Harrisonburg-based Farmer Focus is undertaking a $17.8 million expansion to boost capacity at its 78,000-square foot processing facility on Acorn Drive.
The organic poultry producer, which marked its ninth anniversary in March, announced in February that it was the recipient of a $3.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), which will go toward the cost of the expansion.
“We will start later this year,” says Farmer Focus “founding farmer” and CEO Corwin Heatwole. “Timing could fluctuate a little bit. … But we should have that up and running by early next year. And that’s when we would start staffing.”
Farmer Focus expects to hire about 300 people as part of the expansion, which will increase the size of its deboning department and provide more space for its wastewater pretreatment operation.
The plant currently processes about 335,000 chickens per week, and the expansion, which includes a full second shift of workers, will allow the company to increase output to approximately 630,000 chickens. But the increase in staff isn’t limited to the production aspects of the business.
“The creation of the new jobs will coincide with the completion of the expansion project and will be a mix of production, maintenance and supervisory roles,” according to a statement from Liz Fuchs, Farmer Focus’ chief people officer.
When U.S. Sen. Mark Warner toured the plant in April 2022, he applauded the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
And Heatwole says those efforts will continue with the expansion: “Our efforts around diversity and inclusion … have been ongoing. This expansion just allows us to impact those more.”
According to Fuchs, Farmer Focus’ workforce has about the same number of men and women, with 78% of those employees from various racial and ethnic minorities.
Brian Shull, Harrisonburg’s economic development director, watched Farmer Focus grow over nine years from an entrepreneur’s idea into a company that employs more than 800 people.
“They’re one of our top 10 employers in Harrisonburg,” Shull says. “It’s a very, very positive economic impact for us. It certainly strengthens our already strong food and beverage sector throughout the Shenandoah Valley. So, whenever we have continued expansion, that helps that cluster get even stronger.”
The Shenandoah Valley Partnership had more economic development activity than “anyone anticipated in 2022,” says Jay Langston, the partnership’s executive director.
During the calendar year, the partnership saw close to $140 million in investment and 520 jobs.
In Fishersville, Amazon.com Inc. is building a $120 million, 1 million-square-foot nonsortable fulfillment center, which handles bulky or large items such as patio furniture, outdoor equipment or rugs. The building, 85% complete as of late January, is expected to be finished this spring, according to Langston.
“I’ve been in this business for 38 years and never had a project like that come in so fast,” he adds. “It was the right place and the right time. Augusta County did a superb job working with consultants and engineers. It was a huge team effort.”
Additionally, Rockingham Cooperative in Rockingham County will invest nearly $17 million to upgrade and expand its grain handling and feed manufacturing operations, adding up to 20 jobs.
“This is a major investment because of the growth of agriculture in the region,” Langston says. “We have four of the top five agriculture top-producing counties in Virginia in this region.”
Augusta County
Augusta County’s economy held strong with the February 2022 announcement of Amazon’s nonsortable fulfillment center.
With 21% of the county’s workforce in manufacturing, “job openings in that sector, particularly, continued to grow,” says Rebekah Castle, the county’s director of economic development and marketing. “There continues to be great potential for growth with growing job openings and programs like Blue Ridge Community College’s Job Starter, paid training providing the skills … needed to be successful starting a job in advanced manufacturing.”
Harrisonburg
“Active and productive” are the words Brian Shull, Harrisonburg’s economic development director, uses to describe the city’s economic development in 2022.
Farmer Focus completed construction on its organic chicken packaging facility, a $65 million-plus project in northern Harrisonburg, in February 2022.
“This project led to enhanced business interest in surrounding greenfield sites,” undeveloped land that can be used for commercial or residential development, Shull says.
Lauf Cycling, an Icelandic high-end bicycle manufacturer, selected Harrisonburg for its U.S. headquarters, including a showroom and distribution center. The company made the announcement in April 2022 and signed a five-year lease for a 6,500-square-foot shell building in downtown Harrisonburg at 156 E. Washington St., which the bike maker plans to build out. Lauf’s projections call for hiring approximately eight employees in three years. Capital investment figures for the facility build-out have not been released.
“Harrisonburg has such a strong cycling and outdoor recreation culture,” Shull says. “Lauf quickly recognized this asset and wanted to be part of it.”
Harrisonburg Innovation Hub (HIH), a coworking center, is expected to open in the former Wetsel Seed building downtown late this year. The HIH team purchased the 25,648-square-foot building for $2.88 million and expects the purchase and renovation costs to total $4.5 million. The space will offer up to 60 offices, rooftop event space and an AV production studio, developers say.
In addition, Blue Ridge Rubber & Industrial Products Co., an industrial rubber hose fabricator, is investing $700,000 to expand its Harrisonburg manufacturing facility on Acorn Drive, near Eastern Mennonite University.
Thanks to increased tourism spending and James Madison University’s first year in the Sun Belt Conference, Harrisonburg also experienced a healthy bounce in hospitality sector tax revenue in 2022. Compared with 2021, Harrisonburg saw a 15.8% jump in meals tax revenue, a 12.1% rise in lodging tax revenue and a 9.2% increase in sales tax revenue.
