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Officials envision new life for shuttered state campus

Summary

  • closed in 2020, costing the region 1,600 jobs and $87M.
  • plan envisions housing, retail, and light industry.
  • Site includes 98 outdated buildings, many with asbestos.
  • State allocated $6M for demolition to attract developers.

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-area leaders want to see a second act for about 386 acres that were once home to the , a sprawling state campus that housed people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for decades until the state shut it down in 2020.

The center’s closing also dealt an $87.1 million regional economic blow, according to Megan Lucas, CEO and chief officer of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.

“When the training center closed, we lost 1,600 jobs,” Lucas says. “We lost contracts the state paid for to support the residents of the training center, including food services, laundry services, maintenance of the complex, security and health services. The people who worked at the training center lived in the area, and spent money on housing, groceries and various services. The closure of the training center was a significant economic loss.”

The center’s closure ended a dark chapter of eugenics-driven policies that began 110 years prior and included decades of forced sterilizations in the early 20th century.

In 2022, the alliance, and other partners released a redevelopment plan for the CVTC, envisioning the property being transformed into a mixed-use walkable neighborhood with room for light industrial use, commercial buildings, including restaurants, and housing, including multifamily and single-family homes.

Real estate and investment management firm JLL is selling the CVTC property for the state. The property listing describes the facility as “a prime redevelopment opportunity with extensive James River frontage and views of downtown Lynchburg.”

In March 2024, the state listed CVTC for sale, but didn’t attract the right buyer, according to Lucas. “We found in that first round that qualified developers weren’t responding because the site is filled with 98 buildings that are outdated,” she says.

The complex includes numerous buildings, totaling more than 900,000 square feet, built between 1912 and 1989, but because most contain asbestos, they won’t be candidates for preservation. In fiscal 2023, the state earmarked $6 million to help the property’s eventual developer with the demolition cost.

To make the property more desirable, this year the state agreed to give the $6 million instead to the Virginia Department of General Services to perform demolition work on the complex’s oldest buildings. “Any day now they’re going to start,” Lucas says.

 

Post GreenCity, Henrico tries again

Summary

  • Henrico opens new call for arena-anchored development plans
  • project collapsed amid lawsuits and unpaid land fees
  • Selected proposal expected by December; land transfer set for Jan. 2026
  • Property zoning allows mix of retail, hotel, residential, and office space
  • Legal dispute continues over $1M repurchase and property title

Following the collapse of the $2.3 billion GreenCity project, released in May a new call for developers to submit plans for an arena-anchored development.

Developers must submit their plans by July 28, and supervisors are expected to approve the chosen plan in December. After that, the 93-acre property would be conveyed to the winning development team in January 2026, with a 17,000-capacity arena expected to open in 2028.

The request for interest came while the developers of the failed GreenCity project are being sued by the Henrico County Authority and , the company that was set to operate the GreenCity arena.

In 2022, the county agreed to sell the property to the developers for $6.2 million, and the sale took place on Feb. 28, 2023.

After paying the county $1 million on time, the developers failed to pay the remaining $5.2 million due Feb. 28, the county’s complaint says, and the developers went into default March 13. At that point, Henrico said it would exercise its repurchase option on April 15, paying back the $1 million to the developers in return for the land.

But in a separate lawsuit, ASM Global claimed the developers owed an ASM subsidiary more than $1.5 million, and a Henrico County Circuit Court judge issued a summons to the EDA in April, seeking to garnish the $1 million repurchase fee. The developers filed a motion to vacate the judgment, and they’ve “refused to convey the property to the EDA … unless ASM agrees that the EDA may pay some or all of the repurchase price to [the developers] rather than to ASM,” Henrico says in its complaint.

, executive director of the Henrico Authority, confirmed May 27 that the county has not yet received the land.

Despite the legal turmoil, “I think there’s a high level of excitement to get this restarted,” Bickmeier says.

The property is zoned as a conditional urban mixed-use district that would allow development of an arena, office and retail space, hotels and residential units, giving prospective developers creative freedom, Bickmeier says.

Construction of residences on the adjoining 110 acres, known as Scott Farm, is set to start later this year, under the development of a Markel|Eagle Partners subsidiary, the county says.

