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July 2022
Virginia Business// June 28, 2022//
The state’s fiscal 2023-24 budget, approved June 1, contains funding that will benefit future redevelopment of the Central Virginia Training Center site in Madison Heights. Republican
Sen. Steve Newman requested $25 million in state money to annul outstanding bonds associated with CVTC, a former state facility for people with intellectual disabilities that closed in 2020. The state’s debt that will be settled is on Lower Rapidan, a cluster of more modern buildings. Those outstanding bonds and the cost of demolishing many structures on the site were significant impediments to any development, according to
the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.
(The News & Advance)
Future Cities, the development firm behind the anticipated GreenCity development in Henrico County, plans to renovate a substation in the Carver neighborhood of Richmond, turning it into a mixed-use development with a food hall, coworking space and micro retail. Carver Station, which will be located near Clay and Harrison streets, will span about 30,000 square feet. The substation was originally built by the Virginia Railway and Power Co. in 1910 and was decommissioned by Dominion Energy Inc. in 2018. Construction is set to begin early next year and be completed in 2024. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Lego Group plans to bring a $1 billion factory to Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park, creating more than 1,760 jobs, the company and Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced June 15. Groundbreaking on the 1.7 million-square-foot moulding, processing and packing plant will start later this year. The Denmark-based toy company plans to begin operations from a temporary building in early 2024, with the factory beginning production in the second half of 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
On May 23, Richmond City Council approved the transfer of the Richmond Coliseum property to the city’s economic development authority. Councilman Andreas Addison said then he was comfortable with transferring the Coliseum property to the EDA, as legislation the council approved later that evening included specific goals and objectives for minority business participation and affordable housing development. Lincoln Saunders, the city’s chief administrative officer, said the EDA could sell the property to a developer without the council’s approval following the property transfer vote, although the council would need to authorize any kind of development deal that involved public financing. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The state budget passed by the General Assembly June 1 includes a provision that would delay a second casino vote in Richmond, where voters defeated a referendum last year, until November 2023. Meanwhile, the state will move forward with a Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission study on a possible Petersburg casino. Maryland-based casino developer Urban One Inc. said it plans to “partner with the city of Richmond, including through litigation if necessary,” to let a second vote go forward this fall in accordance with an order from Richmond Circuit Court and “pre-certification” from the Virginia Lottery. (VirginiaBusiness.com, Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The Supreme Court of Virginia will hear an appeal of two lower court rulings that found that residents living near a massive planned Wegmans distribution center project in Hanover County didn’t have standing to challenge local officials’ approval of the project. On May 23, the state’s high court announced it would hear the appeal, but no schedule had been set as of early June. The court’s decision to review the case is the latest twist in an ongoing fight by several overlapping groups of Hanover residents to block the construction of a 1.7 million-square-foot center roughly two miles from Interstate 95 and adjacent to Brown Grove, a historically Black community founded by freedpeople after the Civil War. (Virginia Mercury).
Hampton Roads philanthropist Joan Brock donated $34 million to the Chrysler Museum of Art in May. The gift included 40 works of art and endowments for two positions, as well as support for expanding the Perry Glass Studio. Brock was the first woman to chair the museum’s board, and her late husband, Dollar Tree Inc. co-founder Macon Brock, chaired the museum’s 2014 capital campaign. The artworks span nearly 100 years of American art, from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Museum Director Erik Neil’s post has been endowed and renamed as the Macon and Joan Brock director. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree Inc. reported strong sales increases in its most recent quarter as shoppers turned to discount chains for necessities to offset rising food and fuel costs. Same-store sales — those from stores operating for at least 12 months — rose 4.4% during the quarter that ended April 30. In September 2021, the company announced it was raising prices to $1.25. Sales rose 11.2% in the latest quarter due to the increase. Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar, which saw a 2.8% decline in same-store sales. The company temporarily closed 400 Family Dollar stores after an Arkansas distribution center was shuttered because of a rodent infestation. (The Wall Street Journal)
Newport News-based automated machinery designer Mühlbauer Inc. will invest $9 million to expand its Newport News operation, a project expected to create 32 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced May 26. Mühlbauer Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of German company Mühlbauer Group.
