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Virginia Business// April 27, 2023//
More than 340 union workers went on strike at the AdvanSix Inc. chemical plant in Hopewell on April 6 over contract wage negotiations. The International Chemical Workers Union Council and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union accused the New Jersey-based chemical company of trying to divide union membership by offering pay raises to slightly more than half of the workers. AdvanSix said its offer was “fair and competitive … and equitable.” One of the world’s largest production sites for caprolactam, a chemical used to make a strain of nylon used in seat belts, tires, clothing and rugs, AdvanSix has been
flagged 66 times in the past eight years for violating the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. AdvanSix says most violations were promptly corrected and self-reported.
(The Progress-Index; Richmond Times-Dispatch; WWBT NBC12)
Henrico County-based Fortune 500 convenience store holding company Arko Corp. was unsuccessful in its attempts to compete with British oil and gas giant BP in a $1.4 billion bid to acquire Westlake, Ohio-based convenience store chain TravelCenters of America Inc. BP reached a deal with the chain in February to acquire
it for $1.3 billion. Arko, the holding company for convenience store chain GPM Investments LLC, followed up on March 14 with its own unsolicited offer of $92 per share and was rejected. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Capital One Financial Corp. will require its teams to work in person on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, beginning May 2. Though headquartered in McLean, Capital One is the Richmond area’s largest private employer, with about 13,000 employees in Goochland County. The shift to more in-person work is in line with decisions made by other large companies. Capital One announced in 2021 that it was welcoming a future as a hybrid work company, stating that remote work
was no longer a niche opportunity. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Richmond-based continuous pharmaceutical manufacturer Phlow Corp. raised $36 million in capital, which it will use to expand commercial offerings, the company announced April 5. Founded in 2020, Phlow received a $354 million, four-year contract from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in May of that year to create an American supply chain for generic medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients needed to treat coronavirus. In Petersburg, Phlow is partnering with nonprofit generic drugmaker Civica Rx and California-based AMPAC Fine Chemicals to produce COVID drugs as part of a federal initiative to create the domestic supply chain for critical pharmaceuticals and ingredients. (News release)
University of Virginia alumnus John Connaughton and his wife, Stephanie, donated $10 million to fund undergraduate scholarships for McIntire School of Commerce students, U.Va. announced March 23. U.Va. will match the gift, which establishes the Connaughton Bicentennial Scholars Fund. Portions of the gift will go toward the launch of “Commerce for the Common Good,” a strategic initiative for the McIntire School, and establish a speakers series named for the couple. A 1987 graduate, John Connaughton is co-managing partner of global private investment firm Bain Capital. The Connaughtons are based in Boston. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Liberty University’s board appointed retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dondi E. Costin as its next president and pastor Jonathan Falwell as chancellor, with both men starting the new posts before the 2023-24 school year, the Lynchburg-based private Christian university announced March 31. Costin is president of Charleston Southern University in South Carolina. He replaces Liberty’s interim president and former board chairman, Jerry Prevo, who will transition to president emeritus. Falwell is the brother of Jerry Falwell Jr., who served as Liberty’s president and chancellor from 2007 until his scandal-driven resignation in 2020. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Atlantic Park, the $335 million surf park development planned for Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, broke ground and closed on its financing, Venture Realty Group announced in late March. Venture is developing the project with pop music icon Pharrell Williams. The 11-acre surf park has been in development since 2017, and its first phase is expected to be open in summer 2025, a year later than initially announced. Construction on Atlantic Park’s first phase was expected to begin immediately. It will include about 100,000 square feet of mixed-use retail, including restaurants, shops and “experiential attractions.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Hampton Roads Alliance and the cities of Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, in partnership with Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, are creating a $6.5 million green hydrogen fuel program to help kick-start a local industry. The project includes plans for three to five transition projects, a demonstration and education site and a workforce training program. The program, which is projected to create 230 high-paying jobs, will be located in the Tech Center Research Park near Jefferson Lab in Newport News. Hydrogen and its production have the potential to create more jobs and help attract larger companies to Hampton Roads who need that power output from clean energy, proponents say. (The Virginian-Pilot)