$35B Capital One-Discover merger closes

Summary

  • closed its $35.3B Discover acquisition in May 2025.
  • The deal creates a credit card giant and passed federal approval.
  • Capital One agreed to $425M settlement, $265B in investments.
  • did not challenge merger despite concerns.

McLean-based Capital One Financial completed its $35.3 billion acquisition of Services in May, finalizing the merger of the credit card giants announced last year.

On April 18, Capital One received approval from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to purchase Illinois-based Discover. The deal was announced in February 2024, and in December, shareholders at both companies approved it.

“This deal brings together two innovative, mission-driven companies that together are poised to deliver breakthrough products and experiences to consumers, businesses and merchants,” Capital One Founder and CEO Richard D. Fairbank said in a statement.

The all-stock acquisition, Capital One’s largest ever purchase, was under regulatory scrutiny. Two Capital One cardholders filed a federal class action lawsuit against Discover and Capital One in July 2024, claiming the megadeal would violate antitrust law, but the case was paused in October 2024, pending further action by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In July 2024, Capital One committed to spend $265 billion over five years on lending, philanthropy and investment if the deal went through. Just before the closing of the deal, Capital One agreed to pay $425 million to settle with customers who were suing the bank, accusing it of cheating them out of higher interest rates applicable to the 360 Performance Savings account.

At the last minute, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, wrote to the Department of Justice, calling on its antitrust division to block the transaction.

“ and , which have enjoyed a duopoly, have a long history of alleged coordination, resulting in higher fees for customers and merchants,” Warren wrote. “Capital One has stated that it will move some, but not all, of its credit card volume to the Discover network, meaning it will be negotiating its interchange fees as a credit card issuer with Visa and Mastercard, while separately setting interchange fees on its own network. That is a recipe for coordination among the three networks.”

Gail Slater, the DOJ’s antitrust czar, determined that she didn’t have enough evidence to challenge the deal in court, according to media reports.

Three former Discover board members now serve on Capital One’s board of directors, as it expands from 12 members to 15. Capital One also intends to continue offering Discover-branded , in addition to Capital One cards.

Globalinx grows bandwidth at subsea cable station

Summary

Virginia’s “” is significantly growing its capacity at Globalinx’s subsea internet cable landing station at Corporate Landing Business Park.

A Virginia Beach-based carrier-neutral cable-landing station and data center operator, Globalinx finished construction on four new cable bores at its Sandbridge landing site in late May, a $39 million project.

Since 2018, Globalinx has connected Virginia Beach to Europe and South America through three transatlantic cables carrying ultra-high-speed internet traffic: MAREA, owned by Microsoft and Meta Platforms/Facebook; BRUSA, owned by Telxius; and DUNANT, owned by Google. Globalinx now hosts the most subsea cables on the East Coast.

“The infrastructure we built adds another 400% internet capacity to Virginia,” says Globalinx founder and President Greg Twitt.

The first two of the four new subsea cables will likely be ready for use within one to two years. More than 95% of the world’s data traffic travels through subsea cables, and Globalinx’s Virginia Beach landing station is the only confluence of subsea cables in Virginia and on the East Coast between New Jersey and South Carolina.

“Virginia Beach is really a fiber gateway to Virginia,” says Twitt. “These cables and cable landing station are essential for further growth in Virginia in terms of data center development.”

Globalinx is vital to Virginia Beach’s digital port initiative, adds Deputy City Manager Amanda Jarratt. “It’s all about connectivity and the time it takes for your computer to send signals to a server and get a response. The magnitude of capacity that these new cables brings is truly exponential.”
Virginia Beach officials plan to promote the cables to various business sectors, including health care, higher education and finance.

“Because we are so close to the entry point of the subsea cables, they are truly valuable to these sectors,” Jarratt says. She adds that the city hopes to make several economic development announcements associated with the new cables over the next year.

Globalinx plans to start construction this summer on a new facility in its 11-acre Corporate Landing complex to house the additional cables. It is slated to be completed in mid-2026.

Additionally, Virginia Beach has joined the four other South Hampton Roads cities in forming the , a 119-mile fiber optic cable loop connecting with the subsea cables to link municipal networks and accelerate high-speed connectivity.

