Suffolk City Manager Patrick Roberts announced Thursday that Robin Wynn will be the city’s new director of human resources, effective July 1.
Wynn was most recently the human resources director for the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Authority in Richmond. With more than 28 years of experience, she has also served in human resources leadership roles with Atlanta-based The Burks Cos., Columbus Regional Airport Authority in Columbus, Ohio, and TE Connectivity, among others. She will relocate to Suffolk for her new position.
Wynn earned her bachelor’s degree in human resources from Saint Leo University and will complete her master’s degree in business administration from Western Governors University in December. She has been a designated member of the Society for Human Resource Management for 25 years.
Averett University announced Thursday that John Vigouroux will join the university as its first chief entrepreneurship and innovation officer. He also will lead the new Averett Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
The center will serve as a learning lab and entrepreneurial space for students. The goal of the center is to connect students to economic development in the region. Vigouroux (an Averett alum) and Averett faculty members will create an interdisciplinary system with hands-on work with local businesses, organizations and regional partners. Averett has a goal of having all students complete at least two workplace experiences before graduation.
“With this new center and John’s leadership, Averett is moving forward during a time where it seems like everything has been halted,” Averett President Tiffany M. Franks said in a statement. “It’s during these times that we must resist only looking inwardly, and move boldly and invest in strategic initiatives to support innovations that will shape a better future.”
Vigouroux was most recently a member of Averett’s board of trustees. While an Averett student, he studied business administration and played soccer — eventually becoming a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame. He has also served in several executive leadership roles with San Francisco-area tech companies, including WeR.ai, NarrativeWave, Nex Cubed and ThinkIQ.
While leading the center, Vigouroux will create career development pipelines and experiential learning projects.
“This new focus and expertise on innovation and entrepreneurship at Danville‘s hometown university will certainly benefit the city and the region, as well,” Danville City Manager Ken Larking said in a statement. “We look forward to developing more strategic partnerships that will provide new revenue and resource opportunities for both Averett students and for industry in the region.”
More than 375,000 Virginians are still unemployed following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, though the number of initial jobless claims across the commonwealth continues to decrease.
The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced Thursday that 874,779 people have filed initial unemployment claims since March 15. However, the total of initial claims for the week ending June 20 was the lowest since before the initial spike in unemployment insurance claims during the March 21 filing week, according to the VEC.
More than 25,000 Virginians filed initial claims, a decrease of nearly 1,900 from the week prior. However, 375,579 people remain unemployed in Virginia — 355,910 more than the same week last year, which saw only 19,669 continued claims. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.
“The continued claims total is mainly comprised of those recent initial claimants who continued to file for unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic,” VEC Economist Timothy Aylor said in a statement. “Continued claims during the June 20 filing week equaled 43% of all initial claims filed during the pandemic to this point. This percentage has trended downward in recent weeks.”
The VEC last week, however, reported that more than 12,000 Virginians who have filed jobless claims during the pandemic have refused to return to work, while there are approximately 400,000 job vacancies posted on the Virginia Workforce Connection website. According to the VEC, many of these are cases in which an employer disputed an applicant’s reason for being out of work.
The VEC reminds Virginians that those who are called back to work must generally return and that, under law, an employer is not required to keep a position open for an employee who refuses to go back to work. If a claimant received an overpayment of benefits, they’ll be required to pay it back. Employers can report employees who refuse to return to work through the VEC website.
Last week, 1.48 million people in the United States filed initial claims for unemployment, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released Thursday, bringing the total of unemployed Americans to approximately 47.5 million in the wake of the pandemic and economic crisis.
U.S. claims were down by 60,000 from last week. For the week ending June 6, 46 states reported that more than 11 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance.
The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads.
Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 20:
Thirty-eight states reported 851,983 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.4% for the week that ended June 13, a 0.5% decrease from the previous week.
The states and U.S. territories with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on June 6 were Nevada, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New York, California, Michigan, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Virgin Island and Connecticut.
States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on June 13 were Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey, New York and Louisiana, while the largest decreases were seen in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, California and Michigan.
View more unemployment information via VEC’s unemployment claims data dashboard below:
Los Angeles-based aerospace manufacturer Relativity Space announced Wednesday that McLean-based Iridium Communications Inc. has signed a contract to deliver up to six of Irdium’s satellites into orbit. Iridium currently operates a network of 66 satellites used for mobile voice and data communications.
A contract amount was not disclosed.
The launches will take place on an as-needed basis, using Relativity’s 3D-printed launch vehicle Terran 1. Launches won’t occur before 2023, according to a Relativity statement.
“The upgraded Iridium satellite constellation is operating incredibly well, but it’s prudent to have a cost-effective launch option available for future spare delivery,” Iridium CEO Matt Desch said in a statement. “Relativity’s Terran 1 fits our launch needs to LEO [low Earth oribit] well from both a price, responsiveness and capability perspective. And we know based on our previous experience that there are great benefits to engaging with a provider early on during development of the launch vehicle and it evolving around our particular needs.”
Relativity also announced Wednesday a right-of-entry agreement with the U.S. Air Force, 30th Space Wing, to develop rocket launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. The launch facilities are needed to support flights of the Iridium satellite constellation.
“The 30th Space Wing takes great pride in supporting the next generation of leaders in space,” Col. Anthony J. Mastalir, 30th Space Wing commander, Vandenberg Air Force Base, said in a statement. “We are impressed by Relativity’s innovative approach to reinventing aerospace manufacturing via 3D metal printing and robotics paired with an executive team of seasoned aerospace leaders.”
An agreement amount was not disclosed.
“Iridium offers critical communications over the planet’s entire surface, and we are very proud to be their launch partner that supports this capability,” Relativity CEO and co-founder Tim Ellis said in a statement. “As the first 3D-printed launch vehicle, Terran 1 offers uniquely disruptive flexibility, cost and performance advantages, especially for medium-payload missions that need dedicated launches.”
Founded in 2016, Relativity is backed by investors including Mark Cuban, Bond, Tribe Capital, Playground Global, Y Combinator and Social Capital. Iridium was founded in 2006 and is used by the U.S. Department of Defense for global communication capabilities.
Reston-based tech and network security company Electrosoft announced Wednesday it has hired Manuel Miranda as its new president. In his new role, he will focus on company growth, business development, customer operations, information technology, human resources and recruiting.
Before joining Electrosoft, Miranda had been chief operating officer at Bethesda, Maryland-based tech company InfoZen, which was acquired in 2017 by ManTech International Corp. for $180 million.
Miranda earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland and did graduate work in biomedical engineering at George Washington University.
Electrosoft offers cybersecurity, enterprise IT operations and software solutions for government clients. The company is a small disadvantaged business (SDB) and an economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business (EDWOSB), founded in 2001 by CEO Sarbari Gupta.
Reston-based data and analytics tech firm Hitachi Vantara Federal Corp. announced Wednesday it has promoted Gary Hix to chief technology officer. As CTO, he will ensure products meet federal standards and work with the company’s government clients to develop new products.
Hix most recently led the Hitachi Vantara Federal solutions consultant team, which works with government customers on mission solutions. He will continue to lead the team in his new role.
Before his time with Hitachi Vantara Federal, Hix was a program architect at computer hardware giant IBM’s Cloud Services Division. He also previously was channel technology executive at Novus Consulting group. During his career, he has developed patents in data management storage.
Hitachi Vantara Federal focuses on providing government clients with data and analytics solutions through cloud and converged information technology systems. In 2018, it acquired REAN Cloud LLC for $130 million.
The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) announced Wednesday that Brad Schwartz will serve as its acting president and CEO starting July 1. He succeeds Bobbie Kilberg, who announced her June 30 retirement in October 2019 after 22 years at the helm of the membership and trade association for the region’s tech industry.
An NVTC board member, Schwartz is the former president and CEO of Blue Canopy, a Reston-based big data analytics and cybersecurity company. He also worked with other major tech firms, including BearingPoint, as group executive vice president and chief operating officer, and as regional vice president at Oracle Corp.
Bobbie Kilberg. Photo courtesy Northern Virginia Technology Council
During Kilberg’s leadership at NVTC, the association grew to represent approximately 1,000 Northern Virginia tech firms, representing more than 350,000 employees.
After Schwartz takes the reins, Kilberg will assist NVTC as president and CEO emeritus, as well as strategic adviser during the leadership transition. A longtime Republican White House appointee, she worked in the Nixon and Ford administrations and served as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H.W. Bush. She also was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
“I have full confidence in Brad Schwartz’s leadership, experience, and ability to serve as acting president and CEO,” Kilberg said in a statement. “As an active board and executive committee member, Brad is already well-versed in NVTC’s strategic and operational goals and is very knowledgeable about the community that we serve.”
“As one of the largest technology councils in the nation, there is a tremendous opportunity for NVTC to continue to advance its mission, supporting our ever-growing community and embracing emerging and new technologies,” Schwartz said in a statement. “In this interim period, I plan to focus our resources on driving growth and stability, while building a strategy that will take NVTC into its next phase. I’m excited about my new role and look forward to working closely with the chairman’s council in the search for NVTC’s permanent successor.”
Los Angeles-based management consulting firm Korn Ferry continues to search for a permanent president and CEO to run the organization. A chairman’s council has also formed to assist leadership during the transition. The chairman’s council includes:
Richard Montoni, current chairman of the board, will become chair emeritus
Greg Baroni, current vice chairman of the board, will become chairman of the board
Bobbie Kilberg, current president and CEO, will become president and CEO emeritus and strategic adviser
Brad Schwartz, current board and executive committee member, will become acting president and CEO
Christine Kallivokas, will remain as NVTC chief operating officer
“On behalf of the board of directors, we thank Bobbie for her outstanding leadership and commitment to NVTC and to the broader business community,” Baroni said in a statement. “A tireless and innovative leader, Bobbie has been one of the pioneers in growing the Northern Virginia technology community and has been instrumental in leading the region through many important milestones, including, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.”
UPDATED JULY 2 |Suffolk-based TowneBank and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) have jointly purchased the 22-story Norfolk Southern Tower in downtown Norfolk from the Fortune 500 railroad corporation, which is in the process of migrating its corporate headquarters to Atlanta.
The building sold for $30 million, according to city of Norfolk documentation — although property records indicate that (at its most recent assessment) the building at 3 Commercial Place was valued at more than $55 million. The sales price was even lower than what Norfolk Southern had purchased the tower for in 1998, at $32.8 million.
“This was a complex transaction with multiple parties and several features, which includes Norfolk Southern renting more than half the building back from the purchasers,” says a Norfolk Southern statement released at the time of the sale, when the sales price had not been revealed. “The transaction price was a negotiated component of that, and we’re not releasing that information at this time.”
The deal for the 388,308-square-foot building closed on June 23, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, who represented Norfolk Southern in the transaction. TowneBank and CHKD went in together on the deal as McKinnon Tower LLC.
“The name of the building has been McKinnon Tower, named after Arnold McKinnon, who was a previous executive with Norfolk Southern,” though the building is more commonly referred to as the Norfolk Southern Tower, explains TowneBank spokesperson Joel Rubin.
TowneBank and CHKD haven’t announced a new name for the building yet, but TowneBank’s branding will go at the top of the building, says TowneBank Chairman G. Robert Aston Jr. “CHKD graciously allowed us to do that,” Aston says. “There will be other CHKD signage. We certainly want to continue to honor the heritage of McKinnon and what he meant to Norfolk. … We will certainly find some way to appropriately do that. I’m assuming that it will become known as the TowneBank Tower at the end of the day.”
In April, TowneBank announced it was reaching an agreement to purchase a nearby downtown Norfolk parking garage for $8.5 million. Under the transaction announced Wednesday, the bank and the children’s hospital have agreed to purchase the 744-space garage (including general, monthly and restricted parking) at 520 E. Main St. from the city of Norfolk and lease 298 spaces at three additional city garages.
Parking garage
Nearly 900 people will occupy the building, including approximately 475 CHKD employees and 400 TowneBank employees, according to a statement from Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander.
