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byline: Beth JoJack

Va. gets initial approval for $1.48B to increase broadband

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Virginia’s initial proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, according to a NTIA dashboard that tracks proposals. 

This approval means Virginia can now request access to $1.48 billion in federal funding to reach locations in the state that don’t have high-speed internet. 

Virginia received the sixth-largest BEAD grant, and Texas had the largest with $3.31 billion.

“Virginia’s historic investment in broadband infrastructure is one key ingredient which helped drive our ranking as America’s top state to do business in 2024. With the resources we are securing today, we can close the digital divide and ensure all Virginians have access to high-speed internet,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a Friday announcement. 

In September 2023, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced Virginia was the first state in the nation to submit required BEAD documents outlining Virginia’s plans for the program. 

The BEAD program is a $42.45 billion state grant program authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was co-authored by Sen. Mark Warner and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The goal of BEAD is to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs.

“Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to accessing our historic $1.5 billion award and expanding high-speed internet access to more families and businesses across Virginia,” Warner said in a statement Friday. “Virginia has a strong plan to get us closer to universal coverage, and this funding will help make that plan a reality. I’m proud to have authored and negotiated the law that made this possible, and I’m ready to work to make sure it’s implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible so more Virginians have access to high-speed internet.”

Any funds left over after deployment goals are met can be used on high-speed Internet adoption, training and workforce development efforts, according to NTIA. 

DHCD will administer the commonwealth’s BEAD allocation to build upon the work of the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI), which also funds broadband extension to unserved areas. On Wednesday, Gov. Youngkin announced VATI had provided more than $41 million in grants to 10 broadband construction projects that will serve Virginians in 20 localities.

Next, Virginia officials will ensure all locations lacking access to high-speed internet are not already part of an existing state or federal program designed to expand broadband access, according to the governor’s office. “We’re going to be looking at over 100,000 or maybe right at that,” DHCD Director and Chief Broadband Advisor Bryan Horn said. 

Later this year, Virginia officials will launch the project’s application phase, where broadband providers can submit applications to express interest in extending services to unconnected regions.  

“The governor will recommend projects to the NTIA for funding, and then the NTIA will make the final decision,” Horn said.

Horn declined to estimate when every Virginian will be able to connect to affordable high-speed internet. “These are construction projects,” he said of expanding broadband access. “And there are, there’s nothing really typical on construction projects.”

Since 2017, Virginia has allocated over $935 million in state and federal funding to extend broadband infrastructure to over 388,000 locations in 80 cities and counties across the Commonwealth. These investments have leveraged an additional $1.1 billion in matching funds from local governments and internet service providers.  “We’re just going to keep moving forward as fast we can,” Horn said. 

 

Virginia Beach economic development director resigns

Charles E. “Chuck” Rigney resigned Wednesday from his post as Virginia Beach’s economic development director, city spokesperson Ali Weatherton-Shook confirmed Friday, following a report by The Virginian-Pilot. 

Rigney had held the position officially for six months after serving as interim director for about eight months following the departure of the department’s former head, Taylor Adams, who left to take an economic development job in Nevada.

Amanda Jarratt, a deputy city manager for Virginia Beach, will serve as interim economic development director until a national search can be conducted for Rigney’s replacement, according to Weatherton-Shook.

Weatherton-Shook declined to comment about why Rigney resigned, citing the city’s human resources policy and saying she could not comment on personnel matters.

Rigney told Virginia Business earlier this year that “the opportunity to work with the largest city in Virginia was greatly appealing.”

“We’re going to miss Chuck, but life goes on,” said Virginia Beach City Council member Robert W. “Worth” Remick.  “We’ve got a great staff and department and city manager. I think we’ll manage.”

When asked to comment on the short tenure of Virginia Beach’s last economic development director, Adams pointed out in an email that he left the role over a year ago and that he doesn’t have “much insight into the present environment.”

However, Adams did say that leading economic development for Virginia Beach was “an amazing job in an incredible city. I only left because the opportunity here … offered a life-changing career step for my family and me. I would still be happily working in Virginia Beach were it not for that.”