Manassas aviation startup lands $115 million round

Demand has taken off for Manassas-based ‘s electric short takeoff and landing aircraft, the Ultra Short, with more than 2,200 preorders totaling more than $10 billion.

Now, with $115 million raised in a round that closed in April, the company plans to move from prototype to development, Electra Chief Financial Officer Max Ochoa says.

“There’s a lot of additional headcount and technology that needs to be brought to bear to go from basically designing, developing, and then starting to think about manufacturability and certifiability of a brand-new aircraft,” Ochoa says. “That requires capital.”

The nine-seat EL9 follows on the heels of the company’s EL2 Goldfinch two-seat prototype, which flew for the first time in November 2023 and has now achieved 80 flights, Ochoa says. The company, which launched in 2020, doubled from 40 employees in 2023 to about 80, with plans to grow to about 120 employees, including engineers, in the next year.

Billed as the world’s first ultra short aircraft, the EL9 requires only 150 feet to take off and land and will have a range of 1,100 nautical miles with a 3,000-pound payload. It uses electric motors to blow air over the wings for takeoff and is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system that recharges the aircraft in flight, eliminating the need for charging infrastructure. The company plans to design the aircraft for use by commercial and defense customers. In 2023, it received an up to $85 million award from the Air Force for prototype development. That same year, the company also received a grant and award from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp.

The Series B round was led by New Jersey-based venture capital and private equity fund . Prysm’s portfolio includes electric vehicle maker Rivian and Field AI, an artificial intelligence robotics company.

Electra is also scouting sites for a manufacturing plant, with plans to select a location by mid-2026, Ochoa says, adding Virginia is among the states under consideration. Delivery of aircraft is expected to begin in 2029.

Joe Benevento, president and CEO of VIPC, says Electra’s Series B round was the second largest to be announced this year in the United States by an technology company.

“It’s been remarkable to witness the impressive growth trajectory of this homegrown Virginia tech startup,” he says.

Top five for June 2025

The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from May 12 through June 12 included news of layoffs stemming from the Trump administration’s efforts to cut spending on federal contracts.

1 | Newport News Shipbuilding to furlough 471 workers Company spokesperson said furloughs were not expected to last more than five months. (May 30)

2 | Booz Allen CEO says 7% of employees to be laid off About 2,500 employees, mainly in the management consulting business’ civil division, were expected to lose their jobs by the end of June. (May 23)

3 | DHS says it’s canceling $2.4B Leidos contract
A court filing revealed the federal government had terminated a cybersecurity contract that had been disputed by another contractor. (May 15)

4 | Leesburg firm lays off 155 after Navy cancels $170M contract The U.S. Navy notified government contractor Pantheon Data that the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE, was requiring the military branch to cancel its service contract. (May 15)

5 | 41 Virginia companies made the 2025 Fortune 1000 Freddie Mac, the federally sponsored mortgage business, maintained its spot as the top-ranked Virginia-based company at No. 38 on the Fortune 500, down two spots from last year. (June 2)

For the record July 2025

Central Virginia

The Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront kicked off its inaugural show June 7 with some blasts from MTV days past. Rick Springfield cruised into the new Richmond venue as headliner on the “I Want My ‘80s Tour” with opening acts John Cafferty, Wang Chung, and John Waite. A partnership between Charlottesville-based Red Light Management and Live Nation, the roughly 7,500-seat venue celebrated its grand opening June 4 with a performance by students from St. Andrew’s School in Oregon Hill. (Richmond Times-Dispatch; news release)

