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byline: Katherine Schulte

Maximus hires chief digital and information officer

Maximus has hired Derrick Pledger as chief digital and information officer, the Tysons-based federal tech contractor announced Tuesday.

Pledger joins Maximus from Leidos, where he oversaw a global team as the contractor’s chief digital and information officer. At Maximus, his responsibilities will include leading the company’s technology modernization and IT strategies along with focusing on improving service delivery for government clients.

“Derrick brings a wealth of experience to Maximus as a noted leader in technology modernization and strategic leadership, and we are excited about adding those skills to our talented executive team,” Maximus President and CEO Bruce Caswell said in a statement. “The CDIO role supersedes the chief information officer role and will leverage innovation and emerging technologies … to optimize business processes for our government partners.”

Pledger worked with Reston-based Fortune 500 government contractor Leidos for 13 years, according to his LinkedIn profile, beginning as a software systems engineering manager in 2010 and working his way up. Before joining Leidos, he was a field service engineer with Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC).

“Maximus has positioned itself at the forefront of technology modernization across state, federal and international government agencies in its delivery of business services and technology solutions,” Pledger said in a statement. “This new role is a tremendous opportunity to join a growing team and lead it to even greater heights.”

A U.S. Army veteran, Pledger served multiple tours of duty overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa in uniform and as a defense contractor.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the University of Maryland. Pledger serves on the customer advisory board of Reston-based Rancher Government Solutions and the advisory board of CapitalCIO.

Maximus was founded in 1975 and provides business process management and technology services to federal, state and local governments. The company reported $4.63 billion in revenue for fiscal 2022 and has more than 50,000 employees worldwide.

Richmond City Center project awaits city decision

The City of Richmond continues to evaluate four proposals to demolish the shuttered Richmond Coliseum and redevelop the surrounding downtown area — 9.4 acres comprising the City Center Innovation District.

In May 2023, the Richmond Economic Development Authority and the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority released renderings from four developer groups — Capstone Development, City Center Gateway Partners, Lincoln Property and Richmond Community Development Partners. Proposal requirements included a 500-room hotel anchor to support the convention center, adaptive reuse plans for the historic Blues Armory plus office, retail and housing.

The city has been mum on when it will announce its choice.

City Center Gateway Partners, led by Capital Square and including Shamin Hotels and Gold Key | PHR, proposed a 30-story, 350- to 375-foot-tall hotel, while Richmond Community Development Partners, led by Machete Group and Bank Street Advisors, put forth a 40-story, 450-foot hotel as an option. The other developers did not respond to interview requests.

A key component of City Center Gateway Partners’ proposal is a roughly 1-acre public park, as well as 700 to 1,000 residential units, of which about 120 would be affordable housing. City Center Gateway Partners estimates its proposal would generate more than $900 million in downtown investments.

“The reason we called ourselves the City Center Gateway Partners is because once redeveloped, we do actually think this area could be a gateway to downtown, just with how you come off the interstate to come into the city and then, of course, Broad Street coming east if you’re in town,” says Natalie Mason, Capital Square’s executive vice president of development.

Richmond Community Development Partners’ proposal includes a large, open bridge connecting a new hotel to the convention center. The team, which previously submitted a proposal for the Diamond District project, proposed adding more than 1,100 rental units and potentially several life sciences buildings.

“We’re already generally familiar with the market, based on the work that we did on the Diamond District, so we’re a fan of Richmond,” says David Carlock, principal of Houston-based Machete Group. The Coliseum area “is a part of town that will certainly benefit from investment, and we think it has the right attributes and adjacencies to be successful.”

City Council voted down a previous redevelopment attempt for the downtown Coliseum area, the $235 million Navy Hill project that would have included a 17,500-seat arena, in February 2020. 

Buc-ee’s starts construction on Rockingham center

It won’t be too long before drivers on Interstate 81 in Rockingham County will see a sign bearing a friendly, hat-wearing beaver.

Texas-based travel center chain Buc-ee’s started construction on its first travel center in Virginia with a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday. Gov. Glenn Youngkin was there, as well as Buc-ee’s founder and CEO Arch “Beaver” Aplin III. Local officials attended as well.

