Plasser American Corp. announces $52.6M Chesapeake expansion
Railway equipment manufacturer Plasser American Corp. will invest $52.6 million to expand its operations in the city of Chesapeake, creating 98 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday. Plasser American Corp., which manufactures railway construction and maintenance equipment, will add a 45,000-square-foot, three-story office building and an 82,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The company will also renovate its […][...]
Va. to expand networking program to new regions
During the next two years Virginia will invest $1.7 million to expand the Network2Work workforce development initiative, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. The commonwealth will partner with the Virginia Community College System to pilot the Network2Work model in the Shenandoah Valley, Hampton Roads and greater Richmond regions. Network2Work was established by Piedmont Virginia Community College […][...]
Hampton Roads State of the Region report offers sobering look at COVID-19 impacts
Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis & Policy’s 2020 State of the Region report for Hampton Roads offers a sobering look at how the pandemic has harmed the regional economy and left tens of thousands of Hampton Roads residents jobless. Employment in Hampton Roads fell dramatically, hotel occupancy continues to be outpaced by […]
Smithfield Foods donates $100K to aid homeless vets
Smithfield Foods Inc. donated $100,000 to to support state government programs for homeless veterans and their families, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday. The donation from the Smithfield Foundation presented to the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation will be designated to the Veteran Homeless Fund, which provides one-time gap assistance to homeless veterans in the process of […]
ODU launches School of Cybersecurity
Old Dominion University on Thursday became the first research university in the country to launch a cybersecurity school offering interdisciplinary degree programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. The university is expanding its existing Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research (CCSER) into the ODU School of Cybersecurity. The school will operate under ODU’s Office of […][...]
ODU will build tool for wind energy site planning
Old Dominion University will develop an online tool for the placement of wind-energy projects so they don’t interfere with military installations, with a Department of Defense grant of $775,000. The DoD’s Office of Economic Adjustment awarded the Military Installation Sustainability program grant to the state, according to a news release from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office […][...]
Riverside Medical Group names president, chief medical officer
Riverside Medical Group (RMG), the medical group for Newport News-based Riverside Health System, announced Wednesday Dr. Thomas Kayrouz has been named as president and chief medical officer, overseeing more than 600 providers and 100 practice sites. With a career in pediatric critical care medicine and physician-led health car[...]
AHLA: Va. stands to lose 86K+ hotel jobs without federal support
Virginia stands to lose 86,821 hotel-related jobs if Congress doesn’t extend Paycheck Protection Program loans or expand the Main Street Lending program, according to projections released Wednesday by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) — and the state may lose all but about 500 hotels to foreclosure. Pre-pandemic, Virginia was home to 1,532 hotels, […]
Va. offshore wind industry could create 5.2K jobs, study finds
The offshore wind industry could create up to 5,200 jobs in Virginia (with a majority in Hampton Roads) and an estimated $740 million in total economic activity during the next several years, according to an economic impact analysis conducted by Henrico County-based Mangum Economics and released Tuesday by the Hampton Roads Alli[...]
Suffolk city manager resigns
Suffolk City Manager Patrick Roberts has resigned, effective Oct. 2. Suffolk City Council accepted Roberts’ resignation during a special meeting on Monday evening after returning from a closed session. Albert Moor was appointed as interim city manager and will assume the position Oct. 3. “It is with extremely heavy hea[...]
Change in the air
After almost a decade of planning, Dominion Energy Inc. will begin harnessing offshore wind power this fall as two massive test turbines go into operation off the coast of Virginia Beach. Standing about 600 feet tall, the 12-megawatt turbines are the cornerstone of Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project[...]
Good deeds
The pandemic hasn’t seemingly slowed down commercial real estate development and transactions in Hampton Roads. Despite significant financial hits to the hospitality industry, the $125 million, 305-room Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront opened in June, the second phase of Gold Key | PHR’s three-phase, $350 million renovatio[...]