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

Shenandoah Growers taps new chief science officer

Tessa Pocock has been named Shenandoah Growers Inc.’s new chief science officer effective immediately, coming to the Rockingham County-based indoor agriculture company from San Francisco-based Plenty Unlimited Inc., where she was director of lighting optimization.

Pocock, who holds a Ph.D. in environmental stress biology and master’s degrees in plant biochemistry and biology from Western University in Ontario, Canada, replaces Robert Hoffman, who is now Shenandoah Growers’ CSO emeritus, the company announced Tuesday. She will report to Chief Technology Officer Ulf Jönsson and serve on Shenandoah Growers’ executive leadership team.

“Tessa is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost lighting and plant biology experts. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome her to our proven management team of biologists, technologists and operators,” Shenandoah Growers President Philip Karp said in a statement. “As Shenandoah Growers enters our next phase of transformational growth, Tessa will bring an invaluable perspective, expertise and vision on plant-driven intelligent grow systems to ensure we are well-positioned to capitalize on unmet market demand for sustainable, accessible and organic herbs and produce.”

The company also recently hired Cameron Geiger as chief operating officer and provides organic herbs and leafy greens to more than 18,000 retailers nationwide. Pocock and Jönsson will be focusing on refining lighting technology to boost efficiency and lower costs, as well as expanding the company’s IP portfolio, according to the company’s statement.

Va. hotel revenues increased by 178% in May

Virginia hotel revenues for May 2021 increased by 178% compared with May 2020, according to data released Tuesday by STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

During the same period, rooms sold went up by 96%. The average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms rose 42% from May 2020 to $102.83, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose to $59.62, a 66.6% increase from May 2020. However, statewide hotel revenue still lagged behind May 2019 levels by 31%, the report states, although revenue was up by 4% in Hampton Roads.

“The hotel industry continues to recover in the commonwealth as well as in Hampton Roads,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “With increasing vaccinations, declining COVID-19 infections, rising consumer confidence, pent-up demand, and easing restrictions we have seen significant improvement in the performance of the hotel industry over the 2020 levels and we expect the industry to continue its recovery each month through the end of 2021.”

Nevertheless, Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association President Eric Terry says, “While these numbers seem encouraging, there is more to this story. Comparing May 2020 revenues, at the height of the pandemic, sets an extremely low threshold. A better indicator may be to look at occupancy rates in 2019 where we had a 61% statewide average. In 2020, occupancy rates were cut in half. In some places around the state we’re still sitting at 30% occupancy rates, even with restrictions beginning to be lifted. The recovery for the industry is a long road ahead — one peak travel month does not make a recovery of an industry that lost $14 billion and 90,000 jobs last year. We’re glad to see revenues rising for our hotels, but this data should be put in the context of 2020 being the worst year in recent history for many of our members.”

Hotel revenues and rooms sold increased in Virginia’s markets during May 2021, compared with May 2020, as the pandemic shutdown continued in the commonwealth. In Northern Virginia, which has seen a slower bounce back than other regions, hotel revenue increased by 168% year-to-year in May. The Charlottesville market saw a 373% increase; 845% in Williamsburg; 235% in Virginia Beach; 168% in Norfolk/Portsmouth; 95% in Chesapeake/Suffolk; and 94% in Newport News/Hampton. The number of rooms sold also increased in May, with a 349% boost in Williamsburg; 114% in Northern Virginia; 164% in Charlottesville; and 79% in the entire Hampton Roads market.

HII names new CIO for Newport News Shipbuilding

Jason K. Sutton has been promoted to chief information officer for Newport News Shipbuilding, parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries announced last week.

Sutton, who joined the company in 2018 as director of operations integration and is currently program director for steel fabrication and assembly, will be responsible for all aspects of information technology and lead HII’s enterprise cybersecurity and IT organizational and leadership change model. HII is the largest military shipbuilding company in the U.S. and is based in Newport News.

Sutton will succeed Brian Fields, vice president of business transformation and chief transformation officer, who is transitioning to vice president in charge of the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and Doris Miller, which are being constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding and are scheduled to launch in 2025 and 2029 respectively.

Sutton graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1993 and served more than 24 years in various Air Force strategic and tactical leadership roles in cyberspace operations and IT. He retired in 2018 as director of communications and CIO for the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, where he oversaw cyberspace and communications policy, resource advocacy and program management supporting 94,000 active-duty and civilian personnel worldwide. He holds masters’ degrees from Regent University and the Air Force Institute of Technology.

 

Va. Beach industrial property sells for $3M

A 38,600-square-foot industrial building on 4.34 acres in Virginia Beach has been sold for $3,015,000, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced last week.

The property at 1424 Baker Road was sold by Baker & Associates LLC to B&D Acquisitions as an investment. Geoffrey W. Poston of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled negotiations on the purchaser’s behalf. Iceland-based Eimskip Logistics currently leases the building as one of its two main U.S. locations.

 

Henrico County building sold for $2.2M

Brian Scrimpsher purchased a 15,327-square-foot building for $2,225,000 in western Henrico County, which will be used as a VA Cars Inc. dealership, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced last week.

The property at 7494 W. Broad St. is on 1.1 acres, and it was purchased from Ross Square LLC, with James Ashby IV of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handling the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

East Coast Appliance acquires Norfolk building for $1.4M

East Coast Appliance has purchased a 40,000-square-foot building in Norfolk for $1.4 million, which it plans to use as a warehouse, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced last week.

The property, at 1164 Azalea Garden Road, is on 2.9 acres and was purchased from Richard and Cheryl Hart. Geoffrey W. Poston of Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the purchaser.

 

Willcox Savage names new managing partner

Thomas C. Inglima, a longtime attorney at Willcox Savage PC in Norfolk, has been named managing partner effective July 1, the law firm announced Thursday.

Inglima, who joined Willcox Savage more than 25 years ago and has been a partner since 1999, succeeds Robert L. Dewey, the firm’s managing partner for more than 20 years. Dewey is stepping down as managing partner but will be active in the firm and serve as a senior partner in its commercial real estate practice.

Inglima has been a member of the firm’s management committee for two decades and served as chair of its compensation committee, as well as chairing the firm’s corporate, securities and finance practice group. He has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

“Rob has been a tremendous role model — his conscientious and fair leadership style has helped the firm thrive and continue to attract and retain an outstanding and diverse group of attorneys and staff,” Inglima said of Dewey in a statement. “People make the difference, and his efforts have prepared the firm well for the next 20 years.”

With 60 practicing attorneys in Virginia, Willcox Savage is one of the state’s top 10 largest law firms.

Va. initial jobless claims rise slightly

Virginia’s new unemployment claims rose slightly last week, while continued jobless claims declined, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday.

For the filing week ending June 12, 7,849 people filed initial claims, an increase of 639 from the previous week. Continued claims totaled 44,793 last week, down 5,468 claims from the previous week.

This time a year ago, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, 27,186 people filed new unemployment claims, 71.1% more than last week, while 386,893 people filed continued claims, 88% more than last week. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

More than half of the claimants who filed for benefits last week (and the prior four weeks) reported being in these industries: accommodations/food service; administrative and waste services; retail trade; and health care and social assistance.

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Nationwide, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims last week was 412,000, an increase of 37,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There were 1,457,102 initial claims during the same week last year.

Chesterfield business park portfolio sold for $39.5M

A Miami-based investor purchased a five-building Chesterfield County office portfolio for $39.5 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced Wednesday.

The Boulders and Moorefield business parks — totaling 414,322 total square feet that is 87% leased to several tenants that include AIG, Accenture and others — were sold by Hertz Investment Groups, represented by Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group, to KAS Partners, which closed the acquisition June 9. The sale was completed by Eric Robison and Bo McKown of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group in Richmond.

The buildings include:

  • Moorefield I, 812 Moorefield Park Drive, 46,638 square feet
  • Moorefield II, 808 Moorefield Park Drive, 46,973 square feet
  • Moorefield III, 804 Moorefield Park Drive, 52,155 square feet
  • Boulders Center, 1011 Boulder Springs Drive, 140,746 square feet
  • Winchester Building, 10800 Midlothian Tnpk, 127,810 square feet

The Boulders Center was financed with an $11.2 million loan from Ameris Bank, while the remainder of the portfolio was financed with a $16.5 million loan from Starwood Mortgage Capital. Cushman & Wakefield’s equity, debt and structured finance team of Jason Hochman, Ron Granite and Brad Geiger secured two separate loans for the buyer’s acquisition.

Richmond-based ColonialWebb opens new data center division

Richmond-based mechanical and electrical systems company ColonialWebb has opened a new division that focuses on data centers, call centers, specialty operations centers and other essential opportunities, it announced Wednesday.

Known as the Mission Critical Division, the department will be led by General Manager Nathan Wethington and include a team of people trained to serve enterprise and hyperscale facilities in ColonialWebb’s service region, which includes six locations in Virginia and one in Baltimore, Maryland. ColonialWebb is owned by Comfort Systems USA, which has 36 subsidiaries across the country.

Wethington joined ColonialWebb in 2010 and served as a project executive and director of preconstruction before being appointed general manager in June.

“Over the years, ColonialWebb has established a unique brand in this region while completing the most challenging mission-critical projects,” Wethington said in a statement. “This dedicated focus will allow us continued growth while helping to ensure long-lasting relationships with our clients.”

ColonialWebb’s other divisions include construction, building service, industrial refrigeration and manufacturing.