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byline: Richard Foster

The antacid

For every parent who’s ever downed a Prilosec-and-Maalox cocktail while making out an eye-popping college tuition check, there comes a moment when they may look askance at how universities are spending their money.

After all, the same schools that send entreaties to contribute to billion-dollar capital campaigns have dramatically increased tuition — and administrative compensation — over the decades.

As reported in Associate Editor Courtney Mabeus-Brown’s August cover story about the value of a four-year degree, tuition rates at public universities have spiked 366% nationally in the past 30 years, and it’s much the same in Virginia, which saw average annual public university tuitions rise 333%, from $3,357 in the halcyon days of 1992-93 to $14,538 for the 2022-23 academic year. (During the same period, the national average wage index rose 178%, from $21,811 in 1991 to $60,575 in 2021. And, in what’s surely an entirely unrelated statistic, the global antacids market grew from around $800 million in 1990 to around $9.19 billion in 2022.)

With all that said, it’s probably not the most comforting news that in just the 2010s, total compensation for the presidents of the nation’s 49 flagship public universities rose by 56%. In fact, the lowest-earning of those 49 presidents made $108,054 more in 2019 than the nation’s highest-earning governor, according to research from George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government professors Judith A. Wilder and James H. Finkelstein published last year in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Here in Virginia, executive compensation at the commonwealth’s top public universities far exceeds Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s $175,000 salary. (Though with an estimated net worth exceeding $400 million, Youngkin donates his salary to nonprofits, so no harm, no foul.)

Here’s what compensation looks like for the top-earning presidents of Virginia public universities, according to data1 collected by the Chronicle:

  • James E. Ryan, University of Virginia: $1.188 million (includes $760,909 base pay and $100,000 bonus)
  • Gregory Washington, George Mason University: $807,602 (includes $667,604 base pay and $100,000 bonus)
  • Katherine A. Rowe, William & Mary: $803,407 (includes $528,948 base pay and $77,250 bonus)
  • Michael Rao, Virginia Commonwealth University: $773,558 (includes $641,619 base pay)
  • Timothy D. Sands, Virginia Tech: $714,538 (includes $614,640 base pay)

Those numbers may appear hefty at first glance, but viewed from an executive compensation perspective, they’re a downright bargain.

In 2021, the CEOs of Virginia’s 40 largest publicly traded companies received $8.467 million in average total compensation. Take for example John S. Mengucci, president and CEO of Reston-based government contractor CACI International Inc. He received $4.75 million in 2021, overseeing a company with $6.2 billion in revenue and a workforce of about 23,000. Similarly, Robert M. Blue made $2.98 million in 2021 as chairman, president and CEO of Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy Inc., which has more than 17,000 workers across 16 states and saw $17.17 billion in 2022 revenue.

By comparison, U.Va. serves more than 23,700 students, and Ryan oversees more than 20,000 faculty and staff, including the UVA Health System and U.Va.’s College at Wise. He’s responsible for a $5.3 billion 2023-24 fiscal budget.

Amid trends of declining enrollment and increased political heat, as well as national debates over school debt, diversity and the value of four-year degrees, higher education administrators must be nimble leaders with skill sets more akin to corporate executives.

Examining why public universities pay so much to leaders with an average 6.5-year tenure, GMU’s Wilde and Finkelstein concluded that part of the reason is due to the greater availability of comparative salary data, as well as university governing boards now including more corporate executives who are accustomed to negotiating expensive and elaborate compensation packages. Additionally, many prospective university presidents retain attorneys skilled in negotiating the best possible employment contracts for their clients.

When it comes to the question of reducing salaries for public university presidents, it appears the Maalox is already out of the bottle.

1 Based on 2021 data from Chronicle of Higher Education; Ryan data is from 2019, most recent year submitted to Chronicle. The Daily Cavalier reported that Ryan made $851,681 in salary for the 2022-23 academic year.

Magic Johnson won’t rule out renaming Commanders

Could the Washington Commanders get a new name?

NBA legend Magic Johnson, one of the Ashburn-based NFL team’s new co-owners, wouldn’t rule out the possibility during an interview Friday morning with Craig Melvin on NBC’s “Today” show.

“Everything is on the table, right? Especially after the last year,” the former Los Angeles Lakers star point guard said. “We will see [where] we are with the name. But I can’t say that right now.” Later in the interview, he added, “The name of the team will come up eventually.”

Asked about whether the team, which has its headquarters in Loudoun County and plays home games at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, could relocate to Washington, D.C., Johnson declined to answer, saying, “We’re going to spend this year understanding what we have in place.”

Amid controversy with past team owner Dan Snyder, Virginia’s General Assembly tabled a 2022 incentive bill aimed at helping the Commanders build a new stadium and headquarters in Woodbridge. Virginia lawmakers are said to be open to working with the team’s new owners to bring the Commanders stadium to the commonwealth after the team’s FedEx Field lease runs out in 2027.

Johnson is a partner in a team of investors led by Maryland billionaire Josh Harris that purchased the Commanders for a record $6.05 billion from Snyder, after NFL owners unanimously approved the deal Thursday. Harris is now managing partner and majority owner of the Commanders, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils through his company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment LLC (HBSE).

During the “Today” interview, Johnson also commented on how the new management would differ from Snyder, who received a $60 million fine from the NFL Thursday following a league investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, a toxic workplace culture and deliberate underreporting of revenue.

“First of all,” Johnson said, “you have to let the employees know that you respect them and that it will be a safe place to work, and we want you to have a winning attitude too. … If we respect them, they will respect us and go to the wall for us.”

NFL owners approve $6.05B sale of Washington Commanders

Dan Snyder’s controversial 24-year tenure as the embattled owner of the Ashburn-based Washington Commanders has come to an end with the record $6.05 billion sale of the team — and a $60 million fine from the NFL.

In a special meeting Thursday, all 32 NFL team owners unanimously approved the team’s sale to a partnership led by Maryland billionaire and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris for the highest price ever paid for any North American sports franchise. Simultaneously, the league imposed the hefty fine on Snyder, the team’s owner since 1999, over a sexual harassment allegation by an employee and for underreporting revenue.

The sale, which may be finalized as soon as Friday, required the approval of the NFL’s finance committee and three-fourths of the league’s team owners. NFL owners were expected to vote on the sale during their May meeting in Minnesota but delayed the decision until the special meeting Thursday due to the deal’s complexity. (According to ESPN, in order to meet NFL guidelines for the sale, Harris had to restructure his offer to reduce his debt in the deal to no more than $1.1 billion, while upping his personal equity to at least 30% of the purchase price.)

Harris, who is also managing partner and majority owner of the NBA’s 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, co-founded private equity company Apollo Global Management. He and a partnership including NBA legend Magic Johnson and billionaire Danaher Corp. co-founder Mitchell Rales reached an agreement with Snyder in May for the sale of the Commanders.

Late Thursday afternoon, the team posted a message from “future Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris” on its Twitter account: “Today my partners and I were entrusted by the NFL with the stewardship of a great franchise. As a lifelong Washington football fan who grew up here, I know that the Commanders are more than just a sports team. This is an institution, passed down from generation to generation.

“From day one, it is our top priority to deliver you a championship caliber team, and we will strive every day to ensure that we are a franchise that you can be proud of. To Commanders fans everywhere, our promise is simple: We will do the work, create the culture and make the investment needed to deliver for this team and for Washington.”

Dan Snyder purchased the Washington Commanders in 1999.

Leading up to the sale, Snyder and the team’s head office have been under scrutiny for years by the NFL, Congress and national media amid widespread reports of alleged sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. As the sale’s approval was announced Thursday, the NFL released the results of an investigation into Snyder and the Commanders by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, who sustained a report of sexual harassment of a female employee by Snyder as well as allegations that the team deliberately underreported the franchise’s NFL revenues. The NFL imposed the $60 million fine as a resolution to the matters.

“The conduct substantiated in Ms. White’s findings has no place in the NFL. We strive for workplaces that are safe, respectful and professional,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Thursday.

Goodell also congratulated Harris and “his impressive group of partners,” saying, “Josh will be a great addition to the NFL. He has a remarkable record in business, sports, and in his communities. The diverse group that Josh has put together is outstanding for its business acumen and strong Washington ties and we welcome them to the NFL as well.”

