Richmond lodge appeals court’s casino ruling
A Richmond nonprofit organization is continuing its effort to block the city’s do-over casino referendum — even though the measure is already on ballots and early voting is underway. Richmond Lodge No. 1 of the Good Lions this week filed a notice to appeal an August decision by a Richmond Circuit Court judge who ruled [&[...]
Two NoVa companies receive $1.5B DOD tech contract
Two Northern Virginia-based federal contractors have received a five-year contract valued up to $1.5 billion to provide analytic and technical support services to the Department of Defense’s administrative and management organization. Falls Church-based Analytic Services, known as ANSER, and Alexandria-based Systems Planning & Analysis, known as SPA, will provide acquisition and sustainment, portfolio management, engineering [...]
Arlington drone company closes deal on AI robotics co.
Arlington County-based AeroVironment, a defense contractor that manufactures unmanned aircraft, has completed its $120 million acquisition of Melbourne, Florida-based Tomahawk Robotics, the company announced Sept. 18. Tomahawk develops AI-enabled robotic control and integrated communications systems, including its flagship syste[...]
Kaine, Warner announce $100M for rail bridge in NoVa
U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $100 million in federal funds Thursday for the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority to build a rail bridge to ease congestion along a busy stretch of railway in Fairfax County. The money will go toward design and construction of the Franconia-Springfield Bypass, a bridge that will allow Amtrak […]
Henrico shopping center sells for $18.4M
Merchant’s Walk Shopping Center in Henrico County has sold for $18.4 million. Qi Lin, a local investor who in 2022 purchased the Southpark shopping center in Chesterfield County for $5.4 million, purchased Merchant’s Walk, according to Divaris Real Estate. Located at 7580 W. Broad St., Merchant’s Walk is at the[...]
Youngkin signs executive directive on AI
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed an executive directive around artificial intelligence, instructing the state government to establish use standards and identify opportunities for the government to use AI technologies. Executive Directive No. 5, announced by the governor’s office late Wednesday, directs the Office of Regulatory M[...]
Hotel revenue still up, but shows signs of softening
Virginia’s hotel industry revenues remain above pre-pandemic levels but are beginning to show a softening. That’s according to a report from Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy released Tuesday. According to the center’s analysis of data from STR, a division of CoStar Group that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality […]
Data centers added $54.2B to Va. GDP over five years
The data center industry contributed $54.2 billion to Virginia’s gross domestic product from 2017 to 2021, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study released Tuesday. That calculation includes indirect impacts from other businesses as part of the data center industry supply chain and induced impacts resulting from household [...]
Lyon Shipyard to expand, adding 134 jobs
Lyon Shipyard, a 95-year-old family-owned ship repair facility in Norfolk, will spend $8.5 million to expand its operations and add an estimated 134 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. The shipyard plans to increase its capacity to work on commercial ships and vessels that will work on offshore wind farm operations. V[...]
Falwell Jr. lawsuit targets Prevo, Liberty board members
A legal complaint filed last week by former Liberty University President and Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. alleges that President Emeritus Jerry Prevo and members of Liberty’s executive committee received in excess of $1 million from the university “through a series of questionable self-dealing transactions that have [...]
Dominion pitches state on $70M battery storage pilot
Dominion Energy Virginia is asking the state to allow it to test two technologies that it says could lengthen the time its batteries can electrify the grid from an average of four hours to longer than four days. In a 117-page filing made Monday with the State Corporation Commission, Dominion said its Darbytown Storage Pilot [&he[...]
Va. trade office opens in Taiwan
Virginia has opened its trade office in Taiwan. Announced in April, the office is Virginia’s fourth international trade office and follows Youngkin’s meeting with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, during the governor’s first international trade mission. Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merri[...]