Mighty Dream Day 1 focuses on diversity, equity
Grammy winning music superstar Pharrell Williams put on his business hat Tuesday in Norfolk, welcoming attendees to his Mighty Dream forum, which he likened to an event like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “but for marginalized communities.” The three-day forum kicked off with spoken-word poetry and a mighty boom of drums and crash […]
TowneBank names president, regional banking director
TowneBank has promoted Brian Skinner to the newly created role of president and regional banking director for all of its markets in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, the Suffolk-based bank announced this week. “Brian is a dedicated member of the Towne family with a proven track record of leading both emerging and seasoned financial professionals […]
Sky-high rents
The Navy man sat in Barbara Gatewood Sgueglia’s office in tears. His rent was being raised from $1,600 to $2,750, and with several children and his wife in school, he just couldn’t swing it, even if the landlord offered to split the difference. Anything else he could afford would likely be “much less appealing,” says […]
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. […]
An overview of Hampton Roads
With a population of 1.79 million people spread across 17 localities, Hampton Roads is the second-most populated region of Virginia, just behind Northern Virginia. Virginia Beach, with approximately 457,000 residents, is the commonwealth’s biggest city by population, and neighboring Norfolk has the highest density in the region, with 4,467 people per square mile, according to […]
Under construction
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Hampton and Norfolk Construction is underway along 10 miles of the Interstate 64 corridor from Hampton to Norfolk on the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project. In June, crews on the South Island began reassembling Mary, the 430-foot, $70 million tunnel boring machine (TBM) that was delivered to the Port of […]
Executive insights
Virginia Business asked five Hampton Roads leaders to discuss how regional cooperation could directly impact their industries, how they’re coping with staffing shortages and what their hopes are for the region’s future. XAVIER BEALE Vice president of human resources and trades, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News Most Hampton Roads leaders say they’d like to see […]
Workforce development resources
The Apprentice School Founded in 1919, The Apprentice School in Newport News has trained 11,000 shipyard workers over its long history. The school at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division offers four-, five- and eight-year paid apprenticeships in 19 shipbuilding disciplines and eight advanced programs of study, including supply chain management and marine engineer[...]
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 […]
A welcome respite
While the spring was red-hot for the residential real estate market, conditions are expected to cool off in the fall. “The market is definitely stabilizing,” says Liz Moore, board president of Real Estate Information Network Inc., the multiple listing service (MLS) for the Hampton Roads region. “We had such a frenzied market during the pandemic.” […]
Sharing the wealth
Virginia small businesses are getting a piece of the biggest highway construction pie ever baked by the Virginia Department of Transportation: the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project. Since April 2019, VDOT has awarded 313 contracts worth a collective $455 million to companies that qualify under the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small, Women-owned, […]
A stitch in time
At the end of 2020, Eastern Virginia Medical School firmly rejected a study recommending that the medical school merge to become part of Old Dominion University. But time passes, minds change, and sometimes there’s turnover at the top. In August 2021, Dr. Richard Homan, who’d led EVMS for nearly a decade, retired. By December, Dr. […]

