Rockbridge County
The past year was the most productive year Rockbridge County had seen in economic development over the last five years.
“In addition to establishing an office of economic development, the county started developing its first strategic economic development plan to guide future economic development efforts,” reports Brandy Flint, the county’s director of economic development. “We have two new commercial construction projects underway and two more to start next year.”
The estimated value of all 2022 commercial building permits, including new construction and renovations, was “approximately $18.6 million,” she adds.
The conversion of a Modine Manufacturing Co. warehouse into a manufacturing plant was a $7 million project that kicked off in 2021, with work completed in November 2022. “That project has continued into 2022 with an increased scope of work and additional employment,” Flint says, noting the plant’s projected 60 jobs has increased to 73 because of an increase in sales.
Rockingham County
Rockingham County’s growth in 2022 was a balance of new and existing business expansions and announcements.
“The county is fortunate to have such a diverse economic base of manufacturing, food and beverage and service-related businesses throughout the community,” says Joshua Gooden, the county’s economic development and tourism coordinator.
In 2021, Veronesi Holding S.p.A. selected the county to become the first North American location for its cured meat processing facility located in Innovation Village @ Rockingham. The Italian company broke ground in February 2022 on the facility, which is anticipated to be completed this spring. The plant is expected to bring 150 jobs to the county.
Meanwhile, Gooden says, the $6.5 million expansion of Virginia Industrial Plastics Inc.’s plant in Rockingham, a project that was expected to create 92 jobs, has been delayed. The project was announced in 2021.
Shenandoah County
Shenandoah County saw a dramatic increase in the number of leads and interest in properties throughout 2022, says Jenna French, the county’s director of tourism and economic development.
“Our industrial development authority entered into an option-to-purchase agreement on a 21-acre parcel in the Northern Shenandoah Business Park in Strasburg, and one of our larger parcels of industrially zoned land recently sold in the Toms Brook area,” she says.
Shenandoah crossed the finish line with one of its larger tourism projects, a $109 million wellness and nature resort known as Simply Shenandoah, which is slated to break ground this spring and open to guests in 2024. The deal is expected to create 125 jobs.
“With tourism being the second largest industry in our county, this is a welcome addition that fills a unique niche for the county, offering a higher end experience and additional lodging opportunities,” French says.
Waynesboro
Waynesboro’s economic development wins were a bit smaller than those in other localities, but Greg Hitchin, the city’s director of economic development and tourism, notes, “We opened five businesses this summer, and all are doing well.”
Also, the Virginia Museum of Natural History’s Waynesboro campus is moving forward, with the design phase set to end in June 2023. Contingent on General Assembly funding, groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for 2024, with a spring or summer 2026 opening. The city expects the museum to draw more than 65,000 visitors annually.
Winchester
In Winchester, one of 2022’s major economic wins was the redevelopment of the Winchester Towers property, with Lynx Ventures LLC leading a mixed-use project with 175 residential units and a structured parking facility, as well as retail and dining space.
“Combining the housing with the services enhances socialization and provides the businesses with ready consumer activity. It’s a win-win for all involved,” says Winchester Mayor John David Smith Jr.
The city’s economic development authority leveraged the state’s enterprise zone program to facilitate an $11 million expansion of Continental AG, generating 67 manufacturing jobs as well as other investments. The authority didn’t provide incentive details.
In December 2021, TFC Poultry LLC announced it would invest $31.5 million to establish its second U.S. production facility in Winchester at the former Sunshine’s Pride Dairy facility, which was expected to open by April. The project is anticipated to create 111 jobs.
Trex Company Inc., one of the major brands of composite decking, is building a $7 million, 64,000-square-foot global headquarters and adding 200 employees. (See related story.) Announced in January 2022, construction is underway with completion anticipated in the third quarter of 2023.
Harrisonburg-based Farmer Focus is planning a $17.8 million expansion that will create 300 jobs and double its processing capacity, the organic poultry producer announced this week.
Part of that expansion will be paid for with a $3.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the grant at a visit to Farmer Focus’ headquarters on Tuesday.
The expansion will “enable Farmer Focus to welcome more family farmers into its farming family” and create 300 jobs over the next two years, according to a news release. Farmer Focus plans to expand its organic chicken processing facility in Harrisonburg. Operating since 2014, the plant processes 335,000 chickens per week, but demand has grown and the expansion will allow the company to process 630,000 chickens per week.
The creation of the new jobs will coincide with the completion of the expansion project and will be a mix of production, maintenance and supervisory roles, according to Liz Fuchs, Farmer Focus’ chief people officer. A completion date for the expansion has not been set, and the expansion won’t physically change the size of the facility.
“The programs and money the Biden-Harris administration is committing can make a huge difference in providing opportunities to independent processors like Farmer Focus so we can build a more competitive meat industry and strong generational family farms while providing our consumers with the highest quality organic and humane certified chicken,” Farmer Focus Founding Farmer and CEO Corwin Heatwole said in a statement.
