For the Record – September 2016

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Dollar Tree Inc. plans to spend $110 million to expand its headquarters in Chesapeake, adding 600 new jobs during the next six years. Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $4 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund and $5.3 million from the Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant program to help secure the project in competition with North Carolina. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Hill Investment Group LLC has purchased an additional 14,000 square feet of space at 1253 Jensen Drive in Virginia Beach to expand its corporate headquarters. The expansion will allow the company to add 30 positions for the two companies that operate at the location, ProLog and Top Ink LLC. Technical services provider ProLog now has 315 employees and plans to add 20 with the expansion. Top Ink is a newly formed T-shirt and custom printed apparel company that will create 10 jobs. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Toano-based Lumber Liquidators Inc. will contribute $26 million to a settlement fund that will be used to compensate investors who bought company stock from Feb. 22, 2012, to Feb. 27, 2015. It also will issue 1 million shares of its common stock to a securities class-action fund with a value of about $16 million based on the closing prices of the company’s common stock on April 27. The actions are subject to court approvals. Lumber Liquidators has been in litigation since CBS News’ “60 Minutes” aired a story last year about China-made flooring products sold by the company that may have contained formaldehyde, a carcinogen. (Work It, Lynchburg)

Toronto-based Spin Master Corp., a children’s entertainment company, has acquired Virginia Beach-based Swimways Corp. and formed an outdoor business segment. Swimways makes a wide variety of toys, games and sporting goods for the pool, beach and backyard. Its gross sales last year were about $90 million. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Two companies announced they are moving their corporate headquarters from Norfolk to Virginia Beach. Taste, a family-owned specialty food retailer, has purchased a light industrial building that will be used for a corporate headquarters office, catering kitchen and warehouse. The relocation will bring about 40 jobs to the city of Virginia Beach, at least eight of which will be new. BN Media, an online company with two divisions with more than 40 employees, will create 15 positions in Virginia Beach. (Virginia Business.com)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Cadence Inc. has moved into a 63,000-square-foot facility in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. Staunton-based Cadence is a supplier of advanced products, technologies and services to medical, life science, automotive and industrial companies. The new facility is nearly three times the size of its previous metal-stamping facility in Sturgeon Bay. (News release)

A new condominium development has opened in Fishersville off U.S. 250. Augusta County-based Countryside Homecrafters LLC, a division of Countryside Holding Co. Inc., announced in July the grand opening of a 32-unit condominium development. The units are designed with an open floor plan with one or two bedrooms.  Also offered are office floor plans ranging from 1,093 square feet to 1,419 square feet. (News Leader)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in July that Sunshine Pride Dairy Inc. will pay a $179,074 penalty to settle alleged federal environmental violations at its former cheese processing facility in Winchester.  The dairy shut down cheese processing operations in December 2011 but left anhydrous ammonia, a hazardous substance, stored in its refrigeration system with only a skeleton maintenance crew at the facility. As a part of the settlement, the company did not admit or deny EPA’s allegations. (News release)

Lord Fairfax Community College has been named for the fifth straight year a 2016 Great College to Work For, according to a new workplace satisfaction survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, a trade publication for colleges and universities. Because LFCC was highly rated across multiple categories, the college has also been named an “Honor Roll” institution, one of only 12 community colleges to earn this distinction in 2016. LFCC has campuses in Middletown and Warrenton. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Toray Plastics (America) Inc., a subsidiary of a Japanese company, is investing $45 million to expand its Front Royal facility. The project is expected to create 30 jobs. The company makes films for flexible and rigid packaging, lidding, graphic, industrial, optical and electronic applications and foams for the automotive and flooring industries. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Commonwealth Assisted Living in Front Royal is expanding its operation to better care for its memory-care residents along with its regular assisted-living residents. The facility currently has 72 residents. Of those, 26 are in the memory-care suites and the remaining 46 live in non-memory-care assisted living. The expansion will add room for as many as 16 new residents, said Amber Foster, Commonwealth Assisted Living’s executive director. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
 Averett University  will start an aviation program partnership with Piedmont Airlines beginning in the fall semester. The cadet program partnership will allow future pilots a guaranteed career pathway to Piedmont and its owner, American Airlines. The program will allow cadets to become cadet instructors, then Piedmont pilots and finally pilots with American Airlines. (Danville Register & Bee)

Charlottesville-based  Commonwealth Assisted Living  announced Aug. 1 that it is acquiring Stratford House, a senior living community in Danville. Financial details of the transaction were not released. The deal was expected to close within the next 60 days. Commonwealth plans to invest $3.5 million in Stratford House, expanding its services and creating 25 jobs. Stratford House, which opened in 1990, has been owned and operated by a not-for-profit board since 2008. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 Danville Community College  plans to expand offerings for cybersecurity and networking students, including a national security and Department of Homeland Security training certification program. DCC’s CyberCenter offers two certificate programs in cybercrime investigations and cybersecurity. The programs are transferrable to several four-year universities. (Danville Register & Bee)

 The Danville Regional Foundation’s Health Collaborative  is offering a survey to gather input from members of the public who may be interested in a shared-use, food-processing facility and kitchen, said Ashley Nauta, chair of the collaborative’s Healthy Eating Action Team. The facility would also provide business incubation services to farmers and food entrepreneurs, Nauta said. Deadline for survey completion is Sept. 9, with the full study complete by March 2017. (Danville Register & Bee)

 Danville Regional Medical Cente r (DRMC) ranked at the bottom in  the state in both overall ratings and customer satisfaction in a study released in July by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In a statement DMRC officials said they were disappointed by the one-star rating and anticipate “a higher ranking when more recent quality improvement efforts and resulting progress are factored into the assessment.” (Danville Register & Bee)
Solid Stone Fabrics announced a $1.5 million expansion that’s expected to create 22 jobs in Henry County. The company, founded in 2003, now employs 60 people. Solid Stone Fabrics, which makes and distributes stretch fabrics, will add new equipment and upgrades to its Henry County facility. Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $50,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for the project. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 Roanoke County  supervisors formally approved plans July 19 to fund expansion of a government-subsidized broadband network by agreeing to pay off $3.4 million in bonds over 10 years. Supervisors agreed to repay bonds issued by the Virginia Resources Authority for the design, engineering and construction of the 25-mile expansion of the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority’s fiber network into the county. Construction of the additional broadband network should start by the end of the year and be complete before mid-2017. (The Roanoke Times)

A new cybersecurity accelerator is being established in St. Paul.  The University of Virginia’s College at Wise  announced it has taken ownership of the Oxbow Center to establish a cybersecurity accelerator to work in conjunction with its software engineering program. (Bristol Herald Courier)

A team of  Virginia Tech  researchers will use super computers in an attempt to solve big problems with simulations as part of a federally funded institute. University researchers received a $19.4 million award from the National Science Foundation to found the Molecular Sciences Software Institute. The money will lead to a facility at Tech’s Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg and a dozen jobs for scientists and mathematicians. (The Roanoke Times)

The second round of layoffs this year at  Volvo ’s truck manufacturing plant in Pulaski County, near Blacksburg, will eliminate about 300 jo bs, the company said in July. “We regret having to take this action, but we operate in a cyclical market, and we have to adapt to market demand,” Volvo Trucks North America spokesman John Mies wrote in an email.  The announcement came after about 500 layoffs occurred in February. (The Roanoke Times)

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise and the Mach37 Cyber Accelerator at the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced an agreement that aims to create cybersecurity employment and education opportunities in Southwest Virginia. Founded by the Herndon-based CIT, the Mach37 Cyber Accelerator has launched 35 cybersecurity product companies in Virginia since 2013. The organizations’ goals include collaborating on research and helping students land jobs and internships at Mach37 companies. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
The Arlington County Board has approved a mechanism that will allow redevelopment of the aging Ballston Common Mall into the mixed-use Ballston Quarter. Board members on July 19 established the county’s first community development authority, which will permit the developer to partner with Forest City Enterprises, owner of the mall, in a redevelopment package. (Inside NOVA)

Construction on the second phase of Metro’s Silver Line is nearly one-third complete, according to Fairfax County officials. The Silver Line’s first phase, 11.7 miles connecting East Falls Church to Reston, opened in July 2014. A projected completion date for the second phase – which will take it west from Reston to Ashburn, including a stop close to Washington Dulles International Airport – has not been announced. (Inside NOVA)

The hotel-residential-retail project intended to replace the old Robinson Terminal North property along Alexandria’s Potomac River waterfront will be delayed, developers said, because of its failure to snag a “trophy-flag hotel” and the rising cost of construction. The project, approved 10 months ago after years of noisy public debate, was the third major redevelopment on the Old Town waterfront and was intended to anchor its north end. (The Washington Post)

Work was scheduled to begin this summer on the first major improvements to Interstate 66 inside the Beltway in 15 years.  The Virginia Department of Transportation project will give commuters more flexibility from the Capital Beltway to the Lee Highway exit in Rosslyn.  The highway will be the nation’s first roadway with dynamic tolling on all lanes during peak-period traffic, keeping traffic moving at highway speeds by adjusting toll prices based on traffic volume. Contracts totaling $60 million were awarded to Fort Myer Construction for tolling infrastructure construction and to TransCore for tolling equipment installation. The plan also is to widen a 4-mile segment of eastbound I-66 from the Dulles Connector Road to Fairfax Drive to provide congestion relief. (News release)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Richmond-based Dominion Virginia Power said in July that 800 local jobs in the construction trades will be created as it prepares to build three separate large-scale solar energy facilities in Virginia. However, once construction is done, there would be no permanent jobs. The State Corporation Commission approved the projects in Isle of Wight, Louisa and Powhatan counties on June 30. They are part of a commitment by Dominion Virginia Power to develop 400 megawatts of solar energy in Virginia by 2020. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Hilb Group, an insurance broker based in Richmond, has acquired NPB Insurance Services Inc. in Bristol. Financial terms of the deal, finalized July 1, were not disclosed.  NPB sells personal, business, disability and life insurance to individual and commercial clients throughout Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee and surrounding states. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

International City Management Association – Retirement Corp. (ICMA-RC), a Washington D.C.-based financial services firm, is expanding to Richmond. The company plans to hire about 100 employees initially and bring more than 100 employees from its D.C headquarters when it moves to Riverfront Plaza in downtown Richmond. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Shares of Henrico County-based Kinsale Capital Group, the parent company of  specialty insurer Kinsale Insurance, rose nearly 15 percent from the company’s initial public offering price on its first day of trading in late July. Kinsale raised $106 million in its initial public offering, selling 6.6 million shares at $16. Shares are trading under the ticker symbol KNSL on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Florida-based high-end supermarket chain Publix will take over 10 Martin’s Food Markets stores in the Richmond region. The remaining nine stores would operate for six months to a year until those locations can be sold. But Martin’s does not expect to operate them a year from now, the company announced in July. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

 The Commonwealth of Virginia  and Village Capital will hold the weeklong Virg inia Velocity Tour the week of Sept. 19. The business plan competitions will provide a total of $125,000 to five startups across Virginia in the biotechnology, health, energy, agriculture and security sectors. Village Capital is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that trains and invests in seed-stage companies providing business solutions in agriculture, energy, education, financial inclusion and health. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

“Permanent,” a movie starring Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson, began filming in Central Virginia in August. The film is a comedy set in the early 1980s. It is eligible to receive a Virginia film tax credit and grant, which is based on the number of Virginia workers hired, Virginia goods and services purchased, and deliverables, including Virginia tourism promotions. (VirginiaBusiness.com)