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byline: Katherine Schulte

Jim Price Auto Group sells last dealership

Charlottesville-based Jim Price Auto Group has sold its Chevrolet dealership — its final franchise — to Malloy Auto Group.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Price Chevrolet is located on more than 10 acres on Seminole Trail in Charlottesville, according to a Tuesday news release from auto dealer sell-side adviser Kerrigan Advisors, which represented Jim Price Auto Group in the sale. Malloy Auto Group has Chevrolet, Cadillac, Ford and Toyota dealerships in Winchester and Ford dealerships in Charlottesville and Alexandria.

Jim Price Auto Group sold its two other dealerships last year. In July 2023, Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Flow Automotive acquired its Price Kia dealership. Flow Automotive then bought Jim Price Hyundai in November 2023. Kerrigan Advisors declined to comment on why Jim Price Auto Group divested its holdings.

Henry James “Jim” Price opened Price Chevrolet in 1968. In 2017, his daughter, Sandra Price Amato, became the dealer principal for Jim Price Auto.

“This sale of our Chevrolet dealership, the final of our three auto group franchises to sell, represents the end of an era — as well as a new beginning for the dealership and for our family,” Amato said in a statement. “For the sale of this, our flagship dealership, [Kerrigan Advisors] found in Malloy a buyer well-suited to the needs of the franchise and the community.”

The deal was Kerrigan Advisors’ 23rd franchise sale in Virginia since 2020. The company also represented Vienna-based Jim Koons Automotive, which owned and operated 20 dealerships in the mid-Atlantic, in its sale to Georgia-based Asbury Automotive Group for $1.2 billion, completed in December 2023.

Bon Secours VP named American Diabetes Association board chair

Rhodes B. Ritenour, Bon Secours’ Richmond market vice president for external and regulatory affairs, is the 2024 board chair of the American Diabetes Association, the Arlington County-based nonprofit announced Thursday.

A former deputy state attorney general, Ritenour has lived with type 1 diabetes since age 5 and served as chairman of the association’s board in Central Virginia, a member of the ADA National Advocacy Committee and a member of the ADA Legal Advocacy Network. Ritenour and his wife, Alana, co-authored the children’s book series “The Adventures of Rhodes and Alana.”

Ritenour, who joined Bon Secours in 2017, earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia. He represents Bon Secours before local, state and federal governments and to corporations, and provides regulatory legal counsel and manages corporate governance for the health system in the Richmond region.

The other principal officers of the association’s 15-member board for 2024 are:

  • Secretary/treasurer: James Tai, managing partner for San Diego-based life sciences venture capital fund Emerging Markets Cancer Ignition Fund (EMCIFund)
  • President of medicine and science: Mandeep Bajaj, vice chair for clinical affairs and professor of medicine and molecular and cellular biology in Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in Houston
  • President of health care and education: Patti Urbanski, diabetes staff development coordinator for St. Luke’s Hospital Diabetes Care Program in Minnesota.

“This talented group has tremendous experience in a variety of areas including science, medicine, health care and business,” Ritenour said in a statement. “We will work together to cure diabetes, improve the lives of people living with diabetes and those who love them, and strengthen the ADA’s ability to provide impact, inspiration and hope in the diabetes community.”

The association supports research to treat, manage, prevent — and ultimately cure — diabetes. The nonprofit also provides education and advocacy for Americans living with diabetes and prediabetes.

SAIC lands $375M Navy contract

Science Applications International Corp. has won a $375 million U.S Navy contract supporting the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, the Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor announced Tuesday.

Under the five-year contract, SAIC will provide Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) fielding and integration on land-based vehicle platforms in continental and overseas locations to support NIWC Atlantic, as well as production-engineering, integration, installation, logistical and programmatic support.

“SAIC is proud to continue supporting this important mission,” said Barbara Supplee, senior vice president of SAIC’s Navy Business Group, said in a statement. “Fielding tactical vehicles that have C4ISR components properly installed is critical to the success of the warfighter.”

SAIC has about 24,000 employees and reported $7.7 billion in fiscal 2023 revenue. A planned reorganization of its C-suite is set to go into effect in February.

Groundworks hires CFO

Groundworks has hired Michael Mullican as its chief financial officer, the Virginia Beach-based foundation and water management solutions company announced Wednesday.

Mullican will succeed Stephen Fry, who is retiring at the end of March. Mullican was previously president and CFO of sporting goods retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors, which is headquartered in a suburb of Houston. He also served as executive vice president and general counsel in his six years with Academy. Mullican helped oversee Academy Sports + Outdoors going public.

“With Groundworks continuing our incredible growth momentum, we are kicking off 2024 with a critical hire in Michael Mullican. His proven track record of success in taking world class organizations to new heights is exactly what Groundworks needs as we double down on our growth and market leadership nationwide,” Matt Malone, founder and CEO of Groundworks, said in a statement.

Before joining Academy Sports + Outdoors, Mullican held management roles at supercenter chain Meijer and discount store chain Family Dollar Stores.

“I am eager to bring my years of experience with retail brands over to a new industry, and to provide a fresh perspective to help Groundworks achieve its ambitious business goals,” he said in a statement. “The company’s outstanding commitment to customers and employees, as well as its strong leadership and vision to reshape the home services industry were a huge draw for me.”

Mullican graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s in communications in 1997 and earned a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2003.

Founded in 2016, Groundworks’ brands have 60 offices and more than 4,500 employees. The company has made the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest growing private companies, for seven consecutive years.

Amyx announces new COO

Amyx has appointed Rick Schult as its new chief operating officer, the Reston-based federal contractor announced Monday.

Schult will manage more than 600 employees. He succeeds John Selman, who served as COO since 2021. Amyx announced Selman’s retirement on Thursday.

Schult joins Amyx from QinetiQ US, where he was most recently executive vice president for business development, according to his LinkedIn profile. According to a news release, he was part of the company’s team that won a $169 million Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection contract for the operations and maintenance of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System — a system that includes a helium-filled balloon and data distribution network. Before that, Schult was senior vice president for defense.

“Rick’s experience with many of the services that Amyx successfully delivers to our customers along with his passion for exceptional customer support and developing people is a perfect fit for Amyx,” Amyx President and CEO William Schaefer said in a statement. “I have had the privilege of working with Rick over the years and am excited to now welcome him to the executive leadership team at Amyx.”

Schult also worked as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton before joining QinetiQ US’s predecessor, E3 Federal Solutions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business information technology from Virginia Tech.

“I am humbled at the opportunity to join an already thriving team here at Amyx,” Schult said in a statement. “I’ve had firsthand experience working with Amyx leadership over the past decade. This, coupled with their people-first culture and unwavering commitment to customer mission requirements, is what drove me to this role.”

Founded in 1999, Amyx provides services including IT, systems engineering, cybersecurity and program management. California-based consulting and engineering services provider Tetra Tech acquired Amyx in January 2023. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Three Norfolk retail buildings sell for $3.3M

Three retail buildings on a portion of a site used for commercial auto sales and service in Norfolk sold for $3.3 million on Dec. 22, 2023.

Michael Sifen Inc. purchased an approximately 5.39-acre portion of 7520 N. Military Highway from Freedom Industrial. The site includes a roughly 30,188-square-foot building, a two-story, roughly 3,030-square-foot building, and an approximately 11,112-square-foot building, according to Colliers. Norfolk property records list commercial auto sales and service as the property use, and the remaining portion of the property holds a Tesla store and service center.

Jeff Parker, Patrick Gill and Chris Read from Colliers represented the seller.

Virginia Beach retail building sells for $5.5M

A retail building in Virginia Beach sold for $5.5 million on Dec. 18, 2023.

Located at 5169 Virginia Beach Blvd., the freestanding retail building is 59,162 square feet, and the plot of land is almost 136,999 square feet, according to city property records. The current tenant is a Havertys Furniture store.

5169 VB BLVD LLC purchased the property from OLP Havertportfolio. Pat Mugler and Ricky Anderson from Colliers represented the buyer.

