Virginia Credit Union’s merger with Roanoke-based Member One Federal Credit Union was finalized Thursday, following a vote by Member One’s customers to approve the deal announced in January.
Effective Thursday, Member One becomes a division of VACU “as the organization works toward full integration of its systems and service platforms,” according to a news release from VACU. The combined institution has $7 billion in assets, 1,100 staff members and approximately 500,000 members with 37 branch locations, according to the announcement. It’s expected to be the third largest credit union based in Virginia and one of the top 50 largest credit unions in the nation.
None of the employees of either credit union will lose their job in the merger, and no branches will be closed, the statement said. Member One members will continue to use existing platforms, ATM networks and branch locations for the time being, and full systems integration is expected to conclude in 2026.
Chris Shockley remains VACU’s president and CEO after the merger, and Frank Carter, the president and CEO of Member One, will be senior executive business advisor of the combined credit union until he retires. The credit union does not have a firm date for Carter’s retirement, according to Lewis Wood, a spokesperson for Virginia Credit Union.
“’Better together.’ That’s been our theme and vision as we’ve worked together the last several months in pursuing approval for our merger,” Shockley said in a statement. “Now, we’re excited to move forward together, with our combined resources and talent empowering us to fulfill our mission to serve members, deliver best-in-class products and services, and support the communities we call home.”
In the 2000s, economic development leaders in Southern Virginia strategized a path for building back a regional economy decimated by lost textiles jobs.
These visionaries, according to Linda Green, executive director for the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, decided to invest in industrial parks and other locations readied for manufacturing operations.
“We have been very blessed by local legislators … who believed in development of sites,” she says. “They were looking for economic transformation.”
Southern Virginia borders North Carolina, spanning from Henry County in the west to Greensville in the east and north to Charlotte and Lunenburg counties — all of which are localities with a diverse set of assets and strengths, Green says.
The SVRA and its local partners have attracted more than $1.6 billion in economic development investments, creating 5,000 jobs in recent years, according to Green.
The regional economic development organization champions Danville and the counties of Halifax, Patrick and Pittsylvania, which are home to more than a dozen industrial parks, says Green.
The granddaddy of them all, of course, is the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, which boasts a whopping 3,528 acres — making it the largest industrial site in Virginia and one of the largest mega-sites (defined as industrial sites with 1,000 or more acres) available on the East Coast.
Jointly owned by Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville through the Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Berry Hill sits in the county. It’s a certified Tier 5 pad site, the highest level in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Business Ready Sites Program tier system, which indicates a property’s readiness for industrial development.
While Berry Hill has flirted with suitors, the megasite hasn’t yet received an invitation to the ball. In January 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made headlines for taking Berry Hill out of the running for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. electric vehicle battery factory over concerns about a project partner’s ties to the Chinese government. Michigan won that project — which Ford later scaled back from 2,500 employees to 1,700 employees, citing less-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
Before that, Hyundai had considered Berry Hill for a $5.5 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant that ultimately went to Georgia. Additionally, Albemarle Corp., a chemical manufacturer with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, considered the Virginia megasite for a $1.3 billion lithium hydroxide processing facility and 300 jobs, but the company selected South Carolina instead.
Berry Hill does have a promising lead on a beau, however. In November 2023, the CEO of Microporous, a Tennessee supplier of lead acid battery separators, confirmed to Virginia Business that the megasite was the top contender for its planned lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant, which could top $1 billion in investments and create 1,500 jobs. In July, a Microporous spokesperson confirmed Berry Hill is still in the running to win the project.
What’s more, in July, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority approved leasing 85 acres at Berry Hill for a lithium-ion energy storage facility to be developed in 2026 by a subsidiary of North Carolina solar energy company Strata Solar. The company has not released details on the number of jobs or the amount to be invested in the project.
Making it rain
While Southern Virginia’s largest megasite waits for the perfect match, Cane Creek Centre, another industrial park in Pittsylvania that’s also jointly owned with Danville, has filled its dance card with names in recent years.
In summer 2019, Ikea closed its manufacturing facility at Cane Creek Centre, resulting in hundreds of lost jobs. The site’s fortunes quickly turned, however, when Morgan Olson, a maker of walk-in step van delivery vehicles, announced plans in October 2019 to invest $57.8 million into bringing its own operations to the 925,000-square-foot former Ikea facility, a project expected to create more than 700 jobs.