Molina Healthcare, a Fortune 500 company that manages health care services for Medicaid and Medicare recipients, is closing its office and laying off 268 workers. California-based Molina notified the state that it would lay off all staffers there by July 14. The Henrico office’s closing is due to the nonrenewal of Molina’s state contract as one of Virginia Medicaid’s managed care organizations, the company’s letter to Virginia Works stated. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches announced in May it would invest $5.8 million to expand to a new facility in Richmond, with plans to add 166 jobs. Established in 2016, Nightingale sells products in more than 5,000 chain and independent grocery stores, including Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Harris Teeter. It has doubled in size year-over-year and has outgrown its current production facility. The cold treat maker’s new 29,000-square-foot location will serve as both a production facility and Nightingale’s corporate headquarters. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Glen Allen-based Fortune 500 health care logistics and supply company Owens & Minor backed out of a $1.36 billion deal to buy Rotech Healthcare Holdings, a Florida home-based care business. Owens & Minor and Rotech Healthcare Holdings mutually agreed to terminate the deal June 3, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that also noted Owens & Minor paid a termination fee of $80 million in cash. News of the failed deal follows a February announcement that Owens & Minor was “actively engaged” in discussions to sell its products and health care services segment. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Despite filing for bankruptcy in March, Plenty Unlimited will be able to finish construction of its vertical indoor farm facility in Chesterfield County. In May, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez approved a restructuring plan for San Francisco-based Plenty and its subsidiaries that will let it complete its vertical farm facility on 120 acres in Chesterfield’s Meadowville Technology Park. Plenty opened the first strawberry farm on its Chesterfield campus in September 2024. Construction is expected to begin in August on four remaining farms at its Chesterfield campus. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority is looking to build a hospital off Route 10 in Chesterfield. VCU Health sent a June 2 letter to the Virginia Department of Health indicating its intent to submit a certificate of public need application. The acute care, 66-bed hospital would be located at 7220 Beach Road on 56 acres. The proposed hospital site is located next to VCU Health’s $90 million outpatient surgery center that broke ground in May. Located at 9820 Iron Bridge Road on an 8-acre parcel, the surgery center is expected to open in 2027. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

PEOPLE

Jennifer Schofield became the new park manager and vice president of in-park revenue for Kings Dominion on May 31. She succeeds Bridgette C. Bywater as leader of the Doswell amusement park owned by Six Flags Entertainment. Schofield has 34 years of experience in the theme park industry and was most recently vice president of retail at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Eastern Virginia

The DeLong Co., a Wisconsin agriculture company, broke ground on May 29 on a $26 million agricultural export facility in Portsmouth that will be used to prepare whole grains and feedstuffs for shipment. The facility will have a storage capacity of 15,000 metric tons and will be located at the former CSX intermodal site, located at 1 Harper Ave. DeLong says it will be the first facility of its kind on the East Coast to receive unit trains and that it is expected to handle 15,000 to 20,000 containers yearly. The site is expected to be operational in early 2026. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would put 672 civil servants at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton out of work. Trump’s proposal would slash NASA’s funding from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, a roughly 25% decrease. If approved by Congress, the White House’s suggested budget would cut the civilian workforce by about 32% across the entire agency, according to a technical supplement released in June. For FY 2025, NASA Langley has a civilian workforce that’s estimated to be 1,730 employees. The proposed budget would dial that back to 1,058 workers in FY 2026. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Newport News Shipbuilding announced on May 30 that it would furlough 471 shipbuilders for up to five months, with the furlough taking effect on June 2. Although it is not a job termination, furloughed employees will not be paid for the time they’re out of work. A spokesperson said the furlough was done “to increase accountability and efficiency, and to improve overall performance in meeting our current and future commitments to the U.S. Navy.” NNS said it would continue to evaluate its business needs to determine whether continued furlough is warranted. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Texas-based financial services company USAA announced on June 12 that it has purchased a larger office space in Chesapeake and will add more than 500 employees in the area over the next two years. USAA’s new Chesapeake office at 1341 Crossways Blvd. will span nearly 200,000 square feet and feature a claims technical training center with vehicles on-site for hands-on learning, a cafeteria and other dining options, a fitness center and a market. The current Chesapeake location has only 81,478 rentable square feet. USAA plans to begin working in the new space in March 2026.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, commonly known as Jefferson Lab, announced in May that Jens Dilling was appointed as its next director, effective June 30. He succeeds Kimberly Sawyer, who held the role since August 2024. Dilling most recently was the associate laboratory director for neutron sciences at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), leading research at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Spallation Neutron Source. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

officials confirmed that the city’s new director, Christian Green, resigned June 11 after serving less than four months in the post. Green’s resignation marks the second time in a row Virginia Beach’s economic development director has departed after a short tenure. Deputy City Manager Amanda Jarratt is once again serving in the interim role. Virginia Beach City Council Member Barbara Henley said the city will likely undertake a national search for a new economic development director. The city says Green elected to resign from his position “due to pressing family matters.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Northern Virginia

The June 12 crash of a London-bound Air India plane that killed more than 240 people was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 787, a widebody, twin-engine plane known as the Dreamliner. But it’s the latest in a string of troubles for Arlington County-based Boeing, most of them tied to the 737 Max, a different plane. (See below.) The Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel, killing at least five people and injuring about 50 more, when the plane came down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad. Many more victims were expected to be found during a search of the site. Only one of the plane’s 242 passengers survived; he was hospitalized with burns and other injuries. (Associated Press)

McLean-based Fortune 500 management consulting business Booz Allen Hamilton will lay off 7% of its 35,800-employee workforce, or about 2,500 employees, mainly in its civil division, Chairman, CEO and President Horacio Rozanski said during a May earnings call. Noting a recent “slowdown” in the federal government’s civil procurement and spending, Rozanski said that five of Booz Allen’s major civil technology contracts’ run rates were reduced in April. Meanwhile, a major Veterans Affairs tech contract ended in the last fiscal year. The loss of the VA contract and the reduction in run rates for the other five contracts are expected to lower Booz Allen’s consolidated top line by 6% in fiscal 2026, Rozanski said. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, 75, a nine-term Democrat representing Virginia’s 11th District, died May 21. In April, Connolly stepped back as ranking Democratic member of the House’s Oversight Committee after announcing that his esophageal cancer had returned and that this would be his last term in Congress. He represented the City of Fairfax and most of Fairfax County. Before being elected to Congress in 2008, he served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1995 to 2009. A special election for the congressional seat will be held Sept. 9. (VirginiaBusiness.com; The Washington Post)

In late May, the Justice Department reached a deal with Boeing that took criminal prosecution off the table for allegedly misleading regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before the two fatal planes crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. Boeing agreed to pay or invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for crash victims’ families, removing the risk of a criminal conviction that would have jeopardized the company’s status as a federal contractor. (Associated Press)

Reston-based federal contractor Leidos acquired Kudu Dynamics, a Chantilly-based tech company that builds AI-powered cybersecurity tools for defense customers, in an all-cash $300 million deal that closed May 23. The transaction marked Leidos’ first acquisition in more than two years
and its first since Thomas A. Bell became the Fortune 500 defense, aerospace and IT firm’s CEO. Founded in 2013, Kudu, which has 170 employees, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary in Leidos’ national security sector and will continue to be led by its founder and CEO, Mike Frantzen. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Government contractor Technomics will invest $5.38 million to expand its Arlington County headquarters, adding 25,200 square feet of office space and creating 248 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced June 11. Eastablished in 1984, Technomics opened its Arlington hqadquarters in 2000 and specializes in providing data and analytics-driven support services for United States and international government clients. The contractor, which has 300 employees has expanded its Arlington office three times since 2022. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Arlington County to secure the latest expansion project for Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Roanoke/ / New River Valley

Carilion Clinic is ending its agreement to provide nurses for the Roanoke city school system to instead focus on improving access to pediatric services across its region. The partnership between Carilion and the school system started in 2011. Now, as the next fiscal year begins, school officials will need to find a new school nursing option. The $2.7 million contract for the current year involves 31 nurses and one administrative position and there is a nurse for each elementary and middle school and two for the high schools, according to school system documents. (Roanoke Rambler)

-based Old Dominion Job Corps Center will lay off 130 workers by June 30, due to President Donald Trump’s administration ordering the closures of contractor-run Job Corps centers across the nation. Old Dominion, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, notified the state June 3 of plans to lay off the employees due to the closure. The Job Corps program provides students ages 16-24 with education, vocational training and job placement assistance. Blue Ridge Job Corps Center in Smyth County is also slated for closure. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

City councilman Peter Volosin’s application to rent out his two-bedroom basement in south Roanoke was vehemently opposed by his neighbors and narrowly denied by a partial composition of Roanoke’s Board of Zoning Appeals June 11. The citizen board voted 3-2, with two members absent, on the application by Volosin and husband Malcolm Quigley, who requested to rent their basement out on Airbnb. More than 400 people from the south Roanoke area had signed a petition opposing the homestay, one speaker told the board. The couple could rent the property out for stays of 30 days or more as a by-right use. (The Roanoke Times)