A Virginia Beach mattress-in-a-box company, a homegrown success story, has been acquired by a larger bedding company. Leesa Sleep has been acquired by 3Z Brands, an Arizona-based mattress company with brands like Brooklyn Bedding and Helix Sleep. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. While consumers won’t notice much of a difference, 3Z will be moving all Leesa operations to Arizona, 3Z CEO John Merwin said. The Leesa mattress showroom at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront that opened in 2017 closed. Leesa will continue to operate as an independent brand under 3Z. (The Virginian-Pilot)
On April 19, Walmart Inc. was set to reopen the Chesapeake store where a night manager shot and killed six workers in November 2022. The store, which has been remodeled over the past five months, will include an outdoor memorial space with six seating structures in honor of the victims. The indoor remodel will include more shopping options, displays and interactive features, according to Walmart’s announcement. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Following William & Mary’s announcement it plans to close its widely respected Virginia Coastal Policy Center this summer, the university has unveiled a new initiative to address sea level rise and stormwater flooding. The school has touted the new Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative as being part of a university-wide approach that is in line with its Vision 2026 plan to establish a greater presence in Virginia’s efforts to deal with water issues. The new collaborative will be organized under an assistant provost, who will coordinate work across William & Mary’s five schools of marine science, law, business, education and arts and sciences, as well as with other universities and state agencies. (Virginia Mercury)
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Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. named a new chief human resources officer and a new general counsel, the nation’s largest pork product manufacturer and hog producer announced March 28. Isham “Jay” Bennett was previously vice president of human resources at Lockheed Martin before joining Smithfield Foods as chief human resources officer in March. Tennille Checkovich has been promoted to Smithfield Foods’ general counsel, after joining the company in 2020. She most recently served as the company’s deputy general counsel for litigation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Ashburn-based Fortune 500 IT company DXC Technology Co. has been penalized by the federal government for making “misleading” financial reports from 2018 to early 2020, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. DXC overstated its income by $83 million over three quarters in fiscal 2019 and 2020, according to the SEC. It misclassified certain expenses as transaction, separation and integration-related (TSI) costs when reporting non-GAAP — or general accepted accounting principles — income to investors. DXC said the matter related to its formation in 2017 from the merger of Computer Science Corp. and the Enterprise Services business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Corp. DXC did not admit or deny the charges and agreed to pay an $8 million penalty. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
McLean-based global candy and pet food manufacturer Mars Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Loveland, Colorado-based veterinary diagnostic and specialty product provider Heska Corp. in a deal valued at $1.2 billion, or $120 per share, the companies announced April 4. Heska will join Mars Petcare, expanding its science and diagnostics division. The company manufactures, markets, sells and supports veterinary diagnostic and specialty solutions to veterinary practitioners. In January, Mars announced it had partnered with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to sequence the genomes of 10,000 cats and 10,000 dogs to advance pet health care. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Heavy metal band Metallica has acquired a majority interest in Alexandria-based vinyl records maker Furnace Record Pressing. Founded in 1996, Furnace produces records in a 70,000-square-foot facility in Alexandria and is one of the largest record pressing companies in the U.S. Last year, the records maker pressed 3.1 million records. Furnace has produced more than 5 million Metallica vinyl pieces since 2014. Financial terms of the transaction, which the two entities announced March 14, were not disclosed. Furnace has 107 employees, all of whom will remain in their current roles. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Reston-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has agreed to sell its logistics and supply chain management business to Reston-based ASRC Federal Holding Company LLC for $350 million in cash, both companies announced March 23. About 240 SAIC employees will transition to ASRC Federal upon completion of the deal, which is expected to close in spring 2023. SAIC’s logistics and supply chain solutions are used by the Defense Logistics Agency, which provides services to Department of Defense agencies. The business is a “natural fit” for ASRC Federal’s base operations support, which provides procurement, logistics and warehousing services at military locations throughout the company, ASRC said. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
On April 13, Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly agreed to sell the Ashburn-based NFL team for $6 billion to a group of investors including NBA legend Magic Johnson and led by Danaher Corp. co-founder Mitchell Rales and Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris, the Bethesda, Maryland-based owner of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. A competing bid came from Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, founder of Six Ventures Inc. and managing partner of Toronto-based Triple Group of Cos. The bid would set a record price for any sports franchise. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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Rolls Royce plc named Adam Riddle as the new chairman and CEO of its Reston-based North American branch, as well as president of its defense division March 31. A former Army officer and Boeing Co. executive, Riddle has been with Rolls-Royce’s defense branch for nearly a decade, most recently as head of its global services operations, which accounts for more than half of Defense Rolls-Royce plc’s annual revenues. He succeeds Thomas Bell, who will join Fortune 500 contractor Leidos as chairman and CEO on May 4. VirginiaBusiness.com)
Appalachian Power Co. is accepting another round of bids from wind and solar energy companies as part of its gradual shift away from fossil fuels over the next 27 years. The utility announced April 4 that it has issued three requests for proposals. The first is for up to 600 megawatts of electricity to be provided by wind farms, solar farms or a combination of the two that would be purchased outright by Appalachian. The second is for up to 200 megawatts to be provided by wind farms, solar farms or a combination of the two that would be owned and operated by a third party, which would sell the electricity to Appalachian. The third is a bid for renewable energy certificates. (The Roanoke Times)
The festival once dubbed FloydFest 23~Forever will not happen. Organizers announced April 6 that they are canceling the event, preparation for which was slowed this spring amid environmental regulation issues and questions about protected species on a recently purchased site. Organizers vowed that the event will return in 2024 at the new site in Floyd County’s Check community. The Black Crowes, My Morning Jacket, Sheryl Crow, Elle King and dozens of other performers had been booked to play the festival, which was scheduled for July 26-30. Up to 14,000 people were expected to attend, with about 7,000 at any one time on the 210-acre site. (The Roanoke Times)
On April 3, less than a week after the Mountain Valley Pipeline moved one step closer to completion, it suffered another step backward. A federal appeals court threw out a water quality certification from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, an authorization needed by the natural gas pipeline to cross streams and wetlands in the state where it starts. Mountain Valley’s past violations of erosion and sedimentation control regulations figured prominently in a decision by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In late March, the same panel upheld a similar decision by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the State Water Control Board that allowed the company to move forward with its plans to cross streams and wetlands in Southwest Virginia. (The Roanoke Times)
Roanoke College has joined the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, a nonprofit organization that promotes Hispanic student success in higher education. Roanoke College students will now have access to the association’s initiatives, experts and resources including internships, scholarships and leadership development programs. In the past five years, applications from Hispanic students have increased 11.65% at Roanoke College, and first-year Hispanic enrollment at Roanoke has grown 73%. (Cardinal News)
