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VCU received record $310 million in sponsored research funding in 2019

Virginia Commonwealth University raised a record $310 million in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2019, the university announced Thursday.

The total of $310,216,377 represented a 14.6% increase from 2018, when VCU reached $217 million for sponsored research. Top VCU recipients of research funding, included VCU's Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, which received a $19.78 million federal grant from the National Institutes of Health and the FDA Center for Tobacco Products to launch a five-year study predicting outcomes of government regulations of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The VCU School of Education's teacher residency program, which received a $4.97 million U.S. Department of Education grant to expand the program and increase STEM training to teachers in elementary schools and special education programs.

“Our robust growth in sponsored research speaks to the immense talent and dedication of the faculty, staff and students who comprise VCU,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “Their curiosity, creativity and innovative qualities benefit so many people, even those who will never come to our university.”

Nationally, VCU ranks No. 54 for federally funded research among public universities and No. 67 for all research funding by public universities, according to the National Science Foundation.

William & Mary Law School dean stepping down in 2020

Davison L. Douglas, the longest-serving William & Mary Law School dean in 50 years, has announced that he will return to the school's faculty in July 2020.

“It has been an honor to serve as dean of William & Mary Law School,” said Douglas, who has served as dean since July 2009. “I have had the great pleasure of working with so many individuals who care deeply about the work of the law school — and the students whom we educate. It has been wonderful to have time at the helm of an institution that has a special place in history as the country’s first law school and where a sense of community and pride informs all of its endeavors. I look forward to celebrating the 240th anniversary of the law school’s founding in December and to working with everyone to move the university and school forward in the coming year.”

Douglas, a constitutional historian, started teaching at the school in 1990. He previously served as director of the Institute of the Bill of Rights Law and was the founding director of the law school's election law program. 

“Dean Douglas brilliantly piloted the nation’s oldest law school through one of the most successful decades in its long history,” said William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe in a statement on the university's website. “So many areas have been furthered by Dave’s expansive vision for the school and his wise and compassionate stewardship. We are thankful for his years of exceptional leadership and grateful that he will continue to teach, guiding our students as they prepare for their careers.”

During Douglas' tenure, the school raised more than $81 million toward the university's For the Bold campaign, established the Hixon Center for Experiential Learning and Leadership and created new law clinics focusing on immigration, small business and appellate litigation, as well as the Virginia Coastal Policy Center.

 

 

State approves four new solar farms

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued permits approving four new solar farms across Virginia, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

Expected to generate 192 megawatts of electricity, the four projects are:

  • Danville Farm, a 12-megawatt facility in Pittsylvania County from Strata Solar Development
  • Dragonfly Solar, an 80-megawatt installation in Campbell County to be developed by Apex Clean Energy Holdings
  • Grasshopper Solar Project, an 80-megawatt farm solar developed by Dominion Energy Services in Mecklenburg County.
  • Turner Solar, a 20-megwatt facility in Henrico County from Cypress Creek Renewables.

“Virginia is adopting solar technology at record rates, and we are building an economy that is cleaner and greener as a result,” Northam said in a press release. “These four projects will strengthen our solar energy infrastructure and help to sustainably power thousands of homes and businesses across Virginia. As the commonwealth shifts to renewable energy sources, we are also reducing our carbon footprint, expanding opportunities for economic development and attracting the clean energy jobs that we need today and for generations to come.”

Northam signed an executive order last month setting a goal for Virginia's electric power to be completely generated from carbon-free sources, including wind, solar and nuclear, by 2050.

Richmond Fed hosts Investing in Rural America conference

 In his first 18 months as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Thomas I. Barkin has learned that there are two economies in the Fed’s Fifth District — “one in bigger cities and one in smaller towns.”

That led the Richmond Fed to host its inaugural Investing in Rural America conference, held Wednesday at the Hotel Madison & Shenandoah Convention Center in Harrisonburg. The conference focused on better outcomes for rural America, examining issues ranging from education and workforce development to community investment opportunities and broadband expansion.

“I’ve encountered arguments that the challenges of distressed rural communities are too difficult to solve. They’re not,” Barkin said, speaking to an audience of about 100 attendees, including local economic development officials. “From my perspective, the first step in thinking about the problems of these areas is to approach them as solvable — by good policymaking, by markets, by local leaders and by small-town residents themselves.”

In his opening address, Barkin said there are four major issues that need to be addressed to overcome the disparities between urban and rural communities: education, workforce development, geographic and informational isolation, and labor force participation.

From a macro view, the Fed’s Fifth District, which includes Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the Carolinas, is in good economic shape, with steady sustained job growth and low unemployment overall, said Kartik Athreya, the Richmond Fed’s director of research.

“The average person is doing fine,” Athreya said, but when one looks at various metrics, there is a distinct gap between urban and rural communities. For instance, while North Carolina and South Carolina are exceeding the national average for job growth, rural West Virginia is well below the national average.

Rural population growth has been stagnant for decades while urban growth has been skyrocketing. However, the Fed researcher pointed out, rural people account for about 60 million people in United States, or one in five Americans, a significant percentage.

Yet, while some cities have experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, rural areas haven’t. “Cities are important. They’re major drivers of regional economic growth,” Athreya said, noting that cities with 150,000 or more people generate 85% of the national gross domestic product.

While cautioning that “there are no silver bullets,” Athreya said, rural areas do have some advantages over cities that can be leveraged. For example, rural localities “can expand more easily into surrounding areas,” with greater room for geographic growth and expansion. And unlike cities, rural areas offer a lower cost of living and affordable housing.

Discussing closing the rural gap, Barkin talked about the need for universal pre-K education, which research demonstrates will increase reading levels, raise high school graduation rates and grow workforce participation among mothers.

The Richmond Fed president also praised community college workforce training partnerships and certificate programs, noting that “a four-year college isn’t necessarily the right path for everyone, and there are well-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.” In particular, he singled out the Virginia Community College System’s Fast Forward fast-track adult workforce training program. Fast forward program students can receive affordable credentials for in-demand jobs in the streamlined program. Students who complete the program pay only one-third tuition, with the state funding the rest.

“We’re determined to reach this population,” said VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois, speaking during a panel discussion about connecting workers to jobs. “This is the working poor; this is six out of 10 households in rural Virginia. … They are one emergency away from being busted.” Preventing that from happening, he said, is the purpose of Fast Forward.

Rural areas are drawing and retaining fewer college grads, according to Fed research, a phenomenon most evident in the Old Dominion across South Side and Southwest Virginia. Recognizing that only about 50% of college enrollees earn a bachelor degree, Athreya said, the Fed has evolved into taking a “no judgment” stance about alternatives to college and has a launched a website, investinwhatsnext.org, to help graduating high school students consider a raft of career and educational pathways.

Barkin also spoke about how the closures of rural banks, hospitals and colleges are contributing to the rural economic gap and community isolation, noting that 11 rural hospitals have closed in the Fed’s Fifth District since 2010, and 21 hospitals — or about 20% of the remaining facilities — are financially endangered.

“The loss of these institutions creates direct costs in terms of residents’ access to financial services, health care and education. But there are also large indirect costs,” Barkin said. “Anchor institutions provide civic leaders and high-skilled workers who can raise the aspirations of those around them. They invest in their communities and educate residents about health, careers or finances. They supply amenities that attract talent. They create incentives for other businesses and signal a community’s vibrancy.”

Expanding affordable broadband availability is also a vital issue, Barkin and conference speakers said, as it expands opportunities for remote work and online education, as well as decreasing a rural community’s information isolation. Yet, not every household can afford broadband, even where it’s available, Barkin observed.

Only 49% of households in Virginia making less than $20,000 per year have a broadband subscription, Barkin said. And in some areas of South Side and Southwest Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, for example, as many as 60% of households have no internet subscription. But increasing its usage and availability is critically important, he said: “Like rural electrification 80 years ago, the benefits — in terms of opportunity identification, skill-building, telemedicine and the like — are too big to pass up.”

Fixing rural challenges such as these will require focus, persistence and a concerted effort led by regional cooperation, Barkin said.

Communities also need to learn to tell their stories well, he urged, not just to market their amenities to outsiders, but to retain the people who live there.

“Changing the prospects of a town, it seems to me, starts with aligning the mindsets of the people in that town,” Barkin said. “And a great metric is whether the kids who grow up and go to school there choose to come back.”

McGuireWoods names new COO

McGuireWoods, Virginia's largest law firm, announced Tuesday that it has hired a new chief operating officer.

Richard Davis was formerly a managing director for New York-based Navigant Consulting Inc., which provides specialized consulting, outsourcing and technology services primarily to clients in the health care, energy and financial services industries. He has also worked for PwC and was a senior executive for 10 years at global business advisory firm FTI Consulting.

After a transition period, Davis will take over leadership of McGuireWoods’ operational departments and assist the senior management team with developing and implementing the firm’s strategic business priorities.

“Rich has played important leadership roles helping global professional services companies expand and innovate,” McGuireWoods Managing Partner J. Tracy Walker IV said in a statement. “His experience managing client-facing initiatives and large-scale transformation projects will be a tremendous asset as we push forward toward our strategic goals. In addition, Rich’s collaborative leadership style fits perfectly with our firm’s culture.”

Davis succeeds McGuireWoods Executive Director Robert Couture, who is focusing on his role as a senior research fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession, where he is studying the impact of artificial intelligence on law firms, as well as how law firms are competing with the Big Four accounting firms.