Located at the intersection of I-81 and Friedens Church Road, the center will be 74,000 square feet and have 120 fueling positions. Buc-ee’s expects construction to take about 17 months, according to a spokesperson.

The company plans to hire more than 200 people for the center.

“One of the prettiest roads we could ever hope for, I-81 is full of folks seeking fun and all that Virginia has to offer,” Buc-ee’s Director of Real Estate Stan Beard said in a statement. “We are the perfect pitstop for their road-trips and for the amazing people of Rockingham County.”

Buc-ee’s purchased 21.3 acres for the Rockingham center for $6.6 million in September 2023. The county revealed plans for the location in July 2023 by posting on its Facebook page that the company had applied for a special-use permit for review and approval of a sign plan.

A month earlier, Buc-ee’s paid $6.5 million for 27.68 acres in New Kent County, at Exit 211 off Interstate 64. The county’s economic development department posted to its Facebook page in March 2023 that the chain filed for a conditional use permit for signage. Buc-ee’s is planning to have four total Virginia locations, according a June 2023 news release from S.L. Nusbaum Realty.

Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s has 34 stores in Texas and 13 centers in other states.

Martin Agency has new CEO

Danny Robinson is taking over from Kristen Cavallo as CEO of The Martin Agency, parent Interpublic Group of Cos. announced Tuesday.

Robinson has been chief creative officer of the Richmond-based ad agency since 2020. Cavallo has headed Martin for the past six years, and IPG named her global CEO of MullenLowe Group 14 months ago. Under their leadership, Martin was named industry publication Adweek’s Agency of the Year in 2020 and 2021, as well as Ad Age’s Agency of the Year in 2023. Ad Age named Danny Robinson its 2022 Chief Creative Officer of the Year. Cavallo will remain in her position as MullenLowe Group global CEO and will continue to be based in Richmond.

“Our leaders don’t operate on an island. And that includes our CEO,” Robinson said in a statement. “Martin has an executive committee that works as a team on every major decision facing the organization and I have been an integral part of the team for the last five years. … Kristen, the entire executive team and all our people and partners have set this agency up for what will be its best chapter yet.”

Robinson, the first Black executive to lead Martin, has overseen ad campaigns for notable clients like UPS, Old Navy and Geico, and recently oversaw smokeless fire pit maker Solo Stove’s campaign with celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg. In 2023, Martin won several new clients, including Papa Johns, Skrewball Whiskey and Miracle-Gro, according to a news release.

Robinson joined Martin in 2004 and has held several roles, including group creative director and chief client officer, a new role Cavallo created for him in May 2019. Prior to joining Martin, Robinson co-founded ad agency Vigilante, which was behind Oprah Winfrey’s famous 2004 car giveaway.

“Moving from CCO to CEO is uncommon, but it shouldn’t be,” Cavallo said in a statement. “Our industry has become increasingly focused on consolidation and efficiencies, and we need to return the conversation to creativity. … Danny has held roles across the agency in preparation for just this moment.”

Robinson sits on the board of Creative Ladder, a nonprofit founded by movie star Ryan Reynolds, and is a former board chair of local nonprofit Feed More. He is a graduate of Hampton University (then Hampton Institute) and Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University).

Jerry Hoak, executive creative director at Martin, will succeed Robinson as chief creative officer, Martin announced Thursday. Robinson will act as CEO/CCO during the transition. Hoak joined Martin in 2016 and led pitch teams that won DoorDash, Anheuser-Busch InBev, CarMax, Google and Papa Johns.

Editor’s note: Story updated Feb. 1.

RTX subsidiary lands $154M Army contract

Raytheon, a subsidiary of Arlington County-based RTX, received a $154 million contract to deliver independent viewer systems to the U.S. Army, the Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor announced Wednesday.

Under the contract, Raytheon, which, like its parent company, is also based in Arlington, will deliver Commander’s Independent Viewer (CIV) systems for the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicles. CIV is an electro-optical/infrared sight system that uses forward-looking infrared cameras and sensors to provide the infantry vehicle with 360-degree battlefield oversight and targeting capabilities.

