The nonprofit institute is aimed at providing immersive opportunities for leadership development, specifically among three demographics: business professionals and community leaders; lifelong learners; and students seeking leadership skills education. But it does so through an innovative framework — 1700s Virginia.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind venture that seeks to look at leadership today … through the lens of 18th-century leadership experience,” says The Williamsburg Institute‘s executive director, Christopher Caracci, who began his tenure in September 2023.
The institute held two one-night events in its first year. Its first, staged in October 2023 in front of Colonial Williamsburg’s Raleigh Tavern, featured interpreters portraying U.S. Presidents James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and Williamsburg enslaved tavern worker Gowan Pamphlet, who would become the first Black ordained minister in the American colonies. The trio discussed political shifts and ideologies of the late 18th century.
The second event, held April 12, saw historic interpreters portraying Jefferson and Founding Father George Wythe engaged in a conversation entitled, “Cultivating a Legacy: Embracing Education Through the Lens of History,” in which the nation’s third president and his legal mentor answered questions about education and the importance of critical thinking to the American society they aimed to build.
“All of them talk about some facet of leadership contemporarily, and then we contrast that with how the 18th century might have reflected on that,” Caracci says. “We can utilize that history as told through primarily the interpretive staff at Colonial Williamsburg.”
The institute’s sole employee so far, Caracci worked for Walt Disney for more than 30 years, many of which were spent providing leadership training for executives as part of Disney Institute, the entertainment company’s professional development and training arm.
Caracci reports to a board of trustees chaired by former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Other trustees include William & Mary Provost Peggy Agouris and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation President and CEO Cliff Fleet. The Williamsburg Institute also has an advisory board of area business leaders and educators.
The institute’s funding comes from both Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and William & Mary, but Caracci says the nonprofit’s goal is to become financially independent in the future through partnerships, fundraising and event proceeds.
The inaugural two events were free for attendees. Williamsburg resident Rick Morrison and his wife, Julie, were among those who attended the April event, and were struck by the attention to detail, from the live period strings music to the depth of the conversation between the historic interpreters playing Jefferson and Wythe.
“The thing that impressed me most about the experience … was how deeply immersed in the thoughts of those gentlemen and in their works those two reenactors were,” Rick Morrison says, “to be able to portray those characters in a realistic fashion that basically had the audience believing that they were listening to Jefferson and Wythe. … And even though it was couched in the context primarily of the 18th century, it had a lot of lessons that would benefit people today.”
Those reflections are exactly what Caracci hopes attracts people to the institute’s future events. While its first two events have been marketed toward lifelong learners, the institute’s next planned event, set for Oct. 13-16, will target business and community leaders. It will feature William & Mary faculty teaching on leadership, assisted by Colonial Williamsburg’s interpretive staff.
The Williamsburg Institute’s other target demographic — high school seniors and college students — can look forward to events in the future, he says. As the only employee of the institute thus far, he’s being very intentional about how to roll the curriculum out in order for his programming to have the most impact.
Amtrak Virginia — the state-supported Amtrak rail service — has been experiencing record ridership for more than a year, with passengers in Newport News and Norfolk making up the lion’s share of the traffic.
In March, with the state recording a high of 123,658 train riders, 79,158 came from Norfolk and Newport News. In June, ridership decreased to 111,489, with 73,303 riders coming from Hampton Roads and the Peninsula.
In 2023, Newport News and Norfolk logged 378,441 riders in the first half of the year, compared to 421,239 over the same period this year.
“We’ve actually had record ridership [statewide] for 12 of the past 13 months,” says Karina Romero, a Virginia Passenger Rail Authority spokesperson.
Some of that additional traffic is due to more roundtrips added to Amtrak’s schedule in Virginia.
In August, the Newport News Transportation Center opened for Amtrak customers and regional bus riders on Bland Boulevard, and also serves as a transfer point for local taxis and airport shuttles. The $53 million, 8,066-square-foot train station dwarfs the old, 750-square-foot station, Romero notes, and it will offer two daily roundtrips between Newport News and Richmond, Alexandria, Washington, D.C., and cities in the Northeast U.S.
The 2024 presidential race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump carries hefty consequences for Virginia’s economy that will be even more pronounced than in previous elections.
Presidents are limited by the constraints of Congress — particularly if either chamber is held by the opposing party — and the clunkiness of the vast federal bureaucracy. Yet Harris and Trump’s sharply contrasting views could reshape everything from the size of Northern Virginia’s federal workforce and the pace of carbon-free energy transition to a military realignment that could dramatically affect Hampton Roads.
“Given the candidates’ proposals, I think we could be looking at one of the most consequential elections for the Virginia economy in recent decades,” says Robert McNab, director of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. “The question is, how much of each candidate’s proposals are actually passable through Congress, and how much could be done through executive action?”
