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Virginia Business// April 29, 2024//
Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares completed its acquisition of Danville-based American National Bankshares, parent company of American National Bank and Trust, on April 1. Based on the $35.31 per share closing price of Atlantic Union common stock on March 28, the transaction value was approximately $507 million. The deal was announced in July 2023, and in February, the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors approved the acquisition. Under the terms of the merger, American National shareholders will receive 1.35 shares of Atlantic Union common stock in exchange for each share of American National common stock, with cash paid in lieu of partial shares. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The City of Richmond intends to change the financial structure of the planned new Minor League Baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels at the Diamond District in a move that would cut costs by about $200 million but would shift the financial risk to the city and its taxpayers. In a plan that City Council heard on April 8, city officials propose issuing general obligation bonds backed by the city rather than creating a community development authority to issue bonds. If the project fails to generate the expected revenue, however, Richmond would have to pay off the debt. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The Hanover County Board of Supervisors approved permits and rezoning for a 1,200-acre data center park on March 27. Denver-based developer Tract is planning a tech park for data centers on Hickory Hill Road, northeast of Ashland, that would have between 30 and 38 buildings. Based on county projections, the park would provide an estimated $40 million in tax revenue per year over the first five years. The 20-year estimate is almost $1.8 billion in tax revenue. The development faced opposition from residents in Ashland and the county’s Beaverdam District. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Five developers are vying for the opportunity to build a casino in Petersburg, including a partnership between Cordish Cos. and NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith. Other contenders are Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, Warrenton Group, and Rush Street Gaming, which operates the Portsmouth Rivers Casino. As of mid-April, the city was waiting on the General Assembly to decide whether to allow a referendum to take place in 2024 or 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Tucker Door & Trim, a Georgia-based manufacturer and distributor of doors, windows and specialty millwork for the construction industry, was set to open its first facility in Virginia on April 1, creating 50 jobs, according to a March 20 announcement from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The company is investing $10 million in a Henrico County manufacturing and assembly facility for fiberboard and fiberglass doors and windows, aimed at increasing production for clients in the Northeast United States. The facility at 2700 Distribution Drive adds to Tucker Door & Trim’s two facilities in Georgia serving wholesale customers. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Chronic understaffing, misplaced letters and packages and a poorly executed transition to a regional postal hub are among the critical issues plaguing Richmond’s main mail processing facility, according to an audit from the U.S. Postal Service released March 28. In July 2023, Richmond’s mail processing center in Sandston became the first in the U.S. to transition from a local to a regional postal hub as part of the U.S. postmaster general’s 10-year modernization plan. Around that time, Richmond residents began reporting widespread issues with mail delivery. The report included 10 recommendations for the facility to improve, and USPS agreed to nine of them. (Axios Richmond)
Federal investigators are looking into whether Norfolk-based Sentara Health’s insurance subsidiary misled regulators when it drastically increased premiums in Hampton Roads and areas across the state in 2018 and 2019, according to court documents. Sentara Health Plans, then known as Optima Health, announced in 2017 it was increasing 2018 premiums in Hampton Roads by an average of 81% for its individual plans. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield pulled out of the marketplace for the 2018 Affordable Care Act open enrollment period in Hampton Roads, leaving Sentara as the only game in town. The U.S. government is investigating whether Sentara unfairly increased those premiums as it earned more than $655 million in federal subsidies.
(The Virginian-Pilot)
The Virginia Department of Transportation says the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project will now be completed in 2027. The new end date is part of a renegotiated deal VDOT reached with the construction company tasked with the project, the agency announced March 28. Officials have been meeting with the construction company on the project since 2022, when Hampton Roads Connector Partners told VDOT it “encountered unforeseen cost and schedule impacts since signing the contract in 2019,” according to a news release. The costs of building materials rose sharply during the pandemic, though costs are expected to stabilize this year. (WHRO)
An anonymous William & Mary alumna donated $30 million to renovate and rename a building in honor of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, currently the university’s chancellor. According to a March 20 university announcement, Robert M. Gates Hall will house three academic centers: the Global Research Institute, the Institute for Integrative Conservation, and the Whole of Government Center of Excellence. The currently vacant Brown Hall on W&M’s Williamsburg campus will be renovated into Gates Hall, a LEED-certified facility. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Virginia Beach-born-and-bred entertainment superstar Pharrell Williams will film a movie this spring and summer in Virginia based on his childhood, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced April 5. There had been rumors about the musical film project, “Atlantis,” in movie trade publications, but Youngkin confirmed the feature is being made in Central Virginia and Hampton Roads. It will be co-produced by Williams, who grew up in Virginia Beach’s Atlantis Apartments housing project. The film is set in summer 1977 in a neighborhood inspired by Atlantis, although it’s a fictionalized account based on the 51-year-old Williams’ life. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
PEOPLE
Jason R. Davis became president and CEO of Norfolk-based law firm Kaufman & Canoles on April 1. Davis, who has been with Kaufman & Canoles since 1997, succeeds William R. Van Buren III as president. Van Buren served as the firm’s president and chairman for 16 years and will remain chairman. Davis has been a member of the firm’s executive committee and co-chairs its health care team. In his practice, he represents and advises hospitals, physicians, long-term care facilities and other health care providers. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from William & Mary Law School.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)
G. Glenn Oder is retiring as executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority in October, the authority announced March 29. Oder has led the FMA for the past 12 years after leaving the General Assembly, where he served as a state delegate from 2002 to 2012, representing the 94th District in the House of Delegates. With Oder’s departure, the executive director role will be retitled to CEO, effective July 1. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Arlington County and the Washington Capitals have started talks about potential improvements to the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the NHL team’s practice facility and headquarters in Ballston. The 18-year-old, 137,000-square-foot county-owned facility also is open to the public and serves as the home ice for college, high school and beer league hockey teams. As of April, discussions were “in the early stages,” and there was “no timeline” for any potential decisions or actions, according to Sergey Kocharov, the Capitals’ head of communications. (ARLnow)
Metro is opening the door to new development on Alexandria’s Eisenhower Avenue corridor, offering roughly half an acre adjacent to the transit agency’s newest office building for a residential or commercial project — or a combination of the two. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority issued a request for proposals March 28 seeking a developer to ground lease, design and construct a project totaling as much as 300,000 square feet at 2403-2414 Mill Road. The half-acre lot is less than a third of a mile from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station and Is used for temporary surface parking. (Washington Business Journal)
Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser reached a deal in late March to keep the Washington Wizards and Capitals NBA and NHL teams in the District of Columbia through 2050, effectively ending all negotiations to relocate the teams to Alexandria. Gov. Glenn Youngkin had touted the $2 billion arena proposal announced in December 2023 as possibly creating 30,000 jobs and $12 billion in economic activity for the state, but Senate Democrats blocked a vote on legislation that would have established a state authority to own the property and buildings in Alexandria. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
OmniRide, the bus service overseen by Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, is facing a $16 million budget shortfall in Prince William County, unless the county can afford a steep subsidy increase sought by the bus system for the budget year beginning July 1. PRTC is subsidized in Prince William through a motor fuel tax that is projected to bring in not nearly enough to cover the $33 million the transit agency is requesting from the county. OmniRide will be forced to cut service if it can’t secure local funding to offset its rising costs. Prince William supervisors acknowledge the county’s need for robust bus service, but in early April, they expressed skepticism they can afford to pay the amount OmniRide is seeking, particularly amid inflation and the drying up of pandemic relief funds. (InsideNoVa)
Deshundra Jefferson, chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, applied pressure on members to raise taxes substantially on data centers, as the board barreled toward approval of next year’s budget. Data centers currently pay a rate of $2.15 per $100 of assessed value on computers they possess, and Jefferson, a newly elected Democrat, is likely to have the votes to pass an increase to $3.70, the maximum allowed under state law. The board is expected to finalize the budget April 23, and it will go into effect July 1. (InsideNoVa)
Tysons-based developer Cityline Partners and Fairfax County planning commissioners hit a stalemate in April over inclusion of workforce-affordable housing in Cityline’s proposed high-rise, which would be part of the developer’s Arbor Row project on 19.4 acres near Tysons Galleria, joining two completed residential buildings. Commissioners opted to postpone a vote in April on the 23-story residential tower at Arbor Row after county staff voiced objections to the developer’s refusal to include workforce-affordable units in the new building. (FFXNow)
After approving two solar farms in the past few years and last month denying the largest proposal yet, the Amherst County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an update to its utility-scale solar zoning rules March 19. The revised ordinance caps utility-scale solar operations at 50 acres under panel, a measure intended to limit the operations’ scope. At the joint meeting, the Amherst County Planning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance with an added measure to cap 10 megawatts of solar-generated power, but supervisors opted to not include that action. (Amherst New Era-Progress)
Freedom First Federal Credit Union is discontinuing its basic personal checking account, this month notifying more than 20,000 account holders of the change that took effect May 1. The switch makes Freedom First the only major credit union in the Roanoke Valley that would collect monthly fees if account holders don’t maintain a certain balance or have a certain amount of regular paychecks. Under one checking account option, residents must keep a minimum average daily balance of $2,500 or risk a $7 monthly fee. (The Roanoke Rambler)
Roanoke-based Luna Innovations is in danger of losing its place on the Nasdaq due to transaction questions that led the company to withhold its annual report. Luna, which makes and distributes fiber-optic sensing and monitoring technology, announced last month that it was indefinitely delaying its fourth quarter and annual reports after it discovered transaction discrepancies. Luna is no longer in compliance with the stock market’s rule requiring companies to file reports in a timely manner to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a letter from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department. (Cardinal News)
Pulaski County will become the owner of a raceway and a historic Minor League Baseball stadium after the properties’ current owner, Christiansburg-based Shelor Motor Mile, donates them to the local government. The donation is the largest gift the county has ever received, according to a statement. The speedway, officially named Pulaski County Motorsports Park, is a 152-acre property located in Fairlawn, while Calfee Park is a 3,200-seat stadium in the town of Pulaski. (The Roanoke Times)
UPS is cutting a daytime package sorting shift at a Roanoke facility, affecting 153 employees. Day-shift employees at the customer center at 3941 Thirlane Road NW by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport “will be separated from employment, unless otherwise required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement” by June 3, according to an April 3 letter from the Atlanta-based shipping company to Virginia’s Rapid Response state coordinator. The letter cites a “reduction in volume” and said 120 part-time hourly employees, seven full-time hourly employees, 22 part-time management employees and four full-time management employees will be affected. (Cardinal News)
PEOPLE
Roanoke County’s former assistant director for economic development, Danielle Poe, started her new job as director of economic development for Franklin County on April 15. At Roanoke County, Poe was responsible for real estate development, business retention and expansion and key community partnerships. She succeeds Beth Simms, who left the Franklin County post in October 2023 after more than two years to become Patrick County’s administrator. Poe is the 2024 chair of Leadership Roanoke Valley and is a Radford University alumna. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
American University announced on March 18 that James Madison University President Jonathan Alger will be its next president, starting July 1. Alger joined the Harrisonburg public university in 2012. He will be the 16th president of AU, a private university in Washington, D.C., replacing President Sylvia Burwell. During his tenure, JMU more than doubled its endowment, received R2 research classification from the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and joined the FBS level in NCAA Division I football. Alger also launched the Valley Scholars program, which provides scholarships for first-generation students from the Shenandoah Valley. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Bridgewater College will receive a $250,000 grant from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation if the college matches the amount in cash and pledges by November, the college announced in mid-May. The matching grant from the private foundation would help fund the $8.5 million renovation of Bowman Hall, which was built in 1952 and 1953. The renovation started last spring and is set to end in August. Bridgewater College previously received a $250,000 Mary Morton Parsons Foundation grant in 2018, although that grant was a two-to-one challenge. Bridgewater College used the funding to renovate and expand its Mack Library into the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons. (Daily News-Record)
Strasburg-based First National entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Prince George-based Touchstone Bankshares in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $47 million, First National announced March 26. The parent companies’ merger combines community banks First Bank and Touchstone Bank to create a bank with expected total assets of about $2.1 billion, $1.5 billion in loans and $1.8 billion in deposits. The resulting company is expected to be the ninth largest Virginia community bank by deposits and will have 30 branch offices across Virginia and two branches in North Carolina. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
HP Hood, a nationally branded dairy processor, will invest more than $83.5 million to expand operations at its Winchester-area facility in Frederick County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced April 9. The project includes upgrades to production and packaging equipment as well as construction of additional warehouse and cooler space. HP Hood’s expansion will provide increased production capacity that will fund technology allowing Hood to offer new products, according to a news release. Constructed in 2000, the Winchester-area facility employs more than 600 workers. In 2013, HP Hood invested $84.6 million to expand the operation, increasing ultra-high temperature production capacity. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Kraft Heinz plans to invest an estimated $26 million in its Frederick County plant to lower carbon emissions, part of the up to $170 million in federal funding the company is receiving from the U.S. Department of Energy. The department selected Kraft Heinz to receive the funding for implementing clean energy projects on March 25. The Chicago- and Pittsburgh-based company operates a manufacturing facility in the Fort Collier Industrial Park, located north of Winchester at 220 Park Center Drive, where it produces Capri-Sun and Kool-Aid beverages, among other food products. Kraft Heinz will install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers at 10 facilities. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
Winchester City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request on March 26 from Winchester Acquisition Partners, advancing the investment group’s plans for a mixed-use redevelopment of Ward Plaza. The declining shopping center built in the 1960s sits on 22 acres in the 2200 block of Valley Avenue. Winchester Acquisition Partners, headed by McLean-based John. W. “Wes” Gray Jr., plans to build 453 residential units, offices, a grocery store and other retail stores. The investment group needs the council to approve site and subdivision plans and to obtain required building permits before it can begin construction. (The Winchester Star)
A new aviation training center at Danville Regional Airport is one step closer to reality. The Danville Planning Commission voted 6-0 during its April 8 meeting to recommend granting a waiver of yard setback requirements so the project could move forward. A proposed 12,532-square-foot hangar will be the location of the new Danville Aviation Training Facility. Danville Community College’s aviation maintenance technology program and Averett University’s aeronautics program will use the training facility. (Danville Register & Bee)
Chicago-based Foresight Health, the company that purchased the long-shuttered Pioneer Community Hospital in 2022 from Patrick County Real Estate, sold the property March 12 after its plan to reopen it as a critical access facility collapsed. According to a deed filed at the Patrick County Circuit Court clerk’s office, Foresight sold the 10-acre property in Stuart to Chicago-based Wolf of Wabash for $1.6 million. Foresight has entered into an agreement with the new owner to lease back the property and use the proceeds of the sale to modernize the building and open a behavioral health and substance abuse program. (Cardinal News)
A project that will bring 69 apartments to downtown Martinsville has received another financial boost from the state. A $2.8 million grant from the Industrial Revitalization Fund, announced March 29 by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, will help pay for planned renovations at the One Ellsworth development, a construction project that will turn a former BB&T bank building into affordable housing. Developer JRS Realty is currently working to remove asbestos from the building, which was constructed in 1974. (Cardinal News)
Matt Penning, director of development for Reston-based Milestone Towers, a wireless tower developer, made a presentation at the April 8 Patrick County Board of Supervisors meeting. The company has signed a lease with Verizon for a cell tower on Patrick County High School property, according to Penning. Three other carriers could be hosted by the proposed 199-foot-tall tower. A supervisor noted parents are concerned about safety of children participating in extracurricular activities near the proposed tower. The board voted to table any action until its next meeting. (Martinsville Bulletin)
