Better together
“Cooperation” is a word Jim Noel uses a lot these days when speaking about the Greater Williamsburg region, which encompasses the city of Williamsburg and York and James City counties. As York County’s economic development director, Noel has watched as one of the most historically significant areas of the nation has wo[...]
UVA | NOVA plans signal major regional expansion
The University of Virginia has big plans for continued expansion in Northern Virginia, with more details to come early this year on where U.Va. will be developing new programs within the region. Negotiations with prospective partners were ongoing as of early December 2021, school officials said. The university’s expanded prese[...]
United Way launches child care initiative
The gap between the need for child care and its availability and accessibility is nearly three times higher than the state average in Southwest Virginia, where parents lack child care services for more than 7,000 children under age 5, according to a 2019 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center. Child care is not cost-effective [...]
HRBT expansion boring? Yes and no
Already the largest project ever tackled by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion will kick into gear later this year when a $70 million custom-built tunnel boring machine (TBM) begins carving out an underwater path for twin two-lane tunnels. Construction on the HRBT ex[...]
Daikin dojos offer workforce training
In the U.S., the Japanese word “dojo” generally refers to a martial arts training space, but in recent years, the term’s also been adopted in business for workforce development. In October 2021, Daikin Applied, a Minneapolis-based commercial HVAC equipment manufacturer, expanded the training dojo program at its Verona prod[...]
The longest year
Amid some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s patient satisfaction rate fell slightly in an annual nationwide survey, and just two hospitals in the commonwealth received top marks from their patients. Overall, Virginia patient satisfaction lagged the national average by 3% in 2020. The patient satisfaction s[...]
Bedford lays tracks for possible Amtrak stop
Leigh Ann Ellis is all aboard for Amtrak to begin stopping in the town of Bedford. In the past, Ellis, a journalism teacher at Bedford County’s Staunton River High School, had her students board the train in Lynchburg for field trips to New York or Washington, D.C. For students who live in Goodview, on the […]
Need for speed
Geoff Poston likens the current market for building, buying and leasing warehouses and distribution centers to the mid-1800s California Gold Rush: Everybody wants in. Poston, vice president of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Hampton Roads industrial group, says demand has never been greater for industrial real estate, cr[...]
A dramatic shift
Four years ago, no one would have guessed Gov. Ralph Northam would lead the most progressive Virginia administration in modern memory. A native of Onancock on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, as well as a pediatric neurologist and Army veteran, Virginia’s 73rd governor was eyed by some Democrats with suspicion after acknowledging h[...]
Applied research
History and academic prestige spring to mind when people mention William & Mary, the second-oldest university in the United States, created when its British monarch namesakes signed its charter nearly 329 years ago. However, “research” is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when people think about the publ[...]
Danville center launches companies faster
British aerospace and defense components manufacturer MEP Ltd. isn’t moving into its U.S. facility for another few years, but that isn’t stopping the company from getting its operation off the ground in Danville sooner. In August 2021, MEP (which will operate in the U.S. as Making Everything Possible LLC) moved into a space [...]