Retired Navy Capt. Janet H. Days, who retired last year as commanding officer of Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station, will be taking on a new tour of duty in February as director of Suffolk‘s economic development department, the city announced Wednesday.
She’ll start her new job Feb. 7, according to the announcement.
Days retired from the Navy in August 2024, a year and a half after taking the world’s largest naval station’s command. A graduate of Old Dominion University and former commander of a guided missile destroyer, Days was the first Black commanding officer of the naval station, where she led 89,000 active-duty military personnel and more than 50,000 civilian employees. She was in the Navy for 37 years.
On her LinkedIn page, Days wrote, “I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity and look forward to embracing the challenges ahead while working to make a meaningful impact on our community. Thank you for your support and encouragement — it means so much!”
Days has earned several military and other honors, including two Legion of Merit medals and the Defense Meritorious Service medal, as well as awards from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Library of Virginia, and the Women in Transportation’s Woman of the Year award. She also earned an MBA from the Monterey Navy Postgraduate School and graduated from the Joint Command and Staff College.
As head of Suffolk Economic Development, her portfolio will include the economic development authority, the city’s tourism division and the Suffolk Executive Airport.
Navy Capt. Matt Schlarmann succeeded Days as commanding officer of Naval Station Norfolk in August 2024. With a distinguished career as a flight officer, he previously was executive officer at the station starting in February 2023.
“Dry January” became all too literal in Richmond, where most city residents and businesses were struggling with a water outage that started Monday afternoon and was still leaving much of a city with a population of more than 225,000 people without running water as of mid-afternoon Wednesday.
Schools were closed, many businesses were shut down, and the Virginia General Assembly postponed the start of its session from Wednesday, Jan. 8, to Monday, Jan. 13. State government offices, which had closed Monday after a winter storm that ranged from the Midwest to the East Coast, remained closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the city water outage.
While city workers are making improvements and getting the water system back up, a boil water advisory is still in effect and will be until Friday at the earliest, said the city’s new mayor, Dr. Danny Avula, who was faced with the crisis less than a week after taking office.
The city’s water treatment plant failure followed a brief power outage Monday morning, Jan. 6, during the snowstorm; the outage then caused flood damage that led to filters and pumps going offline. Local authorities expressed hope Monday afternoon that the problem would be resolved that evening, but after an electronic panel failed Tuesday, officials were less optimistic.
The outage impacted most city residents and some in eastern Henrico and Hanover counties, which reported loss of water pressure this week. On Wednesday, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas announced the whole county would be placed under a boil water advisory, effective immediately, after limiting an earlier advisory to the eastern part of the county.
At a Wednesday morning press conference, Avula said more pumps and filters are working or about to come online, and water is building in the reservoir, but he acknowledged that water will come back to some areas of the city before others. The National Guard, the American Red Cross and some private companies have come in to help people access bottled water in the meantime.
During an update delivered Wednesday afternoon, Avula said the reservoir’s levels have fluctuated during the day as more people get water flowing from their spigots. He said that conservation is key so water pressure becomes consistent, and only then can authorities start testing water before lifting the boil water advisory.
“Use it as sparingly as you can,” Avula said. “This is the issue that’s keeping businesses closed. This is the issue that’s keeping schools closed.”
The new mayor advised people to not use their dishwashers or take long showers for now, in the interest of conserving water, and said that the city is checking battery backups and other tools to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen during a snowstorm forecast for this weekend that could drop an additional one to three inches of snow on the region.
“This has lasted longer than anybody possibly imagined,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday afternoon of the Richmond water crisis during a news conference. Amazon and Walmart were among the corporations that donated water at the governor’s request, he said. The region’s local governments also helped make sure that fire departments had tankers of water for emergency use.
The governor also said he would be requesting an after-action report to look into the water system failure and said legislators should work to ensure the problems that happened in Richmond are fixed going forward.
Youngkin noted that he had already called a state of emergency for the winter storm, which allowed him to quickly mobilize water resources for citizens and institutions like hospitals. According to a gubernatorial spokesman, the state Department of Emergency Management and the Virginia Department of Health have coordinated with the city to provide water and technical support.
Corporate partners have assisted with IT fixes at the water pump station, the governor said.
“The City of Richmond has been working around the clock,” Youngkin said. “I know people are angry, they’re frustrated, and they’re tired. Everybody who’s been trying to restore full water service … understands this.”
Boiling point for new mayor
Avula was sworn in as mayor Jan. 1, and his formal swearing-in ceremony and associated events were set to take place in the city this weekend. However, planners called off the celebrations, which are expected to be rescheduled once Richmond emerges from the crisis.
Already, Richmonders were on social media and Reddit forums discussing what many viewed as a lack of communication from the city, which released an official announcement of the boil water advisory at about 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6, hours after some residents had already started losing water pressure. Avula, a pediatrician who was previously head of the Richmond and Henrico County health districts and became a familiar face to Virginians as the state’s COVID vaccine coordinator before being elected to his first public office, said the city would review what happened, including the communication plan.
Henrico’s Vithoulkas thanked Avula and city employees Wednesday, noting that the mayor was brand new to his job. “Collectively we came together, and I believe we have solved this issue for our residents and our region,” Vithoulkas said.
While residents coped by buying bottled water in local stores or going to sites where the city is handing out water containers, many Richmond restaurants and other businesses were forced to close down or limit service, and even the General Assembly was forced to delay its session, which was supposed to start Wednesday.
That’s never happened in modern history, said G. Paul Nardo, clerk of the House of Delegates. “I’ve been here 30 years, and I cannot recall any time prior when we ‘skipped a few days’ like we are tomorrow and Friday. That said, we’ve never done it because we’ve never had or experienced the water supply issue that we are all grappling with right now.”
The Virginia Bankers Association-Virginia Chamber of Commerce 2025 Financial Forecast event scheduled for Thursday in Richmond, featuring a speech by Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, was changed to a virtual event due to the water outage, organizers announced Wednesday.
“We weren’t exactly sure when this would be fully resolved, so that made it more difficult … to consider postponing the event,” said Bruce Whitehurst, president and CEO of the bankers association. “Thanks to the pandemic, we have a pretty good amount of experience using that word of 2020, ‘pivot.’ … We’ve got the know-how, and this made it a decision we could make today with certainty, as opposed to a decision we could not make today with certainty.”
Meanwhile, many city restaurants and other businesses were waiting to see when the water would come back on.
Cobra Burger owner Adam Musselman is waiting for the water to come back so he can reopen his Richmond restaurant. “We have zero water,” he said Jan. 8, 2025. Photo courtesy Adam Musselman
“We have zero water,” said Adam Musselman, owner of Cobra Burger, on North 27th Street in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood. “There’s dust coming out of the pipes at the restaurant.”
Cobra is closed for the foreseeable future, or at least until the restaurant has running water, he said. “Most of our stuff is to-go,” Musselman said, noting that his menu is made up mainly of burgers and fries, and he typically serves food with paper plates and disposable utensils.
“I reached out to the health department to get some advice on how to proceed,” he said. “We can easily meet the [boil water advisory] requirements,” but until employees can wash their hands and flush toilets, they’ll be closed.
Cindy McKelvy, a senior environmental health manager for the Richmond and Henrico health districts, said Wednesday that food inspectors in the city and the county have been reaching out to food service facilities to check in and answer questions about how restaurants can operate without water or under the boil water advisory once service resumes.
“Some of them have closed, and some of them are using alternative options to keep their businesses open,” she said. If a business doesn’t have running water, “it’ll go to carry-out only,” instead of dine-in. Also, no beverage machines or autofill coffee pots in operation, until restaurants can flush out any machine connected to the water system.
“We do want folks to know that the restaurants that are operating are doing it safely,” McKelvy said. The Virginia Department of Health released emergency guidelines for food service businesses in the area under the boil water advisory.
Jonathan Niemiec, owner of the British Embassy restaurant on East Main Street near the Capitol, said Wednesday that his restaurant “actually never lost water,” and that it was running with normal pressure — to his great surprise. “It blows my mind,” Niemiec said. “For us, it’s been like normal operations. The only thing we’re changing is boiling all the water and washing hands with that water.”
He also is not serving soda from a beverage machine, the ice machine’s turned off, and he’s “slightly reduced” the restaurant’s menu. Niemiec says he feels bad for other restaurants, as he knows well the tight financial margins in the business. “You’ve still got to pay all your bills.”
And that’s what Musselman was concerned about. “I think a lot of people assume that because we’re relatively popular, that we’re raking it in, and that’s not true,” he said. Four-year-old Cobra Burger has “razor-thin margins,” and his employees are also worried about missing multiple shifts and not getting paid.
He laid the blame at the city’s doorstep: “The city is at fault. A boil advisory is one thing, but no water is another.”
Restaurants weren’t the only businesses encountering problems. Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, a practice in the medical building next to Retreat Doctors‘ Hospital, was closed for business Wednesday.
“We can’t operate without any water,” said Dr. Audra Jones, one of the dentistry practice’s owners. “Right now we’re taking phone calls and rescheduling patients. It’s been an experience. The last time we went through something like this was with Hurricane Isabel” in 2003.
She expects her office might be closed the rest of the week, although it can reopen once the building has water, even under the boiled water advisory. They can use distilled water for treatment and procedures, but they’ll still need to “flush the lines” of dental equipment, Jones said.
Downtown on Broad Street, the Quirk Hotel was still open, but some customers canceled reservations due to the water outage, said Drew Rainer, Quirk’s office supervisor. The hotel stopped service at its lobby bar and restaurant to conserve water supplies for hotel guests, but none had water for showers or flushing toilets as of midday Wednesday, Rainer said.
Fortunately, she noted, “usually we’re not super-busy” this time of year. “This is the quote-unquote down season.”
Virginia Business Associate Editors Beth JoJack and Katherine Schulte contributed to this report.
So many Pittsylvania County residents turned out to voice their — predominantly opposed — opinions regarding a proposed $8.8 billion-plus data center campus and natural gas power plant that a county planning commission meeting ran about five hours Tuesday, ending around 11:40 p.m.
As the meeting neared its end, Steven Gould, the attorney representing Balico, the Herndon development company behind the project, implored the commission’s members to hold off a month before making a decision on whether to recommend that the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors approve or deny the developer’s rezoning request. “There is no harm in receiving more information,” Gould said. “There is no harm in additional consideration.”
Instead, Colette Henderson, vice chair of the planning commission, made a motion to recommend denying the project, a move supported unanimously by the commission members. “The reason is because I feel there has been a lack of transparency,” she said.
Balico, a development firm with seven employees, pulled an initial rezoning application for the data center campus and power plant on 2,233 acres in Pittsylvania’s Chalk Level area in November after facing vocal opposition from residents at public meetings as well as a statement by a county supervisor that the project didn’t have enough local political support to get the rezoning passed.
The initial application for the project would have included up to 84 data center buildings and a 3,500-megawatt natural gaspower plant in a rural area. That development would have created 700 jobs, according to Balico founder and CEO Irfan Ali.
The scaled-back project reviewed Tuesday would be built on less than 750 acres in the same area and would include 12 spec data center buildings, each two stories tall and 396,000 square feet.
As with the initial application, the project would include building a 3,500-megawatt natural gas power plant, which would be owned and operated by Balico. About 40% of the acreage would be open space.
Gould, president and CEO of PLDR Law, which has offices in Danville and Lynchburg, said the Chalk Level site is the best suited parcel in Pittsylvania for the project because it allows for tapping into Mountain Valley Pipeline for gas. While the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill has available gas, he said, “it is not nearly what is available at this site.”
The cost of building the data center campus would ultimately be $8.85 billion, according to Gould. The cost to create the mobile turbines, which would serve the site prior to permanent turbines being constructed, would be $360 million. Balico also would pay to build a new fire station that would serve the site and eventually be turned over to the county.
The proposed power station would create 150 jobs with an average salary of $90,000, while the data centers would create about 240 jobs with an average salary of $105,000, according to the Balico presentation.
Gould acknowledged Balico would ultimately “still like to pursue a project” of the size in the application submitted last year, but noted that would require the company to return to Pittsylvania County for additional rezoning.
Data centers require water for cooling servers. Ali said in November that he hoped to tap into a source of nonpotable water in Chatham, and that he’s talking with officials in Hurt about building a pipeline to carry water about 19 miles from Staunton River to the data center campus.
The pipeline, Ali said, would be able to deliver up to 18 million gallons of water a day. The data center campus would only require 2 million gallons a day, he noted, so the remaining water could be used by homes in that area that rely on individual wells.
Opponents of the project expressed concerns about noise, traffic and the project destroying the area’s rural character.
Chatham Mayor Alisa B. Davis, the first member of the public to speak about the project at Tuesday’s meeting, noted that in November the town council approved a resolution stating opposition to the project. She also said no one from Balico had spoken with Chatham’s staff or council about using its water.
Lisa Shorter, a veterinarian and founder of Chatham Animal Clinic, asked the commission members to keep the county’s agricultural areas zoned agricultural. “We have already had enough land destroyed by solar and continue to do so,” she said.
Shorter went on to quote “Gone With the Wind,” stating “Land is the only thing in this world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.”
On Feb. 18, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors will consider the commission’s recommendation and deliver the final say on whether the project can be built in the county.
TSA awarded the TSA Checkpoint Integrated Logistics Support Services contract for checkpoint maintenance services on Dec. 31, 2024.
According to the request for proposals issued in April 2024, the contractor will be responsible for all elements of transportation security equipment sustainment and logistics support, including radiation surveys; corrective maintenance; applicable preventative maintenance; communications; maintenance planning; supply support; tools, test equipment and calibration; parts and parts obsolescence; subcontract agreements; and TSA Logistics Center services.
The contract has a base transition-in period of six months, seven one-year options and one six-month option.
Leidos provides technology, engineering and science services to defense, intelligence, civil and health market customers. It has about 48,000 employees and reported approximately $15.4 billion in 2023 revenue.
Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Waterfestival got a bit of a break Tuesday from Virginia BeachCity Council members, who agreed to give the Virginia Beach-born music and fashion maven more time to fulfill an overdue part of the festival’s contract with the city.
City Council voted 8-2 Tuesday to indefinitely defer an earlier resolution that would have given Williams’ Something in the Water team a five-day deadline to announce the April 26-27 festival’s lineup or be in default of its contract — potentially leading to its cancellation. The issue arose when SITW did not meet a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline to start ticket sales and provide a full list of announced musicians to the city.
Mayor Bobby Dyer requested the original resolution, but at Tuesday night’s meeting, he agreed with Council member Amelia Ross-Hammond, who moved to defer that agenda item indefinitely. However, Ross-Hammond noted that she was only granting organizers so much grace. She requested that as of Jan. 14, the city manager and his staff report begin reporting weekly to Virginia Beach City Council on progress with the festival’s organizers, and that the mayor should be ready to call a special meeting if problems arise with the festival.
According to Ross-Hammond, SITW representatives have been in “multiple discussions” with city authorities over the past several days. “They are working towards bringing the festival to fruition,” she said. “We’re not sitting on our hands. We’ll be prepared, and so I’m asking our mayor to be ready just in case.”
Another councilor, Worth Remick, said that he understands that Dyer has spoken directly with Williams in recent days, “and he is going to take it upon himself to make this a success, and I trust in him to do that. I trust Mr. Williams to do the right thing.”
Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said she’s heard from local hotels, and they too advocated for giving SITW festival organizers more time. “It doesn’t just help them, but it also helps all the citizens with what they add to the [economic] health of the city and helping to keep your taxes low and that sort of thing.”
Wilson and others said the organizers will have to communicate with the city and make progress in coming weeks.
Dyer recalled the 2019 festival, which was set up in a matter of months and brought in approximately 35,000 concert attendees. “It was magic.”
The 2019 festival brought in $24 million in revenue for Hampton Roads, and a report prepared for the city found that the 2023 festival generated an economic impact of $26 million to $29 million for the City of Virginia Beach.
Council member Barbara Henley, a no voter, said she thought the council was already giving organizers more latitude, and there’s “got to be a time when we say, ‘This is it, folks.'”
After a successful debut in 2019, Something in the Water hit rough waters. In 2020 and 2021, the festival was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, Williams decided to host SITW in Washington, D.C., instead of Virginia Beach, after his cousin was shot and killed by a Virginia Beach police officer.
The festival returned to Virginia Beach in April 2023, with some canceled performances due to tornado threats and lightning. Williams then scheduled the 2024 festival for October 2024, but just after tickets went on sale last September, he unexpectedly called off the festival, writing, “Virginia doesn’t deserve better, Virginia deserves the best. So, Something in the Water has to match that. It just isn’t ready yet.”
After that, the city required SITW organizers to sign a contract with specific deadlines in order to receive $500,000 in funding from the city.
According to the agreement signed Nov. 15, 2024, by city and concert organizers, the festival’s promoter would receive $100,000 upon the execution of the agreement, with $200,000 to come after the city received the artist lineup and $200,000 more after completion of a special event permit application.
City Manager Patrick Duhaney said that so far, SITW has not received any funding from the city.
Reston-headquartered consulting and tech services provider ICF has acquired New York-based tech and advisory services company Applied Energy Group from Ameresco, it announced Tuesday.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Massachusetts-based energy efficiency and renewable energy company Ameresco acquired Applied Energy Group in 2011.
“This transaction aligns with our strategy to extend our capabilities in ICF’s growth areas, with specific emphasis on our energy markets advisory and technology-enabled services,” ICF Chair and CEO John Wasson said in a statement.
AEG has more than 100 utility management and demand-side energy experts, according to a news release. The company has a cloud-based energy tech platform that centralizes various demand-side management programs like energy efficiency and demand response.
AEG also provides advisory services including market assessments, potential energy studies, program planning, design, and implementation and evaluation services. It serves electric and gas utilities, state and local governments and state energy offices.
“We have successfully partnered with ICF on dozens of utility management projects and have a proven track record of delivering positive results for our clients,” Ingrid Rohmund, president and general manager of AEG, said in a statement. “As one team, I am confident we can significantly expand our revenue and reach.”
ICF projects AEG will generate approximately $30 million in annual revenue in 2024 at margins comparable to ICF’s overall commercial energy business, according to a news release. The company’s revenues are expected to increase by at least a mid-teens rate in 2025.
Founded in 1969, ICF has approximately 9,000 employees. During the past two decades, ICF has doubled in size every five years on average. It reported fiscal 2023 revenue of $1.96 billion, up 10% from the previous year.
A federal court jury in Abingdon found Dr. Joel Smithers, who previously practiced in Martinsville, guilty of 466 federal counts of illegally prescribing Schedule II controlled substances, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Virginia announced Dec. 31, 2024. He was also found guilty of one count of maintaining a place for the purpose of illegally distributing controlled substances.
At his Dec. 21, 2024, trial, Smithers was, however, found not guilty on nearly 400 other related counts of drug distribution. The jury also determined that the oxycodone and oxymorphone Smithers prescribed to a West Virginia woman did not result in her death.
Smithers had previously been found guilty of 859 counts of illegally prescribing Schedule II controlled substances and sentenced to 40 years in prison. However, those convictions were later vacated on appeal.
Beau B. Brindley, a Chicago attorney representing Smithers, framed the verdict out of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia as good news. “Dr. Smithers was acquitted of nearly 400 counts,” Brindley said in a statement. “He was, most notably, found not guilty of prescribing medication that caused death — the most serious charge in the case.”