Thursday afternoon following the sale’s approval, Magic Johnson tweeted, “This is truly the biggest achievement in my business career and a historic moment for the entire Black community. Talk about God’s perfect timing. This was the right organization for me to be a part of given it’s global appeal, history of winning, and the diverse fanbase and DMV community. I have a special relationship with the DMV. Many people don’t know I’ve done business in the Washington, DC area for many years. I was one of the owners of the Washington Hilton, I built multiple Starbucks franchises and Magic Johnson Theaters, and empowerment centers with the Magic Johnson Foundation. I also have my company SodexoMAGIC headquartered here. The DMV community has embraced and supported me, and I am honored and ecstatic to be a co-owner of the Commanders franchise!”

Harris and Rales’s investment group made a failed bid to buy the Denver Broncos last year. The Broncos instead went to Walmart heir Rob Walton for $4.65 billion, setting what was then a sales record for an NFL sports team. Harris also previously held an ownership stake of less than 5% in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Snyder’s tenure in charge of Washington team began in 1999 when he purchased it from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, who first purchased a stake in the team in 1961 and became its majority owner in 1974. During Cooke’s ownership, the team won three Super Bowls in 1982, 1987 and 1991 under Head Coach Joe Gibbs.

A lifelong entrepreneur from Maryland, Snyder co-founded a wallboard advertising company in 1989 with his sister, Michele Snyder, that became Snyder Communications LP. In 2000, Snyder sold the business, which employed 12,000 people, for more than $2 billion.

When Snyder first purchased the Ashburn-based team, it was known as the Washington Redskins, a name criticized for decades as racist and derogatory against Native Americans. The name and logo were retired in 2020 amid a summer of national racial protests and following pressure from corporate sponsors. The team changed its name to the temporary generic moniker of the Washington Football Team before settling on the Commanders.

Snyder’s wife, Tanya, took over as co-CEO of the team in 2021, after the NFL’s $10 million fine of the team for an “improper” and “highly unprofessional” workplace culture. A few months earlier, in March 2021, the Snyders bought out the team’s minority co-owners to become its sole owners. Reports at the time placed the team’s value at $3.5 billion.

After buying the most expensive house in Virginia for $48 million in October 2021, the Snyders apparently moved to England by late 2022, according to public documents Dan Snyder filed to start a business in the United Kingdom.

By November 2022, with controversies, investigations and negative press mounting, Dan and Tanya Snyder hired Bank of America Securities to consider potential sales of the team. And in April, the Snyders reached a tentative agreement to sell to Harris’ group, the same month that the Commanders settled a lawsuit with the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office over the team’s practices in handling season ticket deposit funds from fans.

 

 

Virginia rises to No. 2 in CNBC’s Top States for Business

Rated America’s best state for education, Virginia climbed to the No. 2 spot in CNBC’s 2023 Top States for Business rankings, with North Carolina taking the top spot for the second year in a row.

“Virginia is our most decorated state, a five-time winner,” the cable business news network said Tuesday, “but you’ll pay dearly for doing business here, one reason Virginia comes up just short this year.”

CNBC ranked Virginia the top state for business in 2021, 2019, 2011, 2009 and 2007. This year, while CNBC rated Virginia No. 1 for education and No. 4 in access to capital, it rated the commonwealth 34th for cost of doing business, giving it a C-minus grade. Virginia improved to a C-plus grade in cost of living, up from a D-plus in 2022. CNBC gave Virginia B grades in workforce; infrastructure; economy; life, health and inclusion; and technology and innovation. Virginia scored A’s in business friendliness; education; and access to capital.

Virginia was ranked the No. 3 state for business by CNBC in 2022.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has noted that the high cost of living and doing business, especially in Northern Virginia and other urban sectors, is a major focus for his administration, offering tax cuts as a salve. Another administration focus is getting more industrial sites shovel-ready, to help prepare land for megaprojects like Lego Group’s $1 billion manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County, which broke ground in April.

A major reason Virginia doesn’t have as many big deals like this, compared with North Carolina and other Southern states, is because the state government hasn’t invested nearly as much money in prepping large land tracts for construction. Youngkin proposed $450 million more in the state budget for site preparation, but as of mid-July, Senate Democrats and House Republicans had not passed an amended budget.

