Danville, Pittsylvania land on top ‘micropolitan’ list
A yin-and-yang approach has led to business success in the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County, which were collectively named the No. 6 micropolitan area in the nation by Site Selection Magazine in April. It’s the third time the region has landed in the top 10 list, which is based on economic development deals in [&hellip[...]
A catalyst for change
An unhappy customer was the engine for change at Alpha Omega Integration LLC — and is a major factor the Vienna-based information technology solutions company attributes to its success. Alpha Omega won an IT contract from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Information Resource Management in 2018. But three weeks later,[...]
In the big leagues
Virginia is strengthening its claim as a leading port on the East Coast. The Port of Virginia is midway through a $700 million project to expand its two largest terminals, which will allow the port to handle an additional 1 million container units per year. The $320 million expansion of Virginia International Gateway in [&h[...]
For the Record — May/June 2020
EASTERN VIRGINIA Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. announced in April that a deal to sell seven of its grocery-anchored shopping centers, including two in Hampton Roads, had fallen through. The Virginia Beach developer that built Town Center also said it had indefinitely postponed all asset acquisition activity. The company had planned to get $106.5 million from […]
Cash crop?
Petunias, plants, strawberries, meat, tomatoes and more have been the primary revenue sources for Rolling Meadows Farms during the past 31 years. Tim Belcher took over the 400-acre Martinsville family farm in 1989 after his father retired. Now, the farm has a new product line and Belcher has high hopes that it could run neck [&h[...]
Inland empire
The Port of Virginia is investing in its two inland ports to boost capacity and maintain efficiency while handling greater volume from its Hampton Roads terminals. A record 2.93 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, passed through the Port of Virginia system in 2019, a 3% increase over 2018. “As we expand our primary term[...]
Ice age
As the Port of Virginia expands its terminals, it’s prompted warehousing and logistics firms to also create space for more imported and exported goods. One of the largest areas of recent growth has been in the refrigerated storage industry. Here are some of the highlights: Preferred Freezer Services In April 2019, Preferred Fr[...]
High-rise horizon
The numbers are mind-boggling. During the next decade, Amazon.com Inc. plans to develop about 6 million square feet of office space in Arlington County’s Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard areas to accommodate the mammoth e-tailer’s new HQ2 East Coast headquarters. That’s almost as large as the biggest office bui[...]
Offshore windfall
Two massive wind turbines are scheduled to begin spinning off the coast of Virginia Beach by the end of 2020, providing electricity to 3,000 homes and paving the way for Dominion Energy Inc. to build the nation’s largest offshore wind farm. And even amid the coronavirus outbreak, plans are still proceeding on course, says[...]
Tech support
Cybersecurity may not be the first idea that springs to mind when thinking about the maritime industry, but it is an increasingly important field. And the new Coastal Virginia Center for Cyber Innovation (COVA CCI) at Old Dominion University is proof enough. The center’s $2.5 million, two-year budget supports its mission to [...]
Metro trains empty, but construction continues
With service limited and thousands of federal employees teleworking during the coronavirus pandemic, Metro stations are ghost towns these days. Nevertheless, that isn’t slowing down construction on the new Potomac Yard Metrorail station in Alexandria, according to city officials. In March, the city and Metro completed pricing [...]