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byline: Courtney Mabeus-Brown

U.Va. biz school receives $50M donation from alum

A University of Virginia Darden School of Business alumnus and his wife, also a U.Va. graduate, have added $50 million to an earlier gift of $44 million for the business school, which adds up to the largest donation in Darden’s 68-year history.

Philanthropists David and Kathleen LaCross made a $44 million donation in October 2022, at the time the school’s third largest donation, and that gift spurred $6 million in matching funds from the university. With last week’s $50 million addition, the gift is more than $107 million with matching funds from the university and is now the largest in the school’s 68 years, placing the LaCross family among the top five contributors to U.Va.’s $5 billion “Honor the Future” capital campaign, U.Va. said in a news release.

David LaCross, who founded a small California tech company that he sold in 1997, earned his MBA from Darden in 1978, and his wife, Kathleen LaCross, graduated in 1976 from U.Va.’s College of Arts and Sciences. Their gift to Darden will help pay for new artificial intelligence technology programming and a residential college at Darden. According to U.Va., the 2022 gift launched the Artificial Intelligence Initiative at Darden, and with the $50 million addition, the work will expand to the school’s Institute for Business in Society and the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics.

“Dave and Kathy LaCross have once again demonstrated extraordinary generosity and vision with their investments and confidence in Darden and in U.Va.,” U.Va. President James Ryan said in a statement. “They have my deepest admiration and gratitude.”

LaCross worked for 10 years at Bank of America and then founded Berkeley, California-based financial tech company Risk Management Technologies, which he sold in 1997 to Fair, Isaac and Co., now known as FICO. In 2014, he and his son, Michael, cofounded Morgan Territory Brewing, a craft beer brewer in California’s Central Valley.

The gift will fund research and instruction in AI, including its ethical implications for management, as well as challenges and opportunities it presents for business and society. The school launched an initiative in artificial intelligence with the couple’s 2022 gift and this latest donation comes as it kicks off “Faculty Forward,” the second milestone under the school’s “Powered by Purpose” campaign, which raised its $400 million goal two years before it concludes in 2025. The second milestone included a priority for Darden and U.Va. to become leaders in research, teaching and deployment of AI and other innovative technologies in business.

“Students need to be exposed to AI in meaningful ways, and there is no business school better positioned to teach managers how to work with AI in ethical and responsible ways than Darden,” LaCross said during the gift’s announcement, which followed a dedication of the newly-named LaCross Botanical Gardens behind The Forum Hotel, a Kimpton property that opened in April on Darden’s grounds.

Northrop Grumman CEO to chair Greater Washington Partnership

Northrop Grumman chair, CEO and president Kathy Warden is adding a new title to her résumé.

On Jan. 1, 2024, Warden will officially take over as chair of the Greater Washington Partnership. She will be the first woman, first nonfounder and first CEO of a global company to lead the board for the partnership, a nonprofit alliance that promotes economic growth for a D.C.-centered region spanning from Baltimore south to Richmond.

Warden was named chair-elect of the 37-member board in November 2022. She will replace Peter Scher, a co-founder of the organization and vice chair of JP Morgan Chase & Co. Board members for the partnership include leaders of some of the region’s most recognizable companies and institutions, including Bruce Caswell, president and CEO of McLean-based Maximus, and Timothy Sands, president of Virginia Tech.

“As board chair, Peter guided us through unprecedented challenges and helped the Greater Washington Partnership achieve big wins and catalyze inclusive economic growth. We are thankful for his leadership to ensure our region thrives at its maximum potential,” Greater Washington Partnership CEO Kathy Hollinger said in a statement.
The Greater Washington Partnership reported $6.9 million in revenue in 2022 and is estimated to reach $7 million in 2023. The organization has 24 full-time employees.
Warden was elected vice chair in February 2021.
“Kathy brings tremendous expertise to the table as a thought leader, convener and problem solver for regional, national and global issues,” Hollinger said. “Her tech sector experience and passionate advocacy for our skills and talent work will be invaluable as we continue to build our region into a tech powerhouse. Kathy signals the next phase of the partnership’s growth and position as a leading voice for our region from Baltimore to Richmond.”
In June 2022, the Greater Washington Partnership unveiled its $4.7 billion Regional Blueprint for Inclusive Growth, a 10-year plan to increase equity and create a more inclusive economy throughout the region it spans.