Virginia Tech is adding a new level of drone defense research with $5 million from the U.S. Army. The award will create the Counter UAS Research and Testing Center, with the unmanned aircraft experts at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute and the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership leading the way. The goal is to help the Department of Defense and law enforcement deal with threats from both novice drone users and bad actors, according to the release. The new research and testing center will feature an outdoor test bed employing sensors. (Cardinal News)

PEOPLE

BWX Technologies, a Lynchburg-based nuclear components and fuel supplier manufacturer, appointed Gonzalo Cajade as chief human resources officer, effective June 1. He succeeded Robert L. Duffy in leading human resources, according to BWXT’s May 29 announcement. Duffy will continue with the company as chief administrative officer and as an executive adviser to the CEO. Cajade has over 20 years of global human resources leadership experience, most recently being executive vice president and chief people officer at Terrepower, where he led efforts focused on company growth and mergers and acquisitions. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

In May, Laura Treanor was named the fifth president of Roanoke’s Virginia Western Community College, succeeding Robert Sandel, the school’s leader since 2001. Her tenure began July 1. Previously, Treanor worked as provost, senior vice president for instructional services and dean of faculty at Vincennes University in Indiana. At Baker College in Michigan, Treanor also held several roles, including system associate vice president for institutional effectiveness. Treanor, who earned a doctorate in education at Virginia Tech, was selected from 61 candidates. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Shenandoah Valley

A new Virginia law that took effect on July 1 will change how Clarke County planners review subdivision plats and site development plans. In localities with more than 5,000 residents, the law shifts the responsibility for reviewing these matters from planning commissions to local government employees or designated agents. Clarke is one of the few localities impacted by the legislation, as most Virginia localities already have given an employee the responsibility of conducting reviews. Planning Director Brandon Stidham said compliance will require the county to pass significant amendments to the county’s zoning and subdivision ordinances. (The Winchester Star)

Fulks Run Grocery, a beloved community store in Rockingham County, celebrated its 75th anniversary in June with a daylong event featuring games and music. Navy veteran Garnett Turner founded the business in 1949, initially as a small country store. About 10 years later, he created the Turner Hams country ham business, which today sells hams nationally. The family-run business has been passed down through generations and is currently run by Chad Ritchie. He says that after all those years, the business is still sticking true to its family’s recipe from the early 1900s. (Daily News-Record)

NextEra Energy Transmission held an open house in May to solicit feedback on preliminary routes for the proposed 105-mile MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, a 500-kilovolt transmission line that will cut through northern Frederick County. Regional electrical grid operator PJM Interconnection is spearheading the proposal, which is meant to satisfy the region’s future energy demands. currently consume massive amounts of energy in Northern Virginia. NextEra aims to file applications this fall with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and other state regulators. If approved, early construction activities would begin in 2029 with lines in service by 2031. (The Winchester Star)

The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors on May 28 unanimously approved a special use permit for the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative to expand its grain facility in Linville. Located at 3955 Virginia Poultry Drive, the facility opened in 2008 and has served as a central location for county farmers to buy and sell their grain. But president John King said time and a changing economic landscape prompted a need for upgrades. He said that the co-op has grown more than 40% since its founding and continues to expand. The upgraded facility will be over 200 feet tall when completed. (Daily News-Record)

Winchester-based Shenandoah University and Middletown-based Laurel Ridge Community College signed a memorandum of understanding on May 20 to create a guaranteed admissions program, enabling Laurel Ridge students to co‑enroll in up to three Shenandoah courses at community college tuition. The courses each carry three or four credit hours. The program allows early access to SU’s academics and student benefits like intramural sports, clubs, organizations and academic support services. Students who achieve their Laurel Ridge associate degree within three years, successfully complete co-enrolled courses and meet GPA requirements are guaranteed admission to Shenandoah to pursue their bachelor’s degree. (News release)

Denver-based Tract Capital wants to build a data center campus called Meadow Brook Technology Park in Frederick County. The center would be located on more than 600 acres of what is now farmland just south of Stephens City. The land is owned by Jason McDonald of Springwood Farms. During an open forum at Laurel Ridge Community College, some area residents raised concerns, feeling the rural location wasn’t suitable for a data center and fearing it would devalue homes. Others acknowledged the center could be the source of tax revenue. The project requires both a rezoning and a comprehensive plan amendment. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Southwest Virginia

