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byline: Robyn Sidersky

HCA’s Tim McManus promoted to national role

HCA Healthcare Inc. is promoting the president of its Richmond-based Capital Division, Tim McManus, to lead its national operating group, effective Jan. 1, HCA announced Tuesday.

Dr. William Lunn, who currently serves as CEO of HCA’s Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals, will follow McManus as HCA’s new Capital Division president. The division includes 19 hospitals in Virginia, New Hampshire, Indiana and Kentucky. Lunn will be based in Richmond.

In his new role, McManus will oversee HCA’s National Group, which includes HCA’s Capital, North Carolina, TriStar, Mountain and Far West divisions. It includes 60 hospitals in 11 states. He succeeds HCA executive Chuck Hall, who is retiring as HCA’s National Group president at the end of the year, following a 36-year career with HCA.

The National Group is one of three HCA operating groups, each of which contains five domestic divisions. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, HCA previously had two operating groups but a third was created as part of a recent organizational restructuring. These changes, along with several other executive moves across the organization, also will become effective Jan. 1. McManus will be based out of Nashville.

“While I have been with HCA Healthcare for over 15 years, I have been privileged to spend the majority of that time as a part of the Capital Division, serving first as CEO for Reston Hospital Center and later as CEO of Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals, before becoming division president six years ago,” McManus said. “Throughout all of these roles, I have immensely enjoyed working with the teams. Their commitment to our patients and colleagues is the greatest strength of this division and I couldn’t be prouder of everything we’ve accomplished.”

McManus has been in his current role, overseeing HCA’s Capital Division, since 2016. Before that, he served as CEO of HCA’s Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals in Chesterfield County. McManus graduated from Tulane and Johns Hopkins universities with degrees in psychology and health care administration. He is also vice chairman of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association’s board.

Lunn is a Harvard fellowship-trained executive and served as president and CEO of Tulane Health System before leading hospitals in Virginia. He earned his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and attended the University of Texas Southwestern for medical school. Lunn has had a private practice in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He was a founding member of Baylor College of Medicine’s Airway and Pleural Disease Center and served as its first director, along with other roles there. He has also been chief operating officer at Christus Health, in Northern Louisiana.

“I am excited to assume my new role as Capital Division president,” Lunn said in a statement. “It will be a great opportunity to draw upon lessons learned throughout my career, from the bedside as a pulmonologist, to a hospital administrator, to a healthcare executive. The key to success will always be to empower our colleagues and give them all of the tools they need to continue to care like family for every patient who chooses our hospitals for their healthcare needs.”

HCA has more than 283,000 employees, about 17,000 of whom work within the Richmond-headquartered Capital Division. The company reported $14.971 billion in revenues for the third quarter, slightly down from 2021’s third-quarter earnings. However, revenues are up for the nine months ending Sept. 30, totaling $44.736 billion, up, compared to $43.688 billion in the same period of 2021.

 

Two Va. agencies make Adweek’s fastest growing U.S. agencies list

Two ad agencies that call Virginia home have landed on Adweek’s 2022 list of the fastest-growing U.S. ad agencies, the publication announced Monday.

Richmond-based creative agency Dotted Line ranked third on the list of Adweek’s fastest-growing agencies in the Southeast, and No. 22 on the list of the nation’s 75 fastest-growing agencies. Charlottesville-based Willow Tree ranked No. 8 for the Southeast and 60th on the national list.

To be eligible for the list, agencies provided three years of earned revenue data (2019 through 2021) and must have posted at least $250,000 in 2019 revenue.

Dotted Line Founder and CEO Lauren Sweeney started the agency in 2014, and it has grown from six employees to more than 20 full-time workers and about 10 fractional/part-time employees. Sweeney wants Dotted Line to be seen as a top boutique agency in the mid-Atlantic in the next seven to 10 years. Dotted Line’s clients include Bon Secours Mercy Health and Spinnaker Consulting Group. About half of the agency’s clients hail from Central Virginia and the rest are based around the country.

According to Adweek, Dotted Line grew 217% from 2019 to 2021. Sweeney attributed the agency’s growth over the past three years to setting a clear vision and goals, as well as being values-driven.

“I think it’s a proof point for all the hard work we’re trying to do for our clients,” Sweeney said. “We’re really a client-first agency and really work to understand our client’s business and how we can best help them grow their business and brand.”

Charlottesville-based WillowTree Inc., a software company with its roots in mobile app design and development, has expanded to seven global studios, according to Adweek. WillowTree experienced 90% growth between 2019 and 2021, according to Adweek. The company led design and development for the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show app, Fox’s first weather app, and work for Dairy Queen, according to Adweek. Founded in 2008, the company has more than 1,000 employees. Its clients include HBO, National Geographic, Hilton, McDonald’s and other Fortune 500 companies.

“This past year has been one of significant and steady growth for WillowTree,” Chief Marketing Officer Keith Miller told Virginia Business. “We continue to add more of the world’s most admired brands to our client roster. We expanded our geographic footprint with new offices in Vancouver and Porto Alegre, Brazil. And our team is now over 1,000 strong.”

WillowTree’s three largest offices are in Charlottesville; Durham, North Carolina; and Columbus, Ohio. Since 2008, the company has delivered more than 700 native mobile apps, websites and other digital products.

“Recognition from outlets like Adweek is a testament to the world-class work being done by our team and to the outcomes we’ve achieved in partnership with our clients,” Miller said.

 

 

 

 

Arko to buy Pride convenience stores for $230M

Arko Corp., a Fortune 500 holding company for Richmond-based convenience store chain GPM Investments LLC, announced Monday it has agreed to acquire Pride Convenience Holdings LLC, which operates 30 Pride convenience stores in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut.

The $230 million acquisition, plus the value of inventory, would bring Arko into Massachusetts and a total of 34 states to date.

“Our agreement to acquire Pride highlights Arko’s continued focus on creating long-term shareholder value by growing our core convenience store business,” Arko President, Chairman and CEO Arie Kotler said in a statement. “We believe Pride stores are top-tier assets, with a focus on excellent customer service and a quality loyalty program, and we further believe that we can add value to these assets through our operational and merchandising abilities and scale. We look forward to welcoming Pride’s employees to our family of community brands and working together to enhance the business.”

It’s the second acquisition for Arko in as many months. In September, the company acquired South Carolina-based Transit energy group.

For the purchase of Pride, Arko plans to finance about $28 million of the transaction. Oak Street Real Estate Capital, a division of Blue Owl Capital, expects to fund the remaining $202 million as part of a $1.15 billion agreement announced in May 2021. Oak Street plans to acquire the real estate assets from Pride as part of the transaction, and Arko expects to lease them back from Oak Street.

Pride has 31 convenience stores, including two high-volume travel centers and two city stop locations, with a third that broke ground in July. In fiscal year 2021, Pride sold 74.2 million gallons of gas.

Arko Corp. made the Fortune 500 list for the first time in 2022, ranking No. 498.

Bon Secours breaks ground on Suffolk hospital

Bon Secours broke ground Tuesday on its $80 million Bon Secours Harbour View Hospital, which is expected to be completed in 2025.

The hospital will be 98,000 square feet and have a surgical focus, with 18 medical/surgical beds and up to four operating rooms. It will serve as an extension of other services on the Health Center at Harbour View campus, which has an emergency department, outpatient imaging, an ambulatory surgery center, outpatient lab services and physician practices.

“We are thrilled to break ground on our new Harbour View Hospital and celebrate this major milestone for our ministry and the northern Suffolk and western Hampton Roads communities,” Pat Davis-Hagens, market president of Bon Secours Hampton Roads, said in a statement. “This hospital will make a significant difference for the residents of Suffolk, who will be able to receive advanced surgical care in their own community. We look forward to continuing to expand access to quality, compassionate medical care for this community, now and well into the future.” 

The new hospital will have a 15-bed emergency department, on-site lab services and imaging services in addition to the 18 beds and operating rooms.

Bon Secours first filed for a certificate of public need approval in 2018. The architect for the new hospital is Cincinnati, Ohio-based Champlin Architecture, and Richmond-based Hourigan Group is leading construction.

 

Youngkin tours Amazon’s new robotics fulfillment center in Suffolk

Amazon.com Inc.’s 3.8-million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center in Suffolk opened in September, but the global retail colossus held an official grand opening at the facility Thursday, allowing Amazon officials to show off the center to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who attended the opening event and took a tour.

The $230 million, four-and-a-half-story building in Northgate Commerce Park is the second-largest building in Virginia — behind the Pentagon — and has 1,500 employees. It processes about 200,000 packages per day, with plans to ramp up to 1 million per day. 

General Manager Gregory Lum puts a vest on Gov. Glenn Youngkin before the pair tour Amazon’s robotics fulfillment center in Suffolk. Photo by Robyn Sidersky

Under construction for the past two years, it’s one of dozens of Amazon facilities around the commonwealth, including several in Hampton Roads, but it’s Amazon’s first robotics fulfillment center in Virginia. Located at 2020 Northgate Commerce Parkway, the facility is nine football fields long and has more than 13 miles of conveyance, Gregory Lum, the facility’s general manager told the crowd assembled for the center’s grand opening.

In addition to Youngkin, government officials in attendance included U.S. Rep Bobby Scott, state Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick, Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller III and state Del. Emily Brewer, R-Isle of Wight, among others.

“When I think of Amazon, I think of innovation. I think of boldness. I think of a company that is driven every day to be best in class. And those themes resonate with our governor, who wants Virginia to be best in class,” Merrick said during the event.

Youngkin highlighted the workforce Amazon is creating across the commonwealth, and the 30,000 jobs the company already has created here, as well as investments the retailer has made in logistics facilities and HQ2, Amazon’s $2.5 billion East Coast headquarters being built in Arlington, which is expected to create another 20,000 to 25,000 jobs over the next decade. 

“Today we have the chance to peek inside, peek inside at the amazing capabilities that drive Amazon’s ability to provide extraordinary customer service, state-of-the-art access and opportunity to customers, and oh, by the way, the coolest robots you have ever, ever seen,” Youngkin said. “What we will see today is the next generation of what robotics alongside an extraordinary workforce can do together … but it also represents the commitment that Amazon has made to maintain a culture that rests on innovation.”

The building represents Amazon’s newest robotics technology in the country, an Amazon spokesperson told Virginia Business. The Suffolk center packages items that are 18 inches or smaller and serves the entire mid-Atlantic region, one of the reasons for the facility’s immense size.

“We have introduced the robotics technology to help make our operations safer and more efficient and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” said Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty, adding that the robotic technology allows Amazon to ship packages to its customers faster and more efficiently, allowing human employees to focus on more sophisticated roles. Lum, the facility’s general manager, noted that the robots do “the heavy lifting” so humans don’t have to.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin chats with Amazon employee Tamya Crawford on a tour of the new facility in Suffolk. Photo by Robyn Sidersky

While touring the facility, Youngkin stopped to chat with employees working alongside robots to process and prepare customer orders for delivery. Thousands of items peeked out from yellow bins, waiting to be placed in Amazon-branded packaging. 

Youngkin stopped and spoke with Tamya Crawford, an area manager overseeing a team for one part of the fulfillment process. “It’s not easy work, but it’s rewarding,” said Crawford, who worked for Amazon for about a decade at facilities in Pennsylvania and Central Virginia before joining the Suffolk center this year.

Kings Dominion to remain open year-round

Kings Dominion will expand to year-round operations beginning in January, the Doswell theme park announced Tuesday.

The park will now be open an additional nine weekends, or 18 more days, in January, February and early March. Historically, Kings Dominion opens for weekends in the spring and starts daily operations around Memorial Day, continuing through Labor Day, then it’s back to weekend operations. The 20-acre Soak City waterpark opens around Memorial Day, and Halloween Haunt and WinterFest typically close out the year.

“We’ve always wanted [to] find a way to extend our season to all 12 months, and now families and season passholders won’t have to wait until the spring for their favorite rides or their first taste of funnel cake,” Bridgette Bywater, vice president and general manager of Kings Dominion and Soak City, said in a statement.

Bywater told Virginia Business that the theme park expanded its operating calendar in response to demand from season passholders for an extended season. The plan is for a permanent calendar shift, but she anticipates “some learnings as we progress into a year-round operation.”

The Hanover County amusement park is a significant tourism draw and seasonal employer for Central Virginia. The park closed during the pandemic and reopened in a limited way in winter 2020, with a full reopening in May 2021 and Soak City opening a month later.

Hanover County Director of Economic Development E. Linwood Thomas IV told Virginia Business in 2020 that the park is one of Hanover’s top five taxpayers. In 2018, visitors to the park spent $258 million in the county on tourism, generating more than $5 million in tax revenue.

But things improved last year.

“According to the 2021 Economic Impact of Visitors in Virginia prepared for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, more than $204 million was spent in visitor spending in Hanover County in calendar year 2021, a resounding recovery of more than 55% over the previous calendar year which was plagued by the pandemic,” Thomas told Virginia Business. “Kings Dominion would be one of the major drivers in this rebound since it is our largest tourism asset.”

The expansion of operations is good news to Hanover.

“Kings Dominion is already one of our largest taxpayers and employers but we anticipate their move to open year-round will benefit the entire region while creating significant economic growth across multiple industry sectors,” Thomas said.

“We humbly recognize the positive impact Kings Dominion has on the local economy, and are dedicated to continuing our service as an active member of our local community,” Bywater said.

Plans to expand the park’s calendar have been in the works since last year.

“Expanding our operating calendar also provides more stability to the workforce, which in turn benefits both the park and our visitors. By being able to provide year-round employment opportunities, our dedicated staff can continue to provide excellent guest service on an ongoing basis,” she said.

In the past two years, Kings Dominion has transitioned about 120 positions from seasonal/part-time to full-time, year-round employment status for a total of about 400 workers now, Bywater said. At peak season, the theme park has 3,500 active staff members.

The park has been gradually increasing its number of full-time, year-round associates since 2021, in anticipation of a longer calendar, Bywater said. This year, Kings Dominion raised its minimum hourly wage from $9.25 to $15 and moved to cashless payments at the park.

Grand Carnivale, a summer event will return in 2023 as well as WinterFest. The newest attractions to the park are Jungle X-pedition, a new area, and a new roller coaster, Tumbili, as well as other changes. Soak City also received a refresh in 2021.

In 2021, rival theme park Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced it would also expand its calendar, opening in January, February and March, as well as adding “limited capacity” events to the early part of the year.

In February, Ohio-based Cedar Fair, Kings Dominion’s parent company,  rejected a $3.4 billion acquisition offer from SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., owner of Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park.

Cedar Fair owns and operates 13 properties composed of 11 amusement parks, four outdoor water parks and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,300 rooms and 600 RV sites. It reported record revenues of $1.37 billion through Labor Day, with 20.5 million guests across its 15 parks. For the five-week period ended Sept. 5, Cedar Fair had 5.1 million guests and generated preliminary net revenues of $343 million, representing an increase of $74 million, or 27%, when compared to the five-week period ended Sept. 9, 2019, according to a news release.

 

Former commerce secretary returns to Williams Mullen

Former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball is returning to his former law firm, Williams Mullen.

Ball rejoined Williams Mullen on Oct. 10 as of counsel in its corporate section, supporting and serving the firm’s Economic Development Team and aiding clients with business expansion needs. He’ll be based in the firm’s Richmond office.

Before serving as commerce secretary under Gov. Ralph Northam, Ball was with Williams Mullen for nearly 30 years as a partner, general counsel and a member of the firm’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to have Brian return to us in a new capacity,” Williams Mullen Chairman, President and CEO Calvin W. “Woody” Fowler Jr. said in a statement. “His knowledge of our firm and its resources, combined with his insight in working effectively with the governor’s office and cabinet secretaries, make him an incredibly valuable asset to clients looking to locate and grow their businesses in the commonwealth and beyond.”

As Virginia’s commerce and trade secretary from 2018 to 2022, Ball was instrumental in some of the state’s biggest deals, including bringing HQ2, Amazon.com Inc.’s East Coast headquarters, to Arlington. Other successes include Micron Technology Inc.’s expansion of its semiconductor manufacturing facility in Manassas, Merck’s expansion in Rockingham County and Morgan Olson’s new manufacturing facility in Danville and Pittsylvania County.

Ball oversaw 10 state agencies, including the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority, Virginia Housing, the Department of Housing and Community Development and Virginia Tourism.

“I look forward to leveraging my experience and resources to help clients achieve their business objectives,” Ball said in a statement. “I am also pleased to once again work with top-notch team members here at Williams Mullen.”

Ball received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Virginia and served as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 1981 to 1982.

Ball won’t be the only state government alum to work for Williams Mullen. Christopher J. “Chris” McDonald joined the firm in January as director of government relations in the Richmond office. He served in Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration, counseling the governor’s office, the secretary of commerce and trade and then-Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, along with others.

Williams Mullen has 240 attorneys in offices in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina.

Trader Interactive hires new CFO

Norfolk-based Trader Interactive has named David McMinn its chief financial officer, the company announced Wednesday.

The appointment of McMinn comes as Carsales.com Ltd. prepares to close its acquisition of Trader Interactive, an online marketplace for specialty vehicles, this month.

Carsales.com Ltd. bought 49% of Trader Interactive in August 2021 for $624 million and then announced plans to acquire the remaining 51% in June for $809 million. An announcement of the deal placed the Norfolk startup’s enterprise value at $1.87 billion.

