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

BWXT to invest $65M in new Campbell County campus

Lynchburg-based nuclear components and fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) will build out and upfit a center for manufacturing and research and development adjacent to its Campbell County facility, creating 97 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday. The Fortune 1000 company plans to invest $65 million over the next three years, a Virginia Economic Development Partnership spokesperson said.

Dubbed the BWXT Innovation Campus, the facility will be on 11 acres acquired by the Fortune 1000 company last year. BWXT will relocate 150 employees from nearby facilities to the campus, including its nuclear services group and the division that designs and produces microreactors and nuclear fuels for space exploration and national security for customers that include NASA and the U.S. departments of defense and energy.

In a May 2020 deal, BWXT divested its U.S.-based commercial nuclear services business to Lynchburg-based Framatome Inc., acquiring 11 acres and a 118,000-square-foot building on Mt. Athos Road in Campbell County from Framatome. Chris Dumond, BWXT’s communications manager, said the company will build out and upfit the building, which is adjacent to BWXT’s million-plus-square-foot manufacturing plant.

The governor’s office said in its announcement that BWXT plans to make significant capital improvements to the facility through 2023, and the 97 additional jobs will have an average salary of $115,000 per year.

“BWXT’s continued investments in the commonwealth are a testament to our world-class higher education institutions and talented workforce,” Northam said in a statement. “When we invest in people, companies invest in Virginia — and that is exactly what has happened. We look forward to BWXT’s continued success.”
The VEDP worked with Campbell County and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance to secure the project for Virginia, which competed with two other states for the project. Northam approved a $400,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Campbell County with the project, and a performance-based grant of $700,000 from the Virginia Investment Performance Grant was also given, which is designed to encourage continued capital investment by existing Virginia companies. Job training at no cost to the company will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
BWXT has 2,630 employees in three locations in Central Virginia and 6,700 employees total across the United States and Canada, as well as joint ventures at more than a dozen Energy Department and NASA facilities.

Earlier this month, one of BWXT’s joint ventures, Savannah River Mission Completion LLC, won an Energy Department contract worth up to $21 billion to handle environmental management operations at a 310-square-mile site on the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia state line.

 

Henrico County retail property sells for $31M

A Baltimore-based real estate developer has purchased The Row at GreenGate, a retail property in the Short Pump area of Henrico County, for $31 million, Colliers International announced Thursday.

The 100,000-square-foot property at 12151 W. Broad St. was bought by DK Greengate LLC, an entity connected to Klein Enterprises, which increases its holdings in Virginia to 13 assets with the purchase. Harrison Hall and Peter Vick represented the seller, GreenGate Commercial, and JLL represented the buyer.

Anchored by Lidl, the shopping center is 94% leased and includes Starbucks, Pure Barre, Purify, The Daily Kitchen & Bar and other businesses as tenants. GreenGate is a multi-use, 75-acre community with 270 residential units and office space, near the corner of West Broad Street and North Gayton Road, about a mile from Short Pump Town Center.

Klein will manage the property, and Colliers will continue to handle leasing. In May, New York-based Almanac Realty Investors committed up to $200 million of capital in backing Klein’s expansion in the mid-Atlantic region.

“We believe The Row at GreenGate is a best-in-class retail asset serving a growing, affluent customer base in the Richmond area — a region we’ve marked for continued investment,” Klein President Daniel Klein said in a statement. “This acquisition furthers our strategic expansion into the great state of Virginia, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to grow our footprint in suburban Richmond’s preeminent retail and commercial corridor.”

SCC approves Dominion settlement, refunding $330M to customers

The State Corporation Commission approved a settlement with Dominion Energy Virginia in which the Richmond-based utility will refund customers $330 million and reduce rates annually by $50 million, the SCC announced Thursday.

For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, the rate reduction will result in a decrease of about 90 cents per month, beginning within 60 days of the SCC’s order, and residential customers will receive about $67 in refunds over the 2022-2023 period, the statement said. The utility will refund $255 million over a six-month period and $75 million over three years, according to an earlier announcement by Dominion.

