Albemarle seeks to expand region’s defense sector
It’s no secret: Albemarle County is banking on the $58 million purchase of 462 acres around a military spy outpost to anchor the region’s defense community. On May 24, the county Board of Supervisors approved a contract to acquire the undeveloped and former farmland tract along along Route 29 adjacent to Rivanna Station — [...]
Revivicor’s $100 million pig-organ facility moves forward
By early next year, Blacksburg-based Revivicor will be raising genetically modified pigs in Montgomery County, with plans to harvest their hearts and kidneys for xenotransplantation into human patients. Founded in 2003 as a spinoff company of PPL Therapeutics (the company that cloned Dolly the sheep seven years earlier), Revivic[...]
Blue Ridge festival rocks on — for now
UPDATED SEPT. 11: The Blue Ridge Rock Festival was canceled on Sept. 9 due to severe weather, including storms and hail. The festival’s organizers said they would provide refund details early during the week of Sept. 11. The Blue Ridge Rock Festival is on track to sell out this year, with organizers expecting more than [&h[...]
Satellite internet improves mobile health care
The Health Wagon got its start in 1980 when Sister Bernadette Kenny, a nurse practitioner, began dispensing free, much-needed health care to people in rural Appalachia from her Volkswagen Beetle. “She was thinking outside the box,” says Health Wagon President and CEO Teresa Tyson. Kenny served as inspiration, Tyson says, [...]
Change management
Hands down, the most unintentionally funny of the alarmist stories about remote work must be the June “news” articles warning that by 2100, teleworking would result in a generation of obese, hunchbacked, prematurely aged people with swollen eyes, their hands permanently stuck in clawing gestures from using a mouse. Lest you [...]
Son’s cancer fight inspires startup
The sight of Neal Piper’s then-3-year-old son, Noah, stuck on the couch all day, tethered to an IV pole with a feeding tube after the boy’s cancer diagnosis in 2019 put his father on a new mission. Piper, who had 15 years of experience in commercializing health care products, including 10 years in sales, marketing […]
September 2023 Out and About
1. Virginia Western Community College Associate Professor Jenifer Kurtz helped situate bee colonies into a new home on campus this spring. In July, VWCC announced it had become an affiliate of conservation program Bee Campus USA. Photo by Amy White. 2. L to R: Frankie Holland, Bob Wilkin, Frank Garrett, Benita Jordan, Ginny Coleman, Ralph […]
September 2023 Top Five stories
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from July 15 to Aug. 15 included news about Buc-ee’s planning to build a mega-convenience store in Rockingham County in 2025. It would be the chain’s second Virginia store, following a New Kent County store also slated to open in 2025. 1 | Plans revealed f[...]
The Mailroom October 2023
Don’t say ‘Don’t Say Gay?’ I am disappointed in your June 2023 workforce article, “Pride in their work.” In it, you perpetuate misinformation that the left-leaning press has been pushing on Americans. Two specific examples: Reference to the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” law — This bill does not use the word “gay” in it, and […]
September 2023 Virginia 500 Spotlight: DONNA PRICE HENRY
FIRST JOB: I worked at a Dairy Queen during the summers while I was in high school. FAVORITE APP: Apple Fitness, except when it tells me that I’m behind in meeting my goals for the day HOW I BALANCE WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE: Some days, I am better at this than others. In my role […]
Serving a repurpose
In Alexandria’s Old Town North, a collection of three brick office buildings built in the 1980s is being transformed into Tide Lock, a community of 234 luxury apartments and condominiums featuring Potomac River views and space for retail and a nonprofit music school. And last summer in the city’s Alexandria West neighborho[...]