Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

byline: Katherine Schulte

Arlington’s The Millennium apartment building sells for $200.5M

An affiliate of Washington, -based The Inc., in partnership with New Jersey-based furnished housing company , purchased The Millennium apartment building in for $200.5 million on Jan. 20, Arlington property records show.

Located at 1130 S. Fair St., near Metropolitan Park — the first phase of ‘s HQ2 — the 19-story has 290,718 square feet, of which 7,110 is retail space, and 300 apartment units. UIP plans to renovate the units’ kitchens and bathrooms and add 5,000 more square feet of retail by converting the street-level common area.

After , Churchill Living will be an exclusive provider, according to a news release, occupying up to 150 units for leases of 30 days or more.

Clarion Partners LLC sold the property.

Peraton lands $2.69B Homeland Security contract

Federal contractor ‘s subsidiary, Engineering Inc., landed a potential 10-year, almost $2.69 billion contract to assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the company announced Wednesday.

Under the indefinite quantity, indefinite quantity contract, Peraton will assist with and Cloud Optimization Support Services, providing information and other relevant to automate, optimize and modernize the DHS Hybrid Computing Environment. The environment is a collection of enterprise computing resources, including a data center, colocation sites, private cloud services and DHS-furnished commercial cloud services.

“Peraton is proud to continue our support of DHS and help advance their national security priorities,” Peraton Chairman, President and CEO said in a statement. “This award further demonstrates our ability to deliver adaptable, managed enterprise services and support DHS’ goal to create scalable, innovative and cost-effective solutions that support and drive mission success across the department.”

Post- of Perspecta Inc. and Northrop Grumman’s integrated mission support and IT solution business, Peraton has more than 150 offices and 19,000 employees. In December 2021, it announced that it would be moving its headquarters from to . The company is owned by Veritas Capital, a New York-based private equity firm.

Reston HR firm acquired by New York insurance broker

New York-based broker and consultant NFP Corp. announced Thursday had acquired -based Helios LLC.

Financial terms of the transaction, which closed in January, were not disclosed.

“I’m excited to welcome the team to NFP,” Ethan Foxman, NFP’s Atlantic region president, said in a statement. “We’re adding depth to our capabilities, relationships and expertise at a time when employers need more support navigating a variety of HR and talent-related challenges. … We’ve maintained a business relationship with them for almost 10 years, so we know this partnership will be a great culture fit for NFP.”

Helios HR founder and CEO Kathy Albarado will join NFP as senior vice president. Helios HR President Ethan Gill will also join NFP as a senior vice president. Both will work with Foxman. The Helios leadership team and will continue to operate in their current roles.

“Becoming part of the NFP family is an exciting next step in our journey as an organization,” Albarado said in a statement. “Being part of NFP creates new opportunities to support the HR and recruiting needs of employers across the country in the dynamic environments of today and the future.”

NFP provides property and casualty, corporate benefits, retirement and individual solutions and has more than 6,600 employees.

Washington Gas gifts Virginia Tech $430,000 for STEM education

Washington Gas gifted $430,000 to help increase pathways into higher education in disciplines, the university announced Monday.

“Washington Gas is honored to partner with Virginia Tech and promote STEM education across the commonwealth of Virginia. Together, our program will help shape future generations of students and workers exploring in school studies or as an occupation,” Washington Gas President Blue Jenkins said in a statement.

The two entities will provide professional learning programs for career and technical education and other , , and math teachers and administrators. The programs will help them develop and implement 10 energy-focused high school courses in their school divisions. Eight of the new courses were designed by representatives from the energy industry, community colleges, nonprofits, James Madison University and Virginia Tech under the Virginia Department of Education’s leadership.

Students can participate in any two or more of the courses to prepare for college engineering programs while achieving industry certifications.

Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity and its School of Education will support the STEM outreach program. The program builds on Tech’s Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab in , which has hosted more than 20,000 students and teachers since 2016.

“The Washington Gas leaders have already helped to expand our programs and outreach. We know the outcomes and impacts over the next three years will only grow,” said Jim Egenrieder, founding director of the Virginia Tech Thinkabit Lab and the leader of the College of Engineering’s STEM education outreach in the D.C. area, in a statement. “

Tech has also begun developing energy-related tech modules for elementary and middle school and developed new STEM initiatives and youth leadership programs supporting Alexandria, , and schools.

VCU receives $104M gift for liver research

Dr. Richard Todd Stravitz and his family’s Barbara Brunckhorst Foundation gave an unprecedented $104 million donation to to support liver , President announced Tuesday during his State of the University address.

Dr. R. Todd Stravitz
Dr. R. Todd Stravitz, courtesy VCU

The largest gift in VCU’s history, ‘s also believed to be the largest publicly shared gift to support liver research in the U.S. It will support the liver institute that VCU announced it was creating in December 2021.

The gift also establishes two endowed chairs at VCU’s School of : the Arun J. Sanyal Endowed Professor of Medicine and the Phillip B. Hylemon Endowed Professor of Medicine and Microbiology.

“Words cannot capture my feelings of gratitude for the transformative gift of Dr. Todd Stravitz and the Barbara Brunckhorst Foundation,” Rao said in a statement. “Todd has made history with his incredible leadership and generosity to VCU, supporting an institute that will forever change VCU and catalyze its commitment to our work with the human liver and metabolism. This gift firmly puts the needs of patients first.”

Stravitz is a clinical professor in VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine. Before retiring in 2020, Stravitz served as medical director of liver transplantation at ‘s Hume-Lee Transplant Center for a decade. His mother, Barbara Brunckhorst, who died in November 2020, was the daughter of Frank Brunckhorst, founder of Florida-based deli meat company Provisions Co. Inc. Stravitz’s father, noted Virginia Beach-based sculptor Richard Stravitz, is the retired chairman of Boar’s Head. The two branches of the family that control Boar’s Head entered into a court battle last year in a dispute over Barbara Brunckhorst’s shares in the company, which is privately owned and reportedly brings in about $1 billion in annual revenue. Stravitz and his sister were appointed co-executors of her estate.

For the fiscal year ending 2019, the Barbara Brunckhorst Foundation reported a total revenue of $14.5 million and charitable disbursements of $7.66 million. In each year between 2018 and 2020, the Brunckhorst Foundation donated at least $780,000 to the Sierra Club Foundation, $475,000 to the Southern Environmental Law Center, $400,000 to the Nature Conservancy, $325,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund and $225,000 to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“As a world-class researcher himself, Todd Stravitz exemplifies the power of medical research to make the world a better place,” said Dr. Arun J. Sanyal, a professor in the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, who will serve as director of the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease & Metabolic Health. “With his generous, future-focused gift, Todd is ensuring that VCU’s capacity to attract outstanding minds and produce future scientific leaders is very strong for generations to come.”

About 1 in 10 Americans have some type of liver disease, according to Cleveland Clinic. The institute will align the work of VCU entities already dealing with liver disease or its effects on other organs, including the hepatology and research teams in VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, VCU Health’s Hume-Lee Transplant Center, the Massey Cancer Center and VCU Health’s Pauley Heart Center. The institute will grow research and teams for liver-related clinical specialties and will be able to recruit 30 to 60 researchers, faculty and staff.

Dr. Arun J. Sanyal, a professor in the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, will serve as the institute’s director. He holds the Z. Reno Vlahcevic Research Professorship in Gastroenterology, which honors his mentor, who died in 2000.

Stravitz’s gift allows VCU to accelerate the institute’s goals, including investing in microbiome research, gene editing approaches, data analytics and other tools to develop solutions to liver diseases; investing in new degree programs at the graduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral levels; and including other disciplines like , pharmacy, social work and business.

GMU establishes health workforce center

George Mason University has established the Mason Center for the Health , the university announced Monday.

The new center, directed by PJ Maddox and Caroline Sutter, will address the shortage and immediate need for workers in Virginia. will serve as a technical assistance center for health workforce , program evaluation, planning and analysis for government agencies, academic entities and professional organizations. It will support cross-sector commitment and resource sharing for ; develop curricula, training and delivery methods for health career education; and evaluate the results of workforce development programs and investments.

“A competent health workforce is a critical asset for fielding essential health/ services in all communities,” said Maddox, professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy, in a statement. “Mason’s commitment to providing access to and its commitment to service to the commonwealth make it the right home for the Virginia Health Workforce Center.”

The center will build on work funded by the Claude Moore Community Foundation for early health workforce development by supporting the Claude Moore Scholars program, which works with 46 Virginia school systems to introduce young people to health care careers.

Additionally, the center will provide data on the health workforce and support teachers.

“The current health workforce crisis in Virginia — exacerbated by COVID-19 — demonstrates the need to think strategically about how we attract talent to health care, how we educate and train workers and how we make health care jobs more appealing in terms of work environment and career opportunities,” Bill Hazel, senior deputy executive director of Claude Moore, said in a statement. “The Center for Health Workforce is a collaborative effort that will provide support to leaders around the commonwealth as these issues are addressed.”

 

PAE stockholders approve $1.9B acquisition by Amentum

Falls Church-based Inc. () announced Thursday its stockholders voted to approve and adopt the company’s previously announced agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Germantown, Maryland-based Amentum Services Inc. in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal.

The transaction is expected to close on or around Feb. 15, at which time PAE will become a wholly owned affiliate of Amentum. A Fortune 1000 company, PAE employs about 20,000 workers across approximately 60 nations; Amentum has 34,000 employees stationed in all 50 states and 105 foreign nations and territories.

PAE shareholders will be entitled to receive $10.05 per share in cash upon the closing of the . The share purchase price is approximately 70% greater than PAE’s closing price on Oct. 22, 2021, the last trading day prior to the Amentum deal’s announcement. At 4:12 p.m. on Feb. 11, PAE shares were trading for $10.05.