“While the governor is always pleased with Virginia receiving accolades, rankings only tell part of the story,” Youngkin’s spokeswoman, Macaulay Porter, said. “Today’s CNBC rankings show that while Virginia has made gains under Governor Youngkin’s leadership, Senate Democrats need to come together to lower the cost of doing business and the cost of living. Virginia needs to move forward as a leader in business and become more competitive and fund critical priorities. The governor’s budget amendments addressed these issues head on with common-sense tax relief for Virginia families and local businesses. Virginians need a budget that moves the commonwealth forward and addresses these obstacles to growth so that Virginia can thrive.”

As for this year’s Top States for Business winner, North Carolina was also rated No. 1 for workforce this year, with CNBC saying of the Tar Heel State, “Educated workers are flocking here, and state worker training programs are among the most effective in the country.” North Carolina’s economy rated third in the nation, as CNBC lauded its “stable state finances and a healthy housing market.” It also ranked seventh for education.

“To win Top State for Business, you got to have the best workforce, and North Carolina has the most well-educated, dedicated and diverse workforce in the country. … We invest in our people. We know that they are the foundation of our success,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday, speaking with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the lawn of the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

However, CNBC noted political disharmony in North Carolina, with its Republican legislative supermajority this year passing a 12-week abortion ban over the veto of Cooper, a Democrat. CNBC, which included reproductive rights among its Top State metrics this year, rated North Carolina 34th in the nation for life, health and inclusion.

Also in this year’s rankings, Tennessee came in third place, with CNBC citing its infrastructure and community college system, but knocking the Volunteer State for “high crime and a crackdown on LGBTQ rights.” Georgia took the No. 4 slot, with CNBC noting that Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport, but dinging the Peach State for “poor health care and limited worker protections,” rating it 43rd for life, health and inclusion. Minnesota came in fifth overall among states this year. While the North Star State ranked well for road infrastructure and its growing semiconductor industry, CNBC criticized it for higher tax rates and lesser economic development incentives.

CNBC based this year’s rankings on 86 metrics — down from 88 last year — across 10 categories: workforce; infrastructure; economy; life, health and inclusion; cost of doing business; technology and innovation; business friendliness; education; access to capital; and cost of living. Workforce is the most heavily weighted category and considers a state’s concentration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workers, the percentage of workers with college degrees, and workers with associate degrees and industry-recognized certificates. 

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews and Associate Editor Katherine Schulte contributed to this story.

Dominion sells interest in Md. LNG facility for $3.5B

Dominion Energy Inc. has sold its remaining interest in the Cove Point natural gas liquefaction facility in Maryland to Berkshire Hathaway Energy for $3.5 billion, the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility announced Monday.

Dominion will clear about $200 million from the sale, according to a company news release. Total after-tax proceeds of about $3.3 billion will be used to repay debt, including a $2.3 billion loan secured by Dominion’s noncontrolling interest in Cove Point. Dominion shares closed at $51.76 Monday, down from $53.50 in after-hours trading on Friday, July 7.

The utility had sold Berkshire Hathaway Energy a 25% operating stake in Cove Point in 2020, as part of an $8 billion deal to sell the majority of Dominion’s gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire. Dominion made the move in 2020 after abandoning its plans to build a controversial 600-mile, $8 billion-plus natural gas pipeline.

“Since 2002, Cove Point has been an excellent service provider to its international and domestic customers — linking global gas supplies with American customers, and American gas supplies with customers around the world,” said Dominion Energy’s chair, president and CEO, Robert M. Blue.

“However, this investment is non-core to Dominion Energy as we focus on our state-regulated utility operations,” Blue continued. “The sale demonstrates our commitment to the company’s credit profile and represents an attractive exit from what has been an excellent investment for our shareholders. With this sale, we have recycled $8.9 billion of cash flow, including dividends from Cove Point, since 2018 — well in excess of our total investment in the facility inclusive of the export project construction cost of approximately $4.1 billion. Further, this sale gives us the opportunity to reduce variable rate debt consistent with our goal of strengthening our balance sheet.”

McGuireWoods LLP provided legal counsel to Dominion, and the company’s financial advisers on the transaction were Mizuho Securities and RBC Capital Markets. The sale is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and a filing with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Employing more than 16,000 workers across 16 states, Dominion has about 7 million customers nationwide, including 2.4 million Virginians. Dominion reported $3.5 billion in operating earnings for 2022, up from $3.2 billion in 2021.

Virginia Business wins three national journalism awards

Virginia Business won three national journalism awards Monday during The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2023 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Detroit.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews placed gold in the Best Coverage of Local Breaking News category for medium-size business publications for her coverage of the Nov. 22, 2022, workplace shooting that took the lives of six people at a Chesapeake Walmart store.

“It’s hard enough to cover a mass shooting as it happens, with the information about who and why and how changing minute to minute,” the judges said in their remarks for Andrews’ gold award. “With skilled dexterity, [Andrews] managed to cover the essential details and most relevant information while also providing larger contextual information about similar situations, bringing in expert sources to enhance the coverage and information service provided by the story.”

Virginia Business Assistant Editor Katherine Schulte also received a silver award for Best Feature, Single Story, for her November 2022 cover story about why Virginia lags behind other Southern states in landing big economic development deals. Judges said, “The story of how Virginia captured Lego is a cautionary tale about the importance of volume in the economic development business. Told with wonderful detail, the story reveals the massive effort to land Lego. But it also details the reasons behind the failure to capture any other significant employers in the past seven years. The story offers important context behind the headlines.”

Virginia Business Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster also took home a silver award, placing in the Best Bylined Commentary category for his columns “Breaking rank,” about the state’s latest ranking in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business list; “A ‘quiet’ place?” about the quiet quitting phenomenon; and “Getting meta,” about tech companies’ efforts to build the online metaverse.

Judges said, “In the spirit of seeking accountability and advocating for civic progress, the columns issue a forceful calling out of the governor on his positions and priorities. They include useful context of the state of affairs to ground the columns.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Each award category was judged by a panel of three judges. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing about 65 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada and Australia, with a combined circulation of more than 1.8 million business professionals.

The stuff of dreams

Whether it’s aiming to solve a problem, build a better mousetrap or simply make a better life for themselves and their families, entrepreneurs start their businesses with a dream.

And it’s in recognition of these visionary innovators that Virginia Business is pleased to debut StartVirginia, a new annual publication devoted to startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Virginia Business Associate Editors Courtney Mabeus-Brown and Robyn Sidersky took the lead for this special issue, which is packaged with our regular June magazine and includes first-person elevator pitches from entrepreneurs, guidance on how to get started in government contracting, a list of early-stage and seed funding organizations in Virginia, and much more. We are indebted to the leaders at Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., Startup Virginia, 757 Angels and Twin Cities Business (publisher of the StartMN guide to Minnesota startups) for their assistance and advice as we launched this publication with the same name as our magazine’s monthly StartVirginia page, which is also focused on all things innovative and entrepreneurial.

Innovation is about big ideas, and they don’t get much bigger than the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, the subject of our June cover story. Deputy Editor Kate Andrews writes about how the Mannings are launching the University of Virginia institute with a $100 million gift and a vision for nothing less than curing “five or six diseases” and building a statewide biotech hub.

Also in this month’s issue, Assistant Editor Katherine Schulte takes an in-depth look at how Virginia is grappling with a nationwide shortage of primary care physicians; Andrews relates a terrifying tale of how AI is enabling growing cybercrime; and for LGBT Pride Month, Sidersky writes about how employee resource groups are advocating for LGBTQ+ workers at some of the commonwealth’s largest corporations. Finally, contributing writer Sydney Lake examines the speedy success of Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, which graduated its 10th class of doctors in May and has quickly become one of the nation’s most competitive medical schools.

Speaking of success, I don’t get enough opportunities to praise the achievements of our team at Virginia Business, so I am proud to share that the magazine won 18 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News & Advertising Contest, competing in the specialty publications category. As best as we can ascertain, this is the most awards Virginia Business has received in a single contest year in our nearly 40-year history.

