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byline: Joan Tupponce

Norfolk ‘micro-school’ will prep kids for future work

Music superstar Pharrell Williams’ educational nonprofit, Yellow, will be opening a new, independent “micro-school” with a focus on STEM and workforce preparation this fall in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood.

The school, Yellowhab, is intended to be the first of a network of small schools.

“We want to add more schools in Hampton Roads and beyond,” says Mike McGalliard, executive director of Yellow. “This school that opens this fall is one among what we hope to be many schools just like it.”

Williams, who grew up in Virginia Beach, says he has “a deep connection to the region as whole. The opportunity presented itself in Norfolk, and as we grow, we’d like to support and serve families and communities throughout Hampton Roads.”

Yellowhab will open with grades 3 to 5, but will eventually expand to include pre-K to 12, and will be tuition free for its inaugural year, McGalliard says, with children selected via a lottery from appli-cations received from families living in Norfolk. The school’s location has not been announced.

Each class of 10 children will be called a crew, with teachers referred to as crew leaders. “The school will have an emphasis on STEM education,” McGalliard says, “and will initially enroll between 40 and 50 students who will be grouped by skill level and not grade level.”

The immersive curriculum will involve problem solving and examining critical processes and will include access to technology in and outside of school.

“We are looking at what skills they will need to be successful in the future,” says McGalliard. “Half of the jobs a child will be applying for don’t exist yet. We teach adaptability, lifelong learning and creativity.”

The school will emphasize entrepreneurship — the skills and “mindsets children need to bring their ideas to life,” says Stacey Lopez, chief operating officer of Virginia Beach-based Yellow. “We also want children to understand the future of work, to understand what’s out there for them and what’s possible for them and how the skills and knowledge they learn today at Yellowhab connect to real life and real jobs.”

This and subsequent schools will serve children and families who are usually underserved in traditional education. Families must qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program to attend.

Danville’s White Mill gets second chance

The $62.5 million, first-phase redevelopment of Danville’s White Mill into a mixed-use commercial and residential project on the Dan River marks a new beginning for the former textiles factory that was the most visible symbol of the city’s economic decline.

“It has become an eyesore and a reminder of the loss of our major industries,” says Corrie Bobe, Danville’s economic development director. “In its current state, the White Mill does not depict the true story of the growth and change that is taking place throughout the region.”

The 100-year-old former Dan River Mills plant has been vacant for more than a decade following the collapse of the region’s textiles industry 15 years ago.

Breathing new life into the massive, historic structure “is of significant importance to our community as it will further activate our riverfront and provide a high-quality space for people to live and work,” Bobe says.

Wisconsin-based The Alexander Co. Inc., which is developing the approximately 20-acre property, is completing architectural and engineering plans for the project, scheduled for completion in summer 2023.

It will feature 110,000 square feet of commercial space and 150 housing units, with another 100 housing units planned for later.

“We are setting aside over 20% of the apartments for workforce housing,” says Dave Vos, development project manager for The Alexander Co., based in Wisconsin.The project is being developed in partnership with the Danville Industrial Development Authority. “We decided to redevelop the building under a joint venture with the IDA in lieu of purchasing it outright,” Vos says.

The company is working with the IDA on commercial space as well as 216 parking spaces on the lower level. The city’s parks and recreation office also is in the process of planning for the approximately 75-acre Riverfront Park, which will abut the parcel.

The structure is “one that will last for many generations, and for me to witness its rebirth for a second life confirms why I think Danville is rapidly becoming a model for urban renewal,” says Alonzo Jones, Danville’s mayor.

Another plus is the fact that the upcoming Caesars Virginia casino, scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2023, will be about three miles away from the White Mill project, Jones adds, saying, “We will be able to provide a housing opportunity for recruitment and retention of their employees.”

Pittsylvania officials hope to spur brownfields development

Pittsylvania County’s growth trajectory received an added boost in May when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the county a $600,000 grant to conduct environmental due diligence on 18 brownfield sites in the county.

