FOR THE RECORD JUNE 2022

CENTRAL

Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. asked the State Corporation Commission for permission in early May to increase Virginia residential customer bills by about $9 a month to account for rising fuel prices. According to federal data, Virginia already has high electric bills. Dominion cited dramatic increases in fuel prices stemming from the pandemic, inflation and the war in Ukraine as reasons it needs to charge more to cover what’s known as the “fuel factor” component of its electric rates. A $9 increase would raise the typical residential customer bill by about 7%, wrote Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

HCA Healthcare is acquiring Richmond-based BetterMed, a chain of 12 urgent care facilities, for an undisclosed price. The health system announced its preliminary agreement in late April. Founded in 2011, BetterMed is led by CEO Mark Johnson, a former executive at Sara Lee, PepsiCo and MeadWestvaco Corp., and has eight locations in the Richmond area, two in Fredericksburg and two in North Carolina. HCA, which is based in Nashville, operates three freestanding emergency rooms in the Richmond area. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in late April that it plans to ban sales of menthol cigarettes, a billion-dollar industry in which Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., has a 9.4% market share. The ban, which was widely anticipated after the FDA announced its intentions in spring 2021, would affect only traditional menthol cigarettes, not heated tobacco products. Altria has taken the stance that “harm reduction, not prohibition, is the better path forward,” a spokesman said. Proponents of the ban, however, say it could reduce the number of Black and younger smokers who are more likely to purchase mint-flavored cigarettes. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

City of Richmond officials announced in May that three development teams have continued to the finals for the Diamond District redevelopment project, which includes replacing the baseball stadium and revitalizing the area near the
Scott’s Addition neighborhood. The three multi-partner teams will be asked to respond to a request for offers by a deadline of June 28. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Employees at five Starbucks coffee stores in the Richmond area in April voted overwhelmingly for union representation as part of a nationwide effort to organize workers at one of the United States’ largest retail store chains. The Northern Virginia Labor Federation, which has been working with Philadelphia-based Workers United, reported a vote of 82 in favor of union representation and 14 against, making the stores the first ones in Virginia to unionize, followed by two locations in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. A week later, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, appeared at Unity Fest, organized by the NVLF at The National in Richmond, and called unionizing workers “heroes and heroines.” Virginia’s Starbucks cafés follow the lead of a location in Buffalo, New York, which in 2021 became the first Starbucks in the country to unionize. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The University of Virginia’s athletics department received a $40 million anonymous bequest from a former student-athlete, the university announced in April. The donation is the largest in the Virginia Athletics Foundation’s history. Part of U.Va.’s $5 billion Honor the Future capital campaign, which surpassed $4 billion in April, the donation will be used to broadly support the university’s athletic programs, student-athletes and coaches. Including this anonymous gift, the athletics foundation has raised all but $57 million of its $500 million fundraising goal for the Honor the Future campaign. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

EASTERN

In a deal predicted to bring more than 500 jobs and over $100 million in capital investment, Norfolk’s Lambert’s Point Docks property will become Fairwinds Landing, a maritime operations and logistics center to support the local offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. The 111-acre property, adjacent to Norfolk Southern Corp.’s coal terminal and owned by Norfolk Southern Railway Co., has been leased by Virginia Beach-based Fairwinds Landing LLC for 30 years, the company announced May 5. Fairwinds Landing CEO Jerry Miller established the special purpose company in October 2021 to develop the property. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Chesapeake’s Greenbrier Mall is headed into foreclosure after its biggest owner, Tennessee-based CBL Properties, defaulted on a $61.6 million loan that used the property as collateral. Chesapeake Mayor Rick West in late April said city officials are working on a redevelopment plan for the area to include the 896,000-square-foot mall. The mall has three owners; CBL owns everything between the mall’s former Sears location and Dillard’s. New York-based Seritage Growth Properties owns the former Sears building, and Dillard’s Inc. owns its location. Plans to turn the mall into a hotel and slots parlor fell through in 2018. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Confirming rumors, music superstar and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams announced April 26 that he is moving his three-day Something in the Water music festival from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront to Washington, D.C. The inaugural 2019 festival yielded $24 million in local economic impact before being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. In a September 2021 letter to the city manager, Williams called out Virginia Beach’s “toxic energy,” citing fallout from his cousin Donovon Lynch’s killing by a Virginia Beach police officer, as well as other issues surrounding Williams’ economic development projects in the city. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Biden administration’s budget proposes decommissioning 24 U.S. Navy ships, including Hampton Roads-based cruisers USS San Jacinto and USS Vicksburg and dock landing ships USS Gunston Hall and USS Tortuga, according to documents posted April 22. The ships were commissioned between 30 and 32 years ago and would be taken out of service in fiscal 2023. The Navy says decommissioning the ships will save the expense of costly maintenance and repair work, freeing up funds for the new ships it wants to build. (Daily Press)

PEOPLE

Hampton University alumnus and retired Army Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams will succeed William R. Harvey as the university’s next president, according to an April 14 announcement. Williams, of Alexandria, graduated in 1983 and serves as vice president and managing director for Reston-based Leidos’ United Kingdom Logistics Division. He is also programme director for the Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation (LCST) programme with the U.K. Ministry of Defence. He retired from the Army in 2020 after 37 years and was the first African American director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency, where he oversaw 26,000 civilian and military members. Harvey will retire on June 30 after 44 years. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Jim Spore, president and CEO of Reinvent Hampton Roads, will retire June 15, the regional economic development organization announced April 28. Nancy L. Grden, executive director of the Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation and associate vice president of Old Dominion University’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, will replace Spore, who served in the role six years after spending more than two decades as city manager of Virginia Beach. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SHENANDOAH

Front Royal Town Council voted April 18 to direct Town Manager Steven Hicks to authorize and process refunds of all building permit fees received for all applications submitted but not issued, or for permits issued but not finalized, prior to the termination of the town’s building department, which it set up last year. The Warren County Building Department had previously overseen permitting and inspections for in-town projects. Facing pressure from developers and builders, the Town Council agreed to dissolve the town department and let the county resume accepting applications and handling inspections. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Chicago-based Healthcare Development Partners said on April 19 it was proposing its third major mixed-use development in Winchester. The firm’s proposal includes 92 town houses, 170 apartments and 14,800 square feet of retail and restaurant space on approximately 10 acres at the intersection of Fairmont Avenue and West Wyck Street. National Fruit Product Co. used to own the site, which is now owned by Fairmont Avenue Holdings LLC. If City Council approves the development, HDP would buy the site from Fairmont Avenue Holdings. (The Winchester Star)

On April 26, Harrisonburg City Council unanimously approved a request for Northside LLC, represented by Holtzman Oil Corp., to rezone four parcels for Northside Gateway Plaza, a shopping center. Site plans include seven buildings: a gas station and convenience store area and six other buildings designed for purposes such as restaurants, stores, drive-thrus, banks or medical offices. The site will include sidewalks, roadway improvements, solar panels, electric car charging, a bus pad and an easement along Mount Clinton Pike. Roughly an acre of the 5.5-acre property is in Rockingham County, and the Board of Supervisors had already rezoned that part. (Daily News-Record)

Atlanta-based Kingspan Insulation LLC will invest $27 million to expand its Frederick County operations, a project expected to create 37 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced April 13. Kingspan Insulation is a division of Kingspan Group that manufactures energy efficiency and moisture management products for residential and commercial construction. The company will add a 155,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 200 Kingspan Way to create its OPTIM-R vacuum insulated panels. Kingspan Insulation manufactures insulation, building wraps and pre-insulated HVAC ductwork suitable for new builds and renovations in residential and commercial buildings. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Winchester City Council on April 26 unanimously approved the rezoning needed for the construction of Winchester Grove, a large residential and commercial complex proposed for the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Valley Avenue. South Boston-based Echelon Resources Inc. proposed the complex, which would sit on 17.34 acres. The complex would have 440 apartments — 266 one-bedroom units, 142 two-bedroom apartments and 32 three-bedroom units — 19,467 square feet of commercial and restaurant space, 13,038 square feet of indoor amenities, 7 acres of open space, a pool, a clubhouse, grilling areas, a fitness center, a dog park, a playground and sidewalks. (The Winchester Star)

PEOPLE

Millboro-based BARC Electric Cooperative named Bill Buchanan as CEO, replacing Michael Keyser, who left the cooperative in December 2021. Buchanan took over as CEO on May 9. Chief Operations Officer Chris Botulinski had been filling in as interim CEO and returned to his role as COO. BARC is a member-owned utility, providing service to 13,000 residents, farms and businesses in the Shenandoah Valley across five counties: Bath, Alleghany, Augusta, Highland and Rockbridge. Buchanan joined BARC from Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania-based Northwestern Rural Electric Cooperative Association Inc., where he was president and CEO. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN

Amazon.com Inc. said April 20 that it has hired 5,000 employees for its Arlington-based HQ2, bringing the e-tailer one-fifth of the way to the minimum jobs the company committed to fill. Also in April, Arlington’s board approved plans for the 10.4-acre PenPlace, the second and final phase of the company’s new headquarters, which includes three office buildings and the spiral Helix tower. The first phase, Metropolitan Park, is expected to be delivered in 2023. (Washington Business Journal)

Google LLC will invest $300 million in Virginia in a plan that includes data centers and a $250,000 grant to Richmond nonprofit CodeVA to develop a network of computer science lab schools. Google will also partner with the state’s community colleges and regional higher education centers for professional certificates, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in April. While details about the company’s investment in Virginia were scant, Google and Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai announced April 13 that the company would spend $9.5 billion in 2022 to expand offices and data centers in nearly two dozen states. Google employs more than 480 people in Virginia, including at data centers in Loudoun County and its office in Reston. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

As bitcoin’s value tumbled below $30,000 for the first time since December 2020, MicroStrategy Inc. CEO Michael Saylor joked via Twitter that he may be taking on a new job, tweeting a badly edited photo of himself sporting a McDonald’s hat, serving fries and a hamburger. “Monday morning is time to get back to work. #Bitcoin,” the cryptocurrency influencer and bitcoin whale tweeted to his 2.4 million followers on May 9. His Tysons-based software company is the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, with more than 129,200 bitcoins in its reserves, worth about $4.1 billion as of May 11. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched an inquiry into the Washington Commanders in late April, weeks after a U.S. congressional committee wrote to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence of deceptive business practices by the team over more than a decade, including withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans. The investigation comes as the team scouts a location for a new stadium complex, including sites in Loudoun and Prince William counties, that would incorporate retail and other development. Legislation pending before the Virginia General Assembly would commit up to $350 million in tax revenues to help finance the stadium. (Associated Press, Virginia Mercury)

PEOPLE

George Mason University on April 11 named Ajay Vinzé as dean of its business school. Vinzé served as dean of the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business from 2017 to 2022, but stepped down to return to teaching and research, and currently serves as a professor of accountancy. Vinzé helped secure more than $30 million in philanthropic funding for Trulaske, which also began offering online credentials during his tenure and increased experiential learning opportunities for students. His first day at GMU will be July 1. (Virginia Business.com)

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld stepped down on May 16, rather than retiring June 30 as previously announced. WMATA Chief Operating Officer Joe Leader also resigned and left that day. The resignations followed news that more than 250 of the troubled transit system’s 500 train operators had lapsed in achieving recertification. In recent months, Metro has faced declining ridership and the suspension of more than half of its rail car fleet due to malfunctions. Randy Clarke, president and CEO of Austin, Texas’ Capital Metro, is set to become the WMATA’s next general manager and CEO in July. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SOUTHERN

Amazon.com Inc. will launch two more utility-scale solar projects in Virginia, the company announced April 20. A 200-megawatt project in Pittsylvania County, near Axton, and a 50-megawatt project in Frederick County will bring to 19 the number of utility-scale solar facilities the company has in Virginia. Localities across the state have been wrestling with how — and even whether — to allow the continued spread of large-scale solar farms, which can take hundreds and even thousands of acres of farmland and forests.
(Cardinal News)

Caesars Virginia has named Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner as the general contractor to build its $500 million resort and casino in Danville, Caesars Entertainment announced April 25. The resort will have a 500-guestroom hotel, a casino with more than 1,400 slot machines and table games, a Caesars sportsbook and a World Series of Poker-branded poker room. It will also include 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and a 2,500-person entertainment venue, along with bars and restaurants. But on May 3, a spokesperson told Danville’s City Council that the opening will be pushed back to 2024. (Danville Register & Bee)

It took a retired Virginia Beach judge very little time to rule in Martinsville’s favor in a civil proceeding on reversion in Henry County Circuit Court April 26. The matter: Where will the future litigation proceedings on reversion be held and who will hear them? The verdict: Before a three-judge panel in Martinsville Circuit Court. Martinsville is seeking to revert from a city to a town in Henry County and the county is opposed, despite both parties previously having agreed to it. Both sides agreed reversion started out as a contested action by the city, became a voluntary action when the county signed a memorandum of understanding, and a voluntary settlement agreement is now contested because the county changed its mind. (Martinsville Bulletin)

