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Virginia Business// June 29, 2023//
Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. completed its acquisition of e-vapor maker NJOY Holdings Inc. for approximately $2.75 billion, the tobacco giant announced June 1. NJOY is now a fully owned subsidiary; its new president and CEO is Shannon Leistra, who previously served as senior vice president and consumer experience officer at Altria Client Services LLC. NJOY ACE is the only pod-based e-vapor product to receive marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Altria says it identified about 70,000 U.S. retail stores, including existing ones, for its ACE expansion. (News release)
The City of Richmond shared single-page summaries from each of the four remaining contenders for the City Center Innovation District, a 9.4-acre downtown area that includes the closed Richmond Coliseum. The finalists include Maryland-based Capstone Development LLC, the hotel developer for the city’s Diamond District project; City Center Gateway Partners, a group headlined by investment firm Capital Square and Shamin Hotels, both based in the Richmond area; Lincoln Property Co., a Dallas firm that is partnering with two companies linked to Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith; and Richmond Community Development Partners, a group spearheaded by Houston’s Machete Group and Richmond-based Bank Street Advisors. Officials hope to announce a preferred development group this summer. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Glen Allen-based Fortune 500 insurance and investment firm Markel Corp. changed its name to Markel Group Inc. on May 26. The change is to “provide greater definition around the nature of [the] holding company, which includes three engines of insurance, investments and a group of diverse businesses in Markel Ventures,” according to a news release. The company also launched a new website, mklgroup.com, but will continue trading under the stock ticker symbol MKL on the New York Stock Exchange. There won’t be any significant structural or organizational impacts, executives said. Markel’s global specialty insurance business will continue as Markel, and its primary website will remain markel.com. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
On June 12, Richmond City Council selected RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC — a joint venture between Urban One Inc. and Churchill Downs Inc. — as the city’s preferred casino operator. It marked one of several administrative steps the city must take before a do-over casino referendum lands on ballots in November, asking voters to reconsider allowing the proposed $562.5 million ONE Casino + Resort to be built in Richmond. City voters rejected the proposed resort casino in November 2021 by a 1,200-vote margin. Council will next petition Richmond Circuit Court to place the referendum on November ballots. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Natalie S. Masri took over the role of president and CEO of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce on June 1. She succeeds Andrea Copeland, who served as the chamber’s interim president since February and becomes the chamber’s chief operating officer. Masri most recently founded Brave May LLC, a consulting firm focused on corporate social responsibility, women’s economic empowerment, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center was a client of the firm; Masri held various roles with the U.S. chamber from 2004 through 2016. The Charlottesville Regional Chamber has about 680 members. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Forvis named Jennifer Wold as managing partner of its Virginia practice unit, effective June 1. She succeeds Tom Hazelwood, who served as managing partner for a year. Wold will oversee day-to-day operations at offices in Richmond, where she’s based, and in Norfolk. She is a member of the firm’s commercial products practice and came from Wichita, Kansas. Hazelwood is returning to North Carolina and will continue serving clients as a partner. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
A Virginia Beach biotech not-for-profit company has acquired the wound care business of a Durham, North Carolina, medical device firm in a deal valued at $85 million. LifeNet Health, a developer of products like skin grafts and heart valves, is purchasing Bioventus’ wound-care business and line of products, the organization announced May 10. The acquisition includes a three-product portfolio, as well as a distribution sales force of 90 employees. (The Virginian-Pilot)
Norfolk officially signed a $2.6 billion project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 12, paving the way for the next steps in constructing a floodwall. The agreement governs Resilient Norfolk, a suite of projects designed to protect key parts of the city from the increasing threat of flooding during major storms. Federal, state and local officials gathered for a signing ceremony downtown at the Waterside District, steps from where part of the 8-mile concrete wall will run along the Elizabeth River. The signing unlocks $400 million awarded for the project under the 2021 federal infrastructure law. The federal government will pay 65% of the overall cost, leaving Norfolk on the hook for $930 million. (WHRO Public Media)
A Walmart Inc. employee who escaped a November 2022 mass shooting at a Chesapeake store refiled her lawsuit against the company at the end of May with new details about her experience that night. A Chesapeake Circuit Court judge in April sustained Walmart’s attempt to have Briana Tyler’s lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages dismissed, but gave Tyler’s lawyers 30 days to refile with new evidence. Tyler’s latest filing highlights several instances, not previously presented to the court, in which she alleges the shooter personally targeted her. The amended complaint states the shooter looked her in the eyes, pointed his gun at her and pulled the trigger — but missed. (The Virginian-Pilot)
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On June 2, the Navy ousted the commanding officer of guided-missile destroyer USS Stout. Cmdr. Jeffrey Applebaugh was relieved due to a “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the Navy said in a statement. Applebaugh, who has served as the Norfolk-based destroyer’s commanding office since October 2022, will be temporarily reassigned to the staff of Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic. Capt. Scott Rosetti, deputy commander of Destroyer Squadron 28, will temporarily take the helm of the Stout, with Cmdr. Desmond Walker, executive officer of guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge and a Hampton Roads native, eventually filling the role. (The Virginian-Pilot)
On July 1, Newport News Shipbuilding promoted three employees to its senior leadership team, part of an effort that includes restructuring programs as the company plans for upcoming retirements. Rob Check is now vice president of in-service aircraft carrier programs; Thomasina Wright assumed the role of vice president of fleet support programs, and Les Smith took over as vice president of the USS Enterprise and USS Doris Miller aircraft carrier programs. Virginia’s largest industrial employer, the shipbuilder is a division of Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Andy Spicknall became the inaugural president of Bon Secours Harbour View Hospital in Suffolk on June 5. Spicknall most recently served as vice president of operations at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth. Spicknall will be responsible for the operational success of Harbour View, including the existing Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View and the upcoming Harbour View Hospital, scheduled to open in 2025. Bon Secours broke ground on the $80 million hospital in October 2022. It will be 98,000 square feet, with 18 medical/surgical beds and up to four operating rooms. (VirigniaBusiness.com)
About 2,000 employees moved into the first open tower at Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington in late May. Floors 1-14 of Merlin, one of Amazon’s twin 22-story office towers in Metropolitan Park, HQ2’s first phase, opened May 22. The company has hired 8,000 employees locally so far. Despite layoffs, Amazon has remained firm on its commitment to create 25,000 jobs at HQ2 by 2030. Also in June, Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, released an economic impact statement, saying it had invested more than
$51.9 billion in Virginia between 2011
and 2021. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Arlington-based Boeing Co. is again delaying deliveries of its 787 Dreamliners after discovering a defect related to a fitting on the plane’s horizontal stabilizer, a wing-shaped surface at the tail of the plane. The company said the issue didn’t pose an immediate safety problem and it didn’t expect the problem to affect its target of delivering 70 to 80 Dreamliners this year. The company in February halted Dreamliner deliveries because of regulatory documentation issues. The Federal Aviation Administration in March cleared Boeing to resume Dreamliner deliveries. The jets previously had been largely halted for nearly two years until resuming in August 2022, as Boeing contended with various production and regulatory issues. (The Wall Street Journal)
The health services tech company that formed from last year’s merger of McLean-based health care IT provider CNSI and Nashville, Tennessee-based health care management tech company Kepro is now Acentra Health. The company announced the rebranding June 6. McLean will serve as the company’s corporate headquarters. Acentra Health partners with 45 state Medicaid agencies and five federal agencies. The company has 3,000 employees and more than 4,500 credentialed clinicians. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Nazzic S. Keene, CEO of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC),
will retire in October, the Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor announced May 18. Keene will be succeeded by former Microsoft Corp. executive Toni Townes-Whitley, also formerly president of CGI Federal. Townes-Whitley became CEO-elect on June 12 and is replacing Keene on SAIC’s board, taking the helm of a company exceeding $7 billion in annual revenue, with more than 26,000 employees. Keene will remain CEO until
Oct. 1 and will remain on as a special adviser through Feb. 2, 2024. Keene joined SAIC in 2012 as senior vice president for corporate strategy and planning, and became chief operating officer in 2017 and CEO in 2019.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)
ManTech International Corp. co-founder George J. Pedersen, who built a defense contracting firm in 1968 with a single contract from the U.S. Navy and sold it last year to Washington, D.C., private equity firm The Carlyle Group for $4.2 billion, died May 22 at age 87. Pedersen stepped down as CEO of the Herndon-based firm in 2018, retiring as chairman emeritus in 2022. With 9,800 employees, ManTech reported 2022 revenue of $2.55 billion. “[Pedersen] was gifted in business, an adaptive and decisive leader and, most of all, committed to the missions that helped secure the lives and liberties of our nation’s citizens,” ManTech Chairman Kevin Phillips said. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
USA Today named Terence Samuel, NPR News’ vice president and executive editor, as editor-in-chief, effective July 10. Samuel will help lead the publication through “the next phase of growth and innovation,” according to a June 2 announcement from USA Today’s McLean-based parent company, Gannett Co. Samuel succeeds Nicole Carroll, who stepped down May 1 after more than five years. Samuel has also held senior editorial positions at The Washington Post and worked as a reporter for The Roanoke Times. (USA Today)
A manufacturer of industrial machinery will invest $1.4 million in its Botetourt County facility, creating 150 new jobs, the governor’s office announced
May 23. Birmingham, Alabama-based Altec Industries is a private company that makes truck bodies, cranes, digger derricks and other equipment for electric utilities, telecommunications companies, tree care businesses and more. It offers products and services in more than 100 countries. Altec opened its Botetourt facility in 2001 at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield, in Daleville. (Cardinal News)
Construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline was expected to resume in June, and attorneys for the company were attempting to clear the court docket of lawsuits intended to stop it. The “plain language” of debt ceiling legislation passed May 31 by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden
June 3 requires that two pending cases be dismissed, Mountain Valley contended in motions filed June 5. But rather than throw out the legal challenges immediately, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave pipeline opponents until June 15 to respond. A slew of lawsuits by environmental groups has delayed completion of the natural gas pipeline since 2018. (The Roanoke Times)
Roanoke College, Salem City Schools and Virginia Western Community College are teaming up to pursue a statewide goal of opening lab schools. Roanoke College announced June 5 it received one of 16 lab school planning grants from the Virginia Department of Education, worth $192,000. That money comes as part of a state government initiative to start up public lab schools operated by colleges and universities for K-12 students. Planning grant money will be used during the next year to devise strategies and best practices for opening a lab school at Roanoke College, officials said.
(The Roanoke Times)
United Way of Southwest Virginia and United Way of New River Valley are combining their resources to better serve Giles, Floyd, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the City of Radford. United Way of Southwest Virginia uses a cradle-to-career framework for community support and has been recognized as one of the top 10 United Ways in the country. Joining forces allows for deeper collaboration with important partners such as Virginia Tech and Radford University. It also allows for more multiregional projects with GO Virginia Region 2. To ensure a deep connection with New River Valley partners and the community, United Way will maintain an office in Christiansburg. (The Roanoke Times)
Virginia Tech’s board of visitors voted June 6 to raise graduate student compensation by 5% for the 2023-2024 year, following a university report that called for dramatic increases to the pay structure. The decision is in line with salary increases approved throughout the university. If the General Assembly approves additional funding for the university, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands can further increase salaries for the upcoming academic year. The approval wipes out the lowest levels of the pay schedule for graduate students receiving assistantships, bringing minimum monthly pay from the previous floor of $1,763 to a new minimum of $2,420. (Cardinal News)
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Carilion Clinic promoted its executive vice president and chief operating officer, Steve Arner, to president of the Roanoke-based nonprofit health system. He will remain COO while taking on new duties as president, Carilion said in a May 16 announcement. Nancy Howell Agee, who has served as president and CEO since 2011, will continue as CEO. In addition to serving as Carilion Clinic’s COO and executive vice president for the health care organization’s Roanoke operations since 2012, Arner has been president and CEO of the 703-bed Level 1 trauma center Carilion Medical Center since 2014. As president, Arner will oversee day-to-day management of the $2.4 billion health system’s seven hospitals and more than 240 medical offices. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Arcadia Project, which is converting the former Dixie Theater in Staunton into a mixed-use facility, announced in early June it had sold the building at 119 E. Beverley St., adjacent to the theater. The buyer, Miller & Associates, plans to develop the building into 23 apartments with ground-floor commercial space. The Arcadia Project must match a $1.5 million grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s Industrial Revitalization Fund in order to receive it, and the project will use the proceeds from the building sale toward the required grant match. (News Leader)
On May 17, Augusta County officials and Amazon.com Inc. representatives held a ribbon cutting for the launch of Amazon’s fulfillment center in Fishersville, which officially opened on April 30. In August 2021, the county Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning for the 1 million-square-foot warehouse, and in February 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the planned center, Amazon’s 11th in the state. Amazon had hired about 200 employees for the center by May but planned to scale up to 500 employees. The center is mainly responsible for picking, packing and shipping larger items like furniture or outdoor equipment. (The Daily Progress)
Sentara Health presented a check for $200,000 in scholarship funds for students in health care disciplines to Eastern Mennonite University on May 19. A week later, James Madison University received its $200,000 check from Sentara Scholars, the health system’s $3 million fund to provide money for students pursuing degrees in health care. Scholarships will be awarded based on a combination of merit and need-based criteria. At EMU, seven students pursuing advanced degrees in health will receive the funds. JMU will use the funding for students in its College of Health and Behavioral Studies. (Daily News-Record, WHSV)
The $10 million sale of Ward Plaza in Winchester closed on June 1. Located in the 2400 block of Valley Avenue, the 19.6-acre Ward Plaza opened in 1964 as Winchester’s first shopping center but has experienced a steady decline for more than 20 years. The buyer group — Winchester Acquisition Partners LLC, headed by private investor John Wesley Gray Jr. from McLean — plans to tear the shopping center down and replace it with a 40,000-square-foot anchor tenant and a mix of homes and retail space. The Winchester Economic Development Authority obtained a $4 million bank loan and gave the money to Gray as an economic incentive. (The Winchester Star)
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Winchester-based educational support nonprofit Opportunity Scholars named Rachel Schaefer as its first executive director. Schaefer, who started May 15, spent the past seven years working for Valley Health, most recently as its workforce development program manager. She serves as a consultant to Laurel Ridge Community College’s Workforce Solutions initiative and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Schaefer holds an MBA from Strayer University. Opportunity Scholars was founded in 2019 to help high school students who need assistance defining a career path for success. (The Winchester Star)
Shenandoah Valley’s Small Business Development Center, based in Harrisonburg, named Allison Dugan its newest director, the regional SBDC announced mid-May. Dugan started with the Shenandoah Valley SBDC as a part-time program manager in 2014 and became a business adviser in 2015, adding the title of assistant director in 2019. She took on the leadership role May 1, after serving as interim director since March 27, replacing Joyce Krech, who retired after more than two decades. Dugan said that she plans to leverage the SBDC’s network for resources, including host institution James Madison University, to identify and develop services needed to build small businesses. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Restoration of the former White Mill building in Danville is about 75% complete, and construction of residential and commercial space for the Dan River Falls project is in its early stages. “The construction process has been moving along rather smoothly,” says Kendra Bishop, a spokesperson with Madison, Wisconsin-based developer The Alexander Co. Work began on the $85 million endeavor in January. In the residential portion of the 550,000-square-foot building, concrete floors have been poured and workers are beginning to frame apartments — starting with the fourth floor and working down, as of early June. (Danville Register & Bee)
Heyco Werk USA Inc., a subsidiary of Germany-based automotive parts manufacturer Heyco Group, plans to invest $5.4 million to expand its operations in Greenville County, adding 21 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced May 25. The location produces precision plastic molder parts for the auto industry and other industrial markets. Heyco Werk USA produces products for all BMW sport utility vehicles around the world, and its expansion will meet needs of BMW plants in South Carolina, China and South Africa, Youngkin says. Heyco Group supplies products and engineering services in metal and plastic processing technology. The company has eight sites worldwide, with approximately 1,250 employees. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Maryland-based Kiwi Sports, an ecommerce retailer, is establishing an order fulfillment and logistics hub in the warehouse building at
2202 Parker Ave. in South Boston, the one-time home of Lindstrand Technologies, near South Boston Elementary School. Kiwi Sports is an online seller of automotive parts and accessories — both original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and aftermarket parts — and it also sells sports apparel and equipment, including for winter sports enthusiasts. Kiwi maintains third-party stores on Amazon and eBay, with 2,500 followers and 114,000 items sold on eBay. The upfit has been modest thus far — mostly lighting and electrical upgrades. Kiwi Sports plans to scale up operations in South Boston in coming months. (SoVa Now)
A proposal by the Mecklenburg County Planning Commission to cap the total number of acres of land devoted to solar development stirred controversy during the May 25 meeting of the 10-member board. The Planning Commission is recommending that the Board of Supervisors set an aggregate limit of 2,325 acres for all solar generation facilities in the county. The limit would apply to fenced areas of the solar projects. (SoVa Now)
