FOR THE RECORD JANUARY 2025

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

The City of Richmond and VCU Health plan to use a third-party mediator to settle their real estate dispute. VCU Health in 2021 agreed to pay the city $56 million as part of a deal to redevelop the former Public Safety Building plot. The deal never happened, and VCU Health agreed to pay $73 million to bow out. However, the state budget approved by legislators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin directed the health system to attempt to terminate its payments to the city. VCU Health did not make its payment earlier in 2024 to the city and has indicated it does not intend to do so moving forward, leading to frustration at City Hall. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

A former Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond examiner pleaded guilty to committing insider trading and making false statements about his trading to the Richmond Fed in November 2024. Robert Brian Thompson, 43, of Chesterfield County’s Moseley area, was an examiner and senior manager with supervisory duties for the Richmond Fed, where he worked from 2004 through about May 2024. Thompson used confidential information about seven publicly traded financial institutions that are under the Richmond Fed’s supervision when executing trades from October 2020 to February 2024, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, completing 69 trades and reaping approximately $771,678 in profits. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

JobGet, a Boston-based hourly jobs listings platform, announced in mid-November 2024 it had acquired rival platform Snagajob in Glen Allen. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Snagajob will operate as a standalone entity within JobGet, creating the United States’ largest hourly workforce job platform. With the acquisition, JobGet boasted in a news release that it now reaches over 100 million hourly workers, covering nearly the entire hourly workforce in the U.S. The two companies will have more than 100 employees when combined, according to JobGet cofounder and CEO Tony Liu. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Mesa Capital Partners, an Atlanta investment firm, purchased a 234-unit apartment complex in Chesterfield County’s Brandermill area for $59 million in November 2024. Known as the Commonwealth Apartments, the 11-acre property at 5401 Commonwealth Centre Parkway has about eight four- and five-story buildings. Mesa bought the property from Richmond’s CMB Development, which built the complex in 2022. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Mechanicsville-based Fortune 500 health care logistics and supply company Owens & Minor filed a federal lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in late November 2024, claiming that the Henrico County insurer mismanaged funds for Owens & Minor’s employee health insurance plan and allegedly violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. According to the complaint, Owens & Minor requested its insurance plan’s claims data in September 2021, but Anthem did not provide the information until July 2024, after Owens & Minor sued the insurer. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

Dominion Energy Chief Operating Officer Diane Leopold plans to retire from the Fortune 500 utility this summer after working for nearly four decades in the industry, she announced in early December 2024. Leopold, who will remain as COO and executive vice president until she steps down on June 1, oversees major construction projects such as Dominion’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project under construction off the coast of Virginia Beach, and Charybdis, the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

EASTERN VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach-based drone delivery company DroneUp has received a Federal Aviation Administration certificate that will allow it to grow its delivery operations. In early December 2024, the company announced it had received an FAA approval that lets DroneUp carry third-party property as an air carrier and to fly drones up to 5 miles without maintaining a visual line of sight. Founder and CEO Tom Walker says the certificate “allows us to scale much, much quicker.” DroneUp plans to start expanding air carrier operations in the first quarter of 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

There’s a chance of icy conditions ahead for the Military Circle mall redevelopment project. A sports tourism consultant has determined a tournament-caliber ice rink complex is the biggest opportunity for a potential redevelopment project, Norfolk Economic Development Director Sean Washington told City Council members during a November 2024 retreat. An ice complex for figure skating and hockey would attract visitors from across the region and help differentiate the complex from competitors Virginia Beach Sports Center and the Williamsburg Sports and Events Center, consultant firm Victus Advisors says. (The Virginian-Pilot)

