Next stop — civilian life
“About every 15 minutes,” Shawn Avery’s phone at the Hampton Roads Workforce Council rings with an employer calling to find skilled workers to fill vacancies, he says. Avery is president and CEO of the council, which oversees federally funded workforce development programs and links employers and workers. In the presen[...]
Forward motion
Shenandoah is known for apple blossoms, but something else is popping up this spring in Front Royal: a new 340,000-square-foot warehouse logistics center. About a half-mile from the Virginia Inland Port, the center is one of roughly a dozen projects in the region built by Equus Capital Partners Ltd., a commercial real estate age[...]
Commentary: Adjusting to a new shipping reality
Ocean shipping patterns established during the first year of the pandemic have taken root, and it’s time for shippers to adjust strategies for the long term. That was the takeaway from the first in-person Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference in three years, presented in Long Beach, California, in March by IHS Markit Ltd. (n[...]
Executive insights
Leaders from Virginia’s maritime and logistics industries share their thoughts about where their sectors stand amid labor shortages, growing cargo volumes and the pandemic’s lingering impacts. Devon C. Anders President, InterChange Group Inc.; Chair, Virginia Maritime Association Valley Logistics Chapter Harrisonburg VB: How is your company hiring and retaining staff? Anders: We have intensified through […][...]
Port of Virginia in midst of major upgrades
For seemingly the first time ever, the shipping and logistics industry dominated all the headlines, Stephen Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, which oversees the Port of Virginia, told a crowd of about 460 at the State of the Port event Thursday in Virginia Beach. At the annual event, hosted by [[...]
Fifth District economy growth is moderate, Fed says
The Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) continued to grow moderately despite supply chain issues, labor shortages and rising prices, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday. The Beige Book is publish[...]
Roanoke-based TMEIC Corp. Americas buys Spanish division
The Roanoke-based subsidiary of crane automator Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp. has completed the acquisition of Spanish maritime terminal business Orbita Ingeniería S.L.’s ports and terminals division, as of April 1. The companies did not divulge financial details. The acquisition was completed throu[...]
Italian olive oil company to open first U.S. facility in Newport News
Certified Origins, an Italian producer of extra virgin olive oil, will invest $25 million to establish its first U.S. production facility in Newport News, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in a news release Wednesday. The move is expected to produce 30 jobs. The company’s operations in the city’s Oakland Industrial Park [...]
Fertilizer shortage hits Va. farmers
Lewis Everett farms cotton, peanuts and small grains in Southampton County, on the Virginia-North Carolina line. He expects to take a loss this year due to the rising costs of fertilizer and crop protectants, which include herbicides and fungicides. Farmers have already negotiated some contract prices, he said. “A lot of those[...]
Norfolk distribution center to create 200 jobs
A Massachusetts-based logistics services company plans to build a distribution and fulfillment center in Norfolk expected to produce 200 jobs, RoadOne IntermodaLogistics announced Tuesday. The company did not disclose the cost of the 340,000-square-foot facility, which will be six miles from the Port of Virginia’s terminal[...]
New VP of HR and trades named at Newport News Shipbuilding
Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries has named Xavier Beale vice president of human resources and trades at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, effective April 1. Beale will oversee human resources administration, employment, labor relations and recruitment, as well as his previous role as vice presid[...]
Va. companies aid Ukraine, pull business from Russia
McLean-based Mars Inc. and other companies with major Virginia presences are responding to the war between Russia and Ukraine, chiefly by helping employees who live in the Eastern European nation and sending other humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as suspending business dealings in Russia, a measure taken by many U.S. compani[...]