McMinn most recently served as chief operating officer of Trader Corp., a Canadian classified advertising company. He has also served in senior leadership roles in sales and operations with the Trader Media Group in the U.K. He also served as CFO of Sensis Classifieds in Australia.

He is currently located in Canada, but plans to relocate to Virginia Beach.

Founded in 2010, Trader Interactive runs marketplaces for buyers, sellers and renters of powersports and recreational vehicles, aircraft, marine and commercial vehicles, and heavy equipment. Through brands such as Cycle Trader, RV Trader, Commercial Truck Trader and Equipment Trader, it reaches more than 13 million unique monthly users and hosts more than 9,500 dealers. The company has more than 380 employees.

Hitachi Energy plans $37M expansion in Halifax County

Hitachi Energy Ltd. will invest $37 million to expand its operation in Halifax County, creating 165 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

The technology company will add 26,000 square feet to its existing facility in the county to make space for a new production line of large transformers to support the utility and renewable energy markets.

The existing facility opened in 1968 to service the distribution transformer market and in 2008, the plant added the capability to produce medium power transformers in addition to distribution transformers. The site has two buildings: the distribution transformer factory, which is 517,000 square feet and the power transformer factory, which is 90,000 square feet. The 26,000-square-foot addition will be to the power transformer factory.

The facility currently produces both distribution transformers and power transformers. Following the expansion, Hitachi will be able to produce larger power transformers that operate at higher voltages.

“These latest investments in the facility and equipment are intended to support the establishment of an additional 26,000 square feet of production space for addressing the increased demands of renewable power generation, among other fast-growing markets. The 26,000 square feet. will be added to an existing building devoted to the production of power transformers, a Hitachi spokesperson told Virginia Business.

“Hitachi Energy’s ambitious expansion in Halifax County represents a strong commitment and tremendous vote of confidence in the commonwealth of Virginia as a great place to do business,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Hitachi Energy has been an important, long-standing employer in Southern Virginia for nearly 50 years, and we are thrilled the company will create additional good-paying jobs in the community.”

The company’s North American headquarters are in Raleigh, North Carolina, and it has 4,600 employees in the region, with more than 720 in Virginia and 370 in Halifax County. The 165 new jobs will be in skilled manufacturing, but the company also has staff in a variety of other functions at the facility.

Hitachi serves customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors. The company’s global headquarters is in Switzerland and it employs about 38,000 people across 90 countries.

“We are pleased to see global manufacturers like Hitachi Energy expanding their footprint in Southern Virginia,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen A. Edwards said in a statement. “As The Port of Virginia moves forward on its goal of becoming carbon-neutral [by 2040], we look forward to providing a supply chain solution for a company that will deliver a sustainable energy future for all. When we work with like-minded businesses like Hitachi, we see opportunities to grow and learn.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Halifax County and the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority to secure the project for Virginia. Youngkin approved a $511,500 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Halifax County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission also approved a grant for $220,000 from the Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund for the project.

Hitachi is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone grant program, as well as state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Funding and services to support Hitachi Energy’s employee training activities will be provided through VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Forvis promotes exec to Richmond market leader

Forvis, the new top 10 accounting firm formed by the merger this year of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP and Springfield, Missouri-based BKD CPAs & Advisor, has promoted Fran Randall to Richmond market leader.

Randall will represent the company in the Richmond business community and report to Tom Hazelwood, managing partner of Forvis’ Virginia practice, which includes offices in Richmond and Norfolk.

Randall joined Dixon Hughes Goodman in December 2019 and has led the core international tax services team of 40 workers across the company, has expertise in international and domestic taxation, tax research and project management. She specializes in international tax advisory services to SEC and non-SEC U.S. multinational and foreign-owned clients, according to a news release from Forvis. Prior to joining DHG, she was with RyanSharkey in Tysons for three years and prior to that was with a Big 4 firm for more than 17 years. She’ll continue to be based in Richmond as part of Forvis’ international tax services team and her market leader role will add an additional level of responsibilities.

“I am thrilled to take on this role and show the Richmond community how Forvis can help our clients solve their complex problems by providing trusted insights and an unmatched client experience,” Randall said in a statement.

Randall is a sponsor of Forvis’ diversity and inclusion council, a member of AICPA and the Virginia Society of CPAs, as well as the National Association of Black Accountants, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and a board member of Partnership for the Future.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and master of tax degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

In June, Forvis named other Virginia leaders, including Hazelwood.