As part of the settlement, the SCC authorized a rate of return on common equity (ROE) for Dominion of 9.35%, which will be used for rate adjustment clauses and for Dominion’s next triennial review.

Last month, Dominion Energy Inc. announced it had come to a comprehensive settlement agreement with the SCC and the state attorney general’s office after the utility brought in nearly $1 billion in excess profits between 2017 and 2020, according to SCC staff and the attorney general. Dominion’s return on equity rate for shareholders has been 9.2%, and it previously requested a return of 10.8%. The 9.35% rate is included in the compromise. Under the federal Grid Transformation and Security Act, enacted in 2018, the $50 million reduction in rates is the maximum allowed.

Also in the agreement is $309 million in revenue to be used to offset costs of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project off Virginia Beach, deployment of smart meters and a customer information platform.

“We thank all parties to the case for working cooperatively for a good outcome for customers, an even more reliable grid, economic development and the environment,” Dominion Energy Virginia President Ed Baine said in a statement Thursday.

VPM Media Corp. purchases Style Weekly

VPM Media Corp., the parent company of Richmond-based VPM public television and radio stations, announced Thursday it has acquired Style Weekly, the Richmond publication that was closed down in September by its owner, Alden Global Capital, after nearly 39 years in print.

Financial terms were not disclosed, and a VPM spokesperson said they could not say which former Style employees would return to the publication. According to VPM’s announcement, in coming weeks, VPM will resume publication of arts and culture features and the local events calendar on StyleWeekly.com and its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts while evaluating the future of the print publication.

VPM News Director Elliott Robinson said in a tweet that VPM will contract with two previous Style Weekly employees, and the editorial staff will report to VPM News leadership. At the time of Style’s shutdown, only four staffers were employed, and it had given up its office in Richmond’s Manchester neighborhood.

Steve Humble, VPM’s chief content officer, said Thursday in an interview that the purchase was funded by the Virginia Foundation for Public Media, an endowment started in 2018 with $158.6 million from a 2017 auction sale of the corporation’s spectrum channels, which yielded $181.9 million.

The purchase of Style Weekly from Alden includes all trademarks and digital property, including 37,000 articles and the StyleWeekly.com website, Humble added. VPM is in talks now with past Style employees about working either full-time or as contractors. For the time being, Style will exist on its former website, but VPM will provide marketing, digital and sales support. Over the next six to nine months, Humble added, VPM will examine whether to keep Style relatively independent or “integrate a bit more with VPM,” as well as deciding whether to revive the print version of Style.

Humble said that the reason the public media corporation decided to make the purchase was to boost its own arts and culture coverage. “We can build this from scratch, but it would probably take several years for us to build the kind of following Style has,” he said, noting that VPM is growing its own local coverage, including a Virginia-focused TV news show launching next year.

“This acquisition not only represents a strategic opportunity for VPM, but it is also a chance for nonprofit media to innovate and experiment with new business models that may define the future of local journalism,” VPM President and CEO Jayme Swain said in a statement.

Style posted its own announcement Thursday on Twitter: “With the support of VPM and its talented staff, we’re ready to get back to work. You should start seeing stories roll out on our website and social media channels around mid-December.”

Style was sold in 2018 by Norfolk-based Landmark Communications Inc. to Tribune Publishing Co. (then known as Tronc Inc.), along with The Virginian-Pilot and Inside Business, for $34 million. In May, Tribune Publishing was purchased by hedge fund Alden Global Capital in a $633 million deal. In September, Style’s then-editor-in-chief, Brent Baldwin, announced on Facebook that the Sept. 8 issue of Style, already on stands, would be its last edition. Started in 1982 as a monthly publication, Style later was a free weekly paper covering Richmond beginning in 1984 with its sale to Landmark.

It was known as an alternative to Richmond’s two daily newspapers — the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the now-defunct Richmond News Leader — and focused on the city’s food, arts and entertainment scenes. In subsequent years, Style also developed a strong reputation for photo journalism and hard news stories, as well as the popular “You’re Very Richmond If” and “Best of Richmond” features. The Valentine museum acquired Style’s photograph archives from its founding in 1982 to 2016, and Humble said VPM will likely work with the Richmond history museum on projects.