Last fall, Morgan Olson filed a notice with the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act announcing plans to lay off 435 employees at the Cane Creek facility. The company’s layoffs in Virginia, Tennessee and Michigan, according to news reports, were caused by other companies delaying vehicle purchase orders.
A spokesperson for Morgan Olson declined to comment on how many workers remain at the facility. Green notes, however, that she still sees trucks and activity in the company’s parking lot. The layoffs were a major loss, she says, adding, however, “I do think they’ll build it back.”
Also at Cane Creek Centre, AeroFarms, a New Jersey-based indoor agriculture company, announced in 2019 it would invest $42 million and create 92 jobs to build an indoor vertical farm, later upping the investment to $53 million and 150 jobs. In June 2023, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stressed in a news release that “the critical Danville … farm continues to scale according to plan.” (By September 2023, AeroFarms announced it had emerged from bankruptcy with a new acting CEO and executive chair.)
In 2021, Walraven, a manufacturer of installation systems for plumbing and mechanical applications, said it would invest $7.15 million to move its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing operations from Cadillac, Michigan, to a building at Cane Creek, a move expected to create 46 jobs.
And in November 2023, Tyson Foods officially opened its $300 million, 325,000-square-foot food production facility at Cane Creek Centre. The Arkansas company known for brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean and Sara Lee, described the operation as one of its most highly automated plants to date, featuring high-speed automated case packing lines and other advancements. The facility created nearly 400 new jobs.
Shovel-ready
Having a plentiful supply of shovel-ready sites has helped Southern Virginia economic development officials attract companies.
One notable example is IperionX. In 2022, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based titanium manufacturing company committed to investing $82 million in Halifax County over three years, a project expected to create 108 jobs. It was a relationship that began because of Southern Virginia Technology Park’s 50,000-square-foot shell building.
“It was actually kind of a fast and furious project,” says Kristy Johnson, executive director of the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority. The shell building that IperionX selected was the first built in that park, Johnson says. “It really is what brought IperionX to the community. Without it, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even speak to them.”
Virginia competed with North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia for the project. IperionX will begin operations at its Halifax campus in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Dominic Allen, that company’s chief commercial officer. He noted the region’s skilled workforce drew the company to Halifax.
In 2023, IperionX executives learned of a second 15,000- square-foot building available in the park and leased it for an expansion.
To build on its success, the Halifax IDA is developing a new project, the Wilkin site, consisting of roughly 250 acres on two to three parcels along Highway 360. Johnson expects to have pad-ready sites available in five to 10 years.
Henry County also continues to increase its stockpile of shovel-ready sites. In April, its board of supervisors awarded a $24 million contract to Chatham’s Haymes Brothers Construction to make about 150 acres at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre pad-ready for construction.
“The state says it will be the only site [in Virginia] of at least 100 pad-ready acres with all utilities and rail to the site,” notes Mark Heath, president and CEO of the Martinsville Henry County Economic Development Corp.
In addition to a 7-acre, pad-ready site currently available at Commonwealth Crossing, the park also has a 100-acre site that can be developed when needed.
Henry’s Patriot Centre Industrial Park has more than 300 acres in different stages of development available. Current tenants include Howmet Aerospace, a Pennsylvania provider of advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries; Eastman Chemical, a specialty materials company headquartered in Tennessee; Keeco, a California home textiles supplier; and ICF International, a Reston professional services firm.
In December, the Henry Board of Supervisors and the county Industrial Development Authority approved an agreement with a South Carolina real estate developer, Marlboro Development Team, to construct a 105,000-square-foot shell building on Lot 2 at Patriot Centre. Construction is expected to cost about $3.2 million, with completion slated for 2025.
Henry also has another 1,200 contiguous acres across from Patriot Centre available for future growth.
On top of a healthy supply of shovel-ready sites, economic development officials in Southern Virginia like to point to the region’s location as a selling point.
When Green attends conferences to market the region’s industrial parks, she uses a map to hit home how Virginia is smack in the middle of the East Coast. “And we are right in the middle of those population corridors,” Green adds. “It makes a huge difference.”
When Press Glass, a Polish flat-glass fabricator for the commercial construction industry, announced plans to invest $43.55 million to establish a 280,000-square-foot manufacturing operation at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre in 2018, an executive touted the industrial park’s proximity to the company’s production facility in Stoneville, North Carolina, as well as the easy access to highways and interstates.
