Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Rich Griset

Salem construction contractor names project manager

Salem-based general construction firm R.L. Price Construction Inc. announced March 9 that Ben Price has been promoted to project manager.

Price has been with the firm, which was founded by his father and grandfather, for eight years. Founded in 1990, the firm’s work has included The Roanoke Times press building, multiple projects at Roanoke College and Hollins University, Grandin Court Baptist Church and several projects at Roanoke Catholic.

“Ben has been with us for many years and through hard work and attention to his craft has grown into a valued member of our team,” said President Robert L. Price. “We are excited to see his growth and development and welcome him to this new position.”

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Thalhimer announces new associate

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced Tuesday that Thacher Jennings has joined its Lynchburg office as an associate in their commercial brokerage group.

Prior to joining Thalhimer, Jennings was with CORE Real Estate & Development in Charlottesville, focusing on sales of both commercial and residential properties.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Central Virginia home lot sales surged 33% in Q4 2020

Henrico-based real estate researcher Integra Realty Resources announced this week that Central Virginia saw a surge of home activity in the fourth quarter of 2020, with lot sales increasing by 33% and permitting activity increasing by 39%.

In this time frame, 1,430 building permits were issued for construction and 1,432 vacant lots were sold. Integra also reported an 8% increase in the number of new homes sold compared to the fourth quarter in 2020.

Chesterfield County was the most active locality in Central Virginia for new home sales, with homebuilders closing 571 sales to capture 45% of the market. The greatest increase in new sales was seen in New Kent County, where activity increase by 55 sales.

Chesterfield also ended the quarter with the greatest increase in permitting activity. The number of permits issued by the county surged by 238 permits to end the quarter at 688 permits. Permitting activity in New Kent County more than doubled.

Caroline County posted the greatest increase in lot sales. The 120 lots sold in the county represent an increase of 86 sales. Henrico County ended the quarter with an increase of 74 lot sales, representing growth of 48%.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Colliers International Virginia taps executive vice president

Richmond-based commercial real estate agency Colliers International Virginia LLC announced Thursday that Charles Wentworth has been promoted to executive vice president.

Wentworth joined Colliers in 2012 to specialize in multifamily sales, where he represents private, high net-worth and institutional clients in the Central and western Virginia markets. Since joining the firm, Wentworth has completed transactions totaling over $1.3 billion.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Homes sell above listing price in Virginia

In its February 2021 Home Sales Report, Virginia Realtors says that homes in Virginia sold above their asking price on average, sales have quickened, and housing inventory has continued to shrink last month.

For several months, strong demand, limited inventory and historically low mortgage rates have driven price growth in Virginia. In February, the median sales price statewide was $320,000, up nearly 10% from the previous year. Home prices have quickly risen in the past seven months, and the median sales price in Virginia is now $59,000 higher than it was five years ago.

With the pandemic further shrinking inventory, homes on average are selling significantly faster. In February, homes were on the market an average of 35 days statewide, 17 days faster than a year ago.

There were 8,804 total home sales in February, 1,400 more than the previous February, and an increase of 19.2%. Though these figures may suggest a booming sales market, the report warns that activity this spring will be slower than a typical spring because of dwindling inventory. At the end of February there were just 15,712 active listings, more than 12,000 fewer active listing that a year prior, a decline of 43.7%.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Northam signs alcohol, ‘games of skill’ bills into law

Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Friday that he has signed several bills into law, including ones that allow for the delivery and take-out of alcoholic beverages and the ban of so-called “games of skill.”

House Bill 1879, sponsored by Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, and Senate Bill 1299, sponsored by state Sen. John Bell, D-Ashburn, codify Northam’s Executive Directive Ten and allow for delivery and take-out of alcoholic beverages until July 1, 2022. The legislation also directs the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to broadly study the issue and provide a report to the General Assembly by Nov. 1, 2021. The governor’s order, enacted last year, aimed to help struggling restaurants and bars during COVID-related restrictions.

Northam also amended House Bill 2168, sponsored by Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, to clarify that so-called “games of skill” — gambling machines that are similar to slots, commonly used in convenience stores, restaurants, truck stops and other businesses — will be prohibited beginning July 1, 2021. As passed by the General Assembly, the bill states that any person involved with the ownership or management of a gambling device set up in an unregulated location is subject to a civil penalty of up to $25,000.

The games’ ban was delayed by a year in 2020 due to the pandemic-related economic recession, and $68 million in income from the games has gone into a coronavirus relief fund to assist Virginians with housing insecurity and small business loans. Some elected officials — including Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Alexandria — advocated for another delay of the ban earlier this year to continue assistance of Virginians affected by the pandemic. However, Northam said last year that he would not extend the reprieve beyond July 1, 2021.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Rosetta Stone acquired by California-based learning platform

Arlington-based software company Rosetta Stone Inc. has been acquired by IXL Learning, the California-based educational learning company announced on Wednesday.

Founded in 1992, Rosetta Stone’s products are used by more than 1 million people in 150 countries to learn 30 languages. IXL is an integrated learning platform that supports more than 12 million students in math, English, science, social studies and Spanish.

