plans to invest $8 million to establish a manufacturing facility at Cane Creek Centre in Danville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. 

The project is expected to create 144 jobs. Those workers will produce RBW’s first left-hand drive, electric Roadster and GT models for the U.S. market. 

Peter Swain founded the company — which is named after his children, Rose, Becs and Wesley — in 2017. 

“Already selling in Europe, Asia and even Bermuda, the new facility in Virginia supports RBW’s entry to the U.S. market,” Swain, who is CEO, said in a statement. 

RBW delivered its first cars in 2022 and opened its first factory in the United Kingdom in 2023. The company currently manufactures electric Roadster and GT models, and its electric vehicle architecture and systems can be installed under other body shells.

The company unveiled its left-hand drive Roadster and GT models at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, which ran from Aug. 15 to Aug. 18. Starting prices for RBW cars run between $139,000 to $151,000.

In July, Swain, who previously worked in security systems, was featured in a Financial Times article about whether the United Kingdom’s Labour Party should develop an industrial strategy. In the article, Swain noted more incentives are available in the United States for business owners. “We can get so much help everywhere — apart from in our own backyard,” he told the Financial Times.

The Cane Creek Centre is jointly owned by the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Pittsylvania County, the City of Danville, the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to secure the project for Virginia.

Youngkin approved a $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Danville and Pittsylvania County with this project. The Virginia Jobs Investment Program will also provide funding and services to support employee training activities.

SWVA projects recommended for $10M in federal grants

Four Southwest Virginia economic development projects have been recommended to receive a cumulative $10 million in federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) grants, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, announced Monday.

The projects are on sites where coal was mined prior to 1977, the year the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed. This federal law, among other things, requires the land to be adequately reclaimed when mining ends.

Funding for the AMLER program comes through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, which approves the grants, and the Virginia Department of Energy administers funding for projects in the state. 

“The AMLER program supports high impact projects that align with federal, state and local priorities to improve communities and foster economic development,” state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, stated in a release. “This round of funding will provide necessary investments to bolster infrastructure and enhance recreational and commercial opportunities to ensure SWVA continues to be successful.” 

Virginia’s recommended projects are:

  • Project Intersection, Wise County, $4.75 million
  • Richlands Electric Diversification Project, Tazewell County, $2 million
  • Cumberland Outdoor Recreation, Dickenson and Buchanan counties, $2.75 million
  • Project Wildcat, Wise County, $500,000

The funding for Project Intersection will go to build a second entryway into the industrial park, which has four remaining pads totaling about 70 acres available for development, according to Duane Miller, executive director for the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission.

The industrial park is owned by the Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority, or LPRIFA, which was created through legislation in 2019, and includes representatives from the counties of Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise and the City of Norton. Project Intersection is certified as a Tier 5 site, the highest level in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Business Ready Sites Program tier system.

AMLER has previously provided more than $12 million to develop the industrial park, according to Tarah Kesterson, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Energy. 

EarthLink, the Atlanta-based internet service provider owned by Trive Capital, celebrated the opening of a 30,000-square-foot facility at Project Intersection earlier this month.

“It’s going to be a premiere site,” Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies, an economic development consulting firm focused on Southwest Virginia, said of Project Intersection. 

Officials in the town of Richlands, which has provided electricity to businesses and citizens since 1922, requested AMLER funding after facing rate increases, according to a Aug. 15 news release from the Virginia Department of Energy. The money will go toward the construction of a natural gas-fired turbine and generator, a micro power plant capable of generating 5 megawatts of electricity — enough to serve the town’s 2,500 utility customers. 

The Cumberland Outdoor Recreation project is the purchase by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources of “an easement of 12,900 acres on Nature Conservancy property in Buchanan and Dickenson counties,” according to the Virginia Department of Energy. The land will be used for recreation, including a new ATV trail and road improvements.

The funding for Project Wildcat will pay for a retaining wall around an abandoned mine site in Pound, according to Kesterson.

Virginia began receiving federal grant dollars for the AMLER program in 2017 and has recommended nearly 50 projects since then, including five projects announced in January. Six states and three tribes receive the federal funding. 

Last week, the Appalachian Community Capital community development financial institution announced it had received a $500 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to start the Green Bank for Rural America, which plans to finance $1.6 billion in energy projects in the Appalachian region and other rural areas across the country.

Va. localities win $126M in grants for industrial sites

Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week announced $126 million in Virginia Business Ready Sites Program development grants to fund work on 23 industrial sites in the commonwealth.

Virginia’s growing inventory of project-ready sites was a factor in CNBC naming the commonwealth America’s Top State for Business in July, Gov. Youngkin noted in a Thursday news release. The financial news network weighted infrastructure heavily this year in its rankings and rated the state third in the nation for infrastructure, saying that Virginia is a good spot for “companies that want to build fast.” 