Shane Todd, an acting special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration, saw the outcome differently, stating in a news release that the December conviction “demonstrates Smither’s criminal indifference to the lives of others, and to the families who loved them.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement, “The existence of these ‘pill mills’ flooding Southwest Virginia with controlled substances violates one of the first principles of the Hippocratic Oath: to do no harm. Joel Smithers did not seek to treat patients but rather sought to destroy lives for profit.”
Evidence presented at trial showed that Smithers, who opened an office in Martinsville in 2015, prescribed more than 500,000 Schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone and fentanyl.
Many of the patients traveled hundreds of miles to see Smithers, who did not accept insurance. He took in over $700,000 in cash and credit card payments prior to a search warrant being executed at his office in March 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Virginia Department of Health Professions mandatorily suspended Smithers license to practice osteopathy and surgery on Oct. 7, 2019.
In February 2024, Smithers’ 2019 conviction was overturned by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. A panel of justices looked to a 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that found the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant knowingly or intentionally violated the law when prescribing controlled substances. In his 2024 opinion, Judge Roger L. Gregory wrote that the court was vacating the convictions “because the jury was improperly instructed and the instructions were not harmless.”
Smithers, who has remained in custody since his original conviction in 2019, is scheduled to be sentenced March 3 in Abingdon. For each distribution count, Smithers faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. For maintaining a place for the illegal distribution of controlled substances, Smithers faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.
Brindley believes Smithers, “having been found not guilty of the most serious charges,” now faces “a very limited sentence.” And “we also look forward to appealing the remaining convictions and seeing them all reversed,” he said in the statement. “Dr Smithers stood up to the federal government and succeeded.”
Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean-based Fortune 500 global management consultant, has agreed to pay a $15.875 million fine to the federal government to settle allegations that one of its subsidiaries violated the False Claims Act, the Department of Justice announced Jan. 3.
According to the DOJ’s statement, two former program managers at Maryland-based Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering Services (BES), John G. Hancock and Karen K. Paulsen, “knowingly engaged in a fraudulent course of conduct” with a civilian Air Force employee, Keith A. Seguin, and a BES subcontractor, David J. Bolduc Jr. of Ashburn-based software engineering company QuantaDyn Corp., to win a General Services Administration task order to test military training simulators.
In 2023, Bolduc, who was a co-owner and director of operations at QuantaDyn, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the Justice Department, from 2007 to 2018, Bolduc and others paid $2.3 million in bribes to Seguin in return for his assistance in obtaining government contracts and subcontracts for QuantaDyn. Hancock was sentenced to 40 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and Paulsen was sentenced to five years of probation. Seguin, a Texas resident, was sentenced to 188 months in prison for wire fraud and tax fraud in 2023.
“The government alleges that Seguin improperly and illegally divulged confidential government contracting and budget information, a competitor’s confidential bid or proposal information and source selection information to Hancock and Paulsen, who used the illicit information despite knowing they were not authorized to possess it,” the DOJ announcement read.
After the GSA awarded the task order to BES, the government alleges that the four people used confidential federal budget information to submit price quotes to GSA for 37 individual modules, which BES awarded to QuantaDyn and were paid by GSA.
“Over the past several years, my office has used every tool at its disposal — from civil settlements to criminal prosecution to asset forfeiture — to hold accountable the companies and individuals that helped a corrupt federal employee at Randolph Air Force Base defraud the United States by steering training simulator contracts,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said in a statement. “I am grateful for the assistance of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and our law enforcement partners in finally closing the book on this fraud scheme with the civil settlement announced today.”
Booz Allen said in a statement Monday that the company denies violating the False Claims Act.
“This settlement resolves a civil matter involving the conduct of three former employees shortly after Booz Allen acquired their company from ARINC and formed the Booz Allen Engineering Services (BES) subsidiary in 2012,” the company said in a statement. “There are no findings or admissions of wrongdoing on the part of Booz Allen. The conduct described in the settlement largely occurred before the company was acquired by Booz Allen.”
In November 2012, Booz Allen purchased ARINC’s defense systems engineering and support division for $154 million, which it integrated as BES.
“Booz Allen raised concerns to the government prior to learning about the investigation and subsequently fully cooperated in resolving the matter. As acknowledged by the government in its investigation, the individuals involved in this matter admitted to taking deliberate steps to hide their conduct from the company because they would have been promptly terminated. We categorically deny that the company violated the False Claims Act and are pleased to move beyond this decade-old matter.”
In 2020, the DOJ entered into a civil settlement agreement with QuantaDyn and its majority owner, president and CEO, William T. Dunn Jr. In that agreement, QuantaDyn agreed to pay $37.75 million in restitution, and Dunn paid $500,000 to resolve his False Claims Act liability.
Virginia’s Smithfield Foods announced Monday it has filed a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering.
This is the first step toward the pork and packaged meats giant’s plan of selling common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SFD.
In November 2024, Smithfield’s parent company, China-based WH Group, announced it would take the Virginia subsidiary public in early 2025. WH Group said then it plans to offer up to 20% of Smithfield’s stock shares, reducing the parent company’s ownership to 80%. Smithfield recorded a net asset value of $5.38 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024, and its share offering is expected to be valued at $5.4 billion, according to that announcement.
Monday’s statement said that the shareholder plans to sell shares, but “the offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.”
The largest pork producer in the United States, Smithfield Foods has about 34,000 employees nationwide. In December 2024, the company signed a deal with VisionAg, an affiliate of North Carolina’s HD3 Farms, to start a new hog production business in early 2025 in Cary, North Carolina. Smithfield will purchase a 9% minority interest in the business for $450,000 in cash, the SEC document submitted Monday says.
In September 2024, Smithfield’s European operations were carved into an independent subsidiary now known as Morliny Foods, part of a streamlining effort before going public.
Smithfield Foods also said it would transfer some of its hog farming operations to a venture controlled by Murphy Family Ventures in North Carolina, Bloomberg reported earlier in December. According to the SEC filing, Smithfield paid Murphy $3 million in cash in exchange for a 25% minority interest in the enterprise, which will supply approximately 3.2 million hogs to Smithfield annually.
In December 2024, Smithfield sold its hog production assets in Utah for $58 million, resulting in a gain of $32 million, and in November 2024, the company sold some of its Missouri hog farms for $32 million at a loss of $4 million, it said in the filing.
The company also settled child labor claims in November 2024 with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, paying $2 million. Minnesota alleged that 11 underage workers were employed at Smithfield Packaged Meats in St. James, Minnesota, performing hazardous work and, in the case of nine children, working at night after hours allowed under state law. Smithfield said in a statement that it denied knowingly hiring anyone under age 18 at the facility.
From stitching up childhood scrapes to guiding us through life’s most challenging diagnoses, doctors are the backbone of our health and well-being. Few decisions carry as much weight as choosing the right physician, whose expertise and compassion can shape the trajectory of our lives. And with four major medical schools statewide, Virginia is home to a host of talented medical doctors deserving of recognition for their achievements in research and treatment.
Virginia Business contracted with Colorado-based media research and analytics firm DataJoe to conduct online balloting of Virginia physicians, who were asked to identify which of their peers are the top doctors in specific specialties.
This year’s statewide Top Doctors list recognizes 1,423 doctors — 15.6% of the 9,096 doctors who were nominated by their peers this year. Based on input from physicians and health systems, Virginia Business added 27 medical specialty categories for 2025, largely reflecting a wider range of pediatric specialties.
All doctors actively practicing medicine and licensed in Virginia in good standing are eligible to vote and be included in the list. Doctors on the list must hold M.D., DO or DPM degrees (or DDS/DDM degrees if practicing oral and maxillofacial surgery).
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Sign In
Free Newsletter