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Roanoke-based construction firm The Branch Group Inc. has promoted Tina Pfalzgraf to chief human resources officer, the company announced March 22. Pflazgraf previously served as senior vice president of human resources. Prior to joining Branch in early 2022, Pfalzgraf was senior director of human resources operations for the advancing national security business unit at Dallas-based Jacobs, as well as serving in human resources roles for Centreville-based Parsons Corp. and Englewood, Colorado-based CH2M. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Donna Stucker is the new chief philanthropy officer for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. Stucker, who assumed her role April 3, will lead a new capital campaign and associated donor development and will plan and manage an effort to grow donations for the Roanoke-based Goodwill chapter, which serves 35 counties and 14 cities. Stucker previously was chief philanthropy officer for the Humane Society of Charlotte in North Carolina. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority’s pool of defendants accused in two lawsuits of playing roles in former Executive Director Jennifer R. McDonald’s alleged embezzlement schemes is shrinking. A draft of a final order of dismissal of defendants Service Title of Front Royal LLC and its employee, Victoria L. Williams, was filed in Warren County Circuit Court by an EDA attorney on March 30. Service Title and Williams were named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by the EDA in April 2020 that accused several real estate companies and their employees or principals of playing roles in the alleged schemes. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
Perdue Farms provided a $15,000 grant from the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and 20,000 pounds of protein to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Verona in early April to support the food bank’s Good Food School Market child nutrition program. The privately funded program brings produce and shelf-stable foods into schools for distribution to students and families experiencing food insecurity. The grant will help maintain food assistance services for about 395 students and families a month at Harrisonburg High School and 194 students and families a month at Broadway
High School. (Daily News-Record)
Shenandoah University and Valley Health have launched NextGen Nurses, a program meant to address the region’s nursing shortage. The program, announced March 30, plans to use nurses who are phasing out of the profession to educate the incoming workforce, since the field has a shortage of clinical trainers. The NextGen Nurses program’s goal is to hire 35 retired or retiring nurses by June 2024 as clinical trainers. Faculty at Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing will develop modules to accelerate training for these nurses, and Valley Health will begin to recruit nurses to complete the training models. (The Northern Virginia Daily)
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Rick Cobert resigned from his role as Winchester’s economic development director after four months, according to a brief email sent by the city on
March 28. Cobert had previously been Stafford County’s manager of economic development. Winchester Economic Development Authority Chairman Jeff Buettner is serving as interim economic development director, and board member Addie Lingle is chairing the board. Buettner is the fourth person to serve as the city’s economic development director in less than a year. Shawn Hershberger vacated the role on May 27, 2022. Until Cobert took over on Nov. 14, 2022, Deputy City Manager Mary Blowe served as interim economic development director. (The Winchester Star)
State Sen. Emmett Hanger will not seek re-election for the first time since 1996, according to an email he sent constituents on April 6. Hanger represented Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County in the former 24th Senate District, but following redistricting, those localities are now part of the
3rd District, which runs south to Craig and Roanoke counties. Hanger does not live within the boundaries of the new district and chose not to move. His announcement leaves Democrat Jade Harris and Republican Del. Christopher Head, R-Botetourt County, to face off for the seat. (News Leader)
Mary Baldwin University’s next president will be Jeffrey P. Stein, vice president for strategic initiatives and partnerships at Elon University in North Carolina, the Staunton private university announced April 14. Also an assistant English professor at Elon, Stein will become MBU’s 10th president on July 1, succeeding MBU President Pamela R. Fox. Named to his current role at Elon in 2019, Stein led the creation and implementation of Elon’s 10-year strategic plan and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also helped raise more than $4 million to support the university’s Jewish life and Jewish studies programs. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Blue Ridge Rock Festival (BRRF) is returning to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) near Danville for a second consecutive year, with the concert promoters and raceway entering into a partnership agreement to host the rock festival for many years to come. The popular rock and metal music festival will head back to VIR Sept. 7-10 after a successful first event at the venue in 2022 attracted more than 35,000 people in a single day. More than 100 performing artists, including Pantera, Limp Bizkit and Virginia heavy metal band Lamb of God, have been announced for this year’s festival.