“TowneBank and CHKD are both respected corporate citizens and assets to our community,” Alexander said in a statement. “Their significant investment reinforces Norfolk’s downtown as the urban employment hub of the region.”
TowneBank’s corporate office will remain in Suffolk, but the Norfolk Southern Tower will house the headquarters of its Towne Financial Services division, which includes TowneBank Mortgage, Towne Insurance and Towne Benefits.
“We have been looking for a way to bring the Towne Financial Services executives and operations teams together under one roof and had been exploring numerous locations throughout the region,” Aston said in a statement. “In 2018, when Norfolk Southern announced its plans to relocate, the opportunity to purchase their iconic building was too good to pass up.”
Information services, patient financial services, human resources and health system administration employees from CHKD will relocate to the tower.
“This opportunity allows us to move office functions out of our on-campus clinical buildings so that we can repurpose those spaces to better serve the children of our community,” CHKD President and CEO Jim Dahling said in a statement. “The decision to jointly own this building represents the most time-sensitive and cost-effective solution to critical space shortages for both our patients and our staff, including expediting our ability to bring much-needed mental health services to children in advance of the opening of our new mental health hospital and outpatient services tower in 2022.”
As part of the transaction, TowneBank will be donating approximately $1.3 million to CHKD to support the ongoing capital campaign for the mental health hospital.
As one of the preeminent buildings in downtown Norfolk, the Class A office building represents almost 10% of the total Class A and B downtown office space, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. Constructed in 1989, the building was purchased by Norfolk Southern Tower LLC in 1998 for $32.8 million, according to property records.
Norfolk Southern Corp. is moving into a two-tower headquarters complex in Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. Until its 2021 move, Norfolk Southern will lease back a portion of the Norfolk Southern Tower building, occupying a few floors.
“This owner-occupant transaction represents a significant reduction of available inventory in the [downtown central business district] but, just as important, preserves 3 Commercial Place as a place of valued Norfolk corporate stewardship,” says Rob Wright, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer senior vice president, who completed the sale on behalf of Norfolk Southern.
With total assets of $12.82 billion as of March 31, TowneBank is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia. CHKD is the only freestanding children’s hospital in the state.
Virginia Union University announced Wednesday it has appointed Terrell Strayhorn as associate provost for research, innovation and graduate education. He will also serve as director of the Center for the Study of HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) and as a tenured professor of urban education in the Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education.
In his new role, he will work with the university’s chief research officer to oversee graduate studies. As director of the Center for the Study of HBCUs, he will conduct research on leadership styles and contemporary higher education needs.
With more than 15 years of higher education experience, Strayhorn has served on the faculty at University of Tennessee-Knoxville, The Ohio State University and LeMoyne-Owen College. In his previous roles, he managed and directed universitywide research centers and worked on academic grants and graduate pathways.
“Dr. Strayhorn is an experienced academic leader, internationally-recognized education expert and equity-minded scholar,” VUU President and CEO Hakim Lucas said in a statement. “He embodies the leadership characteristics that VUU is recruiting as we emerge to a new globally recognized institution of higher learning.”
Strayhorn earned his bachelor’s degrees in music and religious studies from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in education policy from U.Va.’s Curry School of Education. He earned his doctorate in higher education from Virginia Tech, and has authored 10 books and nearly 200 journal articles, book chapters and scientific reports.
Arlington County-based software and information technology management company Excella announced Wednesday it has named Christina Seiden as vice president of strategic growth. In her new role, she will focus on expanding Excella’s business into new markets.
Seiden was most recently senior vice president of operations at Reston-based software company NCI Information Systems Inc. There she led sales and service delivery for agile and analytics products.
With more than 20 years of experience, Seiden has also worked with information technology company CGI, UNICOM Government Inc., Raytheon Technical Services Co., Unisys Corp. and Deloitte. She earned her bachelor’s degree in legal studies and business administration from William Woods University.
Founded in 2002, Excella offers artificial intelligence products to federal agency, corporation and nonprofit clients. In mid-May, Excella was awarded a contract worth up to $20 billion from the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC).
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