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

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Kate Andrews

Va. edges up to No. 2 in CNBC poll

Cited once more for its educational prowess, Virginia moved from third place last year to second place this year in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business rankings. Our neighbor to the south, North Carolina, won the top spot for a second year in a row.

“Virginia is our most decorated state, a five-time winner,” the network said in July, “but you’ll pay dearly for doing business here, one reason Virginia comes up just short this year.”

Ranking second place overall and No. 1 in education is not bad, although the state’s ranking as No. 34 in cost of doing business, a nine-place decline from 2022, is an area that could use some improvement.

In 2022, the state was dinged for its cost of living, receiving a D+ grade, and this year, Virginia improved to a C+ grade.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has noted that the commonwealth’s high cost of living and doing business, especially in Northern Virginia and other urban sectors, is a major focus for his administration, offering tax cuts as a salve. Another administration focus is getting more industrial sites shovel-ready, to help prepare land for megaprojects like Lego Group’s $1 billion manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County, which broke ground in April.

A major reason Virginia doesn’t have as many big deals like this, compared with North Carolina and other Southern states, is because the state hasn’t invested nearly as much money in getting large land tracts ready for construction. Youngkin proposed $450 million in this year’s budget for site preparation, but as of mid-July, Senate Democrats and House Republicans refused to budge on their priorities and pass an amended budget.

CNBC notes that political winds make a difference in its rankings, including reproductive rights among its Top State metrics this year under the label “life, health and inclusion.” Virginia placed No. 16 in the category, and North Carolina, which this year passed a ban on abortions after 12 weeks, ranked No. 34. Virginia’s future CNBC rankings, as well as its overall business friendliness, will be in play this fall, as all 140 state legislative seats are up for election. Youngkin’s $1 billion tax cut priority and other goals, including limiting abortion access, will either pass easily through a GOP-led legislature or continue to hit Democrats’ brick wall.

In any case, Virginia is still competitive in attracting companies and, with more shovel-ready land, is likely to improve its draw for megaprojects.

Richmond casino returning to Nov. ballots

It wasn’t exactly a surprise, but the Virginia Lottery and the Richmond Circuit Court have approved Richmond’s do-over casino referendum to appear on ballots this fall.

“I am excited to see the Virginia Lottery and the Richmond Circuit Court approve the referendum for a Richmond destination resort and entertainment venue that will provide 1,300 good-paying jobs and an estimated $30 million in annual revenue to tackle our community’s greatest needs,” Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement Tuesday. “Richmond is experiencing record development and growth, and, with the addition of a destination resort, we will change the economic trajectory of South Side for years to come.”

In June, Richmond City Council voted to select RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC — a joint venture between Urban One Inc. and Churchill Downs Inc. — as the city’s preferred casino operator for the proposed $562.5 million ONE Casino + Resort that will be built in South Richmond near Interstate 95 if the referendum passes in November.

Council members also voted to execute a host community agreement between the city and RVA Entertainment Holdings, as well as a community support agreement between the city, developer RVA Entertainment Holdings and Richmond VA Management LLC (the entity that would manage the casino). The latter agreement would fulfill a negotiated payout of $25.5 million to the city from the developer if the referendum passes this year, as well as a $1 million bonus payment from the developer to the city upon closing of the resort casino’s financing.

After the council’s actions, the ball was in the court of the Lottery, which oversees the state’s commercial casino administrative processes, and the city’s circuit court, which placed the referendum on the ballot by order Tuesday.

After the General Assembly voted in 2019 to allow casinos in five economically challenged cities statewide, voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth approved casinos in their localities in 2020 referendums. Now, casinos are operating in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth, with another in development in Norfolk.

However, Richmond voters rejected the proposed ONE Casino + Resort in November 2021 by a 1,200-vote margin.

Casino boosters — including Stoney and most of the Richmond City Council — have said that the casino should get a second chance to win over city voters, and a loophole in state law didn’t bar a second referendum after the first failed. State Sen. Joe Morrissey tried to close that loophole during the General Assembly session this year in an attempt to get a referendum on Petersburg’s ballots and prevent a second vote in Richmond. He was unsuccessful and now is a lame duck, having lost his Democratic primary in June to keep his Senate seat.

Opponents of the mulligan referendum said that voters made their feelings clear two years ago. One City Council member, Katherine Jordan, has voted against the referendum consistently over the past two years.