Former Siemens exec charged in Dominion bid-rigging case

A retired Siemens Energy executive is facing a felony charge in an alleged conspiracy to steal its competitor’s trade secrets, helping the German energy company prevail in a winning bid to build a gas turbine “peaker” plant in Chesterfield County for Dominion Energy in 2019.

John Gibson, of Winter Park, Florida, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond Division on Oct. 24 with one count of conspiracy to convert trade secrets, according to a charging document. His employer is referred to as “Company 1” in court filings, however, he is identified in a 2021 civil lawsuit filed in the same court by General Electric against Germany-based Siemens.

According to court documents, in May 2019, Siemens, GE and Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. submitted bids to provide and maintain gas turbine equipment for Dominion’s planned Chesterfield peaker plant, which was to run at times of high energy demand, in a deal valued up to as much as $340 million. Gibson is accused of conspiring with others from May 2019 and into June of that year to pass along confidential information about GE and Mitsubishi’s products and bids to other Siemens employees, with the help of Theodore Fasca, a former manager in Dominion’s generation system planning group, and Michael Hillen, who worked as an account manager in power generation for Siemens and was responsible for sales to Dominion Energy.

Fasca, of Richmond, and Hillen, of Midlothian, have previously pleaded guilty in the case.

As part of the scheme, Hillen and other employees at Siemens, including another unnamed person, sought to influence its winning bid by providing gifts, including hotel accommodations, dinners and football game tickets to Fasca and other Dominion employees during the bid process. Then, on or about May 30, 2019, Gibson allegedly authorized and gained approvals to resubmit a lower bid to Dominion, which ultimately awarded the project to Siemens.

Court documents note that Gibson did not financially benefit in the alleged scheme, and Dominion, GE and Mitsubishi are each named as victims. Gibson formerly worked as executive vice president of power generation and head of sales for North America for Siemens Energy, and retired in June 2020, according to his LinkedIn account. He did not respond to an interview request Friday and his attorney was not listed in available federal court records.

GE and Siemens settled the civil lawsuit in September 2021. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Siemens’ alleged theft impacted GE’s ability to compete “fairly,” Boston-based GE said in its complaint, and the Fortune 500 conglomerate lost eight projects to Siemens valued at more than $1 billion.

Dominion canceled plans for the Chesterfield plant in 2020. Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility, told Virginia Business that the conspiracy case was not connected to the plant’s cancelation. Dominion is now seeking to revive plans for the plant, known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, following a shift to more renewable energy, according to Virginia Mercury. Spain-based Siemens Gamesa, a subsidiary of the German company, is a partner in Dominion’s $9.8 billion, 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to receive federal approval during the week of Oct. 30.

“Dominion Energy takes very seriously its obligation to conduct prudent and compliant procurement practices, and we’ve cooperated fully with authorities in this case,” Ruby said in a statement. “Mr. Fasca is a former Dominion Energy employee, and the project that he was involved with did not go forward. Dominion Energy has never been accused of any wrongdoing in this case. This matter is completely unrelated to the proposed Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center.”

Fasca pleaded guilty in July to a single count of criminal information. He is scheduled for sentencing March 1, 2024. Hillen pleaded guilty to a count of criminal information on Sept. 26 and is scheduled for sentencing on April 11, 2024. Both face a maximum term of five years in prison, a fine and a maximum three-year term of supervised release.

Gibson’s initial appearance and bond hearing is set for Nov. 8 in Richmond.

 

 

HII names new VP of engagement, intl. gov relations

Huntington Ingalls Industries has named retired British Army Brig. Gen. Paul Tennant corporate vice president of engagement and international government relations, the Newport News-based shipbuilder announced Wednesday.

Tennant will be located in HII’s Arlington office and will work on national security policy and future force capabilities by engaging with think tanks, professional organizations, federal entities, academia, consultancies and other third-party advocates in support of HII campaigns and priorities. In addition, he will lead and provide oversight for government and customer relations on international initiatives, including the trilateral Australia, United Kingdom and United States partnership, and will coordinate engagement with foreign governments, embassies and other relevant organizations.

Tennant succeeds Joe Tofalo, who will retire in December after five years with HII and 35 years in the U.S. Navy.