“Before we took office, Virginia was significantly behind our competitor states,” Youngkin said in a statement Thursday. “We must continue the concerted effort we’ve made to invest in sites over the course of my administration.” 

Localities can apply for matching grants from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program to assist with the initial assessments of sites and to develop project-ready sites. The program is administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. In January, 21 projects received $90 million in grants for site preparation. 

The City of Chesapeake got the largest grant of those announced Thursday: a $35 million award for its Coastal Virginia Megasite, which encompasses more than 4,000 acres near the Virginia and North Carolina lines. 

The site is currently designated Tier 3 by the state, meaning it is zoned for industrial or commercial development and that due diligence has been completed on the property, according to Steven Wright, Chesapeake’s director of economic development for Chesapeake. Wright says the $35 million will help the site move toward a Tier 4 designation, meaning all infrastructure is within a year of being in place and that all permitting issues have been identified. Tier 5 is the highest designation, meaning land is “shovel-ready.” 

“So that’s a pretty heavy lift,” Wright said. “This $35 million is really going to help us do that and expedite that process.”

The City of Roanoke received a $7.5 million grant that will be combined with a $2.5 million match of city funds to develop its 82-acre “Tract 8” property that is located near Blue Hills Drive. It’s one of the last developable properties in the city for manufacturing.

Currently, the property is designated Tier 3, according to Alicia Cundiff, an economic development specialist for the city. 

“This funding will help it get all the way up to a Tier 5, which is great, because once it’s a Tier 5, it’s deemed shovel-ready, and we can start showing it to prospects,” she said. 

In the project’s first phase, design and permitting work will be completed. The second phase will be construction. “So clearing the land and grading the land and finishing the access road,” Cundiff noted.

Other Virginia Business Ready Sites Program development grants announced Thursday included:

  • Chesterfield County received $13 million for Upper Magnolia Green
  • Prince George County received $10 million for Crosspointe Logistics Centre
  • The City of Staunton received $9 million for Staunton Crossing
  • The City of Danville received $9 million for the Coleman Site
  • Greensville County received $8.5 million for the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center
  • Pittsylvania County received $6 million for the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill
  • Franklin County received $5.5 million for the Summit View Business Park
  • Wythe County received about $5.1 million for lot 10 of Progress Park
  • Rockingham County received $4.5 million for Innovation Village at Rockingham
  • The City of Suffolk received $3.5 million for the Port 460 Logistics Center
  • The City of Radford received $3.5 million for the VCI Property
  • Sussex County received $1.5 million for Sussex Green Enterprise Park
  • Bedford County received $1.5 million for the New London Business and Technology Park
  • Brunswick County received $1 million for Stonewall

Va. Lottery reports record $5.5B in FY24 sales

Virginia Lottery reported a record-breaking $5.5 billion in sales for fiscal 2024 and highest ever profits of $934 million, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. 

In fiscal 2023, the state lottery reported $4.6 billion in revenue and $867 million in profits, which set the previous records for the state agency, which opened 36 years ago.

Lottery profits support Virginia’s K-12 public schools, and Youngkin presented a giant check for $934 million to state educators at a turnover announcement Wednesday. About 10% of Virginia’s K-12 education budget comes from Virginia Lottery profits, according to a news release. 

More than 5,300 brick-and-mortar retailers earned more than $142 million in commissions and bonuses over the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, and lottery players won a record $4.2 billion in prizes. For every dollar spent playing Virginia Lottery games, approximately 77 cents went back to players, the release said. 

“The record profits are a byproduct of every lottery employee’s extreme dedication to our mission of contributing to our K-12 public schools one play at a time,” Virginia Lottery Executive Director Khalid Jones said in a statement. “We are pleased that the lottery was able to deliver for the commonwealth once again, and in an even bigger way than ever before.”

Administrative costs took 3.8% of sales. The state auditor of public accounts will certify Virginia Lottery profit figures later this month. They are not official until then.

Va. tourism generated $33.3B for 2023

Virginia’s tourism industry generated $33.3 billion in visitor spending in 2023, an increase of nearly 10% over 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. 

“The commonwealth’s record-breaking visitor spending numbers are a testament to our abundance of attractions and unique destinations,” Gov. Youngkin stated in a news release. 

Virginia’s tourism industry supported over 224,000 jobs in 2023, an increase of 13,000 jobs over 2022, according to the release. Direct travel employment is 93% of what it was prior to the pandemic. 

In 2023, travelers spent $91 million a day in Virginia, up from $83 million in 2022. Directly, Virginia visitors drove $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, a 9% increase from $2.2 billion in 2022. About 43.6 million tourists spent the night in the commonwealth in 2023, up from 42.2 million the year before. 

Virginia tracks tourist spending within five major categories: recreation; transportation; lodging; food and beverage; and retail. Each category has recovered to levels seen prior to the pandemic. Recreation grew the fastest in 2023, with a 12% increase over 2022 and a 24% increase over pre-pandemic levels. Transportation increased 11% last year over 2022 and 11% over pre-pandemic levels. Lodging spending grew by 9% in 2023 over 2022 and increased from 2019 levels by 13%. 

“Recreation and transportation in particular have seen remarkable increases, driven by a strong preference for unique experiences,” Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick stated in the release.

Virginia Tourism Corp. receives annual economic impact data from Tourism Economics, a Pennsylvania consulting firm. The information is based on domestic visitor spending. To be included, visitors must have stayed overnight or traveled more than 50 miles.

Youngkin: Va. spawned 10,000+ startups in 2022-23

More than 10,000 high-growth and high-wage startup companies were created in Virginia during 2022 and 2023, according to research conducted by Richmond’s Chmura Economics & Analytics for the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. 

On Thursday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced this achievement at an event at Zebox America, an Arlington County-based startup accelerator and innovation hub run by shipping giant CMA CGM Group. Representatives from Chmura and VIPC, a state-affiliated nonprofit that provides strategic commercialization and funding support to Virginia-based tech startups, were able to show the work behind that 10,000 startups number Friday afternoon. 

To be considered a startup by Chmura Economics analysts, a company had to offer above-average wages for Virginia and had to have an above-average forecasted employment growth rate. Using that criteria, the firm found 10,337 Virginia-based startup companies that launched in 2022 and 2023. 

“At the beginning of my administration, I pledged to reinvigorate job growth and foster an environment for 10,000 new startups in Virginia, and we’ve achieved it in record time,” Youngkin stated in a Thursday news release. In that release, the governor’s office claimed that the administration had “achieved this 10,000 new startup milestone faster than any previous Virginia governor’s administration in the last 15 years.”  

VIPC and Chmura Economics representatives provided a chart to Virginia Business listing the number of startups launched in Virginia in the first two years of the tenure of each Virginia governor since 2010. In 2010 and 2011 under Gov. Bob McDonnell, Virginia created 5,802 startup companies meeting the criteria. In 2014 and 2015 under Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Virginia created 6,684 startups. In 2018 and 2019, under Gov. Ralph Northam, 6,149 eligible startups were created. 

Creating 10,337 new startups in 2022 and 2023 is a rate 66% higher than the historical average of those figures, according to VIPC CEO Joe Benevento. 

VIPC plans to distribute more information about the research during the week of Aug. 5. 

For 2022 and 2023, nearly 500 more startups were created on average each quarter in Virginia than were created during the 2012-2021 quarterly average, according to VIPC and Chmura. 

“The other thing that was really nice to see from the data that Chmura crunched … was [that] this increase was really broad, based across all the regions of the commonwealth,” Benevento said. 

All regions of Virginia saw an increase in the average quarterly number of startups created in 2022 and 2023 over the average quarterly number of startups created during the 2012-2021 period, according to Chmura’s data. The average quarterly number of startups during these two years was an increase compared to the average quarterly number of startups created between 2012-2021, according to the data. 

GO Virginia, the state economic development initiative to foster job creation, divides the state into nine regions. Go Virginia Region 1 in Southwest Virginia saw the smallest increase, at 5%. Go Virginia Region 3 in Southern Virginia saw the greatest increase at 41%, according to the data provided by Chmura Economics. 

Youngkin also noted in Thursday’s release that Virginia ranked No. 8 in the country for highest venture capital investment activity during 2023 and was ranked 13th in 2022, according to data assembled by Chmura Economics from the National Venture Capital Association.  

“We’ve reached this incredible milestone by driving innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, bolstering our talent pipeline, providing needed tax relief and truly creating an environment where startups and businesses can thrive,” Youngkin stated Thursday. 

In May, VIPC announced a program called Virginia Invests, with VIPC partnering with seven venture capital fund managers to invest $100 million in 100 Virginia-based high-growth startups.

“VIPC’s most recent new statewide initiative for example, Virginia Invests, is going to attract and catalyze over $250 million of outside venture capital from private market investment partners that will be invested directly in Virginia startups and help support the next wave of 10,000 new startups in Virginia,” Benevento said in statement sent Friday. 

In July, Virginia ranked as CNBC’s Top State for Business, marking the record sixth time the business news network has rated Virginia No. 1 in the nation.