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byline: Robyn Sidersky

ODEC names two C-suite execs

Glen Allen-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative has named Jack Robb as its chief legal officer and senior vice president, and Chris Cosby as chief operations officer, the not-for-profit cooperative announced Monday.

Robb joined ODEC as deputy chief legal officer last year, but before that, spent a decade serving as outside counsel while working for Miles & Stockbridge and LeClairRyan. He started his new role Jan. 1. Cosby had been serving as interim COO and senior vice president of power supply since former COO Rick Beam retired two years ago and became permanent COO on Dec. 12, 2023.

Robb replaces Michael Hern, who stepped down as chief legal officer at the end of 2023 but still works with ODEC as a consultant.

Chris Cosby

“Jack is a tremendous asset to ODEC and will make an outstanding chief legal officer,” John C. Lee Jr., interim president and CEO of ODEC, said in a statement. “He has a deep understanding of the laws and regulations governing ODEC and has a strong appreciation for the need to provide reliable, affordable power to ODEC’s members and their 1.5 million member-consumers.”

Robb has a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law and a bachelor’s in economics from Washington and Lee University. The Maryland native is vice chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s law practice management council. He is also an active member of the Richmond Bar and several energy and construction industry associations.  He was a partner at Miles & Stockbridge, was COO and chief legal officer at HMR Funding and a shareholder at LeClairRyan before joining ODEC in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Chris has done an exceptional job since taking on the COO responsibilities, and we are proud to remove the interim from his title. He brings a wealth of industry knowledge to ODEC that he effectively uses to the benefit of ODEC’s members” Lee said in a statement. “He is also a highly competent manager, an exceptional engineer and the epitome of a team player.”
Cosby, a Virginia native, has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. Before joining ODEC in 2018, he worked for General Electric, Dominion Virginia and other companies and served in the U.S. Navy, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In October 2023, ODEC began its search for a new president and CEO after Marcus Harris resigned in September 2023.
ODEC is a member-owned not-for-profit wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative.  The cooperative supplies power for not-for-profit retail distribution cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. It serves 1.5 million people.

Northwestern Mutual names Richmond managing partner

Northwestern Mutual named Heather Zepeda as managing partner of its network office in Richmond on Monday. She will oversee the offices in Richmond, Charlottesville, the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg.

Zepeda joined the financial security company in 2010 after a legal career. She worked as managing director of the Washington, D.C., office and moved up the ranks.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Zepeda worked for the law firm Howrey as an antitrust attorney, then Lucas Group as a senior recruiter and a consultant for The McCormick Group before she joined Northwestern Mutual.

“My initial focus is to widen our presence throughout Virginia with new offices, achieve 50% growth in our financial representatives within the next five years and foster an inclusive and empowering culture that reflects the rich diversity of our community. Those elements will not only allow us to better serve existing clients as we work to free them from financial anxiety, but to reach new clients as well,” Zepeda said in a statement.

Zepeda went to the University of North Carolina Law School and earned her bachelor’s degree at High Point University.

Marwaha adds Petersburg apartments to portfolio

Henrico County-based real estate investment and management company Marwaha Investments purchased a 34-unit apartment building across the street from its other properties in Petersburg and intends to rebrand it as part of Dunlop Street Lofts.

The nearly 35,000-square-foot building, located at 310 N. Dunlop St., has apartments between 600 and 1,000 square feet. Marwaha, which bought the property for $3.1 million from an investor in Virginia Beach, plans to renovate the apartments into Class A properties. The work will completed in the next 60 to 75 days, including improving the drainage system to prevent flooding in lower-level apartments; the roof has already been replaced. The building is currently 83% occupied.

Tom Rosman, Ryan Rilee and Justin Sledd of One South Commercial represented Marwaha in the deal.

The acquisition is part of a larger plan for Marwaha.

In January 2023, Marwaha Investments purchased several buildings including Dunlop Street Lofts at 214 Dunlop St., Union Street Lofts, Market Street Lofts and South Street Lofts for $17 million, from RREAF Holdings, a Texas real estate investment trust. The building at 214 Dunlop St. has 64 units between 500 square feet and 1,200 square feet each, ranging from studios to one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

“Our plan has been to increase the operational efficiency of the building and providing comfortable and Class A apartments to our residents,” Gagan Marwaha, principal of Marwaha Investments, told Virginia Business. “We have spent [$500,000] on deferred maintenance such as roofs, HVAC, landscaping, updating some of the apartments with Class A finishes, lighting [and] updating [the] security system, elevator and sprinkler system.”

