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StartVirginia: May 2023 Heard around Virginia
Richmond-based Babylon Micro-Farms Inc. raised $8 million in a series A funding round led by VentureSouth, the company announced April 4. The money will help expand go-to-market efforts and grow the company’s client base in the U.S. and beyond. Founded in 2017, Babylon enables businesses and communities to grow produce, and its software remotely manages […]
May 2023 Top Five
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from March 14 to April 13 included Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder’s efforts to sell the Ashburn-based NFL team to a group of bidders including Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and NBA legend Magic Johnson. 1 | Naval operations building in Suffolk sells for $33M Home […]
Westward ho!
Southwest Virginia’s leaders feel confident their region will be home to the state’s next inland port. “The planets are aligning for us right now,” says state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County. “Our localities are excited about it. The state seems to be excited about it.” During the Virginia General Assembly’s[...]
Port of entry
By all accounts, the Port of Virginia and the overseas shipping industry as a whole are major economic drivers in the commonwealth, with an upward trajectory expected to continue. For fiscal year 2022, the port’s TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container volume hit a record 3.7 million units, a 14.7% increase from 2021, which ma[...]
Data centers’ job impact is spread out
The Lego Group’s July 2022 announcement that it would build a $1 billion Chesterfield County manufacturing plant came with the promise of 1,760 new jobs. Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc.’s 20-year, $35 billion investment to expand its data center footprint across Virginia is projected to generate only 1,000 direct jobs. The data c[...]
Pack your bags
Although hospitality in Northern Virginia is taking its time toward a full comeback, there are a few signs that the industry is bouncing back — chiefly midweek hotel bookings. Business travelers, the bread and butter of Washington, D.C.’s hospitality industry, are more likely to purchase last-minute plane tickets that cost m[...]
CarLotz, Need Supply founders launch schools startup
For about a decade after meeting at a business function, Michael Bor and Chris Bossola met for lunch periodically, swapping stories about their shared experiences in launching and scaling companies. Their conversations eventually landed on what they say could transform funding for public schools nationwide. The two have plenty o[...]
Miles to go
Virginia’s largest-ever highway construction project, the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) expansion, continues to dominate the state’s ongoing roadwork projects. Construction began in October 2020. The contractor — Hampton Roads Connector Partners, a joint venture led by Dragados USA Inc. that includes Vinc[...]
Virginia 500 spotlight: AMY GILLILAND
For Mental Health Awareness month, Virginia Business is spotlighting Gilliland, who launched the “How are you, really?” campaign within GDIT in 2021 following an employee’s death by suicide. In an industry in which many workers depend on security clearances, the campaign aims to destigmatize mental health issues and encour[...]
Dickenson County to develop small industrial park
Work will start on a new industrial park on the site of a former strip mine in Dickenson County in late summer or early fall, says Dana Cronkhite, the county’s economic development director. The Virginia Department of Energy announced in January that the county’s Industrial Development Authority will receive $869,584 from th[...]
Building a ‘floatel’
Construction is set to begin late this year on a service operations vessel (SOV) that will transport technicians and equipment to support the massive wind turbines that Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A. is installing for Dominion Energy Inc.’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project off the Virginia Beach coast. Crowley Corp., a Jacksonville, […]
Va. Beach hotels may not sell out for SITW
Something in the Water, the three-day Virginia Beach music festival helmed by music superstar Pharrell Williams, is a big economic deal for Hampton Roads — but whether area hotels will sell out is still up in the air. As of Thursday evening, a quick scan of Expedia.com showed some remaining rooms near the Virginia Beach [&hell[...]
