Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Courtney Mabeus-Brown

Virginia MOCA moving to Virginia Wesleyan campus

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art is moving from Virginia Beach’s ViBe District to Virginia Wesleyan University’s campus, with the aid of a $25 million gift, the museum and university said Tuesday in announcing the partnership.

The gift, from Jane Batten, Joan Brock and David and Susan Goode, will fund construction of the museum’s new space, Virginia Wesleyan President Scott Miller told Virginia Business. The museum, which will be about 30,000 to 35,000 square feet, is being designed by Tymoff + Moss Architects of Norfolk and Richmond-based Hourigan will serve as the contractor, Miller said. The museum could open as soon as 2025.

“This partnership will anchor us in our mission to present locally relevant, nationally resonant art that is exceptional,” Virginia MOCA President and CEO Gary Ryan said in a statement. “While Virginia MOCA remains an independent museum, our collaboration with VWU will allow us to do even more of what we do best: create groundbreaking exhibitions and engage the community in thought-provoking artistic experiences. Our mission remains the same, but we are now bolstered by our partnership with VWU and its amazing educational resources.”

Virginia Wesleyan students and instructors have exhibited at the museum in the past and MOCA has provided students with internships and work opportunities. As part of the move, which has been in the works for several months, the private university is also planning to launch a Master of Arts degree in arts management, Miller said, and other programs in arts and history could develop.

The current museum, which includes 38,500 square feet with 6,300 square feet of exhibition space, will remain open during construction of its replacement.

Virginia Wesleyan sits on the Norfolk side of the Virginia Beach border, just off Interstate 64, an entry point into the city that sees more than 31,000 cars daily, Miller said, adding that the museum’s new location will help make arts more accessible to the entire region. “The relocation to our campus actually puts it in the epicenter of the Hampton Roads community,” he said.

Batten, Brock and the Goodes have been major benefactors to the arts, educational and civic communities in Virginia and at Virginia Wesleyan, where the Jane P. Batten Student Center, the Batten Honors College, the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities, the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center and the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences bear their names.

Miller said the museum, which will be constructed adjacent to the university’s arts center, will continue to have an independent board of directors.

Plans revealed for second Buc-ee’s Va. location

Buc-ee’s appears to be planning its second Virginia location, this time along Interstate 81 in Rockingham County near Mt. Crawford.

According to a post on the county’s Facebook page, Buc-ee’s, the Texas-sized travel center chain, has applied for a special use permit for review and approval of a proposed sign plan. The Texas-based retailer is planning a 74,000-square-foot store with 120 fueling positions and 24 electric vehicle charging stations, with a projected opening in 2025.

New Kent County’s economic development department revealed Buc-ee’s plans for a center along I-64 when it posted to its Facebook page in march that the chain filed for a conditional use permit for signage. Buc-ee’s New Kent LLC purchased 27.686 acres located at Exit 211 off Interstate 64 from Kent Farms Holdings Company, LLC for $6.5 million. Completion of that sale was announced in June. Once complete, it could be among the company’s largest locations.

The Buc-ee’s chain has opened more than 25 locations throughout the South in the past two decades. The Rockingham and New Kent locations are among four the company says it has planned in the state.

Nanotech company to invest $2.9M in C-ville expansion

Laser Thermal, a nanotechnology company spun out of the University of Virginia, will spend $2.9 million and add 28 jobs at its manufacturing, research and development facility in Charlottesville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.

The company provides testing services to companies wanting to understand thermal properties at the device level, such as semiconductor companies seeking to learn more about the properties of materials used in its chips, explained  Laser Thermal’s CEO and co-founder, John Gaskins.

In October 2022, Laser Thermal began selling a tool it manufactures to measure heat flow in devices. The company also has two additional tools in development, one to measure thermal properties at nanoscales invisible to the naked eye, and the other to measure bulk properties of materials, Gaskins says.