Founded in California in 1955 by engineer Edward Shay, PAE was acquired in 2006 by Lockheed Martin Corp., which moved PAE’s headquarters to Virginia. The company was sold to Lindsay Goldberg and then Platinum Equity before debuting as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq in 2020.

Dominion Energy to sell W.Va. utility for $690M

Dominion Inc. announced Friday had signed a definitive agreement to sell its to Washington, -based financial services company Ullico Inc.’s infrastructure business for $690 million.

The of Hope Gas Inc., also known as West Virginia (DEWV), is expected to close later this year.

“For nearly 125 years, Dominion Energy West Virginia has provided reliable and affordable natural gas safely to the people and businesses of the Mountain State,” Dominion Energy Chair, President and CEO Robert M. Blue said in a statement. “DEWV is a valuable business with tremendous employees. The business and its people will fit extremely well with Ullico’s commitment to safety and their mission to serve American workers and customers.”

Clarksburg, West Virginia-based DEWV has about 300 people and serves 111,000 West Virginia customers. The utility has 3,200 miles of gas distribution pipelines and more than 2,000 miles of gathering pipelines.

Ullico Inc.’s infrastructure business plans to integrate the utility with Hearthstone Utilities Inc., its portfolio company that owns and operates gas utilities in Indiana, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and Ohio. Hearthstone will move its headquarters to West Virginia.

“We are excited about the opportunity to continue to build on and invest in this important and valuable West Virginia company,” Hearthstone President and CEO Morgan O’Brien said in a statement. “Our vision is to grow the business and expand the footprint within the state, including to underserved communities.”

Dominion Energy will continue to own and operate Mount Storm Power Station in Mount Storm, West Virginia.

Volkswagen to debut electric Microbus at SXSW

Herndon-based Group of America announced Wednesday that would debut its electric bus during this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, which will be held March 11-20 in Austin, Texas.

Designed to recall the iconic Type 2 Microbus introduced in 1967, the ID. Buzz is Volkswagen’s second noncommercial electric vehicle. The vehicle’s modern incarnation uses the company’s Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) platform. With a VW fast-charge system, the bus can recharge about 80% of its capacity in 30 minutes at 150 kilowatts.

“The VW Microbus has been emblematic of cultural ideals that have inspired change and driven progress, both in the U.S. and globally,” Volkswagen Group of America President and CEO Scott Keogh said in a statement. “South by Southwest’s commitment to innovation and , coupled with its access to culture and creativity, makes it the perfect venue for the ID. Buzz to make its first-ever public appearance.”

The company will host “Buzz Stops” throughout the city, and the ID. Buzz appearances are part of a three-year sponsorship agreement between Volkswagen and SXSW.

Volkswagen first revealed the ID. Buzz concept in January 2017 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In October 2017, the company announced it planned to sell the vehicle in the U.S., Europe and China in 2022. The ID. Buzz concept includes an autonomous “I.D. Pilot” mode that could go into production by 2025.

Later this year, North American for Volkswagen’s ID.4 EV line of electric SUVs will shift to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

ID.me to drop facial recognition requirement for government agencies

Amid concerns over and data security, -based tech company announced Tuesday would drop the requirement in its identity verification , offering a new option to all government clients.

Founded in 2010 as TroopSwap, ID.me works with 10 federal agencies, including Social Security and Veterans Affairs, and 30 states, in addition to more than 500 retailers. The company’s announcement follows the Internal Revenue Service’s Monday announcement that it would drop its plan to require taxpayers to submit to facial recognition to access their online records. ID.me holds an $86.1 million contract with the , which originally hired the company to provide facial recognition services.

All users will be able to delete their selfies or photos at account.ID.me beginning March 1, according to a news release.

“We have listened to the feedback about facial recognition and are making this important change, adding an option for users to verify directly with a human agent to ensure consumers have even more choice and control over their personal data,” ID.me founder and CEO Blake Hall said in a statement.

ID.me said agencies that procured its offline option would be able to verify the identifies of their customers through a video call or an in-person meeting, The Washington Post reported, but did not immediately respond to The Post’s questions of whether agencies would have to pay more for the option.

In January, ID.me told The Washington Post that it had 966 agents to handle video-chat verification for the U.S. The company said in a news release on Jan. 26 that it was hiring an additional 750 video chat agents.

ID.me agents have verified more than 3 million Americans, according to a news release, including the unbanked, homeless people and international users. It has a digital identity network of 73 million users with more than 145,000 people joining daily.

The IRS’ initial plan to require facial recognition for online records access beginning this summer had received scrutiny from legislators as well as tech privacy advocates.

On Thursday, a group of 15 Republican U.S. senators, including former Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, sent IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig a letter expressing concern over the IRS’s plan to implement facial recognition, and also questioning how secure taxpayers’ biometric data would be with the third-party service. On Monday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, sent Rettig a letter urging the IRS to reverse the “implementation of facial recognition screening software for Americans who wish to access their historical tax documents online.”