“Just a little over a year ago, I was invited to a White House Round Table where I had the unique opportunity to share my thoughts directly with President [Joe] Biden and Secretary Vilsack on ways to increase competition within the meat industry,” Heatwole added. “The MPPEP proves that our leaders in Washington are listening closely to the farming community, and are following through on their commitment to improve the lives and livelihood of America’s farmers and the resiliency of our food system.”
The program provides grants to help eligible processors expand their capacity, according to the USDA.
In a statement, Vilsack said, “The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are taking action to advance a sustainable vision of agriculture that prioritizes the needs of our resilient producers and small businesses, strengthens our food supply chain and brings value back to rural people and places.”
With this second round of MPPEP grants, the USDA doled out $59 million to five U.S. companies, including Farmer Focus, the only Virginia-based grant recipient. Farmer Focus will make improvements to alleviate bottlenecks in processing and offset costs associated with equipment purchases, new conveyor lines, building and site modifications and a new wastewater treatment system, according to the USDA.
Founded in 2014 and formerly known as Shenandoah Valley Organic, Farmer Focus sells organic poultry raised as free-ranging on humane-certified farms. In February 2022, Farmer Focus opened a 78,000-square-foot packaging facility in Harrisonburg, increasing production capacity and expanding Farmer Focus’ workforce.
Farmer Focus’ products are now distributed in more than 4,000 stores, including the East Coast and the Midwest, in retail grocery chains such as Publix Super Markets Inc., Harris Teeter and Safeway Inc.
Makena Massarella, a 20-year-old junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, is well on her way to becoming part of the solution to one of the most vexing problems facing Virginia and the nation: the shortage of teachers.
She wants to be an elementary school teacher, the most in-demand position out of 10 critical shortages of teaching positions in Virginia’s schools, according to a June report from the state Department of Education. Special education teachers come in second as most needed, followed by middle school teachers.
The state’s 132 school divisions employed 100,967 full-time teachers as of October 2020, according to the DOE. And state education leaders and the Virginia Education Association estimate there are more than 1,000 teacher vacancies in Virginia, a fluctuating number that’s expected to grow.
The reasons for the teacher shortage vary. Many longtime teachers have reached retirement age, and others have left public education for more lucrative fields, an effect of low unemployment and a strong hiring market.
Political and pandemic pressures also have taken a toll on teacher morale. School boards and classrooms in Virginia have been roiling over disputes, including wearing masks, removing controversial books and guidance issued by the DOE this year requiring parental permission for teachers to use a different name or pronouns for K-12 students in Virginia. Backed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the policy has sparked strong emotions, as opponents say it unfairly targets transgender students, especially those whose parents are not supportive. Proponents, including Youngkin, say that the policy allows parents to have more say over their children’s education and life at school. Youngkin also set up an email tip line encouraging parents and students to report school employees engaging in “inherently divisive practices.” The tip line, which received national media coverage and was the subject of much criticism, was shut down in September.
Lisa Jaffe-Wilfong is a kindergarten aide in Frederick County who is pursuing teacher certification through JMU’s Grow Your Own program. Photo by Norm Shafer
James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association teachers’ union, which has more than 40,000 members, warns that politics has soured the profession for many teachers who were already working a difficult and demanding job. “It’s just a totally divisive environment where our elected officials are trying to pit parents and teachers against each other,” he says.
To address teaching shortages, some states have lowered qualifications for teachers, and others are recruiting teachers from other countries. Here in Virginia, for example, Fairfax County is considering forging a partnership with the Barbados Ministry of Education.
JMU is partnering with the Virginia Community College System on a new pilot program, Grow Your Own, that covers tuition, fees, books, and room and board for college students fresh out of high school in exchange for teaching two years at the low-income school districts they hail from.
It’s part of a larger effort to encourage more people to become teachers and return to their home communities. The pilot program also has pathways for current college students, like Massarella, as well as teachers’ aides and paraprofessionals.
“I always wanted to be a teacher — or thought I did,” Massarella says. To test her interest in becoming a teacher, she joined a teaching club at her high school in Elkton, a rural Rockingham County community of fewer than 3,000 residents. Yearlong visits to a local elementary school classroom solidified Massarella’s decision to become a teacher.
“I loved it,” she says.
Planting seeds
This year, the General Assembly allocated $4.2 million to JMU’s Grow Your Own pilot program, which will place teachers in Frederick, Loudoun, Rockingham and Warren counties, as well as Harrisonburg, Petersburg and Portsmouth.
“Grow your own” is a generic term used in education circles around the country to describe similar initiatives.
Fedderman calls the program a “phenomenal resource” for identifying people who are interested in teaching and “to authentically and organically grow [an] educator who works best for the students.”
Students in the Grow Your Own program must pursue one of the three teacher licensure areas in highest demand in school systems: special education, early childhood education and elementary education. If students fail to meet their two-year teaching obligation, they must repay the money they received through the program as a loan.