In 2009, Mühlbauer Inc. opened a 30,000-square-foot facility in Oakland Industrial Park, which it
will upgrade, adding production equipment. The subsidiary provides hardware and software for automation solutions for ePassports, electronic identity documents and others. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Norfolk Planning Commission in May recommended approval of a conditional use permit from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe to open a temporary casino at Harbor Park before it plans to open the nearby $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in 2024. Harbor Park is home to Norfolk’s minor league baseball team, the Tides, and the temporary casino would be housed at the stadium in a two-story space that would include a sports bar and grill. The request was set to be considered by Norfolk City Council in June. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Port of Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed an agreement on May 20 that formalized their collaboration on the Norfolk Harbor dredging project, which will create the deepest and widest port on the East Coast by 2024. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, included the final installment of the federal investment, $72 million. The federal government and the port agreed to a 50-50 cost share in 2015, when the Army Corps began evaluating the economic value of a deeper and wider harbor and commercial shipping channel. The agreement marks the beginning of the cost share. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
PEOPLE
Democrats in the House of Delegates elected Portsmouth Del. Don Scott Jr. as their new minority leader June 1. Scott currently works as a criminal defense attorney in Portsmouth. He orchestrated the ouster of his predecessor, Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, via secret ballot in April. Scott defeated Del. Charniele Herring, whose district covers Alexandria, and Del. Rip Sullivan, whose district includes Fairfax. (Cardinal News)
McLean-based Appian Corp. won a $2.03 billion verdict — believed to be the largest award in Virginia state court history — in a trade secrets case against a competitor in Fairfax County Circuit Court in early May. The cloud computing and enterprise software company sued Massachusetts-based Pegasystems Inc. and an individual, Youyong Zou, alleging that Pegasystems used multiple methods to gain access to trade secrets to compete with Appian beginning in 2012. According to the lawsuit, Pegasystems hired Zou to provide Pegasystems with access to the backend of that software. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Capital One Financial Corp. employees nationwide will return to in-office work in a hybrid model on Sept. 6, CEO Richard Fairbank announced in May. The McLean-based bank holding company delayed plans for hybrid reopenings twice before October 2021, when it indefinitely delayed the return. Fully remote workers will require senior executive approval. Fairbank said the company will monitor conditions as September nears and delay reopening if health conditions don’t support doing so safely. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Construction Group LLC, the general contractor for several phases of Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2, announced plans May 10 to expand Clark’s footprint in the mid-Atlantic, including
building a 128,000-square-foot office for infrastructure and building employees in McLean. Clark is renovating the space and expects to move there in the fall.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)
Herndon-based Fortune 1000 company ManTech International Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by The Carlyle Group for approximately $4.2 billion, the tech contractor announced May 16. In the all-cash transaction, ManTech shareholders will receive $96 per share in cash, a 32% premium to ManTech’s closing share price of $72.82 on Feb. 2, the last trading day before news articles of a potential agreement broke. The cash per share is also a 17% premium to its closing stock price of $81.97 on May 13. The ManTech board unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
In May, Tysons-based broadcast and digital media giant Tegna Inc.’s shareholders approved the company’s $5.4 billion cash sale to an affiliate of New York hedge fund Standard General. One of Tegna’s largest shareholders, Standard General, and private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to pay $24 per share for Tegna, which owns 64 television stations and was created in 2015 as a publicly traded spinoff of McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc. Upon the deal’s closing in the second half of the year, Tegna will go private and CEO Dave Lougee will be replaced by Deb McDermott, CEO of Standard Media Group LLC. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Virginia General Assembly punted on legislation that could lure the Washington Commanders’ stadium to the commonwealth when legislators returned to the state Capitol for a June 1 special session. The team acquired the right to purchase 200 acres in Prince William County’s Woodbridge area and is eyeing another location in Loudoun County for the proposed $3 billion stadium project that would include mixed-use commercial and residential development, as well as a new location for the team’s headquarters, which is currently in Loudoun’s Ashburn area. An economic impact study prepared for the team said a new stadium could bring $24.7 billion in direct impact and 2,246 jobs to Virginia by 2033. A bill that would offer up to $350 million in subsidies for the project stalled after some lawmakers raised concerns about transportation around the Prince William site as well as controversies surrounding team owner Dan Snyder, who was called to testify before the U.S. House Oversight Committee about the NFL’s investigation into the team’s workplace culture. (The Washington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Starting in July, a second daily Amtrak passenger train will begin to operate from Roanoke, departing at 4:35 p.m. bound for Washington, D.C. The early train will continue to depart at 6:32 a.m. The service expansion will add another arrival to the timetable as well — 12:56 p.m. That train will leave D.C. shortly after 8 in the morning. The updates were released May 23 by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. Officials have been telling Roanoke it would get a second train since 2019. Amtrak launched the service in 2017, resuming passenger rail service for the first time since the 1970s. (The Roanoke Times)
More than 150 entrepreneurs participated in the eighth annual Gauntlet Business Program and Competition at the Vinton War Memorial May 25. The program’s youngest entrepreneur, 6-year-old Graham Fitzgerald, started a T-shirt business, GK’s Dream, with his dad to help raise money to support children in foster care. The program awarded nearly $300,000 to entrepreneurs. The program was created by The Advancement Foundation to aid Roanoke Valley economic development. (WDBJ)
Pulaski-based HEYtex USA, the U.S. subsidiary of an international textile manufacturer, has agreed to a $3 million fine that settles accusations that it defrauded the American military. In a May 25 announcement of the settlement, U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh cited the actions of a HEYtex employee who came forward as a whistleblower. The employee “brought information regarding falsified test results to the attention of former company management,” Kavanaugh said. The government charged HEYtex with violating the False Claims Act between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2018, “when it knowingly sold fabrics to the United States military that failed to meet certain required specifications,” according to the government statement. (The Roanoke Times)
Roanoke real estate developer Maury Strauss has donated $1 million in honor of his late wife to support the expansion of Carilion Clinic’s cancer program, Carilion announced May 24. Sheila Strauss died of bladder cancer in 2016; the couple were married 65 years. Maury Strauss is the founder of Strauss Development Corp. “We are so grateful to Maury for the opportunity to honor Sheila’s memory as we continue to advance cancer care for our region,” Carilion President and CEO Nancy Howell Agee said. “The thousands of patients in our region diagnosed each year with cancer deserve access to the latest, most advanced care right here.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Unhappy with the way it has been treated by a three-judge panel of an appellate court, Mountain Valley Pipeline is asking for a new slate of judges to hear the next round of its long-running legal battle with environmentalists. In an unusual move, the company building a natural gas pipeline through Southwest Virginia filed a motion in May requesting the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to assign a new panel at random. Mountain Valley is hoping for better luck than it had with a panel that presided over 12 earlier challenges of government approvals for it and the now-defunct Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
(The Roanoke Times)
PEOPLE
Two departments in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering will have new leaders beginning this summer. Suneel Kodambaka has been named head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and started July 1, and Ella Atkins will be head of the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering starting Aug. 1. Kodambaka comes to Virginia Tech from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Atkins comes to Virginia Tech from the University of Michigan. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
April Petty, a co-defendant of Jennifer McDonald, wants out of a lawsuit against McDonald, the former executive director of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority. The EDA alleges that McDonald used EDA money for her own benefit and claims that Petty had to have known the $125,000 that McDonald used to help pay down Petty’s house mortgage was stolen from the EDA. Warren County Circuit Judge Bruce D. Albertson heard arguments related to the motion to dismiss in late May. A jury trial begins July 5. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
