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byline: Robyn Sidersky

Hampton Roads Chamber exec retires

In her 33 years with the Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center, Debra Hamilton Farley helped launch 252 businesses that created more than 9,000 jobs. Now, she’s taking a break — Farley retired on April 28.

“Debra’s contributions to the small businesses community she has served over her sterling career is invaluable,” said Bryan Stephens, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber, in a statement. “Her expertise and servant leadership has resulted in incalculable economic development but most importantly, it has resulted in enhanced quality of life for countless individuals in the small business community. She leaves a tremendous legacy!”

When she began her career with HRSDC, Farley was a client services administrator and rose to the role of assistant executive director. The HRSDC is a program of the Hampton Roads Chamber and part of the Virginia SBDC network.

“Debra’s commitment to her clients was unparalleled,” Jolie Spiers, executive director of the Hampton Roads SBDC and vice president of small business with the chamber, said in a statement. “She gave each of the businesses she worked with her full attention and every available resource to help them launch, grow and thrive. Her mission was to help people’s dreams come true; her experience and leadership will be missed.”

 

757 Collab announces promotions

After announcing a new managing director in April, 757 Collab announced more leadership changes and promotions to its umbrella organization May 3.

Hunter Walsh, previously a program manager for 757 Startup Studios, a coworking space in Norfolk where selected entrepreneurs can set up offices at no cost and receive mentoring, became its director on May 1.

Eileen Brewer, previously 757 Collab’s director of strategic partnerships, is succeeding Evans McMillion as executive director of 757 Accelerate. McMillion stepped down April 30 and Brewer began her new role May 1.

Walsh has more than a decade of leadership experience in the private and nonprofit sectors. Before joining 757 Startup Studios, he worked for the Hampton Roads Chamber and Cullipher Farm. He earned his undergraduate degree at James Madison University and his MBA from Virginia Wesleyan University.

Eileen Brewer
Courtesy 757 Collab

Brewer has worked for multiple tech companies in Silicon Valley for the past 20 years. From 2011 until 2019, she worked for Symantec Corp., a California-based software company now known as Gen Digital Inc. In 2015, she was a member of the Golden Seeds angel investing group. Before she joined 757 Collab, she built the first tech startup accelerator in Iraq, according to a news release announcing her promotion.

Paul Nolde, executive managing director of Lighthouse Labs in Richmond, will become managing director of 757 Collab and executive director of 757 Angels on May 30. Monique Adams, current executive director of 757 Angels and managing director of 757 Collab, will step down when Nolde starts work.

757 Angels launched in 2015 and has invested more than $100 million in 49 companies. About 90% of 757 Angels’ member investors hail from Hampton Roads, and all the companies 757 Angels invests in are either Virginia-based or have significant operations in Virginia. 757 Collab includes 757 Angels, 757 Accelerate, a startup accelerator program, and 757 Startup Studios. 757 Collab oversees 757 Angels, as well as 757 Accelerate.

Baking soda manufacturer to expand in Chesterfield

A New Jersey-based baking soda manufacturer is expanding its Chesterfield County operations — and it won’t require vinegar. 

Church & Dwight Company Inc. will invest $27 million to expand its Chesterfield County facility at 1851 Touchstone Drive to accommodate a new manufacturing line for a scent-boosting laundry detergent. The effort will create 53 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.  The company produces sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, for 14 brands, including Arm & Hammer, Trojan, OxiClean, Spinbrush, First Response, Nair and Orajel. 

“We decided to reinvest in Chesterfield County because of the skilled and stable workforce within our existing manufacturing plant and access to the regional manufacturing workforce, as well as the collaborative relationship we’ve enjoyed with the state and local governments, community college and manufacturing support organizations,” Andrew Glowatsky, Church & Dwight’s director of supply chain capabilities, said in a statement. 

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield to secure the project and Youngkin approved a $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the county. Dwight & Church is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia’s Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. It will also receive support from the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program through VEDP. 

“Church & Dwight’s continued investment in Chesterfield County sends a clear message that manufacturers know they have a strong partner in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Proximity to major interstates and population centers positions the company to easily deliver its iconic household products to target markets, and the region’s skilled manufacturing workforce supports Church & Dwight’s steady growth. We look forward to building on our strong partnership in the years to come.”

In the first quarter, Church & Dwight reported $1.43 billion in revenue, a 10.2% increase in net sales.

Charlottesville car dealerships acquired

Flow Automotive Cos. has completed its acquisition of five Umansky Automotive Group dealerships in Charlottesville, the company announced April 18.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Flow’s acquisition includes locations selling Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram automotive brands, according to a news release. Flow currently has dealerships representing Audi, BMW, Mazda, Porsche and Volkswagen brands in Charlottesville.