“The CIV is a package of multiple systems all working together to increase the survivability and battlefield performance of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle,” Bryan Rosselli, president of Raytheon’s Advanced Products and Solutions business group, said in a statement. “These capabilities — early threat detection, 360-degree battlefield view and all-weather performance — increase a vehicle commander’s ability to locate, identify and defeat stationary and moving targets in any condition.”

Raytheon will produce the units in McKinney, Texas. The first delivery is expected June 2026.

Earlier this month, Raytheon announced it had received a $344.6 million U.S. Air Force contract modification to produce StormBreaker smart weapons.

RTX has more than 185,000 employees globally and had $68.9 billion in sales in 2023. The company rebranded from Raytheon Technologies to RTX in June 2023 and has three business units: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon.

5 SWVA projects recommended for $9.5M in federal grants

Five Southwest Virginia economic development projects have been recommended to receive a cumulative $9.35 million in federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) grants, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith announced Thursday.

The projects are on sites where coal was mined before 1977. Funding for the federal AMLER Program comes through the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, which has final approval over recommended projects. The Virginia Department of Energy administers AMLER funding for projects in the state.

“Repurposing land to create jobs and grow communities is a wonderful benefit of the AMLER program,” Youngkin said in a statement, “and we are excited to see these developments create opportunities in our Southwest communities.”

The five projects are:

  • Data Center Ridge, Wise County, $3 million
  • Haysi High School Site Redevelopment, Dickenson County, $2 million
  • Southern Gap Office Park Building, Buchanan County, $1.95 million
  • Norton Light Industrial Building, Wise County, $1.2 million
  • Russell County Access Bridge, Russell County, $1.2 million.

The Data Center Ridge project is located on a 4,000-acre industrial site in Wise County known as the Bullitt site. The project will convert a 400-acre previously mined property into a 1-gigawatt, multitenant data center campus. It’s part of a planned clean energy development that could attract up to $8.25 billion in capital investments, resulting from a land development agreement between Energy DELTA Lab, Dallas-based Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer and Wise County. The AMLER funding would support site and infrastructure development for Data Center Ridge.

Funding for the Haysi High School site redevelopment project would support infrastructure development and land preparation for retail development. The Southern Gap Office Park project includes building a two-story commercial office building in the regional office park. The Norton project is constructing a spec building in the Project Intersection industrial park, where Atlanta-based high-speed internet service provider EarthLink is building a 28,000-square-foot customer support center. The Russell County bridge will add infrastructure supporting the Project Reclaim industrial park, which previously received close to $5 million in AMLER funding.

Virginia began receiving federal grant dollars for the AMLER program in 2017 and has recommended more than 40 projects since then. The state is one of six that receives AMLER grant funding.

“The AMLER Program, federal funding I championed, provides our communities in Southwest Virginia with opportunities to reuse old mine lands for new and exciting purposes. AMLER projects have contributed to job creation, economic growth and environmental renewal in the coalfields, improving the quality of life for residents in the surrounding areas,” Griffith, a Republican who represents Virginia’s 9th Congressional District, said in a statement.

 

Three Va. biz schools make top 50 in Poets&Quants rankings

Three Virginia business schools placed in the top 50 of 91 schools in Poets&Quants’ 2024 rankings of undergraduate business schools, released Monday.

Poets&Quants for Undergrads, an online publication and forum dedicated to business schools, ranks schools by three categories: admissions standards, academic experience and career outcomes. Each category is evenly weighted, although metrics within them have varying weights.

The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce was the top-ranking Virginia business school of those included in the rankings, coming in at No. 4 overall for the second year in a row. It was the highest-ranking school in the academic experience category, earning the best possible score.

“As this ranking demonstrates, our undergraduate program excels in supporting our students academically and professionally as they use commerce to make a positive impact — both here on Grounds and in a multitude of careers across the globe,” McIntire Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins said in a statement. “Year after year, McIntire’s repeated success is possible because our students and alumni benefit from the ongoing commitment of our faculty and staff to create transformational learning experiences.”

Virginia’s second highest-ranking business school for undergraduates was the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, which ranked 18th overall. The school was one of two to report 100% of 2023 job-seeking graduates were employed within three months of graduation. (The other was Florida Southern College.)