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Brownfields grants to LENOWISCO Planning District Commission and the Town of Pennington Gap, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, announced in May. The commission received a $1.2 million Brownfield Assessment grant to support an assessment of local brownfields. LENOWISCO Planning District Commission serves the Counties of Lee, Wise and Scott and the City of Norton. Additionally, Pennington Gap received a $276,563 Brownfield Cleanup grant. (News release)

On June 1, Del. C. Todd Gilbert stepped down as Republican minority leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, and House Republicans elected Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, to succeed him. If the GOP wins a majority of the House’s 100 seats this fall, Kilgore would become speaker. Kilgore has served in the House since 1994 and was previously House majority leader during Gilbert’s term as speaker in 2022-24. A Shenandoah County attorney, Gilbert is in contention to become the next U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

News that China and the U.S. would significantly ease levies as they attempt to ratchet down trade tensions that have roiled global markets may have been a light at the end of the tunnel for some in the furniture industry, but Doug Bassett, president of Galax-based Vaughan-Bassett Furniture, said in May that ongoing uncertainty around trade has had a positive impact on the company’s business because it lacks much direct exposure to China in its supply chain. At the April High Point Market, Bassett said uncertainty around tariffs led many buyers to lean on the company as a source of stability amid a chaotic business environment. (BridgeTower Media)

In June, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority announced the award of a grant worth up to $200,000 to the Mountain Empire Community College Foundation from the Coalfield Workforce Development and Training Fund for workforce development and training. The grant will fund VCEDA region resident scholarships, tuition, training instructional costs, retraining costs and customized workforce training for area businesses. VCEDA has provided more than $1.2 million in total workforce development and training funding assistance to Mountain Empire’s foundation since 2018. (News release)

Almost million in state funding will help pay for workforce housing projects across the state, with about $8.6 million going to Southwest and Southside Virginia. Blacksburg, Bristol, Danville, South Boston, Washington County and Wytheville are six of the 10 Virginia localities that are slated to receive funding, each for a specific housing project. The awards are expected to create 740 workforce housing units in Virginia and leverage more than $254 million in private investment, according to the governor’s office. This funding is going through the Workforce Housing Investment Program, an initiative administered by Virginia Housing to increase the supply of this housing type. (Cardinal News)

PEOPLE

Clinton R. Hayes started July 1 as the next president of Southwest Virginia Community College, which is based in Cedar Bluff and serves the counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell. Hayes comes from Kentucky’s Somerset Community College, where he was provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. He holds a doctorate in education at University of the Cumberlands and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Eastern Kentucky University. Tommy Wright, SWCC’s previous president, left in 2024 to become the Virginia Community College System’s senior vice chancellor for finance and operations. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Out and About

1. In late May, the Roanoke Sheriff’s Office hosted a job fair for inmates at its detention center. (Photo courtesy Roanoke Sheriff’s Office)

2. Customers spoke with Liebherr product experts and viewed the company’s heavy machinery June 4 during the Liebherr Equipment Source 2025 Open House in Newport News. (Photo courtesy Liebherr USA)

3. Bowman Consulting Group founder and CEO Gary Bowman and the engineering services firm’s leadership team and employees celebrated the Reston company’s 30th anniversary by ringing the Nasdaq opening bell June 9. (Photo courtesy Bowman Consulting Group)

4. Sebastian Durst, CEO of Weidmüller Global, parent company of Weidmuller USA, was among dignitaries attending the June 11 grand opening event for Weidmuller USA’s 24,000-square-foot engineering and production facility in Chesterfield County. (Photo courtesy Weidmuller USA)

5. (L to R) League of Credit Unions & Affiliates President Samantha Beeler; Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union President and CEO Amanda Habansky; and League Chair Richard Skaggs at a June 11 awards ceremony in Florida where Petersburg-based Peoples Advantage was named Credit Union of the Year among credit unions with up to $100 million in assets (Photo courtesy League of Credit Unions & Affiliates)

