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Lego donates $1M to six Richmond-area nonprofits
Lego Group has distributed $1 million in grants across six Richmond region nonprofits, the Danish toymaker announced Thursday. The company, which broke ground in April on its $1 billion manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, awarded the funding to organizations serving children and families as part of its commitment to h[...]
Site selectors conference coming to Virginia Beach
Area Development magazine will bring its national spring conference for site selection consultants and economic development officials to Hampton Roads. The Area Development Spring Consultants Forum is slated for June 10-12, 2024, at the Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Devoted to corporate site selection and relocation, the m[...]
Warner condemns FBI HQ site selection as ‘corrupt’
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Nov. 9 that the General Services Administration’s selection of Greenbelt, Maryland, instead of Fairfax County for the new FBI headquarters was a “corrupt” process, and that he expected better from the Biden administration. Warner’s comments followed an email that day from FBI Director Christoph[...]
Tourism gains steam with scenic train tour
Virginia Scenic Railway’s new Shenandoah Valley Limited proved just the ticket for seasonal leaf-peepers and train enthusiasts, drawing thousands of visitors to Goshen this fall. The iconic Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611, known as the “Queen of Steam,” is one of the last extant mainline passenger steam locomotives b[...]
Mining for talent
At the end of October, United Way of Southwest Virginia broke ground on its $25 million project to convert a former Kmart store in Abingdon into a regional workforce development and child care hub. It’s an attempt to address the region’s workforce shortage, one of the most pressing issues among area employers. “There’s a[...]
Nation’s first Goodwill-owned supermarket to open in NW Roanoke
Roanoke-based Goodwill Industries of the Valleys broke ground Nov. 14 on Melrose Plaza, a community hub that will be anchored by the nation’s first full-scale, full-service grocery store owned and operated by a Goodwill organization. Slated to open in December 2024 in a Northwest Roanoke food desert, the 25,000-square-foot Mar[...]
No dice: Casino referendum fails again
Richmond’s do-over casino referendum failed at the ballot box Nov. 7 by a much larger margin than the city’s first casino referendum did in 2021, as roughly 61% of Richmond voters rejected the proposed $562 million Richmond Grand Resort & Casino. Leading up to the election, the casino’s corporate backers, Urban One and[...]
Clean energy development could draw $8.5B in investments
Wise County and neighboring localities may become home to a massive clean energy development that could attract up to $8.25 billion in capital investments, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 1. An agreement between Wise County, the Energy DELTA Lab and Dallas-based Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer aims to develop 65,00[...]
Danville considers new rules for short-term rentals
Amid a boom in local short-term residential rentals like Airbnbs, Danville officials are examining ways to regulate the practice. Caesars Entertainment opened its temporary Danville Casino in May, drawing some area visitors. Additional factors driving short-term rentals, speculates Danville City Manager Ken Larking, may include [...]
Legal Elite 2023: Immigration Law Q&A
Title: Partner Education: Bachelor’s degree, American University; law degree, American University Washington College of Law Family: Parents in New York and New Jersey; three siblings, including Linda Blessinger Career mentors: JoAnne Ryan (aunt), the Hon. Jeffrey Chase (ret.), the Hon. Paul Wickham Schmidt (ret.), Linda Mon[...]
Norfolk makes economic development head permanent
The City of Norfolk will keep Sean Washington as its director of economic development permanently after serving as interim director since August 2022, the city announced Tuesday. His appointment was effective Nov. 6. Before serving as interim director, Washington was assistant director from November 2020 through August 2022, but[...]
Pittsylvania site is top contender for $100M battery project
Updated 4:15 p.m. Nov. 28 The Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County is the top contender for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing project that could top $1 billion in investments and about 1,500 jobs, according to its CEO. Tennessee-based Microporous, whose legal entity is MP Assets, confirmed early Tues[...]
