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byline: Robert Powell, III

Virginia named sixth most-generous state in report

Virginia is the sixth most generous state in the nation. That is the assessment of financial services company The Motley Fool based on an analysis by the Tax Foundation.

Using 2011 Internal Revenue Service data, the Tax Foundation compiled a map earlier this year that showed the percentage of tax returns filed in each state claiming deductions for charitable contributions.

The Motley Fool ranked the top six states in recent report. They are:

No. 6: Virginia, with 32.5 percent of tax returns claiming charitable deductions.
No. 5: Minnesota, 32.7 percent.
No. 4: Utah, 33.1 percent.
No. 3: Connecticut, 35.9 percent.
No. 2: New Jersey, 36 percent.
No. 1: Maryland, 40.1 percent.

The Motley Fool noted that Virginia also ranked in the top 10 among the states in a separate study released last year by The Chronicle of Philanthropy based on 2008 IRS data. That ranking was based on total giving.

The Chronicle study said total contributions claimed on tax forms in Virginia were $4.2 billion, amounting to a median $2,790 per taxpayer.

The Motley Fool noted that the Tax Foundation ranking did not reflect donations made by taxpayers taking standard deductions rather than itemized deductions.

North Carolina firm buys Henrico building for $3 million

Charlotte, N.C.-based SilverCap Partners LLC has bought a Henrico County building for $3 million.

The 88,960 square-foot building, Villa Park III, was owned by C-III. Current tenants are OfficeMax and Honeywell. The building has 63,000 square feet of space available for lease.

SilverCap is a real estate investment company focused on properties in the Southeast.

Eric Robison, Mark Douglas and Brian Berkey of the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield I Thalhimer handled sales negotiations for the seller.

The commercial real estate company will retain leasing and property management of the building.

SRI International plans to relocate headquarters, report says

Fairfax County-based SRI International plans to move its headquarters to a smaller space, according to The Washington Post.

The newspaper reported that the government services company will relocate from Fair Lakes to Chantilly in 2015, leasing 165,000 square feet in the Westfields office park on Conference Center Drive.

That space is about 35 percent smaller than its current headquarters at 4300 Fair Lakes Court in Fairfax.

An SRI official told the Post that the company doesn’t plan to reduce its staff. Instead it wants to adopt an open floor plan requiring less space.

New CEO named at John Randolph Medical Center

HCA Virginia has named Suzanne Beauvoir Jackson as chief executive officer of John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell.

The appointment is effective July 7.

Jackson replaces Dia Nichols, who recently was promoted to CEO of Northside Hospital in Florida.

For the past six years, Jackson was CEO of Dominion Hospital, a 100-bed HCA Virginia behavioral-health facility in Falls Church.

Before that, she was chief operating officer of West Palm Hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., and associate administrator at both Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation, Fla., and Aventura Hospital & Medical Center in Aventura, Fla.

She began her career as a health-care consultant with Ernst and Young in Chicago.

Jackson received a bachelor’s degree in community health from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a member of the National Association of Health Services Executives and sits on AHA’s Institute for Diversity in Healthcare Management board.

She was recognized as one of Success South Florida’s Top 25 Influential and Prominent Black Women.

 

LMI names new chief financial officer


McLean-based government management consulting firm LMI has named Lori L. Becker as its new chief financial officer.

Becker succeeds Anthony Provenzano, who is retiring after serving as CFO for 24 years.

She was vice president, corporate controller at Akima LLC. Prior to that, she performed the same duties with Vangent Inc. and served as CFO for Deltek Systems Inc.

Becker is a graduate of Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Lumos signs Ethernet network deal with HCA Virginia

Waynesboro-based Lumos Networks Corp. has signed a multi-year Ethernet network contract with HCA Virginia in Richmond.

The network will connect 10 HCA Virginia facilities, satellite offices and critical-care locations to its Richmond Data Center.

The project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2013 and will bring to 17 the number of HCA Virginia facilities connected on Lumos’ fiber network through advanced Ethernet services.

The cost of the deal was not disclosed.

HCA Virginia operates 13 hospitals and more than a dozen outpatient centers and is affiliated with 3,000 physicians in Central, Southwest and Northern Virginia.

In Central Virginia, HCA Virginia includes four imaging centers, six outpatient surgery centers, more than 50 physician practice locations and seven hospitals — Henrico Doctors’, Parham Doctors’, Retreat Doctors’, West Creek Emergency Center, Chippenham, Johnston-Willis, John Randolph and Spotsylvania Regional.

Lumos Networks is a fiber-based service provider in the mid-Atlantic offering data, voice and IP services. Lumos serves Virginia, West Virginia and portions of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Maryland over a 5,800 route-mile fiber network.

Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants names new officers

James Shepherd, CPA, of Verus Financial Partners Inc. in Richmond, is the new chair of the board of directors of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Officers and directors of the organization were sworn on May 17 at the VSCPA’s annual business meeting in Henrico County.

Colette Wilson, CPA, who is partner emeritus at Alexandria-based Cotton & Co. LLP, is chair-elect.

The organization’s vice chairs are: Lisa Germano, CPA, of Actuarial Benefits & Design Co. in Midlothian; Andrew Martin, CPA, of Corbin & Co. PC in Chesapeake; James Phillips, CPA, of KPMG in Richmond; and Jamie Wohlert, CPA, of Navigant Consulting Inc. in Washington, DC.

Dominion paid $142 million in taxes to Virginia localities last year

Dominion Virginia Power, the commonwealth’s largest electric utility, paid nearly $142 million in taxes to Virginia localities last year, about $10 million more than it paid in 2011.

Surry and Louisa counties, the location of the company’s nuclear power stations in Virginia, each received the single largest payment, about $12.8 million, Dominion Virginia Power said. 

After Surry and Louisa, the largest payments were made to Fairfax County, $11.3 million; Prince William County, $9.6 million; Chesterfield County, $8.5 million; the city of Chesapeake, $7.2 million; and the city of Richmond, $6 million.

Typically, the largest payments go to localities where the company’s power stations are located.

The taxes are assessed annually on all of the company’s real estate, property and power-related assets, including buildings, power stations, transmission and distribution power lines, substations and other facilities.

A breakdown of tax payments showed Virginia counties in 2012 received a total of $105.1 million, while cities got $35.1 million, and towns received $1.6 million.

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Richmond-based Dominion Resources, one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy.

 

Lynchburg building to be converted into loft apartments

A nearly 54,000-square-foot building in Lynchburg has been sold to a developer who plans to convert it into loft-style apartments.

The commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer said that the free-standing building at 1220 Commerce St. has been sold for $530,000. The seller is Estate Specialists Inc., and the buyer is 1220 Commerce LLC.

The real estate firm said the buyer plans to turn the 53,686-square-foot property into about 50 loft-style apartments with a restaurant overlooking Lynchburg’s Riverfront Park on Jefferson Street.

This is the buyer’s third downtown Lynchburg property purchased with plans for converting the buildings into mixed-used developments. The conversion of one of the three, Cliff Lofts, has been completed.

The 1220 Commerce St. and a second Commerce Street property are slated to be renovated in the near future, the real estate firm said in a statement.

George Lupton and Norman Moon of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

Money that goes a long way

Not long ago, city-owned facilities and college buildings were named after local politicians or generous alumni.

In recent years, however, the names of for-profit businesses increasingly are appearing in nonprofit places.

The change is the result of the use of corporate naming rights to help fund public projects. In exchange for a sizeable donation, the company gets the right to have its name on the building.

Virginia Business looks at how this trend is catching on in the commonwealth as part of its Generous Virginians issue.

The Generous Virginians Project, begun in 2010, looks at trends in philanthropy while compiling major donations by individuals, corporations and foundations to Virginia nonprofits.

In examining corporate giving, we look at the use of naming rights to finance projects like the renovation of Richmond’s iconic Landmark Theater and explore the tax treatment of this type of contribution.

The magazine also looks at a new wave of social entrepreneurs whose business model includes charitable contributions as well as profit. Every time Kathryn Wiley sells a baby sling in the U.S., she donates one to Haiti.

In addition, we examine the recent gifts of some of Virginia’s leading individual philanthropists. The gifts of real estate developer Guy Beatty and his wife, Betty, are aimed at improving health care in Northern Virginia and Franklin County.

The Generous Virginians Project also shines a spotlight on the efforts of nonprofits to make a difference in the commonwealth. This year we look at two nonprofits that have been revitalized.

One, the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy has carved a distinctive niche for itself in natural resources law a decade after a surviving a devastating blow, a triple murder that took the lives of the school’s dean, a professor and a student.

The other nonprofit group is Keep Virginia Beautiful, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The litter-fighting organization is raising money and its visibility after being overlooked for many years.

The Generous Virginians section is capped off with an interview with Sheila Johnson, the co-founder of BET and a noted philanthropist.  Johnson’s newest projects include the launching of a scarf collection with a portion of the sales earmarked for charity, opening a long-anticipated resort in Middleburg and investing in a movie about an African-American butler who served in the White House under eight presidents. 

News

 

Methodology


The magazine contacted about 600 companies and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the magazine reviewed many public records, including nonprofit annual reports and forms filed by foundations with the IRS (form 990). Virginia Business asked businesses and grant-making foundations to provide their top 15 donations of at least $25,000 during 2012.  The magazine likewise asked nonprofit organizations to identify the top 15 donations they had received last year.  While the survey did not include gifts made since Jan. 1, 2013, a number of major recent gifts are noted in stories in this section.

 

CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS


Your name here
Corporate naming rights become more common on nonprofit buildings.  by Gary Robertson
CHARTS:  Total corporate donations and Donations by companies and corporate foundations

A taxing question
Are contributions involving naming rights tax deductible?  by Gary Robertson

 

REBIRTH OF A MOVEMENT


Remember the ‘Crying Indian’?
Keep Virginia Beautiful reviving crusade against litter.   by Joan Tupponce

 

INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS


Charity begins at home
Major gifts show philanthropists’ ties to institutions and communities.  by M.J. McAteer
CHARTS:  Recent gifts and Donations by individuals and family foundations

 

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS


‘Doing well by doing good’
A new generation of businesses focuses on community benefits.  by Nicole Anderson Ellis
CHART:  Donations by independent foundations, groups

 

INNOVATIVE NONPROFITS


Making its case
Grundy school creating program in natural resources law.  by Jenny Kincaid Boone
CHART:  Grants by community foundations

Research by Jessica Sabbath and Veronica Garabelli