Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Harbor Group International buys Virginia Beach apartments for $86M

Norfolk-based investment and management firm announced last week that it has acquired a 480-unit, garden-style apartment complex in for $86 million.

Built in 1986, Reflections at Virginia Beach is a market-rate community spanning 19 two and three-story residential buildings across 30 acres. HGI says the will strengthen its presence in the market.

While HGI didn’t disclose the seller, and the transaction has not yet been reflected in online records, property tax records show the most recent owner was a limited liability company that shared the address of Virginia Beach-based real estate development and management company The Breeden Co. The company did not immediately return requests for comment. The deal closed on Oct. 30.

According to HGI, Reflections recently underwent a $7 million capital improvement program that enhanced its amenities, including a resident clubhouse and lounge, an outdoor swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness center and a business center.

“The acquisition of Reflections at Virginia Beach underscores our commitment to expanding thoughtfully in markets where we have long-standing experience and strong performance,” said Yisroel Berg, HGI’s chief investment officer of multifamily, in a statement. “Virginia Beach is a dynamic market with robust employment and lifestyle fundamentals, making it an ideal location for our continued growth.”

A HGI spokesperson said the firm will manage the property and plans to do moderate unit renovations and amenity improvements.

Headquartered in , HGI owns or manages over 1,400 units across five properties within the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Globally, the company owns and manages 504 assets worldwide, around 58,000 multifamily units and 5 million square feet of . It has 1,700 employees worldwide.

Hampton Roads lawmakers split on deal to end shutdown

SUMMARY:

  • At a forum, U.S. members discussed how they would vote on the government shutdown
  • Democrat Bobby Scott said he wouldn’t vote for the current deal, while Republicans Rob Wittman and said they would
  • All agree the shutdown has gone on too long and expressed concern for the federal workforce

At a Hampton Roads forum Monday, the region’s U.S. House members all agreed the government shutdown has gone on far too long but split along party lines on the Senate’s proposal to end it.

Democratic and Republican U.S. Reps. Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman spoke during a forum hosted by the on Monday, less than 24 hours after the U.S. Senate voted 60-40 to advance a compromise plan to reopen the government. Virginia’s junior senator, Democrat Tim Kaine, joined Republicans in passing the legislation, which now heads to the House of Representatives.

The deal would restore back pay for federal workers and proposes a vote in December on extending Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, the sticking point for in passing what Republicans called a “clean bill” to reopen the government. House Speaker Mike Johnson called lawmakers to return to Washington, D.C., on Monday.

The vote was divisive among Democrats, with Senate Majority Leader and the vast majority of Senate Democrats voting no, arguing that it did not guarantee continued . Kaine joined four other Democrats in switching their earlier votes and reaching the 60-vote threshold required to pass the bill.

“This deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do,” Kaine said in a statement. “Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will.

At Monday’s forum, Scott, Wittman and Kiggans all condemned Washington’s budget stalemate, which has resulted in a 40-day shutdown of the federal government, delaying paychecks and disrupting some federal operations. The three lawmakers acknowledged its local toll on the military, shipyards and small businesses in Hampton Roads.

But while Wittman and Kiggans, both Republicans, said they would support the U.S. Senate’s resolution to end the government shutdown, Scott, a Democrat, said he wouldn’t vote for it, voicing concerns that the proposed deal was, in his view, a “blank check” to President Donald Trump that failed to fix underlying problems — including Affordable Care Act funding.

Kiggans said the past few weeks have been “eye-opening” for her, and that “the game has got to stop.” She said she has met with shipyard union workers struggling to pay their mortgages and bills on time because of the shutdown.

Wittman called the shutdown “avoidable” and blamed the cycle of continuing resolutions that keep the government running in short bursts.

“It’s ridiculous to me that when there is a shutdown, that we categorize the federal workforce into essential and non-essential employees,” he said. “Tell me how many businesses have non-essential employees? Why would you do that? It doesn’t make any sense to me. And then here’s the next part. So you send the essential workers into work. Then you tell them, ‘By the way, go to work, and we’re not going to pay you.’ How many businesses get to do that and expect that their business is going to run?”