“For nearly 40 years, Style Weekly has been an integral part of Richmond’s culture,” Humble said in a statement. “In the next six to eight months, we will be taking time to listen to readers as we develop a long-term strategy and determine how Style Weekly can best serve the community.”

VPM Media Corp., formerly known as the Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corp., had $38.4 million in assets as of June 30, 2020, according to financial statements posted online. It owns television and radio stations affiliated with PBS and NPR across Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.

Editor’s Note: Virginia Business Associate Publisher Lori Collier Waran, Editor Richard Foster, Art Director Joel Smith, Graphic Designer Kira Jenkins and Account Manager Toni McCracken all previously worked at Style Weekly. 

Noblis CFO to retire in 2022

Mark Simione, Noblis Inc.’s senior vice president, chief financial and administrative officer and treasurer

Noblis Inc.’s senior vice president, chief financial and administrative officer and treasurer, Mark Simione, will retire July 8, 2022, the Reston-based not-for-profit federal contractor announced this week.

Gary Sladic, the company’s vice president of finance and accounting, has been appointed deputy CFO and will assume the top role after Simione’s retirement.

“As one of the first executives to help establish Noblis in 1996, my tenure with the company has been an incredible journey. I’m honored to have helped build and lead in such a phenomenal organization and team,” Simione said in a statement. “I am also pleased to pass the baton to Gary Sladic upon my retirement. Gary and I have worked together for the past 25 years, and I’m confident he’s the right leader for this next phase of growth.”

Gary Sladic, Noblis Inc. vice president of finance and accounting

Simione and Sladic joined Noblis — then known as Mitretek Systems — in 1996. Simione serves on Noblis’ board of trustees and AllCom Global Srvices’ board of directors. Sladic has held several positions in the company’s finance department and has contributed significant work to the company’s merger and acquisitions during the past 25 years.

In September, Noblis won a five-year, $263 million Department of Defense contract to work on its Cooperative Threat Reduction program. In April, Noblis purchased McKean Defense Group for an undisclosed amount.

MWAA creates diversity, inclusion, social impact VP post

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees the Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, created a new Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact on Wednesday, to be led by Tanisha Lewis, a 21-year veteran of the authority.

Lewis was named the authority’s first vice president of diversity, inclusion and social impact, in which she will build a team to “consolidate and deliver strategies and programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to a news release.

“Combining these initiatives with data analysis and a clear strategic approach, the Airports Authority can objectively assess our current state, accurately report progress and align corporate reporting with stakeholder expectations to transparently communicate what we stand for as an organization,” MWAA President and CEO John E. Potter said in a statement.

Lewis most recently worked as the manager of human capital management performance and business readiness, creating leadership development and supervisor training courses, as well as developing MWAA’s corporate social responsibility program and its first annual report. She holds a master’s degree in human resource management from the Catholic University of America.

HII taps Northrop Grumman exec as new VP

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Wednesday it has hired Mike Aldinger as vice president of the live, virtual, constructive (LVC) training solutions department in its technical solutions division. Aldinger joins Newport News-based HII after 22 years at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.

HII is the United States’ largest military shipbuilding company and includes Newport News Shipbuilding and its Ingalls division in Mississippi. Aldinger was most recently NG Mission Systems’ business area manager for LVC mission integration, based in Orlando, Florida. His focus at HII will be on growing the company’s relationship with the U.S. Air Force, according to a news release from HII.

“HII’s extensive portfolio of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy training has helped transform LVC across the joint defense community,” Glenn Goodman, president of HII’s LVC Solutions business group, said in a statement. “Mike’s experience in tailoring and scaling mission training solutions will unlock expanded opportunities to support the joint force in the critical area of readiness.”

A graduate of the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida, Aldinger has worked in simulation training, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, mission planning and more. HII employs more than 44,000 people around the world.