Virginia Beach has a lot happening on the economic development side. In September, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Amazon.com’s plans to build a robotics fulfillment center and delivery station in Virginia Beach. Also in 2023, Zim Integrated Shipping Services announced plans to invest $30 million to relocate and expand its U.S. headquarters from Norfolk to Virginia Beach. There’s also Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and the long-awaited surf park development from celebrity Pharrell Williams.

Also, Williams’ Something in the Water music festival is set to return to the Oceanfront in October, he announced Thursday.

Rigney joined Virginia Beach’s economic development department in February 2023 as a business development administrator. He previously led Hampton’s economic development efforts from 2018 through 2022. He was assistant director for Norfolk economic development from 1997 to 2014, including serving as interim director from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, he was named Portsmouth’s director of economic development, but left the post less than a year later to become economic development director for Norfolk in 2015, a position he held for three years.

VATI awards $41M in broadband grants to localities

The Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, which funds broadband extension to unserved areas, will provide more than $41 million in grants to 10 broadband construction projects that will serve Virginians in 20 localities, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. 

“Virginia continues to be a national leader for closing the digital divide, and today’s announcement brings us one step closer to becoming the first state in the nation to reach statewide universal broadband coverage,” Youngkin said in a news release. 

This year’s funding leverages more than $75.7 million in additional funding from local governments and internet service providers, according to the governor’s office. 

The Thomas Jefferson Planning Commission District in Central Virginia and Firefly Fiber Broadband, a subsidiary of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, received the largest award, $12.2 million. 

That funding will go toward a $48.6 million project that will cover 603 miles and provide broadband to 6,000 unserved locations in the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Powhatan. Those counties will have universal broadband when the project is completed, according to Melissa Gay, vice president for communications and member services for Firefly Fiber Broadband. 

Other recipients include the following localities:

  • Spotsylvania County, $10.3 million
  • Franklin County, $4.5 million
  • Giles County, $4.2 million
  • Southside Planning District Commission, $3.4 million
  • Alleghany County, $2.3 million
  • Orange County, $2.1 million
  • Rockbridge County, two awards of $1.2 million and $975,865
  • Botetourt County, $395,411

In addition to state funding, Alleghany County will contribute $353,193 and the Craig-Botetourt Rural Electric Cooperative will pitch in $666,387 to the project, which is expected to cover 370 homes and businesses. Upon completion, Alleghany will have universal broadband, according to Reid Walters, county administrator. 

The state Department of Housing and Community Development administers the VATI program. The broadband projects selected went through a competitive process that considered demonstrated need and benefit for the community, applicant readiness and capacity, and the cost and leverage of the proposed project. 

For this round of funding, DHCD received 25 applications requesting more than $170 million. Virginia has invested more than $850.3 million to connect over 338,000 homes, businesses and community sites since 2017, and the federal Broadband Equity, Accessibility and Deployment (BEAD) program granted the state $1.4 billion to help expand internet access in June 2023. A statewide plan aims to deliver broadband to an estimated 162,000 unserved locations in Virginia by the end of 2026. 

Accenture Federal taps next CEO, as Goodman steps down

Starting Sept. 1, Ron Ash will take the wheel as CEO at Arlington County’s Accenture Federal Services, the federal contractor offering IT services announced Tuesday. He will also become chair of AFS’ board of managers. 

Ash will succeed John Goodman, who is stepping down as CEO and chair at the end of August and will retire March 31, 2025, according to the company. Since 2022, Ash has served as chief operating officer at AFS, a subsidiary of Fortune Global 500 professional services company Accenture.  

Described in the news release as having “an exceptional track record of using the latest technologies and innovation to help clients solve complex challenges,” Ash, in his new role, will work to “advance the company’s ability to help the [U.S.] federal government embrace new technologies, such as generative AI.”  

“Ron Ash is the right leader for Accenture Federal Services in this time of reinvention with data, technology and AI,” Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, said in a statement. “He brings both broad and deep experience across the government and commercial worlds, technology, and strategy, and a strong, proven commitment to creating value for clients, people and communities.” 

After graduating from Ohio University in 1996, Ash joined Accenture, where he went on to work in supply chain transformation. In 2002, Ash moved to AFS, filling a variety of roles including leading the Public Safety Portfolio, where he worked with homeland security, law enforcement and first-response agencies. 

AFS described Ash as “integral” to shaping inclusion and diversity priorities. He is an executive sponsor of the Hispanic American Employee Resource Group.

CEO since 2017, Goodman doubled the size of AFS’ workforce to 15,500 employees. During his tenure, AFS increased investments in emerging technology, advanced research and development and human-centric design. 

In May, AFS completed its acquisition of Falls Church’s Cognosante, which provides IT support to federal, state and local government agencies with public health missions. In 2021, Goodman oversaw AFS’ acquisition of McLean’s Novetta, an advanced analytics company that had been a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm. 

“His leadership and commitment set new standards for how to serve clients, grow the business, embrace new technologies and ways of working, and bring everyone along on the journey,” Sweet said of Goodman. 

Accenture reported $64.1 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023.

Virginia saw 15,000 jobs created in June

Virginia reported 15,000 jobs created in June, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

Overall, the commonwealth has seen 258,000 jobs created since January 2022, according to the news release from the governor’s office.

“The jobs report is yet another good sign about the resiliency of the Virginia economy,” Bob McNab, an economist at Old Dominion University, told Virginia Business Tuesday.

For the announcement, the state government relied partially on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey, which provides a job count based on payroll information.

“One thing governors like to do is they like to focus on job announcements versus job creation,” McNab said. “Job announcements are great because they are a signal that companies are creating jobs. But the truth really lies in the data — that is, what are companies reporting in terms of the jobs they have on hand?”

Virginia’s unemployment rate for June remained at 2.7%, significantly below the 4.1% national rate. And that “continues to show that Virginia is well-poised to grow in 2025, in my opinion,” McNab said.

The BLS’ household survey is based on interviews conducted each month for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force. It found the number of employed residents in Virginia, 4.45 million, decreased slightly by 1,786 workers from May to June. Virginia’s labor force decreased by 4,155 from May to 4.57 million. The labor force participation rate — the proportion of adults age 16 and older that are employed or actively looking for work— decreased by 2,369, from 124,764 adults in May to 122,395 in June.

“This is the long-term challenge for the commonwealth … getting people off the sidelines into the labor market … [and] looking at policies that will increase labor force participation,” McNab said. “Because if we can get labor force participation up, then employers can expand operations, which we know they want to do.”

CNBC crowned Virginia as America’s Top State for Business for a record sixth year in July. The cable business news network praised Virginia for having “the nation’s best education system and policies that give companies room — both literally and figuratively — to grow.”

The commonwealth, McNab said, has “really leaned into the idea that being a business-friendly state is more than just, for example, cutting taxes. It is investing in infrastructure, investing in education and it is providing a climate that is friendly to business to relocate here, where you have a deep talent pool that businesses can leverage to expand their operations and succeed.”

The job openings rate for April in Virginia was 6.8%, a drop from 7.3% in April 2023. If you jump back to April 2018, before the pandemic, however, Virginia’s job openings rate was 5.4%.

“If  you look at it at the state level, you can tell two stories,” McNab said. “The first story is that the jobs market appears to be weakening, because compared to 2022, there are fewer job openings across the commonwealth. On the other hand, if you compare the most recent data on job openings to prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are at or near a record level of job openings compared to pre-pandemic lows.”

While this is good news for workers, who are in a position to demand higher compensation, it’s a challenge for employers, McNab pointed out.

“Because if you have an unemployment rate that is at 2.7%, for the commonwealth, and less than that in several metro areas,” McNab said, “it really says that we could have higher rates of job growth if we had greater amounts of labor available.”

Overall, however, McNab described the state’s jobs numbers as strong and said they “represent a positive signal on the policies of the last three years in terms of job creation. … Usually I’m not this positive, but this is a really good jobs report.”

 

 

 

 

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage to create 40 jobs in Pittsylvania

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage will invest $16.85 million to build a new stave mill in Pittsylvania County’s Brosville Industrial Park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced last week. 

A U.S. subsidiary of a French company, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage produces staves, or strips of wood, from American White Oak, which are used to make the company’s bourbon barrels.

Pittsylvania County’s stave mill will supply Speyside’s Smyth County cooperage (a facility where workers make barrels). The stave mill is expected to create 40 new jobs and will source 40% of its timber from Virginia landowners, according to the news release. 

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage is a division of Speyside Cooperage, which was founded in 1947 in Scotland. In 2008, the Tonnellerie François Frères Group bought Speyside Cooperage. In the U.S., Speyside has cooperage locations in Shepherdsville, Kentucky; Jackson, Ohio; and Smyth County, Virginia. The Virginia facility opened in 2020.  Additionally, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage opened a stave mill in Bath County in Millboro in 2018 and invested $114,000 in an expansion the following year. In 2020, Speyside opened another stave mill in Glade Spring in Washington County. 

“We never thought we would have four sites in the state, but once we started working here, it became clear that Virginia is the perfect partner for us.” Darren Whitmer, president and general manager of Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, stated in the news release. 

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Pittsylvania County, the Pittsylvania County Industrial Development Authority and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to win the project. 

Gov. Youngkin approved a $250,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which Pittsylvania County will match using local funds, according to the news release.  

“The manufacture of high-quality oak staves by Speyside Bourbon Cooperage leverages one of Pittsylvania County’s historic economic drivers – forestry and agriculture – and allows us to operationalize our renewable white oak resource at a much higher level. Also, the construction of this facility will complete the development of the Brosville Industrial Park, providing a clear indication that economic growth remains strong in this area,” Dr. Joey Faucette, chair of the county’s Industrial Development Authority, stated in the news release.

Campbell County moves forward on spec industrial building

Campbell County is moving forward with plans to build a $11 million, 100,000-square-foot spec industrial building at Seneca Commerce Park in Rustburg, the county announced on Tuesday.

It’s the largest project the county’s economic development department has tackled in a decade, according to a news release.

The work will include clearing, grading and site preparation of over 7.5 acres at the park, which is located off U.S. 29 in Rustburg. The tenant-ready building is estimated to be complete in spring 2026.

“Site development and industrial projects like this are crucial as they serve as magnets for businesses looking to expand or relocate,” commented Megan Lucas, CEO and chief economic development officer at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. “By providing ready-to-go facilities, we significantly reduce the lead time for companies to begin operations, making our region more attractive to site selectors and setting the stage for future economic growth and job creation.”

Members of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the development of the spec building in October.

The county had been working to finance the $25 million renovation of Brookville High School when it received a $15 million grant from the Virginia Department of Education’s School Construction Assistance Program. That allowed the supervisors to use the low-interest financing for other capital projects, according to the news release.

The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission approved a grant for $404,918 in October to prepare the 100,000-square-foot, pad-ready site. The award represents about half of the expected costs for site preparation.

“In today’s competitive landscape, companies looking to relocate or expand want to get started as soon as possible and this investment will allow us to compete for and win those opportunities,” Watt R. Foster, Jr., a member of the tobacco commission, stated in the news release.

In May, Gov. Glenn Youngkin recommended the project for a $202,459 award from the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership designed to encourage economic development in areas of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and all of Florida.

 

 

 

Va. casinos report $59.5M in June revenues

June gaming revenues for Virginia’s three casinos totaled $59.5 million, according to Virginia Lottery data released July 15.

June numbers broke a three-month streak in which the casinos brought in combined totals of more than $60 million, casinos.com noted this week. 

Last month, the Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock temporary casino reported about $14.35 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings), of which about $12.04 million came from its 907 slots, and the remaining roughly $2.31 million came from its 29 table games. The Bristol casino’s temporary facility opened in July 2022, making it the first operating casino in Virginia. The Virginia Lottery Board approved HR Bristol’s casino license in April 2022. 

The permanent Hard Rock Bristol casino’s opening has been pushed back from July to sometime in late fall. The permanent resort casino is expected to have a 303-room hotel, more than 1,500 slots, 75 table games, new dining venues and a 2,000-seat indoor entertainment venue.

After the lottery board approved its license in November 2022, Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened as Virginia’s first permanent casino in January 2023. In June, it generated about $17.96 million from its 1,417 slots and about $7.98 million from its 84 table games, for a total AGR of close to $25.95 million.

The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which received its casino license in April 2023 and opened in May 2023, reported about $14.03 million in AGR from its 826 slots and about $5.19 million from its 36 table games, totaling about $19.22 million last month. Its permanent location, which will cost about $750 million, is slated to open late this year and will include a 320-room hotel and a roughly 90,000-square-foot casino floor.

June’s casino gaming revenues were a roughly 5.1% decrease from the $62.7 million reported in May.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For the month of June, taxes from casino AGRs totaled about $10.71 million.

The host cities of Portsmouth and Danville received 6% of their respective casinos’ AGRs: about $1.56 million and $1.15 million, respectively. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — about $861,000 last month — goes to the Regional Improvement Commission, which the General Assembly established to distribute Bristol casino tax funds throughout Southwest Virginia.

The Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund receives 0.8% of total taxes — about $85,700 last month. The Family and Children’s Trust Fund, which funds family violence prevention and treatment programs, receives 0.2% of the monthly total, which was approximately $21,424 in May.

All three of Virginia’s casinos have now been open a full year. Gaming revenue for June 2024 increased 14% from June 2023’s combined total of $52.2 million, according to casinos.com.Rivers Casino Portsmouth saw the sharpest increase in revenue year-over-year, bringing in 26% more revenue in June 2024 than June 2023, casinos.com noted. Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock saw a 12.9% increase while Caesars Virginia saw a 1.5% increase. 

The other casino approved in Virginia, the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk, remains in a holding pattern. In January, the developers — a partnership between the King William County-based Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Tennessee investor Jon Yarbrough — asked the Norfolk Architectural Review Board for an indefinite delay of the board’s review of its new plans, while the development team makes design changes requested by the city.

The casino must obtain its license from the lottery board by November 2025, or the referendum approved by Norfolk voters in 2020 becomes null and void under state law.

In Central Virginia, Petersburg will hold a casino referendum in November, asking voters to approve casino gaming. During an April meeting, the Petersburg City Council voted to endorse  a proposal from The Cordish Cos. canceling a competitive bidding process.

   

 

Carilion Clinic CEO Agee announces retirement

After more than a decade at the helm of Carilion Clinic, Nancy Howell Agee plans to retire at the end of September, the health system announced Wednesday. Steve Arner, who was promoted to president in May 2023, will replace her as Carilion’s top executive, effective Oct. 1.

Agee was born at Roanoke Memorial and later lived there while attending nursing school. As the leader of the Roanoke-based health system, she helped transform Carilion into a fully integrated, physician-led clinic that includes a medical school and research institute with Virginia Tech.

“To do the work I love with the people I love at the place I love has been a privilege beyond measure,” Agee said in a video produced about her retirement.

Agee will serve as CEO emeritus through September 2025. In that role, she’ll focus on philanthropy. Last week, Agee celebrated the announcement that former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman and his wife, Jenny, have given $25 million toward a new building and expanded cancer program at Carilion Clinic.

Agee and her husband U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee gave $1 million to launch fundraising for the cancer center in 2019. 

“Steve and I are taking this step now to enhance care in our region, building upon the dedicated work of those who have come before us,” Nancy Howell Agee said in a statement at the time.

Arner joined Carilion in 1996 as a financial analyst, according to Carilion. He’s also served as budget manager, human resources compensation and analytics director, president and CEO at Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital and senior vice president of cardiothoracic and vascular Services. In 2003, Arner earned an MBA from Brigham Young University.

Arner continued to work as Carilion’s chief operating officer after being named president in 2023. Arner has led more than $500 million in facilities investments, including the Crystal Spring Tower addition at Roanoke Memorial Hospital that’s on schedule to be completed in 2025.

“Steve is a strong and capable leader whose commitment to our mission and deep knowledge of our entire organization make him well-suited for the CEO role,” James Hartley, chairman of Carilion Clinic’s board of directors, said in a news release.

In April, the American Hospital Association presented Agee with the Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor, recognizing her “significant lifetime contributions and service to health care.”

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack noted that when Agee chaired the nonprofit organization’s board of trustees in 2018, her “visionary leadership” pushed the organization to “tackle value, affordability and disruptive innovation.”

Launching her career as a nurse, Agee went on to become the lead administrative director for a National Institutes of Health oncology grant in Roanoke. She was later promoted to a series of leadership roles at Carilion, becoming chief operating officer in 2001, a post she held for a decade before being named president and CEO in 2011.

In a video made by the AHA for the Distinguished Service Award, Jeanne Armentrout, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Carilion, noted Agee is passionate about supporting other women working in health care: “She reaches out and mentors leaders regionally and even nationally and many times those leaders are women,” Armentrout said. “She really cares about mentoring women.”

Although women make up about 70% of health workers globally, they only hold 25% of leadership roles in health care, according to a 2023 report by Women in Global Health. 

In a statement issued Wednesday, Sean T. Connaughton, president and CEO of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, said that Agee “personifies health care servant leadership. Her journey has been a quintessential self-made American success story from her days as a candy striper following a teenage injury and hospitalization, as the first person in her family to graduate from high school, to her work as a hospice and surgery nurse, her civic engagement on behalf of the commonwealth and its people, her accomplished tenure leading Carilion Clinic, and her service as past Chair of the [AHA Board] and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association’s board of directors,” he said in the statement. “She leaves Carilion in the capable hands of … Arner, a talented leader guiding Carilion to continued success.”

In Wednesday’s news release, Hartley added that he was grateful to Agee for her continued service. “Carilion and our community have been the fortunate beneficiaries of Nancy’s talents for more than 50 years,” he stated.

Earlier this month, Carilion announced plans to outsource dozens of functions including pre-registration and billing to Ohio company Ensemble Health Partners. All 780 Carilion employees who work in revenue cycle operations will be offered comparable positions with Ensemble, according to a Carilion news release. 

In U.S. News and World Report’s annual list of the best hospitals in the nation, released Tuesday, Carilion’s flagship hospital, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, tied for third overall in Virginia.

Chesterfield County facility sells for $9.3M

An entity associated with Barefoot Spas, a hot tub and swim spa manufacturer, sold a five-acre property in Chesterfield County to an entity associated with Maguire Hayden Real Estate Company, a Pennsylvania commercial real estate investment firm, on July 1 for $9.3 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Capital Markets Group and Industrial Services announced last week. 

The 114,714-square-foot facility at 8401 Fort Darling Road sits on about 5.2 acres, and Barefoot Spas will lease the property from the new owner.

“It’s a highly functional industrial building, and it’s located right off of Interstate 95 right outside of Richmond,” Bo McKown, first vice president at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets, said. “The Richmond industrial market continues to be really one of the one of the strongest on the East Coast.” 

For Richard French, CEO of Barefoot Spas, McKown said, the sale-leaseback was “an evolution of his business plan.” French did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“The tenant does some manufacturing in this facility. They do some assembly of products and they also use it as distribution as well,” McKown said. “So it’s a pretty flexible building, and all of those attributes kind of contributed to why it was pretty highly sought after in the investment community.”

 The sale-leaseback was a collaborative effort between Thalhimer’s Industrial Services Group and Capital Markets Group completed by Graham Stoneburner, McKown and Chrissy Chappell. 

In June, an industrial warehouse and about 11.6 adjoining acres in Chesterfield County sold for $9.85 million. Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled that sale on behalf of the seller.