It’s not just current college students who are part of Grow Your Own. Also taking part are some people who already work in schools — just not as full-time teachers.
Lisa Jaffe-Wilfong taught preschool and later became a kindergarten aide in Frederick County. Last spring, she learned about Grow Your Own and was thrilled to learn that it included a pathway for paraprofessionals like herself to become teachers. “I thought, ‘This is a sign. I’m going to do it,” she says.
Her cohort of Grow Your Own students includes a 72-year-old who decided to re-enter the work world, a former horse trainer and others from different walks of life.
“We all decided to give it a go,” Jaffe-Wilfong says.
While continuing to work full time as a kindergarten aide at Middletown Elementary School, Jaffe-Wilfong also takes online classes from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. once a week.
The program pays her tuition, and she hopes to receive money for her textbooks as she moves through the program, but she’s not quite sure if that will happen. (Program benefits for paraprofessionals vary from the benefits for high school students who are recruited to become teachers, and they can also vary for Grow Your Own students who were already enrolled at JMU, such as Massarella.)
“Sometimes I’ll be saying, ‘I’m 53, what am I doing?’ But then, why not? Why not?” Jaffe-Wilfong asks emphatically.
L to R: Robert Jordan, a special education teacher at Lacey Spring Elementary School; Larry Shifflett, assistant superintendent of innovation and learning for Rockingham County; and Maria Taylor, special education teacher at John C. Myers Elementary School. Jordan and Taylor were certified to teach through a program in Rockingham. Photo by Norm Shafer
‘Immediate impact’
JMU officials are hopeful that if the Grow Your Own program proves successful, the legislature might renew — and perhaps increase — its funding, as well as provide funding for other nontraditional initiatives to recruit teachers. JMU officials are still working out possibilities for other initiatives and what an expansion of Grow Your Own might look like.
“JMU plans on working with other universities, talking about expanding [Grow Your Own],” says Mark L’Esperance, dean of JMU’s College of Education. “I believe it is something that has the potential to be replicated in situations across the state.”
Additional funding likely would permit JMU to expand its current program for recent high school graduates and paraprofessionals.
Currently, about 75 paraprofessionals and 12 full-time JMU students are enrolled in the program. Joy Myers, executive director of the program, says 25 spots for university students were approved, but there was only six weeks between the time JMU received funding from the state in June and when classes started in August.
“Now we’ll be able to roll over some of the money for next year,” Myers says.
“We appreciate Gov. Youngkin and the money he approved for the Grow Your Own program. It’s apolitical. It was a bipartisan budget that approved this,” L’Esperance says, describing the program as a three-legged stool, one leg of which is focused largely on JMU freshmen who want to enter the teaching profession.
“We want students in low-wealth school divisions to say, ‘You know what? Teaching is a noble profession [and] I want to become a teacher and I want to go back and serve my community.’”
Grow Your Own’s second leg is focused on paraprofessionals already working in school systems — people who have an associate degree or perhaps no college credits. Under the program, this cohort might attend a community college partnering with JMU or work online independently under JMU’s guidance and take courses that can lead to a teaching license.
JMU officials already have been working with several community colleges who are under the umbrella of the Grow Your Own effort.
But it’s Grow Your Own’s federally funded third leg that most excites L’Esperance.
“We’re working with several school divisions right now on it,” he says. “If you have a bachelor’s degree and are a paraprofessional, instead of coming to the university and getting college credit, we’re coming out to you. We’re working with the school divisions so that over a two- or three-year period, you can be certified as a teacher. That’s a game changer for this state.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine helped secure $620,000 to pay for 167 program slots for paraprofessionals with bachelor’s degrees.
“This will have an immediate impact on the teacher shortage,” says L’Esperance, adding that the program will put teachers in classrooms within the first year, giving them three years to get fully licensed.
Accelerated teacher training
L’Esperance brought the idea for Grow Your Own from his previous experience in North Carolina, and a team at JMU refined how it might work in Virginia.
The concept, Myers explains, was to devise a program that would serve school divisions that had “a lot of diversity and low wealth” and often have a harder time attracting teachers than wealthier divisions.
Additionally, she says, “we wanted to be sure the money got into the hands of people who really need the opportunity, who couldn’t go to college and pursue their dream without that money.”
Larry Shifflett, Rockingham County’s assistant superintendent for innovation and learning, says his school system, like JMU, realized early on that teaching aides and other paraprofessionals could be part of the pipeline for new teachers if they received training and support.
“Our first attempt at this was in the summer of 2019,” Shifflett says, noting that Rockingham’s paraprofessional program preceded JMU’s efforts.
Working with JMU and the state Department of Education, along with county funding of about $150,000 over three years, the Rockingham school system created a cohort of 10 paraprofessional teaching candidates. “And we ended up hiring seven of those folks in 2021,” Shifflett says.
Now, working with JMU and Blue Ridge Community College, Rockingham has 23 paraprofessionals enrolled in the Grow Your Own program.
