Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Robyn Sidersky

Lottery Board approves license for Portsmouth casino

The Virginia Lottery Board unanimously approved the casino facility operator’s license for the Rivers Casino Portsmouth Wednesday.

It was the second casino operator’s license issued in the state; the first was awarded in April to Bristol’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which opened a temporary casino in July. Two more proposed casinos are in the pipeline in Danville and Norfolk.

Roy Corby will be general manager of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth.

“The lottery’s gaming compliance department and legal counsel assisted in today’s decision by conducting investigations and background checks on the applicants,” Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kelly T. Gee said in a statement. “The lottery works with all casino applicants, their vendors and employees to make sure all aspects of the operation are in strict compliance with Virginia law.”

Rivers Casino Portsmouth plans to open its $340 million casino in early 2023 at the intersection of Victory and Cavalier boulevards, off Interstate 264. The casino will have 1,448 slots, 57 table games, 24 poker tables, five restaurants/bars and banquet and event space. The first dealer academy graduated 147 newly-certified dealers and another 347 are enrolled to date. Of the hires made so far, more than 50% are minorities.

Rush Street Gaming, the casino’s owner, plans to hire 1,300 permanent employees. So far, it has made 800 offers of employment and continuous offers are going out, casino representatives told the lottery board.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth started construction in December 2021, with Virginia Beach-based S.B. Ballard Construction Co. and Philadelphia-based Yates Construction as general contractors. Rivers Casino Portsmouth avoided supply chain issues and inflation-related cost increases by securing materials in advance, General Manager Roy Corby told Virginia Business this summer.

“Our Rivers Casino Portsmouth team is grateful to the Virginia Lottery Board for their thoughtful and thorough consideration,” Corby said in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to sharing the timing and details of our early 2023 grand opening with the Hampton Roads community very soon.”

In July, the casino opened a 2,317-square-foot office in a coworking space on High Street in Olde Towne to house multiple administrative departments and assist with recruitment.

“The gaming landscape in Virginia continues to evolve and the Lottery Board is committed to ensuring that casinos in the commonwealth are operated responsibly, fairly and with the utmost integrity,” Board Chairman Ferhan Hamid said in a statement. “While not all Virginians will choose to visit these facilities, all of our citizens need to be confident that they are regulated with the very highest standards.”

 

Food/beverage distributor to create 745 jobs in Caroline

World Class Distribution Inc. (WCD Inc.) plans to build a $275 million, 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Caroline County that will create 745 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

A subsidiary of Tact Holdings Inc., WCD distributes food and beverage products, including canned foods, dry foods, candy, grocery, beer and wine, frozen foods and other refrigerated products. The company currently has 11 distribution centers throughout the United States and more than 4,500 employees in eight states.

WCD plans to start operations in 2023 at the Caroline 95 Logistics park in Ruther Glen. Virginia competed against North Carolina for the project. The jobs to be created will be management and facility operations positions, as well as distribution operators, packers and handlers.

“Today’s announcement is an important step forward as we focus on returning more Virginians to the workforce, and I thank World Class Distribution for creating 745 new, high-quality jobs in the commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement.“Virginia’s extensive transportation infrastructure is the cornerstone of our position as a leader in supply chain management, and World Class Distribution’s major investment will contribute to the commonwealth’s success in this important industry.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Caroline County to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $3 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the county with the project. The company is eligible for benefits from the state’s Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for new, full-time jobs created. VEDP is also working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to determine eligibility through the Economic Development Access road program.

 

Allianz Partners USA names new COO

Henrico County-based Allianz Partners USA has named Heather McIntyre as chief operations officer USA, the company announced Monday.

McIntyre joins Allianz after 20 years with Geico, where she served in multiple management roles, most recently as vice president of customer experience and customer relationship management. She also has experience in digital transformation, product management and operations. In her new role at Allianz, she will manage more than 1,400 employees who handle customer-facing duties, such as customer service, claims, direct sales and travel assistance.

The Charlottesville native has a bachelor’s in psychology and an MBA in marketing from the University of Tampa.

“Heather joins us at a time of explosive growth for the travel insurance industry, and we’re very fortunate to have the benefit of her skill and experience in managing our rapidly growing operations team,” Allianz Partners USA CEO Jeff Wright said in a statement. “The outstanding service that we provide to our valued customers is a sense of pride for our entire organization. We look forward to the innovative leadership that Heather will bring to our critical operations function.”

In September, Allianz Partners USA promoted Patrick Espeut to chief financial officer after former CFO Jeff Wright became CEO.

Allianz Partners Group, parent company of Allianz Partners USA, has 19,400 employees in 75 countries and handles 58 million cases each year. Allianz employs about 800 people in Henrico.

 

Carnival to double trips from Norfolk, proposes year-round cruising

Carnival Cruise Line announced Monday it will more than double the number of cruises it offers from Norfolk in 2023 and is working toward year-round cruising from Norfolk in 2025.

Stephen Kirkland, executive director of Nauticus, shared the news from Norfolk’s cruise terminal that overlooks the harbor where ships dock, adjacent to downtown Norfolk.

Carnival currently has 11 sailings from Norfolk, but they are seasonal, taking place in October and May. The expansion will make sailings consecutive for six months and increase to 26 a year, bringing an estimated 100,000 visitors through the mermaid city. The cruises will go to destinations such as the eastern Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada and New England and last four to 10 days. Year-round cruising would bring departures weekly.

“We have been working closely with Norfolk city officials on this expansion since our successful restart earlier this year, and it’s great to now share our plans with our guests,” Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our 20-year commitment to this community and continuing the momentum toward further expansion in the future, while increasing our positive economic impact in Norfolk.”

The Peter G. Decker Jr. Half Moone Center will start having many more sailings from Carnival beginning in 2023. Photo by Robyn Sidersky

The plan to increase departures from Norfolk is part of a larger expansion of Carnival’s mid-Atlantic operations, according to a news release. The Carnival Magic, which can hold 4,724 passengers, began setting sail from Norfolk in May and splits its time between New York and Norfolk. A new cruise ship will join the fleet and take over Carnival Magic’s departures from New York, freeing up the Magic to remain in Norfolk half the year.

The immediate economic impact for the city is $16.7 million, but it could be north of that, said Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander. He said two-thirds of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive of Norfolk, and the goal is to have more people come to the region a few days before their cruise and stay a few days after.

To make sure the Peter G. Decker Jr. Half Moone Center is able to handle year-round cruising, it will undergo renovations in 2024, Kirkland said. The building was planned in 2005 and built in 2007, and in that time cruise ships have grown larger. Improvements include an elevator and escalator, as well as traffic mitigation measures and other enhancements. Kirkland said that he didn’t have an estimated cost because engineers are still devising a plan, and the funding source still needs to be determined, though the city is the primary stakeholder.

“We’re grateful for the city but we certainly hope the commonwealth and others will recognize that this — without question — is the biggest game changer in the history of our cruise ship terminal, so we hope everyone will want to be a part of this,” Kirkland said.

He pointed out that Norfolk’s cruise terminal is the only one in Virginia.

“We will continue to bring this facility up to industry standards so that we can get the largest, the largest best service and also the security and also the passenger experience. We want it to be seamless,” Alexander said.

Last fall, the terminal began work on its $2.6 million cruise ship gangway, which will accommodate larger cruise ships.

Tourism, hospitality are rebounding, Youngkin says at VA1 summit

One of the big takeaways from the VA1 Governor’s Tourism Summit being held in Norfolk this week is that Virginia is ready and eager for travelers.

Travel industry professionals from around the commonwealth are gathering at Hilton Norfolk The Main through Tuesday for the ninth annual state tourism industry conference, which is presented in part by the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association.

The conference started Sunday and was formally kicked off Monday with an appearance by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who announced $300,000 in matching grants to 64 small business partnerships as part of Virginia Tourism Corp.’s microbusiness marketing leveraging program. In total, more than $1 million will be spent on new marketing activity focused on small businesses and shoulder season visitation, impacting 189 combined partners and supporting more than 400 jobs, he said.

“Tourism is essential for Virginia, that we all know,” he said, noting that tourism in Virginia generated about $25 billion in visitor spending last year, supporting 185,000 jobs and contributed nearly $2 billion in state and local taxes.

“Since we’ve been open again, and Virginia has been open and thriving, the tourism industry has continued to see strong recovery along with the whole commonwealth. Over 60% of Virginia’s localities have already fully recovered from the 2019 levels of spending, and of course we see the hotel sector coming off of a strong year in 2021 for a stronger year in 2022.”

While acknowledging ongoing challenges to the tourism and hospitality industries, including workforce demand, Youngkin said, “We fully expect Virginia and its localities to see continued growth, in visitor spending, with a full recovery in 2023.”

Other state officials in attendance at the tourism conference included Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick and Virginia Tourism Corp. President and CEO Rita McClenny. Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander welcomed the conference, noting how much of an economic driver hospitality and tourism are for the city. In 2021, tourism revenue for Norfolk reached more than $1.1 billion, a 55% change over 2020, according to VisitNorfolk, a nonprofit that promotes the city.

One of the conference’s keynote speakers Monday was Carter Wilson, senior vice president of consulting and analytics with STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group Inc. that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. “Uncertain times are ahead, but the industry remains resilient,” Wilson told a crowd of about 450 people.

STR is forecasting hospitality industry growth in 2023 and 2024, however Wilson cautioned that STR’s partner forecasting agency, Tourism Economics, is predicting a mild recession for the first and second quarters of 2023. And while leisure travel is back above 2019 levels, group and business travel still isn’t. He noted that the top 25 markets are the most vulnerable, and secondary or tertiary markets are not as vulnerable. The Norfolk/Virginia Beach market, he said, is 98.5% recovered, compared with 2019 levels.

Starting in summer 2021, most Virginia markets exceeded 2019 levels for revenue per available room (RevPAR), an industry standard of the health of the lodging sector, Wilson said. Occupancy is nearly recovered across Virginia, which STR breaks into four markets: Washington, D.C.; Norfolk/Virginia Beach; Richmond/Petersburg; and the rest of the state.

One factor that significantly helped the industry recover was maintaining hotel room rates. In fact, luxury hotel room rates are 30% higher than pre-pandemic, he said, citing higher labor costs. Though there are fewer workers in the hospitality industry now, labor costs are up 15% across the industry nationally.

Japanese warehouse company to build facility in Chesapeake

A Tokyo-based transportation and warehousing company will invest $14 million to establish a warehouse and distribution facility in Chesapeake, creating 25 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.

Nakano Warehouse & Transportation Corp. will build a warehouse at 2200 Steppingstone Square in the Greenbrier North Commerce Park. It will be up to 78,400 square feet and will be built over the summer and operational by August 2023. The 25 jobs are positions such as managers, marketing representatives, forklift drivers, casual drivers.

“Virginia’s reputation as a world-class logistics hub is reinforced by Nakano Warehouse & Transportation’s new operation in the city of Chesapeake,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The supply chain industry in the commonwealth continues to gain momentum, in large part due to the Port of Virginia’s unparalleled infrastructure. We look forward to supporting this global company’s success in Hampton Roads.”

Nakano was founded in 1951 and has 10 bases around Japan, and the company has a U.S. branch headquartered in California. The company specializes in general truck transportation, airmail handling, freight forwarding, marine transportation, warehousing, trunk rooms, packing industry, correspondent delivery and importing and exporting.

“On our 50th anniversary of U.S. operations, we are pleased to partner with the city of Chesapeake and the commonwealth of Virginia,” Nakano President and CEO Shinichi Nakano said in a statement.“August 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of our operations in Japan, and our logistics facility in Virginia will be fundamental to the development of this area.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesapeake, the Hampton Roads Alliance and the port to secure the project for Virginia. Virginia competed against South Carolina for the project.

 

Caesars gives $504K to Averett University

Caesars Virginia, which is building a $650 million casino in Danville, announced a gift of $504,000 to Averett University on Wednesday.

The gift will be used to develop a hospitality and tourism academic program. Averett’s new concentration and minor in hospitality management and tourism will be part of the university’s business management program and is expected to launch in fall 2023. The program will offer courses that include an introduction to the hospitality and tourism industry, lodging operations, and food and beverage management. Elective courses include casino, resort and club management and facility design. Students will end the program with a capstone internship with local hospitality partners.

Thomas Perugini, a hospitality industry veteran with 25 years of experience, will be the program’s inaugural director. He said the program will help feed the regional workforce pipeline by providing interns and training future Averett alumni in the industry.

“At Caesars Entertainment, we are committed to investing in the communities where we work and live through education and philanthropic giving,” Barron Fuller, regional president for Caesars Entertainment, said in a statement. “By partnering with Averett, we aim to provide resources for the next generation of hospitality professionals in the area. We look forward to building this program alongside the university for years to come.”

Caesars is developing a $650 million casino in Danville’s Schoolfield district, which broke ground in August and is set to open in late 2024. The project is now a joint venture with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Plans for the casino include a 500-room hotel, 1,300 slots, 85 live game tables, 24 electronic table games, a World Series of Poker-branded live poker room and a Caesars sports book. It is also slated to have a full-service spa, pool, bars, an entertainment venue that can accommodate up to 2,500 people, and 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

In its third-quarter earnings call with investors, Caesars referenced plans to open a temporary casino in Danville that would be open in mid-2023. It will be on the same site as the permanent casino.

Caesars and Averett have been talking about partnering since discussions around the casino began, according to the release from the partners.

“At Averett University, we strive to be a strong partner in our city, region and beyond, and we know there is a significant and growing need for a prepared workforce with advanced education in this industry,” Averett President Tiffany M. Franks said in a statement.

UVA Community Health taps interim leader as permanent CEO

Erik Shannon, who has served as interim CEO of UVA Community Health since October 2021, will continue in the role permanently, the health system announced Tuesday.

Shannon’s new status is effective immediately.

UVA Community Health, formerly Novant Health UVA Health System, has three community hospitals and a network of primary and specialty medical practices and outpatient centers. The medical staff has more than 850 physicians representing 60 specialties and subspecialties and has 2,500 employees. UVA Health acquired Novant in July 2021.

Before serving as interim CEO, Shannon was a partner at Grant Thornton LLP, where he helped lead the transition to integrate UVA Community Health into UVA Health. He has more than 30 years of health care experience.

“During his extensive health care career, Erik has led significant strategic initiatives across more than 75 health care systems across the country in addition to having vast experience in community hospital leadership roles,” UVA Health CEO Dr. K. Craig Kent said in a statement. “Through his transition leadership role, and now over the past 12 months of working to integrate the three community hospitals, clinics and medical group into UVA Health, Erik has accumulated deep knowledge of all of UVA Community Health’s operations and is the right leader to take UVA Community Health forward.”

He will oversee day-to-day patient operations, partner with UVA Health leadership and community leaders and integrate UVA Community Health entities into UVA Health, which includes aligning medical record and IT systems.

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be part of UVA Health as it extends its reach and expands its ability to improve health for patients in even more communities across the commonwealth,” Shannon said. “I am grateful to be part of a team with so many talented and dedicated individuals, and I look forward to continuing this important work together.”

Dominion Energy promotes exec to CFO

Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. has promoted Steven D. Ridge to chief financial officer and senior vice president, replacing James R. Chapman, who will leave the company, the Fortune 500 utility announced Friday.

Currently vice president of investor relations, Ridge will start his new role later this month and will be responsible for corporate and financial planning, investor relations, tax, treasury, mergers and acquisitions and asset management. He joined Dominion in 2014 and was previously an executive director in the energy investment banking group at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in New York.

“At Dominion Energy, we have remarkable bench strength. Steven Ridge is a great example of that. After nearly a decade in energy investment banking, Steven joined Dominion Energy and has spent the past eight years in leadership roles in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, financial management and investor relations,” Dominion Chair, President and CEO Robert M. Blue said in a statement. “During much of that time he worked closely with Jim Chapman and me, along with the rest of our senior leadership team. For the past year, he has been successfully leading our western gas operations that serve nearly 1.2 million customers. He has a wealth of experience in finance, is well-known to many of our investors, and is a strong, capable leader.”

Ridge earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in international economics and finance from Brandeis University.

Chapman, the departing CFO, has been in his role since 2018 and before that was senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions and treasurer since 2016. He started at Dominion in 2013.

“During his tenure, Jim has adeptly overseen a rapid transition to an asset mix largely defined by state-regulated utility operations and a capital plan aimed at decarbonization in support of public policy goals and our commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050,” Blue said. “He has served the company well, and we wish him good fortune in the next chapter of his career.”

Also on Friday, Dominion announced its third-quarter earnings. Operating earnings for the three months that ended Sept. 30 were $944 million, compared to $918 million for the same period last year.

 

Innovation was at center of Mighty Dream Day 3

On the third and final day of Pharrell Williams’ Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk, the theme was innovation. The first day‘s focus was diversity and equity, while Wednesday was largely dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurs to find and create opportunities.

Panelists throughout the day Thursday encouraged attendees to innovate, seek out resources and do their homework to find opportunities and access.

Astronaut Leland Melvin and Pharrell Williams speak on Thursday at the Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk. Photo by Mark Rhodes

In a conversation with retired NASA space shuttle astronaut and Lynchburg native Leland D. Melvin, Williams talked about creativity and innovation and Melvin discussed gaining a whole new perspective from going into outer space.

Then, in a panel with Melvin; Chegg Inc. CEO Dan Rosensweig; Megan Holston-Alexander, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; and Sydney Sykes, a partner with venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, Williams talked about how to make the innovation space more inclusive. The concept that innovation is as much about people as it is about ideas came up over and over. Melvin told a story about growing up in Lynchburg, when his father bought an old bread truck for $500 and repurposed it into a recreational vehicle for the family to use for summer travels. “It taught me creativity, innovation and the ability to transform something to something we need for our family,” he said, citing how his father’s implementation of an idea was an example of innovation.

Rosensweig made a point that innovation isn’t always about creating something new, but it can be about improving something and making it better. Innovation isn’t just about founding something, he stressed. It’s finding leverage where there wasn’t before. When a founder is pitching an idea, he or she has to think about the benefits, instead of the features, he added.

Another panel hosted a conversation between Afdhel Aziz, co-founder and chief purpose

Annie Wu, H&M Group’s global head of inclusion and diversity, speaks at the Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk. Photo by Mark Rhodes

officer for social impact marketing agency Conspiracy of Love, and Aaron Mitchell, former human resources director for Netflix Animation, about how Mitchell convinced Netflix executives to move 2% of its revenues, or about $100 million, to Black banks. He described sending a proposal to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, and how he was encouraged by the response he got, and then seeing it happen. There was a ripple effect with other major tech companies following suit and at least $2 billion worth of corporate deposits being funneled into Black banks, he said. Mitchell noted that Microsoft had quietly done this 10 years prior and it wasn’t an original idea on his part.

Author Ben Nemtin, who co-created MTV’s 2010 reality TV show “The Buried Life,” spoke in TED Talk style about living with purpose. He encouraged attendees to follow their passions, saying, “You’re not done until you get your yes.”

Annie Wu, H&M Group’s global head of inclusion and diversity, delivered a presentation about how the global clothing retailer employs DEI initiatives. H&M, the world’s second-largest retailer, with 4,700 stores worldwide and 150,000 employees, chose four focus areas: people, business, communities and transparency, and made inclusion a priority above diversity.

In one of the final panels of the day, representatives from the White House’s Economic Opportunity Coalition spoke about actions the Biden administration has taken to help underserved small businesses gain access to capital and resources. One of the key points was about taking advantage of not just available capital, but also seeking guidance and mentorship.