“For the last 50 years, our family has had roots in Charlottesville and with the University of Virginia. We are grateful and excited for the opportunity to expand in Charlottesville and create a unique customer experience in a community that is so important to us,” Don Flow, chairman and CEO of Flow Automotive Cos., said in a statement.

Founded in 1957 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Flow has expanded to nine cities throughout Virginia and North Carolina, with 53 franchises representing 27 brands.

Roanoke medical building sells for $2.8M

The Asthma and Allergy Center medical office building in Roanoke has changed hands. 

The 9,120-square-foot building, built in 2000 and sitting on a nearly 1-acre parcel at 1505 Franklin Road SW, was acquired by HKM LLC, which will lease it back to the asthma and allergy practice.

Clay Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group and Boyd Johnson, also with Thalhimer, represented the seller.

Va. Beach strip mall sells for $1.7M

The CheckSmart Plaza strip mall in Virginia Beach has a new owner. 

5650 Virginia Beach Blvd purchased the strip mall at 5650 Virginia Beach Blvd. from the Lenhart-Frauenberg Partnership for $1.7 million as an investment, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. Built in 2006, the shopping center is 8,537 square feet, with tenants including a CheckSmart, Liberty Tax, and Subway. It’s near the intersection of East Virginia Beach Boulevard and Newtown Road.

Ted Levin, of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

Chesterfield industrial property sells for $1.7M

An industrial/flex space property in Chesterfield County has sold for $1.7 million. 

11300 Business Center LLC purchased a 9,100-square-foot building on 11300 Business Center Drive from AdvanceTEC Properties LLC as an investment, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. The building has been the corporate headquarters for AdvanceTEC LLC, a builder and designer of industrial cleanrooms.

Graham Stoneburner and David Crawford, of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller. Birck Turnbull, also with Thalhimer, represented the purchaser.

Roanoke apartment complex sells for $1.1M

The Eastgate Apartments in Roanoke have been sold for $1.1 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced Monday. 

Restoration Turnkey Investments LLC acquired the community on March 28 from Rafan LLC. The buyer is planning extensive interior and exterior renovations. 

The complex, built in 1977, has 14 townhouse-style apartments and is three miles from downtown Roanoke. Each apartment is about 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms and one bathroom each. 

Clay Taylor, of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group, represented the seller. 

Rain and wind delay Something in the Water’s start

Rain and high winds delayed the start of Pharrell Williams’ Virginia Beach music festival Something in the Water by about four hours Friday, leaving fans and businesses waiting for the weather to clear.

Scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. Friday, the festival was delayed until 5 p.m. Instead of being filled with throngs of music fans as expected, the Oceanfront area was quiet all day Friday, except for the presence of workers at the festival site between Second and 17th streets.

“You can tell there’s activity happening, but there’s no crowds of people yet,” Kate Pittman, executive director of the Vibe Creative District, said Friday afternoon.  “Everyone’s staying home.”

“The weather’s definitely dampened spirits,” Virginia Beach Restaurant Association Executive Director Martha Davenport said Friday afternoon during the delay. “You can’t predict Mother Nature.”

Nevertheless, there appeared to be a figurative rainbow at the end of the rainy day, with Virginia Beach Hotel Association President John Zirkle Jr. saying that “we’ve seen some last-minute pickup” in hotel business. Area hotels were at 85% occupancy on Friday and were expected to sell out on Saturday, said Zirkle, who is also corporate director of operations for Harmony Hospitality and general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Virginia Beach.

Norfolk International Airport Executive Director Mark Perryman said there was an uptick in activity at the airport this week ahead of the festival, with about 14,000 passengers coming and going on Thursday, up from regular travel patterns. He noticed a few more corporate jets than normal, as well. Perryman advised the businesses within the airport to be prepared with additional staff and stock, and he expects that Sunday and Monday will be busier than normal, too, as festival attendees head out of town.

For businesses on the ground, such as local restaurants, much of the three-day festival’s success will depend on “the weather and the enthusiasm of the people,” Davenport said Thursday. “If the weather’s good or decent enough, people are going to come.”

Andy McGinley, owner of Richmond-based Momma’s BBQ, which was set up in the festival grounds, said the rain delay didn’t bother him, and he still expected to make plenty of money. “People paid too much for these tickets to skip it for a little rain,” he said. “We’re here and ready to go. [The crowd] is gonna go from zero to 60.”

