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Solid prospects
Detlev Peters has walked into convenience stores in the Hampton Roads area a couple of times recently to find the candy aisle shockingly empty. “Hershey’s, Reese’s, M&M’s, everything, like they would just have a clean shelf of just nothing,” marvels Peters, who graduated with a degree in maritime and su[...]
South Hill grant aims to boost business district
South Hill merchants figured out ways to keep business going during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing Facebook Live videos from downtown stores that helped people shop from home, then pick up their treasures curbside. Sometimes featuring a rescue dog named Duncan, the videos have continued even as restrictions are[...]
Biotech industry seeks push forward
With more than $25 million, nearly all taxpayer money, a collaborative partnership of government, business and nonprofit organizations plans to build an accelerator for biotech startups in the Roanoke Valley. Supporters say the initiative will create 250 jobs through 25 new startups over five years, generating $20 million in ann[...]
Ways of the water
Back in 2016, Virginia Coastal Zone Management program planners began talking about ways to protect the Lower Chickahominy River watershed. “We’re like, ‘Well, let’s get ahead of this,’” says Jefferson Flood, an appropriately named coastal planner for the CZM, a network of individuals from Virginia agenci[...]
Civica to produce lower-cost insulin
Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug-maker with a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant under construction in Petersburg, plans to produce three forms of insulin priced at $30 per vial beginning in early 2024, a project that dovetails with a bill in Congress that would cap consumers’ out-of-pocket insulin costs. Civica’s[...]
Harder, better, faster, stronger
On March 20, 1922, the U.S. Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier: the USS Langley. A century later, the Navy is hosting centennial events around the country, including in Norfolk, where the USS Langley was converted into the Navy’s first carrier from the USS Jupiter, the Navy’s first electrically propelled sh[...]
West Falls Church on track for $1.2 billion transformation
Developers are expected to break ground this month on the first of three mixed-use projects near the West Falls Church Metro station with a total investment of about $1.2 billion. Each piece comes together to complete a puzzle that will transform about 40 acres of vacant land, parking lots and Virginia Tech’s Northern Virg[...]
Rocket Lab to boost Eastern Shore space biz
The Eastern Shore and Accomack County are well-acquainted with the rockets’ red glare. One of the oldest launch sites in the world, the NASA Wallops Flight Facility launched its first rocket on July 4, 1945. Given its history, it seems fitting that Wallops’ rocket business got a big payload boost in late February whe[...]
Counties collaborating on industrial park
In the coming months, the rubble of a demolished furniture factory on a roughly 70-acre property in Chilhowie will be hauled away to make room for an industrial park. Smyth County is teaming up with Bland and Washington counties, forming the Pathway Regional Industrial Facilities Authority to create Pathway Park, which will feat[...]
Tilting toward windmills
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A.’s October 2021 announcement that it will build the nation’s first offshore-wind blade factory at Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) has put Hampton Roads on a trajectory to become a supply chain hub for the country’s nascent offshore-wind energy industry. The Spanish wind turb[...]
Carilion Clinic receives $1M gift for education program
An anonymous couple has given Carilion Clinic a $1 million gift to support its employee career advancement program, the Roanoke health system announced Thursday. The Your Efforts, Supported program (YES) will launch later this year, with a goal to assist entry-level health care employees to earn certifications and further their education to meet career goals. […]
FDA moves toward menthol cigarettes ban
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it plans to ban sales of menthol cigarettes, a billion-dollar industry in which Philip Morris USA has a 9.4% market share. Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., manufactures Marlboro menthol cigarettes among its other brands, but R.J. Reynol[...]