“Laser Thermal’s decision to expand its research and development capacity in Charlottesville highlights the economic development generated from our world-class universities like the University of Virginia and the innovation and talent they produce,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The company’s success also showcases Virginia’s ongoing technology sector growth and we look forward to a continued partnership.”

Founded in 2021, Laser Thermal currently has 14 full-time employees, Gaskins said. The expansion adds an additional 5,200 square feet to the company’s existing 2,700 square feet in the city’s Ix Business Park.

“As a native Virginian, there was no other place I wanted to start a company due to proximity to major shipping hubs and international airports, the ability to maintain collaborative ties with the University of Virginia, and access to bright young talent from the first-class higher education network that exists here,” Gaskins said in a statement. “Many of our employees are originally from Virginia, or are happily transplanted, and love working at a high-tech company located in such a beautiful, friendly, and innovative state.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Youngkin, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and university and industry officials gathered in Falls Church for the public launch of the Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology. The launch included a private summit with the goal of bringing together academia and business to develop ideas for encouraging the semiconductor industry to grow in Virginia.

Gaskins said he sees his company as “another piece of the semiconductor ecosystem, providing thermal measurements to companies and universities that really haven’t been available on the commercial scale up to this point.” Gaskins said the company is currently working on an Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contract, with others in the pipeline.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Charlottesville to secure the project for Virginia and will support Laser Thermal’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides consulting and funding to companies adding jobs to support employee recruitment and training activities.

CFA Institute sells Charlottesville HQ for $21.9M

The Charlottesville headquarters of CFA Institute sold for $21.9 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced Tuesday.

The 150,000-square-foot office building, at 915 E. High St., is the former Martha Jefferson Hospital, which opened in 1904, according to Cvillepedia. CFA Institute, a nonprofit association of investment professionals, will lease back 47,000 square feet for its ongoing operations. The location has been the institute’s home since 2014, after a renovation that included sustainability features.

Thalhimer has been awarded the leasing by the buyer, Lo-Hi LLC, and the building will remain Class A office space. It is the only Class A building near downtown with parking. Lo-Hi will also be opening Lo-Hi Coworking, which will provide private executive office space for companies with up to 10 employees.

John Pritzlaff and Jenny Stoner of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale and lease negotiations on behalf of the buyer and will handle the office space leasing going forward.

Microsoft Federal sees leadership change

Microsoft Corp.’s federal arm has new leadership, after its former president, Rick Wagner, left the company to pursue “new opportunities.”

Wagner had run Microsoft Federal, now based in Rosslyn, since 2020. Candice Ling announced in a LinkedIn post this week that she had accepted his former job. Microsoft’s federal team works with the civilian and defense sectors on a variety of projects, and is part of the team on the Pentagon’s $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability Contract to build out cloud capabilities for the Department of Defense.

“Rick Wagner, president, Microsoft Federal, has decided to leave the company to pursue new opportunities,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Virginia Business in an email Wednesday, adding that his departure was announced last week. “We are deeply grateful for his leadership and contributions to the company and wish him all the best in the future.”

Ling served as the federal sector’s civilian vice president since October 2021 and previously spent 19 years with Canadian consulting firm CGI Inc., most recently as a senior vice president in Fairfax. She joined Microsoft as a government industry leader in Asia in 2018.

Ling wrote in her LinkedIn post that she wants “to champion a public-private centered strategy, fostering co-innovation and accelerating time-to-mission. We are also dedicated to and laser-focused on accelerating AI adoption in support of your mission.” She went on to say she is “committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusivity while supporting each and every one of you to achieve your goals.”

Breaking Defense, a defense industry trade publication, reported that Wagner’s departure marks the third senior-level Microsoft executive with ties to the industry to leave in the last year. Toni Townes-Whitley, who stepped down as Microsoft’s president of U.S. regulated industries in September 2022, will become the new CEO of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in October, succeeding Nazzic S. Keene.