Grow Your Own builds on the success of other JMU programs such as its Accelerated Teacher Training Program, which targets career changers who want to become high school teachers and earn a master’s degree along the way.
Katie Dredger, an associate professor who oversees JMU’s Accelerated Teacher Training Program, says the pandemic caused many people to consider changing careers, including some who were inspired to pursue teaching. A hand surgeon, an administrative assistant at a financial firm and a lab worker are among the career changers who have enrolled in JMU’s program, Dredger says.
The three-semester graduate licensure program, which was launched in 2020, has produced 18 new teachers since 2021, and an additional 13 are in the pipeline to graduate in 2023.
By earning a master’s degree, newly minted teachers earn a pay boost when they begin teaching. Also, “they are more likely to stay in teaching if they have a greater range of experience in coursework” that comes with a master’s degree, Dredger says.
Although the students in the Accelerated Teacher Training Program pay tuition, some can get help from scholarships and other assistance, Dredger says.
For JMU’s part, just as it has since 1908, L’Esperance says, the university remains laser-focused on providing the commonwealth with trained teachers — a mission that’s more critical than ever.
Innovative programs like Grow Your Own and the Accelerated Teacher Training Program are part of the answer to the teacher shortage, L’Esperance says, but they aren’t the only fixes. “My colleagues across the state are all trying to come up with solutions.”
JMU at a glance
Founded
Established in 1908, James Madison University was originally known as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women. It was renamed Madison College in 1938 in honor of President James Madison and became James Madison University in 1977.
Campus
Located in Harrisonburg in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, JMU’s 728-acre campus is divided by Interstate 81. It’s known for its distinctive bluestone buildings on the campus’ west side, as well as Newman Lake near Greek Row and the university’s 125-acre Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, which has numerous gardens and wooded areas with 100-plus-year-old oak and hickory trees.
Enrollment*
Undergraduate students: 20,346
Graduate students: 1,878
Student profile
Male | female ratio: 41% | 59%
International students: 1%
Minority students: 22%
Academic programs
JMU has nearly 140 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, ranging from accounting and computer science to international business, psychology and nursing, and eight doctoral programs.
Faculty*
Full-time instructional
faculty: 1,070
Part-time instructional
faculty: 393
Tuition, fees, housing and dining
$24,816 approximate annual in-state undergraduate residential cost, including tuition, mandatory fees, housing and meal plan for incoming freshmen.
The brains behind the Staunton Innovation Hub are working on bringing a new hub to a new city: the $4.5 million Harrisonburg Innovation Hub is expected to open in late 2023, investors and partners announced Tuesday.
Harrisonburg “has a very vibrant and growing startup ecosystem in place already, and there’s just a need for it there. And so, that need, coupled with finding a really cool building that’s in a great location, it just fit well with what we like to do,” said Staunton Innovation Hub co-founder and co-owner Peter Denbigh.
A partnership of investors, HIH LLC, closed on the 26,500-square-foot Wetsel Seed building in downtown Harrisonburg in late October for $2.88 million. The group plans to renovate it to create up to 60 private offices, coworking spaces, spaces for anchor tenants who will sign multiyear agreements, rooftop event space and an AV production studio with video and podcast equipment. The hub also will offer programming, including networking events and informational sessions for entrepreneurs.
The management group wants the project to be an economic engine for the Shenandoah Valley, Denbigh said.
“We hope that we can bring some anchor members to the Harrisonburg Innovation Hub that bring jobs to the area,” he said, “because Harrisonburg has a bunch of talent, it’s a great place to live, and so, if we can be a satellite location, if we can be a new office, etc., for a Northern Virginia company, a Richmond company, Charlottesville company, that sort of thing, that’s really our hope.”
The Harrisonburg project has been in development for almost a year. Although Denbigh and Director Hannah Cooper will be involved in both hubs, the Harrisonburg location will be managed by Innovation Management Corp., an entity separate from the Staunton hub management.
The Staunton location grew over three years to its current 30,000-square-foot footprint in two buildings. It houses more than 110 businesses, including the nonprofit Shenandoah Community Capital Fund and professional services firm Hantzmon Wiebel LLP.
Pendleton Community Bank is the financing partner for the hub, and the architect is Eugene Stoltzfus Architects.
James Madison University’s second comprehensive fundraising campaign, Unleashed, raised more than $251 million, the Harrisonburg university announced Friday.
The eight-year fundraising campaign, which exceeded its $200 million goal in March 2021, ended June 30. It began with an advanced gift phase in July 2014 before JMU announced it publicly in October 2018.
Unleashed attracted 63,976 donors, about 37.4% of whom were alumni. The second largest segment of donors were parents, at 34.3%. Corporations donated 2% of the total. More than half of donors made their first gift to JMU through the campaign.
JMU is designating $97.3 million of the funds raised for general purposes, $45.4 million to athletics and $108.45 million to academic programs.
