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byline: Katherine Schulte

3 Va. universities make top 100 in national R&D rankings

The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University landed in the top 100 in the National Science Foundation’s fiscal 2022 rankings by expenditures on research and development.

NSF determines the rankings with data from its annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey, which surveys U.S. colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for research and development in the fiscal year. Survey results were released in late November.

For FY22, U.Va. placed No. 48 overall, with $662.6 million in R&D expenditures. U.Va. was No. 30 among public institutions, the same place it held last year.

With $591.86 million in research expenditures, Virginia Tech ranked 53rd among all institutions and 35th for public institutions, up from 38th in the previous fiscal year.

“Virginia Tech’s increase in ranking is a reflection of our faculty’s success attracting sponsored support for the impactful research, innovation and discovery they lead. We are especially proud that our growth in externally and federally sponsored research significantly outperformed peers,” Dan Sui, senior vice president and chief research and innovation officer at Virginia Tech, said in a statement.

VCU was No. 73 overall and No. 47 in the public institutions’ rankings, rising from No. 50 in the previous year. VCU’s R&D expenditures totaled almost $405.9 million. The FY22 total is the first time VCU has passed the $400 million mark, according to a news release.

“A public research university’s role is to advance discovery, creativity and innovation in ways that few other institutions achieve as we endeavor to improve the quality of life everywhere,” VCU President Michael Rao said in a statement. “This NSF ranking is a testament to VCU’s commitment to research for the public good. Thanks to my faculty colleagues, our research enterprise has grown exponentially.”

The remaining public Virginia universities were ranked as follows:

  • George Mason University, No. 117 overall, No. 78 in public institutions;
  • William & Mary, No. 180 overall, No. 130 in public institutions;
  • Old Dominion University, No. 191 overall, No. 137 in public institutions;
  • Eastern Virginia Medical School, No. 278 overall, No. 202 in public institutions;
  • James Madison University, No. 308 overall, No. 225 in public institutions;
  • Virginia State University, No. 333 overall, No. 243 in public institutions;
  • Norfolk State University, No. 471 overall, No. 328 in public institutions;
  • Christopher Newport University, No. 514 overall, No. 358 in public institutions;
  • University of Virginia’s College at Wise, No. 522 overall, No. 360 in public institutions;
  • Virginia Military Institute, No. 578 overall, No. 386 in public institutions;
  • University of Mary Washington, No. 614 overall, No. 403 in public institutions.

Four Virginia private schools were included in the NSF rankings:

  • Hampton University, No. 338 overall, No. 91 in private institutions;
  • Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, No. 384 overall, No. 104 in private institutions;
  • University of Richmond, No. 518 overall, No. 159 in private institutions;
  • Marymount University, No. 608 overall, No. 207 in private institutions.

In total, academic institutions spent $97.8 billion on research and development in FY22, roughly $8 billion more than in FY21. The next NSF HERD Survey results will be released in November 2024.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story listed Marymount University’s rank among private institutions incorrectly. This story has been updated with the correct ranking.

JLARC: GO Virginia’s economic impact positive but undefined

The state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative is likely improving regional collaboration and having positive economic impacts, but those can’t be reliably determined, according to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report presented Monday.

In 2022, JLARC directed staff to review GO Virginia, which the state government created in 2016. GO Virginia provides economic and workforce development grants to encourage regional collaboration and grow and diversify local economies.

The state is divided into nine GO Virginia regions, each with its own governing council and growth and diversification plan. The councils and GO Virginia’s powerful statewide board make grant funding decisions, while the Department of Housing and Community Development administers the program.

“While GO Virginia’s ultimate goal is to strengthen the economy, it is not an incentive program or a job creation program,” said JLARC Chief Legislative Analyst Mark Gribbin, who led the review and presented the findings.

For fiscal years 2018 to 2023, Go Virginia awarded 226 grants totaling $110 million, with about 67% of those grants going to public organizations like local governments, colleges, universities and regional organizations. About 33% have gone to nonprofits. Grants cannot directly go to, benefit or attract specific businesses.