Renovations to 214 Dunlop St. were completed in July 2023.

Marwaha has increased occupancy from 66% to 97% as of Jan. 5 and has plans to expand the property by acquiring a 1.5-acre adjacent parcel at the corner of Dunlop and Commerce streets and converting it into a community part for its residents. It will have a dog park, children’s park, grills and open areas and will be accessible to all 10 buildings in Petersburg, Marwaha said.

 

 

General Dynamics names new CFO, makes other leadership changes

Reston-based General Dynamics, the world’s sixth-largest aerospace and defense company, announced a slew of personnel changes Friday, including a new chief financial officer.

Kim Kuryea, currently senior vice president of human resources and administration, will become General Dynamics’ CFO on Feb. 15, replacing Jason Aiken, who will focus solely on his role as executive vice president of the company’s Technologies segment. He has served in that role, a promotion from senior vice president, since January 2023, and was CFO since 2014.

“Kim is a seasoned finance executive with over 20 years of varied financial experience with the company including CFO of one of the company’s business units, head of the company’s internal audit function and the company’s controller,” Phebe Novakovic, General Dynamics’ CEO, said in a statement. “Jason is a strong executive and has been a superb CFO. He will remain integrally involved in all aspects of the senior leadership of General Dynamics,”

Kuryea will be replaced by Shane Berg, who is currently senior vice president of planning and development.

Mark Roualet, executive vice president of the Combat Systems segment, will retire in April. He has spent more than 40 years at General Dynamics, the company said. Danny Deep, president of General Dynamics Land Systems, will succeed Roualet effective April 15.

David Paddock, vice president of the Jet Aviation segment, will replace Deep on April 1. Paddock, in turn, will be replaced by Jeremie Caillet, who is currently senior vice president of operations in Basel, Switzerland.

General Dynamics has more than 100,000 employees across 65 countries and generated $39.4 billion in revenue in 2022.

Construction firms expect mixed bag for 2024, survey says

Construction firms are expecting a mixed bag for 2024, according to results of a survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate, released Thursday.

Challenges facing the construction industry include labor shortages, higher interest rates and input costs and a still-struggling supply chain.

In Virginia, about 31 firms answered the survey and nationally, about 1,300 firms answered.

The biggest concerns for 2024 in Virginia are an insufficient supply of workers or subcontractors, followed by worker quality and an economic slowdown or recession. Nationally, the biggest concerns were rising interest rates and financing costs, followed by “other” costs such as trucking, insurance and design, followed by economic slowdown and recession.

“2024 offers a mixed bag for construction contractors: on one hand, demand for many types of projects should continue to expand and firms will continue to invest in the tools they need to be more efficient,” Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s CEO, said in a statement. “Meanwhile, they face significant challenges when it comes to finding workers, coping with rising costs and weathering the impacts of higher interest rates.”

In Virginia, respondents said they expected the highest dollar-value projects they would compete for in 2024 would be data centers, water and sewer projects, and bridges and highways. Nationally, respondents said it would be water and sewer projects, then transportation, then bridges and highways.

“On balance, contractors remain upbeat about the available dollar value of projects to bid on in 2024. But the optimism regarding opportunities for most project types is less widespread than it was a year ago,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Sixty-one percent of the respondents in Virginia expected to increase their headcounts this year, with the most saying between 1 and 10%.  Nationally, 69% of those surveyed said they expect their headcounts to increase, and 47% said they expect it to increase up to 10%.

Eighty-seven percent in Virginia said they are having a hard time filling some or all salaried or hourly positions, higher than the national survey, in which 72% said they are having trouble hiring. Nationally, 35% said they think the challenges with labor will continue over the next year, but another 20% said it would become harder, while 31% expected no change. On the flip side, 13% had a more positive outlook expecting it to become easier. In Virginia, those surveyed were much more optimistic, with 42% saying it would be easy to hire, 13% saying it would become easier and 32% expecting no change.

In Virginia, 68% of the firms who answered said they increased their base pay rates more in 2023 than in 2022, just above the national survey, where 63% said they raised pay more in 2023 than in 2022.

In regard to supply chain issues, 59% in Virginia said they accelerated purchases after winning contracts, just above the national response of 56%. Just 17% in Virginia said they have had no significant supply chain problems, slightly less than the national response, in which 23% said they had no issues.

Of those surveyed in Virginia, 23% said no projects have been postponed or canceled, while 53% said projects were postponed in 2023 but were rescheduled. Another 40% said projects were postponed or canceled in 2023 but not rescheduled. Nationally, 34% said they did not have projects postponed or canceled in 2023, 37% had them postponed but rescheduled, and 36% said they were postponed or canceled but not rescheduled. Both in Virginia and nationally, the largest cause of postponements or cancelations was rising costs.

