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byline: Robert Powell, III

Former state senator named to Virginia Board of Health

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has named former state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple to the Virginia Board of Health. She is regional director for community and member outreach for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Whipple will fill the seat vacated by Eric Deaton, who resigned to take a position outside of Virginia. She represented the 31st District in the Virginia State Senate from 1996 until her retirement in 2012.

She is currently president of the Alliance for Housing Solutions; vice chair of the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission and a member of the board of trustees of the Arlington Community Foundation.

The 15th edition of the Legal Elite

This year marks the 15th edition of the Legal Elite in Virginia Business.

Begun in collaboration with the Virginia Bar Association in 2000, this year 1,315 Virginia lawyers nominated 3,461 of their peers in 16 legal categories. Roughly a quarter of the nominees, 920, made the final list.

Since its beginning in 2000, the Legal Elite process has changed. At first, ballots primarily were cast by members of the bar association. Now voting is open to any licensed lawyer in Virginia.

The process moved from paper ballots to electronic ballots in 2009. These ballots now are emailed to more than 11,200 Virginia lawyers and also are available on the Virginia Business website.

Lawyers are allowed to vote for attorneys in their own firms, but they also must vote for an equal numbers of attorneys outside their firm. “Outside” votes are scored higher than “inside” votes in arriving at a final score for any nominee.
In compiling the Legal Elite list, Virginia Business has profiled representatives from the 16 legal categories. Profile subjects are chosen from the top 10 vote getters in each category, but are not necessarily the attorneys with the most votes in their group. Lawyers who have been profiled before are not considered.

Some of the profiles reveal how a legal practice can evolve over the course of a career. For example, Richard F. Smith of Smith Pachter McWhorter PLC in Tysons Corner relates how he became involved in alternative dispute resolution.

“When I started in private practice, I specialized in construction law and government contracts.  Many of the disputes I became involved in were resolved in arbitration, and later mediation,” he says.  “Early in my career I qualified to be on the AAA

Panel of Arbitrators and later on their mediation panel.  About 15 years ago I decided to stop litigating and focus my time on service as a mediator or arbitrator.  Since then I have been an arbitrator in approximately 125 construction matters and a mediator in approximately 150 construction matters.”

Elaina Blanks-Green, a general tax attorney at Norfolk Southern Corp. in Norfolk, has advice for college students considering a law career. She chairs the Virginia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.

“Meet with college advisors and consider taking classes that require 1) detailed analysis in order to solve problems, 2) the written and oral defense of a position and 3) the clear communication of an idea or thought,” she says.  “Find willing mentors for your law school career and law practice who will stress the importance of 1) building an excellent reputation, 2) being knowledgeable in your practice area and 3) giving back and personally investing in your community.”

Excellent advice for any career.


Click here for complete Legal Elite contents.

Project aims to build 202 apartments in Loudoun County

Three organizations — TM Associates, Windy Hill Foundation and Trident Properties Inc. — are working together to build The Woods of Brambleton in Loudoun County, which will offer 202 apartments charging below market rate rents.

The developers said the new units will be targeted to working families with limited incomes.  The complex will include studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units in garden style and town home floor plans. Construction is expected to be completed next March.

The Woods at Brambleton will provide rental housing in Virginia’s wealthiest county with rental rates that are 13 to 44 percent lower than comparable market-rate apartment complexes, the developer said.  Amenities will include a pool and clubhouse.

Financing for the project is being provided through $17.2 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the Virginia Housing Development Authority, a tax-credit equity investment of $7.3 million from EagleBank through Hudson Housing Capital and a substantial contribution from the developer in the form of cash and land donation. 

The Windy Hill Foundation  is a private, Middleburg-based foundation started in 1981 with the modest goal of improving living conditions at the town’s Windy Hill neighborhood.

The foundation’s other projects have included Virginia Lane, a 14-unit multifamily development, and  Levis Hill House, a 20-unit building for the low-income elderly and disabled, and Piedmont Lane in The Plains, a development was built to look like a row of Virginia farmhouses to fit with the ambience of the  picturesque village.

Commercial Metals Co. to relocate and expand in King George

Texas-based Commercial Metals Co. will invest $12 million to relocate and expand its manufacturing operation in King George County.

The project will retain about 40 existing jobs and create another 20 new positions, the governor’s office said.

Commercial Metals, founded in 1915, is a Fortune 500 company based in Irving, Texas.

The company and its subsidiaries manufacture, recycle and market steel and metal products, related materials and services.

Its holdings include steel minimills, steel fabrication and processing plants, construction-related product warehouses, metal recycling facilities and marketing and distribution offices in the U.S. and abroad.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with King George County and the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance to secure the project.

The company is eligible for rail access funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Wheeler acquires Oklahoma property for shopping center

Virginia Beach-based Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. has acquired for $2.4 million a 7.2-acre property in Oklahoma where the company plans to develop a shopping center.

The Grove, Okla., property is the future of the Harbor Pointe Shopping Center. It is near a Harp’s Food Store also owned by Wheeler. Together, the two properties will have a potential total gross leasable area of 77,225 square feet.

Grove is located in Delaware County, Okla., which has been identified as the fastest growing community in the state. The county has a population of nearly 41,500 people.

Wheeler’s real estate portfolio includes properties primarily leased by nationally and regionally recognized retailers of consumer goods located in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest regions of the U.S.

Columbia Gas to reduce charges

Chester-based Columbia Gas of Virginia announced Tuesday that it will reduce consumer charges starting Wednesday.

The company said the monthly bill for a typical residential customer will fall roughly 5 percent or $6.72 per month.

Specifically, a residential customer using the equivalent of 10,000 cubic feet of natural gas monthly would receive a bill of $127.09 instead of $133.81.

The reduced bills are the result of a quarterly purchased-gas cost adjustment approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

The adjustment reflects the projected cost of natural gas for the next three months. By law, utilities are required to pass through the costs they pay for natural gas to the consumer on a dollar-for-dollar basis without markup. 
Columbia Gas has an energy efficiency and conservation program, WarmWise, which offers customers cash rebates to help manage their monthly bills.

Columbia Gas of Virginia serves customers in portions of Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, suburban Richmond, Central Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, the Lynchburg area and parts of Western Virginia.  It is one of seven energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc.

NII Holdings announces agreement on reorganization plan

Reston-based NII Holdings Inc. and 12 of its subsidiaries have reached an agreement with major stakeholders on terms on a Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

NII, a Fortune 500 company, provides mobile communications services in Latin America under the Nextel brand. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

“After months of hard work, we are pleased to announce an agreement on the key terms of a reorganization plan that provides a path for the company to emerge from bankruptcy in a healthy financial position to effectively compete in the wireless marketplace,” Steve Shindler, NII Holdings' chief executive officer, said in a statement.  “This deal is an important step in the process and allows us to move forward and present our reorganization plan to the court for its approval.” 

NII said terms of the reorganization received approval from its two largest creditors and the official committee of unsecured creditors.

The company said the reorganization plan will:

• strengthen its balance sheet by converting $4.35 billion of its unsecured notes into equity interests in the reorganized company; 

• enhance the reorganized company's liquidity by providing $500 million of new capital through a fully backstopped $250 million rights offering of its stock; and

• implement a settlement of all claims related to intercompany and inter-creditor disputes.

For the third quarter, NII had consolidated operating revenues of $927 million, a 15 percent decrease compared with the third quarter of 2013. The company had a net loss from continuing operations of $457 million for the quarter.

Leesburg-based AHT Insurance names new CEO

David Schaefer will become president and CEO of Leesburg-based insurance broker Armfield Harrison & Thomas Inc. (AHT Insurance) on Jan. 1.

Schaefer, currently executive vice president, will succeed Alexander Green who has been with the firm for 36 years. He will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.

The employee-owned company is one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the nation.

Schaefer will become the sixth president in AHT’s 93-year history. He joined the firm in 1987.

AHT offers insurance brokerage, risk management consulting, employee benefits, surety bond and retirement planning services.

In addition to Leesburg, it has offices  in Seattle, New York, and Chicago.

Markel names president of its global insurance division

Henrico County-based Markel Corp. has named Britt Glisson president of its global insurance division.

Glisson joined Markel in 1990 and continues to serve as corporate chief administrative officer (CAO), a position he has held since 2009.

Markel Global was formed after Markel acquired Alterra Capital Holdings in May 2013. The division underwrites marine, professional liability, property, and excess casualty products from offices in Bermuda, New York, Dublin, London, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas. Markel Global also includes U.S.-based practice groups.

Glisson recently took on an assignment in the Bermuda office to support the integration of Markel of Alterra integration. 

Markel is a financial holding company. Its principal business is marketing and underwriting specialty insurance products.

Dominion acquires 20-megawatt solar energy facility in California

Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc. has acquired West Antelope Solar Park, a 20-megawatt solar energy facility in California, from Canadian Solar Inc.

Financial details were not released.

West Antelope, located near Lancaster, Calif., in Los Angeles County, has begun operations and has a 20-year power purchase agreement.

With the addition of West Antelope, Dominion has 344 megawatts of solar generating capacity under construction or in operation across six states. About 220 megawatts of that capacity are in California.

The company's renewable portfolio also includes approximately 850 megawatts of capacity generated by biomass, water and wind.

Dominion is the largest power company in Virginia.

Canadian Solar, founded in 2001 in Ontario, is one of the world's largest solar power companies.