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Buc-ee’s buys land for second Va. location
A second Buc-ee’s Super Center is coming to Virginia along a busy stretch of highway in Shenandoah Valley near Mount Crawford. Buc-ee’s Mt. Crawford LLC purchased 21.3 acres located at the intersection of Interstate 81 and Friedens Church Road in Rockingham County from Lispen LLC for $6.6 million, Norfolk-based S.L Nusbaum Realty announced Tuesday. Plans […]
German yeast upcycler building plant in Rockingham
Leiber, a German manufacturer that processes brewers’ yeast into animal food, biotechnology and supplements, will invest as much as $20 million to establish its first U.S. operation in Rockingham County’s Innovation Village, adding an estimated 35 jobs. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the new facility Monday. It will be completed in phases and increase the company’s […]
Growth industry
Prompted by shifts in consumer buying trends, Shenandoah Valley farmers are investing heavily in automated systems and cutting-edge growing processes to position themselves for the long haul in an industry that’s changing rapidly. Once dubbed the “breadbasket of the South” because of its bountiful wheat crops, Virginia’s northwestern region has remained an agricultural powerhouse. [...]
Support system
James Madison University is where Angela Reddix says she found “my tribe, the godmothers of my children” — and also her future husband, Carl, whom she met on her first day on campus. “All those relationships came from JMU,” says Reddix, founder, president and CEO of Norfolk-based ARDX, a health care management and IT consulting […]
Nurse training partnership to help with instructor shortages
Shenandoah University, Valley Health and the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association have teamed up to tackle the Shenandoah Valley region’s nursing shortage by creating a program that can be replicated statewide. Called NextGen Nurses, the program will use semi-retired and retiring nurses as preceptors — experienced licensed clinicians who serve as teachers and coaches — [&hellip[...]
Shenandoah Valley Partnership launches capital campaign
Shenandoah Valley Partnership (SVP) is raising $1.7 million through its first capital campaign, Forward2028, to fund a five-year plan aimed at business and workforce attraction and retention. The region’s manufacturing sector alone has 3,100 job openings due to older workers retiring and companies ramping up production, says Jay Langston, executive director of the economic development [&hell[...]
Shenandoah Valley SBDC names new director
Shenandoah Valley’s Small Business Development Center, based in Harrisonburg, has named Allison Dugan its newest director. Dugan started with the regional SBDC as a part-time program manager in 2014 and became a business adviser in 2015, adding the title of assistant director in 2019. She took on the leadership role May 1, after serving as […]
Goodwill of the Valleys names philanthropy exec
Donna Stucker is the new chief philanthropy officer for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. Stucker assumed her role April 3, according to a news release. She will lead a new capital campaign and associated donor development and will plan and manage an effort to grow donations for the Roanoke-based Goodwill chapter, which serves 35 counties […]
Avian flu outbreaks strike Va. farms
For almost a year, Virginia poultry farms managed to avoid the nation’s worst-ever avian flu outbreak, but in January, the virus struck a commercial turkey operation in Rockingham County, prompting the killings of 25,300 birds. Five days later, 10,700 more turkeys were euthanized in Rockingham, and in February, 800 birds at an Alexandria live market […]
A time to build
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 handle[...]
Farmer Focus taps new president/COO
Harrisonburg-based organic poultry producer Farmer Focus announced leadership changes Tuesday, including tapping a new president and chief operating officer as well as a new chief commercial officer. Stephen J. Shepard is the company’s new president and COO, a promotion from executive vice president of operations, a position he has held since April. In his new […]
Valley of the entrepreneurs
The Shenandoah Valley has long been recognized as fertile ground for agricultural endeavors, but it’s now being seeded to grow an entirely different kind of crop — entrepreneurs. During the past few years, local and regional governmental bodies, nonprofits, and private and educational organizations in the valley have been coordinating efforts to create an entrepreneurial […]