Five of the sites are considered high priorities. They include the former Southside Manufacturing mill site in Blairs; Pat’s Place in Chatham; the 100 block of South Main Street in Gretna; and Staunton Plaza Shopping Center and the former Burlington Industries property, both in Hurt.

There aren’t any development plans for most of the properties, but the county is talking to companies that might be interested in developing the sites. “This is step one in a three-year process,” says Pittsylvania Economic Development Director Matt Rowe.

Brownfields are previously developed sites that may contain environmental contaminated assets, such as buildings with asbestos or chemical storage tanks that could have leaked into soil or groundwater. “We have to do the studies first and find out if there are any objectionable features on the property,” Rowe adds. “We need to get input from the community and come up with master plans for those areas that may be attractive to outside development.”

Last year’s $34 million Staunton River Plastics project at the former Burlington property — a brownfield site now in the development pipeline — is back on track after funding was delayed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All things considered, the project in Hurt is moving forward at a “lightning pace,” says Mayor Gary Hodnett. “Our community is very excited and looking forward to Staunton River Plastics being an important part of our town, and we all welcome the construction process starting very soon.”

Brownfields studies will help the county market other opportunities, Rowe notes. “These projects have big investors, and investors hate risks. You want to do anything you can to absolve any perceived risk. This study allows them to be more aggressive with their investment timeline because they don’t have to do a separate study.”

Sherman Saunders, chairman of the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority, says the Caesars Virginia casino project there is fueling interest to develop other projects in the area.

“It’s a game changer. I have lived in this region all of my life, and I know the struggle this region has been through. We wanted to reinvent the region, see a renaissance, and it’s working.”

Turn up the volume

The Port of Virginia is benefiting from pent-up demand for goods, seeing a significant uptick in cargo volume since last fall, which translates into more work for truckers.

The $800 million-plus investment made in the port’s Virginia International Gateway and Norfolk International Terminal has allowed more room for vessels, and “cargo is flowing really well,” says Joe Harris, spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.

There was a little hiccup in March when the Taiwan-owned Ever Given container ship blocked the Suez Canal for several days, delaying six ships expected in Hampton Roads in April, but otherwise, “there have been no congestion issues or backups,” Harris says. (West Coast ports have been seeing significant backups in recent months, due to increased container volume and pandemic-related labor issues.)

In January, the Port of Virginia set a new record for monthly TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) volume, handling nearly 271,000 units. That was a 19.2% increase over January 2020, when the U.S.-China tariff war was in full swing. The increase was driven by heavy import and export volumes, as well as a significant number of empty containers being sent out to fill with in-demand goods from other nations.

That’s a stark difference from last summer, when the port hit bottom in terms of cargo. “We knew there was going to be a rebound, and we are seeing that,” Harris says.

The tariff war and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic led to a dip of more than 4% in the port’s overall volume numbers for 2020.

“We saw soft volumes February through May and even into June last year, then some leveling off, and then we picked back up. From October [2020] to February, it was gangbusters,” says Harris.

Improvements made to Virginia International Gateway and Norfolk International Terminal are at the root of the success, he says. “By doubling the size of Virginia International Gateway and expanding the operation in Norfolk and changing the mode of operation there, we have added more than 1 million additional TEUs of capacity,” Harris says.

On the trucking end, “we stack in a strategic manner that gives us higher capacity,” explains Mark Higgins, the port’s director of motor carrier experience. The trucking reservation system, instituted in 2018, makes the system smoother than before, he adds.

Before 2018, the nature of doing business from a truck driver’s standpoint “was chaotic,” Higgins says. “Containers were spread throughout our yard. Our drivers could expect a trip through the terminal that took an hour, two hours or more. It wasn’t uncommon to be two to four hours inside the terminal to get one container.”

Today the reservation process gives drivers predictability and reliability, something they had requested, Higgins says. “The chaos has been eliminated.”

