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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,[...]
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[...]
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 [...]
A watershed moment
Only a few months ago, the economies of the historic port city of Norfolk and the greater Hampton Roads region, with which it is inextricably intertwined, were continuing to rebound after emerging from what Old Dominion University’s 2019 State of the Region report has called “the lost decade.” During the period from 2007 t[...]
Digging deep
The Port of Virginia’s aim to become the deepest port on the East Coast continues apace, even during the COVID-19 outbreak. The $350 million project to dredge the Norfolk Harbor started more than two years early in December 2019. Meanwhile, the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) in Portsmouth and the Norfolk International Te[...]
Confronting COVID-19
Maritime shipping accounts for 90% of global trade, supplying us with many of our personal needs. The Port of Virginia is a major driver of the Virginia economy, generating 7.5%, or $39 billion, of Virginia’s gross product, $23 billion in labor income, about 400,000 jobs and $2.1 billion in state and local taxes and fees [&hel[...]
Rising above
Sea-level rise is happening faster than ever in Hampton Roads, experts say, up to an inch every four years. And if that doesn’t sound like a big deal, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science said in a February 2020 report that coastal waters could rise by more than a foot and a half by 2050. […]
Women on board
In early March, 18 women gathered for the first week of a pre-apprenticeship program designed to catapult them into in-demand careers in the ship repair industry. Run by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, the 12-week, intensive Women in Skilled Careers (WISC) program offers training tracks in welding, marine coating, marine el[...]
Charting growth
As the Virginia Chamber of Commerce marks its 25th year of celebrating the commonwealth’s 50 fastest-growing companies, this unfortunately will be the first year that Virginia’s Fantastic 50 award winners haven’t been recognized with an in-person event. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Fantastic 50 awards ban[...]