Grants fall into four categories:

  • Workforce development, which accounted for 44% of grants and $49 million awarded;
  • Site development, which accounted for 14% of grants and $23 million awarded;
  • Startup ecosystem, which accounted for 22% of grants and $17 million awarded;
  • And cluster scale-up, which accounted for 20% of grants and $22 million awarded.

GO Virginia appears to be improving regional collaboration through funded projects, regional councils with public and private stakeholders and regional growth plan development, JLARC found. Funded projects must include at least two local government partners, and all 133 Virginia localities have participated in a GO Virginia-backed project. In a JLARC survey of local economic development staff, 77% of respondents thought GO Virginia had improved regional collaboration.

GO Virginia projects have had positive impacts that might not have occurred without grants from the program, according to JLARC, and the majority of GO Virginia projects would probably have not moved forward without the program, or would have moved forward more slowly or on a smaller scale.

However, GO Virginia’s overall economic impact can’t be determined because project outcomes aren’t reliably reported, according to the report. Projects self-report outcomes, and some project teams claimed outcomes that were not directly caused by their projects.

Reasons for that are that some project leads were inexperienced in economic development or grant reporting, and regional council staff were not consistently verifying reported outcomes. Also, some metrics set by DHCD remain too broad to be helpful, like a “jobs created/filled” measure that merges the numbers of new jobs and existing jobs that were filled.

JLARC staff examined a sample of 54 projects and found that only about 10% of the jobs that GO Virginia-funded project teams claimed were created or filled by the projects could be directly attributed to those projects — 1,237 jobs out of the 12,771 jobs reported as project outcomes.

JLARC recommended that:

  • DHCD revise its list of outcome metrics,
  • the GO Virginia statewide board assign responsibility for verifying outcomes to DHCD,
  • and the board should assess long-term impacts past the two-year grant period and determine which information to collect for those assessments.

The review also found that some GO Virginia eligibility and application requirements are unnecessarily restrictive, including the funding match requirements for eligibility. Under state law, GO Virginia initially required matches equal to the grant amount, and by board policy, the total match had to include a local match of $50,000, or 50% of the grant total – whichever was higher.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the GO Virginia board temporarily reduced match requirements to half of the total grant amount and dropped the local match requirement. As a result, more grants were awarded. From FY18 to FY20, only 92 grants were awarded, but under the reduced match requirements from FY21 to FY23, GO Virginia awarded 112 grants. The amounts granted also increased, from $20.6 million to $51 million, and the percent of available grant funds used rose from 47% to 97%.

Although the state has to put up a larger share of funding under the lower match requirements, $4.4 million more outside funding came in.

Additionally, JLARC found that GO Virginia’s administration structure is working, and the program is similar to other state programs but doesn’t duplicate them.

But, GO Virginia funds are going unused, and if changes to restrictive eligibility requirements aren’t made, then the program’s appropriations could be reduced. The program has only used $97 million of the $157 million appropriated to its grant programs from FY18 to FY23, according to JLARC. The General Assembly has recaptured $40 million in unobligated funds, and at the end of FY23, $27 million remained unobligated.

NoVa Black Chamber of Commerce hires exec director

LeAnn White became the new executive director of the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce in November, the Tysons-based chamber announced Thursday.

White has more than 20 years of banking sector experience. She was previously assistant vice president and business development officer at Fairfax-based FVCbank, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that, White was a senior relationship banker at Pennsylvania-based Fulton Financial.

“I approach this position with a heart of service,” White said in a statement. “I am excited to provide effective programming and valuable resources to foster an environment of creativity that will lead to strategic partnerships and connections for our members.”

Since November 2022, White has served on the chamber’s board of directors as chair of the events committee. She’s also a past secretary of the NAACP Fauquier County Chapter. The chamber’s former executive director, Sheila Dixon, left in July.

“LeAnn’s proven track record and passion for advocating on behalf of Black-owned businesses make her an invaluable asset to our organization,” NVBCC Chairman Samuel Wiggins said in a statement. “We are excited to see LeAnn as executive director and look forward to the fresh perspectives and initiatives she will bring to NVBCC.”

Noblis CIO set to retire in April 2024

Gail Hogan, Noblis’ chief information officer and vice president, will retire after 44 years, the not-for-profit federal contractor announced Thursday. Her last day is April 5, 2024.