On June 6, the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval for a 614-acre mixed-use project that will go before the county Board of Supervisors on July 18. The project’s developers, Southside Investing LLC, propose building 1,900 housing
units, including town houses, single and multifamily homes, and senior housing. Plans also call for a grocery-anchored commercial district with a hotel, child care center and community center. The homes would be market rate without any government subsidies, said Southside Investing partner Thomas Gallagher, who said town houses would sell for roughly $175,000 to $250,000 and single-family homes for $250,000 to $350,000. (Cardinal News)
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Lynchburg’s assistant city manager, John Hughes IV, became executive vice president of operations at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville on June 1. He reports directly to IALR President Telly Tucker and serves as the institute’s chief business and operations officer. A Lynchburg native, Hughes earned his doctorate in education and MBA from the University of Lynchburg, from which he also received two bachelor’s degrees. Hughes previously worked as a foster care social worker and senior family services specialist before spending nearly a decade as the Children’s Services Act coordinator for Lynchburg. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Coal Communities Commitment Coalition, a peer-learning network of 20 local leaders from various U.S. coal communities, visited Southwest Virginia in early June to learn about economic diversification efforts. Virginia is the first of four planned site visits for the coalition over the next two years, part of an initiative supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum hosted a reception for the group on June 7, and, on June 8, the group visited the Delta Lab, saw a program on telework in Big Stone Gap and visited the Appalachian Grains site in Norton.
(Bristol Herald Courier)
Sites in Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the city of Norton would be “ideal” for installing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), according
to a state-funded feasibility study released May 22. Examining the technical feasibility, safety considerations and economic viability of locating small reactors in Southwest Virginia, the study conducted by Reston-based Dominion Engineering Inc. deemed Southwest Virginia a “competitive hosting ground for SMRs.” The $150,000 study was commissioned by the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission and funded by the Virginia Department of Energy and GO Virginia Region One. The study bolsters Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push for nuclear energy to be part of the state’s green energy framework, the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which was passed by the General Assembly in 2020. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Rapha Foundation has awarded the Napoleon Hill Foundation a second $25,000 grant over the course of two years to continue offsetting tuition fees for the Keys to Success course. The course for high school students in Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Tazewell, Russell, Lee and Scott counties and the city of Norton is taught at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. The three-credit-hour college-level business course is based on the “Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success: The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement” book and lectures.
(The Coalfield Progress)
The United Way of Southwest Virginia plans to convert an 87,000-square-foot former Kmart in Abingdon into a workforce development hub, an estimated $23 million project, the United Way chapter, Food City and the Town of Abingdon announced May 19. Construction is set to begin in July, and UWSWVA expects to open the building in July or August 2024. So far, the nonprofit has raised $14 million for the project. Food City, owned by K-VA-T Food Stores, partnered with UWSWVA, lowering the price of the building well below fair market value, according to UWSWVA. The nonprofit bought the building for $3 million. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
In early June, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority announced it had made an up to $217,000 grant to assist the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority with its Chip Mill Site Redevelopment Project in the county’s Red Onion area. The IDA plans to repurpose the abandoned site and provide an approximately 23.5-acre build-ready pad. It will use the funds from VCEDA to cover a portion of engineering fees and other site development. The IDA first purchased the roughly 430-acre former Mountain Forest Products chip mill site in 2021 using an up to $1.175 million loan from VCEDA. (News release)
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Virginia Tech has named Allison Mays director of the Virginia Tech Southwest Center, located at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, the university announced May 16. Mays will be responsible for extending Virginia Tech’s research, engagement and graduate credit programs in the region. She has held several roles at Emory & Henry College, most recently as director of government relations, and has held leadership roles with Mount Rogers Community Services, Healing Hands Health Center and the Barter Theatre. Mays is an Emory & Henry graduate. (News release)
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