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Virginia Business// July 30, 2023//
Buc-ee’s, the Texas-size travel center chain, completed its purchase of 27.686 acres in New Kent County for $6.5 million and will open its first Virginia location in the next two years, with three more slated across the state, S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced June 16. At more than 75,000 square feet, the new Buc-ee’s location will be among the company’s largest. Located at Exit 211 off Interstate 64, the location will include 120 fueling positions, multiple electric vehicle chargers and parking for more than 650 vehicles. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Richmond-based Carpenter Co. completed its acquisition of Belgian foam and bedding manufacturer Recticel’s engineered foams division for $468 million, a deal that makes Carpenter the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturer of polyurethane foams and specialty polymer products, the company announced June 14. The acquisition represented about two-thirds of Recticel’s business and includes about 2,800 employees at 32 locations across 20 countries, giving Carpenter a presence in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Before the acquisition, Carpenter had more than 4,000 employees. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Dominion Energy Inc. sold its remaining interest in the Cove Point natural gas liquefaction facility in Maryland to Berkshire Hathaway Energy for $3.5 billion, the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility announced July 10. Dominion will clear about $200 million from the sale. Total after-tax proceeds of about $3.3 billion will be used to repay debt, including a $2.3 billion loan secured by Dominion’s noncontrolling interest in Cove Point. The utility sold a 25% operating stake in Cove Point to Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2020, as part of an $8 billion deal to sell the majority of Dominion’s gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire. Dominion made the move after abandoning plans to build a controversial 600-mile, $8 billion-plus natural gas pipeline. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
A data breach of HCA Healthcare exposed the personal information of potentially 11 million customers nationwide, including patients of Chippenham, Johnston-Willis, Henrico Doctors’ and TriCities hospitals in Virginia, the company said July 10. An unknown party stole, posted and made for sale on a hacking forum information used in automated emails, including names, locations, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and patient service dates. HCA officials, who learned of the breach July 5, said they believe the exposed information did not include patients’ treatments, diagnoses, conditions, credit card information, account numbers, passwords or Social Security numbers. HCA, based in Nashville, Tennessee, said it will contact impacted patients. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Richmond International Airport earned the “Most Efficient Airport in North America” award from the Air Transport Research Society during the organization’s world conference in Japan on July 2. The award is based on performance factors including productivity, operating and management efficiency, airport cost comparisons and more. In 2021, RIC began updates for international travel, including a concourse expansion, preparing for additional ramp space and customs upgrades. In May, the airport reported an all-time high of 431,416 passengers, surpassing its previous record of 398,592 set in August 2019. (Greater Richmond Partnership news release; Henrico Citizen)
Following Richmond City Council’s approval in June, Virginia’s first tourism improvement district, or TID, was allowed to begin collecting funds from Richmond-region travelers to fund tourism marketing efforts beginning July 1. TIDs are new to Virginia, which in 2021 approved a process for establishing the districts. Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties, as well the Town of Ashland, also are participating; Colonial Heights is slated to take up the proposal in the fall. Under the regional TID, hotels with 41 rooms or more will charge a 2% fee on nightly rates. It is expected to generate as much as $8.2 million for regional tourism marketing annually. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Developers broke ground June 29 on the Fairwinds Landing maritime operations and logistics center supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. The project at Norfolk Southern Corp.’s Lambert’s Points Docks in Norfolk is being spearheaded by Fairwinds Landing LLC, a partnership between The Miller Group, Balicore Construction and Fairlead Integrated that plans to invest $100 million to develop the 111-acre site. Fairwinds Landing’s Monitoring and Coordination Center will occupy 7.5 acres of the site. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Norfolk City Council members may have lost patience with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s much-delayed HeadWaters Resort and Casino. In a July closed session, council members discussed scuttling the city’s agreement with the Pamunkey tribe, which in June submitted an application for a phased development with a $150 million initial investment, far shy of the upscale $500 million casino project showcased to voters during a 2020 referendum. City leaders are weighing the risks and rewards of working with a new developer, according to multiple sources. Meanwhile, a state delegate is pushing Norfolk to move ahead with the casino or risk not receiving $465 million in state funding for the city’s $2.66 billion seawall, sources said. (WHRO Public Media)