In addition to overseeing the company’s IT workforce, Hogan assumed leadership for Noblis’ facilities, real estate and corporate asset management.

Noblis has started an executive search for the new CIO, and Hogan will assist with the selection and transition processes.

“Gail has been a driving force at Noblis,” Noblis President and CEO Mile Corrigan said in a statement. “Together with her team, she’s built a highly resilient and secure enterprise infrastructure and delivered transformational IT services that have lasting impacts on Noblis missions and those of our customers.”

Hogan worked in the publications and graphics division of Mitre before moving into IT automation and systems administration. Following several promotions, she was recruited to stand up the enterprise technical architecture at Mitretek Systems, which was renamed Noblis in 2007.

Noblis is a not-for-profit corporation that delivers technical and advisory strategies and solutions to federal government clients. It spun off from Mitre’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development in 1996.

U.Va. breaks ground on Manning biotech institute

The University of Virginia began construction Friday on the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology.

Paul and Diane Manning launched the institute with a $100 million donation in January. Paul Manning founded PBM Products, which became the world’s largest privately owned infant formula and baby food business, and sold it to Perrigo for an estimated $808 million in 2010. He then set up PBM Capital, a health care-focused private equity firm that invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences startups.

“The facility we’re building here will be best-in-class and a true game-changer for science and medicine,” Paul Manning, who is chairman and CEO of PBM Capital, said in a statement. “Research, manufacturing and treatment — we’re bringing it all together under one roof. The work that will be done here will transform the future of medicine.”

The 350,000-square-foot institute in Fontaine Research Park in Charlottesville will bring biotech research, development and manufacturing at U.Va. together. Its main goal will be to develop targeted treatments for diseases that either have no cure or involve therapies that make life hard on patients, such as chemotherapy and radiation. The four-story institute will focus on medical research like cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology and drug delivery. U.Va. will also use the institute to expand its clinical trial offerings.

The facility’s expected completion and initial occupancy is late 2026.

The state government provided $50 million for the project in its 2022-24 budget, and U.Va. committed $150 million.

“This cutting-edge facility will help attract a full spectrum of bioscience companies to the commonwealth and ensure more Virginians can receive care and treatment right here in the commonwealth,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “Thanks to the generous contributions of Paul and Diane Manning and critical collaboration with U.Va. leaders, this institute with help transform the biotech and health care industries.”

The building will have laboratory space, research facilities, core facilities and an area for researchers and partnering biotech companies, as well as a café and conference center, a new parking structure and a heating plant.

The Mannings are established benefactors of U.Va. As of May, the couple had contributed more than $6 million toward diabetes and COVID-19 research at U.Va. They started funding diabetes research more than two decades ago, Paul Manning told Virginia Business.

In May 2020, U.Va. announced a $1 million gift from the Mannings to establish the Manning Fund for COVID-19 Research, which was used to fast-track research on expanding testing and developing therapies and vaccines for the coronavirus, which was then still a new threat.

Raleigh-to-Richmond rail project receives $1B federal grant

A passenger rail route between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond will receive a $1 billion U.S. Department of Transportation grant, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, announced Tuesday.

The approximate 162-mile route will be along the currently out-of-service CSX Transportation “S-Line” as part of a Southeast corridor to connect North Carolina with Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Northeast corridor. Trains on the route could travel up to 110 miles per hour.

“This $1 billion grant for North Carolina to make progress on the Raleigh-to-Richmond rail line is a big win for economic development in the region,” Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said in a statement.

In June 2022, the transportation department’s Federal Railroad Administration announced an up to $57.9 million grant to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the project as part of $368 million in funding awarded across 46 projects in the U.S. The grant to North Carolina was to support surveys and preliminary engineering for the Raleigh to Richmond (R2R) Corridor Program, which is a joint venture between North Carolina’s transportation department and the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

NCDOT and Amtrak will provide a 20% funding match to the $1 billion grant. The Federal Railroad Administration will work with NCDOT and VPRA to establish a phased funding agreement.