“We are ready to elevate our 20-year-plus relationship with Richmonders by presenting opportunities for real economic impact,” Alfred Liggins, CEO of Urban One, said in a statement. “We are proud of the service we continue to provide through various community and business partnerships and are talking to local leaders and citizens about the kinds of entertainment options, jobs, and community benefits they want to see included in this project. While this initiative will create 1,300 well-paying jobs and generate $30 million in annual revenue for the city, we are most excited about the investment it allows us to continue to make in the citizens of this great city.”

Most of the particulars of the proposed casino are the same as they were two years ago, although Churchill Downs is now involved after having purchased Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC (P2E) for $2.75 billion last fall. P2E was part of the 2021 proposal for the ONE Casino + Resort with Silver Spring, Maryland-based Urban One, a media company that operates 55 radio stations and the TV One cable network. The parent company of Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, Churchill Downs also owns the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent County and six Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums in Virginia, as well as several casinos nationwide.

According to Richmond Economic Development Director Leonard Sledge, the ONE Casino + Resort, which would include a 250-room hotel and radio, TV and film production studios and soundstages, would be built on a 97-acre site on the city’s South Side on property owned by Altria Group Inc. off Interstate 95, just as proposed in the 2021 referendum. The city anticipates 1,300 jobs would be directly created by the casino, which would generate $30 million in projected annual local tax revenue, Sledge says.

One difference in this year’s casino push is the absence of the word “casino” in proponents’ recent statements, which are focused more on the project’s entertainment options, community involvement and economic impact, as opposed to gambling.

Churchill Downs and Urban One’s statement Tuesday said they plan to unveil a new design for the resort in coming weeks.

Atlantic Union to acquire American National Bank

Updated 4:15 p.m. July 25

Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank’s parent company announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire American National Bankshares Inc., which is headquartered in Danville and is the holding company of American National Bank and Trust Co. The combined bank will have total assets of $23.7 billion as of June 30, according to the statement.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Inc. and American National expect to complete the merger in the first quarter of 2024, and both banks’ boards of directors have approved the deal. Two members of American National’s board — Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Howell Agee and Virginia Furniture Market President Joel R. Shepherd — will join Atlantic Union’s board.

Jeff Haley, American National’s chairman, president and CEO, will “assist in the integration of the two companies and advise on the combined bank’s regional community banking model” in the bank’s locations in Southern and Southwest Virginia, as well as represent the merged bank in two Danville-based charitable trusts, the announcement said.

The combined bank will have total deposits of $19.1 billion and gross loans of $17.3 billion.

In a Tuesday afternoon news conference, John C. Asbury, president and CEO of Atlantic Union, said he expects the systems conversion to take place in May 2024, if the deal closes early next year as expected.

Over the next few months, Atlantic Union will assess the staffing and branches it will take on as part of the American National purchase, Asbury said, but that he wasn’t prepared yet to say how many American National employees’ jobs will be cut as a result.

He noted there is some overlap of the two banks’ branch locations in the Roanoke and Rocky Mount areas in which they are located so close to each other, “it makes no sense to have two branches operating. There will be some degree of [staffing] impact,” Asbury said, but with those “pretty limited” examples of overlapping branches, “we certainly are not interested in limiting convenience” and closing more branches. He also said that there are no plans to close American National’s Danville headquarters, where Haley expects to maintain an office, although those staff numbers will be part of Atlantic Union’s assessment.

Haley noted that the merger comes at a time when smaller community banks are merging with other banks. “There’s been a massive digital transformation in the industry,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “I believe that the model of what we do as a $3 billion community bank has changed. The foot traffic is down considerably since COVID. It has been a massive change in how people use banking services.”

Asbury added that he believes the pandemic accelerated digital banking, such as photographing checks and depositing funds digitally, or conducting Zoom appointments with branch staffers. “This industry isn’t going away, but there are going to be fewer of us.”

American National, which was founded in 1909, has 26 branches in Virginia and North Carolina and is Virginia’s ninth largest bank. It had $3.1 billion in assets as of June 30. Atlantic Union is the largest community bank headquartered in Virginia, with 109 branches, $20.6 billion in assets and $15.7 billion in deposits as of June 30. (McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp. is the largest bank headquartered in Virginia, with $38.37 billion in 2022 revenue and $467.8 billion in total assets.)