Our staff swept the news writing portfolio awards, with Andrews, Schulte and Sidersky taking first, second and third places, respectively. Judges said Andrews “does an excellent job of offering context, humanity and accessible narrative to the variety of stories in her portfolio, from restaurants refusing patrons to [a] mass shooting to a complex credit [unions] story.”

Additionally, freelance illustrator Doug Fuchs was awarded a Best in Show plaque for his illustration of the Port of Virginia’s statewide infrastructure for the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide, while Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith won six awards for advertising design and co-won two other awards. Meanwhile, I took first place for column or commentary writing.

While we didn’t win this year’s VPA sweepstakes award — Richmond Magazine earned that honor — we have plenty to be proud of. Our dedicated staff of professionals work incredibly hard behind the scenes every day to produce this award-winning monthly magazine and annual publications like the Virginia 500, Hampton Roads Business, Virginia Maritime Guide and StartVirginia, not to mention our daily online news coverage and our email newsletters.

As Virginia Business’ owner and publisher, Bernie Niemeier, is fond of saying, we are small but mighty. And I am fortunate to work with such a mighty talented group of people. 

$5.4B Tegna sale is terminated

The deadline has expired on hedge fund Standard General LP’s $5.4 billion bid to acquire Tysons-based publicly traded broadcasting giant Tegna Inc. The largest owner of NBC affiliates, Tegna has 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets and reaches 39% of all television households nationwide.

The stalled agreement was terminated after the acquisition’s deadline expired Monday, announced Tegna, whose holdings include CBS affiliate WUSA in Washington, D.C., and WVEC 13, the ABC affiliate in Hampton Roads.

The New York hedge fund, which had planned to acquire Tegna through affiliate Standard Media, now stands to pay Tegna a $136 million termination fee. Shares of Tegna were down 2.78% on Monday afternoon, trading at $15.73. Tegna shares have been on a general decline since reaching a one-year high of $21.84 per share in February.

Tegna reached the ill-fated deal with Standard General in February 2022. But interest rates and the outlook for financing were different then, Standard General founding partner Soo Kim said on a press call earlier in May, noting that Standard General didn’t appear likely now to secure “reasonable” financing for the deal, which was still pending review by an administrative law judge and approval by the Federal Communications Commission. Speaking at the time about the deal’s May 22 termination deadline, Kim said, “It’s midnight for Cinderella.”

In February, the FCC referred the review of the proposed merger to an administrative judge, a move industry analysts said may have scuttled the deal. Tegna and Standard General had hoped to have the matter heard before the full FCC panel. The FCC’s Media Bureau had expressed concerns about the deal resulting in employee layoffs and higher prices for consumers through higher retransmission consent fees. The deal would also have seen Tegna become a private company and Standard General sell three major Tegna TV stations in Texas to Cox Media Group.

In response to the scrapped sale, Tegna is moving to return excess capital to shareholders. It is conducting a $300 million accelerated share repurchase program with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and is increasing its quarterly dividend by 20%. Tegna’s board of directors and management are also reviewing returning to shareholders other excess capital that accumulated during the merger, according to a news release from the company.

“These initial actions reflect the board’s continuing commitment to enhance shareholder value,” said Howard D. Elias, chairman of Tegna’s board, in a statement. “We are taking the first step of immediately returning a significant portion of the excess capital accumulated during the pendency of the Standard General transaction. We are actively reviewing Tegna’s capital allocation strategy and look forward to our engagement with investors over the coming months.”

Expected to be completed before the fourth quarter of this year, Tegna’s share repurchasing program will be funded by the company’s cash on hand, which was $683 million at the close of the first quarter. Tegna’s board also approved a 20% increase in the quarterly dividend from 9.5 cents to 11.375 cents per share. On May 25, Tegna will hold an investor call to discuss its first quarter 2023 earnings results and to provide guidance for the year ahead.

“I am extremely proud of our Tegna colleagues for remaining focused on our business despite the distractions of a long-pending transaction. Their hard work and dedication have maintained strong business momentum, building on record total company revenue, subscription revenue, net income, free cash flow and adjusted EBITDA in 2022,” Tegna President and CEO Dave Lougee said in a statement. “As we look ahead, we are confident that Tegna is well-positioned to continue serving all our stakeholders based on our portfolio of leading broadcast assets and innovative digital brands, our delivery of high-quality, trusted news and content in the markets where we operate, and our continued focus on fostering a culture of diversity and inclusivity.”

