byline: Veronica Garabelli

MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Co., announced Friday it will invest $60 million to expand its Shenandoah brewery in Rockingham County. The project is expected to create 27 new jobs.

The company makes Coors Light, Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Coors Banquet, Redd’s and Henry’s Hard Soda. MillerCoors also brews Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy and Blue Moon Belgian White Ale.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $500,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership program for the program, an incentive available to existing Virginia companies.

MillerCoors also will be eligible to receive sales and use tax exemptions on manufacturing equipment.

Funding and services to support employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

AES Energy Storage, a subsidiary of Arlington-based  AES Corp., has entered into two contracts with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) for two energy storage arrays totaling 37.5 megawatts.

Financial details on the contracts were not disclosed.

The contracts involves AES’ Advancion  energy storage solution, a battery-based energy storage platform, installed at sites in San Diego County, Calif.

AES said that, when they become operational by the end of January 2017, the storage arrays will help SDG&E to improve regional reliability and integrate greater amounts of renewable energy.

“We are excited that SDG&E has selected AES’ Advancion energy storage solution to help meet peak demand and ensure the reliability of the electric grid in Southern California,” Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO, said in a statement. “AES recently made Advancion available to utilities, developers and commercial customers interested in owning our innovative and scalable solution, and SDG&E’s selection of Advancion highlights the significant growth potential we see for our energy storage business.”

The SDG&E arrays will be able to provide 37.5 megawatts of power for four hours and serve as a 75-megawatt flexible resource to the grid.

The arrays will be installed at two SDG&E substation facilities: 30 megawatts in Escondido and 7.5 megawatts in El Cajon.

Once completed, the Escondido array will be the largest battery-based energy storage project in operation in the United States.

AES has been deploying advanced battery-based energy storage onto electric grids since 2008, including recent installations in the United States, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands.

Richmond-based Elephant Auto Insurance announced Wednesday it is has expanded into Indiana and Tennessee.

Elephant already offers insurance in four states: Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Illinois.

“We’re excited about our tremendous growth and the overall success of the company,” Elephant’s CEO, Kevin Chidwick, said in a statement. “As Elephant continues to provide insurance to more states across the U.S., we are looking to add more employees to our talented and enthusiastic staff here in Richmond as well.”

Elephant says it has a variety of positions available including pricing analysts, developers and many claims opportunities. The company is looking for college graduates or experienced professionals to fill these roles. People interested in applying may visit http://www.elephant.com/careers  for more information.

Elephant is a subsidiary of Admiral Group plc, one of the largest auto insurers in the United Kingdom, which serves more than 4 million customers worldwide.

The Port of Virginia said Wednesday that its cargo volumes were down 3.6 percent in July.

The port handled 8,000 fewer TEUs in July, which port officials attributed to a realignment of some vessel services, which resulted in nine fewer vessel calls in July.

“Fewer vessels in July and the stress put on export volumes by the strong dollar are among the primary drivers behind our July performance,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart said in a statement. “Still, we are in positive territory on a calendar-year basis, our financial picture is positive, peak season is coming, and we just had two port-users announce regional projects that will add to our cargo volumes; there is a lot to be optimistic about.”

On a to-date calendar year basis, the port handled a 1.1 percent increase in cargo volumes through July when compared with the same period last year. Notably, rail volume has grown 10 percent on a calendar year basis. The number of containers being handled at the Virginia Inland Port has grown 13.8 percent to 22,937.

In addition, the number of containers handled at the Richmond Marine Terminal rose 26 percent.

Earlier this year the port signed a 40-year lease of the Port of Richmond, increasing the size of the barge hauling containers between Norfolk and Richmond on the James River and adding new equipment to the river terminal.
 

Point One USA LLC, a company that trains military and law enforcement professionals, announced Tuesday it is expanding in Virginia Beach. The move will create six jobs and retain 22 positions.

The service-disabled veteran-owned small business currently has two other facilities in Virginia Beach, including its corporate headquarters, and one in San Diego. It will expand its Virginia Beach operations to the new location at 3121 Holland Road once it is complete in September.

According to a news release issued by the city, the jobs will have average annual salaries of more than $80,000.

The Virginia Beach Economic Development Authority approved an Economic Development Investment Program grant of $30,000 based on Point One USA LLC’s capital investment of $1.05 million in real estate and business property and job creation.

CNBC named Richmond and Washington, D.C. on its list of best places to start a business.

The first-ever CNBC Metro 20: America's Best Places to Start a Business identified Richmond as No. 11 on its top 20 list as well as Washington, D.C., as No. 3. CNBC considered metrics from Northern Virginia, District of Columbia and the West Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington.

“Richmond offers entrepreneurs the best of both worlds: an educated workforce, low costs, both government agencies and private-sector companies as potential customers, as well as a thriving outdoor lifestyle, great restaurants and cost-of-living advantages,” CNBC’s report said.

CNBC cited Richmond’s Mid-Atlantic location, low unemployment rate, cost of living and quality of life.
“Small-business owners will find fit-minded employees in Richmond,” the report states. “There's a new 50-mile Capital City bike trail, class IV rapids on the James River and signature running events. Richmond has 100 local parks and 6,500 acres of parkland.”

For the Washington, D.C. region, the CNBC report noted its educated workforce, diversity and access to capital, pointing out that venture capitalists “pumped more than $700 million into new DC-area tech companies last year.”

The CNBC list considered 20 metrics, including tax and regulatory climate, workforce, access to capital and cost of living. The list considered a variety of data available from sources like the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Energy Information Administration and Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

The data also was weighted using results of a survey of YPO, a chief executive officer organization with more than 24,000 members. Members cited qualify of life, taxes and regulation among the most important factors for choosing a place to start a business.

Here is CNBC’s full list.

1. Austin, Texas
2. Provo, Utah
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Denver
5. Charlotte, N.C.
6. Houston
7. Ogden, Utah
8. Dallas
9. Des Moines, Iowa
10. San Antonio
11. Richmond
12. McAllen, Texas
13. Colorado Springs, Colo.
14. Raleigh, N.C.
15. Sarasota, Fla.
16. El Paso, Texas
17. Atlanta
18. Salt Lake City
19. Las Vegas
20. Seattle

Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) announced Wednesday it’s expanding its headquarters in Arlington County. The move is expected to create 368 new jobs.

APT, a MasterCard company, is a cloud-based analytics software firm. Its Test & Learn software allows companies to identify which programs work, where they work best, and how they can be improved going forward. APT also offers products that provide transaction analysis, space planning, promotion design, category management, and location selection. Its clients include Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Victoria’s Secret.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $1.75 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for the project. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will also be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Virginia competed against North Carolina and Washington, D.C., for the project.