U.S. port strike starts; Port of Va. stops cargo operations
Oct. 3 update: Strike is suspended About 45,000 International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) workers walked off the job midnight Tuesday at the Port of Virginia and every other major port along the East and Gulf coasts, launching the ILA’s first U.S. port strike in 47 years. Dockworkers hit the picket lines after t[...]
An overview of Hampton Roads
Home to 1.79 million people across 17 localities, Hampton Roads is Virginia’s second most populous region, just behind Northern Virginia. It also boasts the commonwealth’s biggest city by population: Virginia Beach, with 457,900 residents. Nearby Norfolk is the densest locality in the region, with 4,467 people per square mil[...]
For The Record October 2024
Central Virginia Fortune 500 company CarMax will be the naming sponsor for the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark starting with the 2026 season, the Double-A Minor League Baseball team announced Sept. 4. The Diamond’s replacement will be known as CarMax Park. Although Squirrels President and Managing Partner Lou DiBella said that the deal with CarMax […]
Smithfield Foods separates from European arm
Smithfield Foods announced in late August that its European operations have been carved into an independent subsidiary. The action took place a little over a month after Smithfield’s Chinese parent company, WH Group, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong, announced plans to take Smithfield Foods public in the United States.�[...]
TowneBank to acquire Village Bank for $120M
Suffolk-based TowneBank has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Midlothian’s Village Bank and its parent company, Village Bank and Trust Financial, a deal worth approximately $120 million, the banks announced Tuesday. “Our TowneBank family is humbled and excited to partner with Village Bank and its team members,” Town[...]
$10M Biochar plant opens in Waverly
Restoration Bioproducts’ executives and employees gathered with state and local officials Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the company’s Sussex County biochar production facility. Through a thermal decomposition process known as pyrolysis, the facility heats waste wood to high temperatures in an environment without oxyg[...]
Kongsberg to build $101M missile plant in James City County
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, a subsidiary of Norway’s Kongsberg Group, plans to establish its first U.S. defense assembly plant in James City County, investing more than $100 million and creating an estimated 180 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. The company expects to invest $71 million in a 150,000-s[...]
NoVa, Hampton Roads home sales decline in August
Home sales in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads dropped year-over-year and month-over-month in August, although inventory and selling prices in both regions increased from the same time last year. Northern Virginia August home sales in Northern Virginia dropped 8.1% from August 2023, according to data released Sept. 12 by the [...]
Boar’s Head to indefinitely shutter Va. facility tied to fatal listeria outbreak
Deli meat company Boar’s Head Provisions Co. is indefinitely shutting down its meat production facility in Jarratt, the source of a listeria outbreak that killed at least nine people and hospitalized 57 others. The plant has not been operating since late July. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened an investigat[...]
Norfolk Council moves delayed casino forward
Updated Sept. 11, 2024 Norfolk will have a temporary casino open by next November and a permanent resort in 2027 if all goes to plan, as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and casino giant Boyd Gaming, its new corporate partner, received a fresh start on the long-delayed project from Norfolk City Council on Tuesday. City Council [&hellip[...]
W&M gets $100 million boost for coastal research
Jane Batten, the matriarch of a Hampton Roads family known for philanthropy, pledged $100 million to William & Mary in July to boost coastal and marine science research toward finding global solutions for flooding and sea-level rise. The newly named Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences will expand the Virginia Inst[...]
Smithfield separates from European arm
Smithfield Foods announced Tuesday that its European operations have been carved into an independent subsidiary. The action takes place a little over a month after Smithfield’s Chinese parent company, WH Group, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong, announced plans to take the company public in the United States. Smith[...]