The recession that wasn’t
What if they held a recession and no one showed up? Last summer, economic experts began ringing warning bells of an impending downturn, as evidenced by an inverted yield curve of short-term Treasury bills vs. long-term Treasury notes. And when one combined the inverted yield rate, said to be perhaps the most accurate predictor o[...]
Space race
Charlottesville is experiencing a building boom that will expand its premium commercial office space by 500,000 square feet in the next two years. “That’s a ‘wow,’” says Chris Engel, Charlottesville’s economic development director. “That’s a big number. We’ve never experienced that before.” It also gives Char[...]
In St. Paul, renaissance is on the agenda
People once called St. Paul the Western Front. “St. Paul was a coal town, so the railroad would run in and drop people off there,” says Kimberly Christner, president and CEO of Williamsburg-based Cornerstone Hospitality. “One side of the railroad was dry and … the other side was wet with alcohol, and that was the [&helli[...]
Shentel installs residential fiber optic across valley
A growing number of Shenandoah Valley communities are seeing more competition among broadband providers. Edinburg-based Shenandoah Telecommunications Co., or Shentel, founded more than a century ago by farmers seeking improved telecommunications services for their rural communities, is still focused on that mission, though these[...]
Special mission
Ever since Army veteran Greg Craddock founded Patriot Group International, his fellow veterans have been foremost in his thoughts. “The leadership of our company is comprised almost 100% of veterans,” says Craddock, CEO of the Warrenton-based defense contractor. “We’ve always been committed to giving back and doing more [...]
2020 Virginia Business Best Places to Work Awards
Virginia Business unveiled its 2020 list of the Best Places to Work in Virginia at its 10th annual awards luncheon, held Jan. 31 at The Boars’ Head Resort in Charlottesville. Top category winners were: Small employers: Patriot Group International Inc. Midsize employers: Dynamis Inc. Large employers: Accounting Principals[...]
A new voice
For the first time since 1993, Democrats are in charge of Virginia’s legislative and executive branches. Back then, Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was serving the last year of his four-year term and Thomas Moss Jr. of Norfolk was the speaker of the House of Delegates. Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, faces a totally different lands[...]
Projects vie for federal abandoned mine grant funds
Every year, Virginia receives $10 million from the federal government for projects to redevelop land that was home to abandoned coal mines. This fall, 18 different projects applied for funding — all seeking to become models for coalfield communities recovering from the industry’s slow collapse. The applications received by V[...]
Virginia Tech prepares to grow computer science grads
The state is investing nearly $1 billion in technology education, and Virginia Tech will be the largest recipient — along with bearing responsibility for producing more than 16,000 computer science degree-holders over the next two decades. Gov. Ralph Northam announced in November that 11 state colleges and universities will re[...]
States join forces to battle Beltway bridge bottleneck
When the governors of Virginia and Maryland announced plans in November to replace the aging American Legion Bridge, it may have sounded like a chorus of angels to woebegone commuters who make their way across the Potomac River each weekday. “A new bridge means commuters will get to work and back home faster,” said Gov. [&he[...]
Henrico indoor arena heads for goal line
Updated Jan. 20 The proposed replacement of the Richmond Coliseum is stirring up strong feelings among elected officials and residents in the city, but a dozen miles up Interstate 95, a smaller arena in Henrico County is quietly moving forward. Filling a need for indoor space to host high school basketball and other indoor sport[...]
Approaching equality
Women may make up more than half of Virginia’s population, but their presence in the statehouse has always fallen far short of parity. This year’s election brought a seismic change, however. Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University, says that women now hold [...]