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Tag: Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Va. gets initial approval for $1.48B to increase broadband

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Virginia’s initial proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, according to a NTIA dashboard that tracks proposals. 

This approval means Virginia can now request access to $1.48 billion in federal funding to reach locations in the state that don’t have high-speed internet. 

Virginia received the sixth-largest BEAD grant, and Texas had the largest with $3.31 billion.

“Virginia’s historic investment in broadband infrastructure is one key ingredient which helped drive our ranking as America’s top state to do business in 2024. With the resources we are securing today, we can close the digital divide and ensure all Virginians have access to high-speed internet,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a Friday announcement. 

In September 2023, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced Virginia was the first state in the nation to submit required BEAD documents outlining Virginia’s plans for the program. 

The BEAD program is a $42.45 billion state grant program authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was co-authored by Sen. Mark Warner and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The goal of BEAD is to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs.

“Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to accessing our historic $1.5 billion award and expanding high-speed internet access to more families and businesses across Virginia,” Warner said in a statement Friday. “Virginia has a strong plan to get us closer to universal coverage, and this funding will help make that plan a reality. I’m proud to have authored and negotiated the law that made this possible, and I’m ready to work to make sure it’s implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible so more Virginians have access to high-speed internet.”

Any funds left over after deployment goals are met can be used on high-speed Internet adoption, training and workforce development efforts, according to NTIA. 

DHCD will administer the commonwealth’s BEAD allocation to build upon the work of the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI), which also funds broadband extension to unserved areas. On Wednesday, Gov. Youngkin announced VATI had provided more than $41 million in grants to 10 broadband construction projects that will serve Virginians in 20 localities.

Next, Virginia officials will ensure all locations lacking access to high-speed internet are not already part of an existing state or federal program designed to expand broadband access, according to the governor’s office. “We’re going to be looking at over 100,000 or maybe right at that,” DHCD Director and Chief Broadband Advisor Bryan Horn said. 

Later this year, Virginia officials will launch the project’s application phase, where broadband providers can submit applications to express interest in extending services to unconnected regions.  

“The governor will recommend projects to the NTIA for funding, and then the NTIA will make the final decision,” Horn said.

Horn declined to estimate when every Virginian will be able to connect to affordable high-speed internet. “These are construction projects,” he said of expanding broadband access. “And there are, there’s nothing really typical on construction projects.”

Since 2017, Virginia has allocated over $935 million in state and federal funding to extend broadband infrastructure to over 388,000 locations in 80 cities and counties across the Commonwealth. These investments have leveraged an additional $1.1 billion in matching funds from local governments and internet service providers.  “We’re just going to keep moving forward as fast we can,” Horn said. 

 

VATI awards $41M in broadband grants to localities

The Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, which funds broadband extension to unserved areas, will provide more than $41 million in grants to 10 broadband construction projects that will serve Virginians in 20 localities, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. 

“Virginia continues to be a national leader for closing the digital divide, and today’s announcement brings us one step closer to becoming the first state in the nation to reach statewide universal broadband coverage,” Youngkin said in a news release. 

This year’s funding leverages more than $75.7 million in additional funding from local governments and internet service providers, according to the governor’s office. 

The Thomas Jefferson Planning Commission District in Central Virginia and Firefly Fiber Broadband, a subsidiary of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, received the largest award, $12.2 million. 

That funding will go toward a $48.6 million project that will cover 603 miles and provide broadband to 6,000 unserved locations in the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Powhatan. Those counties will have universal broadband when the project is completed, according to Melissa Gay, vice president for communications and member services for Firefly Fiber Broadband. 

Other recipients include the following localities:

  • Spotsylvania County, $10.3 million
  • Franklin County, $4.5 million
  • Giles County, $4.2 million
  • Southside Planning District Commission, $3.4 million
  • Alleghany County, $2.3 million
  • Orange County, $2.1 million
  • Rockbridge County, two awards of $1.2 million and $975,865
  • Botetourt County, $395,411

In addition to state funding, Alleghany County will contribute $353,193 and the Craig-Botetourt Rural Electric Cooperative will pitch in $666,387 to the project, which is expected to cover 370 homes and businesses. Upon completion, Alleghany will have universal broadband, according to Reid Walters, county administrator. 