“Our hope is that people are going to find a sense of purpose in their giving, are going to see [the] chance to create an impact on something that matters to them, and our donors have basically told us they want to make a difference,” said Nick Langridge, JMU’s vice president of university advancement.
During the campaign, the university received its largest-ever cash gift, $5 million, from alum Paul Holland, a 1982 graduate, and his wife, Linda Yates. Madison Hall, which houses the Office of Admissions and the Center for Global Engagement, was renamed Holland Yates Hall to honor the couple. Holland and Yates made the gift “to support scholarships, study abroad, entrepreneurship and other initiatives that align with their personal passions and will involve many areas across campus,” according to JMU. They specifically wanted to rename Madison Hall, the university said, because the admissions office “represents the gateway to JMU and the Center for Global Engagement is a passport to the world.”
JMU set “opening doors for students” as a campaign priority. The university scaled its honors program into an honors college.
Donations for the Dukes Pay It Forward scholarship program received almost $6.2 million from a collective 2,180 donors.
The Valley Scholars program supports cohorts of students beginning in middle school and guarantees them admission and free tuition and fees to JMU, provided they earn the required grades in the required courses. Members of the first cohort will graduate in May 2023. Valley Scholars tuition and programming received $5 million from 1,435 donors.
Northrop Grumman Corp. Chair, President and CEO Kathy Warden and her husband, Eric, are JMU alumni. They started the Warden Challenge, pledging to match gifts for Pell Grant-eligible student scholarships up to $1.25 million. More than 950 donors gave a total of $3.2 million to support 125 Pell-eligible students.
The university completed several capital projects with funds collected from the campaign. JMU’s College of Business received more than $20 million. The school opened Hartman Hall in 2021 and renovated Zane Showker Hall to support team-based learning.
“Before, our facilities did not afford the students a chance to meet and study in groups and teams. They were sitting on the floor of the foyer in circles with their teammates trying to get work done,” Langridge said. “Now, our classrooms have team-based spaces and functionality,” including rooms that students can reserve.
Additionally, the university received more than $13 million for the 8,500-seat Atlantic Union Bank Center basketball arena, which it opened in 2020.
Unleashed campaign funds also supported entrepreneurship resources. JMU created a minor in entrepreneurship, and students of any major can use the Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship.
Alumni couple Lara Parker Major and Eric D. Major, who met at JMU in the ’90s, donated $1.2 million to the College of Business’ Innovation, Collaboration, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICCE) Lab, now the Major ICCE Lab.
The Majors founded medical device company K2M, which Stryker bought and took private in 2018. K2M employed a lot of JMU graduates, Lara Major said.
“One of the things that we felt strongly about was giving back to JMU as a way of showing our gratitude for having an opportunity to work with such outstanding graduates over the years,” she said.
Although neither served on the campaign steering committee, the Majors served on their respective colleges’ boards.
“I think that’s one of the things that was an unexpected pleasure for us, reconnecting with JMU later in life,” Lara Major said.
Langridge credits the school’s growing and maturing alumni base for the campaign’s success.
“The number of students who graduated last May in a single year is greater than the combined number of graduates for the whole decade of the 1960s,” he explained. “We’ve grown significantly as an institution to now [having] nearly 20,000 undergraduates and 22,000 total students.”
Lara Major believes that some of the campaign’s success is due to JMU’s increased recognition: “We’re well on our way to national prominence, and I think the campaign is a reflection of that.”
That prominence includes JMU’s 2022 Carnegie Classification as an R2 Doctoral University, its No. 72 ranking on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Top Public Schools list and its participation in the Sun Belt Conference.
James Madison University has named Malika Carter its inaugural vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, the university announced Monday.
Carter will start Aug. 25.
“This appointment is a great honor,” Carter said in a statement. “JMU is well positioned to become, in the field of inclusion, a lead institution that has already demonstrated drive, talent and commitment for modeling inclusive practice and its consistent application.”
Carter comes to JMU from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she was the first chief diversity officer. Prior to that, she served as the inaugural chief diversity officer for the city of Worcester, Massachusetts.
“We were deeply impressed by Dr. Carter’s wisdom, breadth of experience and can-do spirit throughout the interview process,” JMU President Jonathan Alger said in a statement. “I am excited to welcome Dr. Carter as a member of our senior leadership team and to further our deep institutional commitment to DEI efforts to make JMU an even more welcoming and inclusive community.”
Carter holds an associate degree from Cuyahoga Community College, a bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education from Cleveland State University, a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration from the University of Vermont and a doctorate in education with a concentration in institutional analysis from North Dakota State University.
In terms of business activity and economic development wins, 2021 turned out to be a stellar year for the Shenandoah Valley.
“We have exceeded what we anticipated from a business activity perspective,” says Jay Langston, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, which promotes economic development from Shenandoah County to Rockbridge County. “When government shut down in 2020, we thought, ‘What in the world are we going to do?’ That lasted about a month. We only saw a temporary blip in business activity, and it came back in a big way.”
Last year, the partnership collaborated with localities and businesses on more than $165 million in investments, expected to bring in 650 jobs. Those deals include a $30 million investment from the D.C.-based Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava to open a processing and packaging facility near Staunton, and bringing in Veronesi Holding S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer and producer of cured meats, which will establish its first U.S. production operation in Rockingham County.
The partnership is finding that some of the measures it adopted during the pandemic are ones it will continue to maintain.
“Doing business the same old way doesn’t work in the current dynamic environment,” Langston says. “The virtual environment allowed us to deliver our message in more efficient ways. Also, we are much more heavily engaged in outreach marketing with high return-on-investment programs, and we are paying much more attention to talent retention and attraction, as well as quality-of-life messaging.”
There is tremendous cohesion in the valley regarding the area’s economic prosperity, even though “sub-regions have different goals and means of achieving them,” Langston says. “We have been blessed by a region that collaborates and works to solve problems.”
Rockingham County and Harrisonburg
“Securing the deal with Veronesi was a substantial win for us,” says Casey Armstrong, assistant county administrator and director of economic development. “It will help to diversify our financial portfolio. We are dependent on the agricultural and food and beverage industry, and this facility will diversify us and makes us more resilient.”
Veronesi plans to invest more than $100 million and create more than 150 jobs during the next four years. The company’s new facility, located in Innovation Village, will be used to age, process and package products for distribution, increasing its cured meat and charcuterie customer base in the U.S. market.
“This is the company’s first facility in the U.S., and it will be their U.S. headquarters,” Armstrong says. “Phase 1 of the project is scheduled to open by the end of 2022 or the first [part] of 2023.”
Merck & Co. Inc.’s $1 billion expansion of its Rockingham County pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, announced in 2019, is underway and is providing revenue for local tradespeople, restaurants and hotels. “They have over 1,000 employees on the job alone,” Armstrong says. “That deal was a big win for us.”
Additionally, Virginia Industrial Plastics Inc. is investing more than $6.5 million to expand its manufacturing facility in the county, a deal announced in September 2021. The plastic thermoforming and fabrication company will add 92 jobs with the expansion, which will allow the company to increase capacity for its company-owned product lines, Cabinet Savers and VIP Golf Cars.
The city of Harrisonburg worked with more international companies last year than in previous years. For example, Sibo Group, a Slovenian manufacturer of closure solutions, will invest $2.6 million to establish its U.S. corporate headquarters and a new manufacturing operation. The project is set to create 24 jobs.
“Sibo USA has been a great project for Harrisonburg,” says the city’s economic development director, Brian Shull. “The lead was generated by Montebello Packaging, a city manufacturer of plastic tubes for the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Sibo has been supplying caps and closure to Montebello for years, but they were being manufactured in Slovenia and shipped to the Harrisonburg facility. Montebello offered manufacturing space to Sibo within its city facility.”
The city also is assisting with Shenandoah Valley Organic’s construction project, a $65.5 million deal that was inked in 2020 and will create 110 jobs.
The rapidly growing organic chicken company, marketed as Farmer Focus, has reached substantial completion of its 76,000-square-foot retail packaging facility, where production was slated to start in the first quarter of this year.
Augusta County and Waynesboro
Augusta County’s efforts to target advanced manufacturing companies, particularly in the food and beverage industry, paid off in September when Cava, the Washington, D.C.-based fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain, announced its decision to open a 57,000-square-foot processing and packaging operation to produce its dips and spreads in Mill Place Commerce Park, the county’s publicly owned business park. Cava plans to invest more than $30 million and create 52 jobs.
“It’s a great fit for the county,” says Rebekah Castle, Augusta’s director of economic development and marketing. “The company is wonderful to work with, and we are looking forward to their opening in the next few years.”
Meanwhile, Waynesboro is in a renaissance phase, working with small local businesses, as well as courting expansions and new development, says Greg Hitchin, the city’s director of economic development and tourism. “We have weathered the storm of COVID-19 pretty well. Most of our manufacturing firms are in hiring mode now.”
Waynesboro, Augusta County and North Carolina-based private developer Mitchener Properties LLC worked together on the sale of the former Ladd Elementary School, which will become Waynesboro Marketplace, scheduled to open this spring or summer.
Another highlight of the year is the Waynesboro campus of Virginia Museum of Natural History. The Virginia General Assembly included funds in its 2022 budget for detailed planning drawings. If all goes as planned, the museum is expected to open in 2025, drawing an expected 65,000 visitors annually, Hitchin says.
Also, electronics manufacturer Virtex added a new product line to its Waynesboro location in 2021, creating about 50 jobs.
Warren, Shenandoah and Winchester
In December 2021, Minnesota-based TFC Poultry LLC said it was investing $31.5 million to establish its second U.S. production facility in Winchester. The project is expected to create 111 jobs. The company is hoping to open the facility this fall.
In December 2020, International Automotive Components Group, a global supplier of automotive components and systems, announced it would invest
$4.6 million to expand its manufacturing operation in the town of Strasburg, creating 47 jobs. The company met its capital investment goals in 2021 and is currently in the midst of hiring, which is expected to be complete by June 2023.