Pembroke Square, the $200 million redevelopment of Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach, is moving forward but at a smaller scale, according to the president of Pembroke Realty Group. Pembroke Square Associates LLC first announced plans for the redevelopment of the aging mall’s 54 acres in November 2021, with groundbreaking in December 2022. Workers started demolition in late June on the former SunTrust Bank building, making way for apartments, retail space, a hotel and a senior living community. However, the hotel will now be seven stories instead of a planned 14 and will be a single-branded Hilton, instead of a dual-branded hotel. The situation is similar with the multifamily luxury apartment community, which is being downsized to seven stories instead of 12, as previously announced. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Hotels across Hampton Roads sold fewer rooms and had lower occupancy rates during this year’s Something in the Water festival compared with the inaugural 2019 event, according to data from global hospitality data and analytics company STR. However, hoteliers still had plenty of reasons to be happy during Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams’ music festival, earning around $1.3 million more revenue than in 2019. “The data tells me that for some reason or another, SITW 2023 was not as a big deal as it was in 2019,” said Vinod Agarwal, an Old Dominion University economist. (The Virginian-Pilot)
Zim American Integrated Shipping Services Co. LLC will invest $30 million to expand its U.S. headquarters in Virginia Beach, creating several hundred jobs over the next five years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in late June. The expansion includes a move from Norfolk, where the company has had its U.S. headquarters since 2001. Zim is a publicly held subsidiary of Israeli international cargo shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. The company employs about 280 workers in Norfolk. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Norfolk City Council voted unanimously to appoint Deputy City Manager Patrick “Pat” Roberts as the city’s permanent city manager following Larry “Chip” Filer’s resignation in late June. Hints of Filer’s departure came earlier when City Council voted to approve an employee compensation plan that updated details about Filer’s severance. The plan, approved June 13, boosts the payout and benefits Filer receives and makes him eligible for severance even if he resigns, rather than only if he is involuntarily terminated. Roberts has worked for the city since 2021. (The Virginian-Pilot)
After rounds of protest from other bidders, Reston-based CACI International Inc. announced June 27 that it will transform the Air Force’s and Space Force’s IT services from an in-house, base-centric model to an advanced enterprise service delivery model under a $5.7 billion contract. CACI initially was awarded the contract on Aug. 30, 2022, but that was protested by Arlington County-based Accenture Federal Services, and two Reston-based contractors, Peraton and Science Applications International Corp. After taking corrective action, the service again picked CACI for the contract. A second protest by Peraton was denied by the Government Accountability Office in April. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
An effort to potentially derail the 2,100-acre Digital Gateway data center project in Prince William County by deferring most land-use decisions until the next county board takes office in January failed during a July 11 board meeting where both sides argued that the community’s future is at stake. The motion by Republican Supervisor Jeanine Lawson failed by a 5-3 vote, with the board’s five Democrats voting against it. The project would require the sale of more than 200 homes and small farms in the Gainesville area to build 27.6 million square feet of data centers a short drive from surrounding houses and Manassas National Battlefield Park. (The Washington Post)
Family-owned fast food chain Five Guys Enterprises LLC moved its corporate headquarters from southern Fairfax County to Alexandria in July. Its new, 39,673-square-foot main office will be in leased space at 1940 Duke St. Five Guys was founded in Arlington in 1986 by CEO Jerry Murrell, whose five sons joined the business. Five Guys began offering franchises in 2003. Today, there are approximately 1,700 Five Guys locations worldwide with 20,000 employees, approximately 600 of whom are in Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Merger talks between McLean-based satellite operator Intelsat and Luxembourg-based competitor SES S.A. were called off, SES said June 22. SES confirmed March 29 that the companies had “engaged in discussions” about combining, but said at the time, “There can be no certainty that a transaction would materialize.” Intelsat ended the talks because of differences over the two companies’ business priorities. The merger was anticipated to have created a $10 billion global business. Intelsat named several new executives in 2022, including CEO David Wajsgras, after the company emerged from financial restructuring nearly two years after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (VirginiaBusiness.com, CNBC)
