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byline: Veronica Garabelli

Startup’s product aims to not let bedbugs bite

“Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Redcoat Solutions Inc., a Harrisonburg startup, appears to have adopted the old expression as its mission.

Redcoat Solutions develops products to detect and treat infestations by insects, including bedbugs. The company is the first spinoff of SRI Shenandoah Valley, a company established in Harrisonburg in 2006 to jumpstart the region’s biotech industry. Its parent company, SRI International, is an independent, nonprofit research institute based in Menlo Park, Calif.

Scientists at SRI Shenandoah Valley developed a rapid, sensitive test that recognizes molecules specific to bedbugs. They licensed the technology to Redcoat Solutions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes bedbugs as small, flat, parasitic insects that feed on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. While they don’t spread disease, the bugs can cause itching and loss of sleep. Bedbug bites affect each person differently, ranging from no signs of bites to serious allergic reactions.

Even though bedbugs typically have been encountered in developing countries, they have spread rapidly to parts of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other areas of Europe.

Redcoat Solutions intends to market the bedbug test under the brand name Rapid Pursuit. The company says the product requires no sophisticated equipment and registers a response in minutes. Rapid Pursuit also eliminates the need to handle or even see bedbugs because it detects the residue — or “footprints” — the bugs leave behind.

“It allows you to realize there’s a problem before anyone has seen the bedbug,” says Jared Burden, a Redcoat Solutions spokesman. “It allows you to take action at that point.”

Rapid Pursuit is being touted as effective, easy to use, affordable and more discreet than other bedbug detection products, which can require visual inspection or the use of bug-tracking dogs.

Burden says the product should be marketed this summer, first to hotel management and pest control companies. Soon after that, he says, the company will target international travelers and travel companies. “People have recognized what this product means for the industry so we feel very confident that the product is going to do very well from the time that we launch,” Burden says. 

HP Hood set to expand in Frederick County

A dairy operator is expanding its operation in Frederick County, Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office announced Wednesday.

HP Hood is increasing ultra-high temperature production capacity at its Frederick County facility, adding 75 jobs and investing $84.6 million. The expansion will bring the total employment at the plant to 500.

“This expansion further secures the Frederick County operation’s standing as the largest plant of its type in the United States,” McDonnell said in a statement.

Lynnfield, Mass-based Hood products include Bailey’s Coffee Creamers, Hershey’s Milk and Milkshakes and Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk.

McDonnell approved a $500,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Frederick County with the project. He also approved a $1 million performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership program. Through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance would provide funding and services to support the company’s recruitment, training and retraining activities.

Roofing Supply Group adds second Hampton Roads location

Dallas-based Roofing Supply Group (RSG) is expanding to Williamsburg. The wholesale distributor of roofing supplies and related materials already has a location in Norfolk.

The Williamsburg site will be led by Kenny White, and will be the company’s 15th branch in the Southeast.

RSG provides distribution services from roofing product manufacturers to roofing contractors and homebuilders. Each branch carries roofing products, including composition asphalt shingles, underlayment and associated ancillary products.

NII Holdings Inc. announces changes to board of directors

Reston-based NII Holdings Inc. announced Thursday several changes to its board of directors. The positions of chairman of the board and chief executive officer have been separated. Kevin Beebe, a director on the board, is now chairman of the board.

Beebe has been a member of NII’s board since 2010 and president and chief executive officer of Little Rock, Ark.-based 2BPartners LLC, a strategic and financial advisory firm.

Carolyn Katz will no longer serve as lead independent director. She will continue as a director and chair of the audit committee. CEO Steve Shindler will also continue to serve as a member of the board.

Ricardo Knoepfelmacher also has been elected to NII’s board of directors. Knoepfelmacher co-founded Angra Partners, a financial advisory and private equity firm, in 2003.

NII’s board now consists of nine directors, eight of whom are independent. NII provides mobile communication services in Latin America.