The eventual rail route will be state-owned. In 2020, Virginia signed an agreement to buy 75 miles of S-Line right-of-way between Ridgeway, North Carolina, and Petersburg from CSX Transportation for $525 million, paid over three installments. NCDOT has the option to purchase the S-Line right-of-way between Raleigh and Ridgeway according to a June 2022 news release from VPRA.

For fiscal 2023 — which ran from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 — Amtrak Virginia served a record 1.26 million passengers. The previous record, set in fiscal 2015, was about 894,000.

Timmons tops off $50M HQ in Chesterfield County

Engineering and design firm Timmons Group topped off the last steel beam of its new, $50 million headquarters Friday at Chesterfield County’s Springline at District 60 mixed-use development.

The five-story, 150,000-square-foot building is part of the $210 million, 42-acre first phase of the county’s Springline at District 60 development, located on Midlothian Turnpike off Chippenham Parkway. Chesterfield County cleared the way for development in March by starting demolition on the former Best Products building in what was the Spring Rock Green shopping center.

“The topping off of the building marks an important milestone for the project,” Timmons President and CEO Brian Bortell said in a statement. “Hourigan [Group] is making extremely good progress with construction, and we are excited that very soon our employees will be in a new office building located in District 60.”

Construction on the Timmons office building started in August and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024. The new headquarters is about a mile away from the company’s current office. The building will house about 400 Timmons employees and is fully leased. It will also house the administrative offices of the Chesterfield County Public Schools and the county’s Department of Economic Development.

“Having the Timmons Group’s office building at the Springline development keeps their corporate headquarters in Chesterfield and allows them to grow their talented workforce,” Mark Miller, the Midlothian District representative for the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. “People are telling us they want high-quality places to live, work and play in Chesterfield, and Springline will deliver on that vision.”

Chesterfield previously marked a milestone in the Springline project with the groundbreaking of The James at Springline, an $80 million apartment building with ground-floor retail space, in late September.

The first phase of Springline at District 60 also will have a 150,000-square-foot office building, a sports entertainment and tournament venue, a specialty grocery store and a parking garage. The center of the site will be an open space that can host concerts, markets, festivals or other similar events.

The Chesterfield Economic Development Authority bought the land from Bond Cos. in 2021 for $16 million, and the county supervisors approved the development plan in April 2022. At the time of rezoning in 2022, the initial development cost estimate for the overall project was $675 million, according to a project spokesperson.

Remaining phases are still in planning stages. As of March, the county expected to have 1,200 residential units total, split between apartments and townhouses, and plans to add another office building, an extended-stay hotel, entertainment venues and a police station.

Virginians bet $571M on sports in October

Virginians wagered $571 million on sports in October, up 8.2% from a year ago, according to data released Friday by the Virginia Lottery.

About $565.5 million in sports betting revenue came from mobile operators, and the rest, roughly $5.7 million, came from casino retail activity. Virginia’s current casinos are the temporary Bristol Casino: The Future Home of Hard Rock, the permanent Rivers Casino Portsmouth and the temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville. Virginia casino gaming revenues in October totaled $49.6 million, according to the Virginia Lottery.

October’s sports betting revenues were a 9.8% increase from September’s handle, which totaled about $520 million. Virginia sports bettors won about $507 million in October and approximately $466 million in September.

The licensed operators included in October’s reporting were:

  • Betfair Interactive US (FanDuel) in partnership with the Washington Commanders,
  • Crown Virginia Gaming (Draft Kings),
  • BetMGM,
  • Rivers Portsmouth Gaming (Rivers Casino Portsmouth),
  • Caesars Virginia,
  • WSI US,
  • Twin River Management Group,
  • Penn Sports Interactive,
  • Unibet Interactive,
  • Colonial Downs Group,
  • Digital Gaming Corporation VA,
  • VHL VA,
  • HR Bristol,
  • Hillside (Virginia),
  • DC Sports Facilities Entertainment,
  • Betr VA,
  • and PlayLive Virginia.

Virginia places a 15% tax on sports betting activity based on each permit holder’s adjusted gross revenue. With nine operators reporting net positive adjusted gross revenue for October, the monthly taxes totaled $8.55 million, 97.5% of which will be deposited in the state’s general fund. The remainder, about $213,750, will go to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, which the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services administers.

Harvey Lindsay acquires condo management portfolio

Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate acquired a management portfolio of 50 buildings in the Hampton Roads region, the Norfolk-based real estate firm announced Tuesday.

A Harvey Lindsay representative said the financial terms of the acquisition from Norfolk-based leasing and property management company Cavalier Land were confidential. Harvey Lindsay will assume management of the portfolio, which spans 30 associations and 750 condo owners, on Jan. 1, 2024. The majority of the buildings are located in Norfolk, with some in Virginia Beach, according to a Harvey Lindsay representative.

The company will create an association management division and hire two employees currently responsible for association operations, including Adams Darden, Cavalier Land’s common interest community manager, who will join Harvey Lindsay in January as director of association management.

“The condominium and HOA management division gives Harvey Lindsay another way to serve our region and our clients. We have made substantial investments in personnel and technology — making it possible to operate this portfolio to the highest quality standards,” Robert King, president and chairman of Harvey Lindsay, said in a statement.

Founded in 1919, Harvey Lindsay provides brokerage services, asset management and property management in the Hampton Roads region.

Fed’s Fifth District economy grows slightly

The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) grew slightly in recent weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday.

Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathered from the nation’s 12 Federal Reserve Banks. It is compiled from reports by bank and branch directors, as well as information gathered from business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources. Wednesday’s release is an update from the Fed’s Oct. 18 report.

Here’s what the most recent Beige Book edition revealed about the direction the economy is taking:

Employment in the Fifth District rose moderately in the previous few weeks, although the labor market remained tight. To retain workers, one general contractor reported wage increases as large as 15% for its highest performers. Trucking firms reported that drivers were more readily available but that it remained difficult to hire skilled mechanics.

Year-over-year price growth remained elevated in the latest Beige Book reporting period but moderated slightly. Prices received by service providers increased a little more than 4% compared with last year, down from the peak of about 7%, according to Fed surveys. Prices received by manufacturers increased by just over 2% compared with last year.

Fifth District manufacturers’ reports were mixed. A textile manufacturer reported an increase in demand from clients who had worked through excess inventories that built up during the COVID-19 pandemic. A furniture manufacturer, however, reported the home furniture industry had been in an 18-month recession, and the manufacturer did not expect demand to increase soon. Several respondents reported they had invested in automation to increase productivity and manage costs.

Ports in the Fifth District reported that trade volumes were down in this reporting period. Imports were flat year-over-year but slightly up month-over-month, mainly from increased consumer goods coming in. Exports were down for the most part. Ports did not have issues with container congestion.

Trucking firms saw low underlying demand, particularly on the industrial side, as freight volumes for construction materials were down. Companies reported they had not had issues maintaining their fleets of trucks and trailers and that new equipment orders had no significant backlogs.

Consumer spending increased modestly in recent weeks, according to the Fed. Clothing and grocery stores reported increasing or steady sales and demand, but furniture and appliance stores reported decreases in purchases. Travel and tourism respondents reported steady to increasing activity.

Residential real estate sales volumes and buyer traffic decreased due to low inventory and higher mortgage rates. New listings were down, and days on the market increased slightly but stayed below historic averages. Although sellers often dropped sales prices or provided concessions for homes that had been on the market for more than 30 days, upward pressure on home prices, especially in more desirable neighborhoods, continued. Builders reported a high cost of materials, labor, trades and financing.

Commercial real estate sources reported slow market activity. The industrial and retail markets were fairly stable, reporting low vacancy rates and rising rental rates. Office building owners offered concessions, incentives or tenant improvement allowances to secure new leases, effectively lowering rental rates. Thanks to new construction coming to market, multifamily rents were flat or down.

In the financial sector, loan demand continued to slow, particularly in the commercial and consumer real estate segments. Sources attributed the softening to high interest rates and global and domestic political concerns. Many institutions increased deposit interest rates, focusing on money market accounts and certificates of deposit, to support deposit retention and growth.

Demand for services and revenues for nonfinancial service providers in the Fifth District remained stable. Wage and expense pressures began to moderate. One respondent expressed concern that demand could soften as student loan repayments restarted and consumers saw decreased discretionary income.