Clearly, Henry was a good fit for Press Glass. In summer 2023, the company announced it would invest $155.2 million to expand the facility, the single largest business investment in county history. “It’s under construction now,” Heath says of the expansion, adding that Press Glass currently employs about 300 workers in the county.
Changing the story
David Denny, executive director of regional economic development organization Virginia’s Growth Alliance stays busy marketing the eastern side of Southern Virginia.
VGA represents the City of Emporia as well as Brunswick, Charlotte, Greensville, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties. While this portion of Southern Virginia has the region’s largest geographic footprint, Denny says, it also has the region’s smallest population, a fact that can make it tough to convince companies the area can deliver workers.
After crunching some numbers, however, Denny realized his area’s story didn’t stop at town limits or even at the Virginia state line. Denny decided to tell a new story – drawing a drive-time circle around Greensville-Emporia and around Clarksville.
Within those two circles lies a workforce that could reach the region within an hour, stretching from Richmond to Durham, North Carolina, and all the way to Lynchburg.
Demonstrating that companies can find workers in the region, along with working to improve the shovel-ready status of his region’s industrial sites, is Denny’s primary strategy for the region.
Greensville is home to the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 1,600-acre megasite located on Interstate 95 with rail access. Like Berry Hill, it’s within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the nation’s population and is easily accessible to the East Coast’s major metropolitan areas.
The Greensville Industrial Park is jointly owned by the county and Emporia. Mostly full, one available parcel remains available in the park, as well as one shell building.
About 80 miles northwest from Greensville in Charlotte County, the Heartland Industrial Park has 265 available acres and is already home to forestry equipment dealership Forest Pro and Eastern Engineered Wood Products, a designer and distributor of flooring and roofing systems for professional contractors. “Wood products are spread across [the region],” Denny says. “We’re known as the wood basket of Virginia.”
Denny is also enthusiastic about the Stonewall Industrial Site under development in Brunswick County. Currently, the 82-acre park on U.S. Route 58 offers 28 acres of developable land. In June, the project received $500,000 in federal funding for an entranceway to the park and other road work.
Future growth is the name of the game. Economic developers must always think about what will come next.
It requires courage for economic developers to make the type of investments to develop shovel-ready sites, according to Heath. Sometimes lots or shell buildings sit vacant and wait for years before a company moves in.
“It’s pretty much common sense,” says Heath, “that if you want to be competitive in economic development, you have to have existing product.”
Running along a large stretch of the Virginia-North Carolina border, Southern Virginia includes Brunswick, Charlotte, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Patrick and Pittsylvania counties, plus the cities of Danville, Emporia and Martinsville. Once rooted in tobacco processing and textile manufacturing, the area has pivoted toward becoming an advanced manufacturing hub known for its innovative workforce training. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research is a regional catalyst for manufacturing advancement, economic and workforce development. Area higher education institutions include Averett University, Danville Community College, New College Institute, Patrick & Henry Community College and Southside Virginia Community College.
Population
Pittsylvania County: 59,171
Henry County: 48,568
Danville: 42,248
Halifax County: 33,056
Mecklenburg County: 30,232
Patrick County: 16,971
Brunswick County: 15,057
Martinsville: 13,221
Lunenburg County: 12,060
Charlotte County: 11,448
Greensville County: 10,868
Emporia: 5,601
Top Employers
• Buitoni • Caesars Entertainment
• Eastman Performance Films
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber • Keeco
• Monogram Foods • Morgan Olson
• Sentara Health • Sovah Health • Telvista
Professional Sports
Martinsville Speedway is a short track — half a mile — and hosts multiple NASCAR race weekends each year in the spring and fall. With a 3.27-mile road course, Virginia International Raceway also hosts multiple race weekends each year, including the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) Weathertech Championship in August.
Major Attractions
While racing is the top draw in Martinsville, other attractions include the Virginia Museum of Natural History, with dinosaur and prehistoric whale fossils; the Gravely-Lester Art Garden, featuring public art and the museum’s historic Little Post Office. Eastward, Danville has the Caesars Virginia casino, as well as the Danville Science Center and the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History. Danville’s downtown River District features bars, restaurants, shopping and boutique hotel The Bee. For those who like to get outdoors, hike the scenic Riverwalk Trail or go paddling and tubing on the Dan River.
