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Opportunity floats
Read the feature on sea level rise in Hampton Roads. Although local, state and federal government officials are leading coordinated efforts to combat flooding, other groups in Virginia see business potential from the crisis. The OpenSeas Technology Innovation Hub, a collaboration between Old Dominion University and William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, is […]
Enter the candidates
With early voting starting the next day, Virginia gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin came out swinging in their Sept. 16 first debate, sniping over issues ranging from coronavirus vaccine mandates to abortion in what The Washington Post described as a “bare-knuckled” sparring match at the Appalachian School of Law. Democratic former Gov. McAuliffe […]
Rolling with the punches
Flexibility is once again the name of the game for meeting planners in 2021. In 2020, most planners’ clients postponed or canceled conferences, while others decided to go virtual instead of meeting in person. This time around, it’s somewhat safer to meet due to COVID-19 vaccines, but outbreaks are still occurring in Virginia[...]
JMU-led pact seeks to increase labor participation
The Shenandoah Valley’s economy is rebounding, but the region is struggling with a poor labor force participation rate, even compared with the national rate of 61%. In Augusta, Bath, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, only 50% of potential workers are actually employed, says Jay Langston, executive[...]
Building up
Over the next several years, the Hampton Roads area will need about 8,000 more people ready to take skilled jobs in the maritime industry, officials at the Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem estimate. Leaders from higher education and other organizations across the Hampton Roads area are stepping up to make sure those positions [...]
All about the Benjamins
After a tumultuous and unpredictable pandemic year, the executives leading Virginia’s largest publicly traded companies still brought home sizable pay increases in 2020. While median salaries for Virginia’s top CEOs were down 0.7% in 2020, and their median bonuses were down 10.6%, last year Virginia’s top executives saw a [...]
All in the family
In the popular HBO TV series “Succession,” members of the Roy clan scheme, lie and backbite in an attempt to take over the family’s media empire once the patriarch steps down. The show, which reportedly filmed scenes in Richmond in May for its third season, is a satiric festival of twisted relationships and family dysfunct[...]
FOR THE RECORD October 2021
EASTERN VIRGINIA Newport News-based defense contractor Aery Aviation LLC will add 211 jobs with the $15.3 million expansion of its headquarters, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sept. 14. The aviation company will build a 60,000 square-foot hangar with access to the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport runway and an engineering technology center to provide maintenance and modification […][...]
It’s a seller’s world
Sandra Hood finally went on a much-needed vacation in mid-August. Even so, Hood, the managing broker of Coldwell Banker Traditions in Newport News and president of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors, took advantage of a rainy morning at the beach to open her laptop and get some work done. “It’s the most difficult[...]
Executive insights
Buffy Barefoot President – Virginia Beach, TowneBank, Virginia Beach What is the most pressing issue facing the Hampton Roads region in terms of its economic health? The ability to attract companies offering shiny employment opportunities for young professionals graduating from college. Having one child who just graduated from college and another one in college, it […]
Heads in the cloud
Compare economic development wish lists across Virginia, and you’ll find one item in common. It’s not a specific manufacturer, a large health care system, or even a lucrative brewery. It’s a data center — or two, or three. These massive warehouse-like structures, full of computers, servers, and other digital equipment, h[...]
Va. Beach, Oceana ink economic development deal
An agreement between the Navy and Virginia Beach could give the city much-needed breathing room for economic development expansion while lowering the cost of operating the East Coast’s master jet base. Under a concept called Future Base Design, Naval Air Station Oceana would lease about 400 acres of land to private business[...]