George Mason Mortgage set to open in Richmond

George Mason Mortgage, a subsidiary of McLean-based Cardinal Bank, plans to open its first Richmond office on June 1.

The new location will be staffed by the lending team of Joe Dunn and Chris Parks, with Sue Nash serving as the operations manager.

The new office will be located at Highland I, 7231 Forest Avenue.

Virginia Tech president stepping down

Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger announced Tuesday he is stepping down. The university’s board of visitors will assemble a search committee immediately. Steger will remain as president until his replacement begins work.

Steger became Virginia Tech’s president in 2000. Since then, the university has increased it research portfolio by more than 300 percent, grown enrollment from 27,869 to 31,087, increased graduate enrollment by 12 percent, raised more than $1 billion in private funding, added more than 2.5 million square feet of buildings, formed a school of biomedical engineering, created a school of medicine, and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Virginia Tech Massacre occurred during Steger’s tenure. In 2007, a student shot and killed 32 people before committing suicide. Steger was criticized for delaying alerting the campus community of the first two shootings.

Early in his career, Steger was the youngest dean of architecture in the nation assuming the head post in Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies at age 33. He was then vice president for development and university relations.

Tayloe Murphy Awards accepting applications

The University of Virginia is accepting applications for the 2013 Resilience Awards from now until July 31. Enter or nominate a business at www.resilienceawards.org

The awards, presented by the Institute for Business in Society at U. Va’s Darden School of Business, recognize companies in the commonwealth that have overcome significant economic obstacles to grow and create jobs in their communities.

The Tayloe Murphy Awards, sponsored in part by Virginia Business, offer winners publicity, networking opportunities and a chance to participate in a week-long Darden Executive Education Program.

For a look at last year’s event, watch the video below:

Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores names senior vice president of merchandising

Richmond-based Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS) Thursday announced the appointment of Liza Salaria as senior vice president of merchandising. Salaria will be responsible for leading merchandising and marketing strategy to achieve sales and gross profit goals.

Salaria previously worked for Giant Eagle, a Pittsburgh-based supermarket chain, where she was director of merchandising for the company’s GetGo convenience stores. Salaria also was director of fresh foods for all small format businesses at Giant Eagle.

MACS operates a network of about 300 company-owned and dealer convenience stores in Maryland and Virginia. It’s also one of the largest convenience store networks and fuel distributors in the region.

New Waterpark opening this month at The Homestead

The Homestead’s new waterpark in Hot Springs will open for its full first full season on Friday, May 17.

Allegheny Springs will span two-acres of the 3,000-acre luxury resort and feature water slides, a lazy river, water play zone, Allegheny Springs Grill and miniature golf. Part of a $25 million renovation, Allegheny Springs draws water from the surrounding Allegheny Mountains.

In June, The Homestead is opening Canyon Ranch SpaClub as well as new restaurants.  The SpaClub will be Canyon Ranch’s first venture in the Mid-Atlantic region and the first SpaClub to introduce family spa services.

Relay Foods expands to Hampton Roads

A Charlottesville-based online grocery store is expanding to Williamsburg tomorrow.

Customers can now order products online at RelayFoods.com and pick them up in the New Town area in Williamsburg between 4-6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Legacy Hall or Fridays at Civic Green.

Relay Foods offers customers products from local farms, artisan producers and grocery stores. After ordering products online, customers then pick up their groceries from a central location.

To kick off the new Williamsburg service, Relay Foods is offering specials for Williamsburg customers each week in May. From May 3 to May 10, customers will receive a free Bounty Basket of produce (organic or conventional) with each $50 purchase. During the second week (May 13-17), customers receive two free Relay Pizzas with a purchase of $75 or more. In week three (May 20-24), Relay Foods is giving away a tasting box with each $75 purchase, and in the final week (May 27-31), customers who make a $50 or more purchase will receive a Cava Mezze Party Pack at no charge. 

In addition to the Williamsburg service, Relay Foods now operates in Richmond and the metro Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas.