2024 Virginia Business Person of the Year: Robert M. Blue
Bob Blue has a “no jerks policy,” which he attributes to his upbringing in Albemarle County. “We don’t always agree. In fact, we shouldn’t agree,” he clarifies. “It doesn’t mean that we all just hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya,’ but what it does mean is that we should treat each other respectfully.” As Dominio[...]
100 People to Meet in 2025
In our sixth annual list of 100 Virginians you’ll want to meet in the new year, you’ll encounter interesting people of many ages and occupations — from a doctor in his 80s who built the Chesapeake Care Clinic to a 10-year-old CEO who started his own popcorn business and whose parents are his employees. In […]
Pittsylvania megasite wins $1.3B battery separator project
Tennessee-based Microporous will invest $1.3 billion to build a battery separator manufacturing facility at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 13. The company expects to create 2,015 jobs. The megasite’s first tenant, Microporous will develop Lot 1 at the par[...]
Aiming for the fences
When renters tour the new Novel apartment building in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition neighborhood, one fifth-floor vantage point has particular appeal. The windows on the building’s east side look across Arthur Ashe Boulevard onto the site where the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new baseball stadium, CarMax Park, is expected t[...]
Powhatan green-lights $2.7B data center campus
Although some Virginia counties are backing away from hosting more data centers, Powhatan County supervisors voted 3-2 in October to approve an estimated $2.7 billion data center campus. The project will be on 119.9 acres partly bordering Chesterfield County, and supervisors OKed rezoning and a conditional use permit, rejecting [...]
Inova breaks ground on Alexandria, Springfield hospitals
In late September, Inova Health System broke ground on two new hospitals — one in Alexandria and the other in Springfield, the start of a new phase for the Falls Church health system. Both acute-care hospitals are expected to be completed in 2028, officials say. Inova Alexandria, which will sit on the former Landmark Mall [&he[...]
Appalachian Power plans small nuclear reactor in Campbell
Appalachian Power, an electric utility subsidiary of American Electric Power which serves more than one million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, announced plans Nov. 14 to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County. The company, which has its headquarters in Charleston, West Virgini[...]
VCU startup grabs military attention, funding
A discovery by a Virginia Commonwealth University research scientist that could revolutionize the treatment of massive blood loss injuries is receiving major support from the military. In August, the U.S. Air Force awarded a $1.8 million grant to Perfusion Medical, a company co-founded by Martin J. Mangino with support from the [...]
On pins and needles
If you’re one of the 140,000 federal workers living in Virginia, you might be updating your résumé or thinking about whether you want to relocate to a different state. In his campaign platform, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to move as many as 100,000 civilian federal jobs to states outside the Washington, D.C., region, [...]
A new era
The days of decades-high interest rates are over, as the Federal Reserve is ushering in a new era for financial markets — and, in turn, shaking up some of the advice money managers are offering their clients. During one of its regularly scheduled meetings in September, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee lowered[...]
Engineering without boundaries
The surging demand for energy. The country’s aging, overwhelmed electrical grid. Threats of cyberattacks. The explosion of interest in — and confusion about — artificial intelligence. These real-life problems don’t know boundaries. Neither should the search for solutions, says Azim Eskandarian, dean of Virginia Commonwea[...]
Va. Ocean Plan taking shape for 2025
As coastal populations grow and traditional and novel maritime industries increase their use of the Atlantic Ocean, the state government is developing a comprehensive plan to support the coexistence of different uses of the ocean. A group of more than 100 stakeholders — including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Army[...]