Cole and Danielle Haase said in late May they plan to turn the 10.5-acre former Master’s Touch Ministries property in Warren County into the Arena Sports and Events Center. They have submitted applications for conditional use permits and plan to redevelop the 7,800-square-foot indoor pavilion into a turfed sports and events complex that will open around September. Plans for the space include three retractable rows of batting cages and a turfed space for pitching and fielding drills. The couple owns On Cue Sports Bar & Grill in Front Royal and have served as board members of the Warren County Little League for two years. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
James Madison University will receive $287,537 in federal funding for the Upward Bound program, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced May 25. Upward Bound supports low-income and first-generation college students to increase high school and college graduation rates. In total, the Department of Education will distribute $6.2 million among 15 Virginia colleges. JMU will allot the money to personal advising and college programs, cultural immersion experiences and education on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The programming will serve 60 students. (Daily News-Record)
The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors on May 25 unanimously withdrew a proposed revision to the county’s large-scale, ground-mounted solar rules. The proposal would have exempted the three applicants that applied for solar farms before the Board of Supervisors codified new rules in November 2021. The three applicants were the SolAmerica Energy project near East Rockingham High School, the Caden Energix Endless Caverns LLC project south of New Market and the Knight Solar LLC proposal in eastern Rockingham County. Board Chair Sallie Wolfe-Garrison said the new applications had already complied with the new rules. (Daily News-Record)
Washington and Lee University completed in late May a long-term virtual power purchase agreement that establishes a partnership between W&L and solar energy developer SunEnergy1, which will build, own and operate a 17-megawatt offsite solar farm in Hertford, North Carolina. W&L will purchase 11 megawatts from the farm, which matches 100% of the campus’s annual electricity consumption. The project site encompasses more than 100 acres of former farmland. The deal helps W&L toward its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Over the last decade, the university has reduced campus greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, and the new solar purchase should bring that reduction to 63%. (Cardinal News)
Winchester-based accounting and consulting firm Yount, Hyde and Barbour (YHB) acquired Maryland-based firm Glass Jacobson PA on July 1. Established in 1962, Glass Jacobson offers tax, audit and consulting services in the Baltimore and greater Washington, D.C., area. YHB and Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors LLC will form a joint venture to provide wealth management. Glass Jacobson’s six principals and 54 other staff members will join YHB, bringing the firm’s total staff to almost 300 employees. The new employees will continue to work out of Glass Jacobson’s offices in Rockville, Maryland, and Owings Mills, Maryland, which will give YHB 11 offices. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Appalachian Power plans to add 500 megawatts of solar wind energy over the next three years, and electricity rates will rise. “The company’s current request before the State Corporation Commission would raise monthly rates by approximately $2.37 for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month,” Appalachian Power Senior Corporate Communications Consultant Teresa Hamilton Hall said. Appalachian’s first completed power purchase agreement was made with Leatherwood Solar, a solar generation facility in Henry County, developed by Energix Renwables. (Martinsville Bulletin)
Netherlands-based paper honeycomb producer Axxor will invest $3.5 million to expand capacity at Ringgold East Industrial Park in Pittsylvania County, creating 21 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced June 1. Paper honeycomb helps manufacturers reduce weight and can be used in a range of products, from furniture and packing to automotive components. Axxor began production operations in Ringgold in 2012. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Commonwealth Home Health Care Inc. will invest $3.5 million in a new facility in Pittsylvania County, creating 26 jobs, county officials announced June 1. The company provides home oxygen, safety and rehabilitation products and will open an operation in Blairs, renovating a 100,000-square-foot industrial warehouse to be used for warehousing operations, training, equipment and additional personnel. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Despite winning approval from the Halifax County Planning Commission, Chris Hudson and Brad Miller in early June withdrew their request for a conditional use permit to establish 4 Meats, a slaughterhouse and meat processing facility, at 1191 Sinai Road. The proposed business met with backlash from community members who complained to Kenneth Hodges, a prominent Sinai businessman who owns the property where the project was slated to go. The meat processing facility was on the agenda for the June 6 Halifax Board of Supervisors meeting but was dropped before the meeting. (SoVaNow)
The River District Association in Danville has announced the start of a new quarterly program called Start-Up Slam to support both new and existing businesses downtown. Up to 15 participants are welcome to share their ideas with the crowd within a 3-minute limit, and attendees vote on their favorite pitches at the end of the evening. The top vote-getter takes home all cash collected at the door with no strings attached. No business plans are required. The program is funded by a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development. (Cardinal News)
The Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill came close to landing a $5.5 billion Hyundai Motor Co. electric vehicle manufacturing plant, according to local officials. The 3,500-acre park was one of the top two sites in the country considered by the South Korea-based automobile manufacturer, according to Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville. The project would have brought about 8,500 jobs to the Dan River Region, but the company chose a site
in Bryan County, Georgia, near Savannah. (Danville Register & Bee)
PEOPLE
Jerry Wallace, a Nebraska community college administrator, has been named the next president of Danville Community College. Wallace was hired on May 12, following a national search that attracted 63 candidates. Wallace is the campus president of the Hastings Campus of Nebraska’s Central Community College, where he has worked since 2019. Prior to that, he was dean of workforce, technical and community education from 2017 to 2019 at New River Community and Technical College in Beaver, West Virginia. He starts his new post on July 1. (Cardinal News)
Health Wagon, a free mobile health care provider, requested a $1.7 million reimbursement from the state, but the budget amendment filed by state Republican Sens. Todd Pillion, Travis Hackworth and Tommy Norment did not make it into the final proposed budget. In 2021, the Health Wagon had more than 35,000 patient visits from nearly 11,000 people, provided $5.4 million in care and dispensed more than $1 million in medications. The $1.7 million request represented nearly a third of its 2021 total value of care. (Bristol Herald Courier)
Lonesome Pine Airport’s runway was set to undergo an approximately $12 million rehabilitation project starting in June. The project is expected to continue into 2023. Regular air traffic includes usage from personal aircraft and helicopters for personal use and by politicians and economic development professionals, as well as large aircraft from businesses such as Crutchfield Corp. Runway pavement is expected to last 20 years, and the Lonesome Pine pavement is 32 years old. Water drainage systems beneath the asphalt and harsh weather have caused the runway to dip and crack. The project was originally set to begin in May but was delayed by supply chain shortages.
(The Coalfield Progress)
The General Assembly voted to revoke the town of Pound’s charter as of Nov. 1, 2023, over the objections of its residents. Legislators have pledged to reconsider revoking the charter if the town shows signs of improvement. On May 25, then-Mayor Stacey Carson resigned. Last fall, most of Pound’s remaining business owners stopped paying taxes because the town’s finances are in chaos. Every town employee quit or was fired. The cashier was convicted of embezzling from the public account. Volunteers are pitching in to help, including training the council on the basics of town government. (The Washington Post, The Coalfield Progress)
Northlake, Illinois-based Scholle IPN, a flexible packaging supplier, will invest $31.1 million to expand in Smyth County, a project expected to create 75 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced June 1. Scholle IPN will expand its Smyth County facility by 73,000 square feet to allow new manufacturing lines for film extrusion and packaging. The company will also add more than 800 feet of rail track to support resin inflow. Scholle IPN, which expanded its Chilhowie facility in 2019, provides sustainable packaging for the food, beverage and nonfood sectors. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Southwest Virginia’s job growth rebounded more quickly than the state as a whole, Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi said at the Southwest Virginia Economic Forum on May 25. The region that runs from the New River Valley to the southwest corner of the state posted peak job loss rates ranging from 8.5% to 14.4% — a loss of more than 27,000 jobs — during March and April 2020. In March 2022, the region saw employment return to pre-pandemic numbers, while Virginia as a whole is still down by 3%, or more than 150,000 jobs. (Cardinal News)
PEOPLE
Downtown Wytheville Inc. Executive Director Todd Wolford has been named the top Main Street leader in the nation. Main Street America announced in May that Wolford was the 2022 recipient of the Mary Means Leadership Award. The organization’s top honor, it recognizes outstanding leaders in comprehensive preservation-based commercial district revitalization and highlights the critical role that leaders play in shaping the Main Street movement. Nominated by members of the Wytheville community and selected by a national jury, Wolford was recognized for his creative energy, strategic mindset and coalition-building approach as a Main Street director. (Wytheville Enterprise)
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