October 2020 – For The Record

Shenandoah Valley

The Frederick County Economic Development Authority in late August allocated $1 million of federal CARES Act funds for a business grant program that would award grants of $5,000, $7,500 and $10,000 to businesses that were impacted by the pandemic. The Augusta County Economic Development Authority (EDA) also announced in early September it has expanded its Disaster Recovery Grant Fund to allow businesses that have previously received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans or Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to apply for grants of up to $15,000. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Citing concerns about the rising number of COVID-19 cases at the school and the vanishing number of available quarantine beds, James Madison University President Jonathan Alger announced in early September that most classes would move to online-only and students living on campus were sent home. At the time the announcement was made, JMU had reported more than 500 COVID-19 cases, but by the following week reported more than 1,000. JMU was expected to decide in late September whether students would return to campus on or after Oct. 5. (Daily News-Record)

T-Mobile in late August exercised its option under Shenandoah Telecommunications Co.’s (Shentel) affiliate agreement with Sprint Corp. to purchase its wireless operations and 1.1 million wireless customers, but a sales price hasn’t been reached yet. The sides will need to determine the entire business value to be paid by T-Mobile for the acquisition of Shentel’s wireless operations. Shentel’s wireless business generates more than $400 million in revenue and employs approximately 400 people in its service area. The appraisal and sale process are expected to take at least several months. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Staunton in late August approved the removal of the Stonewall Jackson Hotel’s neon rooftop sign. Staunton Hotel LLC had submitted an application for a certificate of appropriateness (COA) to remove the sign. Frank Strassler, an expert in historic preservation with the Historic Staunton Foundation, said that the sign did not reflect or relate the overall design and significance of the historic building or district. The hotel’s management group, Crestline Hotels & Resorts, pledged in June to change the hotel’s name. (Staunton News Leader)

Washington-based developer Tej Trummer-Dutta announced in early September plans to convert Winchester’s former Sarah Zane Fire Hall into apartments, while the building’s ground floor would be rented for commercial or retail use. In August 2019, Winchester City Council member and Stoneridge Development LLC Chairman and CEO John Willingham pitched a design that would have converted the fire hall into a commercial complex and added a five-story apartment building in the rear. That proposal was abandoned before Stoneridge purchased the site, clearing the way for Trummer-Dutta to buy the property. (The Winchester Star)

Although contract negotiations between the Valley Health System and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield are ongoing, Valley Health officials said in early September the two sides are at an impasse. Ongoing negotiations concern rates, Valley Health’s rate of reimbursement and nuances in the contract language. Typically, contract negotiations remain private, but Valley Health President and CEO Mark Nantz said Valley Health wanted to inform its patient base that if a new contract isn’t agreed upon, those with insurance through Anthem will need to prepare for Anthem being out of network. Not having Anthem in-network would affect about 40,000 patients. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Roanoke/New River Valley

Bedford County in mid-August launched a $1 million Back-to-Business Grant to provide $5,000 grants to Bedford County businesses that have experienced COVID-19 losses. The program will fund up to 200 small businesses in the area and was also made available to local chambers of commerce. Grants can be used for employee compensation, working capital, equipment inventory, rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance or protective equipment. (Smith Mountain Eagle)

Radford University in mid-August asked Radford City Council to rezone school property to make way for a $30 million hotel that would sit across the street from the main campus on Tyler Avenue. The 125-room hotel would be built on existing properties the school owns around its main campus, including two unoccupied residence halls on Tyler Avenue, an administrative office and a residence hall on Calhoun Street. The five-story hotel will have a street-level restaurant, coffee shop, rooftop lounge and a 5,000-square-foot conference and meeting center. (The Roanoke Times)