In her LinkedIn post, Ling also announced that Heidi Kobylski will take over her previous role. Kobylski has spent more than 13 years at Microsoft, including as general manager of the federal civilian unit.

Rail equipment manufacturer to expand in Salem

Wabtec Corp. is investing $2.7 million to expand its existing facility in Salem, adding 38 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Wabtec provides equipment, systems, digital solutions and other services for freight and transit rail globally. The expansion will accommodate the relocation of its pneumatically controlled braking systems manufacturing lines within its Graham-White manufacturing facility in Salem.

Virginia competed with Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Mexico for the project.

“Wabtec Corp.’s expansion of its Salem facility fuels the resurgence of high-quality manufacturing jobs in Virginia, and we thank the company for its long-term commitment to the commonwealth as a valued employer,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The Roanoke region offers the skilled workforce and custom solutions to support Wabtec’s continued growth, and we are confident they will thrive for the next 100 years in Virginia.”

Wabtec’s Salem facility employs more than 200 people in Salem and manufactures air dryers, valves, gages/flowmeters and braking equipment for the rail freight, rail transit, truck and bus industries.

“As a leading global provider of transportation solutions, we are proud of our long history of manufacturing excellence in Salem and delighted to be expanding our operations there,” said Mike Fetsko, president of Wabtec’s freight and industrial components business, in a statement. “Wabtec’s collaborative relationship with the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the business-friendly approach from state and local agencies, provided us with the confidence to make this significant investment. With new products and additional high-quality manufacturing jobs, our expansion in Salem represents our continued commitment to the community and its key role in supporting Wabtec’s future growth.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Salem and the Roanoke Regional Partnership to secure the project for Virginia and will support job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP), which provides consulting services and funding to companies creating jobs to support employee recruitment and training activities. Salem, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, the Greater Roanoke Workforce Development Board and Center for Manufacturing Excellence in Southwest Virginia will provide custom programs to support the company’s expansion, including talent recruitment, marketing assistance and workforce training.

Inova hires new chief information and digital officer

Inova has snagged another top executive from the Cleveland Clinic.

Matthew Kull has been named as chief information and digital officer of the health system, which spans five hospitals and employs 20,000 people in Northern Virginia, the system announced Monday. Kull will start Aug. 7.

Most recently, Kull served as chief information officer for Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic, where he was responsible for digital and technology functions across the 200 sites and more than 75,000 employees. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic in 2018, he held the role of senior vice president and CIO for Dallas-based Parkland Hospital. He has also held senior-level IT roles at AmerisourceBergen Corp., Lucidity Consulting Group, McKesson Corp. and other companies.

“Matt is a recognized technology leader who brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in global organizational technology, digital innovation and operations that will benefit Inova, our team members and patients,” said Inova CEO and President Dr. J. Stephen Jones, who joined Inova from Cleveland Clinic in 2018, in a statement. “His leadership will undoubtedly drive our digital transformation initiatives forward, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Inova team.”

As CIDO, Kull will help develop Inova’s overall technology strategy and will be responsible for driving digital health innovation and improved care delivery through IT to patients, team members and the community. He will also oversee a team responsible for all IT services including applications, program management, data, security, technical infrastructure, clinical engineering and support services.

“With a shared vision for innovation and passion for leveraging technology to enhance patient outcomes, I am excited to join this dynamic team of IT health care professionals at Inova,” Kull said in a statement. “Together, we are poised to improve the way health care is delivered through technology and ultimately improve the lives of those we serve.”

Kull has an MBA from Southern Methodist University and was named a 2022 Ohio CIO of the Year by InspireCIO, a leadership network.

Va. semiconductor alliance powers forward

Virginia’s initiative to become a bigger part of the country’s burgeoning semiconductor chip industry charged forward Tuesday with the public launch of an alliance intended to unite academia and businesses in developing talent and establishing manufacturing and research facilities.

Announced in April by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology, or VAST, led by Virginia Tech, is funded by a $3.3 million grant from the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative and includes plans to train 600 adult learners, with a focus on veterans and those from underserved communities, beginning in 2024, in addition to offering internships and certificates. VAST plans to create three 10-week Fast Track to Semiconductor Careers certificate programs: Chip Fabrication and Nano Characterization, Semiconductor Packaging and Characterization, and Semiconductor Equipment Maintenance and Repair.

Headquartered in the Arlington-based Virginia Tech Research Center, VAST includes George Mason University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University and Northern Virginia Community College.

On Tuesday, Youngkin, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and other partners gathered to sign a memorandum of understanding to focus on the state’s attempts to match momentum being created by the $280 billion federal Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act. The public memorandum signing was followed by a private summit between industry officials, including Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc., which has a plant in Manassas, as well as officials from academia, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., in an attempt to inspire collaboration and attract more semiconductor businesses to establish a presence or expand in the commonwealth.

Speaking to the crowd at Northrop Grumman’s Falls Church headquarters, Youngkin said he is personally “engaged making sure that a robust economic incentive plan is presented to those companies that we think we want to go get. And you all are on the list. And so we are looking forward to working with you in order to beat the competition and have you come to Virginia”

Also among Youngkin’s goals from the event was developing a “clear path to launching collaborative research” among VAST’s university partners as well as “specific projects that might have not been either contemplated before today, or were being contemplated, but might not have been contemplated in Virginia.”

Virginia has lagged behind other states, including Arizona, New York, Michigan and Ohio, in building out its semiconductor industry. Intel Corp. considered Chesterfield County’s Upper Magnolia Green site for a $20 billion chip factory, but ultimately picked Ohio instead. Industrial site development has been a priority for Youngkin; he proposed $350 million for such projects in his 2022-2024 budget, which is still awaiting General Assembly approval. Officials at Tuesday’s even also noted Virginia’s deep bench  of major top defense and aerospace contractors, with four of the world’s top five largest defense contractors now headquartered in Northern Virginia being a potential draw.

Rebuilding the nation’s semiconductor industry has also become a top U.S. national security priority in recent years amid a growing competition with economic rival China.

Youngkin announced VAST in April, days before he traveled to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea for his first international trade mission, during which he touted Virginia as a place for the semiconductor industry and its suppliers to thrive. On Tuesday, Youngkin said he was “encouraged” by that trip, where he met with industry and supply chain leaders. “I was also encouraged by the singularity of view that deeper relationships with the United States from all of the suppliers in Taiwan, in Japan and in Korea was top of their list,” Youngkin said. “And Virginia was a hugely competitive area for them to want to get to. So I feel confident that we will, in fact, see real benefits from our trip.”

Warner, who introduced an early version of the semiconductor legislation in 2020, added that he hoped the summit might accomplish “three or four leads that the governor and I can work on. There is a power when you’ve got a governor and your senior senator double-teaming a company to try to make the case [for] what we can do from the state standpoint [and] what we can do from the federal standpoint,” Warner said. “I think that combination is a good one and can provide wins.”

 

 

 

Amentum-led team receives $5.87B nuke cleanup contract

A team led by Chantilly-based federal contractor Amentum Services Inc. will manage the decontamination and decommissioning of a Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex under a $5.87 billion, 10-year contract announced by the U.S. Department of Energy Thursday.

Southern Ohio Cleanup Company LLC, based in Aiken, South Carolina, is a joint venture led by Amentum Environment and Energy Inc., and includes Texas-based Fluor Corp. and Cavendish Nuclear Inc, a subsidiary of London-based Babcock International Group. Under the contract, the companies will handle the demolition and disposal of facilities, process equipment, related process buildings and other ancillary facilities at the 3,777-acre Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. The contract also includes remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater and disposition of uranium material.