Turn times at the port now average 40 minutes or less, below “the golden measure” of one hour, Higgins notes. “We have been able to surpass that. The lower turn times allow trucking companies and motor carriers to plan better and serve customers in a more consistent manner.”

When the port first introduced the reservation-based approach, there was resistance to mandatory reservations. “There were motor carriers that thought it won’t work,” Higgins says. “Some that were most vocal are now our biggest proponents.”

Among them was Bob Eveleigh, first vice president of the Tidewater Motor Truck Association and chief operating officer of Norfolk-based Port City Transportation.

“We have seen dramatic improvement in the operations of the port for the past two years,” says Eveleigh. “Turn times are good. You can get in and out quickly. It’s a complete 180-degree turn from two to three years ago.”

The increase in volume is generally challenging to “some other ports along the East Coast,” says Ray Jalkio, TMTA’s president and vice president of sales for Chesapeake’s Service Transfer Inc. “The Port of Virginia is now delivering the best turn times compared to others on the East Coast. It’s a positive now.”

Harris predicts the heavy flow of cargo will last through June. “We think it will level off and still stay strong,” he says. “So much has to do with how quickly and widespread vaccines go, consumer confidence and the strength of the economy. Indicators show an economy that is rebounding, and that bodes well for the Port of Virginia.” 

A jackpot for Danville?

The now-blighted property that was Dan River Mills when textile was king in the city of Danville will soon morph into the gleaming, $400 million Caesars Virginia casino and resort.

At one time, the 80-acre site in the Schoolfield neighborhood was the world’s largest single-unit textile manufacturing site. Now abandoned, the unsightly property represents the loss of an industry, “a failure,” says Corrie Bobe, Danville’s economic development director.

But Danvillians foresee a future when the land will take on new life as a resort complex, creating jobs and adding an expected $34 million in annual tax revenue and supplemental payments. 

The new resort, expected to start construction in late 2021, will include restaurants and bars, a 300-guest-room hotel, a 35,000-square-foot conference center and a 2,500-seat live entertainment venue. The resort is expected to employ 1,300 full-time employees and generate 900 construction jobs during the construction period. It is set to open in 2023.

Thanks to brand awareness, Caesars Virginia will have access to Caesars Entertainment Inc.’s substantial loyalty membership program, which has 650,000 members within a 100-mile radius of Danville and 2.5 million members in Virginia and North Carolina.

The project didn’t become a sure bet until voters overwhelmingly passed a local referendum on casino gaming in the Nov. 3, 2020, election, along with voters in Portsmouth, Norfolk and Bristol. Early last year, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing commercial casino gaming in five Virginia cities. All began plans except Richmond, which will choose a casino operator and bring the measure to voters this year. 

Some neighbors expressed concern about placing the casino near a residential neighborhood, because of crime and traffic worries. However, the majority of Danville voters were all in.

“I was pleased the percentage of voters in favor of the referendum was so high. Over two-thirds of the … voters voted in favor. The fact that there is so much support in the community allowed us to go forward confidently,” says City Manager Ken Larking. “We were pleased that we could provide transparency to the voters so they would have the information when they voted.”

The city wanted to be very deliberate about the process it used to choose an operator for the casino. “Having a careful process to help us decide on that investment will pay great dividends to us in the future,” Larking says.

Danville used a request for proposals process to narrow down the choices. The RFP went out to operators in December 2019, and the city announced that Caesars was selected as the preferred operator at a ceremony in May 2020. City Council relied on criteria provided by the Virginia Lottery to pick the best proposal. 

“We had seven responses, and we concluded that Caesars was the best choice for the city,” says Linwood Wright, a consultant to the city and former mayor.

Unlike traditional economic development projects, which pit localities against one another, choosing a casino gave Danville the upper hand. “We had multiple operators competing against one another. Our challenge was that we had no experience related to the gaming industry. We leaned heavily on our consultants to guide us through the process,” Bobe says.

Caesars is investing a minimum of $400 million in capital investment to transform the Schoolfield site into a resort complex. The company paid the Industrial Development Authority $5 million for the real estate and made an upfront payment to the city totaling $15 million in December 2020. Nearly $6 million of that $15 million is going toward a new police station in the former Dan River Inc. executive building.

By year three of operation, the state-collected gaming revenue will generate $22 million in revenue each year for the city.

“To put that in perspective, that’s about equal to the total amount the city provided Danville Public Schools for their operations this year,” Larking says.

The city wants to make sure the money “is spent in a responsible, impactful way,” Bobe says. “Through a public engagement process, investment in education was highlighted as [the] top priority for our citizens.”

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Regional reboot

Public and private investments are boosting the economy in Southwest Virginia, bringing in a diversified group of new companies, from indoor salmon farming to medical information technology firms — as well as a long-awaited casino.

Addressing the region’s steady decline in the coal industry, officials in the Southwestern region continue to lay out the roadmap for economic sustainability by building on its strengths, a focus it began with the launch of InvestSWVA in September 2019, a marketing plan that aims to bring new businesses to abandoned coalfields.

The vision includes high-tech companies, data centers and investments in information technology and energy innovation as well as an emphasis on advance manufacturing and the craft beverage industry.

Like other regions dealing with the pandemic, Southwest residents have been able to rally together to attract new investments and help existing companies survive and grow. It’s particularly significant in the region, where less than half of all households earned the basic cost of living in 2018, according to a November 2020 report by the United Ways of Virginia. With the combination of the pandemic and resulting economic crisis, numbers are likely worse today, the report says.

When it comes to private investments, The United Co.’s plan for a casino in Bristol came to fruition in November 2020, when local voters supported a referendum allowing Hard Rock International to build a resort that is expected to create 2,000 jobs and up to $21 million in annual tax revenue.

Cooperation equals success

The one constant in 2020 was “the cooperation and communication across the region among the economic developers and others involved in improving the region,” says Mike Quillen, chair of the Southwest Virginia Energy Research & Development Authority and an adviser in the mining and energy industries. “Everyone is working together to advance the region in a difficult time across the board due to the pandemic. The resiliency of the residents will always be our mantra.”

That atmosphere of cooperation helped Russell, Tazewell and Buchanan counties land Pure Salmon International Co., which will construct a large indoor fish-farming operation. The company purchased a 203-acre site for its 1-million-square-foot building over a three-year period, a $228 million investment expected to employ about 230 people by 2023.

“This was Tazewell’s project, but they ended up with property that borders Russell and Tazewell counties,” explains Ernie McFaddin, chairman of the Russell County Industrial Development Authority.

According to officials, it will be the world’s largest vertically integrated indoor aquaculture facility.

“This would not be possible without the support of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority [and] Buchanan, Russell and Tazewell counties,” says Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell. “We are confident this project will set a precedent for attracting other investments on an international level. We hope this will be the beginning of an economic revival in the coalfield region of Southwest Virginia.”

In January, Rambler Wood Products announced a new manufacturing plant in St. Paul, a $7.6 million investment that is set to create 73 jobs. It will be in the former Bush Furniture Industries building, and the company has committed to sourcing at least 55% of its timber from Virginia in the next three years.

Focusing on crucial industries

The region’s focus on advanced manufacturing and IT have brought in  several projects.

Grayson County won a bid for Metalworx Inc., a manufacturer of precision-manufactured components, assemblies and products for a variety of industries. The company is investing $7.6 million to relocate its headquarters and manufacturing functions from South Carolina to the former Core Fitness Complex in Grayson County, creating 59 jobs, the company announced last June.

Information technology projects in the region include Reston-based IT federal contractor 1901 Group, which is investing $1.15 million to establish its third Virginia operations center and creating 150 jobs. Recently acquired by Reston-based Fortune 500 company Leidos Holdings Inc. 1901 Group has a significant presence in Blacksburg and started hiring for its new location in Abingdon, although new hires are working from home until the pandemic subsides.