“We are delighted to have Paul join our team and take on this important role while HII expands domestically and internationally,” Stewart Holmes, HII’s executive vice president for government and customer relations, said in a statement. “Paul brings over 30 years of leadership and security cooperation expertise. He has forged strong partnerships within the national security environment at embassies, combatant commands, at the joint level and with many important third-party institutions. Paul’s network, coupled with his extensive security cooperation background, will strengthen the cross divisional and cooperate efforts at HII and position us to be a stronger partner for our customers.”

Tennant’s last position in uniform was as defense adviser for the U.K. to Canada, where oversaw the the defense relationship between the two countries. He previously served as military attaché and deputy defense attaché for the U.K. in Washington, D.C., working to manage and advance the relationship between the U.S. and British armies.

Tennant began his military career as an aviator and served on multiple deployments in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. From September 2015 through August 2018, he was chief of NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps’ Joint Fires and Influence Branch and has also served on exchange to the U.S. Army as special assistant to then-Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno. Tennant has master’s degrees from the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, and Cranfield University, in the U.K.

RTX to sell cyber, intelligence biz for $1.3B amid Q3 slump

RTX has agreed to sell its cybersecurity, intelligence and services business segment for about $1.3 billion and announced a $10 billion stock buyback program Tuesday as it seeks to recover from a manufacturing quality issue in a jetliner engine that has plagued the Arlington County-based Fortune 500 defense and aerospace contractor since the summer.

RTX, which announced its rebranding from Raytheon Technologies Corp. in June, revealed its plans in its third quarter 2023 results, which also included news of a nearly $1 billion loss in its East Hartford, Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney aerospace division. The buyer for the cybersecurity, intelligence and services business, part of its Raytheon division, was not disclosed. The sale is subject to regulatory approval.

“We regularly review our portfolio to ensure our business is best positioned to deliver for our customers, stakeholders and employees,” company spokesperson Chris Johnson told Virginia Business. “Based on that review, we decided to divest our cybersecurity, intelligence and services business. We believe this gives the business greater autonomy to deliver on customer missions and allows it to serve as a platform for innovation well into the future.”

For the quarter, RTX reported a loss of $985 million, the result of a powder metal defect that could cause engine parts to crack and will require the grounding of 350 jets per year through 2026, Reuters reported in September. RTX lost about $5.4 billion in sales for the third quarter.

In July, when RTX disclosed the defect, officials said they expected to complete repairs in 60 days; Reuters’ September report shows a more prolonged and serious process, with as many as 650 jets grounded in the first half of 2024.

“We have made significant progress on our assessment of the Pratt & Whitney powder metal manufacturing matter and expect the financial impact to be in line with the previously disclosed charge,” RTX Chairman and CEO Greg Hayes said in a statement. “We are now focused on executing on our fleet management plans and are working relentlessly to mitigate further disruption to our customers. We do not expect any significant future incremental impact as a result of these fleet management plans.”

The company reported third quarter sales of $13.5 billion, down 21% from the previous year, which it attributed to the powder metal issue. Its adjusted sales of $19 billion for the quarter reflected a 12% increase from the prior year and the company has a $190 billion backlog, including $115 billion in commercial and $75 billion in defense work.

“The historic demand across our commercial aerospace and defense businesses drove 12% organic sales growth during the third quarter and led to another record backlog of $190 billion,” Hayes said.

The company’s $10 billion share buyback program will take advantage of steep declines in RTX share prices this year. RTX shares hit a high of $104 on April 18, with a steep decline to $85.17 on July 27 following news of the powder issue before declining through September and bottoming out at $69.38 on Oct. 5. With news of the buyback, RTX’s stocks increased to $77.99 by late Tuesday afternoon.

In addition, Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday announced RTX is donating $1 million to New York-based NAF, a national nonprofit organization that links businesses and schools to help high school students to prepare for college and work, to help with STEM education in support of the governor’s $100 million laboratory school initiative.

“Private sector leadership is critical to bringing innovation to Virginia public schools, and I am grateful for RTX’s donation to NAF to support STEM in Virginia schools,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Our lab school initiative is focused on creating pathways to the most in demand careers, technical training, and STEM exposure for Virginia students. The Virginia Department of Education will work closely with NAF on a plan to support lab school and STEM development in Virginia public schools.”

The state approved its first lab school, a partnership between Virginia Commonwealth University and Richmond’s CodeRVA Regional High School in July. That program, called VCU x CodeRVA Lab School, will train teachers and its students will focus on computer science. An additional six lab school application have so far been submitted, Youngkin’s office said in a news release Tuesday, and many or those applications are using STEM learning models to meet workforce needs in the state.