Henrico expands development incentive program, amends tax credits

Henrico County announced this week it is creating a redevelopment incentive program for parts of the county that are in need of renovation.

Henrico Investment Program was unanimously approved by the county board Tuesday, and the program is expected to launch in January. Incentives for development and reinvestment will be available for projects along parts of Mechanicsville Turnpike, Staples Mill Road, Patterson Avenue, West Broad Street and Williamsburg Road, according to a county news release. The board also amended the county’s commercial rehabilitation tax credit program to allow more buildings to qualify, including if they grow in size.

Under the state’s Enterprise Zone program, Henrico County and other localities offer grants and other incentives to support improvements and demolition of existing buildings on properties in designated areas, determined as needing further investment by the state. Henrico’s new program will allow the county to offer similar incentives outside of its 6-square-mile Enterprise Zone. Incentives include:

  • Allowing sign grants to include removal, refurbishment or replacement of signs attached to buildings
  • Increasing the demolition grant to a maximum of $100,000 based on a building’s size
  • Expanding the building facade grant to include building system improvements and roof improvements

Since 2004, the county has allowed a seven-year partial real estate tax exemption when renovated buildings’ assessed values increase by at least 40%, but not if they grow more than twice their original size. The amendment by the board this week allows nonresidential buildings greater than 20,000 square feet to qualify if the expanded portion is 125% or less of the building’s original size, and nonresidential buildings smaller than 20,000 square feet can qualify regardless of their original size.

“With the new Henrico Investment Program and amended commercial tax credit program for rehabilitated buildings, Henrico and the Board of Supervisors show once again their commitment to encouraging reinvestment in the county’s mature areas and to helping businesses, particularly small businesses, to grow and thrive,” Anthony J. Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority, said in a statement.

Performance Food Group to build $80M facility in Hanover

Performance Food Group Co., the Goochland-based Fortune 500 food distribution corporation, plans to invest $80.2 million on a new facility in Hanover County, creating 125 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. The regional sales and distribution center will be housed in a 325,000-square-foot building in Ashland.

“This new facility will be instrumental in advancing Virginia’s fast-growing supply chain management and logistics industries,” Northam said in a statement. “Performance Food Group’s significant investment in Hanover County and growing presence in Virginia is a testament to our strong business climate, robust infrastructure and top-notch talent. We look forward to seeing the positive outcomes from this project’s investment and job creation.”

Virginia competed with Pennsylvania and North Carolina for the project.

“Since the company’s founding in Richmond in 1885, Performance Food Group has called Virginia home,” Performance Food Group Chairman, President and CEO George Holm said in a statement. “With our new state-of-the-art food distribution facility in Hanover, Performance Food Group reaffirms its commitment to Virginia, our associates and our valued customers. Virginia’s talented workforce and business-friendly environment will continue to fuel Performance Food Group’s plans for growth.”
Performance Food Group, which went public in 2019, has a network of more than 150 locations in the United States and Canada, providing food to more than 300,000 locations, including restaurants, businesses, schools, hospitals, retail outlets, theaters and other facilities. In September, PFG completed its acquisition of convenience store supplier Core-Mark for $2.5 billion in stock and cash, a purchase expected to add about $17 billion to PFG’s annual sales.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Hanover County to secure the project, and VEDP will support job creation through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program. Performance Food Group is also eligible for benefits through the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for the full-time jobs created.

Falwell revives Liberty defamation suit, wants personal items returned

Former Liberty University President and Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. has revived his defamation lawsuit against the Lynchburg-based private Christian university that is suing him for $10 million, according to court documents filed in late October. Falwell also seeks the return of personal property he says is being held by the university, including a .38 revolver, the JerryFalwell.com URL, legal files and three horses loaned to the university’s equestrian center.

Falwell’s countersuit in Lynchburg Circuit Court came seven months after Liberty sued Falwell over breach of contract and fiduciary duty after Falwell was forced to resign in August 2020 following a series of controversies. Falwell’s tenure at Liberty was capped by an international news media scandal, as Reuters reported that a former business partner of Falwell’s claimed in an interview that he had a longstanding affair with Falwell’s wife, Becki, and that Falwell watched them have sex.

While acknowledging his wife’s affair with Giancarlo Granda, Jerry Falwell Jr. has forcefully denied that he was aware of or participated in sexual activity between Granda and his wife. He contends that Granda was blackmailing the couple, who met Granda during a 2012 trip to Miami, staying at a hotel where Granda worked as a pool attendant. In subsequent years, the Falwells and Granda were involved in a business partnership in which Granda ran a Miami Beach hostel that was in the name of the Falwells’ son, Jerry “Trey” Falwell III. Granda denies attempting to blackmail or extort the Falwells.

In October 2020, Falwell sued Liberty, claiming that the university made defamatory statements about him after his resignation as president and chancellor of the university that his late father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, founded in 1971. However, in December 2020, Falwell dropped the lawsuit, saying that he decided “to take a timeout.”

On Oct. 21, Falwell’s attorneys filed a counter claim with Lynchburg Circuit Court, and paperwork was filed Oct. 26 for the countersuit. The 16-page document alleges that the university made defamatory statements about Falwell, including a speech delivered by David Nasser, then Liberty’s senior vice president for spiritual development, on Aug. 26, in which he referred to “shameful” actions and “sinful behavior” committed by Falwell. A later news release from Liberty also claimed that Falwell “lack[ed] spiritual stewardship,” according to Falwell’s lawsuit.

Falwell’s countersuit also makes new charges that Liberty has kept some of Falwell’s personal property by banning him and Becki Falwell from its campus since last year. “Since Mr. Falwell’s resignation, Liberty has wrongfully possessed and controlled Mr. Falwell’s property,” the lawsuit says.

Among the personal items Falwell claims that Liberty University has retained are:

  • a .38 revolver
  • the URL JerryFalwell.com (which is currently inactive)
  • personal items from Falwell’s former offices, Liberty warehouses
  • three horses provided to the equestrian center
  • legal files from 1988 to 2007
  • a collection of books and historical items

Falwell also claims that the university is holding some of his personal property at an 1820-built home in Lynchburg that was owned by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Macel Falwell, Falwell Jr.’s late parents, and was presented as a gift to Liberty University by the Falwell children in December 2019, according to city property records.

Falwell’s attorneys, of the Richmond firm Whiteford Taylor Preston, said Tuesday they had no additional comment on the litigation. Liberty University and its attorneys did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Falwell’s suit does not request a specific amount of money but seeks damages for breaching his 2019 employment agreement, Liberty’s conversion of his personal property, punitive damages and any other relief the court deems appropriate.

Falwell’s revived suit comes amid a new wave of controversy roiling the university, which has the state’s largest online enrollment at more than 100,000 students. In July, 12 women sued Liberty, claiming that they were sexually assaulted while they were students and employees there and that the university created a hostile environment. A ProPublica investigative story released in October included interviews that alleged Liberty “ignored reports of rape and threatened to punish accusers for breaking its moral code.”

Scott Lamb, Liberty’s former senior vice president of communications and public engagement, sued the university last month, claiming he was fired for speaking up about the university’s handling of sexual assault claims, in possible violation of Title IX laws governing colleges’ sex discrimination, harassment and assault policies. Liberty has countersued Lamb, suing him for up to $3 million for defamation and requesting he return all “trade secret” documents in his possession.

Liberty’s board of trustees unanimously voted last week with President Jerry Prevo to allow a third-party investigation into its Title IX policies and processes, but some students and alumni, including an advocacy group known as Justice for Janes, after the anonymous “Jane Doe” plaintiffs suing the university, say this doesn’t go far enough. They are calling for a thorough investigation of Liberty’s culture and the root causes of the issue.

Beginning last October, a public accounting firm investigated the university’s finances during Falwell’s 13-year tenure as president, including opening an anonymous whistleblower website. However, the results of that investigation have not been released, and Lamb claims in his lawsuit against Liberty that allegations about sexual assault that were reported to the investigating firm, Baker Tilly US, were not followed up on by university officials.