Next to Momma’s BBQ was Cups Up, a food truck based out of Virginia Beach’s Beach House 757 on 19th and Atlantic. “This is probably the biggest festival we’ve worked so far,” said Chef Breed Mathews, who predicted his truck’s revenue will “probably go through the roof.”

Andy McGinley, owner of Momma’s BBQ in Richmond, was ready for a crowd Friday at the Something in the Water festival.

A manager at Beach Bully BBQ, located a few blocks from the Oceanfront on 19th Street, was just happy the roads around the restaurant weren’t blocked for Something in the Water this year, as they were when the event debuted in Virginia Beach in 2019. Around lunchtime Friday, manager Cino Farrales wasn’t too worried about the inclement weather keeping away customers who might have come from the festival. “We are hoping for a big crowd, but [from] our past experience with Something in the Water, we had nothing,” Farrales said.

At Lost Planet, an interactive art museum on Atlantic Avenue between 19th and 20th streets, business was slow Friday because of the weather, but manager Shaniqua Lyons was hopeful that traffic would pick up over the weekend. “We think it’s pretty cool to see people come here,” she said, adding that SITW “brings a lot more people to Virginia Beach in a positive way.”

A few blocks down, at Lotus Fashion, manager Vicki Kowalczyk said the last time SITW was held in Virginia Beach, business was slow, but she hopes this year will go better. She noted however that festival attendees are more likely to spend their money on food and beverages than on retail shopping.

Pittman said that the festival was incorporating and collaborating with a lot more businesses this year, with events and presences all the way up to 31st Street.

The weather outlook for the rest of the festival appears better. Eswar Iyer, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Wakefield said that while Friday’s weather had seen wind gusts of 15 to 20 miles per hour — below a threshold that would present a danger to performers or audience members — Saturday’s forecast is expected to be sunny, with highs in the 70s. However, there is a possibility of showers in the afternoon Sunday, the festival’s final day.

Va. Beach uses SITW festival to woo business

It’s not every week that international fashion brand Louis Vuitton creates a pyramid on the sand at Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront.  

And that kind of buzz that music superstar Pharrell Williams is bringing to his hometown with his Something in the Water this weekend is something the city’s economic development officials are hoping to capitalize on with prospective businesses. 

From a festival sponsorship standpoint, sponsors bring attention to the community that it wouldn’t normally get. Something in the Water’s sponsors include the NBA, Walmart and Louis Vuitton, for which Williams now serves as men’s fashion creative director. 

With that kind of spotlight on Virginia Beach and a crowd of 50,000 expected over the long weekend, city officials are using the high-profile Something in the Water festival as a economic development tool for wooing new business to Virginia Beach.

The city government was able to purchase as many as 50 VIP passes from festival organizers at a pre-negotiated rate to give to economic development prospects, Taylor Adams, deputy city manager and director of economic development, told Virginia Business. The economic deals represented by those prospects add up to a potential of $1.6 billion in new investment and 6,500 jobs, if all of it comes through, he added. 

“The parameter that we set for the office is everyone that we invited was either a project that we’re actively working [on] right now and we’re trying to complete, or a project that we felt like we would be working [on] in the next 60 days, in the sense that we knew that there was a deal out there,” said Adams, adding that the city has distributed about 30 or 35 of the VIP passes, which retail for between $525 and $600. He declined to identify specific businesses but described the prospects as a mix of local, regional, out-of-state and international companies. 

“We thought that this might be an opportunity to advance our standing in those business attraction and retention opportunities,” Adams said. “We’re really excited about the opportunity to showcase the very best of our city to people that are looking to do business here.” 

Another example of how the festival is being leveraged for economic opportunities was SITW’s A Seat at the Table event, held Thursday evening at The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. The community cultural event benefited the Urban League of Hampton Roads, which creates business opportunities for local minority-owned companies.

“Our event was sold out, with over 500 attendees — a diverse gathering of ages, ethnicities and professional interests,” said Gilbert Bland, president and CEO of the Urban League. “Our evening was complete with networking, enjoying the MOCA exhibits and being entertained by various artists.”

It’s not uncommon for festivals like Something in the Water to be used for networking purposes, Adams noted. 

“When you look at economic development today, particularly on the business attraction side … if you’re in the game, you’ve got a site and you’ve got community parameters that work. There is a reason that Austin is hot. There’s a reason that Nashville is hot. It’s the communities that get lifestyle right that are going to win for these next five years, because every company is facing the challenge of ‘Are there enough people for me to hire in the market that I’m going to?'” Adams said. “Festivals like Something in the Water tell that story for Virginia Beach more authentically than we ever could [by] using traditional means.”