Whitney Czelusniak, economic development coordinator for Washington County, says the county focuses on “asset-based” economic development, which allows more job diversity and economic stability. “We emphasize growth in traded-sector and technology-driven industries, including manufacturing and information technology,” she says.

InvestSWVA has devoted attention to the data center business, which is well positioned for a region that has inexpensive land, geothermal cooling opportunities and a workforce ready to be trained, according to a yearlong study. 

“We see that renewable energy as the greatest opportunity for Southwest Virginia to reinvent itself, building on its legacy of energy production and using existing coal industry assets including land, power and water,” says Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies LLC and director of InvestSWVA.

In the end, adds Quillen, the region hopes to bring higher-paying jobs like “we had in the coal industry. The jobs that could evolve from our work on diversified energy opportunities may not reach that level but will be on the upper tier of pay in the region. Plus, as we have seen in the decades of coal and natural gas, there were ancillary jobs that spin off of that activity. The suppliers, vendors, even restaurants and retail benefit from disposal income generated from higher-paying jobs.”

Already the region has attracted eHealth Technologies Inc., which is investing $375,000 to establish a new customer support center in Scott County, expected to create 160 jobs. The Rochester, New York-based company provides medical record and image retrieval and clinical intelligence services to more than half of the nation’s top 100 hospitals.

Expanding for greater success

The region also saw several expansions last year. In Washington County, SPIG Industry LLC, manufacturer of highway guardrails and guardrail end terminals, is investing $7.9 million and adding 113 jobs to its operation in the Bristol-Washington Industrial Park. The company will build additional production plants and a welding shop, as well as a new rail spur line to serve its facility.

Grayson Natural Farms LLC, a producer of the Landcrafted Food grass-fed, organic meat snacks brand, is investing $1.5 million to expand its smokehouse and production operation in Grayson County and create 40 jobs. The company will add 35,000 square feet to its manufacturing facility in Independence.

Klöckner Pentaplast Group, a producer of recycled content products and high-barrier protective packaging, is investing a total of $68 million to expand its facilities in Louisa and Wythe counties.

Bland County’s large private sector employer, Hitachi ABB Power Grids, a producer of dry-type transformers, is investing $6.2 million to upgrade equipment and increase manufacturing capacity at its operation in the county, adding 40 jobs. The company employs more than 800 workers throughout Virginia, with approximately 332 at its Bland facility.

The region is also working to respond to a need expressed by breweries and distilleries to buy Virginia-grown grain, support small family farms and reduce food miles. InvestSWVA’s Project Calypso, which leverages the region’s agriculture history to become a significant supplier of craft malt to breweries and distilleries in Virginia, has launched Appalachian Grains as a specialty grain broker operation supplying craft malt to breweries and distilleries around Virginia.

“We have created a whole new market — growing malting-quality barley — that had not been grown in Southwest Virginia before 2020.  We delivered 17,600 pounds of our malted barley to 18 breweries all around Virginia, including larger ones like Devils Backbone and Hardywood,” Payne says. “We are creating new market opportunities and giving farmers additional ways to be sustainable and make more money.”

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Payout on a dream

“Get it done!” Those three words sent Jason Eige and Martin Kent on a mission to bring a casino to Bristol Mall before commercial gaming resorts were even legal in Virginia. 

Eige, general counsel for The United Co., and Kent, the oil and gas company’s president and chief operating officer, vividly remember the day they were called to CEO Jim McGlothlin’s office to discuss turning Bristol Mall into a casino.

“It all started in the late summer of 2018, when The United Co. became involved with Clyde Stacy, president of Par Ventures LLC, who owned Bristol Mall,” Eige says. “He came up with the idea of a casino and called Jim, a former business partner. They both felt it would be something impactful for the region and the community, that it would provide another opportunity for those living and working in this region. We were told to get it done.”

Eige and Kent knew state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, had been fighting to bring casino gaming to Virginia for the past two decades to no avail.

“There was very little likelihood of success, but that didn’t deter Jim,” Eige says.

