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Avian flu outbreaks strike Va. farms
For almost a year, Virginia poultry farms managed to avoid the nation’s worst-ever avian flu outbreak, but in January, the virus struck a commercial turkey operation in Rockingham County, prompting the killings of 25,300 birds. Five days later, 10,700 more turkeys were euthanized in Rockingham, and in February, 800 birds at an[...]
Planned Wise EDA will spur downtown growth
Establishing an economic development authority might pave the way for new businesses in the town of Wise, local officials believe. EDAs can provide educational programs and mentoring to entrepreneurs, as well as buy, lease and sell property and administer grants, points out Reagan Walsh, the town’s planner and zoning administr[...]
Tech students dig into high-tech mock mine
Robots don’t belong on volleyball courts, but for more than a decade Virginia Tech students had no other large, sandy place to test out mining robots. It was “a real lost opportunity” that students didn’t have a dedicated space to work with mining machines, says Erik Westman, a professor and interim department head at Te[...]
Balance of power
Chris Rawlings was a mechanic who wanted to be a pilot. He left the Marine Corps in 2008 after deploying twice to Iraq, where he supervised an aircraft maintenance team, going on to perform similar duties as a civilian contractor in a hangar at Fort Eustis. But his plan was to get back into the […]
Virginia 500 Spotlight: M. SANJAYAN
BEST ADVICE YOU HAVE TO GIVE TO OTHERS: To drive change, focus on what’s possible — despair doesn’t drive action; it drives apathy. HOBBY/PASSION: If you’ve lived in Africa, you’ve seen plenty of elephants, rhinos and lions. The real fun is in birding. I’ve got a copy of “Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania” —[...]
April 2023 For The Record
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire e-vapor maker NJOY Holdings Inc. for approximately $2.75 billion in cash, with a potential additional $500 million in payments, Altria announced March 6. Part of the deal’s funding will come from an expected $1.7 billion payment plus interest from Philip […]
April 2023 Top Five
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from Feb. 14 to March 13 included an update on the Lego Group’s Chesterfield County factory, which is expected to begin production in 2025. 1 | Lego to hire 500 Chesterfield employees by year’s end The Danish toymaker expects to create more than 1,760 jobs at […]
At max capacity
Supply chain and logistics executives used to joke that no one knew or understood what their jobs were — that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic upended how goods were transported to warehouses and ultimately to customers. “Until you start to look behind the scenes, you don’t know how all of this gets to your door […]
StartVirginia: April 2023 Heard around Virginia
Richmond-based Absurd Snacks is ready to enter major retailers after a reformulation and taking on some new packaging. Founders Grace Mittl and Eli Bank worked with a New York agency and redesigned the packaging. Absurd Snacks has been available at independent grocery stores, but Mittl and Bank are eyeing larger retailers and wanted to make […]
McLean startup raises $75M for air taxi network
Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis” predicted cities with flying cars, while Hanna-Barbera followed that vision 35 years later with “The Jetsons” and its commuter “skyways.” Now, however, air taxis are close to becoming reality. The industry could generate up to $16 billion in new business investments in Virginia a[...]
Falling short
In the accounting field, the books are out of balance. Demand for the profession’s services is rising, which is one for the assets column, but on the debit side of the ledger, the number of people willing and able to provide those services is dropping so alarmingly that some firms are being forced to turn […]
Is ESG another CRT?
In January, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined a group of 24 other state attorneys general in challenging a U.S. Department of Labor rule allowing fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria such as climate change in making investment decisions for retirement funds. The AGs a[...]
