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Old Town Business league to upgrade or dissolve
Carla Clarke credits Old Town Business (OTB) league with arranging events that bring new faces into Today’s Cargo, the jewelry and gift shop she co-owns on Alexandria’s King Street. “It’s bringing new people through your door,” says Clarke. The 40-year-old nonprofit business league champions Old Town’s business commu[...]
Chesterfield’s new tech park already generating buzz
Chesterfield County Economic Director Garrett Hart received an inquiry about Upper Magnolia Green a week after the county announced in 2020 that it had purchased the property with the intent to develop a portion of it as a technology park. Intel Corp. hadn’t been able to find a site in Virginia for a $20 billion […]
Propulsion system
Madeline Davis has never set foot on a Navy submarine, so she doesn’t get to see the products she makes in action. Davis is a CNC (computer numerical control) machinist at Fairlead Integrated in Portsmouth, where she makes metal parts for the Navy’s silent service. The defense contractor supplies shipboard integrated parts, [...]
Hokie-hatted host
You can “take the boy out of Winchester, but I don’t think you can take Winchester out of me,” says Brian Sullivan, the anchor of CNBC’s new evening business and financial news roundup show, “Last Call.” The one-hour show, which broadcasts from CNBC’s global headquarters in New Jersey on weeknights at 7 p.m. EST, p[...]
Port cranes: Cause for concern?
The Port of Virginia may have as many as 30 Chinese ship-to-shore cranes that have come under scrutiny from Pentagon officials over national security concerns. Five more cranes are scheduled for delivery next year. Manufactured by state-owned company Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., known as ZPMC, the cranes are a possible[...]
Executive insights
Leaders from Virginia’s maritime sector share their thoughts about building a workforce pipeline in Virginia, the growth of offshore wind and how climate change impacts the industry. JUDY BARRETT Virginia Maritime Association board president; TowneBank private banking officer; Norfolk VB: As president of VMA’s board, what’s your main priority this year? Barrett: My main priority […]
Chesapeake preps 1,400-acre industrial park
Whenever a big economic development announcement from another state pops up in the news, Hampton Roads Alliance President and CEO Doug Smith can count on his phone ringing. “I get a call from somebody saying, ‘Why didn’t we get that?’” says Smith. “And the answer is real simple: We didn’t have 500 acres or 1,500 [&[...]
German auto parts maker revamps Salem GE plant
Most everyone in the Roanoke Valley either worked at the former General Electric Co. facility in Salem or knew someone who had, says Renée Turk, the city’s mayor. “On some level, it meant a lot to the entire community,” she says of the manufacturing plant, which opened in 1955. After employing more than 3,000 workers [&he[...]
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[...]
