Friendship retirement community acquires Richfield Living
Friendship, a Roanoke-area retirement community, announced Monday that it has acquired Richfield Living, a former competitor in the region, for $62 million. Friendship announced the acquisition Monday. The combined not-for-profit retirement communities will operate under the name Friendship, but will keep Richfield Living’s name and identity, and will have 1,000 employees serving 1,500 residents, according […][...]
VTCSOM seeks to create neurosurgery department
Administrators at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are working toward establishing a department of neurosurgery, a step up from its smaller program. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) received the school’s proposal for creating the new department in early August and could vote on it as soon[...]
October 2023 FOR THE RECORD
Central Health system Bon Secours filed suit against insurer Anthem Health Plans of Virginia Aug. 30 in Henrico County Circuit Court, alleging Anthem owes Bon Secours $93 million in unpaid claims. The plaintiff, BSMH Virginia, alleges Anthem Health Plans of Virginia, doing business as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, failed to pay “in excess […]
Wells Fargo to launch $87M expansion in Roanoke County
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will spend $87 million to modernize and expand its Roanoke County customer support center, adding 1,100 jobs in a deal that will make the bank the county’s largest employer. The deal is also the largest project employment announcement in the county’s history, as well as its largest commercial office investment, Gov. […]
Virginia Tech research institute receives $50M gift
A foundation established by the estate of Richmond philanthropist Bill Goodwin‘s late son, Hunter, has made a $50 million commitment to support cancer and neuroscience research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech announced Tuesday. The gift is one of three record $50 million donations Virginia[...]
Va. Tech names chief of staff for university operations
Virginia Tech has named Brennan Shepard its chief of staff for university operations. Shepard was most recently director of financial planning in the the university’s Office of Budget and Financial Planning and has served in various roles in the finance division over the past 15 years. He officially began his new role on A[...]
Revivicor’s $100 million pig-organ facility moves forward
By early next year, Blacksburg-based Revivicor will be raising genetically modified pigs in Montgomery County, with plans to harvest their hearts and kidneys for xenotransplantation into human patients. Founded in 2003 as a spinoff company of PPL Therapeutics (the company that cloned Dolly the sheep seven years earlier), Revivic[...]
Low inventory, high interest rates strap Va. housing market
Homebuyers in Virginia are continuing to feel the strain of low inventory and high interest rates. The number of active listings on the market is shrinking, and fewer new listings are coming on the market. Despite a brief uptick in inventory at the beginning the year, about 67% of the state’s counties and cities had [&hell[...]
Bedford firing up tech training
After Winoa USA closed its Bedford steel abrasives plant in 2020, town economic officials came up with the idea of renovating the empty facility into a regional technical training center for the metalworking industry that could include a commercial foundry. In August, the Bedford Economic Development Authority expects to be clos[...]
For the record August 2023
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Buc-ee’s, the Texas-size travel center chain, completed its purchase of 27.686 acres in New Kent County for $6.5 million and will open its first Virginia location in the next two years, with three more slated across the state, S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced June 16. At more than 75,000 square feet, the new Buc-ee’s […]
Rail equipment manufacturer to expand in Salem
Wabtec Corp. is investing $2.7 million to expand its existing facility in Salem, adding 38 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Wabtec provides equipment, systems, digital solutions and other services for freight and transit rail globally. The expansion will accommodate the relocation of its pneumatically controlled braking systems manufacturing lines within its […][...]
FloydFest cancelation causes economic ripples
FloydFest, a five-day celebration showcasing more than 100 performers, has had an annual regional economic impact of about $4 million since its 2002 founding, according to festival organizers. Even so, county officials and local business owners seem to be taking a “c’est la vie” attitude to the cancelation in April of this[...]