byline: Virginia Business

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the Eastern District of New York upheld a motion to dismiss a consolidated class action complaint against Richmond-based Apple REIT Cos. and several of its funds in a ruling issued in April. She determined that investors had received sufficient disclosure to understand the risks of investing in the non-traded public companies. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

One of the largest labor and employment law firms, Atlanta-based Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, has opened an office in Richmond. The office initially will be staffed by three attorneys. Jimmy F. Robinson Jr., who joins Ogletree Deakins from Troutman Sanders, is the office’s managing shareholder. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Richmond-based Rainbow Station, a nationally accredited private preschool, has opened the first of 110 locations it plans to develop in China in the next five years. The company, begun by President and CEO Gail Johnson in 1989, has 10 U.S. locations in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas. Its first international location, in Shenzhen, China, opened on Jan. 26. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Richmond International Airport is planning nearly $60 million in airfield infrastructure projects next year. The projects include reconstruction of a taxiway on the airport’s east side, building a new access road to the airfield’s east side from Williamsburg Road, reconstruction of an aging crossfield taxiway, construction of a snow-removal equipment building and rehabilitation of the air cargo apron and a general aviation parking ramp. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Hummus maker Sabra Dipping Co. is doubling the size of its Chesterfield County manufacturing plant in an $86 million expansion that will add about 117,000 square feet to its existing facility and create 140 more jobs. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

In a study funded by the Charlottesville-based Focused Ultrasound Foundation, 15 patients suffering from medication-resistant hand tremors experienced an average 67 percent decrease in symptoms after undergoing a scalpel-free surgery that used high-intensity sound waves to burn away tissue in an area of the brain that helps regulate movement. Dr. W. Jeffrey Elias, a neurosurgeon at the University of Virginia, presented the one-year study results at a meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons being held in New Orleans.  (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., the parent company of Kings Dominion, has chosen Richmond-based Ukrop’s Dress Express to supply uniform apparel for its 40,000 employees in 11 amusement parks and four water parks in the U.S. and Canada. Employees of the theme-park giant are wearing Ukrop’s Dress Express gear starting this season. According to John Carrico, Ukrop’s Dress Express president and CEO, the company added one full-time employee to its staff of nearly 50 and hired temporary employees to deal with the distribution work at its 75,000-square-foot warehouse/office space in a South Richmond industrial park. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

University of Virginia pays the highest average full-time faculty salaries in the state, while full-time faculty at Washington & Lee earn the second-highest average salaries, according to a recent report. Full-time faculty members across all ranks at U.Va. earn an average $109,400. The average salary at Washington & Lee is $101,800, the American Association of University Professors said in its annual faculty salary report. The report surveyed more than 1,100 colleges and universities nationwide. Medical faculty salaries were excluded. (The Associated Press)

The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, which owns The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County and the State Fair of Virginia, has purchased the Virginia Equine Extravaganza. The Meadow park will be the new permanent location for the equestrian trade show. This year’s show will be Nov. 1-3. The Farm Bureau wants to make the Meadow park, which hosts the State Fair and was the birthplace of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, a major horse-related events facility. (Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star)

The Alexandria City Council has approved the Beauregard Small Area Plan, a redevelopment project that could take 30 years to implement and would build more than 6,000 housing units along Beauregard Street, WTOP reported. The new development, to be built over 25 to 30 years, would eliminate more than 2,500 affordable housing units and replace them with condo and rental units mixed in with retail buildings and parkland. (Washington Business Journal)

Fairfax-based George Mason University featured in The Princeton Review’s “Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition.” This year’s green colleges guide profiles 320 institutions of higher education in the United States and two in Canada that demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation. Nine other colleges in Virginia were also featured on the list. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Mach37 Cyber Accelerator in Herndon will seek private investment to fund new cyber-security companies in Virginia. Mach37 will host eight to 10 companies twice a year, guiding them through their development with the support of cybersecurity professionals and investors. Those companies will then have the opportunity to present their business plans to investors. New Enterprise Associates Inc. and the Northern Virginia Technology Council are among the initial backers. Mach37 is accepting applications this month. The first session will be in September. For more information visit www.mach37.com.  (Washington Business Journal)

Mobile communications company NII Holdings has agreed to sell its Peruvian operations for $400 million. The move comes as the Reston-based firm focuses on its resources in Mexico and Brazil. NII Holdings offers mobile communication services in Latin America and operations under the Nextel brand in Brazil, Mexico, Aregentina, Peru and Chile. NII will sell its Peruvian operations to Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones S.A., based in Chile. The sale is expected to take place in the second half of 2013. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Arlington-based Rosetta Stone has acquired Seattle-based Livemocha, an online language-learning company, for $8.5 million in cash. Rosetta Stone officials said that the move will aid its transition to cloud-based language learning solutions. Livemocha’s offices will remain based Seattle. Livemocha has 16 million members and an extensive cloud-based learning platform. Rosetta Stone offers interactive technology for courses in 30 languages.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)

USA TODAY Travel Media group announced Wednesday that it has bought travel site Tripology as the company looks to expand its travel offerings. Tripology.com is an interactive travel referral service that connects travelers with travel specialists. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. USA TODAY plans to offer Tripology’s referral services across Gannett media outlets. Earlier this year USA TODAY acquired 10Best.com, which offers reviews of attractions and restaurants at locations around the world. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Amcor, formerly AGI-Shorewood, is closing its plant in Danville, sidelining 67 employees. Thirty-five of those employees will be leaving the company, while others will receive employment opportunities at Amcor’s Richmond and Reidsville, N.C. plants. Amcor laid off 41 employees in March after acquiring the plant in February. In a release, Vice President and General Manager Marcus Hilty said the demand for tobacco packaging has declined 40 percent in the past 16 years. (Danville Register & Bee)

Applied Felts of Martinsville is expanding, with plans to add 40 jobs with an average pay of $28,000 per year and a $6 million investment. The company has received a matching fund grant of $220,000 from Genedge Alliance and the Virginia Tobacco Commission, according to a news release. Applied Felts makes felt liners for pipes. The funding is targeted toward new product development activities for an emerging sector in municipal markets. The funding will help offset costs of testing certifications and prototype production involving specialized contracting services and scientific expertise. (The News & Advance)

CBN Secure Technologies Inc. plans to expand its identification solutions facility in Danville, adding about 25 jobs. CBN currently employs 40 people in Danville producing credentials for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. The company established its U.S. operations in 2009, with plans to serve customers in the U.S. and other countries. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Danville Community College has found itself in the crosshairs of the Affordable Care Act’s complexities, shedding employee hours to avoid paying benefits it can’t afford. Twelve adjunct faculty and 20 staff members have had their hours reduced, according to how they are paid — credit hours for faculty and work hours for staff members. No one has been laid off, and no one has voluntarily left, President Carlyle Ramsey said. The Affordable Care Act mandates that employers provide health-care coverage for every worker at or above a 30-hour-a-week threshold. Meeting that requirement would have cost the college from $220,000 to $250,000, Ramsey said. (Danville Register &Bee)

JTI Leaf Services plans to invest $7.5 million in new tobacco processing technology at its Danville facility. “We have made substantial investments to date, and we now have plans for further expansion of our Danville facility,” Steve Daniels, director of JTI Leaf Services, said in a statement. “With this investment we intend to further enhance our capacity, our efficiency and our quality.” The Danville plant, which opened in 2009, employs more than 270 full-time and seasonal workers. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A $200,235 grant has been awarded for veterans’ educational and employment services in a partnership between Patrick Henry Community College, the Virginia Employment Commission and the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board (WIB). The money is Workforce Investment Act Rapid Response Assistance funds, and the Virginia Community College System is the issuing agency, according to officials. The PHCC Veterans Office will serve as a one-stop center for veterans’ educational needs, according to the grant application. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Officials with Halifax Regional Health System in South Boston and Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare have signed a formal affiliation agreement and now await regulatory approval of the deal, which is projected to go into effect July 1. Halifax Regional CEO