The state Department of Housing and Community Development administers the VATI program. The broadband projects selected went through a competitive process that considered demonstrated need and benefit for the community, applicant readiness and capacity, and the cost and leverage of the proposed project. 

For this round of funding, DHCD received 25 applications requesting more than $170 million. Virginia has invested more than $850.3 million to connect over 338,000 homes, businesses and community sites since 2017, and the federal Broadband Equity, Accessibility and Deployment (BEAD) program granted the state $1.4 billion to help expand internet access in June 2023. A statewide plan aims to deliver broadband to an estimated 162,000 unserved locations in Virginia by the end of 2026. 

Virginia saw 15,000 jobs created in June

Virginia reported 15,000 jobs created in June, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

Overall, the commonwealth has seen 258,000 jobs created since January 2022, according to the news release from the governor’s office.

“The jobs report is yet another good sign about the resiliency of the Virginia economy,” Bob McNab, an economist at Old Dominion University, told Virginia Business Tuesday.

For the announcement, the state government relied partially on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey, which provides a job count based on payroll information.

“One thing governors like to do is they like to focus on job announcements versus job creation,” McNab said. “Job announcements are great because they are a signal that companies are creating jobs. But the truth really lies in the data — that is, what are companies reporting in terms of the jobs they have on hand?”

Virginia’s unemployment rate for June remained at 2.7%, significantly below the 4.1% national rate. And that “continues to show that Virginia is well-poised to grow in 2025, in my opinion,” McNab said.

The BLS’ household survey is based on interviews conducted each month for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force. It found the number of employed residents in Virginia, 4.45 million, decreased slightly by 1,786 workers from May to June. Virginia’s labor force decreased by 4,155 from May to 4.57 million. The labor force participation rate — the proportion of adults age 16 and older that are employed or actively looking for work— decreased by 2,369, from 124,764 adults in May to 122,395 in June.

“This is the long-term challenge for the commonwealth … getting people off the sidelines into the labor market … [and] looking at policies that will increase labor force participation,” McNab said. “Because if we can get labor force participation up, then employers can expand operations, which we know they want to do.”

CNBC crowned Virginia as America’s Top State for Business for a record sixth year in July. The cable business news network praised Virginia for having “the nation’s best education system and policies that give companies room — both literally and figuratively — to grow.”

The commonwealth, McNab said, has “really leaned into the idea that being a business-friendly state is more than just, for example, cutting taxes. It is investing in infrastructure, investing in education and it is providing a climate that is friendly to business to relocate here, where you have a deep talent pool that businesses can leverage to expand their operations and succeed.”

The job openings rate for April in Virginia was 6.8%, a drop from 7.3% in April 2023. If you jump back to April 2018, before the pandemic, however, Virginia’s job openings rate was 5.4%.

“If  you look at it at the state level, you can tell two stories,” McNab said. “The first story is that the jobs market appears to be weakening, because compared to 2022, there are fewer job openings across the commonwealth. On the other hand, if you compare the most recent data on job openings to prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are at or near a record level of job openings compared to pre-pandemic lows.”

While this is good news for workers, who are in a position to demand higher compensation, it’s a challenge for employers, McNab pointed out.

“Because if you have an unemployment rate that is at 2.7%, for the commonwealth, and less than that in several metro areas,” McNab said, “it really says that we could have higher rates of job growth if we had greater amounts of labor available.”

Overall, however, McNab described the state’s jobs numbers as strong and said they “represent a positive signal on the policies of the last three years in terms of job creation. … Usually I’m not this positive, but this is a really good jobs report.”

 

 

 

 

Virginia is CNBC’s Top State for Business for record sixth time

Virginia regained its crown as the No. 1 state in CNBC’s annual America’s Top States for Business rankings released Thursday, winning the top spot for a record sixth time.

The cable business news network once again praised Virginia for having “the nation’s best education system and policies that give companies room — both literally and figuratively — to grow.” In particular, the Old Dominion ranked first place in the nation for education, third for infrastructure and fourth for artificial intelligence, with CNBC noting that the commonwealth is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, through which more than 70% of the world’s internet traffic travels.

“But where Virginia’s infrastructure really shines is in the wealth of shovel-ready sites the state offers for companies that want to build fast,” the network said. “The state’s economic development arm has certified dozens of sites across the commonwealth, promising that all utilities and infrastructure can be in place within 18 months.”