“Bob has been indispensable to McGuireWoods’ growth and success over the past 14 years,” Walker said. “He provided invaluable insight to senior management and oversaw major, client-focused initiatives in our operational departments that helped us earn recognition as one of the most innovative firms in the business of law. His contributions to the firm have been immense and we cannot thank him enough.”

The racehorse has left the barn

Viewed from Midlothian Turnpike, Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Richmond would resemble a busy movie cineplex — if it weren’t for the mobile police watchtower stationed in the packed parking lot.

The three Rosie’s locations that opened this year in Virginia — in Richmond, New Kent and Vinton — offer a casino-like atmosphere populated with glowing, chirping “historic horse racing” machines that, to the casual observer, are virtually indistinguishable from slot machines. Players make wagers on anonymous past horse races based on blind statistics. However, the machines also offer gamblers a more slots-like “auto handicap” button that will automatically choose the horse with the best odds.

While honest-to-gosh slot ma­­chines still remain officially verboten in the Old Dominion, the General Assembly legalized these historic horse-racing machines in 2018.

Since then, however, a tidal wave of “games of skill” machines that live in a more debatable legal gray space have popped up in restaurants, bars and convenience stores across the commonwealth. And the General Assembly is expected to discuss these machines during its 2020 session, when it will also take up whether to allow casinos in Portsmouth, Norfolk, Danville, Bristol and Richmond.

In a September presentation to the House Appropriations Committee, Virginia Lottery Director Kevin Hall estimated that the lottery would lose $140 million in annual sales to the machines, which he described in an August report to Gov. Ralph Northam as “untaxed, unlicensed and unregulated.” He also stated that Rosie’s hasn’t had significant impact on lottery sales.

With annual sales of $2.29 billion, the Virginia Lottery last fiscal year generated $650 million in profits, which went to the commonwealth’s K-12 public schools.

As of mid-September, the lottery estimated that more than 4,700 games-of-skill machines had been installed in Virginia Lottery-licensed retail locations.

The largest single provider of these machines is Queen of Virginia Skill and Entertainment, a subsidiary of Georgia-based gaming software manufacturer Pace-O-Matic Inc. As of September, it had leased out more than 4,600 of the machines statewide — up from about 2,400 in December 2018, according to the company’s compliance officer, Kevin Anderson.

Over the last two years Queen of Virginia has donated more than $224,000 to state political organizations and General Assembly candidates, according to the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project. The company maintains that, unlike illegal slot machines, which are games of chance, its machines are skill-based. Wagering 8 cents to $4 per play level, players win money from Queen of Virginia games by matching patterns from memory or engaging in tic-tac-toe-like games.

The company takes a 30% share of revenues from the machines, which it leases to Virginia-based amusement vendors, who also take 30%, Anderson says. The remaining 40% goes to the business owner where the machine is based.

While Queen of Virginia and retailers must pay state and federal income taxes from the machines’ earnings, Anderson acknowledges that there is no specific tax on the machines themselves.

“We are 100% for common-sense regulation. We want to be regulated in Virginia and we want that extra tax that comes with regulation,” says Anderson, a former special agent with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. Queen of Virginia is a good corporate citizen, he adds,  noting that in the last year it’s donated more than $700,000 to Virginia nonprofits, including the United Way and Virginia food banks. And, he says, there are roughly 5,000 gaming machines operated by other companies in Virginia that may or may not be legal.

Before rolling out its machines in Virginia in October 2017, Queen of Virginia sought an opinion from state ABC authorities as to whether its games could be installed in ABC-licensed locations. Virginia ABC responded in writing that it didn’t consider the games to be illegal gaming machines. However, the ABC and Attorney General Mark Herring revised that position this year, saying it was up to local prosecutors to make that determination. As of late       summer, only Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania had declared the machines illegal, ordering them removed from city locations within 30 days. Queen of Virginia has filed suit against Platania, protesting the action.

Meanwhile, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) is expected to deliver a gaming study in November that will present legislators with recommendations on whether to allow casinos and other new gambling avenues in Virginia.

Regardless of whatever decision legislators make, it appears that the commonwealth already has casinos and slot machines in all but name and they’re likely here to stay.

VCU holding 29th Real Estate Trends Conference

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business' Kornblau Real Estate Program is hosting its 29th annual Real Estate Trends Conference on Oct. 10 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. 

Expected to attract more than 1,200 attendees, the conference will feature speakers from Heitman LLC, a Chicago-based global real estate investment management firm, and NewCities, a Canadian international nonprofit focused on creating a better urban future. 

Mary Ludgin, Heitman's senior managing director and head of global research, will discuss her economic insights into trends in the national, regional and local real estate markets.

Greg Lindsay, director of applied research at NewCities, will address the cities-as-a-service model and how it's changing the real estate industry and how people live, work and move.

Altria and Philip Morris International end merger talks

Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. has ended merger talks to reunite as a single company with Philip Morris International Inc.

The announcement from the companies came amid news that Juul Labs Inc. CEO Kevin Burns has stepped down from the vaping manufacturer and is being replaced by K.C. Crosthwaite, Altria Group’s former chief growth officer. Altria holds a 35% stake in San Francisco-based Juul, which has come under fire for the high rates of usage of its popular devices among teens.

“After much deliberation, the companies have agreed to focus on launching IQOS in the United States as part of their mutual interest to achieve a smoke-free future,” Philip Morris International CEO André Calantzopoulos said in a statement released Wednesday.

IQOS is a heated tobacco product that has received premarket approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the statement, Philip Morris International noted that global data, based on four years of international sales, shows that IQOS is “not significantly appealing to youth or to nonsmokers.” IQOS has been available for sale in 48 international markets and has about 8 million users, according to the company.

A longtime Fortune 500 company listed among the S&P 500, Altria is the parent company of Richmond-based tobacco products manufacturer Philip Morris USA, best known for its Marlboro cigarettes brand. In addition to Juul Labs, Altria holds significant minority stakes in Belgian international beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, as well as Canadian cannabis company The Cronos Group.

Altria spun off Philip Morris International into an independent company in 2008. Based in New York, Philip Morris International is also a Fortune 500 company and manufactures Marlboro cigarettes and other tobacco products and brands for sale in more than 180 nations outside the United States.

Joint venture acquires 27 properties for $205 million

A joint venture involving Vienna-based commercial real estate investment firm Jera Partners LLC has purchased 27 fully leased properties for $205 million.

Jera’s joint venture partner in the acquisition is a fund managed by New York City based DRA Advisors (DRA).

The properties, which have a combined 3.3 million square feet, are located in 15 states. The sites have 14 tenants involving in warehousing, distribution centers and manufacturing.

The portfolio has a weighted average lease term of approximately 13 years with weighted average annual rent increases of approximately 2%.

Jera Partners focuses on properties that are net-leased to quality credit tenants. Its principals David Kay, Carrington Guy, and Michael Rebibo have more than 75 years of combined experience and $50 billion of real estate transactions completed.

DRA Advisors specializes in real estate investment management services for institutional and private investors, including pension funds, university endowments, foundations, and insurance companies.

Since its founding in 1986, the firm has acquired over $30 billion in assets, including 55 million square feet of office space, 75 million square feet of retail space, 57 million square feet of industrial properties and 72,000 multifamily units. As of June 30, DRA has more than $11 billion in assets under management.

Block.one locating U.S. headquarters in Arlington County

Block.one, a blockchain software developer backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and co-founded by a Virginia native, announced Monday it will locate its new $10 million U.S. headquarters in Arlington County, creating 170 jobs.

Block.one currently has a major operational center at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg that employs more than 80 engineering and research and development workers. It has additional locations in Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

“Block.one maintains a strong presence at its Blacksburg operation, and we are thrilled that this global company will expand its footprint in Virginia by locating its U.S. headquarters in Arlington County,” said Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in a statement. “Blockchain and other technologies are rapidly evolving, and industry pioneers like Block.one help to bolster the Commonwealth’s reputation as a leader in the information technology sector. The company’s continued growth in Virginia is a tremendous testament to the flourishing high-tech talent pool that is prevalent in diverse regions of the Commonwealth, from the New River Valley to Northern Virginia.”

Block.one publishes the open-source blockchain software EOSIO, a free blockchain protocol designed to be used and adapted and by developers and companies to facilitate secure and transparent digital transactions. It is powered by the EOS cryptocurrency that was co-developed by Virginia Tech graduate and Block.one co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Daniel Larimer, who grew up in Northern Virginia and has worked for Raytheon and Torc Robotics. An early Bitcoin investor and cryptocurrency developer, Larimer is worth more than $600 million, according to Forbes.

Registered in the Cayman Islands, the company has been largely based in Hong Kong. In a March email to shareholders, the company disclosed it held $3 billion in investments and holdings. It raised $4 billion in the sale of EOS digital tokens. Its major investors have included Thiel and billionaire hedge fund managers Alan Howard and Louis Bacon.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Arlington County to land Block.one, which was also looking at sites in Washington, D.C. The project received a $600,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. Block.one is also eligible to receive a Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for creating the 170 full-time positions, which will include corporate services staff as well as highly skilled tech workers.

“Block.one continues to expand its presence in the U.S., where we are creating high-skill jobs,” said Block.one Chief Operating Officer Andrew Bliss. “Our decision to open our U.S. headquarters in Virginia underscores our commitment to investing in the economic growth of the commonwealth, and our confidence in the talented workforce and support of local leadership. Arlington’s proximity to Washington, D.C., also allows us to continue building constructive business and government relationships as we provide insights for the application of blockchain-based technologies. We are excited to be heading down new paths of growth.”