8-story office building in Fairfax County sells for $9.5M

An eight-story office building in Fairfax County sold for $9.5 million on Dec. 19, 2023.

Located at 4035 Ridge Top Road, the Crown Ridge at Fair Oaks is a 194,699-square-foot Class A office building near the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Interstate 66. The previous owner recently completed a $1.1 million upgrade, including a common amenity area for tenants that includes conference facilities, private meeting rooms and lounge areas with TVs, a gas fireplace, a shuffleboard table and a kitchen area, according to a Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer news release. Amenities also include an on-site café and a fitness center with showers, lockers and towel service.

WTHHWD bought the property from Crown Ridge HQ7. Brothers Jamie A. Scully in Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Fredericksburg office and David Scully from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Tysons office handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the buyer.

U.Va. receives $5M donation for business ethics professorship

The former president and CEO of Canadian Tire Corp. and his wife have committed $5 million to establish a University of Virginia Darden School of Business professorship focused on business ethics.

U.Va. President Jim Ryan announced the donation by Stephen and Phyllis Bachand to the Darden School Foundation on Dec. 19, 2023. The university will match the gift with $5 million from its Bicentennial Professorship Fund to reach the endowment required for a university professorship.

Stephen Bachand graduated from U.Va.’s Darden School of Business with an MBA in 1963. That year, according to a 1999 article in The Washington Post, he started working at Maryland-based home improvement chain Hechinger as an executive assistant to John Hechinger, who became the company’s president in 1986. After more than 20 years overseeing back-office operations, Bachand was given charge of store operations at Hechinger.

He served as president and CEO of Toronto-based hardware retailer Canadian Tire Corp. from 1993 to 2000, according to Bloomberg. In 1999, the Post credited Bachand with turning around the company, which reported double-digit profit growth in 1998 after five years of declining growth. The company now has more than 1,700 retail locations.

“U.Va.’s Darden School of Business has had a transformative impact on me and my career,” Bachand said in a statement. “To this day, I remain inspired by the school’s mission to develop responsible leaders and foster ethical practice in business. … I see the university professorship as a powerful vehicle to cultivate an enduring legacy of ethical thinking and practice, impacting not just individuals, but generations of business leaders and organizations worldwide.”

U.Va.’s president and provost will appoint the holder of the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship. University professorships are awarded to distinguished professors whose scholarship exceeds the boundaries of a particular school or is interdisciplinary, according to a U.Va. news release.

“I’m deeply grateful to Stephen and Phyllis Bachand for their generous investment in a university professorship in business ethics,” Ryan said in a statement. “Their gift will help foster vibrant teaching, learning and research in the field, which will help strengthen ethical business practices in organizations beyond [U.Va.’s] Grounds.”

Bachand has previously donated to U.Va. and Darden, making his first gift to Darden in 1972. As of October 2022, the Bachands had given between $1 million and $2.4 million total to the business school, with his primary focus being first-generation students, of which he was one.

RTX subsidiary wins $345M Air Force contract

Raytheon, a subsidiary of Arlington County-based aerospace and defense contractor RTX, won a $344.6 million U.S. Air Force contract modification, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

Raytheon will produce more than 1,500 StormBreaker smart weapons, which are air-to-surface, network-enabled weapons that can engage moving targets in all weather conditions, according to a RTX news release.

Work on the modification to a previously awarded contract will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and has an expected completion of Aug. 30, 2028. The contract involves foreign military sales to Norway, Germany, Italy and Finland.

StormBreaker, a gliding precision bomb, is fielded on the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F/A-18E/F SuperHornet fighter aircraft, and testing is underway on all F-35 variants. In 2023, StormBreaker completed 28 test drops, according to a news release.

“With this contract, we’ll continue to evolve StormBreaker’s production to meet the needs of servicemembers for years to come,” Paul Ferraro, Raytheon’s president of air power, said in a statement.

RTX has more than 180,000 employees globally and reported $67 billion in net sales in 2022. The company rebranded from Raytheon Technologies to RTX in June 2023 and has three business units: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon.