September 2020 — For the Record

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

Danville voters will weigh in on a local casino in November, after a circuit judge ordered a referendum to appear on the ballot. Caesars Virginia, a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corp., plans to construct and operate a $400 million casino at the former Dan River Mills industrial complex in Schoolfield. The General Assembly passed a law allowing five casinos to be built across the state in economically challenged cities, including Danville, but they must be approved by voters, city councilors and the Virginia Lottery Board. Caesars already has passed the other two tests, so the voters are its last hurdle. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Green Rock Correctional Facility in Chatham saw a more than threefold increase in inmates and staff who tested positive for the coronavirus over one weekend in early August. Five inmates and 11 staff members tested positive on a Saturday, and by Monday, 42 inmates and 14 staffers tested positive, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. By mid-August, there were more than 100 cases at the prison. Overall, rates of COVID-19 have risen steadily in the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District since early July, from 200 total cases to 935 in mid-August, and the positivity rate was between 10% and 15% in August. (Danville Register & Bee)

Martinsville Vice Mayor Chad Martin was appointed in July to the newly formed Virginia Food Access Investment Fund Stakeholder Work Group created by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The group will determine the guidelines of how state grant funding will be distributed to organizations that supply food to people in need. Martinsville has long had a food insecurity problem. In 2014, it had the state’s third-worst rate of access to affordable and nutritious foods, according to a study by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service at Virginia Tech. Martin says it’s still an issue facing many local families. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Mecklenburg County supervisors voted in August to rezone nearly 650 acres near the Microsoft Data Center in Boydton — land that will likely be used for future expansion of the company’s cloud computing complex. Details about when the expansion would take place were not available, but the zoning change from agriculture to M-1 industrial would allow the center to grow. Since Microsoft Corp. began construction in 2010, the tech giant has invested more than $2 billion in the project and built more than 1.1 million square feet of space to house its data equipment. (SoVaNow)

Morgan Olson LLC started production in June at its new walk-in panel van assembly plant in Pittsylvania County’s Cane Creek Centre industrial park. The delivery van manufacturer announced in October 2019 that it would bring 703 jobs to the Dan River Region, and it has hired more than 300 employees since January. It renovated the 925,000-square-foot warehouse formerly used by Ikea, which closed in December. Morgan Olson announced it would spend $58 million in capital investments, and officials expect to have 450 employees by the end of the year, with all 703 hired by the end of 2021. (Danville Register & Bee)

Primland resort in Meadows of Dan ranked No. 2 in USA Today’s 2020 10Best readers’ choice awards for favorite destination resorts, announced in early August. Middleburg’s Salamander Resort & Spa took the No. 4 spot. Set on 12,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Patrick County, Primland opened in 2009 and includes the 18-hole Highland Course, a bentgrass greens golf course named one of the top 100 courses by Golf Magazine. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc., the parent holding company of Blue Ridge Bank, announced in mid-August it will merge with Richmond-based Bay Banks of Virginia Inc., parent holding company of Virginia Commonwealth Bank, in an all-stock transaction to create a bank with pro forma total market capitalization of nearly $200 million. The bank will operate under the Blue Ridge name and trade under BRBS on the NYSE American stock exchange. The holding company will be based in Charlottesville and the subsidiary bank will be headquartered in Richmond. The pro forma company would have approximately $2.4 billion in assets, $1.9 billion in loans and $2.2 billion in deposits, according to data as of June. This would rank the bank No. 4 in the state for community bank deposit market share for institutions under $10 billion in assets. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Jerry Falwell Jr. took an indefinite leave of absence as president and chancellor of Liberty University in early August at the request of the executive committee of the Christian university’s board of trustees. Falwell has long been a controversial conservative figure, but his support appeared to erode among evangelicals in August after he posted a photo on Instagram of himself with his arm around his wife’s assistant while their pants were partly unzipped and he held a glass with a dark liquid. He took down the photo quickly and said during a radio interview that it was a joke: “I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out.” The chairman of Liberty’s board of trustees, retired evangelical pastor Jerry Prevo of Anchorage, Alaska, was appointed acting president. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Robert E. Lee statue was still up on Monument Avenue in Richmond after a Richmond circuit judge issued a 90-day injunction in early August, preventing the state from removing the monument while litigation continues. Although other Confederate statues on the avenue were removed by city order, Lee belongs to the state. Gov. Ralph Northam announced in June he planned to take the monument down amid nightly protests in Richmond’s streets, but several people have filed suit against its removal. A Richmond Circuit Court judge said he’d issue a ruling in late August on Attorney General Mark Herring’s motion to have the injunction lifted and lawsuit tossed. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The Rolls-Royce aircraft component factory in Prince George County will close and lay off 280 employees by the middle of 2021, a victim of the economic fallout and collapse in global travel resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The job losses come on top of 120 layoffs at the factory — the first Rolls-Royce manufacturing facility built from the ground up in the U.S. — that took place in June. The factory makes precision aircraft components such as rotative discs and turbine blades. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