A subsidiary of Smithfield Foods agreed in November 2024 to pay $2 million to settle allegations it hired children to work at a meat packaging plant in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Smithfield’s operation in Minnesota allegedly employed at least 11 children between the ages of 14 and 17 during the audit period of April 2021 through April 2023. All 11 children “performed hazardous work for Smithfield,” the state department said. Smithfield, which did not admit liability, contested the state’s claims and said it screens all new hires through E-Verify. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Beach has agreed to give Something in the Water up to $500,000 for the April 2025 festival, but only if organizers meet specific goals and are transparent in the planning. A contract was signed in mid-November 2024, giving an initial $100,000 to the festival started by native son and music mogul Pharrell Williams. To receive the next $200,000, the festival must give the city a lineup list by Dec. 31, 2024, then complete a “promoter’s special event permit application” for the final $200,000 installment. In September 2024, Williams postponed the October 2024 festival within hours of tickets going on sale. (The Virginian-Pilot)

PEOPLE

The American Association of Port Authorities announced in November 2024 that Stephen Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, has been elected to a two-year term on the AAPA’s board. The association represents more than 130 public port authorities in the Americas. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Scott Martin was selected as CEO of the Fort Monroe Authority in late November 2024, chosen out of 257 applicants. He will step into the shoes of inaugural CEO Glenn Oder, who retired at the end of September 2024 after 13 years. Martin grew up in Hopewell and worked in Petersburg as an interpretive park ranger. He most recently served as administrator of Chattanooga Parks & Outdoors in Tennessee. (WHRO)

Sean Tibbetts is set to become Armada Hoffler Properties’ CEO on Jan. 1, earlier than previously announced. In February 2024, the Virginia Beach real estate investment trust announced that it expected to name Tibbetts, its chief operating officer and president, as CEO in the spring of 2025, upon the retirement of Louis Haddad, who will remain executive chairman of the board. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

AeroVironment, an Arlington County defense contractor, announced in late November 2024 it will purchase aerospace and defense tech firm BlueHalo, also based in Arlington, for approximately $4.1 billion in an all-stock transaction. BlueHalo is owned by private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners and works in space technologies, counter-uncrewed aircraft systems, directed energy, electronic warfare, cyber, artificial intelligence and uncrewed underwater vehicles. In 2022, the company won a $1.4 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force to modernize satellite operations. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Arlington-based Boeing said in federal filings in November 2024 that it would lay off more than 2,500 workers in the United States as part of its plan to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce. The affected workers are in Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Missouri, and they will stay on the payroll until Jan. 17, to comply with federal requirements to notify employees at least 60 days prior to ending their employment. (Reuters)

Three Inova Health entities agreed to pay more than $2.37 million to settle claims that Inova submitted Medicaid claims containing falsified information, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in November 2024. The health system disclosed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Virginia Attorney General’s Office that in 2020, it submitted claims to Medicaid for reimbursement with improperly modified documentation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

MicroStrategy, the Tysons-based tech company chaired by bitcoin whale Michael Saylor, has pursued bitcoin as an investment strategy since 2020. Now, it appears to have paid off as bitcoin breached the $10,000 threshold in early December 2024. On Dec. 5, bitcoins were trading for $101,293.94, according to Coinbase, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. That week, MicroStrategy spent roughly $2.1 billion to add 21,550 bitcoins to its stash, which was worth close to $41.5 billion at the time, according to regulatory filings. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Herndon-based federal contractor Paragon Systems agreed in November 2024 to pay $52 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that Paragon used its own subsidiaries to fraudulently win small business set-aside contracts, violating the federal False Claims and Anti-Kickback acts. The department said former top officials at Paragon allegedly directed female relatives and friends to “serve as figurehead owners of purported small businesses” to win contracts from the Department of Homeland Security that were meant to go to woman-owned small businesses and other small businesses. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A Democratic state delegate and a Republican schools activist won firehouse primaries in Loudoun County in November 2024, teeing up a Jan. 7 special election between the two to fill an open Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by Suhas Subramanyam as he moves to Congress. Del. Kannan Srinivasan, a Democrat, will face Tumay Harding, a Republican former teacher and vocal critic of the county’s school system. Subramanyam takes office in January to succeed U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who did not run again because of health issues. (The Washington Post)

PEOPLE

Mark Clouse, president and CEO of food giant The Campbell’s Co., will be the Washington Commanders’ next team president, the Ashburn-based NFL team announced in December 2024. He will replace Jason Wright, the NFL’s first Black team president, in late January. In October 2024, Campbell’s partnered with sports management company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment as an official corporate partner to the company’s four pro sports teams, which includes the Commanders. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

ROANOKE/LYNCHBURG/NEW RIVER VALLEY

Appalachian Power welcomed residents and elected officials to an open house in Lynchburg in December 2024, where company representatives answered questions about plans to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County, a few miles down the James River from Lynchburg. Each SMR that Appalachian Power chooses to build at the Joshua Falls site would likely be between 70 megawatts and 300 megawatts, an official from American Electric Power, Appalachian Power’s parent company, said. (The News & Advance)

Cave Spring developer Alexander Boone withdrew his request to rezone the Poage Farm property in Roanoke County in December 2024. He was seeking to build 138 town homes, 11 single-family homes and a commercial center there. Boone purchased the land from the county’s public schools for $1.1 million, but neighbors were concerned about traffic and the impact of the development on the area’s rural character. (The Roanoke Times; news release)

When Roanoke residents need a kidney transplant, the closest option is the University of Virginia, a two-hour drive up interstates 81 and 64. For patients in far Southwest Virginia, the trip is even longer. Carilion Clinic cited the geographical barrier when proposing a kidney transplant program in Roanoke. State health officials, however, recommended denial of the application, referencing a letter of opposition from the University of Virginia Medical Center. That letter focused largely on concerns that another kidney transplant center close to U.Va. would divert patients away from its program. (Cardinal News)

Developers plan to invest $50 million into a project to revitalize the property where Walker Machine and Foundry sat to capitalize on the site’s proximity to the Roanoke River Greenway, according to Greg Kaknes, a retired businessman. In January, Kaknes will ask the City of Roanoke to rezone about 12 acres of industrial land for a mixed-use development, that could include an apartment complex, a restaurant and pickleball courts, according to plans filed with the city. Kaknes said he envisions renovating buildings, as well as adding small single-family homes. (Roanoke Rambler)

Peter Treiber, a member of Roanoke College’s class of 1979, and his wife, Irene, recently committed $1 million to his alma mater to create the Treiber Center for Curricular Innovation, which will be an integral part of the college’s new endeavor Roanoke College-Roanoke Valley (RC-RV), the college announced Dec. 3, 2024. The goal of RC-RV is to allow Roanoke College to adapt quickly to the educational needs of employees in Roanoke Valley industries. It will offer workplace development, continuing education and flexible learning opportunities. (News release)

PEOPLE

When Collin McLaughlin started work Nov. 1, 2024, as CEO of LewisGale Medical Center, he became the Salem hospital’s fifth leader in 10 years. Previous CEOs have retired, returned to their home state or moved on to other hospitals or positions in the HCA Healthcare network, of which LewisGale is a member. McLaughlin was previously CEO of Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. (The Roanoke Times)

Valmarie Turner, who’s currently a deputy city manager in Fairfax, was hired from among 40 applicants after a nationwide search to be Roanoke’s new city manager. The first Black city manager in Roanoke’s history, Turner succeeds Bob Cowell, who resigned in June 2024 after seven years on the job. (Cardinal News)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Winchester-based Coldwell Banker Premier has acquired Virginia Beach-based Coldwell Banker Now, merging into a brokerage with a combined $600 million sales volume in 2023. Coldwell Banker Premier did not disclose financial details of the merger, which it announced Nov. 18, 2024. The combined real estate company is the second-fastest growing Coldwell Banker franchise in the nation over the last five years and the second largest in the mid-Atlantic region, according to RealTrends Verified. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in December 2024 to accept new proffers from Northern Virginia developer Emad Saadeh promising to build 55,000 square feet of neighborhood shops next to the Stonehaven development at Clevenger’s Corner. Residents of the planned 770-home neighborhood were in favor of nearby shops and restaurants. Saadeh promised no data centers would be built as part of his commercial project. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)

Former Augusta County-based Nexus Services executive Richard Moore was scheduled to go on trial Dec. 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, but the trial was postponed until Jan. 6. In 2021, federal authorities charged Moore with 10 counts of tax fraud after he was accused of failing to pay more than $1.5 million in Social Security, Medicare and federal taxes from the pay of his employees and not sending the money to the IRS. Authorities now allege Moore reportedly continued to bilk the IRS up until early 2024, resulting in six more federal charges filed against him in September 2024. (Staunton News Leader)

Rutter’s broke ground on its first Virginia site, located in Winchester, the Pennsylvania-based privately held convenience store chain announced in December 2024. The company first announced the Virginia location in July 2024 and expects to open it in mid-2025. Located at the intersection of Route 50 and Covestone Drive, the convenience store will be 13,500 square feet and will be open 24 hours a day. (CSP Daily News)

Sentara Health launched its Mobile Care Clinic in late November 2024. The health system debuted the clinic in Harrisonburg’s Northeast neighborhood to offer free prostate cancer blood screenings and education. The clinic’s mission is to deliver care to people with Medicaid or without insurance in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Initially, the mobile clinic will make weekly stops at the Church of the Nazarene to offer primary care. In the future, the clinic expects to add regular visits to the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. (Daily News-Record)

Valley Health has renamed its Heart & Vascular Center at Winchester Medical Center in recognition of “a generous donation” to its Stronger Together capital campaign. The health system renamed the center the Clyde A. Smith Heart & Vascular Center in a dedication ceremony on Nov. 24, 2024. The founder of Valley Proteins, Smith’s “life was impacted by heart disease,” according to a Valley Health news release. (The Winchester Star)

Virginia Military Institute and a prospective student have settled a lawsuit that the prospective student filed, in which she alleged a cadet sexually assaulted her in the Lexington school’s barracks during an overnight “Open House” event. The parties settled the suit in a private mediation session in Roanoke’s federal court in November 2024. The alleged incident happened in September 2021 during a two-day event in which high school students considering VMI were encouraged to visit the state-supported military school. (The Roanoke Times)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

The $750 million Caesars Virginia resort in Danville delayed its grand opening by five days to Dec. 17, 2024, Nevada’s Caesars Entertainment announced in early December 2024. Also announced was an appearance by retired Chicago Bulls basketball star and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, who was set to lead a parade of racecars and make a “ceremonial first bet” in Caesars Sportsbook. The 587,000-square-foot casino and resort hotel replaces the temporary Caesars casino that opened nearby in 2023. The casino will be the state’s third permanent casino and the most expensive yet. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Cambridge Pavers, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of pavers, slabs and wall systems, will invest $47.35 million to establish a 150,000-square-foot facility at Ringgold East Industrial Park in Pittsylvania County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 6, 2024. Virginia competed with North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Massachusetts for the project, which is expected to create 55 jobs. Cambridge Pavers, which boasts seven other manufacturing facilities and employs 370 workers, manufactures hardscape products for patios, landscaping and pool decks. The facility is expected to be operational in 18 to 24 months. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Members of Danville City Council unanimously voted to rezone about 22 acres from Highway Retail Commercial to Multifamily Residential for J. Cubas Holdings to develop a residential complex including condos and housing for elderly and assisted living residents at Goodyear Boulevard. Developer Joe Cubas hopes to construct 240 condominium units and 180 assisted-living units on the property. Cubas is also the developer behind a project to build 303 single-family units on 101 acres at Jenny Lane off Goodyear Boulevard. The council approved that project in January 2024. (Danville Register & Bee)

Members of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors awarded Haymes Brothers, a Chatham grading, excavating and construction firm, a $3.97 million contract Nov. 19, 2024, to repair the Ringgold Rail Trail’s Sandy Creek Bridge, which was damaged by flood waters from Tropical Storm Michael in 2018. For the past six years, runners, hikers and cyclists have not been able to use the 5.5 mile trail in its entirety because the bridge is unsafe. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the county are sharing the cost of the repair. The project is expected to be completed in late 2026. (News release)

Morgan Olson paid back a $500,000 Virginia Port Authority grant Nov. 20, 2024, after the Michigan-based manufacturer of walk-in step vans failed to employ an agreed-upon number of workers at its facility at the Cane Creek Centre Industrial Park in Pittsylvania County. In October 2019, the company announced plans to invest $57.8 million to bring it operations and 703 jobs to a former Ikea facility located outside Danville. Morgan Olson laid off 435 employees at Cane Creek Centre in 2023 and an additional 130 in August 2024. VPA asked the company to repay the grant Sept. 25, 2024. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Teal-Jones, a Canadian-based forest products company, suspended its pine products operation in Henry County in November. Company officials did not respond for comment Dec. 6, 2024, but Henry County Administrator Dale Wagoner confirmed that the county had recently been notified by local company officials that production was being suspended temporarily as the parent company in Canada mitigates a companywide bankruptcy filing. Wagoner said despite the financial stress of the industry, it was his understanding that the Horsepasture operation was profitable and is still considered to be a vital part of the parent company’s portfolio. (Martinsville Bulletin)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

The Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation has made a five-year commitment totaling $640,000 to support the regional humanities center that opened Dec. 2, 2024, at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, announced the commitment on Dec. 3, 2024. The council is launching several new regional humanities centers headquartered within existing regional organizations; the Virginia Humanities at UVA Wise is housed within the school’s Center for Appalachian Studies. The center will focus on telling the region’s stories and connecting cultural nonprofits with grant funding. (Cardinal News)

Duchess Dairy will invest approximately $895,000 to expand its dairy processing operations in
Wythe County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 12, 2024. The family-owned dairy manufacturer currently has a premium bottled milk line and plans to add a churned butter production line. The Huffard family and Joe Blakenship formed Duchess Diary Products in 2010 and began processing and bottling milk from their herds. The company produces about 7,000 gallons of traditional and flavored milk per week, and its products are sold in retail stores across Southern and Southwest Virginia. (News release)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin submitted a request Nov. 15, 2024, to President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and congressional appropriators for $4.4 billion to aid Southwest Virginia’s recovery from flooding and other damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The funding would support rebuilding and recovery efforts across 36 localities. Across the region, the storm resulted in more than $2 billion in direct and indirect economic damages, according to a Virginia Economic Development Partnership analysis. As of Nov. 12, 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had received nearly 10,000 applications for individual assistance and almost 3,000 requests for damaged or destroyed home inspections. (Bristol Herald Courier)

More than 110,000 people visited the permanent Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol in the first roughly two weeks after its Nov. 14, 2024, grand opening. Of those visitors, 58,000 came during its opening weekend. From Nov. 14 to Nov. 16, the hotel reported 99% occupancy. In the 12 days after its grand opening, the casino paid out more than $12 million in jackpots, including more than $7.3 million on opening weekend. The new facility had a sharp increase in visitors from Roanoke; Atlanta; Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina. (Bristol Herald Courier)

The partners in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol purchased a 13-acre former industrial site across from the casino for $7 million. United Co. and Par Ventures bought the property through a limited liability company, Exit 1 Development, from Nulife Glass VA Realty. The casino partners are currently using the site, located at the corner of Catherine Street and Gate City Highway, for employee parking. “The reason for the purchase is to be prepared, in advance, to meet future growth demands, as they may arise,” said Andy Poarch, a spokesperson for the casino. (Cardinal News)

Wrap Technologies, an Arizona-based public safety and defense technology company, is locating its manufacturing and distribution base in Norton’s Project Intersection industrial park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 22, 2024. The company will occupy a new, 20,000-square-foot building at Project Intersection, where U.S. Route 23 and Highway 58 meet. In August, a $10.4 million EarthLink call center became the industrial park’s first tenant. Wrap Technologies CEO Scot Cohen said in an interview that the new plant will be ready by late 2025, but Wrap will be starting production in early 2025 in a temporary local facility. (VirginiaBusiness.com)