He was critical that congressmembers who caused the shutdown still get paid while many federal employees are furloughed without pay, and others, including air traffic controllers, are working unpaid. Wittman said there should be reform, dubbing it the “Inaction Has Consequences” bill, that would prevent members of Congress from being paid until the shutdown is resolved.

In late October, though, the White House announced active-duty and reserve members of the military would receive their paychecks, as it planned to use about $8 billion in funds to cover the Oct. 15 payroll.

Wittman also renewed his push for requiring Congress to adopt budgets on time and eliminating what he called the “antiquated tradition” of the August recess.

“Our members need to stay in Washington until all 12 appropriations bills are done,” he said. “That way, we don’t find ourselves in a continuing resolution situation.”

Challenges growing

Nationwide, the effects of the shutdown have compounded. According to the Associated Press, canceled more than 2,000 flights on Sunday, food aid was delayed for tens of millions of Americans, and Washington-area food banks are reporting record demand from unpaid federal workers.

Kiggans said she understood concerns about rising health insurance premiums and noted that she had put forward a bill at the beginning of September to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits by one year. However, she said the issues can’t be properly debated and voted on until that happens. She added that too many people are being harmed by the shutdown’s effects.

“I’m happy to sit down and have every single health care discussion or any other policy discussion, but we have to get back to regular order, and I can’t do that with the government shutdown,” she said.

But Scott said in an interview after the forum that Republicans have repeatedly tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and counting on them to improve it “seems a little optimistic.”

“They got no commitment for the vote to pass,” Scott said of a vote to extend expiring ACA subsidies.

While Kaine broke from the majority of Democrats on the vote to reopen the government, Virginia’s senior Democratic senator, Mark Warner, stuck with the no voters. In a statement, Warner said he appreciated that the compromise proposal included language preventing further mass layoffs of federal employees.

“But I cannot support a deal that still leaves millions of Americans wondering how they are going to pay for their health care or whether they will be able to afford to get sick,” said Warner, who faces a 2026 election, while Kaine last won his seat in 2024. “We owe the American people more than a short-term fix that leaves working families staring down a health care crisis, and simply kicking the can down the road is not good enough.”

Senate inches closer to vote on government shutdown deal

Summary:

  • votes 60-40 to advance compromise bill to end shutdown
  • Speaker urges House lawmakers to return “right now”
  • Five join Republicans to break six-week stalemate
  • Final votes could take days; health care subsidy fight continues

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate was drawing closer to a vote on legislation to end the shutdown on Monday after a small group of Senate Democrats broke a 40-day stalemate late Sunday evening and voted with Republicans to move forward with reopening the government.

It is unclear when the Senate will hold final votes on the bill, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes passage will take “hours not days.”

“The American people have suffered for long enough. Let’s not pointlessly drag this bill out,” he said as the Senate opened on Monday morning.

The legislation would still need to clear the House before the government could reopen. Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington “right now” given travel delays, but he said he would issue an official notice for the House’s return once the Senate passes the legislation.

“We have to do this as quickly as possible,” Johnson said at a news conference. He has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when the House passed a bill to continue government funding.

After weeks of negotiations, the moderate Senate Democrats agreed to reopen the government without a guaranteed extension of , angering many in their caucus who have demanded that Republicans negotiate with them on the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., promised a mid-December vote on the subsidies, but there was no guarantee of success.

The final vote was 60-40. Senate Democratic leader of New York voted against moving ahead with the package, along with all but eight of his Democratic colleagues.

“We will not give up the fight,” Schumer said, adding that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care.

Still, an end to the shutdown could still be days away if any senators object and drag out the process. Thune was still working out concerns within his Republican conference about individual provisions in the underlying spending bills.

One of those Republicans, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, had threatened to object to a provision championed by his home state colleague, former GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, to prevent the sale of some hemp-based products. Paul said he was seeking an amendment to strip the language before a final vote.

