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Life preservers
With small businesses struggling to tread water during the early, unpredictable days of the pandemic, the U.S. Small Business Administration in early April 2020 launched the initial $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief fund to provide forgivable loans to help businesses stay afloat. Eligible businesses could use[...]
MicroStrategy buys $1B+ in bitcoin
Tysons-based business software company MicroStrategy Inc. announced Wednesday that it has purchased $1.026 billion of additional bitcoin, its largest single bitcoin purchase since it began acquiring the cryptocurrency last August. With this latest transaction, MicroStrategy’s total bitcoin holdings are worth approximately [...]
Martinsville credit union names chief information officer
Martinsville-based ValleyStar Credit Union announced Thursday it has hired Cheri Spence as its first chief information officer. Spence joined the ValleyStar board of directors in 2019 as the result of a merger with Entrust Financial Credit Union, where she served as chairwoman. She most recently served as vice president and CIO [...]
First Bank to acquire The Bank of Fincastle
Strasburg-based First National Corp. (the bank holding company of First Bank) announced Thursday it will acquire The Bank of Fincastle. Financial terms of the transaction were not released, but the combined bank is expected to have approximately $1.2 billion in assets, $868 million in loans, $1 billion in deposits and 20 branch offices across Virginia. […]
PenFed expands partnership with The Washington Justice
Tysons-based PenFed Credit Union announced Tuesday it is expanding its partnership with The Washington Justice, the professional esports Overwatch League for the Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., area, into a three-year sponsorship. PenFed, which is one of the nation’s largest federal credit unions, will be featured as [...]
Va. bank is first to allow customers to buy, redeem bitcoin at ATMs
With cryptocurrency use on the rise, customers of Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc., the parent holding company of Blue Ridge Bank, will now be able to purchase and redeem bitcoin at its ATMs, making them the nation’s first commercial bank to do so, the company announced Wednesday. Blue Ridge Bank cardholde[...]
Four community banks launch $1M minority business fund
The Bank of Clarke County announced Tuesday the launch of the Banking on Diversity initiative, a minority business funding program backed by Bank of Clarke County, BCT-Bank of Charles Town, The Fauquier Bank and First Bank. The four community banks have collectively committed up to $1 million in interest-free loans to help start[...]
Wells Fargo makes $1.5M donation for small business loans
Wells Fargo & Co., Virginia’s third-largest bank by 2019 deposits, announced Thursday it has donated $1.5 million to Richmond-based nonprofit Virginia Community Capital (VCC) to help local minority and/or woman-owned small businesses stay open and save jobs amid the pandemic. During the next two years, the VCC will disburse $1 million of the funding in […]
Why the Richmond Fed has zero Black Ph.D. economists
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of only five Fed banks that employs zero Black Ph.D. economists, according to a New York Times report this week. Of the 12 Federal Reserve banks, seven employ only one or two Black Ph.D. economists, which Fed officials blame on lack of Black talent in the economics […]
Wells Fargo to lay off 320 Henrico County employees
The investment management and financial brokerage business unit of Wells Fargo & Co., Virginia’s third-largest bank by 2019 deposits, will lay off 320 employees from its Henrico County office. The wealth and investment management jobs are moving to some of the bank’s larger locations, Wells Fargo Advisors spokesperson Shea Leordeanu said in a statement. Wells […]
Blue Ridge Bank, Bay Banks complete merger
Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc., the parent holding company of Blue Ridge Bank, announced Monday it has completed the merger with Richmond-based Bay Banks of Virginia Inc., the parent holding company of Virginia Commonwealth Bank. Virginia Commonwealth Bank will continue to operate under its current name until systems are converted in May. The bank will […]
A taxing year
After a turbulent business year, accountants are bracing for a tax season filled with increased uncertainty, complexity and the looming reality that, eventually, 2020 taxes will be due and books must be reconciled. Businesses navigating the pandemic — from entrepreneurs launching their first ventures to corporations with expe[...]