RTX has spent more than $17.6 million at Virginia educational institutions through a program that pays for employees to earn college degrees and certifications, resulting in more than 700 degrees. More than 200 RTX employees are currently attending Virginia-based programs through the benefit.

“The future of aerospace and defense innovation will be defined by the young people in Virginia schools and beyond,” Hayes said. “Our partnership with the state and NAF will deliver career-themed curriculum through academies of engineering and related business disciplines in public high schools right here in the commonwealth.”

RTX announced its move to Arlington County, from Massachusetts, in June 2022. The company employs more than 180,000 people globally.

Richmond-Petersburg pharma coalition wins fed designation

Central Virginia’s pharmaceutical hub received a federal designation that could lead to millions in federal funding in the future, while a 3D printing consortium in the New River Valley and Danville won a $500,000 federal grant, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Monday.

A group of public and private sector partners conducting pharmaceutical research and development in Richmond and manufacturing in Petersburg have been designated one of 31 tech hubs across the United States. Dubbed the Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) Tech Hub, the group will be led by the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing and focuses on manufacturing drug ingredients domestically to avoid supply-chain vulnerabilities caused by reliance on ingredients made overseas. The 31 designated tech hubs can now apply for $40 million to $70 million each in federal funding, which will go to three to eight hubs selected by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Also, the Virginia Additive Manufacturing and Applied Materials Strategy Development Consortium — a group of partners in Danville and the New River Valley, led by the New River Valley Regional Commission — received a strategic development grant of $500,000 through the Tech Hubs program, one of 29 programs that received a grant. Congress’ $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act helped fund the project, according to an announcement from U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.

APM’s designation builds off of $52.9 million awarded by the U.S. EDA in 2022 to the Alliance for Building Better Medicine to spur advanced manufacturing and biotechnology. As a designee, the APM hub, which was one of nearly 400 applicants for Tech Hub status, is now eligible to apply for up to $70 million in implementation funding under phase two of the program.

The federal designation “supports our plan to bolster this critical technology ecosystem and will build on the success of the Petersburg community to become a global leader in the pharmaceutical field,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “Becoming an internationally competitive high-tech hub for pharmaceuticals will provide lasting and resilient economic development to the residents of Petersburg and the commonwealth of Virginia.”

The Virginia Additive Manufacturing and Applied Materials Strategy Development Consortium won its $500,000 grant to develop and launch technologies for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, for heavy industry to draw manufacturing to the U.S. and strengthen the supply chain. The consortium includes more than 15 partners, among them Virginia Tech, Danville-based Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Christiansburg-based Meld Manufacturing, which builds large scale, metal 3D printers.

“This is exciting news and a testament to our region’s burgeoning prowess in additive manufacturing and applied materials,” New River Valley Regional Commission Executive Director Kevin Bird said in a statement. “This award will accelerate our work to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers adopt and implement these new technologies, grow their business and create jobs at all skill levels.”

The awardees were among several in the state that had applied for hub status, including the Richmond Technology Council and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.

$900M water park resort breaks ground in Spotsylvania

A massive water park resort has broken ground in Spotsylvania County.

The 1.38 million-square-foot Spotsylvania County Kalahari Resort, located between U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95 in Thornburg, north of Kings Dominion, is expected to offer a 907-room hotel, a 175,000-square-foot indoor waterpark featuring slides, a wave pool and surf park. Also planned are 10 acres of outdoor pools and a 90,000-square-foot adventure park with rides, a rope course, climbing walls, a dozen on-site food and beverage offerings and more than 150,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. Kalahari Resorts & Conventions expects to invest $900 million in the park, which is currently slated to open in 2026.

The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors in 2022 approved rezoning of about 135 acres for the park as well as performance incentives and a gap loan to help cover construction, and once completed, it is expected to be the county’s largest taxpayer, according to Spotsylvania County Supervisor Kevin Marshall, who also serves as business development manager for its economic development department. According to The Free Lance-Star, county-approved tax incentives for Kalahari over 20 years are estimated at more than $185 million, with the county expected to take in $83 million in tax revenue during that time period. Spotsylvania’s cost for the gap loan would be $74.8 million over two decades, according to Northern Virginia magazine.

In May, the county approved the creation of the Matta River Community Development Authority, a tax district to raise funding for infrastructure.