Heard Around Virginia, July 2025

Richmond accelerator Lighthouse Labs announced in May it’s expanding its services and rebranding itself as Lighthouse Network. Since its founding in 2012, Lighthouse has supported 149 companies, raised over $350 million in capital, helped founders raise an average of $1.8 million each and created over 1,500 jobs. The accelerator’s 11-week program, which provides founders with support from mentors, industry experts and investors, and free office space, will shift to one cohort a year instead of two as part of the change. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

LNC Partners, an Arlington County-based private equity firm investing in professional services companies, announced in May that it closed on its third fund, with $325 million in total commitments. The fund, LNC Partners III, will operate as a licensed small business investment company. “The Fund was oversubscribed and received strong support from both existing and new investors, including a diverse group of financial institutions, fund of funds, university endowments, family offices and high-net-worth individuals,” LNC Partners said. “With the closing of Fund III, LNC Partners has now managed over $1 billion of capital across six investment funds since its founding in 2012.” (Potomac Tech Wire)

Meibel, a startup founded in 2024 that’s developing tools to help companies adopt artificial intelligence technology across enterprises, is moving into its first office space in Tysons after raising $7 million from investors. CEO and co-founder Kevin McGrath said the company will start with about 10 people at a built-out 3,000-square-foot office, which has room to expand, at 7925 Jones Branch Drive. The seed round was led by San Francisco’s Mosaic General Partnership and included participation from Array Ventures, Cofounders Capital, Service Provider Capital and Denver Ventures. (DC Inno)

Nooks, a Crystal City-based provider of classified workspaces, said in June that it had raised $25 million in its first round of funding. Participants included Zigg Capital, Upper90, SAIC and Lockheed Martin. The company, which operates in Arlington County, Colorado Springs, and El Segundo, California, focuses on creating secure and affordable access to classified facilities for government agencies, contractors and entrepreneurs.
(Potomac Tech Wire)

Tysons startup pWin.ai, which developed an AI proposals writing tool, has raised $10 million in a seed funding round. MicroStrategy co-founder Sanju Bansal, members of the Blue Delta Capital Partners team and “other government contracting industry leaders” led the round, according to a June news release. The startup developed its generative AI tool in partnership with Shipley Associates, a business development training and consulting company based in Utah. pWin.ai said in a news release its product can improve win rates by up to 20%. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Shenandoah Community Capital Fund (SCCF) and the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council (SVTC) announced in June the two organizations would merge in a partnership, joining under the SCCF banner to expand “our shared commitment to building a thriving, inclusive, and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem, while furthering the mission to support established innovators throughout the Shenandoah Valley.” Founded in 2008 and based in Staunton, SCCF is a nonprofit regional hub for entrepreneurial innovation, dedicated to helping entrepreneurs start, sustain, and grow valley businesses. SVTC was established in 1996 and supports the regional technology ecosystem. (News release)

SpecterOps, an Alexandria-based provider of adversary-focused cybersecurity solutions with targeted insights of advanced threat actor tradecraft, announced in March it had raised a $75 million round led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from Ansa Capital, M12, Ballistic Ventures, Decibel and Cisco Investments. The funding will support SpecterOps’ rapid scaling of BloodHound Enterprise (BHE), a platform for comprehensively removing identity-based attack paths. (News release)

Out & About July 2025

1. Nirali Raval Trovato, senior vice president at Towne Wealth Management in , and her husband, Tony, celebrated her win during Virginia Business’ Forty Under 40 Awards May 12 at the Westin Richmond. (Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown)

2. (L to R) Sentara Health executives Becky Sawyer and Melinda Hancock accepted the award for Best Overall C-Suite at Virginia Business’ inaugural Virginia C-Suite Awards luncheon June 5 at the Jefferson Hotel. (Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown)

3. (L to R) The Breeden Co. President and CEO Timothy A. Faulkner received his award from Virginia Business Associate Publisher and Editor Richard Foster at the Virginia C-Suite Awards June 5. (Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown)

4. Virginia Business Associate Publisher Richard Foster and Sales Manager Toni McCracken congratulated Virginia Forty under 40 Awards winner Michael Gregg, assistant vice president of development at Peterson Cos., at the May 12 awards event. (Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown)

5. Christina Todd and Nancy Oliver of Richmond-based wealth management firm Cary Street Partners share a laugh during the Virginia C-Suite Awards luncheon June 5 (Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown)