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Tag: Manassas

RapidFlight to add 119 jobs at Manassas HQ

RapidFlight LLC, a designer and manufacturer of unmanned aircraft will invest $5.5 million to establish operations in Manassas, creating 119 jobs over the next three years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

RapidFlight is an integrated, end-to-end provider of airborne drones. Founded in 2021 by RapidFlight President Jay Gundlach, the company works for national security and private sector clients. RapidFlight uses technology such as additive manufacturing, advanced avionics and propulsion systems. Gundlach has penned three books on unmanned aircraft and is considered an expert in the field.

The company will establish a 25,000-square-foot facility at 9617 Center St., renovating the former Georator Corp. building. This space will house its headquarters, design and production operations. The facility is near Manassas Regional Airport, home to a strong customer base for RapidFlight, including a growing number of aerospace firms, defense contractors and government agencies, according to a news release from the Manassas Department of Economic Development.

The jobs RapidFlight is hiring for include positions for engineers, manufacturing technicians, program managers, administrative staff and others.

“Virginia is uniquely positioned to lead the unmanned systems industry, and RapidFlight is on the cutting edge of developments in this innovative technology sector. We look forward to supporting the company’s growth in the city of Manassas,” Youngkin said. “Since Day One, we’ve declared that Virginia is open for business, and businesses such as RapidFlight are a prime example of the success and growth that businesses can achieve in the commonwealth.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Manassas to secure the project for Virginia and will support RapidFlight’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment program.

“Virginia is an important state, providing unique access to decision makers, a world-class workforce, unmanned test infrastructure and an advanced materials industry,” Gundlach said. “Thanks to its central location on the East Coast, we can readily work face-to-face with our government customers while also leveraging Virginia’s unmanned systems’ infrastructure to conduct operations and test our systems, rapidly delivering new capabilities to our nation. There is something for everyone in Virginia, whether you love history, exploring nearby parks or attending a local concert or sporting event. It is a beautiful state to live, work and raise a family. RapidFlight is proud to be a Virginia company.”

It’s the second economic development announcement in recent months from an unmanned aircraft systems company growing its business in Virginia. In August, Virginia Beach-based DroneUp LLC announced it would add 655 jobs as part of a $27 million expansion that will include establishing a drone testing, training and research and development center at Richard Bland College.

Bioscience firm to create 70 jobs in Prince William

Manassas-based Virongy Biosciences Inc. will invest $471,000 to expand in Prince William County, creating 70 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday.

The company relocated within Prince William County in February, moving from a roughly 600-square-foot space to about 2,000 square feet in the Northern Virginia Bioscience Center. It plans to develop diagnostic technologies to monitor and quantify COVID-19 variants and other viral pathogens.

“Prince William County has emerged as a hub for the life sciences industry, offering the infrastructure, R&D assets and talent to attract and retain innovative biotech firms like Virongy,” Youngkin said in a statement. “We applaud the company for its groundbreaking developments that will have a positive and far-reaching impact on bioscience advancements and disease prevention and treatment.”

Established in 2014, Virongy develops viral diagnostic technologies, anti-viral drugs and therapeutic viral vectors. The company develops technologies for scientific discoveries, clinical diagnostics and disease treatment. Virongy has developed rapid quantitative COVID-19 antibody tests and HIV drug and antibody discovery technologies.

“Virongy Biosciences Inc. chose Virginia as its company location mainly because it is inside the rapid-growing biotech park of Prince William County, and right beside the Science and Technology Campus of George Mason University,” Virongy Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hetrick said.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Prince William County to secure the project for Virginia, and VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide funding to support employee recruitment and training activities.

Penn. logistics firm building cross-dock centers in Va.

Pennsylvania-based warehousing and logistics company A. Duie Pyle Inc. will invest about $20 million to establish three cross-dock service centers in Manassas, Richmond and Roanoke, an expansion expected to create 75 jobs, Pyle and Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. It’s the company’s first entry into Virginia.

“Global supply chains are experiencing unprecedented pressure and we are pleased that A. Duie Pyle will take advantage of Virginia’s infrastructure and transportation network as a vital provider of supply chain solutions,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Manassas, Richmond and Roanoke all offer key logistics assets.”

Based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Pyle has been a family-owned business for almost 98 years. Pyle owns 27 less-than-truckload service centers and 16 warehouses, counting the three Virginia centers, and has 3.5 million square feet of public and contract warehousing space. The company provides logistics solutions, fleet operations and warehousing and distribution services.

“With a long history of providing our customers throughout the Northeast with premier transportation and logistics services, expanding our footprint with three new facilities across the commonwealth of Virginia has positioned us to directly reach key metropolitan areas along the Eastern Seaboard,” Pyle Chairman and CEO Peter Latta said in a statement. “This strategic expansion enables us to improve shipping and schedules, while strengthening our overnight delivery capabilities to neighboring states.”

The new centers will provide Pyle access to Virginia’s ports and connections to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The Manassas center, located at 10461 Colonel Court, will have 30 employees, the Richmond one, located at 3609 East Belt Blvd., 25 and the Roanoke center, located at 3348 Sale Turnpike Northwest, 20 employees. Each will have drivers, dock workers, supervisors and fleet technicians. All three will open in April.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the cities of Manassas, Richmond and Roanoke, the Greater Richmond Partnership and the Roanoke Regional Partnership to secure the project for Virginia. Pyle is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, for the Richmond location.

Manassas bio research supplier wins $5.5M in federal grants

Manassas-based biological materials management nonprofit American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) announced Tuesday that it won three Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants valued at more than $5.5 million to identify new therapeutic approaches to viruses.

“ATCC is committed to supporting this global health initiative by providing the novel scientific research and development solutions needed to address these high-morbidity and mortality infectious disease outcomes,” ATCC Chairman and CEO Dr. Raymond H. Cypess said in a statement. “Through our new partnership with DTRA, we now have the opportunity to focus on the development of novel machine learning and artificial intelligence models for countermeasure identification that may lead to better vaccine and therapeutic solutions, which are needed to save lives.”

ATCC will work to define new targets for therapeutics, evaluate new and/or Food and Drug Administration-approved candidates for antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities and define infection-associated biomarkers. The information gained will be used to develop AI models of disease and therapeutic effectiveness.

Promising therapies will be tested with organoid models (organ-on-a-chip) and could be a step in the one-drug-many-bugs approach to antiviral product development.

Aarthi Narayanan, ATCC’s director of translational research and technology transfer, will lead the research.

ATCC develops and supplies authenticated cells lines and microorganisms, advanced model systems and custom solutions, supporting research in basic science, drug discovery, translational medicine and public health.

Six-building portfolio in Manassas sells for $45M

A six-building portfolio, comprising 212,000 square feet of warehouse and flex space in Manassas, has been sold by Bethesda, Maryland-based Finmarc Management to The Davis Companies and David Holdings JV for $45.58 million, Finmarc Management Inc. announced Jan. 5.

The buildings are located at 7345, 7663 and 7795 Coppermine Drive and 7201, 7301 and 7401 Gateway Court. Some of the tenants include AIM-Port LLC, Capital Lighting & Supply LLC, Cedar F&B, Eaton Corp., DH Cos. LLC, Lennox Industries Inc. and Notal Vision Inc.

Marc Tasker, Ryan Moody and Christopher Kubler of NAI KLNB represented Finmarc Management. Joseph Hoffman and Aaron Rosenfeld of Kelley Drye provided legal services.

Virginia Beach, Manassas apartment complexes sell for $77.6M

An apartment complex in Virginia Beach sold for $52.1 million, and an apartment building in Manassas for $25.5 million, Alexandria-based real estate company Bonaventure announced Monday.

Sitting on 19.83 acres, Magnolia Run is a 200-unit, 421,272-square-foot apartment complex in Virginia Beach with two- and three-bedroom units, a pool, 24-hour fitness center, playground and clubhouse. Bonaventure did not disclose the seller, and the city of Virginia Beach’s property records also did not include the information.

Messenger Place is a five-story, 94-unit apartment building in Manassas occupying 1.64 acres. It offers one- and two-bedroom units. The building has a total of 94,305 square feet, of which 3,000 are ground-floor retail. Bonaventure bought the property from its Manassas-based owner-developer, The Rector Cos.

Bonaventure financed its purchases with an $85 million Fannie Mae credit facility through Cleveland-based KeyBank, a subsidiary of KeyCorp. The firm also used the facility to refinance a previously owned property.

Manassas shopping center sells for $19.45M

The Portsmouth Station Shopping Center in Manassas has sold for $19.45 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group announced Monday.

The 147,305-square-foot shopping center is 78% leased to 20 tenants and anchored by Regency Furniture and Aldi. The property has two multitenant buildings and a corporately leased 7-Eleven outparcel.

Falls Church-based Petroleum Marketing Group acquired the shopping center on Oct. 15.

The transaction was completed by Catharine Spangler of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group. The firm represented the seller. Sharon Schmidt and Berkley Mitchell with Thalhimer’s Fredericksburg office handle leasing representation for the shopping center.

Manassas direct mail company to cut ribbon on new headquarters

Prince William County and direct mail production company Planet Direct Mail will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon Planet Direct’s new  headquarters in Manassas.

The county announced the company’s expansion into its new 115,000-square-foot headquarters, located at 11050 Challenger Court in Innovation Park, on Aug. 25. The expansion retained 130 jobs and is estimated to create 100 more.

“We are most excited about the efficiency, safety and expansion capacity that will come with our new building,” Planet Direct President Ryan Gutman said in a statement. “Innovation Park offered us a strategic location to meet the specific needs of a manufacturing business, and the county was able to meet our critical timelines.

Planet Direct has operated in Prince William County since 2008.

Christina Winn, executive director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development, said, “By expanding their business here in Prince William County, Planet Direct is offering our residents good jobs and providing a direct impact to our local economy, with an estimated $15 million in capital investment. We know how much Planet Direct invests in their employees, and we are excited to host a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the leadership, staff and their new home in Innovation Park.”

Lockheed Martin Manassas office wins modification to $190.27M Navy contract

The Manassas office of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Rotary and Mission Systems sector will add work on a contract the company previously won. The modification is to a $190.27 million Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. It is to exercise an option for engineering design development and supporting material procurement, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

Work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2023, and 65% of it will be performed in Manassas.

The U.S. Navy 2021 fiscal year funds provide $5.4 million from procurement and $1.5 million from research, development, test and evaluation that will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Manassas bio research supplier promotes VP to SVP

Manassas-based biological materials management nonprofit ATCC has promoted Joseph Leonelli to senior vice president of ATCC Federal Solutions, it announced Tuesday.

Leonelli has been a member of AFS’s executive leadership team since 2015.

“Joe’s well-deserved promotion reflects the success he has achieved for our business,” ATCC Chairman and CEO Raymond H. Cypess said in a statement. “We look for Joe to continue to lead the team to support the government’s role in combating the pandemic by providing a range of tools and resources to contain the impact and investigate the long-lasting effects of the coronavirus disease.”

Before joining ATCC, Leonelli was vice president of Engility Holding Inc.’s National Security Systems and Solutions division, where he managed three business units providing software engineering to the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and intelligence community agencies. He also held leadership positions with Raytheon Co., Applied Signal Technology Inc., General Dynamics Corp., Battelle and SRI International.

Leonelli holds a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Indiana University. His research and development experience includes chemical and biological warfare agent detection, remote sensing and the forensic analysis of chemical and biological warfare agents from environmental samples.

ATCC develops and supplies authenticated cells lines and microorganisms, advanced model systems and custom solutions, supporting research in basic science, drug discovery, translational medicine and public health.