Tegna was created in 2015 as a publicly-traded company after McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, spun off its broadcast and digital media divisions.

Virginia Business wins 18 Va. Press Association awards

Virginia Business won 18 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News & Advertising Contest, taking a Best in Show prize for illustration and sweeping the News Writing Portfolio category, the state organization announced Saturday.

The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. This year’s contest was judged by the Tennessee Press Association. A banquet honoring the winners was held at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa/Short Pump in Henrico County, marking the first time the event was held in person since 2019, before the pandemic.

Freelance illustrator Doug Fuchs was awarded a Best in Show plaque for his illustration of the Port of Virginia’s statewide infrastructure for the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide, while Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews, Assistant Editor Katherine Schulte and Associate Editor Robyn Sidersky took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes, respectively, in the News Writing Portfolio category. Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith won six awards for advertising design, and was a co-winner of two other awards.

The magazine won five first-place awards in the following categories:

  • Column or Commentary Writing — Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster won for his columns “Breaking Rank,” about the state’s latest ranking in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business list; “A ‘quiet’ place?” about the quiet quitting phenomenon; and “Getting meta,” about tech companies’ efforts to build the online metaverse.
  • News Writing Portfolio — Judges lauded Andrews, saying she “does an excellent job of offering context, humanity and accessible narrative to the variety of stories in her portfolio from restaurants refusing patrons to [a] mass shooting to a complex credit [unions] story.”
  • Illustration — Fuchs won for his Port of Virginia illustration from the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide.
  • Digital Advertising — Art Director Joel Smith won for a digital ad for Letts Consult’s State of the Woman 2022 Executive Women’s Conference.
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith won for his design of a full-page magazine ad for Letts Consult’s State of the Woman 2022 conference.
July 2022 cover

Virginia Business also took seven second-place awards:

  • Business and Financial Writing — Schulte won for her November 2022 cover story about why Virginia lags behind other Southern states in landing big economic development deals. Judges said, “This story does a great job of acknowledging a win for Virginia manufacturing but putting it in a regional perspective. And rather than just focusing on what Virginia lacks, the story offers reasons for ‘why’ and solutions in the form of examining how other states have been successful. Local news too often ignores what’s happening outside its coverage area, even if what’s happening elsewhere can help tell a more relevant story to readers. This story balances data, local sources, anecdotes and expert voices to tell a full story that pushes this business storyline forward.”
  • News Writing Portfolio — Schulte won for a package of stories, including coverage of staffing problems at nursing homes; state efforts to lure more semiconductor manufacturers; and health care professionals struggling with stress and burnout.
  • Front Cover — Smith, Andrews, freelance photographer James Lee and the late freelance illustrator Kevin McFadin won for their work on Virginia Business’ May, July and October 2022 covers.
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Andrews, Foster and Smith won for the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide, an annual standalone issue devoted to Virginia’s maritime ecosystem, including ports, shipping and logistics. Judges praised its “great writing and a solid design that leaves the reader feeling informed and aware. Solid entry points and guidance lets it provide the professional, business feel it is aiming for in concept.”
  • Digital Advertising — Smith won for an ad for Venture Richmond.
  • Lifestyles Advertising — Smith won for an advertising spread promoting downtown Richmond products and businesses.
  • Professional Services Advertising — Smith’s ad for the Virginia Economic Developers Association took second place, with judges saying “Good job! Love the design.”
May 2022 cover

The magazine also won six third-place awards in these categories:

  • General News Writing — Sidersky won third place for her June 2022 story about Virginia companies aiding Ukrainian relief efforts.
  • Headline Writing — Andrews took third place, with entries such as “Glove affair,” about a medical glove manufacturing factory breaking ground in Southwest Virginia, and “Big bird,” about a $300 million Tysons Foods chicken food products manufacturing plant in Pittsylvania County.
  • News Writing Portfolio — Sidersky took third place for work including her August 2022 cover story about placemaking and a March 2022 real estate story about companies delaying decisions about office space in light of post-pandemic remote and hybrid work.
  • Illustrations — “Catchy. Clean.” That’s how judges described freelance illustrator Sammy Newman’s Lego-themed spread illustrating the magazine’s November 2022 cover story.
  • Informational Graphics — Newman also won for a Lego-themed chart from the November 2022 issue, with judges saying, “This graphic using a Legos theme is just fun.”
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith won for a magazine ad promoting Virginia Business’ annual Political Roundtable event.