The two sought support from the community, the Bristol, Virginia, City Council, legislators, the Chamber of Commerce and more. As Lucas’ bill gained momentum during the 2019 General Assembly session, Eige and Kent attended the International Association of Gaming Advisors’ annual meeting to learn more about the industry.

“We went to their conference to meet operators and law firms that advise operators,” Eige says.

Their goal was to find an operator that was the best match for the region. “It came down to what made the most sense for the city of Bristol,” Kent says. “We also had to look at how they would fit into this market.”

Bristol solicited for proposals and used private resources to zero in on the perfect candidate, which turned out to be Hard Rock International.

“From day one, we said no public funds would be used,” says Eige. “We are not asking for grant funding from the city. This would be a private endeavor, and we are proud of that.”

Hard Rock became the clear choice for a variety of reasons, including its brand association with music and entertainment. That blended nicely with Bristol’s history of being the birthplace of country music.

“Hard Rock was intrigued with our heritage and background. We have over 100,000 people come to the racetrack for NASCAR on the Bristol, Tennessee, side. And, our music festivals draw tens of thousands of people,” Eige says. “They were impressed with Bristol.”

The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in the 2020 session allowing commercial casino gaming. Bristol — along with Portsmouth, Danville, Norfolk and Richmond — was one of the five cities allowed to have a casino, pending local referendums. Voters in four cities approved casinos in November 2020; Richmond delayed its consideration until November 2021.

Nearly 72% of Bristol voters approved the casino measure. “We had the highest margin of the four cities that had the referendum,” Kent says.

That percentage was significant, Eige adds. “People embraced this project. We wanted it to be a clear mandate that this community wanted this.”

The 90,000-square-foot, $400 million Hard Rock casino is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs once it is fully operational, as well as an additional 1,500 indirect jobs, with an average income of $46,500.

The resort hotel will have dining and entertainment amenities along with a 3,200-seat Hard Rock Live performance venue and a 20,000-person capacity Hard Rock Outdoor entertainment venue.

Once it is operational, the resort is expected to bring in up to $21 million in annual tax revenue for Bristol (nearly half of the current city budget) and attract more than 4 million annual visitors.

City manager/city attorney Randall Eads hopes the project will bring people back to the region. “We have had a decline in population over the last 15 to 20 years. People are moving out to find good jobs. We hope to bring families back,” he says.

Having the resort in the city is something everyone should be “proud of,” he adds. “It gives citizens the ability to be part of an international company.”

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Growth and development

Despite dealing with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern Virginia is celebrating the development of a resort casino, new investments in the area and several company expansions.

The pandemic has presented localities in the region like Danville with a number of challenges they haven’t seen before, but the city continues to look for opportunities to bring in new companies. Prospect “activity is still strong,” says Corrie Bobe, Danville’s economic development director. “We are seeing projects that have strong financial and aggressive timelines for announcements.”

The new Caesars-branded resort casino that will be built in Danville is expected to bring in a minimum of $400 million in capital investment and the creation of 1,300 jobs. The project includes multiple restaurants and bars, a hotel with 300 four-star guest rooms, a 35,000-square-foot conference center, a 2,500-seat live-entertainment venue, a pool and a spa. It is expected to open in 2023. [See article, Page 32.]

Working together, the city, the town of Hurt and Pittsylvania County landed the manufacturing facility Staunton River Plastics LLC, which will be located in the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park in Hurt. It will be the first tenant at the industrial park, once the site of a Burlington Industries textile mill. The company is investing $34 million to build and equip the approximately 250,000-square-foot plant. The project is expected to create more than 200 jobs over four years and adds to the company’s existing presence in Altavista.

Upholding the commitment it made last October to have its new Virginia plant — formerly occupied by Ikea — in operation by this summer, Morgan Olson LLC started production at its 925,000-square-foot automotive manufacturing facility, where it produces step vans.

Morgan Olson currently employs more than 400 people, and it expects to have 703 employees by the end of 2021.