Under the agreement, each outstanding share of American National common stock will be converted into the right to receive 1.35 shares of Atlantic Union common stock, which would place the value of the transaction at $416.8 million, or $39.23 per share, based on Atlantic Union’s 10-day weighted average closing stock price ending Monday.

“American National is a high-quality community bank with an exceptional 114-year history, a strong core deposit base and outstanding asset quality,” Asbury said in a statement earlier Tuesday. “This is a company and leadership team we have long admired and know well, and the relationship between our two banks spans decades. We expect that our combined footprint will bring additional convenience to our customers and position us as an even stronger competitor against the large national, super-regional and smaller community banks. Increasing our presence in Roanoke and entering Southside Virginia will further build out our Virginia franchise, and the transaction will also allow us to gain meaningful entry into North Carolina’s attractive Piedmont Triad region and Raleigh. With a more diversified deposit base, expected synergies and enhanced growth market opportunities, we believe the combined franchise will be able to generate a higher level of financial performance for our shareholders.”

Piper Sandler & Co. is acting as financial adviser to Atlantic Union, and Covington & Burling LLP is acting as its legal adviser in the transaction. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. is acting as financial adviser to American National, and Williams Mullen is acting as its legal adviser in the transaction.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Atlantic Union as the largest bank headquartered in Virginia. Atlantic Union is the largest of Virginia’s community banks, but the largest bank headquartered in Virginia is McLean-based Fortune 500 bank Capital One Financial Corp.

Gordon Robertson tapped as Regent University chancellor

Gordon Robertson, son of the late televangelist Pat Robertson, succeeded his father this week as chancellor of Virginia Beach-based Regent University, a nationally prominent Christian conservative private university founded by the elder Robertson.

Robertson will continue to serve as president and CEO of CBN and president of Operation Blessing, according to the university’s announcement Monday. Pat Robertson died in June at the age of 93.

Pat Robertson started Christian Broadcasting Network from Virginia Beach in 1960, revolutionizing religious broadcasting with its flagship program, “The 700 Club,” a syndicated evangelical news magazine show he hosted for 60 years. During his tenure at CBN, Robertson, who had vied unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 1988, occasionally made headlines for making controversial and provocative pronouncements about LGBTQ+ people, Muslims and Democrats. In October 2021, he stepped down as host of “The 700 Club’ on its 60th anniversary show, passing the hosting baton to his son Gordon, who became CBN’s president and CEO in 2007.

Gordon Robertson ran CBN’s Asian operations in the Philippines in the 1990s, before returning to Virginia Beach to work at the CBN headquarters. Regent University, which was known originally as CBN University, was founded in 1977 and has about 11,000 students, 80% of whom are enrolled online. It has more than 150 areas of study, and among its alumni are Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, former Gov. Bob McDonnell, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer, 53 sitting judges and 14 university presidents.

Gordon Robertson is a graduate of Yale University and Washington & Lee School of Law, and practiced law at the then-Vandeventer Black law firm for 10 years before joining CBN.

March of Dimes names new president and CEO

When she starts her new job as president and CEO on July 17, Dr. Elizabeth Cherot will be the first physician to head up the March of Dimes, the 85-year-old, Arlington County-based women’s and infant’s health nonprofit founded by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Cherot joined March of Dimes in January as senior vice president and chief medical and health officer, a position in which she led the nonprofit’s  Office of Maternal and Child Health Impact. She succeeds interim President and CEO Karen Walker Johnson, who had held the temporary position since January. In late 2022, former March of Dimes CEO Stacey D. Stewart left to become CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“As a physician and mother of two children, it’s simply unacceptable that our country is among the most dangerous places to give birth among high income countries today,” Cherot said in a statement. “Families are facing poor health outcomes and grave disparities, which makes our work at March of Dimes more important than ever before. I’m committed to changing the course of this crisis and look forward to working with our partners and supporters to ensure every mom and baby has the best possible start.”

An OB-GYN, Cherot served as chief medical officer for Axia Women’s Health from 2018 through January, overseeing 2,500 employees, 500 health care providers and 200 patient care centers. Prior to that, Cherot was medical director and managing partner for Brunswick Hills Obstetrics and Gynecology, a New Jersey women’s health clinic, for more than 14 years, managing 15 medical providers and 70 employees. She has a medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and an MBA and bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. Cherot also is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Founded in 1938 by Roosevelt to combat polio, the March of Dimes today is a national nonprofit focused on healthy pregnancies and births, particularly among women of color, who are more likely to die during childbirth. March of Dimes received $82.4 million in donations in 2021 and had total operating revenue of $103.9 million.

Five Guys moving HQ to Alexandria

Five Guys Enterprises LLC is moving its corporate headquarters from southern Fairfax County to Alexandria this month, a spokesperson confirmed Friday. The new main office for the family-owned hamburger chain will be in leased space at 1940 Duke St., starting July 17.

Friday was the company’s last day at its Lorton headquarters at 10718 Richmond Highway, which Five Guys leased in 2012. The new headquarters, with 39,673 square feet, will be on the fifth floor of the 220,000-square-foot Carlyle Crescent building. The building is owned by I&G Direct Real Estate 25 LP and is assessed at $59.8 million, according to Alexandria property records. JLL handles leasing for the building.

Five Guys was founded in 1986 by CEO Jerry Murrell, whose five sons joined the business, which started with a single burger shop in Arlington. After 27 years of regional success, Five Guys began offering franchises in 2003, and in less than two years, the company sold more than 300 franchises. Today, there are approximately 1,700 Five Guys locations worldwide with 20,000 employees. According to the company, there are approximately 600 employees in Virginia.

 

The cost of leaning in

In 1982, the comic strip “Frank and Ernest” noted that Ginger Rogers — standing in for all women — did everything Fred Astaire did but “backwards and in high heels.” Even 41 years ago, that sentiment felt like a well-known acknowledgement, and it still holds true now.

This issue, in our third annual Women in Leadership Awards, Virginia Business honors a cohort of 37 women executives, many of whom have succeeded in male-dominated industries, and some of whom started their careers in the wake of the women’s liberation movement.

That’s not to say every male executive intended to make life harder for their female colleagues, but there was at the very least a knowledge gap in most workplaces. Mothers’ rooms, or lactation rooms — private spaces where new moms could pump milk at work — were not a thing in most workplaces before the 1990s. And young women had few female C-suite role models, let alone formal mentoring programs. Our Women in Leadership honorees persisted, and, by and large, they’ve served as mentors for many women at their workplaces and their communities.

In the 21st century, women were told by former Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to “lean in” at work and strive for leadership roles — never mind that many professional women work second shifts of child care, housework and/or caregiving for aging family members. Not everyone can afford nannies or other help. The pandemic solidified this remaining area of inequality, as many women not only performed their jobs remotely but also managed their children’s remote schooling or watched their little ones when day care closed.

Many couldn’t do it all, and they left the workforce, at least temporarily — to the tune of 2 million by early 2022. Even women in the C-suite acknowledged feeling exhausted and made changes. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki left her job in February after nine years, saying she wanted to focus on “family, health and personal projects.” Sandberg herself left Meta in 2022 but continues to chair her Lean In Foundation — now renamed the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation.

The expectation that women will continue to take care of things at home while also taking leadership roles at work — and, oh yes, keeping their hair, makeup and clothing up to date and professional — is, for many, a recipe for burnout and fatigue. It also leads to feelings of guilt, especially for parents who miss important moments in their children’s lives. And often, women undervalue themselves, both at home and work.

As of 2022, women were paid 82% of what men make in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Sometimes that’s because they miss out on networking opportunities outside regular hours, or because they move to part-time roles after becoming mothers. A lot of women accept first salary offers and don’t negotiate higher wages.

There are exceptions — as we see in Virginia Business’ annual CEO compensation report, women CEOs at large public companies are richly rewarded. However, according to financial research firm Morningstar, U.S. women executives made 75 cents for every dollar earned by men in the C-suite in 2020, a record low since 2012. 

The root of this problem is, no doubt, structural. Pay gaps will continue without affordable child care and realistic leave policies for caregivers, as well as companies’ acknowledgement of the extra work that often falls on women’s shoulders.

While we celebrate this year’s Women in Leadership Awards honorees — an amazing group of women executives who deserve to be celebrated — let’s also keep in mind how much work and time they put in, both at — and outside of — the workplace.

Wonder women

At an early June networking reception to celebrate this year’s Virginia Business Women in Leadership Awards winners, many in attendance pointed out how unusual it was for dozens of women executives from across various industries to join together in the same room.

Held at law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP’s Richmond office, the event brought together more than 20 of this year’s cohort of 37 Women in Leadership honorees to meet and forge professional connections. The reception’s uniqueness highlights how hard many women executives have worked to succeed and rise to the top of historically male-dominated industries, continuing to climb corporate ladders and break C-suite glass ceilings even today.

This impressive third annual cohort of awardees was chosen by our editors from a competitive field, with more than 320 nominations submitted this year. To qualify, nominees must be based in Virginia and hold C-suite or equivalent positions at their organizations. Deciding this year’s list, Virginia Business’ editorial staff considered factors such as overall professional accomplishments, civic engagement, mentoring and breaking glass ceilings. Our winners are divided by their organizations’ workforce size: small employers with 99 or fewer employees; midsize employers of 100 to 499 people; and large employers with 500 or more workers. Past winners were not eligible for consideration.

Congratulations to this year’s group of accomplished and talented leaders!

LARGE EMPLOYER

ELAINE BEEMAN
Chief leadership officer and civilian portfolio lead, Accenture Federal Services, Arlington

AMY CARRIER
President and CEO, Centra Health, Lynchburg

DEB DAVIS
Vice president and general manager of Mission Solutions Sector, General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church

JENNIFER DeBRUHL
Director, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, Richmond

LIZA WILSON DURANT
Associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement and professor, College of Engineering and Computing, George Mason University; Director, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Northern Virginia Node, Arlington

ELENA EDWARDS
Chief markets officer and regional CEO for North America, Allianz Partners Group, Henrico County

CASSIE HARTOGS
Tax regional managing partner, BDO USA, McLean

GHADA IJAM
Chief information officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Richmond

JOANNE INMAN
President, Sentara Leigh Hospital, Norfolk

DR. MELINA R. KIBBE
Dean, University of Virginia School of Medicine; Chief health affairs officer, UVA Health; Professor, Departments of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

AISHA McGILL
Chief business officer, Koniag Government Services, Chantilly

MELANIE McGRATH
Submarine division director, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News

DOLLY OBEROI
Founder and CEO, C2 Technologies Inc., McLean

CAROLYN RAINEY
Charlottesville president, Bank of America, Charlottesville

TIFFANY RAY
Vice president of student services and equity advancement, Germanna Community College, Fredericksburg 

MAGGIE REED
Vice president and business unit leader, Gilbane Building Co., Richmond 

MIDSIZED EMPLOYER

KIMBERLY CHRISTNER
President and CEO, Cornerstone Hospitality LLC, Williamsburg

ALICE P. FRAZIER
President and CEO, Potomac Bancshares Inc. and Bank of Charles Town, Leesburg

COURTNEY MOATES PAULK
President, Hirschler, Richmond

SUSAN R. RALSTON
Chief operating officer and executive vice president, Old Point National Bank, Hampton

KELLY TILL
President and publisher, Richmond Times-Dispatch; Regional vice president of sales, Lee Enterprises Virginia, Richmond

DR. DIXIE TOOKE-RAWLINS
President and provost, Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg 

MURPHY TUOMEY
Chief administrative officer, senior vice president, board member, A. Morton Thomas and Associates Inc., Richmond and Staunton

AUTUMN R. VISSER
Principal, Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC, Roanoke

SMALL EMPLOYER

ERIN BURCHAM
President, Verge; executive director, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, Roanoke 

MELINA DAVIS
CEO and executive vice president, Medical Society of Virginia, Richmond

BETSY FRANTZ
President and CEO, PathForward Inc., Arlington 

REBECCA GELLER
President and CEO, The Geller Law Group, Fairfax

LINDA HUTSON GREEN
Vice president of economic development, Institute for Advanced Learning and Research; Executive director, Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, Danville

GRETA J. HARRIS
President and CEO, Better Housing Coalition, Richmond

LAURA KOTTKAMP
Executive director, Monroe Park Foundations at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 

RITA McCLENNY
President and CEO, Virginia Tourism Corp., Richmond

TERRIE L. SUIT
CEO, Virginia Realtors, Glen Allen

MY LAN TRAN
Executive director, Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce, Ashland

LUCIA ANNA “PIA” TRIGIANI
Partner and co-founder, MercerTrigiani, Alexandria

LORI COLLIER WARAN
President, Richmond Raceway, Richmond

CHRYSSA ZIZOS
Founder and CEO, Live Wire Strategic Communications LLC, Arlington

Check out the 2022 and 2021 Women in Leadership winners.