Self-driving vehicle producer Torc Robotics plans to invest $8.5 million and create 350 jobs in Montgomery County, not far from its current operation in the Blacksburg Industrial Park, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in late August. The company currently employs 175 people, and the expansion to the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center will allow Torc to grow its software development operations, which will be focused on a project with Daimler Trucks. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The former chief operating officer for Volvo Trucks North and South America, Patrick Collignon, announced in late August that he launched Trova Commercial Vehicles (TrovaCV), located in Pulaski County’s Fairlawn area. The company will focus on the engineering, design and production of fully electric commercial vehicles, with a goal to achieve cost-effective mass production. TrovaCV received assistance from the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors, the Economic Development Authority and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), but Pulaski County has not put any direct incentives into the Trova startup. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A week before they were to meet in Lane Stadium in the football season opener for both teams, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia postponed the matchup after spikes in coronavirus cases on Tech’s Blacksburg campus during the week of Sept. 7. Tech has declined to release testing results for student-athletes, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. But Tech’s dashboard showed 626 positive cases among students as of Sept. 11, with 139 students in isolation or quarantine. A Virginia Tech release said the school came to a “mutual decision” to postpone the game after consulting with ACC officials, U.Va. and Tech campus leadership and Dr. Mark Rogers, Virginia Tech athletics’ chief medical officer. (The Virginian-Pilot; The Roanoke Times)

People

Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, announced in late August she will retire in December after 22 years with the public-private economic development organization. Roanoke Regional Partnership covers the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Franklin and Roanoke, the town of Vinton and the cities of Covington, Roanoke and Salem. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Southwest Virginia

Ballad Health announced in early September it restarted work on Lee County’s $12 million hospital and plans to reopen it by July 1, 2021. Lee County residents have been trying for seven years to reopen the hospital, which closed in 2013, and were finally on track for that to happen this year when the pandemic intervened. As a first step last October, Ballad opened an urgent care center, which has seen more than 6,000 patients and has referred more than 300 to an emergency department. (The Roanoke Times)

A proposed agreement filed in early September was intended to settle claims that Blackjewel LLC did not give approximately 1,100 employees in Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming federally required adequate notice of impending layoffs before the company filed for Chapter 11 restructuring on July 1, 2019. The workers’ final paychecks, issued three days earlier, bounced due to a lack of funds. The proposal calls for Blackjewel to pay $17.3 million. Former chief executive Jeffrey Hoops and his son would pay $75,000 into the settlement fund and an affiliated company would contribute $50,000. Blackjewel’s Virginia operations, concentrated along the Lee-Wise county line near Appalachia, have been sold off to multiple companies. A court hearing was tentatively set for early October. (The Coalfield Progress)

Backers of the proposed Hard Rock Bristol Casino and Resort ramped up efforts to rally community support for the project, as early voting began Sept. 18 for the Nov. 3 local ballot referendum on whether to allow the casino. A pro-casino committee announced a group of about 30 small businesses, including the chamber, restaurants, retail and others that support the project. The United Co. and Par Ventures plan to team up with Hard Rock International to build the proposed $300 million casino at the former Bristol Mall property. (Bristol Herald Courier)

A 13,000-square-foot building in the center of Main Street in Pulaski will undergo a $2 million, three-year interior and exterior makeover to become apartments and entrepreneurial space, Luke Allison and Austin Stromme of Aggregate Capital LLC announced in late August. Aggregate Capital is managing and consulting on the overhaul of 37 W. Main St., the site of a former furniture store and pawnshop. The upper floor would include seven apartments, outdoor roof decks overlooking Peak Creek, a rooftop garden and a communal area for residents to host events. (The Southwest Times)

With financial support from the Smyth County Economic Development Authority, SmythNet announced in late August plans to expand its internet provider services and install towers in Sugar Grove, Little Brushy Mountain, Rich Valley and Nebo. SmythNet will offer internet speeds of up to 25/3 mbps (the minimum speed for high-speed internet). Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing the importance of broadband access for virtual learning, teleworking and telemedicine, the EDA awarded SmythNet Owner Michael Perdue a $39,350 grant for the expansion. (Smyth County News & Messenger)

The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia in early September announced a partnership with Secure Futures to provide commercial-scale solar installations in the coalfield region that will employ local workers. The Securing Solar For Southwest Virginia initiative will provide solar solutions for businesses, nonprofits and local governments in the seven-county region, while building local workforce skills and solar energy job opportunities. The partnership plans to construct 10 megawatts of solar in the coalfield region by the end of 2023, creating 15 full-time jobs in solar construction, sales and marketing, entrepreneurship and small business development. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Southern Virginia

mid-September got closer to establishing a formal alliance that officials hope will enhance economic development in the Dan River Region. “The economic development alliance is an opportunity for us to coalesce all the various economic development interests in the community,” Pittsylvania County Administrator David Smitherman said. An $85,000 study conducted by Fairfax-based Dewberry, Chicago-based JLL and Raleigh, North Carolina-based Economic Leadership, recommended forming a regional economic development alliance. (Danville Register & Bee)