As for expansions, Litehouse Inc. received a $19.5 million loan from the Danville Industrial Development Authority to expand its facility at Airside Industrial Park, adding a 48,000-square-foot addition for refrigerated manufacturing and warehouse space. The company will add approximately 100 jobs.

The city of Danville is also seeing a lot of activity within several industry sectors, including furniture, manufacturing, food and beverage, metal working, automotive and advanced materials. “We are anticipating we will be able to announce additional new businesses to our region,” Bobe says.

Recruitment activity continues to be strong even with travel restrictions, she adds. “It has required us to be creative with how we are working with clients.”

Danville has tailored the way it services the local business community by providing resources and “access to information to help them through the pandemic,” Bobe says.

Resources include the Small Business Emergency Loan Program, which provides low-interest loans of up to $20,000 that businesses can use toward working capital, marketing and inventory.

The city’s Marketing and eCommerce Grant program provides funds toward paid marketing efforts and e-commerce updates, and the Small Business Rent Relief Grant provides up to $3,000 to cover one month’s rent. The grant programs do not require repayment, and grant amounts have varied.

More than 100 local businesses have been awarded slightly more than $300,000 from the various grant programs, and the program has loaned approximately $130,000 among eight business entities.

“We have helped many of our local businesses weather this storm. When [federal] CARES Act funding became available, it helped further our ability to aid businesses,” says Bobe.

Pittsylvania County started off the year busy, announcing both the Staunton River Plastics project with Danville and the town of Hurt and the expansion by print company Ennis Inc., which invested $800,000 and hired 15 new employees.

Additionally, North Carolina-based Ison Furniture Manufacturing Inc. is investing $3.5 million to acquire and renovate the recently closed A.C. Furniture Co. facility in Pittsylvania County. The project is set to create 150 jobs.

That move spurred the company’s supplier, Dogwood Global LLC, to relocate to a 30,000-square-foot building near Ison, investing $500,000 in new equipment and adding 45 jobs. The company manufactures high-end wood tables and custom furniture frames that will be upholstered by Ison.

In early 2021, Intertape Polymer Group Inc. announced it would expand its Pittsylvania manufacturing operation, investing $45 million and creating 50 jobs.

“We are seeing a lot of activity, especially in food and beverage and automotive. We are also seeing high-end furniture coming back,” says Matt Rowe, the county’s economic development director. “We are staying busy.”

The infrastructure at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill continues to evolve. “The Virginia Department of Transportation is designing the roadway and we’ve worked with AEP to have a high voltage transmission line coming into the park,” Rowe says.

Like others in the region, Martinsville-Henry County continues to see prospect traffic despite the pandemic. “We have weathered the storm much better than some,” says Mark Heath, president and CEO of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. “Our manufacturing continues to work through the pandemic. Some manufacturers have seen increased business during the past year.”

The Martinsville-Henry County region scored a win with FerraTex Solutions LLC, a provider of cure-in-place pipe solutions. The company is purchasing the former Compton Wood Products facility in the Bowles Industrial Park in Henry County and investing approximately $1.95 million to renovate and expand the facility. It is anticipated to add 15 jobs.

The Results Cos., a Florida-based call center, announced last September it would add 288 jobs at its Martinsville location and 118 at its office in Stuart, all of which would be full-time positions. In January, Laminate Technologies Inc. said it would invest $4 million to expand its Henry County facility and grow by 42 jobs.   

On the international front, yarn and fiber manufacturer Drake Extrusion Inc., a subsidiary of Sweden-based Duroc AB, is investing $6.9 million to expand its operation in Henry County, adding an additional manufacturing facility in a vacant 120,000-square-foot building and adding 30 jobs.

To help ensure future investments, Henry County will receive $1.5 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission to complete a steel natural gas pipeline from the Patriot Line to the Commonwealth Crossing Industrial Park, helping expand the area’s opportunities for large, transformational projects.

Projects in South Boston continue to progress at a steady speed. In 2020, Golden Piedmont LLC invested $11 million to establish Virginia’s first hemp processing and cannabidiol (CBD) oil extraction facility in Houghton Industrial Park, previously home to the former Blue Ridge Beverage distribution center, creating 22 jobs.

