Dominion Energy proposes hefty rate hikes
Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy is proposing a fuel rate increase and additional base rate increases which, if approved, could raise monthly power bills for average residential customers by as much as $21.43 by 2027. The Richmond-based utility proposed new base and fuel rates in separate filings with the Virginia State Corpo[...]
Best Places to Work in Virginia 2025
For the 15th year, Virginia Business is pleased to present the Best Places to Work in Virginia list, produced in collaboration with Pennsylvania-based Best Companies Group, a division of our mutual parent company, BridgeTower Media. This year, 147 companies were chosen for inclusion in the 2025 Best Places to Work in Virginia co[...]
Take a look inside George Mason’s high-tech science and engineering labs
In a third-floor lab at George Mason University’s new, $107 million Life Sciences and Engineering Building in Manassas, students will dissect and study the effects of decomposition on human remains. A few floors away, their peers may dangle from harnesses while wearing sensors to research gaits while others test fly an aut[...]
Merrick leaving as state commerce secretary
Caren Merrick, Virginia’s commerce and trade secretary, said in a LinkedIn post that she is leaving Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. According to a Washington Post story Thursday, Merrick turned down the job of state secretary of natural resources. The Post reported that Youngkin offered Merrick the natural reso[...]
Dollar Tree plans to sell Family Dollar to private equity firms for $1B
Chesapeake-based Fortune 500 discount retailer Dollar Tree has reached a deal with Brigade Capital Management, a New York-based global asset management firm, and Macellum Capital Management, an investment firm with headquarters also in New York, to acquire its Family Dollar brand for about $1 billion after a decade of trying to [...]
JMU introduces next president
James Madison University on Wednesday announced that University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Chancellor James C. Schmidt will be the next president of Virginia’s fifth largest public university. The university’s board of visitors, who voted to affirm his appointment earlier in the day, announced Schmidt’s selection [...]
Company behind Chesterfield indoor farm files for bankruptcy
Plenty Unlimited, a San Francisco-based agricultural technology company that counts tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt among its investors, has filed for bankruptcy but plans to continue operating its vertical strawberry farm in Chesterfield County throughout the restructuring, according to a company announcement. [...]
Trump appointee fires Freddie Mac CEO
Bill Pulte, heir of one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, wasted little time launching a house cleaning campaign after being confirmed as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) March 13. On Thursday, Pulte fired Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid, according to news reports. The government-backed mortgage financi[...]
Trump administration cancels Jefferson Lab operator search
The U.S. Department of Energy has cancelled its search for a new operator and manager of Newport News’ Jefferson Lab, as the current operator’s contract is set to expire at the end of May — prompting speculation of what the federally funded lab’s future entails. The DOE said in a statement that it plans to [&[...]
Virginia Fortune 500 company agrees to $11B buyout
Herndon-based Fortune 500 company Beacon Roofing Supply has agreed to an $11 billion buyout by Connecticut software and professional services company QXO after previously rebuffing a slightly lower offer from the same suitor. The two businesses have entered into a definitive merger agreement with QXO purchasing the building supp[...]
The family of an airplane safety whistleblower is suing Boeing over his death
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The family of a former Boeing quality control manager who police say killed himself after lawyers questioned him for days about his whistleblowing on alleged jumbo jet defects sued the airplane maker Thursday. Boeing subjected John Barnett to a “campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation intended[...]
Federal Reserve keeps interest rate unchanged, sees slower growth, slightly higher inflation ahead
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday and signaled that it still expects to cut rates twice this year, though more policymakers forecast fewer cuts. The Fed also now expects the economy to grow more slowly this year and next than it did three months ago, according to a [&hel[...]