Virginia ranked fifth for business friendliness, with CNBC noting that the commonwealth wasn’t “friendly enough” to land a pet project of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a failed proposal to build a $2 billion arena in Alexandria for the Washington Capitals and Wizards. (Democratic state Sen. Louise Lucas, chairman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and a key opponent of the deal, tweeted Thursday, “We wouldn’t be the number one state for business if we had wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on a vanity arena project. You’re welcome Wannabe VP Pick for Tyrannical Trump.”)

CNBC also pointed out that though the commonwealth was ranked No. 9 in the nation for workforce, it has a problem with outmigration, with “too many workers moving out [and] not enough moving in.” And it noted that while the commonwealth is rich in data centers, that’s caused a strain on the state’s power grid.

Virginia scored 1,595 out of a possible 2,500 points in the network’s Top States study, finishing in the top 50% or better in each of 10 major categories. The commonwealth came in second to North Carolina in 2023, but this year, the two states switched positions, with North Carolina ranking second. In 2022, Virginia ranked third overall.

In 2021, Virginia took the top spot in the annual rankings of business-friendly states for a second, consecutive time. Virginia also won the top ranking in 2019, 2011, 2009 and 2007, the first year CNBC began ranking the states. CNBC did not rank the states in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“How exciting and what an honor it is to have CNBC here recognizing Virginia as the top state for business,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during a live interview from Virginia Beach on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday. “I think we work incredibly well together. Economic development is a team sport, and our administration has taken huge strides over the last 2 1/2 years to address some real areas of importance. Talent is always top of the list, and our talent accelerator is now rated the top talent accelerator in America.

“Business-ready sites and infrastructure continue to be a top need for businesses, and we’ve allocated $550 million over the last three years to make sure that we have shovel-ready sites. And then, finally, of course, power — our all-American, all-of-the above power plan is taking big strides. Yesterday, we announced a big step for a potential siting of a small modular reactor in Virginia to be the first.”

Youngkin added that he believes $5 billion in tax cuts in the first two years of his term were key to Virginia’s success in attracting and retaining companies. “We made Virginia’s business climate even better by streamlining regulations and cutting the red tape,” the governor said, adding that the state has 240,000 more people employed than it did before his term began in January 2022. He also noted that former members of the military — including 700,000 veterans living in Virginia — are “one of the things that make Virginia great.”

Asked if Virginia is in play this year in the presidential election, Youngkin said he believes it is, even though President Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points over former President Donald Trump in 2020. “The next year,” the governor said, “we’re able to win it by two.” Youngkin bypassed a question about whether he believed he was still a possible Trump vice presidential candidate pick, but said he is “very enthusiastic about the prospects for President Trump and whoever he chooses as his running mate.”

Highlighting the state’s divided government, House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott lauded Youngkin and Democratic legislators Sen. Louise Lucas and Del. Luke Torian, who chair the two legislative bodies’ finance committees. “We invested in our future — our children. Virginia is back on top,” Scott tweeted. “We raised minimum wages and gave teachers pay raises! More importantly, we protected reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.”

CNBC based this year’s rankings on 128 metrics — up from 86 last year — across 10 categories: workforce; infrastructure; cost of doing business; economy; life, health and inclusion; technology and innovation; business friendliness; education; access to capital; and cost of living. Infrastructure was the most heavily weighted category this year.

“With six wins — and three in the last five years — Virginia is our most decorated state. It’s easy to see why,” CNBC special correspondent Scott Cohn said. “In both Republican and Democratic administrations, the state has shown how much it cares about business, and how carefully it can listen to companies. Plus, year after year, Virginia offers the training, talent, and the infrastructure for success.”

According to CNBC, Texas, Georgia and Florida rounded out the top five spots in this year’s rankings.

“Being named America’s Top State for Business is a testament to the incredible progress being made throughout the Commonwealth, not least by the many thousands of businesses who call Virginia home,” Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi said in a statement. “This recognition is years in the making, and I am incredibly grateful to all of our state, regional and local partners that contributed to this distinction.”

Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and a former state secretary of commerce and trade, issued a statement as well: “Virginia’s ranking as the Top State for Business reaffirms our conviction that Virginia is the premier state for business. It highlights our strong education system, availability of business-ready sites and Virginia’s commitment to economic development and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. This recognition also supports our strategic approach to grow Virginia’s position as the leading state for business through our targeted policy recommendations in Blueprint Virginia 2030.”

Another former state secretary of commerce and trade, Todd Haymore, now managing director of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Global Economic Development, Commerce, and Government Relations Group, said, “Over 25 years in public and private sector economic development, I’ve learned that the fundamentals like education, workforce, infrastructure and site readiness are what really matter, and that is where Virginia shines. Virginia is back in the top spot because we invest in the fundamentals, maintain a bipartisan commitment to pro-growth and pro-business policies, and because we have really smart, talented people working to create jobs and opportunity, from the governor’s office to the legislature, and from VEDP all the way down to the local level.”

Virginia’s category rankings in the 2024 CNBC Top States for Business were as follows:
  • First place — Education
  • Third — Infrastructure
  • Fifth — Business friendliness
  • Eighth — Access to capital
  • Ninth — Workforce
  • 10th — Economy
  • 15th — Technology and innovation
  • 19th — Cost of living
  • 19th — Quality of life
  • 24th — Cost of doing business

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this article.

Homestead Creamery to expand Franklin County facility

Dairy products maker Homestead Creamery will carry out a $2.5 million renovation and expansion of its Franklin County production facility, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

The company will build a new ice cream production room and install additional production and refrigeration equipment and freezers. The expansion is in response to growing customer demand for the creamery’s churned ice cream products, according to a news release.

Homestead Creamery expects to add two jobs and to purchase an additional $1.9 million of cream produced in Virginia over the next three years.

“On the heels of celebrating Virginia Dairy Month and Virginia Agriculture Week, today’s announcement of Homestead Creamery’s expansion and investment in Franklin County and in Virginia’s dairy industry is another example that Virginia is on the move,” Youngkin said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Homestead Creamery for their investment into one of Virginia’s top milk-producing counties and for supporting the growth of Virginia’s dairy industry — the fourth largest commodity in the commonwealth.”

Founded in 2001 in the Burnt Chimney area of Franklin County, Homestead Creamery uses milk from local dairy farms to produce milk, ice cream, eggnog and other dairy products sold through retail and wholesale networks. The company also has an on-site retail market and deli.

Homestead Creamery currently sells its dairy products and specialty lemonade in about 100 stores across the state. Its ice cream is available in 29 flavors across 13 states and Washington, D.C.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Franklin County to secure the expansion project. Youngkin approved a $20,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Facility Grant program, which the county will match with local funds.

“This grant will fuel our vision for impactful building improvements, empowering us to better serve our customers and community,” Homestead Creamery Controller Jesse Novak said in a statement. “Together, we’re nurturing growth, innovation and prosperity. Thank you for believing in our mission and investing in our future.”

Simmons Equipment announces $8.5M expansion into Russell County

Simmons Equipment, a specialty mining equipment manufacturer based in Tazewell County, plans to expand into neighboring Russell County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.

The company expects to invest $8.5 million into converting two buildings in Lebanon, an investment set to create 75 jobs, the governor’s office said. Founded in Tazewell in 2005, Simmons produces soft rock mining equipment, including scoops, haulers and longwall support vehicles. According to the news release, the expansion will allow the company to grow its product line. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Russell County and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority to secure the project, which Virginia competed with Tennessee and West Virginia to land.

Simmons plans to also retain its Tazewell facilities, the governor’s announcement said. Youngkin approved a $270,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for Russell County, and VCEDA approved a $187,500 to the company for workforce development and a $500,000 loan to the county’s industrial development authority for facility improvements. Simmons is also eligible to receive incentives from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for full-time jobs created.

The new locations in Lebanon will be at 219 Joe Gillespie Drive, the former Polycap facility, and 200 Haber Drive, and the company plans to move in phases over the next two quarters of the year, a spokesman said. Simmons currently employs 107 people in Tazewell.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our operations into Russell County,” President and CEO Matt Simmons said in a statement. “Our business has been growing into new markets worldwide, and this additional manufacturing capacity will allow us to aggressively pursue those opportunities. After an extensive search, we are excited to continue our growth here in Southwest Virginia. We were highly impressed with the efforts of the Russell County Industrial Development Authority, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and the Commonwealth of Virginia to support us in this exciting endeavor. We look forward to being part of the growing business community in Russell County.”