In a statement, Marshall said the investment is expected to not only generate construction jobs but also add 1,400 full- and part-time jobs ranging from “entry to executive level,” while driving economic growth for the region. 

This will be the fifth African-themed resort for the Wisconsin-based Kalahari, which opened its first complex in Wisconsin Dells, a popular tourist destination, in 2000, and the first to open in Virginia. The privately owned company also operates locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

“Our family could not be prouder to call Spotsylvania County, Virginia, home to our fifth Kalahari resort,” Todd Nelson, owner and founder of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, said in a statement.  “County and commonwealth officials and the Virginia people have been incredibly welcoming and supportive in helping us to make Kalahari Resort’s fifth location a reality in this beautiful state.”

In 2007, Kalahari announced plans to build a resort near the Fredericksburg Expo Center, but did not follow through due to the 2008 Great Recession.

HII’s Mission Technologies wins $347M Navy contract

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ McLean-based Mission Technologies will build nine undersea drones for the Navy’s Lionfish System program in a deal that could grow to as many as 200 vehicles during the next five years, with a total value of more than $347 million.

Newport News-based HII announced the contract Wednesday. The system is based on HII’s Remus 300, a portable, two-person small unmanned undersea vehicle (SUUV), which has an open architecture design and versatile payload options. The Navy picked Remus 300 as its official program of record for its next-generation SUUV in March 2022.

The contract includes delivery and support of the SUUVs, as well as afloat and auxiliary support equipment and engineering services.

“Lionfish provides increased capability and interoperability that aligns with the Navy’s undersea priorities and we look forward to delivering next-generation vehicles that can readily adapt to and support a variety of mission needs,” Andy Green, HII executive vice president and Mission Technologies president, said in a statement.

Mission Technologies received a $1.3 billion task order in April to provide a large-scale network of medical, rotary and fixed-wing solutions to support U.S. Africa Command’s Warfighter Recovery Network. Also that month, the company received a $995 million contract to advise and assist the U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers and is Virginia’s largest industrial employer. Its Newport News Shipbuilding division is the United States’ only manufacturer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Newport News Shipbuilding names trades VP

Newport News Shipbuilding has promoted a third-generation shipbuilder to vice president of trades.

David Horne has served since 2022 as senior director of trades. His promotion comes following a split of the shipbuilder’s human resources and administration department and trades department into two standalone groups. Xavier Beale, who held both roles, will continue as vice president of human resources and administration.

“Each part of this organization is critical to our success,” shipyard President Jennifer Boykin said in a statement. “Our human resources and administration team must focus on hiring, retention and development of employees, while the trades team must focus on safely and efficiently executing our work volume. Based on these changing dynamics, I am restructuring these teams back into standalone organizations to reflect the scope of responsibility and leadership bandwidth required for each.”

Horne began his shipbuilding career in 1983 as a welder prior to entering the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School as a pipefitter. He has also worked at the shipbuilder as a production department refueling manager, refueling trade superintendent, trade director and program trade director. Horne is a 1989 honors graduate of the Apprentice School and has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Christopher Newport University and a master’s degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers and is Virginia’s largest industrial employer. Its Newport News Shipbuilding division is the United States’ only manufacturer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Ellucian to buy UK software company for $210M

Reston-based higher education software company Ellucian has agreed to buy United Kingdom-based Tribal Group, which also provides education services software, in an all-cash deal that values the company at up to $210 million.

The deal was announced Thursday and Ellucian said in a news release that the offer was unanimously recommended by the Tribal board and is pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

The deal will help Ellucian expand its global product capabilities and follows its purchase in April 2022 of Chandler, Arizona-based financial aid software provider CampusLogic. The acquisition will also allow Ellucian to improve its product and support across its geographies and expand its customer base.

“Tribal is in clear alignment with Ellucian’s strategy, purpose and values, and this is an exciting opportunity to expand our combined reach as we power tertiary education so institutions can empower student success,” Ellucian CEO Laura Ipsen said in a statement. “We recognize Tribal’s notable transformation journey to cloud and are eager to work with Tribal’s strong leadership and talented team. With this investment, we can accelerate our impact in large and important educational markets around the world.”

Additional details were not immediately available Monday.

Founded in 1968, Ellucian provides enterprise resource planning software products such as student information systems, data analytics tools and graduation-tracking platforms for more than 2,900 higher education customers in more than 50 countries serving 22 million students. It was acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners for an undisclosed amount in September 2021.