Liberty University plans to pay off more than $189 million in taxable bonds next month, according to paperwork filed Wednesday by the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. NA. The prices will be set March 31, which will include accrued interest.
Liberty issued a $100 million bond in 2012 with a 5.1% interest rate, and in 2019, it issued two more bonds, with the principal amounts of $86 million and $3,745,000. All three bonds will be redeemed April 5, according to the documents, which were posted Wednesday on Liberty’s financial disclosure website. Davenport & Co. LLC, the Lynchburg-based private Christian university’s financial adviser, will determine the “make-whole” prices of the bonds, which is equal to 100% of the principal amounts, or the sum of the present values of remaining principal and interest payments on any bonds being paid off.
The 2012 bond, issued to fund construction projects, becomes mature on March 1, 2042. The 2019 bonds of $3.7 million and $86 million, which replaced an existing bond debt from 2010 at lower interest rates of 2.246% and 3.338%, are due March 1, 2024, and March 1, 2034, respectively. The BNY/Mellon Trust Co. is trustee of the three bonds, which were estimated at a worth of $193.41 million as of June 30, 2022, according to Liberty’s financial audit report for fiscal year 2022.
Liberty’s endowment was at $2.169 billion in fiscal year 2022, according to its 2022 financial report, and its total assets without donor restrictions were just below $3.5 billion. The University of Virginia, which reported a $9.8 billion endowment in fiscal year 2022, tops the state’s list of college endowment funds.
Founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. in 1971 as Lynchburg Baptist College, Liberty has grown into an online-learning juggernaut, with 95,148 students enrolled in 2021, most of whom study remotely, according to the university. However, the school has been subject to multiple controversies since 2020, including former chancellor and president Jerry Falwell Jr.’s fall from grace in August 2020. He was forced to resign after a series of personal scandals, including allegations that he had knowledge of an affair between his wife and a young man who also was their business partner briefly. Falwell has denied that allegation, but the university sued him for $10 million for breach of contract, a suit that is still active in Lynchburg Circuit Court.
Liberty also was sued by 22 anonymous women — both former students and staff members — who alleged that Liberty “intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely” and discouraged victims from reporting their assaults. In May 2022, 20 of the plaintiffs settled their lawsuits against Liberty. The U.S. Department of Education announced in May 2022 it would investigate the university over claims of Title IX misconduct.
A former employee, John Markley, filed a $20 million lawsuit against Liberty in November 2022, claiming he was fired for being a whistleblower. Liberty also launched a third-party investigation of the university’s finances and real estate dealings during Falwell’s tenure in late 2020, but no report has been publicly released yet.
Interim President Jerry Prevo, the school’s former longtime board chair, plans to step down after this academic year; in August 2022, the university announced it was starting a search for his replacement.
If you ask economic development officials in Central Virginia about 2022, they might respond with a familiar slogan: “Everything is awesome.”
With almost 5,000 announced jobs and $1.6 billion in capital investment, the Richmond region had one of its best years
in the last two decades.
By October 2022, the region recovered 100% of jobs lost during the pandemic, says Greater Richmond Partnership President and CEO Jennifer Wakefield, but the recovery was lopsided. The IT, finance and insurance sectors continue to lag, she explains, “but we’re looking to attract more companies in these areas since they include high-paying wages.”
Heading into 2023, the region may look to build on megadeals such as the June 2022 announcement that Danish toy maker Lego Group had picked Chesterfield County for a $1 billion manufacturing plant. (See related story, Page 15.) In September, San Francisco-based Plenty Unlimited Inc. announced plans to invest $300 million to build the world’s largest indoor vertical farm in the county, bringing 300 jobs to Meadowville Technology Park.
“We’ve never seen this volume of megaprojects before,” says Henrico Economic Development Authority Executive Director Anthony Romanello.
Richmond
In November 2022, Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate data and analytics provider CoStar Group Inc. broke ground on an expanded research and technology campus on the downtown riverfront. The $460 million expansion will bring nearly 2,000 employees to the city. The project, announced in December 2021, is expected to be complete in early 2026. The company also purchased a 117,500-square-foot, $20 million office building across the river in the city’s Manchester area in May 2022.
“Having a new corporate campus shows that companies are still investing in office projects and creating jobs in Richmond,” says Richmond Director of Economic Development Leonard Sledge.
Between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, the city landed $552 million in capital investment, creating an expected 2,237 jobs. Those projects include an expansion by Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., which in March 2022 announced it would invest $97 million to expand its clinical research operations by nearly 150,000 square feet while adding 500 employees in the Richmond area during the next three years. The project is a joint one with Henrico County, and while much of the investment will be there, including two labs, Thermo Fisher will add significant space to its operations in the city at the
VA Bio+Tech Park.
Also in March 2022, Pennsylvania-based warehousing and logistics company A. Duie Pyle Inc. announced it would invest $20 million and add 75 jobs to establish three cross-dock service centers in Manassas, Roanoke and Richmond, where 25 of those jobs will be located.
Meanwhile, Richmond’s city government has been sparking some of the region’s largest projects ahead. In September 2022, Richmond selected the RVA Diamond Partners LLC development team, led by Thalhimer Realty Partners, to develop the Diamond District, a $2.44 billion neighborhood redevelopment project. Being built on 67 acres along the Interstate 95 corridor, the mixed-use project will include 2,800 residential units and a new baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, expected to open for the 2025 Minor League Baseball season.
Additionally, in December, the Richmond Economic Development Authority and the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority received five development proposals for the City Center Innovation District, a 9.4-acre mixed-use downtown redevelopment project that will include demolishing the closed Richmond Coliseum and adding a hotel.
Henrico County
Henrico had not landed a $1 billion economic development project since Facebook announced a data center there in 2017. That changed in 2022 when the county saw a record six $1 billion-plus projects, says Romanello. Henrico saw total economic development investments of $264.2 million, adding 1,271 jobs, in fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30, 2022.
“What made 2022 unique was the number of advanced manufacturing and data center megaprojects that came to us,” Romanello says, “and we continue to work dozens of projects, from the megaprojects to small businesses and everything in between.”
Last year marked a year of expansions in the county as well.
Boston-based SimpliSafe, a producer of DIY home security systems, announced in July 2021 it was investing more than $3 million to expand its Henrico operations, adding 250 jobs. The company opened its first customer service call center in Willow Lawn in 2020; it opened a second location in Innsbrook last year. “They liked us so well, they doubled down and made a second investment,” says Romanello.
On the sweeter side, snack food maker Mondelez International Inc. opened a new distribution site in Henrico in November 2022, part of a $122.5 million investment and expansion in the county, creating about 80 jobs. The company produces brands such as Oreo, Ritz, Wheat Thins and Chips Ahoy!
Additionally, EAB, an education research, technology and marketing company, announced in June that it would invest $6 million and add more than 200 jobs in Henrico during the next five years, relocating and consolidating from two area locations into a 70,000-square-foot space on West Broad Street.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and friend at the June 2022 announcement event for Lego Group’s $1 billion Chesterfield County manufacturing facility Photo by Shaban Athuman/Richmond Times-Dispatch via Associated Press
Chesterfield County
Aside from its massive, headline-generating Lego factory announcement, Chesterfield County scored big wins in agriculture and pharmaceuticals in 2022, tallying a record $1.47 billion in investments and 2,658 jobs during fiscal 2022.
Announcements from agriculture company Plenty Unlimited Inc. and nonprofit drugmaker Civica Rx in September 2022 added to the county’s gains. Plenty is slated to open the first phase of its 120-acre $300 million indoor vertical farming campus, billed as the world’s largest such facility, late this year or in early 2024. Civica is investing $27.8 million to construct a 55,000-square-foot laboratory testing facility in Chesterfield to support its Petersburg pharmaceutical manufacturing operation. The project expects to create 51 jobs.
Also in the works is a $108 million, 179,000-square-foot renovation and expansion of Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, near Midlothian.
Hanover County
Hanover Director of Economic Development E. Linwood Thomas IV says the county has seen “significant demand in manufacturing and logistics space, and we are seeing emerging growth taking place in the bio and life sciences segments of our local and regional economy as well.”
For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2022, the county added more than 1,960 jobs across all industry sectors and announced more than $243 million in new projects.
In February 2022, Walgreens Co. announced an investment of $34.2 million to establish a pharmaceutical micro-fulfillment center at Atlee Station Logistics Center. The project will create 249 jobs and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of this year. That was followed by a July 2022 announcement from Toronto-based Unilock, which manufactures concrete paving stones and segmental wall products. The company plans to invest $55.6 million to establish a manufacturing campus in Doswell, adding 50 jobs. Construction is expected to begin this year. Finally, Pennsylvania-based Lutron Electronics announced in September 2022 that it will invest $28.3 million to build a 145,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, adding about 200 jobs.
Lynchburg and Charlottesville
Lynchburg continued to capitalize on its LYH Loves You branding campaign, which launched in summer 2021. The campaign, part of the city’s five-year strategic plan, aims to attract business investment and talent, says Anna Bentson, the city’s assistant director of economic development and tourism. In 2022, Lynchburg’s economic development authority directly supported expansions by Flowers Baking Co. and Bausch & Lomb, resulting in $65 million in investment and 94 new jobs.
Meanwhile, Charlottesville continues to see growth as an innovation hub for technology and life sciences, says Chris Engel, who directs the city’s Office of Economic Development.
In January, the University of Virginia announced it will build a $300 million biotechnology institute funded in part by a $100 million donation from Charlottesville investor Paul Manning and his wife, Diane. Expected to open around 2027 at U.Va.’s Fontaine Research Park, the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology will focus on translational medical research to produce new treatments — such as cellular and gene therapies, nanotechnology and immunotherapy — that are expected to treat many different diseases. UVA Health is recruiting researchers who will work for now in the system’s existing facilities.
Megan Lucas knows all too well that no product means no project in economic development, especially when it comes to pad-ready sites and move-in-ready buildings.
The lack of pad-ready sites and industrial spec buildings in the Lynchburg region is the major reason the area has missed 65 economic development opportunities that could have brought as many as 12,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in investments during the past six years, says Lucas, CEO and chief economic development officer for the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.
“If you don’t have what they need, they move on,” Lucas says. “This issue isn’t only a Lynchburg regional issue; it’s a statewide issue.”
The alliance represents a region including Amherst, Bedford and Campbell counties that has 13 publicly owned industrial parks of various sizes and readiness and four pad-ready sites. At least two of those sites could support a 100,000-square-foot building, but nothing larger, Lucas says. When businesses approach the region, they’re typically seeking buildings between 100,000 and 150,000 square feet or pad-ready sites of 27 acres or more, she adds. The region has no pad-ready sites of that size. The lack of ready-to-go space is also noted in a five-year economic development strategy released in June 2022 by the Alliance.
Companies interested in the area “can’t wait for us to grade a 50-acre site and get it pad-ready and even get a spec building up,” Lucas says, but “they don’t have that kind of time.”
To rectify the problem, the organization is convening regional business, industry and community leaders during the first quarter of this year “to explore and discuss initiatives and opportunities to get us over the hurdle of pad-ready sites and existing buildings,” Lucas says. Those conversations are expected to examine local development incentives as well as ideas for spec building construction, including public-private partnership possibilities. An outside firm also will be hired to conduct market research.
“Local economic developers have been working diligently to prepare sites in their municipal industrial parks,” Lucas says, adding that grants from GO Virginia Region 2 have helped with due diligence, planning and site development.
The Lynchburg region already has a diversified manufacturing base but, Lucas says, “we need to grow it.”
Associate Editor Courtney Mabeus-Brown contributed to this story.
Framatome Inc. President and CEO Gary Mignogna will retire July 1, and Chief Financial Officer Katherine Williams will succeed him, the Lynchburg-based nuclear reactor and fuel company announced Tuesday. Mignogna will become chairman of Framatome Inc.’s board upon his retirement.
Williams, who will continue to serve as CFO, has worked for Framatome, a French nuclear reactor company, for more than 20 years. She lived in Paris for seven years while with the company, and as CFO, she manages all Framatome’s financial activities in North America. Williams also serves on the Framatome Inc., Framatome Canada and Isogen boards. Framatome has 14,000 employees worldwide and 1,300 in Lynchburg. Its business includes designing and providing equipment, services and fuel for nuclear power plants.
Gary Mignogna
Mignogna has worked for Framatome and its predecessor, Areva Inc., for 45 years, according to the company’s announcement. A mechanical engineer who earned degrees from Drexel University and an MBA from the University of Lynchburg, Mignogna became president and CEO of Framatome Inc. in 2014. In 2018, its North American headquarters moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Lynchburg.
“First, we congratulate Gary as he prepares to transition to a new role and we count on his continued support and counsel. His legacy of thoughtful leadership will be a tremendous asset as chair of the Framatome Inc. board of directors,” Frédéric Lelièvre, senior executive vice president and current chairman of the Framatome Inc. board, said in a statement. “I am confident that the strong leadership that has positioned Framatome as a leader in the U.S. market will continue under Katherine. Her two decades of service to this company exemplify our core values of performance, integrity and passion for the future of nuclear energy.”
In 2021, Framatome Inc. started an independent subsidiary, Framatome U.S. Government Solutions LLC, which focuses on nuclear projects for federal agencies.
Before joining Framatome, Williams worked in financial management at DuPont, Westinghouse and Duke Energy.
Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has promoted Ronald O. “Chip” Whitford Jr. to senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, the Fortune 1000 federal contractor announced Wednesday.
The promotion was effective Tuesday. Whitford, who joined BWXT in 2017 and has most recently served as vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, replaced Thomas E. McCabe, who will retire Aug. 1. McCabe will serve as special adviser to BWXT CEO and President Rex Geveden until his retirement.
In his new role, Whitford will be responsible for BWXT’s legal, ethics and compliance functions and serve as an executive liaison and secretary to the board of directors.
“As a part of our succession planning process, we are extremely fortunate to have someone of Chip’s caliber and experience fully ready to take on this crucial position for BWXT,” Geveden said in a statement. “We wish Tom McCabe, our outgoing general counsel, all the best in retirement and appreciate him staying with us in an advisory capacity through July 2023.”
Whiffed served as in-house counsel for companies in the manufacturing, financial services and software industries prior to joining BWXT. He served as general counsel and secretary of Tasty Baking Co., which makes Tastykake snacks; vice president, legal and assistant secretary of financial services company PHH Corp.; associate general counsel and assistant secretary of tobacco manufacturer Lorillard Inc.; and group vice president, associate general counsel and assistant secretary of Rimini Street Inc., which provides third-party software support.
Whitford began his legal career in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and English from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
This is the second job-related announcement for BWXT in 2023. On Jan. 2, the company announced that it had named Omar Meguid as a senior vice president and to the new role of chief digital officer.
Lynchburg-based Fortune 1000 federal contractor BWX Technologies Inc. has named Omar Meguid senior vice president and chief digital officer, the company announced Tuesday.
Meguid’s position was effective Jan. 1. He is responsible for BWXT’s digital platform supporting business operations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The role is a new position within the company and Meguid joins its executive management team. He will report to BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden.
Meguid previously worked at IT consulting firm All Digital and also served as vice president and chief information officer for Florida-based L3Harris Technologies from 2015 though early 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“We are thrilled to recruit such a talented and well-regarded executive to our team,” Geveden said in a statement. “Given the need for tight digital coordination across our business units and functions, this is a critical role in our company. We are extremely fortunate that someone of Omar’s knowledge and insight will be able to deliver expert leadership across all of our legacy and emerging IT systems.”
CEO and president,
BWX Technologies Inc. Lynchburg
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DID YOU KNOW? In December 2022, BWXT began producing the nuclear fuel that will power the first microreactor built and operated in the U.S., which will also be delivered by BWXT in 2024.
Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has begun producing the nuclear fuel that will power the first microreactor built and operated in the United States, the company announced Wednesday.
BWXT will manufacture a nuclear core for Project Pele under a $37 million award from the Idaho National Laboratory, as well as tristructural isotropic particle fuel, known as TRISO, for additional reactors and coated particle fuel for NASA.
The Department of Energy calls TRISO “the most robust nuclear fuel on earth.” Its small, energy-dense coated uranium particles withstand high temperatures and enable smaller, more advanced reactor designs.
The lab is providing technical support and oversight for the project. Fuel for the reactor will be blended down from federal stockpiles of high-enriched uranium (HEU) to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and fabricated into TRISO fuel at the BWXT facility in Lynchburg. BWXT facilities are the only private facilities in the country licensed to possess and process HEU.
Tristructural refers to the three layers of carbon and ceramic materials that surround kernels or balls of HALEU fuel. Isotropic means the coatings have uniform characteristics in all directions. Fuel particles the size of a poppy seed are enriched to a level four times higher than fuel used in most of today’s commercial nuclear reactors. The coatings retain fission products, making each particle its own containment system. They also protect the fuel from the factors that most degrade performance in conventional reactors, including neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation and high temperatures.
“TRISO particle fuel is ideal for the next generation of reactors poised to help us meet our country’s clean energy goals,” U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff said in a statement. “It is extremely exciting to see decades of DOE’s investments in TRISO fuel’s robust safety performance paying off to power many of the most innovative advanced reactor designs to be deployed within this decade.”
BWXT subsidiary BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC received a $300 million contract in June from the Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office to build the microreactor. The transportable reactor prototype is set to be delivered in 2024 and then tested at the Idaho National Laboratory for three years. It is designed to be safely transported in standard-sized shipping containers. Microreactors are designed to reduce the need for vulnerable fossil fuel deliveries relied on by the military, and also to provide power for disaster response and recovery, power generation in remote areas and deep decarbonization efforts. The DOD uses approximately 30 terawatt-hours of electricity annually and more than 10 million gallons of fuel per day. Fuel will be delivered to the lab separately.
“With supreme safety and performance characteristics, advanced nuclear fuels are the key enabler for fielding of next-generation reactor technologies,” BWXT President and CEO Rex D. Geveden said in a statement. “We are extremely pleased to initiate full-scale production of TRISO for the Pele program and further develop similar coated nuclear fuel technology for space exploration programs with NASA. This differentiating capability at BWXT results from a longstanding partnership with the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Lab, and it is gratifying to reach this milestone.”
The commercial production of TRISO is the culmination of more than 15 years of work with Idaho National Laboratory and other DOE labs in partnership with BWXT and has the potential for use in space applications and other advanced concepts, Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner said in a statement.
“As the United States moves steadily toward a carbon-free energy future, nuclear power is an essential part of the journey,” Wagner said. “Project Pele will demonstrate the viability of this fuel type, opening the door for other advanced reactors.”
BWXT has expanded its specialty coated fuels production manufacturing capacity through previously announced contracts funded by NASA and DOD with program management provided by the defense department. BWXT also makes specialty coated fuels for NASA.
“The high efficiency and high thrust provided by nuclear propulsion makes it an enabling capability for human missions to Mars,” James L. Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate said in a statement. “Advancing nuclear fuels and systems are key to achieving our exploration goals at Mars.”
Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has hired Robert “Bob” Duffy as its senior vice president and chief administrative officer, the nuclear components and fuel supplier announced Monday. He starts Aug. 29.
Duffy will take the place of Rick Loving, BWXT’s current chief administrative officer, who announced his retirement after 43 years with the company. Duffy previously was senior vice president and chief human resources and administration officer for aerospace and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc.. From 1998 to 2012, he served in human resources leadership positions with companies such as United Technologies Corp., Sikorsky Aircraft, UTC Fire & Security, Carrier Global Corp., Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney.
“Bob has an extraordinary track record of leading and building large-scale, complex businesses and will be a superb addition to our senior leadership team,” BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in a statement. “His experience includes human capital development, continuous improvement processes, safety and security, and supply chain management among others. All of these functional areas are crucial for the growth BWXT expects to generate from investments in our core businesses and new nuclear markets.”
Loving will remain on staff through the first quarter to support the transition to Duffy.
Duffy has a master’s degree in management and technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Muhlenberg College. He also completed the executive business program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
BWXT has approximately 6,600 employees across the United States and Canada, as well as joint ventures at more than a dozen Energy Department and NASA facilities.
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