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Cruise lines add stops in Norfolk, Yorktown
Major cruise lines are launching expansions expected to propel Hampton Roads forward as a tourism destination, with new stops in Norfolk and Yorktown. In Norfolk, Carnival more than doubled the number of cruises departing to the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean and New England this year with a schedule that now runs from May to O[...]
The Pharrell factor
Some celebrities seem to forget their roots. Fortunately for Hampton Roads, Pharrell Williams is not that kind of star. The Grammy-winning musician with a worldwide following has invested in the area repeatedly over the past several years and is poised to continue. Even as his career took a new path this year when he was [&helli[...]
Sky-high rents
The Navy man sat in Barbara Gatewood Sgueglia’s office in tears. His rent was being raised from $1,600 to $2,750, and with several children and his wife in school, he just couldn’t swing it, even if the landlord offered to split the difference. Anything else he could afford would likely be “much less appealing,” says [&h[...]
Reading the room
In 2017, David Kern, a retired Naval submarine officer turned entrepreneur, had a lightbulb moment. While working on a data analytics project at a desk in the Naval Station Norfolk annex, he realized that his company, Virginia Beach-based Kern Technology Group LLC, needed to shift from focusing on product development to becoming[...]
An overview of Hampton Roads
With a population of 1.79 million people spread across 17 localities, Hampton Roads is the second-most populated region of Virginia, just behind Northern Virginia. Virginia Beach, with approximately 457,000 residents, is the commonwealth’s biggest city by population, and neighboring Norfolk has the highest density in the regio[...]
Coming home
As a kid growing up in Virginia Beach, “Scotty” Gray saw military aircraft so routinely that he wanted to become a pilot. Today he is U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Christopher (still “Scotty”) Gray, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, where he oversees an area that stretches from Wisconsin to North Carolina and includes 14 inst[...]
Where the wind’s blowing
If all goes according to plan, towering wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach will begin spinning out enough electricity in 2026 to power up to 660,000 homes. Dominion Energy Inc.’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm will have 176 turbines — each rising 800 feet above the ocean, with around 8,000[...]
Under construction
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Hampton and Norfolk Construction is underway along 10 miles of the Interstate 64 corridor from Hampton to Norfolk on the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project. In June, crews on the South Island began reassembling Mary, the 430-foot, $70 million tunnel boring machine (TBM) that wa[...]
Workforce development resources
The Apprentice School Founded in 1919, The Apprentice School in Newport News has trained 11,000 shipyard workers over its long history. The school at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division offers four-, five- and eight-year paid apprenticeships in 19 shipbuilding disciplines and eight advanced programs of study, including supply chain management and marine engineering. […][...]
Executive insights
Virginia Business asked five Hampton Roads leaders to discuss how regional cooperation could directly impact their industries, how they’re coping with staffing shortages and what their hopes are for the region’s future. XAVIER BEALE Vice president of human resources and trades, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News Most Hampton Roads leaders say they’d like to see […]
A welcome respite
While the spring was red-hot for the residential real estate market, conditions are expected to cool off in the fall. “The market is definitely stabilizing,” says Liz Moore, board president of Real Estate Information Network Inc., the multiple listing service (MLS) for the Hampton Roads region. “We had such a frenzied market during the pandemic.” […]
Full speed ahead
No other region of Virginia moves the entire commonwealth forward like Hampton Roads. Sure, Dee Cee is about technology, government contracting and national politics. And Richmond is about politics that are generally more local. Hampton Roads, on the other hand, is about the military and commerce. The ports, the railways, inters[...]