Bon Secours taps Mary Immaculate Hospital president

Alan George, a former health care executive from Georgia, started as president of Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News this week, the health care system announced Tuesday.

George comes from ScionHealth, where he served as the chief operating officer for St. Francis – Emory Healthcare in Columbus, Georgia. He previously was CEO of several community hospitals in Texas and Georgia.

“I am thrilled to join Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital and have the opportunity to lead such a respected institution in providing exceptional health care to the Newport News and Peninsula community,” George said in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside the talented team of health care professionals and contributing to the hospital’s continued success in delivering on its mission of providing compassionate care and making a positive impact on the lives of our patients.”

In his new role, George will report to Pat Davis-Hagens, Bon Secours’ Hampton Roads market president. In recent months, Bon Secours has named new hospital presidents for Harbour View Hospital, currently under construction in Suffolk, and Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth.

Richmond City Council passes casino legislation — again

Richmond City Council on Monday selected RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC — a joint venture between Urban One Inc. and Churchill Downs Inc. — as the city’s preferred casino operator, one of several administrative steps the city must take before a mulligan casino referendum lands on ballots in November, asking voters to reconsider allowing the proposed $562.5 million ONE Casino + Resort to be built in Richmond.

Council members also voted to execute a host community agreement between the city and RVA Entertainment Holdings, as well as a community support agreement between the city, developer RVA Entertainment Holdings and Richmond VA Management LLC (the entity that would manage the casino). The latter agreement would fulfill a negotiated payout of $25.5 million to the city from the developer if the referendum passes this year, as well as a $1 million bonus payment from the developer to the city upon closing of the resort casino’s financing.

The three items were approved in Monday’s consent agenda.

After the General Assembly voted in 2019 to allow casinos in five economically challenged cities statewide, voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth approved casinos in their localities in 2020 referendums. Now, casinos are operating in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth, with another under development in Norfolk.

However, Richmond voters rejected the proposed ONE Casino + Resort in November 2021 by a 1,200-vote margin.

The wording of the state law legalizing casinos did not bar a second referendum after the first one failed, allowing a second bite of the apple in Richmond. But Petersburg officials, including state Sen. Joe Morrissey, were hoping to bring Cordish Cos.’ proposed casino to their city and unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation that would have given them a casino referendum instead of Richmond. That bill’s failure cleared the way for Richmond voters to take a do-over casino vote this fall.

Most of the particulars of the proposed casino are the same as they were two years ago, although Churchill Downs is now involved after having purchased Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC (P2E) for $2.75 billion last fall. P2E was part of the 2021 proposal for the ONE Casino + Resort with Silver Spring, Maryland-based Urban One, a media company that operates 55 radio stations and the TV One cable network. The parent company of Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, Churchill Downs also owns the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent County and six Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums in Virginia, as well as several casinos nationwide.

According to Richmond Economic Development Director Leonard Sledge, the ONE Casino + Resort, which would include a 250-room hotel and radio, TV and film production studios and soundstages, would be built on a 97-acre site on the city’s South Side on property owned by Altria Group Inc. off Interstate 95, just as proposed in the 2021 referendum. The city anticipates 1,300 jobs would be directly created by the casino, which would generate $30 million in projected annual local tax revenue, Sledge says. In his presentation at last week’s Richmond City Council Organizational Development Standing Committee, Sledge said that the temporary Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol brought in $7.9 million in tax revenue since it opened in July 2022, and the Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, has yielded $4.7 million in tax revenue since its January opening.

Urban One Inc. CEO Alfred Liggins III and Joseph Quinn, chief counsel for Churchill Downs, both spoke at the June 5 committee meeting to encourage city councilors to give the project another chance — a formality, given that six out of nine council members are serving as patrons for the ordinances, along with Mayor Levar Stoney.

The board’s organizational committee voted June 5 to recommend approval of the three pieces of legislation, although one council member, Katherine Jordan, who also opposed the casino in 2021, voted against it both at the committee meeting last week and the full council meeting Monday.

Several supporters of a second referendum — chiefly local union members advocating for more jobs — spoke during the public hearing segment of the committee meeting, but only one casino opponent spoke, noting that the city’s voters had already made their feelings known in the first vote in 2021.

City Councilor Reva Trammell, a steadfast casino booster, said, “It’s a referendum. Yes, we have the right to have another one.”

Following Monday’s votes, the council will next petition Richmond Circuit Court to place the referendum on November ballots.