Youngkin peppers university boards with GOP power players

With Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees slated to hold majorities on the state’s university boards beginning July 1, the governor announced dozens of last-minute university board appointments Friday afternoon, shortly before the members’ four-year terms take effect Monday. Although many of the new appointees are the usual mix of Virginia business leaders and former state legislators, Youngkin also tapped some conservative political movers and shakers with national profiles — people who will likely shape the political direction of those university boards.

Among these newcomers are former Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy, who came under scrutiny for his role in readying National Guard troops to respond to the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021; Marc Short, a former chief of staff for then-Vice President Mike Pence whose 2018 appointment to the Miller Center at the University of Virginia caused controversy and resignations; one former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas; and a former law clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Named by the governor to four-year terms that can be renewed, members of state university and college boards of visitors have the power under state law to hire and fire school presidents and set institutions’ annual tuition and fees. The state legislature can block confirmation of board appointees, but do so rarely. University of Virginia Board of Visitors member Bert Ellis, an Atlanta businessman who has been outspoken about his conservative political beliefs, narrowly survived an attempt to keep him off the board in 2023.

Youngkin’s office released the board appointments Friday afternoon just a couple hours before the governor appeared at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in Chesapeake.

In addition to being bosses over the state universities’ presidents, board of visitors members also can wield significant power over other aspects of universities, especially when its members are politically aligned. U.Va.’s board of visitors this spring found itself at the center of political disputes over pro-Palestine protests on campus, and Virginia Military Institute’s board has been caught up in controversies dividing VMI alumni and current students over the military school’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

At George Mason University, two board members were given leadership roles in a group overseeing curriculum — a power highlighted in the Virginia Mercury’s March report about Youngkin’s request that Mason and Virginia Commonwealth University provide syllabi for courses about diversity, equity, inclusion and race to Virginia Education Secretary Aimee Rogstad Guidera for review. Faculty members at both universities expressed concern about academic freedom being curtailed by the Youngkin administration, with some viewing it as a continuation of the governor’s declaration that educational content regarding race was “inherently divisive” in an executive order covering K-12 public schools. Ultimately, VCU’s board of visitors and George Mason’s administration eliminated requirements for students to take classes focusing on DEI, race or racism this fall. A Youngkin spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that the governor had received complaints from parents and students that the courses represented “a thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive left’s groupthink on Virginia’s students.”

Here’s a look at some of the new members of Virginia universities’ boards of visitors:

George Mason University

  • Kenneth L. Marcus, a former U.S. assistant secretary of education for civil rights under President Trump and former staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under President George W. Bush. Marcus, who lives in Falls Church and founded the Brandeis Center, was characterized by a former Brandeis Center board member in a New York Times story in March as “the single most effective and respected force when it comes to both litigation and the utilization of the civil rights statutes” to oppose antisemitism — a hot-button issue on many campuses, including here in Virginia.
  • Nina S. Rees, a senior fellow of the George W. Bush Institute, is the former CEO and president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the largest charter school advocacy organization in the country.
  • Marc Short, a Virginia Beach native, served as Vice President Pence’s chief of staff from March 2019 until the end of Pence’s term in January 2021, and previously served as Trump’s White House director of legislative affairs. A graduate of Washington & Lee University and U.Va., Short worked for Oliver North’s unsuccessful 1994 Senate campaign in Virginia and was a political consultant for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s and Pence’s 2016 presidential campaigns.

University of Virginia

  • Porter Wilkinson, a counselor and chief of staff to the Smithsonian Institute Board of Regents, is a former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Kavanaugh, when he was serving as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge. Notably, Wilkinson was reportedly the only person Kavanaugh shared his U.S. Senate testimony with before his emotional Supreme Court hearings in 2018, when he was questioned about his alleged behavior regarding Christine Blasey Ford when both were students at Georgetown Prep in the 1980s. Ford accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed and trying to rip off her clothes during a party. Kavanaugh, in response, vehemently claimed innocence and denied assaulting Ford.