“We foresee a lot of additional growth in our county for 2022 based on current prospect activity,” says Jenna French, Shenandoah County’s director of tourism and economic development.
In Warren County, Montreal-based Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods LLC has broken ground on a $40.3 million expansion, creating an anticipated 67 jobs. The 126,000-square-foot building, which is being built by InterChange Group Inc., should be completed this fall, says Jeff Browne, chair of the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority.
Rockbridge County
Rockbridge County is prioritizing economic growth and developing a strategic economic development plan.
During 2021, the county had two major economic development expansion announcements: White’s Travel Center is investing $8 million to expand its building by 27,250 square feet and reconfigure the parking lot for additional retail and service space. And Modine Manufacturing Co., a thermal system manufacturer, will expand its operations in Rockbridge County with an investment of $7.03 million, adding 60 jobs. The project includes reconfiguring and remodeling the company’s existing warehouse into a manufacturing space.
“This project included participation in the [Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s] Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, which is the first time one of our projects has utilized that program,” says Brandy Flint, the county’s director of economic development.
A minority business assistance program in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County has helped 15 businesses and disbursed $21,700 in grant money in its first year of operation.
With $200,000 in state and federal grant awards announced in October 2021, organizers of the Black- and Brown-Owned Business Growth Program, known as B-Cubed, hope to attract more business owners of color to the region and help existing businesses grow.
Launched in February 2021 as an initiative of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity Business Council, B-Cubed is a partnership also involving James Madison University, Harrisonburg’s Department of Economic Development, the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance.
Harrisonburg City Council Member Christopher Jones was alarmed when he saw national studies that found Black-owned businesses were failing at a vastly higher rate than white-owned businesses amid the pandemic. Traditional programs to help minority business owners often miss the mark, Jones says, because of barriers such as cumbersome application processes and office hours that aren’t accessible for entrepreneurs working full-time jobs.
“We needed to come up with a program that spoke to Black and brown people and met them where they are,” Jones says.
To gain assistance from B-Cubed, business owners complete a “participation form” — intended to feel more welcoming than an application — and are connected with regional business development groups, the chamber and mentors that can provide networking and business services.
B-Cubed also provides technical assistance, such as legal, accounting and website development consultations. Participants can receive grants of up to
$3,000 to help implement their business goals. Jones anticipates grant amounts will increase this year.
Tisha McCoy-Ntiamoah, owner of PrePOPsterous Gourmet Popcorn, a Bridgewater-based retail and e-commerce popcorn company, used a B-Cubed grant to improve her company’s website and to work with an attorney to create a nondisclosure/noncompete agreement for her employees. It was an important tool to help grow her business, she says, helping her make new hires without fear of jeopardizing her proprietary recipes.
The B-Cubed team was able to point her to local attorneys who specialize in such work, an example of the value of connecting business owners with established community networking circles.
“Once I received the grant and was ready to work with an attorney, I didn’t have to search for one on my own,” McCoy-Ntiamoah says. “It really took the burden off me.”
The James Madison University Bluestone Seed Fund announced Monday that it would provide three startup companies with $5,000 each in its inaugural investment cycle.
Malique Middleton photo courtesy James Madison University.
The Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship manages the donor-backed fund. The three chosen startups are Gewd Botanicals, Handicans and Tow Ninja.
Malique Middleton, a 2021 graduate, founded Gewd Botanicals, a shop that offers cruelty-free, eco-friendly products like Oily Wash oil-based cleanser, All-Over-Ya-Body Butter moisturizer and Scrubba-Scrub exfoliator.
Handicans produces ergonomic trashcans designed for accessibility. The cans have wheelchair-friendly doors and allow horizontal trash removal. Chris Dorr, a 2021 alumnus, created the patent-pending design. Cans will come in varying models, including 60-gallon cans.
Chris Dorr photo courtesy James Madison University.
Tow Ninja uses an integrated web and mobile app to simplify communication and bookkeeping between tow companies — particularly “mom and pop shops” — and clients. The companies can track and view tows, statuses and revenue, and vehicle owners can locate, manage and retrieve towed vehicles. Current JMU student Jack Oppenheim founded Tow Ninja.
Jack Oppenheim photo courtesy James Madison University.
In addition to equity investments, the fund provides hands-on venture investing experience for JMU students through the Student Venture Associates program. Cohorts of students recruit and screen applicants, conduct due diligence, observe investor pitches and manage the portfolio companies.
“Our Student Venture Associates and student founders all got a very real-world venture investing experience,” Suzanne Bergmeister, executive director of the Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship, said in a statement. “The startups that receive the funding will now be mentored and monitored as they continue to grow. We are thrilled to have three portfolio companies this cycle and are looking forward to adding even more to our portfolio in the spring.”
The first investment cycle was open to current undergraduate or graduate students and 2021 alumni. The spring 2022 investment cycle will open to any JMU alumni who graduated within the past five years.
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