Thunder Road Harley-Davidson and South Boston Speedway have signed a new sponsorship agreement that will have the Danville-based Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership continue as the title sponsor for the speedway’s showcase pre-Fourth of July NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division event for the next three years. The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on June 29 is the opening race of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. This season marks the 11th year Thunder Road Harley-Davidson has sponsored the event. (Danville Register & Bee)
A new dual-branded hotel under Hilton’s Tru and Home2Suites brands was approved by Danville City Council April 2. Council members voted 9-0 to grant a special-use permit for a waiver allowing RMS Investments in Raleigh, North Carolina, to exceed the city’s 50-foot height limit so it could build a hotel that would employ about 30 people at 1080 Riverside Drive. The new hotel will be 53 feet tall. (Danville Register & Bee)
The Virginia Museum of Natural History will soon unveil its largest addition since the facility opened in Martinsville in March 2007. Construction of the Jean S. Adams Education Pavilion, a 1,221-square-foot, three-season, open-air programming and visitor area, is currently underway, with completion anticipated this summer. The museum is currently leading a public campaign to raise funds for the first-ever life-sized model of Pelagornis sandersi, the prehistoric bird with the largest known wingspan — about 20 to 24 feet. (Martinsville Bulletin)
The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded Washington County $100,000 to improve broadband service on the Virginia Creeper Trail and Mendota Trail, according to a March news release from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith’s office. The funding, with a $130,000 local match, will help the county offer 100 Mbps/20 Mbps download/upload speeds along the two trails. The county and an engineering firm will develop coverage studies and research how best to deploy broadband fiber before moving onto design, construction and deployment, which should be finished by the end of 2024. (Cardinal News)
The Breaks Interstate Park Commission received a $300,000 Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program grant to add a swimming pool to the Breaks water park, the Virginia Department of Energy announced March 26. Adding the pool is expected to increase visitation for the water park, which draws 12,000-plus visitors each season. Scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, the new pool also is expected to increase annual revenue by nearly $100,000 and to create five to seven seasonal jobs. Breaks Interstate Park’s annual revenue is more than $3 million, and the park has 10 full-time employees and 85 seasonal workers. (News release)
Emory & Henry College officials are planning a restructuring to reduce the school’s budget that will likely require small reductions in faculty, staff and programs over the next three years, Jennifer Pearce, E&H’s vice president for external affairs, said April 8. The number and positions that could be impacted, as well as the timing of layoffs, aren’t known, although the college will likely make a decision on the numbers by the end of June. John Wells, president of the 188-year-old private liberal arts college, spoke to the college’s board of trustees about the restructuring in late March. (Cardinal News)
A 95-room Hampton Inn in Norton opened April 12, although officials were still planning a grand opening ceremony as of early April. SAI Properties announced in early October 2023 that it would open the Hampton Inn in the previously vacant building on the corner of Park Avenue and 11th Street. From 2002 to about 2019, the building was the Norton Holiday Inn. The Hampton Inn includes a spa, a meeting/event space, a pool and a fitness center. According to hotel official Vik Kshirsagar, the hotel has only exterior work remaining. (The Coalfield Progress; Kingsport TimesNews)
In a March 21 meeting, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority approved two loans and one grant for projects in Buchanan, Russell and Wise counties with the potential to cumulatively create 107 full-time jobs and 40 additional construction-related jobs. The Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority will receive an up to $2.214 million loan to help with the construction and development of an office building at the Southern Gap development. VCEDA approved an up to $500,000 loan to the Russell County Industrial Development Authority for an unannounced project. VCEDA also awarded an up to $186,091 grant to Mountain Empire Community College for workforce development and training. (Bristol Herald Courier)
Abingdon-based Virginia Highlands Community College and Bristol, Tennessee-based King University partnered on an agreement to streamline admissions and coursework for students progressing in the registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing degree pathway, the schools announced April 3. Under the agreement, VHCC students who are earning associate degrees in nursing and have registered nurse licenses are guaranteed admission to King’s RN-BSN program, which is fully online. Students with qualifying grades of C+ or better will be classified as juniors, and candidates can then complete King’s RN-BSN program in three semesters, rather than four. (News release)
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