The construction industry added 17,000 employees nationally in December 2023, and 197,000 jobs for the year, the AGC reported, a gain of 2.5%, outpacing the overall job growth of 1.7 % for the overall economy.

V2X awarded $190M Army contract

The U.S. Army has awarded McLean-based aerospace and defense contractor V2X a contract worth $190 million to provide training support and instruction in Kuwait and other locations.

The fixed-price contract will span five years, according to V2X’s Thursday announcement, and is part of the U.S. Army Central Command Training and Range Operations Maintenance Services contract (ATROMS).

V2X will provide training support services and instruction, operation and maintenance of training aids, devices, simulators and simulations, supporting USARCENT’s mission in Kuwait and other locations within the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility, a group of 21 countries in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Central and South Asia.

“With this significant contract award, V2X reaffirms its commitment to bolstering the U.S. Army’s training and operational capabilities in dynamic environments,” Chuck Prow, president and CEO of V2X, said in a statement. “Our proven expertise and dedication underscore our mission to empower the warfighter’s readiness for any challenge.”

V2x was formed by the merger of Vectrus and Vertex and has 15,000 global employees.

Trucking company plans $50M facility in Botetourt

Warren, Michigan-based Universal Logistics Holdings is planning a $50 million investment to expand into Botetourt County, a project that is expected to create 45 jobs, the trucking and logistics company announced Wednesday.

The expansion will bolster the company’s heavy truck capabilities in servicing truck assembly operations, according to a news release. ULH will revamp a 254,000-square-foot facility at 1796 Lee Highway that is expected to begin operating in 2025. 

“Our expansion in the Roanoke region represents an exciting phase for Universal’s heavy truck division as we fortify our commitment to delivering top-tier services within the logistics and transportation sectors,” Universal CEO Tim Phillips said in a statement. “Our investment not only signifies our dedication to growth, but also underscores our pledge to contribute meaningfully to the local economy while creating employment opportunities for the community.”

The warehouse that Universal Logistics Holdings plans to renovate over the next year off Interstate 81 north of Roanoke was formerly a distribution facility for Southern States.

While the new facility is expected to create 45 direct jobs, John Hull, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, told Virginia Business on Wednesday he anticipates the project will also create 83 indirect, related jobs. The regional economic impact of ULH’s expansion is expected to be $43 million per year, he said.

The region is home to Volvo Trucks North America in Dublin, the company’s largest truck manufacturing plant, which builds Volvo VNR Electric semi-trucks, and in Salem’s former General Electric building, German vehicle parts manufacturer STS Group has established its North American headquarters. 

“The expansion of Universal demonstrates the region’s competitiveness in automotive manufacturing,” Hull said in a statement. “The Roanoke region is truly a center of excellence when it comes to automotive and heavy truck manufacturing with a strong portfolio of products and components.”

ULH is a holding company that owns subsidiaries providing transportation and logistics solutions throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada and Colombia. Its heavy truck division provides third-party assembly and warehouse services in the industrial sector.

Universal worked with Botetourt County, the Roanoke Regional Partnership and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

“We are extremely excited this project is locating to Botetourt County in a space that had been previously used for a warehouse operation. Universal will upgrade the use of the facility to manufacturing and will allow the talent of our community to excel. This announcement, along with the announcement of the commercial growth, is enhancing Botetourt in every direction,” Botetourt Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Amy White said in a statement.

Wizards, Capitals plan Alexandria move in $2B deal

The Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards are planning a move to a new home in Alexandria in a $2 billion deal that would see the professional sports franchises exit Washington, D.C., by 2028, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 13, 2023.

The nonbinding agreement to build a new arena for the Capitals and Wizards is part of a 9 million-square-foot entertainment complex planned for the Potomac riverfront in Alexandria’s developing National Landing neighborhood. Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus would be a neighbor, and Amazon.com’s HQ2 campus is just two Metro stops away.

The project is a partnership between the state, the City of Alexandria, JBG Smith and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Capitals National Hockey League franchise and the National Basketball Association’s Wizards. Monumental would invest $403 million in the deal. It would include the arena, new corporate headquarters for Monumental, a performing arts venue and retail, restaurants, hotels and conference and community spaces. 

The first phase, including the arena, could generate $12 billion in economic impact and create 30,000 jobs over the next several decades, Youngkin said. The project is expected to break ground in 2025 and be completed by 2028.

“Our commitment would be to build really iconic, fan-centric businesses,” Ted Leonsis, founder, CEO and chairman of Monumental, said.

The deal rests on approvals from the Virginia General Assembly and Alexandria City Council. The state legislature, which convenes Jan. 10, will be asked to approve a new Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority that would own the land and buildings within the district and enter into a 40-year lease with Monumental. The $2 billion investment would be supported through bonds that would be repaid through annual rent from Monumental and arena parking revenues, naming rights and incremental taxes generated by the arena and development of the first phase. Alexandria would contribute $56 million toward construction of the performing arts venue and $50 million toward underground parking development.

But the proposal is far from a sure thing.

In a Dec. 19, 2023, tweet, Democratic Sen. Louise Lucas, incoming chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, said the deal does not have her support. “Anyone who thinks I am going to approve an arena in Northern Virginia using state tax dollars before we deliver on toll relief and for public schools in Hampton Roads must think I have dumbass written on my forehead.”

Youngkin, however, called the deal an “affirmation of what’s happening in Virginia,” citing other prominent economic development deals in Northern Virginia, including Amazon’s HQ2 and the 2022 headquarters relocations of global Fortune 500 defense and aerospace contractors Boeing and RTX in back-to-back announcements.

“This once-in-a-generation historic development will be the best place to live, work, raise a family and watch hockey and basketball,” Youngkin said.

A longer version of this story was published on VirginiaBusiness.com on Dec. 13, 2023. This article was updated after publication.

Reddix creates hub for women entrepreneurs

Angela Reddix is making it her business to create economic opportunities for women.

“That is my absolute heart’s desire — to make it easier for girls and women to have access to wealth, and that means understanding it. That means being able to see it. That means being able to be invited in rooms where they can learn more about it,” says Reddix, president and CEO of ARDX, a Norfolk-based health care management and IT consulting firm.

In January, Reddix opens The Mustard Seed Place — which Reddix calls a “modern-day girls’ club.” It will lease business spaces to women entrepreneurs with an aim to develop a community that will uplift and support each other, Reddix says.

Reddix purchased the former Tidewater Community College Visual Arts Center in downtown Portsmouth in April 2023 for $1.9 million. She considered developing it into apartments and commercial space but saw a chance to create the hub for women entrepreneurs instead.

The Mustard Seed Place feels more like a mall than a coworking space or office building. The first two floors of the 33,000-square-foot center will open in January with 11 tenants, including The Well on High, a mental wellness and healing boutique run by clinical psychologist Stacie Otey-Scott.

“The Mustard Seed Place offers an opportunity for me to collaborate with other women business owners,” Otey-Scott says, adding that “the overall concept behind it and the opportunity for us to come together and support one another was really appealing to me.”

Other tenants include a production studio run by Stephanie Walters, CEO of Dream Pusher, a media production company; a therapy kitchen and café; a space for Old Dominion University’s Women’s Business Center; and a yoga and dance studio run by Reddix’s daughter.

Each tenant receives a roughly 2,000-square-foot space under a discounted five-year lease that includes utilities and mentoring from Reddix.

Reddix is also starting a monthly membership program at The Mustard Seed Place, “Thrive Tribe,” which will provide access to building community spaces as well as a speaker series and a certification program through ODU’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Membership starts at
$99 per month.

The third floor holds a 12,000-square-foot, 450-person space for private events like weddings. Opening in April, Très Élevé will harken back to the building’s history as a department store, The Famous, which sold wedding dresses on the third floor.

This story has been updated since publication.

Va. economic developers group elects new leaders

The Virginia Beach-based Virginia Economic Developers Association announced its new slate of officers and directors Tuesday. 

Linda Green, the Danville-based Institute for Advanced Learning and Research’s vice president of economic development, as well as executive director of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, will serve as president.

Gregory Hitchin, director of economic development and tourism for the City of Waynesboro, will serve as vice president. Garrett Hart, director of economic development for Chesterfield County, will serve as treasurer. Matt Johnson, assistant director of economic development for Charlottesville, will serve as secretary, and Christina Winn, executive director of Prince William County Department of Economic Development and Tourism, will serve as immediate past president.

New members to VEDA’s board include Pamela Bailey, director of economic development for Bedford County; John Matthews, deputy director of the Joint Industrial Development Authority of Wythe County, and Nicole A. Talton, economic development coordinator with Isle of Wight County. The board has five officers and nine directors who serve three-year terms. The officers usually progress through the positions of secretary, treasurer, vice president and president.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has more than 500 members, including local, regional and state economic development professionals.