(SoVa Now; The Gazette-Virginian)
Officials kicked off plans for a 12,000-square-foot addition to the Martinsville-Henry County Heritage Center and Museum during an April 5 groundbreaking ceremony. Developers, historical society members and residents converged on the lawn behind the museum where construction on the addition will begin in May, according to developer James Deskins. Located at 1 Main St. in Martinsville, the Heritage Center and Museum is also known as the Historic Courthouse by members of the Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society and the public. The building is a gallery and museum space and serves as the home for the Historical Society. The project is expected to cost between $2 million and $4 million. (Cardinal News)
Danville’s River District Association has won the Great American Main Street Award, a designation that recognizes communities for their revitalization of historic commercial districts. In September 2022, the RDA was named a semifinalist for the award for the second year in a row. It was the only semifinalist from Virginia; the other seven were Denison, Texas; Florence, South Carolina; Metuchen, New Jersey; Orlando, Florida; Ruston, Louisiana; Sheridan, Wyoming; and Sykesville, Maryland. Main Street America is a national organization that works to revitalize historic commercial districts. Other cities in Virginia, including Lynchburg, Lexington, South Boston and Altavista, also have Main Street organizations. (Cardinal News)
On April 4, Sentara Healthcare Inc. announced an investment of $70 million to construct a new acute care hospital to replace the current Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital (SHRH). The new hospital, scheduled for completion in 2025-26, will have a high-efficiency, patient-centric layout representing the trend toward preventive care, outpatient services and shorter hospital stays. Initial design and planning are underway with architects Kahler Slater Inc., and full details on the new hospital will be shared in the future. The statement by Sentara gave no indication of the planned size or patient bed capacity of the new facility, nor specific information about the scope of its medical services. (SoVa Now)
Sovah Health has gotten rid of its chief operating officers in Danville and Martinsville and eliminated those positions. The COO in Martinsville who lost his job had just started the position in mid-March. Sovah Health Market President Steve Heatherly and Sovah Health-Martinsville CEO Spencer Thomas announced the changes in an email memo to employees, citing current market conditions as reasons for eliminating the positions. (Danville Register & Bee)
Germany-based Zollner Elektronik AG will invest $18 million to expand in Virginia, including boosts to its electronics manufacturing operations in Danville as well at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Leesburg, adding 100 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced March 15. The expansions include $14 million to expand manufacturing operations in the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority-owned Cyber Park to develop custom electronics products for clients using proprietary technology, which will add 80 jobs. In Leesburg, the company will invest $4 million and add 20 jobs. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The Emory & Henry College Board of Trustees approved a plan to change the college’s status to that of a private university in its March 25 meeting. As part of the 2023-2026 strategic plan, the school will become Emory & Henry University by fall 2024. In the past 10 years, E&H has added master’s and doctoral programs in health sciences, education and business to its liberal arts bachelor’s degree offerings. Its main campus is in Emory, but E&H has added a School of Health Sciences in Marion and its Intermont Emory & Henry Equestrian program in Bristol, Virginia. (News release)
A donation from The Rapha Foundation funded The Health Wagon’s late March purchase of a new imaging system for its Owens-Hill Dental Health Care clinic in Wise. The roughly $57,000 cone-beam computed tomography system (CBCT) produces a 3D image of a patient’s teeth, jaw, neck, ears, nose and throat. The 10 chair clinic also has 3D printing equipment, a teaching classroom and a denture lab to make dentures on site, according to Health Wagon President and CEO Teresa Owens Tyson. (The Coalfield Progress)
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia approved a proposal from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise for a master of education degree program on March 21. The 30-credit-hour program will start in the fall 2023 semester and will include a concentration in curriculum and instruction. Full-time students will be able to complete the coursework in 12 months, while part-time students can complete the 10 courses within five years. UVA Wise will offer the program in person, in a hybrid format and completely online. (Bristol Herald Courier)
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority will provide an up to $250,000 loan to the Russell County Industrial Development Authority for further work at the Bates Family Farm. The farm, which relocated to the county in 2019, raises goats and manufactures goat milk lotions and soaps. The Bates Family Farm is working to expand into the former Acme building on East Main Street in Lebanon by May. The most recent loan, announced March 31, is the third one VCEDA has approved for the building. (Bristol Herald Courier)
Wise County will receive $1.75 million in grant funding to help develop part of the Lonesome Pine Regional Business & Technology Park, the county economic and industrial development office announced March 31. Of that, $1 million is Congressionally Directed Community Project Funding, and the remainder is from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Business Ready Sites program. With the funds, the Wise County Industrial Development Authority will complete basic site preparation on the Elam farm property, which will make
65 of the roughly 200 acres pad-ready.
(The Coalfield Progress)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin visited the Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning & Technology Accelerator) Lab in Abingdon to sign energy development bills on March 23. Youngkin signed sets of corresponding House of Delegates and state Senate bills authorizing or funding his administration’s “all of the above” energy plan, including to promote Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority energy projects on former coal mine sites and for a competitive nuclear education grant fund for college degree and certification programs supporting the nuclear power industry. (Bristol Now)
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