Arlington County-based market strategy and research firm Fors Marsh has acquired Florida-based marketing firm Brunet-García, the company announced April 5.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Fors Marsh employs 420 researchers, advisers and communicators and serves federal clients such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation and Department of Homeland Security.
Jacksonville-based B|G is a minority-owned agency that specializes in social impact programs for government agencies, nonprofits, foundations and brands, according to a news release announcing the acquisition.
“We are excited to welcome the talented Brunet-García team to Fors Marsh,” Fors Marsh CEO Ben Garthwaite said in a statement. “Two firms with rich, 20-year histories joining forces, B|G and Fors Marsh are aligned on values and share a common mission of driving meaningful social impact and change through powerful campaigns, especially around key health issues like immunization, substance use disorder and chronic diseases. B|G will augment our creative and outreach capabilities and provide deep expertise in multicultural marketing and communications. Fors Marsh’s research-driven experience, combined with Brunet-García’s creative talent, creates an unmatched portfolio of services to help a wider range of federal and state organizations and, in turn, continue our joint mission of improving Americans’ lives.”
AT&T Virginia President Vince Apruzzese Jr. will add the role of president of external affairs for Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to his duties, the company announced Wednesday.
Apruzzese has served as AT&T’s Virginia president since 2010. In his expanded role, Apruzzese, who’s based in Richmond, will lead AT&T’s legislative, public policy and philanthropic initiatives in the three additional jurisdictions and work with elected and appointed officials on public policy issues, and with business, community and civic leaders to support important local initiatives.
He replaces Denis Dunn, who retired in April.
Apruzzeese has been with the telecommunications giant for more than three decades, first starting in accounts payable, then working in corporate security and working his way up to regulatory and external affairs.
“Vince has a strong record of success working in external and legislative affairs roles over many years in Virginia and Illinois,” John Emra, president of AT&T Atlantic Region, said in a statement. “The region he and his team covers is an important one for the company, and I know he will build upon a strong foundation and network to make an immediate impact for our company, and the customers and communities we serve.”
Chesterfield County-based payment and invoice automation company Paymerang LLC has acquired Australian-based artificial intelligence data extraction and analysis platform Sypht and the assets of KwikTag, an invoice automation company, Paymerang announced Tuesday.
Paymerang acquired both from Tempe, Arizona-based tech firm enChoice Inc. Terms of the deals were not disclosed and the acquisitions were completed April 3.
KwikTag offers a cloud-based automation solution to clients across multiple industries and creates a fully-integrated Microsoft Dynamics document manager and workflow platform for accounting teams. Sypht developed an AI-powered data extraction platform. Sypht and KwikTag are software as a service-based products. KwikTag customers will receive immediate access to Paymerang’s payment automation software.
The acquisitions adds a proprietary AI platform and other products to Paymerang’s offerings, as well as giving the company an international presence in more than 25 companies, according to Paymerang.
Vienna-based private equity firm Aldrich Capital Partners invested $26 million in Paymerang in 2018 and another $10 million in 2021. Since 2018, Paymerang’s revenue has grown 40% annually and it has expanded its operations, new product development, sales and marketing.
“I’m excited to welcome the KwikTag and Sypht teams to the Paymerang family,” Paymerang CEO Nasser Chanda said in a statement. “Not only do we share the same values and passion for our customers, but our solutions and industry verticals are highly complementary.”
Two Hampton Roads regional economic development organizations are merging to establish the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, with the goal of unifying their efforts.
The new organization will combine Hampton Roads Business Roundtable, established in 2012, and Reinvent Hampton Roads, established in 2016, with the primary mission of coordinating the alignment of the region’s economic development organizations, strategy and associated initiatives and improving the trajectory of the region’s economic growth and competitiveness.
Grden
Nancy Grden, who has been president and CEO of Reinvent Hampton Roads since June 2022, will lead the new organization. She was previously director of the Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation and associate president of Old Dominion University’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Dennis Matheis, president and CEO of Sentara Healthcare Inc., and Cliff Fleet, president and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, will co-chair the new roundtable. The new group will include CEOs and presidents representing major regional corporations and organizations, higher education institutions and foundations, as well as younger companies.
Matheis became Sentara’s president and CEO in September 2022 after serving as president of Sentara Health Plans. Fleet became president and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in early 2020, after serving as president and CEO of Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA subsidiary and holding other executive roles at Altria.
Dennis Matheis and Cliff Fleet will co-chair the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable.
In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Grden, Matheis and Fleet said one of the main goals is to promote regionalism versus competition among Hampton Roads localities. Matheis and Fleet each represent different areas of Hampton Roads, with Sentara based in Norfolk and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation located on the Peninsula.
“We have to start to really think and act as a region,” Matheis said. “When you look to compete for dollars and talent, it’s being done on a regional basis and a regional level now.”
Another reason for combining the groups is to bolster funding and better use resources while pursuing federal funding. There was overlap between the boards and funding, so the groups’ leaders felt it would be more efficient to consolidate.