“Our focus continues to be on creating an exceptional learning experience in and out of the classroom that prepares students to make a positive impact,” Mickey Quiñones, dean of the Robins School, said in a statement. “It is gratifying to see these efforts reflected in this year’s results. We know that the world is dynamic, and we constantly evaluate our approach to stay relevant.”

The remaining Virginia school included in Poets&Quants rankings, William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, ranked No. 48 overall. William & Mary rose 20 places from its 2023 rank, the biggest leap in this year’s rankings. In 2023, William & Mary rose 17 spots from the year before, landing at No. 68. The school’s best score was in the admissions standards category, ranking 15th.

The No. 1 school was the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Poets&Quants mostly gathers admissions and career data through institutional surveys completed by the schools between July 2023 and December 2023. Data on the percent of alumni who were National Merit Scholar finalists or semifinalists and the percent of alumni who finished in the top 10% of their high school classes come from alumni surveys. Admissions category metrics include SAT scores, acceptance rates and diversity data from the entering class.

All of the academic experience data comes from alumni surveys administered between June and December 2023. This year, the publication surveyed students from the class of 2021 and included three years’ worth of alumni data.

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer promotes two SVPs

Two Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer commercial brokerage first vice presidents have been promoted, the Glen Allen-based real estate firm announced Friday. Wick Smith and Jenny Stoner are now senior vice presidents.

Smith joined Thalhimer’s Virginia Beach office in July 2015 and specializes in retail sales and tenant representation. He works with operators of regional shopping centers, restaurants and free-standing buildings. Smith has a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and marketing from Old Dominion University.

Stoner joined Thalhimer in 2017. She is a commercial brokerage associate in Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Charlottesville office and specializes in leasing and sales of retail and office properties in the area. Stoner holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in business and management from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Jenny Stoner. Photo courtesy Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer
Jenny Stoner. Photo courtesy Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer also announced several promotions to first vice president roles:

  • Wilson Greenlaw with the company’s Fredericksburg brokerage team,
  • Karla Knight with Thalhimer’s Tenant Advisory Group,
  • Bo McKown with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group,
  • Brett Sain with Thalhimer’s Hampton Roads industrial brokerage team,
  • Eric Stanley with the firm’s Retail Services Group.

Founded in 1913, Thalhimer is an independently owned and operated member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance. It has offices in Richmond, Newport News, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville and Lynchburg and employs more than 425 associates.

Amentum lands $946M Army contract

Chantilly-based federal contractor Amentum Services won a $946 million contract for maintenance of a U.S. Army aircraft fleet, the company announced Monday.

Under the hybrid firm-fixed price contract, Amentum will complete system maintenance and modernization for the Army’s fixed-wing transport aircraft fleet, providing life-cycle services like sustainment and logistics for a combined fleet of 150 aircraft, which includes C-12, C-26, T-6 and UC-35 aircraft.

“Leveraging Amentum’s expertise performing these services, this win demonstrates the U.S. Army’s confidence in Amentum’s ability to manage a large-scale complex program while maintaining a quality and long-term solutions approach,” Karl Spinnenweber, president of Amentum’s Critical Missions Group, said in a statement.

Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems’ location in Greenville, South Carolina, will be the primary depot maintenance facility. Work will be performed in various domestic and international locations.

The contract has one base year and five one-year options.

Amentum has more than 35,000 employees in 79 countries. The company was founded as a spinout of AECOM’s Management Services Group in 2020 and moved its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to Chantilly in 2023.

Breeden Construction finishes $9.3M Crozet condos

Breeden Construction has completed a $9.3 million mixed-use condominium project in Crozet, the Richmond-based general contractor announced Tuesday.

In December 2021, Breeden Construction started work on the Old Trail Village by clearing the 1-acre property in Albemarle County. The four-story, approximately 55,000-square-foot building has 31 condo units with balconies. The ground floor is 18,045 square feet of retail space.

“It has been a great experience to watch the development and continued growth of this community,” Breeden Construction President Brian Revere said in a statement. “Our team is proud to be a part of the evolution and sustained progress of the area.”

Old Trail Village Center was the project’s developer.