A year after moving its headquarters to Arlington County, Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor Raytheon Technologies Corp. rebranded in June as RTX. The change came as RTX consolidated its business units from four to three: Collins Aerospace, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina; Pratt & Whitney, headquartered in East Hartford, Connecticut; and Raytheon, based in Arlington. The company previously operated as four segments, including Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense, which are now consolidated under Raytheon. On June 20, Raytheon received a $1.15 billion contract to produce Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles for the U.S. Air Force and Navy as well as foreign militaries, including Ukraine. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Tysons business software company MicroStrategy Inc. is seeing more turnover in its C-suite. Chief Revenue Officer Kevin Adkisson stepped down from his position in July, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. His departure came three months after MicroStrategy disclosed Chief Technology Officer Timothy Lang retired on April 14. Believed to be the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries purchased about $347 million worth of bitcoin from April 29 to June 27, bringing its total holdings to approximately 152,333 bitcoins, purchased for about $4.52 billion. (VirginiaBusiness.com, Washington Business Journal)
Hotels in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Radford booked a third more revenue during the first five months of 2023 than during the same period in 2019, according to analysts at Old Dominion University. Hospitality data source STR furnished the data. According to snapshots taken four years apart, Blackburg’s hospitality sector posted revenue growth of 34% over the period, a sign of strong recovery from the pandemic slowdown. (The Roanoke Times)
A federal appeals court in July granted stays of construction activity on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, related to disputes over the project’s impact on endangered species and its permits to cross the Jefferson National Forest. Environmental groups, including Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club and Wild Virginia, said they expect the order, issued by a three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will halt all construction activity on the 303-mile natural gas pipeline through Virginia and West Virginia until their case is decided. In a statement, pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream said it is “beyond disappointed with the two recent decisions” by the 4th Circuit. (Cardinal News)
A longtime business presence in the New River Valley will invest $5.5 million in an expansion into Pulaski County, creating 45 jobs. Bellport, New York-based Fireworks by Grucci and Pyrotechnique by Grucci, a sixth-generation family-owned manufacturer of fireworks and military pyrotechnic devices, will expand its assembly, storage and distribution operations into the 30,000-square-foot former Koinonia Tapes and Foams facility in ShaeDawn Industrial Park, according to a June news release from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. (Cardinal News)
Virginia Tech in late June was awarded a $500,000 grant as part of a program supporting advanced semiconductor chip design and fabrication. The grant is one of six projects that received $6 million total from a partnership between the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan. Other awards went to University of California, Berkeley; Texas A&M University; University of California Davis; UCLA; and Stanford University. Tech’s proposal involves using machine learning to optimize wireless circuits and systems. (Cardinal News)
Salem-based LewisGale Medical Center has
been designated a Level 2 trauma center by the Virginia Department of Health, the hospital system announced in late June. The designation makes LewisGale the eighth Level 2 center in the state and the first in the region, according to the state health department. One level below the
top Level 1 designation, Level 2 trauma centers include “24-hour immediate coverage by general surgeons, as well as coverage by the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care,” according to the Falls Church-based American Trauma Society. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Carilion Clinic doctors will serve as president and vice president of the Virginia Board of Medicine. Dr. Randy Clements was elected president, while Dr. Peter Apel became vice president, effective
July 1. The Board of Medicine licenses and regulates physicians, including osteopaths, physician assistants, chiropractors, podiatrists, midwives, acupuncturists, athletic trainers and a variety of other medical disciplines. (The Roanoke Times)
Jennifer Havens was named director of the Center for Business Analytics at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, the university announced in late June. Havens joins Virginia Tech from Amazon.com Inc., where she was an executive coach, shaping organizational strategy and culture and designing the global e-tailer’s first group coaching program. She was also a founding leader of Carilion Clinic’s Institute for Leadership Effectiveness. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative plans to move its Blue Ridge regional office from Front Royal to Clarke County within the next decade. Plans call for the new facility to be constructed on 65 acres currently owned by the Virginia Port Authority along the south side of Lord Fairfax Highway (U.S. 340) between the Featherbed Road (Route 644) and Highland Corners Road (Route 669) intersections at Double Tollgate. About 75 people, including office workers and field crew, eventually will be employed at the new office. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
In late June, the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors voted 5-1 to approve the $2.9 million purchase of the former Valley Health fitness center in Woodstock. The 1,972-acre property at 1195 Hisey Ave. will house the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation and a wellness center offering activities for county residents. The county used a mix of federal and local money to pay for the property. Board Chairman Karl Roulston said it made sense to buy the building, rather than lease it for roughly $180,000 a year. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
On June 22, Staunton City Council voted 5-2 to approve a special-use permit and siting agreement for a 97-acre solar energy farm at 801 Commerce Road from Flying Rock Property LLC. According to the application, the solar farm will include a 15.75-megawatt utility-scale solar energy facility and a 5-megawatt community-scale solar energy facility. In July 2022, the city passed an ordinance amendment allowing for solar energy facilities by special-use permits in industrial-zoned areas. Dominion Energy Inc. customers in Staunton will be eligible to enroll in a Shared Solar Program with an estimated 10% reduction on their power bills, according to the developer. (The News Leader)
Confusion arose in early June over a $4 million loan agreement between the Winchester Economic Development Authority and John Wesley Gray Jr., the McLean-based investor who purchased the Ward Plaza shopping center for $10 million in May. A deed of trust filed June 1 showed a $8.7 million credit line for the project, leading a resident to publicly question if the city would be on the hook for more than twice the $4 million loan in the event of a default. However, interim EDA Director Jeff Buettner clarified the deed of trust reflects the obligations of both the EDA and the Bank of Clarke, which issued an additional $4.7 million loan to Gray for the purchase of Ward Plaza. (The Winchester Star)
In late June, the Winchester Planning Commission tabled consideration of the proposed Townhomes at York Avenue development at 588 York Ave. in the southern part of the city. Each of the 15 three-bedroom units would include single-car garages and sell for about $300,000. Some residents in the nearby Yorktowne subdivision opposed the project, partly due to concerns about potential stormwater runoff. The planning commission tabled a rezoning proposal for 60 days to give Winchester-based developer OakCrest Companies Inc. more time to address neighbors’ concerns. (The Winchester Star)
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A Stephens City native returned to the Shenandoah Valley to become Clarke County’s new director of economic development and tourism on July 10. Michelle Ridings Brown previously served as grants coordinator for Boone, North Carolina, a town of 19,000 that’s home to Appalachian State University. Her other previous jobs include stints as economic development and tourism director for Middlesex County and as director of alumni affairs for Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal. Brown’s predecessor, Felicia Hart, resigned in March after holding the job for a little under two years. (The Winchester Star)
A proposed luxury RV park is stalled while Danville City Council waits for results from a traffic study. Proposed for a 46-acre parcel on Jenny Lane near Goodyear Boulevard, the Palace Resort is planned to include 333 RV sites and amenities such as pools, spas and restaurants. The project was recommended for approval in May by the city’s planning commission, which also recommended a traffic impact analysis be conducted to address resident concerns. No date has been set for Council to revisit the proposal. (Cardinal News)
During its first six weeks, the Danville Casino racked up around $31 million in gaming revenues, according to reports from the Virginia Lottery. The temporary casino, which opened May 15, rang up $18.9 million in June revenue. Nearly $14.4 million was generated from 768 slot machines and $4.5 million came from 25 table games. In May, the casino reported $11.9 million in revenue during its first partial month of operations, with $10.2 million from slots and $1.7 million from table games. A partnership between Caesars Entertainment Inc. and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the permanent $650 million Caesars Virginia casino resort is expected to open in late 2024. (Danville Register & Bee; Cardinal News)
Able to re-create a variety of real-world road conditions, Danville Community College’s new truck-driving simulator offers a new level of training for students. DCC officials unveiled the simulator during an event at the Regional Center for Advanced Technology and Training on June 26. “It’s about as close as driving a real truck as you can get without actually driving one,” said Jason Edwards, program director for DCC’s commercial driver’s license training program. Using a computer, Edwards can generate different driving scenarios with a variety of trucks and terrain, from urban to suburban to rural to mountainous. Users can operate a tractor-trailer truck, dump truck, school bus, fire truck and many others. (Danville Register & Bee)
The Halifax County Board of Supervisors in late June granted the go-ahead for the Industrial Development Authority to borrow $4 million to complete a shell building upfit for IperionX, the titanium products manufacturer that is expanding into South Boston. Supervisors approved a resolution to back the move as a precondition for the Halifax County IDA to move forward with securing the construction loan from American National Bank. The money will be used to prepare the U.S. 58 shell building at the Southern Virginia Technology Park for occupancy by IperionX. The titanium recycling and manufacturing plant will employ 108 workers
within three years. Charlotte-based IperionX has pledged to invest $82.1 million. (SoVa Now)
New College Institute announced efforts to update programming and partnerships to better meet the needs of the community. After Executive Director Joe Sumner joined the institute in mid-February, he met with community members and potential partners to see how NCI could adjust its offerings to better align with community needs. “[Sumner] just drinks jet fuel for breakfast,” NCI Board Chair state Sen. Bill Stanley Jr., R-Franklin, said. “He’s been like a rocket ship in everything he’s done and all these exciting programs that we’re going to bring online very quickly.” (Martinsville Bulletin)
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Litz Van Dyke, CEO of Carter Bank & Trust in Martinsville, has been elected 2023-24 chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association’s board of directors. Van Dyke became CEO at Carter Bank & Trust in 2017. He also has held executive positions at financial institutions including StellarOne Corp., Virginia Financial Group and First National Bank. (Cardinal News)
Virginia’s first casino, the temporary Bristol Casino, drew 1.2 million people, paid out $92 million in jackpots and generated about $150 million in revenues in its first 11 months. The permanent Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is on schedule to open by July 2024, though its estimated cost has been increased from $400 million to $520 million. Since opening in July 2022, the casino has averaged over $11.1 million per month from its slot machines and $2.46 million per month from table games, for a monthly average of $13.5 million, according to the Virginia Lottery. (Bristol Herald Courier; Cardinal News)
Environmental groups and a Southwest Virginia mining company are arguing over how Virginia regulators should measure water levels of selenium released into waterways at levels exceeding state limits. Clintwood JOD LLC is asking the State Water Control Board to look at fish tissues rather than water samples to determine levels of selenium — a chemical that at excessive levels can cause harm to fish and humans — in Knox Creek and its tributaries in Buchanan County. Kentucky-based Clintwood JOD has 15 mines in Virginia, including the Laurel Branch Surface Mine, where reports to state regulators show selenium levels at one point were measured at more than 10 times above state limits. (Virginia Mercury)
Abingdon-based grocery chain Food City will have its name on Emory & Henry College’s $15 million new sports complex. The Food City Sports Complex at Emory & Henry is slated to hold its first track and field, soccer and lacrosse competitions in spring 2024. The facility will support Emory & Henry’s sports teams as the school prepares for full membership in NCAA Division II athletics. Food City announced a $4 million gift to the college at a June 26 groundbreaking ceremony for the facility, which will feature an eight-lane track, about 800 stadium seats and more than 200 parking spaces. (Cardinal News)
Musser Biomass and Wood Products will invest $7.5 million to expand operations in Wythe County and add 10 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced June 28. A division of Musser Lumber Co., the company will more than double production of dried hardwood chips and sawdust that the company supplies to composite decking manufacturers, plastic extrusion companies, and barbecue and heating wood pellet companies. It will also increase the purchase of leftover hardwoods from regional sawmills, creating a new market for the byproduct. Established in 1968, Musser Lumber specializes in drying, surfacing and planing hardwood lumber for flooring and paneling. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
More than $23 million in grants to 76 cities and counties for opioid abatement and remediation efforts — including more than $8.7 million for Southwest and Southern projects — were approved June 23 by the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority’s board of directors. The decision marks the first major allocation of OAA grants within Virginia since it received its first set of national settlement payments from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids in 2022. Funded projects will range from recovery housing to expansion of medication for opioid use disorder treatment programs. (Cardinal News)
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Bristol’s efforts to secure Amtrak passenger service now have a voice and a vote on the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority board of directors. On July 7, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Beth Rhinehart, president and CEO of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, to that board. Rhinehart has been actively involved in efforts to lobby for extending Amtrak passenger service to and through the Twin City. In June, she and the chamber hosted a town hall event to update the community on the status of that effort. (Bristol Herald Courier)
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