T-Mobile US Inc. will invest $30 million to relocate one of its customer experience centers to the former Sam’s Club on Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County, creating up to 500 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in mid-August. The relocation will retain approximately 800 jobs, bringing the facility’s total employment to approximately 1,300 full-time employees. The Bellevue, Washington-based telecommunications giant offers 4G LTE and 5G network services. T-Mobile employed more than 1,300 Virginians before its merger with Spring Corp., which was finalized earlier this year. The combined company has since added more than 1,000 employees. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

A water and sewer agreement between Culpeper County and the developers of a $300 million commercial and residential development at Clevengers Corner was extended in early August for 20 years. The Board of Supervisors granted the contract extension to Saadeh Financial LLC hoping that the development would eventually be built in the underserved section of the county. The proposed development includes shops, restaurants, a grocery store and 291 houses. A hotel, along with additional commercial space and more homes, has also been proposed. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)

Culpeper Town Council in mid-July voted to file a $4.6 million claim in the class action lawsuit against now-bankrupt Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis. The town’s claim against Purdue Pharma seeks money in incurred and future damages and abatement costs from 2003 to 2040. Estimates are based on approximate costs for child welfare and adolescent services, drug treatment programs, education and prevention initiatives, health care, law enforcement and criminal justice, and lost tax revenue. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)

Two brothers in Staunton continue to battle in court over $65 million. At the center of the dispute is Staunton-based Fisher Auto Parts — the fifth-largest distributor of auto parts in the country. At stake are millions of dollars in company shares left behind by family matriarch Mary Fisher, who died in 2018. The legal battle started late last year in Augusta County Circuit Court when Fisher Auto Parts President and CEO Arthur “Bo” Fisher III filed a lawsuit against his brother, David Fisher, accusing him of contractual interference in a fight involving their mother’s company shares. But in a counterclaim filed in early August, Bo Fisher is accused of engaging in a scheme “to reap an unlawful, but tremendous, monetary windfall for himself.” (Staunton News Leader)

Shenandoah County in early August received an additional $3.8 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, doubling the amount it was originally allocated. Of the first wave of funding, $2.3 million went to reimburse the county for costs incurred during the pandemic, while $550,000 went to the Industrial Development Authority to help local businesses. The remaining $937,707 was distributed among the county’s six incorporated towns. Critics of the first allocation wanted to see CARES funding go directly to residents who had lost employment as a result of the pandemic rather than to government bodies. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

A large, vacant parcel of land along South Pleasant Valley Road could soon be home to more than 400 Shenandoah University students. The 6.23-acre Winchester Marketplace was rezoned for commercial use in 2000. Property owner Jay Donegan is working with Pinnacle Construction and Development Corp. to refresh plans for a 258,000-square-foot complex designed for college students and young professionals. The Local would include 198 apartments and a commons building for tenants. (The Winchester Star)

The Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative board of directors announced in early August that the co-op’s customers from last year would receive bill credits, as the board determined its annual revenues had exceeded expenses by about $4 million. “This year… it’s imperative that we work with our members who might be struggling financially,” Chairman Larry C. Howdyshell said in a statement. People who were SVEC customers last year but have since discontinued service will be mailed a check. (The Winchester Star)

PEOPLE

Patrick Kenney in early August became superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. Kenney most recently served as the deputy superintendent of Yellowstone National Park since January 2017. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY

A legal battle began in mid-August over a proposed rate increase that would boost the bills of Appalachian Power Co.’s residential customers by 6.5%. The State Corporation Commission must navigate new laws on utility regulation while considering questions and objections from businesses, environmental groups, advocates for low-income customers and others. And some question the accounting practice used by Appalachian to justify electricity price raises. Appalachian’s return on equity dropped to 3.8% in 2019, however filings state that was due to the utility’s decision to offset earnings that year with the costs of the early retirement of fossil fuel-fired power plants. (The Roanoke Times)

Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic announced in late July it completed the purchase of Lexington’s Stonewall Jackson Hospital from the SJH Community Health Foundation. This was the final 20% — valued at $10.9 million — left for Carilion after its initial 2005 investment. With the purchase comes a new name, Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital. The health care system originally acquired 80% ownership of the hospital 15 years ago and took over its management in 2006. Carilion has invested more than $25 million in operations, capital improvements and clinical services at the facility and plans to increase its total investment to more than $36 million. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Ferrum College alumnus Michael Christian donated $100,000 to his alma mater to establish the Michael T. Christian ’63 Center for First-Year Experience, the college announced in early August. The center is intended to connect incoming first-year students to professors, mentors and classmates. Approximately 25% of Ferrum College’s population are first-generation college students. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Blacksburg-based tech company Modea will invest $100,000 to grow its town operation and create 20 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in late July. Founded in 2006, Modea provides consulting and designs software and apps for hospital systems and other health care organizations. Modea’s clients include Vanderbilt University Health, Children’s National Health System and Carilion Clinic. (News release)