President Donald Trump has not said whether he will sign the package, but told reporters at the White House Sunday evening that it “looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.”

Five Democrats switch votes

A group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — broke the six-week stalemate on Sunday when they agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January.

The legislation includes a reversal of the mass firings of by the since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over.

In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted in favor of moving forward on the agreement. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes.

The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as 10-12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five switched their votes — the exact number that Republicans needed. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since Oct. 1.

The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things.

Democrats call the vote a “mistake”

Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said he could not “in good faith” support it after meeting with his caucus for more than two hours on Sunday.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week’s elections were urging them to “hold firm.”

House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate.

Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a “betrayal” of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight.

Others gave Schumer a nod of support. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had criticized Schumer in March after his vote to keep the government open. But he praised the Senate Democratic leader on Monday and expressed support for his leadership throughout the shutdown.

“The American people know we are on the right side of this fight,” Jeffries said Monday, pointing to Tuesday’s election results.

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

On Monday, Johnson said House Republicans have always been open to voting to reform what he called the “unaffordable care act” but again did not say if they would vote on the subsidies.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies and argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals.

Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled.

Metsera falls after accepting up to $10 billion offer from Pfizer

Summary

  • wins $10B bid for after rival Novo exits
  • Metsera accepted Pfizer’s offer citing U.S. antitrust risks
  • Shares of Metsera drop 15% after revised, partial-cash deal
  • Pfizer gains entry into fast-growing obesity drug market

(Reuters) -Shares of Metsera fell over 15% in early trading on Monday, after the weight-loss drug developer accepted a sweetened offer from Pfizer to end a fierce bidding war between the pharma giant and Danish rival .

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer said late on Friday it had clinched an up to $10 billion deal for Metsera, in a blow to Novo as the Danish group tries to claw back lost ground against U.S. rival .

Metsera accepted Pfizer’s offer, citing U.S. antitrust risks with Novo’s bid that it had previously called superior. The Danish obesity drug behemoth said on Saturday it would exit the race.

“Pfizer effectively had the upper hand throughout — because as long as they matched whatever Novo offered, they were guaranteed the asset,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.

Under the terms of the final deal, Pfizer has agreed to pay $65.60 per share upfront, and up to $20.65 per share additionally contingent on the success of its pipeline of drugs, valuing Metsera at up to $10 billion.

Metsera shares were down 15.2% at $70.58 and Pfizer fell 1.4% to $24.09.

Seigerman said Metsera shares fell on Monday because Pfizer’s revised offer “is not all cash upfront”, and the actual value may be lower once the risk of missing milestone payments tied to the CVR is taken into account.

As of last close, Metsera shares have surged nearly 150% since Pfizer first said it would acquire the biotech firm in a deal valued at up to $7.3 billion.

The win hands Pfizer a way into the lucrative obesity drug market, even if Metsera’s treatments remain years from hitting the market.

Metsera’s experimental , currently in early-to-mid-stage development, include MET-097i, a designed for a once-monthly injection, compared with similar treatments from Lilly and Novo, which require weekly injections. It is also developing MET-233i, which mimics the pancreatic hormone amylin.

Drugmakers are facing pressure from the U.S. government to slash prices of prescription drugs in the country, which often pays nearly three times more than in other developed nations.

Last week, President Donald Trump had cut a deal with Novo and Lilly to slash the prices of its blockbuster weight-loss drugs for the government’s health insurance programs, as well as for cash payers.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a CNBC interview the prices it had used in its analysis of the Metsera deal were similar to the ones Novo and Lilly had announced at the White House meeting.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Mariam Sunny; Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in London; editing by Terje Solsvik and Krishna Chandra Eluri)

 

Tesla Cybertruck chief exits after eight years

Summary

The executive leading Tesla’s Cybertruck business is leaving the -led automaker after eight years.

Siddhant Awasthi, the program manager for Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model 3, said on LinkedIn that it wasn’t an easy decision to depart the company. He did not provide details on what he will be doing next.

Awasthi said he began as an intern at Tesla and was involved in “ramping up Model 3, working on Giga Shanghai, developing new electronics and wireless architectures, and delivering the once-in-a-lifetime Cybertruck – all before hitting 30. The icing on the cake was getting to dive back into Model 3 work toward the end.”

Last month Tesla announced that it was recalling more than 63,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. because the front lights are too bright, which may cause a distraction to other drivers and increase the risk of a collision.

In March U.S. safety regulators recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road. The NHTSA’s recall, which covered more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

Tesla reported a fourth straight decline in quarterly profit in October, even as sales rose. The automaker reported third-quarter earnings plunged 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the fourth quarter in a row that profit dropped. And even the revenue rise, a welcome relief from a sales plunge earlier in the year due to anti-Musk boycotts, came with a significant caveat: Customers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expired on Oct. 1, possibly stealing sales from the current quarter.

While Tesla continues to have difficulties, last week Musk won a shareholder vote that would give him stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade. More than 75% of voters approved the plan as shareholders gathered in Austin, Texas, for their annual meeting.

The vote was a resounding victory for Musk, showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with plunging sales, market share and profits in no small part due to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the company this year as he has ventured into politics both in the U.S. and Europe, and trafficked in conspiracy theories.

Tesla’s stock rose more than 2% before the market open on Monday.

Flight cuts to continue after government shutdown

Summary

  • reduces flights as air traffic controllers miss pay
  • cancel thousands of flights nationwide
  • Shutdown’s end unlikely to stop cancellations immediately
  • Secretary says cuts will stay until safety metrics improve

NEW YORK (AP) — The at airports across the U.S. are expected to persist even after the ends.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reduced flights as some air traffic controllers — unpaid for weeks — have stopped showing up for work.

The took a first step toward ending the shutdown Sunday, but final passage could still be several days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain in place until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.

Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to eliminate 4% of flights. The cancellations are scheduled to rise to 6% of all flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports on Tuesday. By the end of the week, flight cancellations are scheduled to reach 10% of all flights at those airports.

As of Monday morning, airlines had already canceled 1,600 flights for Monday and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday.

Beyond the mandated cuts, flight delays have been rippling through airports nationwide at times ever since the shutdown began. That’s because the FAA slows air traffic anytime it’s short on controllers at one of its facilities to ensure flights remain safe.

Tuesday will be the second missed payday for air traffic controllers and other FAA employees. It’s unclear how quickly they might be paid once the shutdown ends. The head of the controllers union, Nick Daniels, plans a news conference Monday morning to address the shutdown’s toll.

“More controllers aren’t coming to work day by day, the further they go without a paycheck,” Duffy said.

The government has struggled for years with a shortage of air traffic controllers, and Duffy said the shutdown has worsened the problem, prompting some controllers to retire early or quit. Before the shutdown, Duffy had been working to address the shortage by hiring more controllers, speeding up training and offering bonuses to retain experienced controllers.

Duffy warned over the weekend that if the shutdown drags on, the situation could deteriorate further as the U.S. heads into the busy holiday travel season. He said air travel may “be reduced to a trickle” by the week of Thanksgiving.

Senate takes first step toward ending the government shutdown

Summary

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate took the first step to end the government shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.

In a test vote that is the first in a series of required procedural maneuvers, the Senate voted 60-40 to move toward passing compromise legislation to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Final passage could be several days away if Democrats object and delay the process.

The agreement does not guarantee the health care subsidies will be extended, as Democrats have demanded for almost six weeks. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against moving ahead with the package, along with all but eight of his Democratic colleagues.

U.S. , Virginia’s junior senator, was among the Democrats voting to advance the legislation.

“This deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do. Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine said in a statement.

“This legislation will protect from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay, as required by a law I got passed in 2019. That’s a critical step that will help federal employees and all Americans who rely on government services. I’ll keep working towards a long-term government spending plan that includes critical priorities to support Virginians and funding for Virginia community projects.”

A group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — broke the six-week stalemate on Sunday when they agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January in exchange for a mid-December vote on extending the health care tax credits.