Part of the strategy, Grden said, is to identify key industry clusters within which to support job and company growth. The roundtable would also like to see more people moving into Hampton Roads than leaving, given that it’s the region seeing the second biggest population losses to out-migration in Virginia. Finally, the group is looking at transformational changes that can change the trajectory of the region.
The new roundtable will take on Reinvent Hampton Roads’ role as support organization for GO Virginia Region 5, the regional arm of the state economic development initiatives that has awarded millions of dollars in economic development grants to projects in Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore and the Northern Neck.
“The establishment of the roundtable is an important step in aligning economic development leadership in the region, advocating for our communities and setting a clear path for economic growth in Hampton Roads,” Matheis said in a statement.
Fleet commented on the opportunities created by joining forces. “In coming together, we have a real opportunity to strengthen the business community’s impact on the region’s economic development policy and initiatives,” he said. “Additionally, there is great potential to strengthen the relationship between business and higher education for talent and innovation.”
John O. “Dubby” Wynne, immediate past chair of Reinvent Hampton Roads, and Harry Lester, immediate past chair of the Hampton Roads Business Roundtable, both stepped aside to allow the new co-chairs, Matheis and Fleet, to lead. Wynne is the former president and CEO of Landmark Communications Inc., and Lester is a former president of Eastern Virginia Medical School, a role he stepped down from in 2013. The two organization’s boards also combined and there are four staff members in the new organization.
The Hampton Roads Business Roundtable was initially formed to push for transportation funding in the region, and at one time had a political action committee. More recently, it was comprised of CEOs from the region’s largest employers and focused on initiatives “critical to economic development and competitiveness of Hampton Roads,” according to a news release. Reinvent Hampton Roads was originally funded through the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and focused on creating higher paying jobs for the region, thought leadership and regional collaboration.
A second group — the Regional Organizations Presidents Council — has also formed to align key regional organizations, including the Hampton Roads Alliance, Hampton Roads Workforce Council, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and others. Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bryan Stephens and Bob McKenna, president and CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, are part of the new presidents’ council, which will also be represented on the new roundtable.
In forming this group, regional leaders realized that unlike other major metro areas, Hampton Roads was lacking a regional council of CEOs closely aligned with economic development goals. Many of these organizations already were collaborating with one another, organizer say, so this effort will create better coordination and alignment.
Germany-based Weidmüller Group will invest $16.4 million to expand its operations in Chesterfield County, creating more than 100 full-time jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday.
Weidmüller Group provides smart industrial connectivity products and solutions that connect and automate electrical power and signaling for components, machines and installations worldwide. It will increase its engineering and production footprint in Chesterfield, adding 24,000 feet to its facility at 821 Southlake Blvd. The facility currently has 186 employees and is Weidmüller’s only location in Virginia.
The expansion is expected to be complete in the late second quarter or early third quarter of 2024, and it will allow the company to meet growing North American customer demand. Founded in 1850, Weidmüller Group been operating in Chesterfield for more than 50 years. It has production sites, sales companies and representatives in more than 80 countries and has more than 6,000 employees.
“Weidmüller’s expansion in the United States cements our commitment to bring engineering and manufacturing closer to North American partners and customers,” Weidmüller USA President Bernd Schröder said in a statement. “By deepening our partnerships with Chesterfield County and the state of Virginia, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand in a state known for a talented workforce, strong logistical benefits with access to Virginia ports, and strategically located to best service our customers.”
Virginia competed with other states for the project. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $488,450 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Chesterfield County with the project. The company is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone grant program.
“We want ‘made in America’ to mean ‘made in Virginia,’ and Weidmüller Group has been manufacturing its products for more than five decades in Chesterfield County,” Youngkin said. “Their longevity and continued investment are a powerful testament to the advantages a Virginia location offers international companies seeking growth in North American markets, and we look forward to Weidmüller’s continued success.”
Support for Weidmüller’s job creation will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program.
Lighthouse Labs, launched in 2012, is an equity-free, early-stage startup accelerator.
Espey previously served as vice chair of Lighthouse Labs’ board of directors from 2015 to 2018 and recently rejoined the board.
“After a decade, Lighthouse Labs is at an inflection point, with an opportunity to think big and reinvent our work with founders, investors and the area’s innovation ecosystem,” Espey said in a statement. “I’m pleased to have the chance to build on the work previous leaders and the team have accomplished and look forward to continued success. I envision new and creative partnering opportunities with Paul and 757 Collab to foster innovation across the entire RVA757 megaregion.”
Espey is a serial entrepreneur and has experience in the full life cycle of startups. His background includes work in health care, analytics, manufacturing and construction. He also has experience in strategic leadership, private equity, diversity consulting, mergers and acquisitions and business development. Additionally, he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He has earned degrees from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Eastern Michigan University and the University of Virginia.
Espey sits on the Virginia Bio+Tech Partnership Authority Board of Directors and was formerly vice chair of the American Red Cross in Southeastern Michigan.
Lighthouse Labs has accelerated more than 100 companies, investing more than $2 million. It runs an 11-week program for high-growth startups.
A former auto dealership property in Virginia Beach has a new owner.
Best Buy Wheels purchased a 3,904-square-foot former auto dealership from BT Associates LLC for $1.5 million to operate as a second location for its auto dealership. The property, located at 1305 Oceana Blvd., was formerly Bay Shore Used Auto Sales.
Clay Willis and Brett Sain, of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.
A 29,494-square-foot industrial building in Chesapeake has changed ownership, S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced.
B&D Acquisitions LLC purchased the building for $5.425 million from Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP. The building is located on about 6.5 acres at 909 and 913 Professional Place in Chesapeake.
Rolling Frito Lay will lease the building back from B&D.
Stephanie Sanker of S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. represented the seller.
The Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium opened its headquarters at Old Dominion University’s Tri-Cities Center in Suffolk Friday.
The consortium is a partnership between ODU, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Sentara Healthcare Inc., and was founded in June 2020. Its goal is to address health care disparities, jumpstart scientific research and advance biomedical innovation for the region.
The center’s technology includes an innovation and prototype lab, which includes a digital anatomy printer and a 5G digital learning lab. The consortium has already brought in $10 million in federal grants and has another $15 million in federal grants pending.
“The Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium has been working on putting together a research space where we can bring collaborators, from universities, from the health care systems, and really also from the community to work on population health,” said Morris Foster, ODU’s vice president for research. “We have a wonderful computational environment here where we work on confidential data, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) data, those kinds of things. Also, we can help people create the technologies that have ultimately become products for medical purposes, for prevention of disease, for all of those things. We also hope to inspire a biohealth economy for the region.”
The presidents of ODU, EVMS and NSU, along with Michael Gentry, Sentara’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, spoke at Friday’s opening.
“Our work together in this new space is about improving our region as well as people’s lives,” said ODU President Brian O. Hemphill.
Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine at EVMS, noted that the consortium’s research is focused on the community and is key to “our ability to make a difference in the future” and “leverage our strength to really affect change in the community.”
The creation of the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at ODU — folding the medical school into the university — was included in bills sponsored by state Sen. Louise Lucas and Del. Barry Knight, which passed unanimously during the 2023 Virginia General Assembly regular session. In March, Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed a change in wording that would not allow the merger until requirements relating to cooperative agreements and joint ventures are met and approved by the chairs of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee and the governor. If the House of Delegates and state Senate approve the governor’s amendments later this month, the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Foster said the schools working together through the consortium, which was first discussed in 2018, “really seeded a lot of the integration that is now happening between ODU and EVMS.” He said it showed them that they can “play well together.”
But other partnerships between ODU, EVMS, Sentara and NSU have also been in the works, including the consortium.
“The state government had the foresight to see the importance of the collaboration that could happen and could definitely positively affect the health disparities we see, particularly in Hampton Roads, but throughout the nation,” NSU President Javaune Adams-Gaston said. “The relationship between EVMS, ODU, NSU and Sentara has been a wonderful opportunity for us to begin to say, ‘We are better as a collaborative, we can make a difference in those individuals who are suffering.’ … We don’t have the answers today, but through this research consortium, we will have the answers to infant mortality … and so many more disparities that are occurring across our region.”
Paul Nolde, executive managing director of Lighthouse Labs in Richmond, will be the new managing director of Norfolk-based 757 Angels and 757 Collab. He replaces Monique Adams, the current executive director of 757 Angels and managing director of 757 Collab, who will leave the organizations this summer.
Nolde starts his new role May 30.
In November 2022, 757 Angels, an angel investment group that matches venture capitalists with local entrepreneurs, announced it would partner with VentureSouth, one of the largest angel network groups in the United States. The partnership will provide more access to capital and investors to 757 Angels’ 140 members. The partnership with VentureSouth begins June 15.
“Paul brings a commanding network of syndicate investors and deal flow to the partnership. We look forward to leveraging his experience in, and familiarity with, the commonwealth’s diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems,” VentureSouth co-founder and Managing Director Matt Dunbar said in a statement.
Nolde has been at Lighthouse Labs since April 2022. Before that, he served as the fund manager and managing director of Riverflow Growth Fund, a seed-stage, health care-focused venture capital fund based in Richmond. Prior to that, he was director of NRV, an early stage venture capital firm based in Richmond.
“The opportunity to inherit and steward such a reputable brand and organization was too compelling to overlook,” Nolde said in a news release announcing his hire. “Monique and her team have built and cultivated a unique model for aligning three of the most critical components of a startup ecosystem, one that is rare within the commonwealth, but one that has put the Hampton Roads region on the national map and positioned them favorably to impact founders across the broader RVA757 megaregion and beyond. Having partnered closely with 757 Accelerate and 757 Angels for the past several years, I am honored and excited to now call them — and 757 Startup Studios — my colleagues.”
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, a coworking space in Norfolk where selected entrepreneurs can set up offices for no cost and receive mentoring. 757 Collab oversees 757 Angels, as well as 757 Accelerate.
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