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Southwest Va. Year-in-Review: Regional cooperation nets manufacturing projects
Southwest Virginia is weathering the economic disruptions of the transition from coal and a pandemic-related shift to remote work by focusing on a collaborative approach to business attraction. Teamwork is yielding results with a bump in manufacturing deals, punctuated by the November 2024 announcement that Wrap Technologies wou[...]
Southwest Va. Big Deal: EO hub offers regional workforce development
The workers and managers at Food City in Abingdon can see the future by stepping out and looking to their left toward a former Kmart. The old Kmart has been redeveloped by EO, a nonprofit that spun off from the United Way of Southwest Virginia, into the 87,000-square-foot Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub. Constructio[...]
Va. casinos report more than $72M in January revenue
January gaming revenues from Virginia’s casinos totaled $72.34 million, according to a report from the Virginia Lottery released Friday. Last month, Hard Rock Bristol casino reported about $18.52 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings), of which about $15.16 million came from 1,486 slots and $3.36 milli[...]
Some SWVA communities see younger population stabilize
In Southwest Virginia, the trend of outmigration among younger people appears to be slowing and even reversing in some counties. The decline in the population aged 25 to 44 in Wise and Lee counties has slowed during the first half of the 2020s compared with the early 2010s, according to University of Virginia Weldon Cooper [&hel[...]
Southwest tourism spending climbs
Visitor spending in Southwest Virginia reached $766 million in 2023, a 12% increase from 2022, according to data from the Virginia Tourism Corp. The region also saw a 29% increase from 2019, a rise that puts it well above that of the state as a whole, which saw a 15% increase in tourism revenue from […]
Food City to pay $8.4M to settle opioids-related allegations
Abingdon-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operator of the Food City supermarket chain, has agreed to pay more than $8.4 million to the federal government to settle allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) related to dispensing opioids and other controlled substances. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the agreement with K-VA[...]
Va. plays key role in McKinsey $650M opioid settlement
Global management firm McKinsey & Co. filed an agreement in Virginia on Friday to pay the federal government $650 million in a five-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice focused on opioid abuse. The Virginia attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) collaborated with U.S. a[...]
Hard Rock Bristol goes all-in for grand opening
The bright lights of Bristol shine considerably brighter following the opening of Virginia’s second full-fledged casino. The Nov. 14 grand opening of the $515 million-plus Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Virginia’s first hotel/casino combo, was grand indeed. Symphonies of sounds, from music to slot machines, in[...]
For the Record: December 2024
CENTRAL Richmond-based international foam producer Carpenter acquired omnichannel bedding brand Casper Sleep for an undisclosed amount, it announced Oct. 29. Under the agreement, Casper will operate as a subsidiary of Carpenter. The deal marks the third acquisition Carpenter has made in the past 16 months. In November 2023, Ca[...]
Defense/public safety tech manufacturer moving to SWVA
Wrap Technologies, an Arizona-based public safety and defense technology company, is locating its manufacturing and distribution base in Norton’s Project Intersection industrial park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday. The company will occupy a new, 20,000-square-foot building at Project Intersection, where U.S. Route 2[...]
Permanent Hard Rock Bristol casino opens
The bright lights of Bristol shine considerably brighter now following the opening of Virginia’s second full-fledged casino. Thursday heralded the grand opening of the $515 million-plus Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Virginia’s first hotel/casino combo. Symphonies of sounds, from music to slot machines, indica[...]
U.Va. Wise receives largest ever donation
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise has received its largest ever donation, $11.2 million, from The Bill Gatton Foundation, the Wise County college announced Monday. The late Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, a successful businessman who owned the Gatton Automotive Group with dealerships in Kentucky and Tenn[...]
