Va. April unemployment rate at 4.7%, drops nearly half point
Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 4.7% in April, dropping 0.4 percentage points below March’s jobless rate. April’s statewide unemployment rate was 5.9 percentage points below April 2020’s rate of 10.6%, the first full month of pandemic-related job losses. Virginia contends to trend lower than the nation, however. The U.S. unemployment rate for April […][...]
Breeze Airways setting up base in Norfolk
Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline, will invest $5.2 million to build an operations center in Norfolk, producing 116 jobs, the governor’s office announced Friday. The airline also will offer nonstop flights out of Richmond International Airport and Norfolk International Airport. The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup c[...]
Suffolk names new city manager
Suffolk City Council unanimously agreed to hire Albert Moor as city manager during its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday. Council members appointed Moor to serve as interim city manager in September, following the resignation of Patrick Roberts, who held the post since 2015. Roberts had previously served as deputy city ma[...]
Va. sees second week of slightly lower initial jobless claims
Virginia saw another week of little change in initial unemployment claims, with 10,642 new claims filed during the week ending May 15, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. This was a decrease of 628 claimants from the previous week. Continued claims last week rose by 2,569 from the previous week, reaching 60,413[...]
Richmond panel recommends $600M Urban One casino proposal
The city of Richmond’s casino advisory panel has recommended Silver Spring, Maryland-based Urban One Inc.’s $600 million ONE Casino + Resort proposal to move forward for consideration by City Council and citizens, Mayor Levar Stoney’s office announced Thursday. If Council approves the recommendation and voters [...]
Smithfield company announces $40M Fort Monroe redevelopment
Smithfield-based Pack Brothers Hospitality LLC on Wednesday announced plans for a conference center, hotel, 500-seat restaurant and an overhauled 300-slip marina on part of Fort Monroe in Hampton. The company plans to invest $40 million in the redevelopment project and has been granted a 40-year ground lease by the Fort Monroe A[...]
Richmond-based GPM Investments closes on ExpressStop purchase
Richmond-based GPM Investments LLC became the nation’s sixth-largest convenience store chain Wednesday, after closing on its acquisition of the ExpressStop chain, including 60 gas station convenience stores in Michigan and Ohio. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, which was announced in March, adds to GPM’s existing 165 stores in Michigan and nine in Ohio. […]
Richmond Region Tourism program incentivizes hotel meetings
After a year of virtual events and canceled conventions, Richmond Region Tourism has launched a program to attract meetings to Virginia’s capital city and surrounding areas in four key economic development sectors. The initiative, called Meaningful Meetings, also offers financial incentives from $250 to $1,000 to people and or[...]
Northam orders VEC to hire 300 more claim processors
Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday ordered the Virginia Employment Commission to invest $20 million in upgrading its claims system and hire 300 more staffers to process complicated unemployment insurance claims, which have dogged the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic and led to a civil lawsuit. In an executive directive signed Tues[...]
Modular housing manufacturer setting up Newport News plant
A modular housing manufacturer plans to establish its first East Coast facility in Newport News, investing $2 million and producing 220 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. A Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corporation founded in 2018, indieDwell turns recycled shipping containers into small homes with one to four bedrooms to help solve the […]
Kings Dominion reopening, with no masks required for vaccinated guests
Kings Dominion opens for its 46th summer season Saturday, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic shut the annual tradition down. Although the Hanover County amusement park will require masks worn by anyone who is not vaccinated (if they are age five or older), more than 60 rides, live entertainment and the redesigned water park will[...]
CTSI names new president and CEO, chairman
Chantilly-based technology firm Corbett Technology Solutions Inc. (CTSI) named Joe Oliveri as its president and CEO on Tuesday. He replaces Gino Ruta, who is becoming chairman, the company announced in a news release. Oliveri joins CTSI from Johnson Controls, where he was vice president and general manager of global ducted syste[...]