Virginia Tech 

  • Ryan D. McCarthy, former secretary of the Army under President Trump, is a VMI alum who was an Army Ranger during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Before being named by Trump as under secretary of the Army in 2017, McCarthy worked as special assistant to Robert Gates, the U.S. secretary of defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In May, The New York Times reported that a miscommunication between then Defense Sec. Christopher Miller and McCarthy led to different understandings of how quickly McCarthy would deploy the National Guard on Jan. 6, 2021.

Virginia Military Institute 

  • Kate Comerford Todd, a partner at Torridon Law, was a deputy counsel to President Trump and advised him on judicial selections, as well as previously serving as associate counsel to President George W. Bush. A Harvard Law graduate, Todd was also a law clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Thomas. She was appointed by Youngkin to VMI’s board in October 2023, filling the vacancy left by the late retired Lt. Gen. Charles Dominy.

 

LYN McDERMID

Lyn McDermid briefly debated whether she wanted to go back to work when the opportunity arose to join Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. She had already retired twice from chief information officer jobs, first at Dominion Resources (now Dominion Energy) and later for the Federal Reserve.

But the chance to serve as secretary of administration to improve processes in the commonwealth — from state parks to mental health institutions to the Department of Motor Vehicles — was too intriguing to pass up. And “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” McDermid says. 

In a career spanning private sector and government, McDermid has always had women mentors. In fact, a woman she worked with encouraged McDermid to apply to the Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding — where she was the first woman accepted. Growing up as a self-described “Army brat” was also formative: “Moving 14 times before graduating high school,” she says, “gave me the resilience that seems to help with business.”

Be it for customers and shareholders of a Fortune 500 company or citizens of the commonwealth, McDermid says, she’s always felt a call to serve. It was “a real privilege” to work for the Federal Reserve as it navigated the financial crisis, she says, while her other personal career highlights include mentoring young women and launching the Women in Technology group in Central Virginia.

But a different feeling of responsibility defines her latest career chapter: “Having the opportunity to truly serve the public has been a pinnacle of my career and a crescendo.”

RELATED STORY: 2024 Virginia Women in Leadership Awards

Condair invests $57.2M on new Chesterfield County plant

Switzerland-based Condair Group, a manufacturer of commercial and industrial humidification systems, will invest $57.2 million to establish a new production facility in Chesterfield County that is expected to create 180 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. 

The company will convert a pre-existing warehouse facility on 1410 Willis Road into a manufacturing facility, according to Horace Wynn, chief operating officer for Condair’s North American operations. The 400,000-square-foot plant is expected to open in early 2025, the governor’s news release said. 

Initially, workers at the Chesterfield County facility will focus on manufacturing products to to assist with large-scale industrial cooling needs of the data center industry, Wynn wrote in a statement to Virginia Business. 

“However, as we build out the facility, other Condair products may be manufactured and assembled at this location as well,” he stated.

“The establishment of the Richmond site will not only bolster our production capabilities but also facilitate closer engagement with our clients, particularly in the data center sector,” Oliver Zimmermann, CEO of Condair, said in a statement. “Together with our existing sites in Racine, Wisconsin, and Ottawa, Canada, we are fortifying the Condair network to better serve our clientele across the continent.”

Condair found “the strength of the Richmond available workforce” appealing “along with the proximity to multiple data center locations for both current and future partnerships,” according to Wynn.  

Condair will find international neighbors in the Richmond region. In 2023, Netherlands-based ISO Group, which automates labor-intensive tasks in the horticultural industry, announced it would establish its first U.S. assembly and distribution facility in Chesterfield County. Also last year, the Weidmüller Group, which is based in Germany, unveiled plans for a $16.4 million expansion in Chesterfield County. The Lego Group, based in Denmark, expects to begin production at its $1 billion Chesterfield manufacturing facility in 2027. 

“When an international brand like Condair makes the decision to locate in Virginia the positive ripple-effects of economic investment, job creation and cargo growth are felt throughout the Commonwealth,” Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, stated in the release. “The Port of Virginia will be among the beneficiaries of Condair’s location in Chesterfield County, which is not far from Richmond Marine Terminal.”

Founded in Switzerland in 1948, Condair has production sites in Europe, North America and China, as well as sales and service organizations in 23 countries. Its major customers include Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. 

Condair plans to transfer its current production operations from Center, Texas, to Richmond by 2026, according to a news release distributed by the company. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County and the Greater Richmond Partnership to secure the project for the commonwealth. Virginia competed against South Carolina for the project.

Youngkin approved a $700,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Chesterfield County with the project. Additionally, Condair is eligible to receive state benefits from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for new, full-time jobs created, as well as benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program.  

The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a program created by the VEDP that provides recruitment and training services, will support Condair’s job creation.

VIPC launches $100M fund partnership for Va. startups

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. is partnering with seven venture capital fund managers to invest $100 million in 100 Virginia-based startups.

Through the partnership, announced Monday by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and named Virginia Invests, VIPC will commit $40 million to the seven funds using previously awarded funding from the U.S. Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. In December 2022, Youngkin’s office announced that Virginia had been approved for up to $230 million from the SSBCI program, with about $173 million of that going to VIPC.

“The lifeline of a high-growth, entrepreneurial ecosystem is the ability to tap into capital,” Youngkin said. “And that’s exactly what Virginia Invests is all about. How do we accelerate growth? How do we amplify good ideas? How do we unleash opportunity by bringing together people who want to invest in all of this and people who need the money to make it go?”

The funding firms have committed an additional $60 million, and they will select the 100 high-growth startups to invest in during the next three to five years. By contract, firms not headquartered in Virginia will have to provide 1.5 times the funding they receive, while firms headquartered in the state will make a 1:1 match, Youngkin told reporters.

“One of, I think, the really important steps was to recognize that picking companies is not something that we should do,” he said. “We should invest in funds that are picking companies, and that also allows us to have the ability, if companies are doing well and more capital is being put to work well, then potentially, we could invest some more. But the resources and the expertise that are represented by these seven funds, in particular deep sectors, is unique.”

The seven fund managers focus on founders who are typically underserved. They are 100KM Ventures, AIN Ventures, The Artemis Fund, The BFM Fund, Idea Fund Partners, Valor Ventures and Veteran Ventures Capital.

Washington, D.C.-based 100KM Ventures provides pre-seed through Series A funding, focusing on early-stage companies working in the future of work or women’s health. 100KM Ventures plans to partner with Virginia’s historically Black colleges and universities, said founder and Managing Partner Shalanda Armstrong.

New York-based AIN Ventures is a pre-seed and seed-stage fund that invests in veteran-led companies and in companies “at the intersection of deep technology and dual-use,” co-founder and General Partner Emily McMahan said. “We are particularly excited about Virginia because of the emerging life sciences research ecosystem, as well as software development,” McMahan said.

Startup founders will also have access to AIN Ventures’ Academy Investor Network, a syndicate of graduates from the five U.S. military service academies that invest alongside AIN and help with deal-sourcing, vetting and providing post-investment support.

The Artemis Fund leads seed rounds for female tech founders whose companies are in financial technology, commerce and care. One of the Virginia-based companies in the fund’s portfolio is Naborforce, a Richmond-based tech company that connects older adults to a network of people who can provide help around the home or around town and socialization. The Artemis Fund also plans to hire venture fellows from Virginia colleges and universities, said Stephanie Campbell, a co-founder and general partner.

The BFM Fund is an industry-agnostic seed-stage venture fund focused on founders who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. The firm is based in Portland, Oregon.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Idea Fund Partners provides pre-seed and seed capital to technology companies in overlooked geographies or with overlooked entrepreneurs, said Managing Partner Lister Delgado.

“We are very excited to be working with South, Southwest Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, and we are looking to develop strategies and develop entrepreneurial community,” he said. The firm is opening an office in Richmond.

Valor Ventures, an Atlanta-based seed-stage lead firm, is focused on B2B software and AI startups in the southern U.S. The firm has a podcast with more than 50,000 listeners, said investor William Leonard, and will be extending it to Virginia, focusing on founders, ecosystem builders and investors. Valor Ventures also plans to bring its VC Day, a private, investor-centric conference focused on bringing $5 billion of capital to Virginia.

Veteran Ventures Capital focuses on investments from the late seed through series A and B funding rounds in veteran-led companies creating dual-use technologies that have military and commercial applications. The firm relocated its corporate headquarters from Tennessee to Tysons, said Josh Weed, a general partner at Veteran Ventures Capital.

“This is the first round of [funding] commitments. There’ll be more,” Youngkin said.

VIPC is the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority. It provides strategic commercialization and funding support to Virginia-based tech startups.