September For the Record

Roanoke/New River Valley

Apex Clean Energy is appealing a decision that it ran out of time for its Rocky Forge Wind project in Botetourt County, a proposed complex of 14 mountaintop wind turbines atop North Mountain that would stand about twice as tall as the Wells Fargo tower in downtown Roanoke. Apex informed the county in early August that it would appeal. A public hearing will be held within 90 days after which the county’s board of zoning appeals will have 60 days to make a decision. In July, the county’s zoning administrator determined that
Apex had missed a May 26 deadline for county approval of a site plan. (The Roanoke Times)

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin visited the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 9, offering encouragement about the economic recovery. The combination of suppressed spending, pent-up demand and excess savings means people have money to spend, Barkin said, and he doesn’t see the delta variant derailing the economic recovery. He also said the Fed has the tools to manage inflation, should it become more exacerbated, and they are watching it closely. (WDBJ)

On Aug. 13., a federal judge declined to block the blasting of bedrock on Bent Mountain for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon says she lacks authority to step into a dispute over the natural gas pipeline because a Bent Mountain landowner already had sought action from federal regulators. Roanoke County property owner J. Coles Terry sought a temporary injunction against the company as part of an ongoing eminent domain case, citing alleged damage to the aquifer. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and pipeline officials have said they’ve not seen evidence of the potential harm described by Terry. (WTRF, Virginia Mercury)

The Patton Logistics Group will invest $11 million to expand its trucking, logistics and warehousing operation in the New River Valley Commerce Park in Pulaski County, creating 63 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in August. The company will add 150,000 square feet to its 250,000-square-foot logistics center. The expansion will include a trucking operations and maintenance center that will provide infrastructure to support a future investment in electric trucks. Patton Logistics Group is composed of three affiliate companies that employ more than 150 people in Virginia. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

During an uncertain year when colleges were facing financial challenges due to the pandemic, Virginia Tech raised a record amount of money in gifts and commitments over the last year. Supporters gave $200.3 million during the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to the university. The university cited unprecedented participation from donors, including nearly 12,400 people contributing on Virginia Tech’s annual fundraising day in February, as the driver of the 8% increase in gifts and commitments over the previous fiscal year. The university’s undergraduate alumni giving percentage increased from 15% to 20%. (The Roanoke Times)

PEOPLE

Virginia Tech has hired Charlene Casamento as its associate vice president for enterprise administrative operations, the university announced in August. Casamento will work alongside Virginia Tech’s leadership, serving as the university’s chief administrative officer and executing university operational initiatives. She reports to Dwayne Pinkney, the university’s senior vice president and chief business officer. Casamento previously served as chief financial officer for Central Connecticut State University. She has also held roles with the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Northern Virginia

Capital One Financial Corp. pushed back the reopening of its offices by two months to November, citing surging COVID-19 cases, CEO Richard Fairbank said in August. And when its thousands of employees do return to the McLean headquarters and elsewhere, vaccines will be required for those who want to work on site. In a letter to employees, Fairbank said the plan to reopen Capital One as a “hybrid work company” on Sept. 7 will wait until Nov. 2. Employees who choose to work on a Capital One campus or in a bank office, in addition to all contractors, vendors and visitors, will have to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated. (Washington Business Journal)

Reston-based software company Clarabridge Inc. is being acquired by Utah-based data analytics firm Qualtrics International Inc. in a nearly $1.13 billion all-stock deal, the companies announced in August. Founded in 2006, Clarabridge has customers that include United Airlines, General Motors Co. and UnitedHealthcare. Qualtrics will acquire Clarabridge through purchase of a fixed number of class A common stock shares with a share price of $37.33. The two companies’ boards have approved the deal, which is expected to close Dec. 31. Qualtrics reported 2020 revenue of $763.5 million. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Dumfries Town Council scheduled public hearings on Sept. 13 and 21 on Colonial Downs Group Inc.’s proposed Dumfries gaming resort, dubbed The Rose. Colonial Downs, which runs a Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in town, announced in February plans for the $389 million gaming resort. It would include a 50,000-square-foot gaming space, a 250-seat sports bar, eight other bars and restaurants, 7,000 square feet of event space, 200 hotel rooms and a 1,500-seat theater. The company wants to rezone 93.5 acres at the Potomac Landfill to planned mixed-use development and obtain a conditional-use permit. (Inside NoVa)

Commercial real estate brokerage KLNB is the choice to market the Landmark Mall redevelopment to retail tenants, now that Alexandria officials have approved preliminary plans and bond financing for the 4.2 million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment, which will be anchored by a 1 million-square-foot Inova Health System hospital. The redevelopment, to be rebranded under a new name, is slated to include around 285,000 square feet of retail off Duke and Van Dorn streets. (Washington Business Journal)

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has signed an agreement to redevelop the West Falls Church Metro Station site for a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development to include apartments, townhouses, retail and public green spaces, the authority announced in August. Construction is expected to begin in 2023. The agreement was reached with FGCP-Metro LLC, a joint real estate development partnership involving Falls Church-based Rushmark Properties, Maryland’s EYA LLC and Washington, D.C.’s Hoffman & Associates. The project is the result of several years of work among Metro, the developers and Fairfax County, which approved a comprehensive plan amendment in July to support the project. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

Sol Glasner is retiring as head of the Tysons Partnership. He will stay on as the group’s president and CEO through the end of the year, but in July and August he began informing the partnership’s board members and Fairfax County elected officials of his plans to retire. He’s held the position for roughly four years and served as chair of its board from 2012 to 2014, shortly after the partnership was founded. The partnership is negotiating with local businesses, property owners and county officials about how it should be run and funded going forward, with the possibility of becoming a full business improvement district, the county’s first. (Washington Business Journal)

Southwest Virginia

Abingdon Town Council allocated $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to finish the town’s sports complex, which is expected to open by June 2022. The complex has four baseball fields, two multipurpose fields, a concession stand, a splash pad and access to the Creeper Trail. The town will use the funding to add lights, a second concession stand and a field house with bathrooms at the soccer section. Big Stone Gap-based construction firm Quesenberry’s Inc. is handling the project’s roughly $7.6 million construction. (SWVA Today, WCYB News 5)

Ballad Health announced in August that it would defer all elective, nonemergency surgical cases requiring overnight patient stays, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus. Based on the rate of growth in hospitalizations, projections of community spread and few mitigation efforts, Ballad Health estimates that inpatient hospitalization numbers could reach as high as 500. The number of inpatients the system already has is straining resources. Postponed procedures may include cardiac, orthopedic and other surgeries determined not to be emergencies. (Bristol Herald Courier)

The Bristol Chamber of Commerce revealed its “Bristol 2040 Visioning Strategic Plan” at its Aug. 11 State of the Cities event, held at the Bristol, Virginia, train station. To counteract economic growth barriers like an aging population, low wages and a brain drain to larger cities, the plan recommended focusing on eight issues: arts and tourism, the music economy, a competitive workforce, entrepreneurship, housing, leadership and collaboration, downtown Bristol and targeted business. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Mountain Empire Community College will receive almost $363,400 in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of Education to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds with financial, academic and career counseling. The college’s foundation received a grant for up to $100,000 to increase workforce development and training. In August, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority approved the funding, which will go toward scholarships, training instructional costs, retraining costs and assessments as well as customized workforce training for area businesses. (The Coalfield Progress)

The Ecotourism in Nature’s Wonderland project received $2.25 million from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program to help establish a healthy habitat on 2,500 acres in Buchanan County. The project, run by Southwest Virginia Sportsmen and Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, will turn 350 acres of a historic surface coal mine into a wildlife habitat. Located near Poplar Gap Park, the project is expected to create jobs, increase tourism to the county and help educate visitors about native wildlife.
(SWVA Today)

Virginia Tourism Corp.’s Recovery Marketing Leverage Program, which helps tourism projects recover from the pandemic, awarded $147,000 to 11 Southwest Virginia initiatives in August. Recipients included: Abingdon Convention and Visitors Bureau; Abingdon Main Street Alliance; Abingdon-based Barter Theatre; Discover Bristol; Gate City; The Martha Washington Inn & Spa in Abingdon; Lee County-based Old Virginia Hand Hewn Log Homes Inc.; Pennington Gap; St. Paul; Scott County; and Virginia Creeper Trail Club in Abingdon. (Kingsport Times-News)

PEOPLE

Scott Robertson became the director of marketing and communications for the Abingdon-based United Way of Southwest Virginia on Aug. 9. Robertson will direct strategic marketing and promotions, provide communications project management and oversee digital services. He was previously the managing editor of The Business Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia. Robertson has been involved in regional workforce and community health initiatives such as Region AHEAD (the Appalachian Highlands Economic Aid Directory).
(VirginiaBusiness.com)

Southern Virginia

A two-phase project will bring changes to Danville Regional Airport to accommodate increased traffic anticipated from the Caesars Virginia casino expected to open in 2023. Work will include widening the taxiway, construction of a new taxi lane and aircraft parking to support a planned new t-hangar building, a jet aircraft parking ramp and a parking lot. Additionally, Danville has a $3.05 million crosswind runway rehab project planned, which will likely be paid for with a bond issued by the city of Danville. Planned work at the airport for the next two years will cost about $8 million. (Danville Register & Bee)

Patrick & Henry Community College is the new name of what was formerly called Patrick Henry Community College. The change is small — adding an ampersand between “Patrick” and “Henry,” — but it is meaningful to the two counties the college serves. The school’s namesakes are Patrick and Henry counties, not the former governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry. It isn’t the only school changing its name. John Tyler Community College will become Brightpoint Community College and Lord Fairfax Community College will become Laurel Ridge Community College. (WSLS 10 News)

In early August, Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston announced tightened visitation rules at the hospital as the area saw a rise in COVID-19, tracking surging caseloads as the delta variant spreads rapidly among unvaccinated individuals. The Virginia Department of Health reported 1,403 new cases of COVID-19 in the state on Aug. 3, the highest total since mid-April. Under the updated policy, no visitors are allowed except in specific situations, such as emergency room and maternity ward visits, and the hospital is requiring guests to wear masks inside the building. (SoVaNow.com)

South Boston Town Council in mid-August voted down a permit for a solar power project to be built by Atlanta-based Dimension Renewable Energy on 53 acres along U.S. 360 near Edmunds Park. Council members rejected the 5.4-megawatt facility on the grounds that it would go at the wrong location at the gateway into South Boston. Stuart Rutledge, the owner of the land, said he had been trying to market the land for nearly 20 years and this was the first offer he saw as being feasible for the town. It was estimated that the solar panels would have contributed $230,000 in local tax revenue over 25 years. (South Boston News & Record)

After being open for a few months, the TAD Space in Martinsville had its grand opening on Aug. 6. Owner Wayne Draper refers to it as a playground for all creatives. The goal is to give businesses a space and the resources to get on their feet and eventually start a more thriving business community in Martinsville. What was once an antique mall in Uptown Martinsville is now home to a grand ballroom, five executive conference rooms, multiple private office suites, a professional recording studio and a podcast studio. Businesses pay daily, weekly and monthly rates to use the building. Other services include business marketing and strategy, branding, leadership training and development, and website development. (WSLS 10 News)

The 2020 U.S. Census showed a decline in the population of Danville, but the decrease may be slowing down in the longer term. Danville’s 2020 population fell from 43,055 in 2010 to 42,590, according to figures released in mid-August by the U.S. Census Bureau. There was also a drop in Pittsylvania County’s population. In Danville, the drop from 2010 to 2020 was smaller than the drop from 2000 to 2010, when the population fell from 48,411 to 43,055. (Danville Register & Bee)

Eastern Virginia

Hampton University is raising its minimum wage on campus to $13 an hour. The pay raise went into effect July 1 for the university’s hourly employees. The pay rate far exceeds the current minimum wage in Virginia, which is $9.50 an hour. The state minimum wage was raised for the first time in more than a decade this May and is set to increase again — to $11 an hour — in January 2022. Then, in January 2023, the rate will be $12 an hour. (WAVY)

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Technical Solutions division won a contract worth up to $346 million to provide personnel recovery and casualty evacuation services for the Department of Defense’s U.S. Africa Command, it announced Aug. 3. The task order has a one-year base period with extension options. HII will provide aircraft and operational support services. Buoyed by Newport News Shipbuilding’s more than $150 million swing back to profitability, HII reported a more than 140% increase in second quarter profits, with second quarter net income of $129 million and quarterly revenue rising 10% to $2.23 billion. (VirginiaBusiness.com, Daily Press)

Developers are teaming up with celebrities like musician Pharrell Williams and former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith to compete for the chance to redevelop Norfolk’s Military Circle Mall. Crossroads Partnership LLC, made up of 10 companies, envisions a mix of retail, offices, a hotel, a park, and a 15,000-seat arena among other facilities. Norfolk M.C. Associates LLC calls its proposal The Well —with 477,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, 864 housing units and more than 159,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space. Wellness Circle LLC proposes green space, an arena, 1 million square feet of office space and a hotel. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Newport News’ airport in July got a boost in its yearslong effort to get flights to Washington Dulles International Airport to connect to a third major international gateway. Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport has been working to establish flight service to Dulles airport for more than three years. And it’s getting closer to that goal, having won a $847,646 U.S. Department of Transportation grant to support service to Dulles for up to two years. Local governments have pledged a total of $600,000 for the effort and the airport itself will spend $150,000 on marketing. (Daily Press)

PEOPLE

Angela Blackwell Carter is Norfolk Tourism Foundation’s new director. The foundation is an adjunct agency to VisitNorfolk, a nonprofit organization that promotes the city as a destination for travelers, meetings and conventions. She was the Hampton Roads Chamber’s vice president for leadership programs and

executive director of LEAD Hampton Roads, the region’s oldest and largest leadership organization, for more than two decades. (Inside Business)

Norfolk Airport Authority Executive Director Robert S. Bowen will retire effective March 1, 2022. Bowen has been working at the airport since summer 1974, when he started his career at Piedmont Aviation (later Piedmont Airlines). He joined the Airport Authority in 1988 as its director of operations and was named executive director in 2016. During Bowen’s tenure, the airport has initiated 120 capital improvement projects and introduced three new ultra-low-cost airlines. The Norfolk Airport Authority Board of Commissioners is conducting a search for his successor. (WAVY)

Shenandoah Valley

Evolve Manufacturing, a Winchester-based specialty composite manufacturer founded in 2013, announced in August that it will invest $1.25 million to enlarge its plant in Frederick County. The company, which plans to expand its Evolve Stone line of artificial stones that are face nailed, will add a second production line, triple its facility space and increase production for its major customers, including Home Depot. The project is expected to create 84 jobs. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Harrisonburg Planning Commission voted to recommend that Harrisonburg City Council deny Skylar & Talli LLC’s request to change 16,000 square feet of the ground floor originally slated for commercial use to residential space, adding about 60 beds in the Apartments at Peach Grove, near James Madison University’s Sentara Park. The developer’s representative cited buyers backing out and a lack of businesses wanting to move in, while the commission cited increased traffic. The city council will address the request on Sept. 14. (Daily News-Record)

The Valley Milk Products plant in Strasburg ceased operations in early August following a July 30 boiler explosion. The plant will be closed for six to 24 months while repairs and an investigation occur, although all 18 employees are still working there, with some taking on security roles. The building has been deemed structurally sound. Maintenance documents showed standard repairs were made to one of the plant’s two essential boilers in July. The U.S. Department of Labor and insurance companies with policies for the boiler, the plant and a neighborhood shopping center damaged from the blast are involved in the investigation. (The Winchester Star)

The Warren County Board of Supervisors is tabling the proposed two-mile Appalachian Trail Connector that would connect the south end of Front Royal to the Appalachian Trail because of its estimated $3.03 million cost. For the first phase of the project, the county hoped to use grant money from the federal Transportation Alternatives Program run by the Virginia Department of Education. It would receive $527,088 from the fund and pay $131,772. The county set aside about $167,000 in its special projects fund, but it would still need to pay the remaining nearly $1 million. Warren County Planning Director Joe Petty told the board that the county could use the money to create a park or toward its plans for other local trails. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Waynesboro City Council approved a grant application for a plan to defuse stormwater drainage issues. The city plans to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution by creating a wetlands system in the Hopeman Station subdivision, which the Waynesboro Stormwater Program identified as having the most potential for reducing pollution. The city will apply for a grant through the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund, managed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The grant would pay for half of the project, $525,000, and the city

would pay the other half. (News Leader)

PEOPLE

On Aug. 1, the Rev. Andrea Cornett-Scott became Mary Baldwin University’s first chief diversity officer, responsible for campuswide diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and resources. Cornett-Scott has been with Mary Baldwin since 1996, when she became its director of African American affairs. She was most recently the associate provost for inclusive excellence, during which time she established a leadership program for women of African descent. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Central Virginia 

In August, Richmond Circuit Court approved Richmond City Council’s petition to place a referendum on the November ballot for city voters to weigh in on the Urban One Inc.-backed ONE Casino + Resort project. It’s the next step in the process that started early this year with the city’s request for proposals for a casino resort. If approved by voters, the proposed $562.5 million casino would be approved to start construction in South Side Richmond near Interstate 95 on 100 acres owned by Altria Group Inc. It would be the only casino under Black ownership in the country. Urban One, which owns and operates 55 radio stations and the TV One cable network, has partnered with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, owner of Colonial Downs Group and the Rosie’s Gaming Emporium franchise. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced in August that all city employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, becoming the first Virginia locality to mandate vaccination. It was followed the next day by Gov. Ralph Northam’s declaration that state employees will be required to show proof of vaccination by Sept. 1 or be tested weekly, as the delta variant has led to rising cases. Universities, businesses and other workplaces in Virginia have put in place similar requirements of employees in recent weeks as infections, hospitalizations and deaths spread among unvaccinated people. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Commonwealth University Health System is raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour in September. The roughly 1,700 employees and contract workers affected provide food and nutrition, environmental and valet services, among other jobs. They represent about 10% of the Richmond-based system’s workforce. The move follows the University of Virginia and Sentara Healthcare’s minimum wage increases to $15 earlier this year. The state raised its hourly minimum pay from $7.25 to $9.50 in May, and on Jan. 1, 2022, the wage will increase to $11. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

Virginia State University in Petersburg and Virginia Union University in Richmond are among more than 20 historically Black colleges and universities that used federal Higher Education Emergency Relief funds to cover unpaid tuition, fees, room and board and dining, according to the United Negro College Fund. Universities were required to direct a large percentage of federal funds toward students. They could use the rest to offset revenue lost during the pandemic, but many HBCUs went further by using university money to forgive student balances. The two Richmond-area HBCUs directed nearly $8 million to the initiative, helping about 2,500 students. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

PEOPLE

In August, Caley Edgerly took the wheel as president and CEO of Lynchburg bus dealer Sonny Merryman Inc., as former CEO Floyd Merryman III moved into his new role as executive chairman of the family business started by his father 55 years ago. Edgerly previously served as president and CEO of North Carolina-based school bus manufacturer Thomas Built Buses for six years. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Former Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring has been appointed managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Richmond office, the law firm announced in August. After
13 years as the city’s prosecutor, Herring became a partner at McGuireWoods in 2019. He specializes in commercial litigation, government investigations and white collar criminal defense. Herring also is an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. (VirginiaBusiness.com)