Its executives say they will buy all goods from the region and will bring in $15 million to $20 million of hemp this year.

Locally, the town completed a $1.4 million addition to the fire department. “We have the only round-the-clock paid staff in the county,” says Town Manager Tom Raab. “We added three new offices, two bays and three bedrooms.”

There’s also excitement about the completion of Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corp. and Microsoft Corp.’s SOVA Innovation Hub. The 15,000-square-foot, two-story facility is the first new building to be built in downtown South Boston in more than 40 years and is on the site of a former tobacco warehouse built in the 1900s and destroyed by a fire in 2002. As of Feb. 1, the building had opened its doors for coworking clients, taking COVID-19 precautions.

“It will be a real asset for the county,” says Raab. “We’ve definitely been holding our own during this pandemic.”

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Hemp industry takes another step forward

The co-founders of South Boston-based Golden Piedmont Labs want to give the county a boost by processing hemp from local farmers.

“We were looking for a way to give back,” says Rick Gregory, who started Golden Piedmont Labs with Sterling Edmunds Jr. Both are Halifax County natives with extensive backgrounds in real estate and finance. Helping rural communities make products from hemp that can find “success in global markets” will assist the local economy, Gregory says. So far, the company has approximately 100 growers under contract.

In October, Golden Piedmont Labs opened its 33,000-square-foot hemp-processing facility in Houghton Industrial Park, previously home to a Blue Ridge Beverage distribution center. It’s the first hemp processor in Virginia, which has seen a nascent industrial hemp industry grow as the result of state and federal legislation passed since 2018.

“We tore out everything and started from scratch,” says company president Steve Mize. “We have clean rooms for manufacturing with the same kind of floors and ventilators as surgical floors, and we’ve been getting extra certifications. We want to do food-grade products.”

Growing hemp is similar to growing tobacco, so farmers won’t have a large capital outlay for equipment. “This is a good, long-term, renewable product for farmers,” Mize says. “There are so many different things it can be used for.”

The processing facility will be able to produce an output of about 3 million pounds of industrial hemp per year.

“By establishing this large hemp-processing facility in a geographic center of industrial hemp production, Golden Piedmont Labs will directly address one of the biggest challenges facing the growth of industrial hemp in Virginia, a lack of local markets,” says Bettina Ring, Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry.

Golden Piedmont Labs will buy all of its goods from the region and will “bring in $15 million to $20 million of hemp this year,” Gregory says. “That goes into the local and state economy.”

Though a variety of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) oil products are legal and widely available for sale, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved only one CBD product, an anti-epilepsy medication. The FDA released preliminary guidelines this summer on approval of other products, including CBD-infused food and beverages. Once those rules are finalized, demand will likely increase, Gregory says.

“We are already being contacted by huge companies that want to put it in things like sports drinks and power bars. We see a bright future for it.”

 

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Home prices still increasing

Hampton Roads home values continued trending upward from July 2019 through July 2020.

According to the latest available data from the Real Estate Information Network Inc., the Multiple Listing Service for the region, the median price of buying a home in Hampton Roads this July was $275,000 — a 7.84% increase from July 2019.

When looking at the region’s seven major cities — Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach — the median sales price of homes in Newport News increased by the highest percentage, from $198,450 to $230,000 in the 12-month period between July 2019 and July 2020, an increase of 15.9%.

Sales values increased the least in Chesapeake. The median sales price in the city rose from $309,640 in July 2019 to $320,000 this July, an increase of 3.35%. But the city does have the highest median sales price across the region.

Portsmouth had the lowest median sales price in Hampton Roads, with $192,500 in July, a 6.35% increase from July 2019, when the median sales price was $181,000.

“Seeing these types of numbers is fantastic, but we do have low inventory,” says Barry Nachman, president of REIN’s board of directors. “Anything that hits the market sells quickly. The market is great. It’s a good time to buy and sell.”

 

 

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