The Ohio plant operated from 1954 to 2001 and was initially built to produce enriched uranium to support the nation’s nuclear weapons program and later switched to enriching uranium for commercial nuclear reactors. Weapons-grade uranium enrichment ceased at the site following the Cold War and production facilities were leased to the private sector.

“Amentum and our heritage companies have a long history of supporting the DOE’s environmental management program and have managed numerous decontamination and decommissioning projects across the DOE complex. Our extensive experience at the Oak Ridge Reservation enables us to bring advanced technical solutions to complete the work safely and effectively at Portsmouth,” Amentum CEO John Heller said in a statement Monday, referring to the company’s work at the Tennessee-based Superfund site established during World War II to process material for nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. “We will partner with our DOE client, regulators and community stakeholders to further advance the Department of Energy’s mission.”

Amentum moved its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to Chantilly earlier this year. The company has more than 44,000 employees in 85 countries, including locations across Virginia in Alexandria, Arlington County, Chantilly, Dahlgren, Falls Church, Fredericksburg and Norfolk.

Stihl names new president, CEO

Virginia Beach-based chainsaw and outdoor power equipment manufacturer Stihl Inc. has announced a leadership shift a little more than a year after Terry Horan took on the role of president and CEO.

Chris Keffer, senior vice president of sales and marketing, will become the company’s new president and CEO on August 4, replacing Horan, who was named to the company’s board of directors, the company said Friday.

Stihl Inc. is the largest subsidiary of the global Stihl Group and employs more than 1,900 workers in Virginia Beach.

“Terry has the heartfelt thanks of the Stihl family for his exceptional leadership,” Nikolas Stihl, Stihl Group advisory board and supervisory board chair, said in a statement. “He has built a strong leadership team and established the foundation for significant growth through a demonstrated commitment to our loyal distribution network and local Stihl dealers, focusing the organization on winning as one team.”

Stihl spokesman Roger Phelps told Virginia Business Friday that Horan’s decision to step down from his current role was made in consultation with the company’s executive board and is part of its larger succession plan. Keffer joined Stihl in April 2022 as vice president of sales and marketing from Stanley Black & Decker Inc., where he spent nearly two decades, according to his LinkedIn profile. Keffer has been helping to lead Stihl’s transition toward battery-powered equipment, Phelps said.

Stihl joined the American Green Zone Alliance to support battery electric transition training and education, Landscape Management reported in late June.

“The USA is by far our most important market worldwide,” Stihl Executive Board Chairman Michael Traub said in a statement. “These appointments provide stability and continuity, which are critical to our long-term strategic and operational success. Chris has quickly established himself as an innovator and leader and has a keen understanding of our market and our customers. His experience and expertise will enable the company to lead in all markets in which we choose to compete.”

In October 2021, Stihl announced that its U.S.-based president of operations, Bjoern Fischer, and Nick Jiannas, vice president of U.S. sales and marketing, were leaving by mutual agreement. Fischer had served as president since 2016 and had been with Stihl since 2012. Horan, who served as RPM Consumer Group president at Ohio-based sealant, coating and building materials manufacturer RPM International Inc., was hired after an extensive search.

Neither Horan nor Keffer were immediately available for comment Friday.

“For nearly 100 years, Stihl has remained steadfastly committed to providing the premium quality tools our professional and demanding residential users expect,” Horan said in a statement. “Working on this marquee brand alongside our loyal and dedicated workforce has been the pinnacle of my 37-year professional career. I look forward to supporting Chris and the executive council, as together we continue our legacy of market leadership.”

Before joining Stihl, Keffer served as president of product management for Stanley Black & Decker’s power tools group. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications and an executive MBA from Loyola University Maryland.

“I would like to thank Terry, the Stihl board and the Stihl family for their confidence in me,” Keffer said in a statement. “Stihl has always had a long-term strategic outlook. So, while our market may be facing short-term challenges, we see tremendous opportunity in our future. We have the people, products, programs and partners to grow our position as the leading authority in the gas and battery outdoor power equipment markets.”