Blacksburg Town Council announced in mid-August that it would scale back community reopening plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among Virginia Tech students. An emergency ordinance limits public and private gatherings to no more than 50 people and requires that food and drinking establishments not remain open to the public after midnight. The measures, which will remain in place for approximately three months, come as Tech students return to campus — something local health officials anticipate will lead to spikes in local cases. Radford University in late July also passed a temporary ban on gatherings of more than 50 people in anticipation of returning students. (The Roanoke Times)

Virginia Tech President Tim Sands announced in mid-August that the university had canceled a September ceremony and tailgate meant to honor the Class of 2020, which did not have an in-person commencement due to COVID-19. Students were to tailgate and then run through a tunnel at Lane Stadium in caps and gowns to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” the song traditionally played as Tech’s football players run onto the field. As of press time, there were no announcements regarding alternative plans for honoring the class. (Virginia Tech Daily)

PEOPLE

The Virginia Tech Foundation announced in mid-August that John Dooley, who has served as chief executive officer for the foundation since 2012, will retire during spring 2021. He will have been with the university for nearly 40 years. He played key roles in large economic development projects for the state, including Carilion Clinic expansions and helping to land Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 headquarters. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Bristol Virginia City Council in mid-July approved adding a referendum to the Nov. 3 general election ballot allowing local voters to decide whether to allow the proposed Hard Rock Casino Bristol at the vacant Bristol Mall. The General Assembly has approved the operation of five casinos in economically challenged cities, including Bristol, dependent on local approval. Local businessmen Jim McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy are partnering with Hard Rock on the planned $400 million casino, hotel and convention center. The project is projected to generate $130 million in revenue annually and create more than 1,000 direct jobs. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Bristol, Virginia, will provide $50,000 to Discover Bristol (the convention and visitors bureau) during the current fiscal 2020-21 year — down from $125,000 last year. Funding will come from an unspecified percentage of lodging tax revenue, Bristol Virginia City Council announced in mid-August. The amount Discover Bristol has received has been decreasing each year since fiscal 2016 through 2017. This has caused funding to be a hot-button issue with disagreement between the two Bristol councils — as Bristol, Virginia’s contributions have diminished amid wrestling with its own finances and massive debt. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Wythe County-based Musser Lumber Co. Inc. will invest $2.4 million to expand its operations and create 12 jobs — which, during the next three years, will lead to more than $8.5 million in forest product purchases, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in mid-August. Established in 1968 and founded by Mike Musser and his two sons, Musser Lumber Co. specializes in drying, surfacing and planing of hardwood lumber for flooring and paneling. The company’s investment will allow Musser Lumber Co. to grow its sawdust, shavings and wood chip sales to decking manufacturers, plastic extrusion companies and wood pellet producers. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Local school districts in Southwest Virginia — which plan to offer both in-school and virtual school programs this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic — are working to provide internet access for all students. All 14 Smyth County schools are now internet hot spots, which are areas where computers can connect wirelessly, the county announced in mid-August. The district is also trying to determine how to expand the program into higher population density areas. The United Way of Southwest Virginia is also offering mini grants to localities to help establish hot spot areas. (SWVAToday.com)

The Nature Conservancy and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise announced in early August they have partnered to create a grant program to support nature-based economic and community development in seven Southwest Virginia counties. With funding from the conservancy’s Cumberland Forest Project, they will design a local grant program, which is expected to take six to nine months. U.Va. Wise will then solicit local project proposals from businesses, nonprofits and communities in the coalfield region. Funded projects will contribute to local economic development while promoting the region’s natural resources. (The Coalfield Progress)

A Wise County and city of Norton Circuit Court judge in late July held that Virginia Uranium Inc. cannot mine the nation’s largest known uranium deposit, located in Pittsylvania County. The court upheld the constitutionality of Virginia’s 38-year-old uranium mining moratorium on the grounds that while the ban does deprive its owners of property rights, the state has a compelling interest to do so, based on the risks the mining would pose to human health and safety and the environment. (Virginia Mercury)

EASTERN VIRGINIA

Atlantic Park, the $325 million surf park and entertainment center set to be built on the old dome site in Virginia Beach, is on track despite the pandemic. Mike Culpepper, managing partner of Venture Realty Group, which has partnered with music superstar Pharrell Williams on the project, says he expects to be in “full design mode” by the end of the year. The city will invest $95 million from its tourism tax fund for parking, public areas and entertainment venues. Virginia Beach is currently negotiating to buy a swath of land on 18th Street between Pacific and Arctic avenues for the project. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Busch Gardens reopened on a limited basis in August with its Coasters and Craft Brews event. Only three roller coasters and the Screamin’ Swing ride were open, and employees and visitors were required to observe social-distancing and mask requirements. The Williamsburg amusement park has been closed since March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Phase Three of Gov. Ralph Northam’s reopening plan, the park was allowed to reopen with up to 1,000 visitors but had chosen not to because it was not economically viable, owner SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. said. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

In early August, Gov. Ralph Northam placed Hampton Roads localities on further restriction due to a spike in COVID-19 rates, particularly at the beaches. The executive order, still in effect, stops all alcohol sales and consumption after 10 p.m. in restaurants, and gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited. Among the affected communities are Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Williamsburg and Newport News. All saw coronavirus rates rise above 10% in July. Health inspectors and Virginia ABC officials also started cracking down on restaurants that flouted social-distancing rules. A few had their permits taken, effectively shutting down business. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Newport News Shipbuilding, the Peninsula’s biggest employer, is offering parents one month of unpaid leave in September to make child care arrangements for their children. Almost all area public schools have opted for online reopening, leaving some working parents seeking child care solutions. Employees with children who are younger than 15 or have special needs will be eligible for leave, and the company will continue to contribute to employee benefit plans, while workers will be billed for their portion of medical and other insurance premiums. (Daily Press)

All fall sports at Old Dominion University were postponed due to concerns about the safety of athletes and coaches during the coronavirus pandemic, the school announced in August. Football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball will not hold their seasons, and men’s and women’s tennis, spring sports that play fall tournaments, also will be affected. The Monarchs hope to play fall sports this spring, pending NCAA approval. ODU became one of the nation’s first FBS programs to make the call, but the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences also canceled football by mid-August. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare announced in August it has signed a letter of intent to merge with Greensboro, North Carolina’s Cone Health, a deal expected to close by mid-2021. Transaction details were not disclosed. Sentara President and CEO Howard P. Kern will oversee the new larger organization, with about $11.5 billion in combined revenue. The corporate headquarters of the health systems will remain separate and in their current locations. Sentara has 12 hospitals in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, and Cone Health has more than 150 locations, including six hospitals, in North Carolina. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Amazon.com Inc. is expected to buy Pentagon City’s 10-acre Pen Place property from JBG Smith Properties for just under $150 million sometime in 2021, according to the real estate firm’s quarterly earnings report released in August. If Amazon closes at that price, Amazon will have paid a combined $304 million for the two HQ2 properties — Metropolitan Park, where the first two towers are currently under construction, and Pen Place. That’s roughly $10 million more than the $294 million the two agreed to when the deal was first struck in 2019. Met Park sold in January for $154.95 million, $11 million more than JBG Smith had previously anticipated because Amazon scored bonus density, priced at about $72 per square foot. (Washington Business Journal)

Capital One Financial Corp. was fined $80 million in August by federal bank regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a widespread data breach in 2019 that affected more than 100 million people. The ruling called the bank’s IT practices tied to computing operations in the cloud unsafe and unsound, after a Seattle software engineer hacked into the bank’s servers in 2019, accessing customers’ Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and card applications. The hacker also had terabytes of stolen data from 30 other organizations, according to investigators. The OCC’s order also requires that Capital One carry out a comprehensive action plan with additional security oversight mechanisms. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The U.S. Army awarded Reston-based federal contractor Leidos a $649 million contract to provide operations and support services to the Special Operations Command’s Tactical Airborne Multi-Sensor Platforms mission in August. The one-year contract (with four one-year options) will include pilot services and staffing for the Intelligence Coordination Center as well as other tactical services, including airborne sensor operators, hub and spoke operations, logistics, aircraft and mission equipment maintenance, and integration and engineering support services. With $11 billion in revenue last year, Leidos is a Fortune 500 company. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce rescinded an invitation to Republican gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase to speak to the group in July, with the chamber’s new chairman, Kathryn Falk, saying the Chesterfield County state senator’s “statements and actions … appeal to bigotry and hate.” The chamber posted Falk’s statement on its website in late July; Chase was scheduled earlier in the month to take part in a Zoom roundtable discussion. Falk, vice president and market leader for Cox Communications’ Northern Virginia operations, said that racially offensive statements by Chase about the removal of Confederate monuments and Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks led to the disinvitation. Chase demanded an apology, saying that no one spoke with her directly about the reason for the cancellation. She accused the chamber of “making defamatory statements.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The renamed Washington Football Team will play its 2020 home games at FedExField without fans present, due to the pandemic. Starting with its Sept. 13 season opener versus the Philadelphia Eagles, there will be no spectators at the Ashburn-based NFL team’s games in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Season ticket holders are being contacted about financial alternatives to their tickets, the team said. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

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