Rosetta Stone is being offloaded by Dallas-based Cambium Learning. Cambium closed on the roughly $800 million acquisition of Rosetta Stone and Lexia Learning, which addresses the needs of K-12 learners, in October 2020.

“I firmly believe in learning languages. It’s the most direct route towards communicating with a wider range of people, developing a life-long appreciation for other cultures and preparing ourselves for an increasingly interconnected society,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, in a statement about the acquisition. “The acquisition of Rosetta Stone’s iconic brand greatly accelerates our efforts to teach languages to learners from all walks of life.”

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

U.Va. names new student affairs chief

The University of Virginia announced Thursday that Robyn S. Hadley will become its new vice president and chief student affairs officer effective June 1.

Hadley currently serves as associate vice chancellor and dean for scholar programs at Washington University in St. Louis. In her new role at the Charlottesville university, Hadley will report to the president and provost and lead more than 200 student affairs professionals.

“Robyn sees working with students as a calling, and her compassion and enthusiasm for helping students to thrive and succeed were immediately evident,” U.Va. President Jim Ryan said in a statement. “Provost [Liz] Magill and I wanted to find a chief student affairs officer dedicated to expanding access, holistic student development, and creating citizen-leaders, and Robyn has a history of success in all of those areas and a background that allows her to build powerful connections.”

Hadley will succeed Patricia M. Lampkin, who is retiring after more than 40 years at U.Va., including 18 as vice president.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Elizabeth River Project receives $2.1M naming gift

The nonprofit Elizabeth River Project announced Thursday that it has received a major naming gift of $2.1 million from Norfolk’s Pru and Louis Ryan.

The gift, the largest in the organization’s history, will attach the Ryans’ names to the Elizabeth River Project’s Resilience Lab that will be built along the Elizabeth River at 4610 Colley Avenue in Norfolk. The official name will be the Elizabeth River Project’s Pru and Louis Ryan Resilience Lab, or Ryan Resilience Lab for short. The three-story green facility will be the first urban redevelopment project in Virginia intentionally built in the floodplain to demonstrate environmental resilience to sea level rise.

A research dock on the property will provide a platform for ongoing study and solutions to address climate change issues. The waterfront Learning Park will be open to the public for a changing demonstration of emerging practices in resilience and waterfront access along Knitting Mill Creek.

“We decided to support the Elizabeth River Project because it is the leading organization focused on the environment in Hampton Roads and in particular the Elizabeth River,” Louis Ryan said in a statement. “The legacy created by the Elizabeth River Project’s Resilience Lab is a cleaner and healthier environment for the citizens of our region. We are proud to put our names on such a prestigious facility that will be on the frontline of regional and national efforts to combat sea level rise and changing climate conditions.”

Louis Ryan, the co-chair of the project’s Next Wave fundraising campaign, is the retired general counsel of Landmark Communications, which owned The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press newspapers.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Phlow announces national coalition with children’s hospitals

Richmond-based Phlow Corp. announced Thursday the launch of a coalition that will help ensure that children’s hospitals across the country receive key medications. The Virginia Commonwealth University-affiliated Children’s Hospital of Richmond is one of 11 founding hospital members.

Children’s Hospital Coalition (CHC) aims to provide certainty in availability and access to medicine and address supply chain issues. Citing a 2019 survey of 330 American hospitals — including 29 children’s hospitals — Phlow says that medicine shortages disproportionately and uniquely impact children’s hospitals. The company also says that the pandemic has further exposed the vulnerabilities of the supply chain.

“These hospitals have come together alongside Phlow in order to ensure that all children will have access to the critical medicines necessary to sustain life and conquer disease,” said Dr. Eric Edwards, co-founder, president and CEO of Phlow, in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “Children’s hospitals are directly impacted by essential medicine shortages, and many manufacturers have not been able to produce key medicines that are specially formulated … for children.”

The 11 founding hospital members of the CHC are: Arkansas Children’s in Little Rock, Arkansas; Boston Children’s Hospital; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Children’s Hospital of Richmond; Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C; Children’s Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; Cincinnati Children’s; Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, Texas; Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City; Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago; and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

“We’re working quickly to ensure a high-quality, reliable supply chain,” Edwards says. “Essential medicine shortages can lead to medication shortages. It can compromise or delay medical procedures, and it can increase costs for a hospital system.”

In May 2020, Phlow was awarded a $354 million, four-year federal contract from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to produce the essential medications using advanced manufacturing processes from the Medicines for All Institute based at VCU’s College of Engineering.

Phlow is in a partnership with Utah-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Civica Inc., which plans to invest $124.5 million to establish its North American manufacturing headquarters operation in Petersburg, creating 186 jobs and manufacturing injectable medicines for the treatment of COVID-19. A nonprofit generic drug company, Civica was established in 2018 by a group of U.S. health systems and philanthropic organizations to address chronic generic drug shortages and related price spikes. More than 50 health systems are Civica members.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.