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Testing the waters
At colleges across Virginia and the nation, this will be a fall semester like no other. The coronavirus is turning campuses into petri dishes for experimentation. One of the state’s largest public colleges with an enrollment of about 30,000 students in the heart of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University is also pivoting to[...]
Parking lot hot spots succeed at PHCC
Administrators at Patrick Henry Community College hustled to install Wi-Fi hot spots in its parking lots in March when the college closed due to the coronavirus. Since many of the college’s students live in rural areas without access to broadband, creating these hot spots became an immediate need when the pandemic crisis hit, [...]
Sailing for the horizon
Tariff wars and the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a one-two punch to the Port of Virginia, but officials are focusing on the positive as expansions are completed at the port’s two largest terminals, and a dredging project to make Virginia the East Coast’s deepest port is running ahead of schedule. The third-largest East Coast [...]
Kings Dominion closure brings economic woes
For the first time in its 45-year history, Kings Dominion has halted its roller coasters for an entire season, thanks to COVID-19. But beyond being disappointing for fans of the amusement park in Doswell, “the economic impact is huge,” says E. Linwood Thomas IV, director of economic development for Hanover County. “Kings D[...]
![Lisa A. Bertini, owner of Virginia Beach-based Bertini Law PC, was forced to furlough her associate and receptionist due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. “It was unsettling,” she says. “I was worried about [paying] rent and meeting payroll.” Photo by Mark Rhodes](https://virginiabusiness.com/files/1/2020/08/Bertini-VaBus-Sept2020-5010.jpg)
Law and disorder
The coronavirus pandemic shutdowns led some Virginia law firms to furlough employees and cut pay. Will an onslaught of COVID-19-related litigation be enough to prevent another wave of cutbacks? Bill Van Buren, president and chairman of Norfolk-based Kaufman & Canoles PC, estimates that staffing levels at law firms throughout[...]
COVID-19 cluster spurs quick conversion of VCU Honors College into isolation unit
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Commonwealth University will convert three floors of a building that houses classrooms and workspaces into an isolation space for students who test positive for COVID-19, according to a university spokesperson. The number of positive cases on campus has more than tripled since the university began [...]
More college students head into quarantine as COVID-19 cases rise
RICHMOND — As more universities open, they’re collecting and releasing COVID-19 data and grappling with contingency plans for those who contract the disease. As of Thursday evening, universities across Virginia were reporting that more than 550 students, staff and faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19 since s[...]
Airport employees protest MWAA for paid sick days
About 40 people protested Thursday outside of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority headquarters in Arlington, calling for paid sick leave for workers at the state’s two Northern Virginia airports who have not received emergency sick days under federal coronavirus legislation. MWAA governs the Reagan National Airp[...]
Va. saw slight decrease in initial jobless claims last week
More than 11,000 Virginians filed initial jobless claims last week — a decrease of nearly 4,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. The number of initial claims filed during the Aug. 22 filing week fell to near the average weekly volume in 2009, according to the VEC. However, 249,745 people […]
Va. hotel revenues continue to improve slightly
Virginia hotel revenues improved slightly last week, STR Inc. reported Wednesday. During the week of Aug. 16-22, hotel revenues decreased by 42% and rooms sold declined by 31% compared to the same week last year, but this marks a small improvement from the previous week, which saw a 44% decline in revenue and 32% decrease […]
JMU introduces COVID-19 dashboard
Joining other state universities, James Madison University introduced a COVID-19 dashboard Tuesday to track positive results among students, faculty and staff. According to the dashboard, JMU has 24 self-reported cases and four positive tests performed at the university health center; all but one of the cases were among students. The university noted in its description […]
U.S. employment rising slightly but still mostly flat, survey says
A survey released Monday by Virginia Commonwealth University and Arizona State University economists indicates that coronavirus-fueled economic uncertainty may have paused the nation’s labor market recovery, which stands at 63.8% employment. The employment rate remained steady during the week of Aug. 9-15, according to the[...]