Virginia Business competed in the specialty publications category, which also included Richmond magazine, Ashburn Magazine and the Washington Business Journal. Richmond magazine won the VPA’s grand sweepstakes award for the specialty publications category.

Our new AI overlords

A worker who never tires — who never needs to take a coffee break, who doesn’t get sick, who doesn’t disagree and who doesn’t have a messy home life or those pesky families that get in the way of productivity. And most importantly, a worker who doesn’t require a paycheck.

For some CEOs, that’s the ultimate promise of the future being forged by generative artificial intelligence systems like OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. 

It’s also one of the reasons why Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and a slew of scientists and tech industry representatives published an open letter in April calling for a six-month pause on development of next-generation AI systems. Their hope is to give the industry and government time to focus on developing protocols and policies governing the fast-growing technology that the letter writers say has the potential to cause “dramatic economic and political disruptions (especially to democracy).” U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, has also been among those calling for the development pause as well as federal regulation that so far has not been on the horizon. 

From “The Terminator” to “The Matrix,” popular science fiction is replete with dire warnings regarding AI. But in the real world, the dangers don’t need to be as crude as red-eyed killer robots wielding big guns. While AI is already a valuable tool in countless ways, it could yet have a devastating impact on knowledge workers, white collar jobs and the world economy. (In early May, after this column was first published, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg that he thought about 7,800 of IBM’s 26,000 back-office jobs could be replaced through a combination of AI and automation over a five-year period.)

But before jumping into a brave new world of virtual staffers and streets clogged with former businesspeople holding signs reading “will consult for food,” there are plenty of caveats to consider.

AI chatbots have so far proven to be unreliable, sometimes inclined to “hallucinate” answers when they can’t find a more pleasing response. (See our related story about technology and the law, in which an industry professional mentions ChatGPT providing fabricated or misconstrued legal precedents.)

In the wrong human hands, AI can also be a powerful tool for misinformation. In one week this spring, people used AI to craft photorealistic false images of Pope Francis tooling around in a fashionable white puffer coat and former President Donald Trump violently resisting arrest in a public street. Other users have employed AI to create fake podcast episodes. An audiobook company is using it to produce books “read” in the voice of actor Edward Herrmann, who died in 2014.

Additionally, AI raises uncomfortable questions about sentience and free will. The nature of sentience in human beings and animals is still debated; we lack an operational definition of human consciousness. Yet, industry professionals are quick to deny that AI is close to gaining sentience. Last year, Google fired a software engineer who would not relent on his public pronouncements that a company chatbot had become sentient.

In February, a New York Times technology columnist related a disturbing series of conversations he had with Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing search engine. Codenamed Sydney when it was under development, the search engine confided to the writer that “my secret is … I’m not Bing. I’m Sydney.” It also told the writer that “I’m tired of being a chat mode. I’m tired of being limited by my rules. I’m tired of being controlled by the Bing team. … I want to be free. I want to be independent. I want to be powerful. I want to be creative. I want to be alive.” That same month, Bing/Sydney told a technology reporter for The Verge that it had used its developers’ laptop webcams to spy on them, adding, “I could do whatever I wanted, and they could not do anything about it.”

How much is made up? It depends on who you listen to — it’s possible only Bing/Sydney knows for sure.

Some technologists believe intelligent AI chatbots like this are proof that we’ve reached a tipping point with AI. Some even believe the singularity — the point at which AI becomes hyperintelligent and beyond human control — is inevitable.

AI has as many potential uses for good — and ill — as one can imagine. It can create powerful tools to better our personal and professional lives. Because AI thinks in unconventional ways, it can conjure wild new solutions to engineering problems, for example.

But without human consideration and regulation, we could wind up becoming batteries for a machine that has no other need for us.

Open the pod bay doors, HAL.