Lots can change over three years and eight months.
Back in September 2020, Danville, its industrial development authority and Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment signed a development agreement naming Caesars the city’s preferred gaming operator and outlining the parties’ obligations.
Back then, Caesars budgeted $400 million to build its Caesars Virginia resort casino on the Schoolfield mill site, once a part of Danville’s bygone textiles industry. Initially, Caesars planned to hire 1,300 full-time employees.
In May, Danville City Council members voted 8 to 1 to amend the agreement.
The biggest takeaway: the price tag for Caesars Virginia has almost doubled. It’s now a $750 million investment.
The increase has a lot to do with the passage of time, according to Chris Albrecht, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Virginia.
“Some of the scope change included adding a covered parking garage, some incrementation to our hotel rooms, and then really the rest of it is just changes in construction costs and supply costs since this project started four years ago,” he explains.
In the 2020 agreement, Caesars agreed to build 300 hotel rooms in Danville. For a while, that number shot up to 500 rooms, but developers later scaled plans back to 320 rooms.
Under the new agreement, Caesars Virginia only has to hire 900 full-time employees, who will be paid at least $31,200 a year or no less than 125% of the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater.
Caesars currently has 460 workers operating its temporary Danville casino, which opened in May 2023. In coming months, Albrecht says, he expects to hire “another 700 or so.”
Additionally, Caesars now plans to build a single multipurpose space instead of a conference center and a separate entertainment venue. For performances, the space can hold 2,500 fans.
“So, all the things that we talked about and promised from the beginning are happening,” Albrecht says. “They’re just happening in the same room.”
Back in 2020, casino executives had planned to open Caesars Virginia in three years. The completion date listed in the contract is Dec. 31, 2024, but that date might involve some wiggle room.
“They want it to be open by Thanksgiving,” says Ken Larking, Danville’s city manager.
Albrecht would not confirm that.
“When we have an exact date to put out. to the world, we will be excited to share,” he says.
Old Dominion University has named Kuntal Bhattacharyya as inaugural director of its new School of Supply Chain, Logistics and Maritime Operations (SSCLMO), the university announced Tuesday.
Previously, Bhattacharyya worked as project director of Indiana State University’s Logistics 4.0 Innovation Hub, where students study artificial intelligence, machine learning and the management of logistics companies. He also worked as executive director of graduate programs and as chair of ISU’s Scott College of Business’ Department of Marketing and Operations. While directing ISU’s graduate programs, Bhattacharyya streamlined curriculums, coursework and student experience and led the creation of an online MBA program.
Bhattacharyya earned a master’s degree in management from the University of Akron and a doctorate in operations management from Kent State University. He is also a certified risk manager.
Bhattacharyya is a perfect fit for the role, said ODU Provost Brian K. Payne. “Dr. Bhattacharyya brings experience in strategic sourcing, supply chain management, financial economics, humanitarian logistics and Industry 4.0 applications in manufacturing to lead the new school which will prepare students for impactful careers in the maritime industry,” Payne said in a statement.
In September, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved the SSCLMO. The new school welcomes its first class Aug. 22.
“Leveraging our strategic location, the SSCLMO will work closely with maritime, supply chain and logistics companies to support the shipbuilding and ship repair, transportation and defense industries, as well as others, to best prepare our students for exciting careers that are so vital to our country’s blue economy,” Elspeth McMahon, associate vice president for maritime initiatives at ODU, stated in the news release.
The school will be located in Innovation Research Park 1 on Monarch Way and housed under the Office of Academic Affairs.
The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has awarded Leidos an $823 million task order to provide operations and sustainment for the Department of Defense Network program (DoDNet), the Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor announced Monday.
In 2022, DISA, which provides information technology and communications services for national leaders, the military services and others, awarded Leidos with a $11.5 billion indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to consolidate IT services for multiple agencies onto a single network, DoDNet.
With the five-year task order, Leidos will ensure DoDNet is secure, scalable and operational and will offer cybersecurity support, systems engineering, network architecture and management and technical support. Leidos will also provide a virtual desktop for users, allowing them to access a reliable network on any device, according to a news release.
The work will expand support from 30,000 users to more than 160,000 users, including users at 14 agencies that provide functions critical to military services. When complete, DoDNet will support about 370,000 users.
Leidos provides technology, engineering and science services to defense, intelligence, civil and health market customers. It has about 47,000 employees and reported approximately $15.4 billion in 2023 revenue.
Leidos has named Ron Keesing its first chief AI officer, the Reston Fortune 500 contractor announced Tuesday.
Keesing, who joined Leidos in 2004, has more than two decades of experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics. His roles have included serving as founding director of the Leidos AI Accelerator and as senior vice president of technology integration, responsible for “driving mission-critical AI as a core discriminator of the company’s data-driven solutions.”
In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and a master’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University, Keesing has a MBA from the University of Maryland, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Ron Keesing’s appointment as chief AI officer marks a pivotal moment for Leidos,” Leidos CEO Tom Bell said in a statement. “As we navigate a landscape shaped by rapid technological advancements, his leadership will be instrumental in ensuring that AI remains at the forefront of our solutions. At Leidos, we don’t view AI as a replacement for human ingenuity but rather as a trusted partner that enhances our capabilities to deliver unparalleled support for critical customer missions.”
Leidos’ approach to AI, Keesing explained in the news release, is rooted in “anticipating technological trends and leveraging AI’s potential to solve complex challenges across our customers’ missions.”
Also on Tuesday, Leidos announced second quarter results, including revenues of $4.1 billion, up 8% year-over-year.
On Monday, Leidos reported the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency has awarded the company an $823 million task order to provide operations and sustainment for the Department of Defense Network program (DoDNet).
Leidos provides technology, engineering and science services to defense, intelligence, civil and health market customers. It has about 47,000 employees and reported approximately $15.4 billion in 2023 revenue.
Former Northrop Grumman Chairman and CEO Wes Bush and his wife, Natalie, sold their McLean mansion June 28 for $9.95 million, according to Fairfax County records.
Steven A. Sigsbury, an attorney with the Cochran Law Group in Tysons, is listed as the buyer of 903 Turkey Run Road and Baldy’s Bait and Tackle Trust is listed as a co-owner. Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, who represented the buyer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Marianne Prendergast of Washington Fine Properties represented the Bushes in the sale. She declined to name the buyer of the property. The Bushes, she said Monday, are moving “to the Virginia countryside.”
The six-bedroom home on Turkey Run Road, which has 12,000 square feet of living space, was listed for sale Feb. 1 for $10.5 million. In 2010, the property was purchased by the Golden Paws Trust, a fund associated with the Bushes, according to Prendergast. The home was constructed on the property in 2011 by Harrison Design, a high-end residential architecture, interior design and landscape architecture firm with an office in Washington, D.C.
The home boasts a billiard room, a wood-paneled elevator, a pool and a 1,200-bottle, temperature-controlled wine cellar with adjoining tasting room.
Bush served as CEO of the Falls Church defense contractor from 2010 to 2018 and as chair from 2011 to 2019. He sits on the boards of General Motors, Cisco Systems and Dow, as well as MIT Corp., Conservation International and American University. In April, The New York Times speculated Bush could be a contender to become the new CEO of aerospace and defense contractor Boeing, which is headquartered in Arlington County. Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun has announced he intends to step down by the end of the year, amid ongoing bad press over production and safety problems, including a high-profile January incident in which a wall panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet cabin in mid-air.
The U.S. Department of Defense has increased the ceiling of an existing U.S. Air Force contract held by Arlington County’s Raytheon, a subsidiary of Fortune 500 defense contractor RTX, by $325 million, the Department of Defense announced Friday.
The contract, under which Raytheon is producing StormBreaker Increment II small-diameter glide bombs for fighter jets, has been modified to raise its ceiling $275 million to $600 million.
Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, according to the federal government.
In other company news, Raytheon received two mentor-protégé agreement contracts from the U.S. Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs to support the development of artificial intelligence for U.S. Department of Defense programs and platforms, the company announced Monday.
Raytheon won three-year contracts to mentor California’s Anacapa Micro Products, which provides IT solutions to the government, and Nara Logics, a Boston developer of a synaptic intelligence platform. Raytheon will provide mentorship on system design, software architecture, systems integration, IT security constraints and authority-to-operate requirements, according to a news release.
Raytheon, Anacapa Micro Products and Nara Logics plan to accelerate the development of next-generation autonomous capabilities to improve the effectiveness of service members’ decision making, the news release stated.