A partisan shakeup of the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission in late April has restored not just Republican control of the board but also returned most seats to lawmakers from localities considered part of Virginia’s tobacco regions after Democrats ceded their majority in the House of Delegates and the three statewide offices back to the GOP in November. Among the lawmakers reappointed by Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, after a two-year hiatus is Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, who had previously served on the commission after first being appointed in 2007. Former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn had replaced several lawmakers with Democrats not residing in what is widely considered the tobacco footprint in the commonwealth. (Cardinal News)

Construction hasn’t started on the project to redevelop the iconic former Dan River Inc. White Mill building along Memorial Drive, and the anticipated cost has risen yet again. The price tag, which was originally $62.5 million,
has gone up from $68.75 million to about $81 million. Almost all of that is due to new site development costs, allowance for tenant improvements and the increase in construction costs. Officials had initially hoped for construction to begin by the end of last year, but it was delayed due to inflation, worker shortages and supply chain issues. Work has been postponed until August. (Danville Register & Bee)

PEOPLE

Telly Tucker, Arlington County’s economic development director since 2020, became the first president of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) on May 31. Tucker’s return to Danville is a return to his past. The Lynchburg native served as the city’s economic development director before becoming Arlington County’s economic development director in January 2020. He spent five years in Danville and helped turn around the former textile hub after many big employers exited in the 1990s and 2000s. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SOUTHWEST

Abingdon served the Virginia Creeper Trail Conservancy a 30-day eviction notice on April 22, tossing the 31-year-old nonprofit organization from the Findlay House. Town officials said they wanted the space to develop a new welcome center for the trail and the nearby Meadows Sports Complex. On May 8, the Conservancy’s board of directors voted unanimously to accept the eviction and leave Abingdon. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Ballad Health System officials opened a second children’s resource center on April 20, part of its efforts to improve the health of a region with high rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and families in poverty. Located in Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, the center will provide information to children, parents and families; sponsor outreach and education on children’s health and safety issues; and serve as a clearinghouse to help families improve their children’s outlook. The center and its programming will be geared to help children and parents make healthy choices regarding physical activity, nutrition and safety, said Lisa Carter, president of Ballad’s southern market. (SWVA Today)

In late April, the Blue Ridge Job Corps Center campus in Marion announced it had immediate availability for new students. When the U.S. Labor Department lifted the new student enrollment restrictions, the center was able to return to its pre-pandemic admission standards and has the capacity to serve 192 students. The center provides certified nursing assistants, clinical medical assistants, medical administrative assistant and patient care technician trainings.
The center serves only female Virginia residents, ages 16 to 24. (SWVA Today)

In May, High Knob Regional Initiative and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise launched a public campaign that aims to provide community leaders and entrepreneurs with a toolkit to cultivate environmentally sustainable growth in Southwest Virginia’s outdoor economy. Funded by a grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment, the yearlong “Growing Smart” campaign includes a 75-page planning blueprint crafted to help local governments, landowners and small businesses more sustainably plan and implement economic development practices. A group of academic experts, government agency representatives, nonprofit organizations’ staff, outdoor user group members and regional entrepreneurs created the blueprint.
(The Coalfield Progress)

A federal judge issued a summary judgment in late April, dismissing all claims in former banking executive Mary Y. Trigiani’s lawsuit against Russell County-based New Peoples Bank for discrimination and wrongful termination. Trigiani’s complaints of a “cultlike office culture” did not hold up to judicial scrutiny, U.S. District Judge James P. Jones ruled. Trigiani was employed as New Peoples Bank’s senior vice president of strategic planning and development from 2017 to 2019. In January 2021, Trigiani sued New Peoples Bank in the U.S. Western District Court of Virginia, claiming that she was discriminated against because of her Catholic, nonevangelical religious beliefs, her age and her gender. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Virginia Lottery Board has issued its first license for a casino in Virginia to Hard Rock Bristol, the board announced April 27. With its permanent casino still on track to open at the former Bristol Mall in July 2024, Hard Rock International Inc. is preparing to open a 30,000-square-foot temporary casino with 870 gaming slots and 21 tables on July 8. The 90,000-square-foot permanent facility will include a 3,200-seat performance venue and a 20,000-person capacity outdoor entertainment venue. (VirginiaBusiness.com)