The agreement also includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 and would ensure that federal workers receive back pay.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly endorsed the deal and called an immediate vote to begin the process of approving it as the shutdown continued to disrupt flights nationwide, threaten food assistance for millions of Americans and leave federal workers without pay.

“The time to act is now,” Thune said.

Returning to the White House on Sunday evening after attending a football game, President Donald Trump did not say whether he endorsed the deal. But he said, “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.”

Five Democrats switch votes

In addition to Kaine, Shaheen, King and Hassan, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes.

The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as 10-12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five Democrats switched their votes — the exact number that Republicans needed. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since Oct. 1.

The vote was temporarily delayed on Sunday evening as three conservatives who often criticize spending bills, Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, withheld their votes and huddled with Thune at the back of the chamber. They eventually voted yes after speaking to Trump, Lee said.

Another Republican, Sen John Cornyn of Texas, had to fly back from Texas to deliver the crucial 60th vote.

Schumer votes no

After Democrats met for over two hours to discuss the proposal, Schumer said he could not “in good faith” support it.

Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care.

“We will not give up the fight,” he said.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that in last week’s elections people voted overwhelmingly Democratic “to urge Democrats to hold firm.”

A bipartisan agreement

Democrats had voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded the extension of tax credits that make coverage more affordable under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans said they would not negotiate on health care, but GOP leaders have been quietly working with the group of moderates as the contours of an agreement began to emerge.

The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish additional spending bills.

The deal would reinstate federal workers who had received reduction in force, or layoff, notices and reimburse states that spent their own funds to keep federal programs running during the shutdown. It would also protect against future reductions in force through January and guarantee federal workers would be paid once the shutdown is over.

House Democrats push back

House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate.

Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a “betrayal” of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight.

“Accepting nothing but a pinky promise from Republicans isn’t a compromise — it’s capitulation,” Casar said in a post on X. “Millions of families would pay the price.”

Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota posted that “if people believe this is a ‘deal,’ I have a bridge to sell you.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries blamed Republicans and said Democrats will continue to fight.

“Donald Trump and the Republican Party own the toxic mess they have created in our country and the American people know it,” Jeffries said.

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker , R-La., has said he will not commit to bring it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies and argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals.

Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled.

Shutdown effects worsen

Meanwhile, the consequences of the shutdown have been compounding. U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights on Sunday for the first time since the shutdown began, and there were more than 7,000 flight delays, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air .

Treasury Secretary said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that air travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday will be “reduced to a trickle” if the government doesn’t reopen.

At the same time, food aid was delayed for tens of millions of people as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were caught up in legal battles related to the shutdown.

And in Washington, home to tens of thousands of federal workers who have gone unpaid, the Capital Area Food Bank said it is providing 8 million more meals ahead of the holidays than it had prepared for this budget year — a nearly 20% increase.

Culpeper manufacturer Bingham & Taylor acquired

Bingham & Taylor, a -based manufacturer of underground infrastructure access solutions, has been acquired by North Carolina-based Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, in conjunction with its subsidiary Neenah Foundry, according to a Thursday announcement.

A spokesperson for Bingham & Taylor declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Founded in 1849, Bingham & Taylor operates a cast iron foundry in Culpeper and plastics injection-molding and blow-molding plants in . The company sells its meter- and valve-access products, including boxes, lids and pits, to water and gas customers.

“After 175 years in business and two generations of my family’s stewardship, this partnership represents Bingham & Taylor’s next chapter,” Laura Thompson Grondin, CEO of Virginia Industries, the parent company of Bingham & Taylor, stated in a news release. “Charlotte Pipe and Neenah Foundry share our commitment to American and our core values, particularly how we value and treat our customers and employees. Charlotte Pipe understands the value of Bingham & Taylor’s iconic brand and will ensure it remains strong for the next 175 years.”

Bingham & Taylor will continue to operate under its name, but Grondin will no longer be a part of the company, according to a spokesperson. The manufacturer has about 250 employees, about 240 of whom are based in Virginia.  No jobs are expected to be lost because of the .

Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, a manufacturer of cast iron and plastic pipe and fittings for plumbing applications, operates eight manufacturing plants across the United States.

The company acquired Wisconsin-based Neenah Foundry, a manufacturer of municipal castings, in 2022.

“This strategic acquisition continues our commitment to growing in the waterworks industry and builds on our acquisition of Neenah Enterprises,” stated Hooper Hardison, CEO of Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, in a news release. “It also leverages our core competencies of producing iron castings and plastics manufacturing.”

Bingham & Taylor’s products, distributors and customers are “very complementary” to Neenah Foundry, said the foundry’s president and CEO, Vic Bhatia, in a news release. “The power of Bingham & Taylor and Neenah Foundry together creates an exciting opportunity to strengthen our offering and deepen our commercial relationships.”

Hegseth says he wants the Pentagon to prioritize speed over cost when buying weapons


Summary:

  • to overhaul weapons for faster delivery
  • Hegseth says goal is “wartime footing” with 85% solutions over delays
  • Shift follows lessons from Ukraine’s drone warfare and past failures
  • Critics warn faster deals could reduce oversight and invite abuse

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the Pentagon is revamping how the military buys weapons, shifting the focus away from producing advanced and complex technology and toward products that can be made and delivered quickly.

Hegseth, speaking to military leaders and in Washington, said the “objective is simple: transform the entire acquisition system to operate on a wartime footing, to rapidly accelerate the fielding of capabilities and focus on results.”

Hegseth gave his address, which ran for more than an hour, at the National War College. It delved much more into military minutia than a previous big speech to hundreds of military leaders abruptly summoned to a base in Virginia, where he declared an end to “woke” culture and announced “gender-neutral” directives for troops.

Hegseth acknowledged the granularity Friday, saying, “If folks are watching this on Fox, their eyes are rolling over.”

The defense secretary argued his changes are meant to move the military away from the more traditional process that prioritized delivering a perfect, if expensive and late, product in favor of something that is less ideal but delivered quickly. Some experts say the changes could mean less transparency and the military ending up with systems that may not function as expected.

“An 85% solution in the hands of our armed forces today is infinitely better than an unachievable 100% solution … endlessly undergoing testing or awaiting additional technological development,” he said. He asserted that what used to take several years could happen within one.

The shift is coming as Russia’s grinding war has seen an underfunded Ukraine using cheap, mass-produced drones to effectively hold off a technologically superior Moscow, which is armed with advanced missiles and hundreds of tanks.

“ are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year’s casualties in Ukraine,” Hegseth argued in a July memo before declaring that “while global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape.” That memo lifted some Pentagon restrictions on drone purchases.

Todd Harrison, a defense budget and acquisition expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said Hegseth’s ideas represent a significant shift in how the military would buy arms.

But he warned that if contractors aren’t incentivized “to check all the boxes” for everything the military wants in a product, “they may deliver something faster, but it may not do what you want it to do.”

The way the buys weapons and platforms has faced criticism for various reasons for decades. In recent years, the most famous example of the Pentagon’s failure to get the right gear to the front line was the scores of troops that died from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan because of poorly armored vehicles that weren’t designed for the conflict.

Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates used his influence to quickly develop the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, or MRAP, through the acquisition process in under a year.

Hegseth acknowledged the effort Friday, noting that “the entire process must move at the speed of … the MRAP.”

More recently, other Pentagon efforts have tried to replicate this dynamic to quickly deal with the threat of China invading Taiwan or quickly develop swarms of drones, with mixed results.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker praised Hegseth’s changes as “a game changer for U.S. defense, ensuring our military has the advanced equipment needed to deter adversaries like China and Russia.”

Wicker, who heads the Armed Services Committee, said he was looking forward to “implementing these priorities in the next National Defense Authorization Act.”

Hegseth also argued that the companies that sell weapons and platforms to the military need to “assume risk to partner with the United States.”

He then took aim at the large defense contractors, saying the Pentagon will move away from the traditional system where there is limited competition to “harness more of America’s innovative companies.”

Harrison said risks are inherent with turning away from traditional contractors — they possess deep expertise and are mostly publicly traded companies. That means “we have more visibility into their liquidity, the stability of their company, their board,” he said.

With the changes comes a possibility for greater fraud and abuse.

”Whereas many of these newer companies, we have very little visibility inside how the company works, who owns what, how they make decisions — it’s all very opaque,” Harrison said.

During his speech, Hegseth also said he wanted to increase the sale of U.S. arms to equip allies while boosting the military industrial base.

Specifically, his plan is to streamline regulations to encourage more sales as a way to boost U.S. arms while also equipping allies with the latest in military hardware and munitions.

“President Trump is securing deal after deal to bring cold, hard cash to American manufacturers,” Hegseth said. “But our processes are too slow.”

Mecklenburg Electric Coop wrestles with data center energy demand

SUMMARY:

Across Virginia and across the nation, lawmakers are trying to figure out how to provide enough electricity for power-hungry data centers without driving up residential electric rates.

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, which is headquartered in Chase City,  recently petitioned the state for permission to increase rates for large-load consumers, such as data centers. The cooperative has a duty, said David H. Lipscomb, vice president of and member services at the cooperative,  to  “ensure that each class of membership pays its fair share of the cost they create.”

As of this summer, though, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative had just one customer with an annual demand averaging 5 megawatts or more per month. That’s according to Aug. 29 testimony from MEC President and CEO Casey Logan given to the , the state agency with regulatory authority over utilities.

And while the cooperative didn’t name the customer, it’s looking like it’s a Clarksville data center.

“MEC is currently serving a large-load consumer and will likely serve additional large-load consumers in the future, which requires significant electric infrastructure,” Logan stated. Additionally, Logan testified that the cooperative attempted to negotiate a separate electric service agreement with this large-load consumer but failed to make a deal.

TECfusions, a Florida-based data center operator that has a data center campus in Clarksville, identified itself as that sole customer in an Oct. 21 comment sent to the SCC. The company stated, “MEC is attempting to have the commission implement what we could not agree to through negotiation.”

TECfusions did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

On Sept. 5, the commission gave the go-ahead for the cooperative — which serves 32,000 members in portions of nine Southside Virginia counties and five northern North Carolina counties — to issue an interim rate increase for customers who consume more than 5 megawatts of electricity a month.

The commission gave interested parties until Oct. 24 to submit comments on the cooperative’s petition. Through Dec. 5, the cooperative will have time to make additional comments. Later, the commission will make a final review.

In its petition to the regulator, the cooperative noted that it is “in a state of emergency due to the magnitude of costs and risks imposed on the cooperative’s legacy members, who did not create those costs and risks.”

TECfusions, in its comment, balked at at this notion

“What is the underlying cause for this state of emergency?” TECfusions asked in its comment. “The current large load customer has been operational for over a year.”

TECfusions said the company did not sign an electric service agreement with the cooperative because they could not agree on matters such as the frequency of billing, the amount of time the company would have to pay a bill and amounts required for deposits.

TECfusions began construction on its Clarksville data center in 2023. By June 2024, the data center announced it had 24 megawatts of capacity available. Currently, the data center leases 80 megawatts of capacity, according to the business’ website.

In February, TECfusions announced the purchase of an additional 73 acres in Clarksville to expand its data center operation.

The amount of electricity provided by MEC has grown over the years. In 2021, the nonprofit provided 607 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to its members. By 2024, that figure had increased to 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours.

Lipscomb declined Friday to verify that TECfusions is the cooperative’s one large-load consumer.

He said that any member who uses more than 5 megawatts, now or in the future, would be eligible for the rate under consideration. “Anybody that gets to that size, that’s who it’s for,” he said.

The cooperative might be willing to draw up separate energy service agreements for large-load consumers, according to Lipscomb.

Whether a company is charged by the rate under consideration by the commission or an individual agreement, though, that goal is the same: “Cost recovery is what’s the primary driver,” Lipscomb said.