“Through this partnership, we’ll leverage commercial innovations that can make meaningful contributions to our defense capabilities and, ultimately, the success of our servicemen and women,” stated Colin Whelan, president of advanced technology at Raytheon.
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Georgia, created the Mentor-Protégé Program in 1990. It helps small businesses “expand their footprint in the defense industrial base,” according to the Department of Defense.
An participant in the program since 1991, Raytheon has nine active mentor-protégé agreements currently, according to a company spokesperson.
Also based in Arlington, RTX has more than 185,000 employees globally and had $68.9 billion in sales in 2023. The company rebranded from Raytheon Technologies to RTX in June 2023 and has three business units: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon.
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Five Rivers Analytics, a subsidiary of Herndon-based government contractor Akima, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $480 million over 10 years, Akima announced last week.
Based in Colorado, Five Rivers Analytics provides classified IT and mission support services and bills itself as “a small business backed by a global enterprise.” The Satellite Control Network Tracking Station Operations Remote Site and Mission Partner Support (STORMS) contract focuses on operation and maintenance of the U.S. Space Force’s Satellite Control Network, a global network of radio frequency antennas, signal processing and routing communications equipment and computer systems supporting space vehicles. Support services provided by Five Rivers Analytics will include maintenance, cybersecurity measures and system administration.
The Satellite Control Network (SCN) of antennas communicates with and control U.S. government satellites. A 2023 report by the U.S. Government Accountability office described the network as “aging” and “difficult to maintain,” while noting that “demand on the network is increasing as more satellites are launched.”
Following GAO’s recommendation to improve capacity of the SCN, Akima plans to integrate emerging technologies to improve the SCN’s efficiency and resilience. By enhancing SCN capacity, the STORMS contract will “set the stage for significant advancements in satellite control and space defense operations,” according to Akima.
“Our partnership with the U.S. Space Force underscores our commitment to enhancing the Satellite Control Network’s operational efficiency and resilience,” Duncan Greene, president of Akima’s Mission Systems, Engineering and Technology group, stated in a news release. “By integrating emerging technology and expanding system capabilities, we’re not only bolstering national defense and intelligence but also paving the way for revolutionary advancements in space operations.”
Only two bids were received for this contract.
STORMS is a successor to the Consolidated Air Force Satellite Control Network Modifications and Maintenance Operations contract, or CAMMO. CACI International, a Reston Fortune 1000 contractor, previously won that contract in 2016. Bidding for STORMS was limited to small businesses.
Akima operates as a subsidiary of NANA Regional, a for-profit Alaska Native corporation owned by more than 15,000 Indigenous Iñupiat shareholders who live in or have roots in Northwest Alaska. It has 10,000 employees.
DataBank, a Texas provider of data center, cloud, and interconnection services, has signed a lease on a data center currently under construction on Red Rum Drive in Ashburn by GI Partners, the California investment firm announced Thursday.
Two other data center buildings are already located on Red Rum Drive. One is owned by DataBank and the other other is owned by GI Partners, which invests in private equity, real estate and data infrastructure, and leased by DataBank, according to a spokesperson for DataBank.
During construction of the new building, GI Partners will add an additional 29 megawattsof power to the site, according to an announcement.
“GI has a proven track record in strategically adding value to existing and newly acquired data center assets and this project adds to that long list,” Tony Lin, the firm’s managing director, stated in the release.
Construction should be completed by the second quarter of 2025, according to GI Partners. The data center is expected to be ready by the first quarter in 2026, according to a news release distributed by DataBank on Thursday.
A spokesperson for DataBank did not comment on financial terms of the deal.
All three data center properties will be combined into a new data center campus encompassing 18 acres and 375,000 square feet of data center space, according to DataBank.
“This new site demonstrates DataBank’s ability to creatively source additional space and power in extremely constrained markets,” Raul K. Martynek, DataBank’s CEO, stated in the release. “By expanding this Ashburn campus, DataBank is responding to the Northern [Virginia] market’s surging need for colocation space and power that can support the [AI] applications of the future.”
In 2023, DataBank bought 85 acres in Culpeper, where the company plans to build three two-story facilities totaling 1.4 million square feet of data center space with 192 megawatts of power, the company stated. That campus is less than 50 miles away from the Ashburn campus, according to DataBank.
GI Partners data infrastructure team primarily invests in “hard asset infrastructure businesses underpinning the digital economy,” according to the firm’s news release. It owns six data center buildings in Northern Virginia.
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