The Henry County Industrial Development Authority unanimously approved three performance agreements for two companies that announced local expansions in June. Two agreements detail expectations for capital investment and job creation that Drake Extrusion Inc. and Applied Felts Inc. must meet to receive incentives from Virginia’s Commonwealth Opportunity Fund. The third agreement concerns incentive funding from The Harvest Foundation for Drake, a manufacturer of colored yarn and fiber, which plans to invest $6.85 million to expand into a vacant building on the same road as its current facility in Ridgeway. Applied Felts plans to invest $1.94 million to renovate and expand the former Compton Wood Products facility next to its current plant in Bowles Industrial Park, adding 15 jobs. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Mecklenburg County has no representation on the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission after House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and members of the state Senate Rules Committee opted not to reappoint Del. Tommy Wright and state Sen. Frank Ruff to the panel. Ruff was first named to the commission when it was created in 1999 and had been serving as vice chair. Also gone are Bill Stanley of Franklin County and Bill Carrico of Grayson County, who retired from the Senate last year. The reorganization comes after Democrats took control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate this year, giving them the power to appoint lawmakers to commissions. Ben Chafin of Russell County was the only Republican senator reappointed.(SoVaNow.com)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based call center company The Results Cos. announced in September it would add approximately 288 jobs at its Martinsville location and 118 to its Stuart location by the end of the year. All positions will be full time, with pay ranging from $11.50 to $13.50 an hour. The expansion comes as part of the company’s initiative to fill more than 4,500 jobs across the country and increase hourly wages for call center workers. The Results Cos. currently employs about 20,000 people nationwide. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Danville will seek $742,875 from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission for a project at the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park in northern Pittsylvania County. City Council voted 8-0 to seek the funding during its meeting in early September. The grant would come with required matching funds from the city, for a total of about $1.48 million. The project at the park, totaling about $3.24 million, would be a joint project between Pittsylvania and the town of Hurt, where the park is located. It includes preparing a 50-acre pad in a lot at the park to market to potential industries. (Danville Register & Bee)

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is seeking to dismantle the historic Whittle’s Mill Dam near South Hill now that it is no longer used to generate hydroelectric power. State officials say that dismantling the dam will benefit the fish and wildlife populations of the Meherrin River. South Hill’s town manager, Kim Callis, called on the public to help save the dam by contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Stricker. (SoVaNow.com)

Central Virginia

Hanover County restaurant Calabash Seafood was ordered closed Sept. 1 by a Hanover Circuit judge after it continued to operate with a suspended license due to COVID-19 violations. According to a motion by the attorney general’s office on behalf of the state health commissioner and the Virginia Board of Health, inspectors ordered the restaurant to close July 27 after “numerous complaints” about employees not wearing masks and the bar and other high-traffic areas remaining open at Calabash. Owner Dennis W. Smith wrote in a message on the restaurant’s website that he had launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for “an army of the best lawyers across the state to crush Governor Northam.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Dominion Energy Inc. filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating license for its North Anna nuclear power station for an additional 20 years, through 2060. In operation since 1978 and 1980, Louisa County-based North Anna’s two reactor units are currently licensed to operate until 2038 and 2040. Last year, the NRC approved the first license renewals that could see plants in operation for up to 80 years. North Anna provides about 20% of the electricity delivered to Virginia customers, primarily in the Richmond region and Northern Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Following a Reuters report that Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife, Becki, had been involved in a years-long sexual relationship with a young business associate, Falwell resigned from his leadership roles at the Christian university in August. Falwell, who denied involvement but acknowledged that his wife had an affair with Giancarlo Granda, had been on an indefinite leave of absence. Since his resignation, the university’s trustees announced an outside firm’s investigation into Liberty’s finances, real estate and legal matters during Falwell’s 13-year tenure. Reuters reported in early September that records show that Falwell’s personal finances were tied closely to the university’s, and that family members, including his sons’ wives, were on the Liberty payroll. (VirginiaBusiness.com; Reuters)

The University of Virginia is providing 60,000 nasal swabs to the state each week in support of high-priority coronavirus testing. U.Va. officials worked with a Charlottesville engineer to design the swabs and the school plans to produce 75,000 a week. Of those, 15,000 will remain at U.Va. Health to support local testing. The university received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the swabs, and it is working with private companies to manufacture, sterilize and package the swabs for use. (The Daily Progress)

The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority broke its gross revenue record for a second year, reporting $1.2 billion in sales during fiscal year 2020, Virginia ABC announced in early September. Last year, the state agency surpassed $1 billion for the first time. This year’s profits of $545.3 million, an increase of $45.8 million over last year, will go to the state’s General Fund. Online sales and curbside pickup increased substantially after the pandemic started; online orders grew from an average of 23 orders a day to 419 orders per day by July. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

On Sept. 17, the day before early voting began, the Supreme Court of Virginia denied rapper Kanye West’s appeal of a Richmond Circuit judge’s ruling disqualifying West as a presidential candidate on Virginia ballots. Two Suffolk County residents said they were tricked into signing a form requiring them to support West, an independent candidate widely viewed as a spoiler to benefit President Donald Trump, as Virginia electors. Judge Joi J. Taylor ruled that 11 of West’s 13 electors submitted in his application to appear on the state’s ballot were invalid. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Northern Virginia

Virginia and Washington, D.C., officials announced in September the completion of a final environmental impact statement for construction of two railroad tracks and a pedestrian bridge across the Potomac River next to Long Bridge, a 116-year-old river crossing owned by CSX Corp. that has become a choke point for passenger trains on the East Coast. The $3.7 billion rail plan unveiled by Gov. Ralph Northam last December would allow almost hourly rail service between Richmond and Washington, as well as critical expansion of commuter rail operations in Northern Virginia. The state will begin preliminary engineering for the $1.9 billion project and construction next year on a fourth track that will allow separate passenger rail service from the Potomac to south of Alexandria. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Loudoun County supervisors unanimously approved Amazon.com Inc.’s 244,636-square-foot data center slated for a narrow parcel known as the “Rollins Property” on the south side of U.S. Route 50 near South Riding. It is adjacent on one side to Eastgate Shopping Center, on the other by more Amazon data centers and near a host of homes and a soccer field. The two-story center will be 55 feet tall, which caused concern for one supervisor, Matt Letourneau, who nonetheless voted for it after speaking with the applicant, which he did not name as Amazon. He warned, though, that the south side of Route 50 is “not open for business” for any more data centers, given the prevalence of residents and commercial property in that area. (Washington Business Journal)

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe filed paperwork with the Virginia State Board of Elections in August, listing himself as a Democratic candidate for the 2021 gubernatorial race. He registered under his Alexandria-based political action committee, Virginians for Common Good. The filing is a preliminary measure toward declaring his candidacy, and McAuliffe’s spokesman told The Associated Press that McAuliffe won’t decide until after the Nov. 3 general election. He has raised $1.7 million in April and May, far more than declared Democrats running for governor, including Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, and Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond. McAuliffe, who was the 72nd governor, works with Richmond-based law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as a global strategy adviser. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Falls Church-based defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. won the first, $13.3 billion phase of the U.S. Air Force’s expected $85 billion Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent contract in September. In the engineering and manufacturing development stage, the Fortune 500 contractor will design, test and evaluate the weapon system that will replace the current Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile nuclear weapon. The company has been the sole competitor for the contract after The Boeing Co. dropped out in July 2019. Work will be performed in several states, and Northrop has formed a team of more than 10,000 people to build the system’s infrastructure. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The National Football League took charge of an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse at the Ashburn-based Washington Football Team, according to a September statement from team owner Dan Snyder. In July, The Washington Post reported that 15 former female employees say they were harassed and verbally abused during their time with the team, and the newspaper reported in August that a DVD was produced for team executives containing lewd footage of then-Washington Redskins cheerleaders without their consent in 2008. The footage of the women’s inadvertently exposed bodies was taken during a swimsuit calendar photo shoot and then edited together by order of the team’s former lead broadcaster, Larry Michael, to show to fellow executives, according to multiple statements by former employees. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

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