As of early September, a CNN poll of six battleground states showed a tight field, with Harris ahead in Wisconsin and Michigan, Trump ahead in Arizona, and an even split in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
In Virginia, a Roanoke College poll in August showed Harris leading Trump 45% to 42%, a lead within the margin of error. The commonwealth isn’t exactly a battleground state like Pennsylvania or Michigan, and Republicans haven’t carried the state in a presidential election since 2004. In September, Axios reported that the Trump campaign appears to be scaling back efforts in Virginia while putting more money and work into Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
No matter which way Virginians vote, experts say, the next presidential administration could have big impacts for federal workers, government contractors, maritime businesses, agricultural enterprises and other industries in the commonwealth.
Federal workforce impact
Perhaps the biggest implication of the presidential race in Virginia involves its more than 140,000 federal workers and their families — the second highest number in the nation, just behind California’s 142,000 federal workers.
If Trump is elected in November, his Agenda47 plan includes several proposals that would dismantle the federal government’s presence in Washington, D.C. Those include shifting numerous agencies and departments to other parts of the country and removing civil service protections for wide swathes of employees to allow their replacement by administration loyalists.
“You’re talking about the potential relocation of tens of thousands of federal employees who work in Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas,” McNab says. “That would be a significant blow to Northern Virginia and would potentially shave tenths of a percentage point off growth for Virginia’s gross domestic product and would also impact income taxes and sales taxes in the commonwealth. Whether it would happen and the scope of how it would happen remains to be determined, but it is certainly within the purview of executive action that could be done.”
Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris appears on stage at a Harris for President campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, on Aug. 29. Photo by Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Associated Press
Some of that impact might be buffered by the pandemic-era shift to remote work, which already has led some federal employees to relocate from pricey Northern Virginia. Yet Virginia’s economy relies heavily on the federal government. Six of the top 15 congressional districts with the highest concentrations of federal workers in the U.S. are located in Virginia. Many of those are well-paid jobs, offering median pay about twice as high as that of the private sector.
“It’s not just the quantity but the quality of those jobs and how much they support the larger economy,” says Hamilton Lombard, demographer at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.
In response to questions about federal workers and defense spending, Jeff Ryer, a Trump campaign spokesperson in Virginia, sent the following statement: “President Trump’s commitment to modernizing and rebuilding our military, as well as his promise to build a missile defense shield, will directly benefit Virginia’s economy. He has made a very specific pledge, highlighted in the 2024 Republican platform, to restore the safety and beauty of our nation’s capital, a change that will benefit the entire region. Five of the 10 wealthiest localities in the United States are in the Washington metropolitan region, which won’t change.”
But U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat running for his third term this year, tweeted in July that Trump’s plan to move 100,000 federal jobs outside of the D.C. region “is unacceptable and would punish the many public servants in our commonwealth who keep basic services running. We can’t afford a second Trump presidency.”
It’s not as easy to predict how a second Trump administration would impact the plethora of federal contracting companies that are a significant part of Northern Virginia’s economy — whether a decentralized federal government would mean more outsourcing of work to contractors or lead to staffing cuts among federal contractors isn’t known.
Hampton Roads, home to Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base, also has an economy that relies heavily on military spending, and the presidential election presents divergent futures for that region. Both Harris and Trump back more funding for the military but have different global priorities.
Harris represents a continuation of Biden’s foreign policy, which includes taking a leading role in the NATO alliance as a counter to Russia in Europe. Like Biden, Harris wants to continue providing funding for Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion that began in 2022. But Trump, who has enjoyed a warmer relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, claimed in 2023 that he could solve the crisis “in 24 hours.” Both Harris and Trump have expressed wariness of China, but Trump has taken a more hawkish stance, prompting concerns about military escalation.
Such a shift in focus from Europe to China could potentially affect military operations and defense contractors based in Virginia. The implications could be enormous, but geopolitical shifts inevitably take time to play out and are contingent on factors far beyond the reach of a lone president.
Also, as most political observers know, campaign promises are subject to change, especially when the president’s party doesn’t control Congress. On top of that, the 2024 presidential election has two unusual factors: a new candidate, Harris, who hasn’t rolled out all of her policies or specified how they differ from President Biden’s; and Trump, whose policies and views historically have fluctuated somewhat with polls and popular opinion.
Regarding the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy blueprint — a 900-page document that was compiled by dozens of powerful Republican thought leaders, including at least 140 former Trump administration officials — it’s difficult to tell how much of it would be enacted in a second Trump term.
Trump himself has made repeated attempts to distance himself from the document, calling some of its restrictions “dismal,” but his campaign’s Agenda47 platform has some similarities to Project 2025, which calls for eliminating up to 1 million federal jobs, slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and rolling back green energy legislation supported by the Biden White House. Also, Project 2025 and Agenda47 both advocate restricting family-based immigration, as well as severely limiting work visas — which would have a major impact on some Virginia industries.
Harris, as vice president, focused on creating a diplomatic solution to address the root causes of migration from Central American countries, including high rates of violent crimes in those nations. She also advocated for a bill that would have lifted visa backlogs for family- and work-based green cards, but it stalled in Congress.
“I guess one of the problems with the current presidential election is there’s a lot of things being tossed out there,” McNab says. “Engaging which things would come to fruition is difficult, because what is rhetoric and what is an actual policy stance seems to be vague for both candidates.”
Energy priorities
The biggest priority for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and its roughly 31,000 member businesses is to boost the national gross domestic product to at least 3% annual growth, says chamber President and CEO Barry DuVal. In Virginia, that means investing in workforce training, child care and affordable housing.
DuVal calls for an increase in infrastructure investment, particularly around Virginia ports. That includes a second proposed inland port in Southwest Virginia supported by state legislators in the region, and the rail infrastructure needed to link it to the coast.
DuVal also cites energy as a major issue for businesses, particularly the need to bolster the power grid for growing demand from data centers and the cloud-based economy.
“We are very hopeful that candidates will take an all-of-the-above approach [to energy generation] that would include wind and solar and renewables but also natural gas and nuclear,” DuVal says, echoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s stance on energy.
Under Biden, Congress passed two major bills investing in infrastructure and clean energy. That legislation included sizable tax credits for wind, solar, battery storage and the shift to electric vehicles. Electric vehicle and battery companies have started construction on factories across the Southeast, mostly in other states.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin shakes hands with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a June 28 campaign rally in Chesapeake. Photo by Associated Press/Steve Helber
The Biden White House also approved auctions of leases for offshore wind plots in the Atlantic Ocean; currently, Dominion Energy leases the acreage for the Central Virginia Offshore Wind project under construction off Virginia Beach and also is securing offshore wind farm leases adjacent to that project and in North Carolina.
Harris, if elected, would presumably continue rolling out the investments laid out in the federal infrastructure packages, but Trump has promised he’d claw back the funding and roll back clean energy laws. He has specifically called out electric vehicles, which he views as an economic threat to American vehicle makers, and offshore wind farms, which he pledged to stop on “day one” of his presidency.
In his July speech at Radford University, Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, referred to Harris’ support for the “green new scam destroying energy jobs in Virginia and Pennsylvania, and driving up the cost of goods.”
Vance offered a different solution: oil and gas. “It’s simple: Drill, baby, drill,” he said on stage. “It’s not that complicated. We’ve got it right here. Our own workers want to get it out of the ground. Why don’t we just let them? It’ll make our country stronger.”
As of early September, Harris had not clarified her climate and energy stances, but the Democratic platform advocates for continued investment in clean energy, including solar and offshore wind, and strengthening the electrical grid. The Biden administration also issued a rule that would require 56% of all vehicle sales to be electric cars by 2032, up from less than 10% as of 2023.
Immigration questions
Looking broadly, “across the board, Americans care deeply about economic policies, about inflation and the cost of goods, followed by immigration and health care,” says Amanda Wintersieck, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University and director of its Institute for Democracy, Pluralism, and Community Empowerment. “We’re seeing both candidates finally talk in a little bit better detail about the issue of inflation and economic issues.”
But immigration is still a flashpoint in the presidential race, with most of the rhetoric focused on the United States’ southern border. Trump regularly attacks Harris’s role in the Biden administration’s border enforcement, while Harris accuses Trump of using his influence to torpedo a bipartisan reform bill negotiated by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican former Senate majority leader. According to the vice president, Trump got wind of the bill and convinced House Republicans to vote it down because he feared it could hurt his campaign, and Harris vowed to sign the bill if it comes to her desk as president.
Despite the political heat surrounding immigration, it’s more of a workaday issue for businesses in Virginia, from the tech industry to hospitality to agriculture, that need real immigration reform to help them address their workforce demands, DuVal says.
“From an economic perspective, America has to grow its workforce,” DuVal says. “We want workers to be legally imported workers. We don’t have a big enough funnel. Immigration reform is a top priority for us. We’re calling on our federal representatives to find bipartisan support for improving the immigration process.”
That call was echoed by Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation. The state’s poultry farms and facilities in the Shenandoah Valley and Eastern Shore rely heavily on immigrant workers.
“Our nation needs legal immigration for healthy economic growth,” Bauhan says. “We also need secure borders. Unfortunately, the political climate in recent decades seems to preclude bipartisan compromises that would achieve both objectives.”
In particular, the poultry industry would like to see the establishment of a guest worker program geared toward nonseasonal employment.
“That would allow guest workers to stay in the United States for longer periods of time to address nonseasonal agricultural needs, such as poultry, which is year-round,” Bauhan says. But, he notes, “it tends to be polarizing and difficult to get enough people on the same page and get it across the finish line.”
Trade and the port
Both Harris and Trump contend they’d do a better job than their opponent in leading the U.S. economy to new heights, and a stronger economy would lift individual industries.
That’s the case at the Port of Virginia.
“More than anything, for us, what affects trade is the economy,” says Joe Harris, the port’s spokesperson. “Right now, we have a very strong dollar. We’re able to buy more abroad. The value of our goods going overseas is greater, which makes it harder for people to buy our exports. Our collective ability to purchase is great.”
The American Association of Port Authorities has pushed back on a new 25% tariff on cranes imported from China, an order from the Biden White House that was set to go into effect Aug. 1 with other tariff increases on Chinese-made electric cars, semiconductors and solar cells. However, the increases have been delayed to an uncertain future date, due to industry pushback.
According to a news release, the AAPA is concerned the tariff could cause “grave harm to port efficiency and capacity, strained supply chains, increased consumer prices and a weaker U.S. economy.” At the Port of Virginia, all 27 cranes are manufactured by Chinese state-owned ZPMC, and eight more cranes are on order from the company, set to arrive in December and next year.
Both Harris and Trump have expressed support for tariffs to some degree. A Harris spokesperson said in a statement to The New York Times that Harris would “employ targeted and strategic tariffs to support American workers, strengthen our economy, and hold our adversaries accountable.” The Biden administration kept some of Trump’s tariffs on China and even proposed an increase.
Trump, however, has proposed much higher tariffs on most imports, up to 60% on Chinese products — a position Harris has called a “Trump tax” that would cost middle-class families almost $4,000 a year. Economists say that may be a bit overblown, suggesting the true cost to families may rise to $2,600 a year, according to a USA Today article.
“President Trump’s commitment to make America the dominant energy producer in the world, strengthen and modernize our military, and roll back the Biden-Harris administration’s oppressive regulatory burden on our businesses and family farms will supercharge Virginia’s economy,” his Virginia spokesperson said in an email to Virginia Business.
Port spokesperson Harris was careful to distance the port from partisan politics.
“We try to stay outside the political fray,” he says. “We want to live and do business with whoever is in control of the White House and the governor’s office. More than anything outside of politics, the greatest influence is the economy.”
He does, however, note that potential issues also could arise “if someone in the White House wants to enact tariffs, or all of a sudden we find ourselves in a trade war.”
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By late spring, surf will be up at Atlantic Park on the former site of The Dome, Virginia Beach’s distinctive geodesic dome convention center and concert hall that was torn down in 1994.
Atlantic Park, a $350 million mixed-use entertainment venue and surf lagoon project at the Oceanfront, is the highest profile project in the Hampton Roads area, and it’s scheduled to open in May 2025 — partly due to the backing of music and fashion superstar Pharrell Williams, who grew up near the site — but there are other big developments on the horizon.
Atlantic Park shares a theme with other notable projects, including improvements to the Half Moone Cruise Terminal and Norfolk International Airport. They’re designed to raise the region’s international profile and attract new visitors. Meanwhile, improvement plans for other sites — including Fort Monroe in Hampton and MacArthur Center mall and the former Military Circle Mall in Norfolk — continue to run into obstacles.
Atlantic Park, approved in 2019 by Virginia Beach City Council and funded with $153 million in public money, has faced its own challenges — including funding delays — and earlier this year, groundwater containing high levels of iron and arsenic from the project’s lagoon excavation flowed into nearby Lake Holly. Ultimately, the project’s Virginia Beach-based developer, Venture Realty Group, removed the chemicals in March, allowing work to progress.
By May 2025, planners expect it will be time for visitors to get into the water at the 11.5-acre plot between 18th and 20th streets and Pacific and Baltic avenues. The development will feature a 3,500-seat indoor entertainment venue with room for an additional 1,500 people outdoors, as well as retail, restaurants, parking garages, apartments and 10,000 square feet of office space. But the attraction unique to the area will be the 2.67-acre surf lagoon.
Chuck Rigney, who stepped down as Virginia Beach’s director of economic development in late July amid a city investigation into his travel expenses, said earlier in July that Atlantic Park’s first phase — including the lagoon — was scheduled to open in late spring 2025.
“This is as significant a project as it gets, and it’s going to be a catalyst for redevelopment all in that area,” Rigney said, noting that the infrastructure upgrades will create development opportunities in the area. “It’s going to have an effect on a lot more development down there of, hopefully, a signature-type caliber, so we can raise the profile of Virginia Beach into more of an internationally known city.”
By land, air or water
Along Norfolk’s downtown waterfront, another project appealing to tourists is under construction at the city-owned Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center. To prepare for weekly cruises by the 12-deck Carnival Sunshine ship beginning in February 2025, the terminal is demolishing its small escalator and building a sloped circular ramp to make exiting and boarding more efficient for an estimated 3,000 passengers per cruise. Customs stations are also being improved by introducing mobile kiosks.
Another project scheduled for completion in fall 2025 will be enclosing a terrace to create an air-conditioned seating space for 600 passengers waiting to board.
Nauticus Executive Director Stephen Kirkland, who also manages the cruise terminal, forecasts 300,000 passengers will move through Norfolk annually starting
in 2025. Carnival’s marketing to fill the ship weekly will increase drawing passengers from a wider area. “It’s a game changer for us and for the community,” he says, noting that passengers will fly or drive in a day or so early to be sure to make their cruise.
“That’s a big opportunity for us as a community,” he adds. “These guests really will be coming from much further afield, all across the mid-Atlantic and beyond, and they will, many of them, be staying with us the day before and the day after.”
Cruise passengers flying into Norfolk will also discover new amenities as Norfolk International Airport responds to dramatically increased demand growing by about a half-million passengers annually — from 4.1 million passengers two years ago to a projected 5 million this year.
Norfolk International, notes airport Executive Director and CEO Mark Perryman, hasn’t had major improvements other than upgrading parking structures in more than two decades. “What we’re doing now is modernizing the existing airport,” he says. “We’re redeveloping it in a manner that will re-life the airport for the next 25, 30 years.”
Several reasons are behind the increased demand. During the pandemic, people outside the area discovered the Outer Banks, Virginia Beach and Norfolk beaches when they couldn’t go to other vacation destinations, Perryman notes, and those traditionally drive-to locations became fly-to locations. Additionally, he says, the rebound in business travel also has contributed to higher traffic.
Norfolk International Airport Executive Director and CEO Mark Perryman anticipates that the addition of three gates at Concourse A will be finished in November. Photo by Mark Rhodes
At the airport, an addition of three gates to Concourse A is expected to be finished by November, as well as a new customs and border patrol facility that is likely to attract more international flights. By mid-2025, a new moving walkway connecting parking decks is expected to be operational, and a 165-room Courtyard Marriott with restaurants and a fitness center next to the departures building is due in early 2026. Perryman says those projects combined will cost about $80 million.
Further down the line is a new $400 million departures terminal, likely to break ground in 2026, and a $200 million rental car facility scheduled for a 2025 groundbreaking.
The airport is on a solid financial foundation, Perryman says, with a preliminary estimate of $98 million in total revenue for fiscal 2024, up from $77.7 million in 2023.
No local money subsidizes the airport, although it does receive relatively small grants from the state and federal governments. Also, the Courtyard Marriott’s developers are bringing their own financing, and rental car companies are doing the same for their on-site facilities at the airport.
“We are a growing, thriving airport, and that is good for the Hampton Roads region,” Perryman says. Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk supply most of the airport’s passenger traffic, but Norfolk International’s reach extends halfway up the Interstate 64 corridor to Richmond, west to Suffolk and Isle of Wight, and south to North Carolina.
Meanwhile, on the logistics front, Amazon.com is rolling forward with two large facilities in Virginia Beach, costing approximately $350 million and creating an estimated 1,000 jobs by 2025. A delivery station is expected to be open and in operation later this year in time for holiday deliveries, and a multistory, 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center is set to be open by mid-2025.
Real estate taxes on the facility will pay off the city’s investment of $22.5 million for a new road accommodating the two warehouses within 20 years, according to Rigney.
“Amazon, in the competitive world of home delivery, is trying to get the time that you buy a product to the time it gets onto your doorstep really shrunken down to within a two-hour time frame, so they need to be in closer proximity to major urban areas,” Rigney said in early July.
He noted there is an adjacent site that could accommodate 450,000 square feet of development. “If that was to come in,” he added, “it would represent another significant capital investment, real estate taxes and jobs, as well.”
Not quite there yet
Not all area projects are moving forward smoothly. In March, Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander announced a redevelopment idea for the long-ailing MacArthur Center that would include a 400-room hotel, more than 500,000 square feet of high-rise apartments and a 2.5-acre pedestrian promenade with more than 172,000 square feet of retail space. But that vision is still more wish than reality.
Sean Washington, Norfolk’s economic development director, says no developer has been identified for the project, nor is there a financing plan. The city is investigating whether it makes economic sense.
“This is going to be a very large public-private partnership,” Washington says. “And so, with all the other major projects we have going on at the municipality, we really want to get a better understanding of what would we be able to properly invest back in the site, which we know is obviously high priority.”
The city, Washington adds, wants a better understanding of how to maximize tax generation and examine what economic development and financial tools it can use. A developer would not have a proposal until sometime in 2025, he says, and the project would be completed in phases, with the first construction phase lasting two to three years.
The overarching goal is to create an attraction, much like MacArthur was when it opened in 1999. “We really want this to be this premier mixed-use destination, not just for our city but also for the region,” Washington says.
Another Norfolk project that experienced false starts also faces an uncertain future. The former Military Circle Mall was purchased by the Norfolk Economic Development Authority for $13.4 million in 2020. Following decades in decline, the 97-acre shopping center closed completely in 2023 after 53 years in operation.
In 2021, the city issued a request for proposals to redevelop the mall site and received three proposals that officials gave further consideration — including some big names like Pharrell Williams, Virginia Beach hotel developer Bruce Thompson and NFL Hall of Famer and developer Emmitt Smith. Among the plans were new arenas, hotels, office space, residential buildings and retail.
Going back to 2016, when the city adopted its long-term Vision 2100 master plan, Military Circle was a preferable location for redevelopment because it is among the highest elevation properties available in Norfolk — a significant advantage with so much land threatened by storm-surge flooding and sea-level rise.
Although the city began informal talks with Williams and Venture Realty Group about their “Wellness Loop” proposal in 2022, no formal announcement or contract materialized, and in late 2023, the plans to build an arena-anchored development at Military Circle were dead.
Nonetheless, the city has demolished some of the property’s buildings, although clearing the rest of the mall is in limbo, Washington says, because a Ross Dress
for Less store remains on-site and has lease options that run through 2036. Demolition cannot proceed without their consent, but the city is in discussions with Ross, he says.
“There have been some conversations that we potentially look for a new home for Ross that’s kind of relatively close [to Military Circle],” Washington says. “They absolutely love it there.”
Also, the city launched a market analysis and feasibility study this year to examine the possibility of a mixed-use family sports complex at Military Circle, along with housing, retail and lodging space. Sentara Health’s insurance office is already in the former JCPenney space.
Fort Monroe, the former military installation in Hampton, has seen a pause in redevelopment because of cost inflation, officials say. Photo by stock.adobe.com
On the move
Two other major downtown Norfolk projects are moving into design phases. The much-discussed renovation of Chrysler Hall has $1.5 million allocated for design costs during the next year, according to City Manager Pat Roberts, while the city’s capital improvements plan lists as high priorities a proposed $82 million allocation in 2027-28 for project construction.
Nearby, $4.5 million is earmarked each year in 2025 and 2026 to pay for the design of a “significant” renovation of Scope Arena. The capital budget allocates $54 million beginning in 2027 for renovations, labeling that project a “medium” priority.
Another major regional project facing marketplace uncertainty is the redevelopment of Fort Monroe 13 years after the Army closed the 565-acre property and turned it over to a state authority. A master plan completed in 2013 called for preserving the site’s history and envisioned a phased development with residential, retail, restaurants, a hotel and enhanced public spaces.
Smithfield-based Pack Brothers Hospitality had plans to invest $45 million to build a marina, renovate two historic buildings into conference space and a restaurant and hotel over the water, but those plans were shelved in January due to rising costs, the developers said.
“One of the biggest challenges for developers coming to Fort Monroe is there are a lot of historic preservation requirements that developers have to meet,” says John Hutcheson, the Fort Monroe Authority’s deputy executive director in charge of real estate. “Sometimes that increases cost, [and] sometimes it adds time to the permitting process. Specifically, to the Pack Brothers marina development, they got caught up in a combination of the cost inflation post-pandemic and the increase in interest rates for construction financing. Those two things combined to make the project not viable in the current market.”
Hutcheson says the project could become viable at some point and that the authority might make another request for proposals. For now, the authority is pursuing utility upgrades necessary because the Army’s old water and electrical systems do not fit with current utilities.
Those include two sites where Richmond’s Echelon Resources has options to transform historic buildings into apartments. Echelon has begun the design and permitting phases for two other sites that do not require utility upgrades and will house 75 to 80 apartments, says Hutcheson.
Developing the property is complicated, he notes. Its history goes back to Indigenous people, making it a part of American history, not just military history. The Old Point Comfort site also has historic significance as the place where enslaved Africans first landed in America in 1619. The authority planned to take bids in September to construct the African Landing Memorial plaza.
“I think that will be the thing that carries Fort Monroe to achieve its rightful place among the most historic sites in our country,” Hutcheson says. “That’s what we’re all working for. That’s what all keeps us focused. It’s a big real estate project, but it’s equally as big a historic project.”
Virginia Business asked six Hampton Roads leaders to discuss how their organizations are contributing to the region’s success and meeting challenges such as sustainability, regional cooperation and workforce training.
LAURA HAYES CHALK
Executive director, Virginia Beach Vision, Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach Vision is partly focused on resiliency and sustainability — what do you hope to achieve in those areas?
In terms of resiliency and sustainability, Virginia Beach is at the forefront of the new energy economy with the development of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. As a coastal community, we need to continue to think about how Virginia Beach can implement strategies that promote sustainable development, enhance infrastructure resilience and foster environmental stewardship, while balancing our economic development and tourism efforts.
This includes advancing renewable energy projects, improving stormwater management systems, encouraging sustainable business practices and redevelopment of underutilized properties throughout the city.
What specific initiatives do you think would help bring in more businesses and investment to Virginia Beach? The city has strong leadership in place and the City Council has developed a comprehensive strategic plan that outlines many of the initiatives we should focus on to continue to bring investment to the region. Virginia Beach is and will always be a major maritime and defense hub that is also a tourist destination. We have a prime location for business, and we need to continue to highlight and market our strategic advantages, quality of life and economic opportunities.
CEO and president, Riverside Health System, Newport News
Riverside Mental Health & Recovery Center opened last year, and Riverside Smithfield Hospital is underway. How important are these two facilities? Our country has seen an uptick in mental health and substance abuse care needs. In the U.S., about 20% of the population, or almost 50 million people, suffer from mental health problems. This has only worsened in the wake of the pandemic.
Our mental health hospital in Hampton provides treatment for people suffering from these kinds of illnesses through inpatient, outpatient and partial hospital programs. We also opened the first psychiatric emergency department in the state to provide immediate care for those experiencing the most severe forms of mental illness.
Further, we’ve also seen a need to increase the convenience of care for some communities, which is why the new Smithfield hospital will open January 2026.
How significant is the merger of EVMS and ODU for the health care industry in Hampton Roads? Medicine is advancing at an almost unbelievable pace with diseases that were once fatal in a year or less now being curable or seeing greatly extended survival. In order to take advantage of these advances, you need to have great cooperation between academic medicine and the health systems in the region.
What have you learned so far as Atlantic Union’s Hampton Roads market president? I am six months into my new role, so I am still learning things every day, which is wonderful. One of my focuses as market president is to make myself available to any Atlantic Union Bank client who wants to meet with me or learn who is the new market president.
How are your customers bearing up under higher home prices and still somewhat high mortgage rates? We continue to see new inquiries and activity related to mortgages with Atlantic Union Bank. Our clients are making adjustments and adapting to the current homebuying market, including home values and interest rates, and they are finding ways to provide the liquidity needed to achieve the typical 20% down payment or leverage mortgage insurance to reduce their down payment.
What are your plans for 2025? In 2025, our major goals for Atlantic Union Bank in the Hampton Roads market are to continue to grow loans and deposits, highlight our personalized and differentiated client experience in comparison to both larger and smaller banks, and continue to focus on asset quality.
Macon and Joan Brock director, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk
What exhibits do you have coming up in the next few months? I am very excited by our whole slate of new exhibitions beginning with “Farm to Table,” which features 50 paintings from the era of Impressionism. The focus is on representations of food following the path from agricultural origins all the way to the presentation in the elegant restaurants of 19th-century Paris.
“New Frames of Reference” is a photography show that covers roughly the same period as “Farm to Table.” Since the 1990s, the Chrysler has developed an important collection of early French photography, and with this exhibition we can tell a story of the importance of this modern art form and show off pieces of our collection that can only be shown for a limited time.
We are opening our expanded Perry Glass Studio very soon. [Editor’s note: The reopening was set for Sept. 12, after this issue’s print deadline.] Peter Bremers, a world-famous artist from the Netherlands, will be creating new works for the exhibition “Ice to Water” and for permanent installation in the new studio.
You’ve been vocal about flooding and how to protect artwork since the Chrysler is so close to the water. What plans are in place? Resilience is at the center of our designs for the expanded Perry Glass Studio. We have raised the building several feet and are creating a specially designed pond to accommodate runoff, among other features.
President, Virginia Peninsula Community College, Newport News
Workforce training is an important focus in the state, especially for maritime-related jobs. How is VPCC contributing? The local demand for maritime and skilled trades training is at an all-time high. Newport News Shipbuilding is the Peninsula’s largest employer of individuals who support nuclear submarine and aircraft shipbuilding. By 2030, they anticipate hiring 26,000 additional individuals. This is in addition to the hundreds of other shipbuilding, ship repair, health care, HVAC, electrical, transportation and information technology vacancies that will need to be filled.
VPCC has witnessed a 20% increase in students enrolling in our workforce development programs — with one-third of our workforce students completing multiple certifications.
While the plethora of financial aid we offer makes our training affordable, accessing our Hampton training center was a barrier. This is why VPCC opened a second trades center in the Toano area of James City County last year. In 2025, we will open a maritime and skilled trades center in the City of Newport News.
What about this region do you enjoy, and what do you think needs to improve? What I enjoy most is the people. My role allows me to travel from Virginia Beach to James City County — engaging with individuals from all walks of life. The people I encountered have been warm, welcoming and have a desire to see the region thrive. My sole recommendation is that the Peninsula and the Southside continue to collaborate on initiatives that support the region’s economic vitality.
SHAWN J. TIBBETTS
President, chief operating officer and CEO designate, Armada Hoffler, Virginia Beach
You’re a native of Portsmouth. How has Hampton Roads changed over the decades, and what do you think it will be like in 10 years? The Hampton Roads region has undergone substantial changes over the past decades, and the area has seen significant shifts towards diversification and urbanization. While the military remains a cornerstone, there has been a deliberate effort to diversify the economy.
Technology, health care, tourism and higher education sectors have grown, contributing to a more balanced economic landscape. The area has seen healthy population growth, which has led to increased demand for housing and infrastructure. Looking forward over the next 10 years, I think we will see more development of residential and mixed-use properties as the population growth steadily increases.
Do you think traditional office buildings will come back in style one day, or do companies like yours need to make adjustments? The trend we’re seeing shows employers making a significant shift toward office space in mixed-use environments, like Town Center of Virginia Beach. This is driven by the need to attract and retain top talent.
Today, companies are increasingly recognizing that employees value flexibility, collaboration and convenience in their work environments. Mixed-use projects offer a blend of office spaces, residential and retail.
Traditional office buildings may not necessarily come back in style as they once were, but we are seeing continued migration to adaptable and integrated mixed-use environments that cater to the evolving preferences and expectations of both employers and employees alike.
Sentara Health is cutting approximately 200 positions across its workforce, officials told employees this week. Most of the affected employees work for Sentara Health Plans and are based in Virginia, according to a statement issued Friday by the Hampton Roads-based health system.
The cuts are related to the Medicaidredetermination process and associated decline in membership, according to Sentara’s statement. “There has been a significant decline in Medicaid membership across the U.S. and Virginia,” the health system said. “For Sentara Health Plans, this has resulted in a loss of over 115,000 members, which is approximately 16% of our Medicaid membership, in the past year. These workforce adjustments align our staffing levels with our health plan membership.”
The other affected jobs are in the corporate shared services department that support Sentara’s health insurance operations. The final number of impacted positions has not yet been determined, and Sentara officials are working to find other posts within the 34,000-member workforce for affected employees. About 40% of all positions are leadership posts, and impacted employees are across 10 states, although the majority live in Virginia, according to Sentara.
“These individuals have been dedicated and mission-driven team members, and we are grateful for their passion and contributions to the organization and to the community,” Sentara Health President and CEO Dennis Matheis said in a communication to Sentara employees this week. Matheis became Sentara’s CEO in 2022, and he previously led Sentara’s health insurance plans business. In 2023, Sentara’s Optima Health and Virginia Premier insurance brands combined to create Sentara Health Plans, which provides health insurance coverage to more than 1 million customers in Virginia and Florida.
Affected Sentara employees received 60 days’ notification, in which time some may move to other roles in the health system. “Sentara is making every attempt to find them another role within Sentara, upskill for other in-house positions, or offer severance and resources for those who are unable to find a new position within the Sentara family or who choose to transition elsewhere,” the statement says.
Sentara has 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina. Over the past three years, the health system has been embroiled in an ongoing federal civil investigation over accusations that Sentara inflated insurance rates to maximize profits. Sentara, however, counters that it was unfairly targeted and was trying to keep vulnerable Virginians from losing health care coverage by offering Affordable Care Act plans while other insurers dropped them.
Virginia Realtors forecasts a 9.8% year-over-year increase in home sales in 2025, according to its 2025 Economic & Housing Market Forecast, released Thursday.
So far this year, housing sales in the state are outpacing sales last year (although the pace of sales is below the annual average) and are on track to be up 2.9% annually by the end of the year, according to Virginia Realtors‘ forecast.
“We have a lot of pent-up demand in our housing market here in Virginia,” Virginia Realtors Chief Economist Ryan Price said in a statement. “The supply gains we’ve seen so far in 2024 are likely to continue into 2025, bringing more active listings out in the market. …
“This will provide that pent-up demand with more options to choose from,” he added. “Couple this with lower mortgage rates, and we’re likely to see Virginia’s sales activity pick up in 2025.”
Home prices will likely rise at a slower pace next year than they have in 2024, according to Virginia Realtors, because the association expects the growth of home prices to moderate and for new housing to ease supply constraints.
By the end of this year, Virginia Realtors predicts the annual median home price will have risen by 5.1%. The trade association projects the commonwealth’s annual median home price in 2025 will rise 3.4% over 2024.
“The supply-demand imbalance remains a factor, putting upward pressure on home prices,” Sejal Naik, deputy chief economist for Virginia Realtors, said in a statement.
New housing starts — new residential units that construction work has begun on — will increase 2.6% year-over-year in 2025, according to the forecast. Single-family and townhome starts will likely drive the growth in new housing starts, as multifamily projects wane. By the end of 2024, new housing starts will have declined 9.1% year-over-year, according to the forecast.
Thirty-year mortgage rates will end 2024 in the low 6% range, around 6.10%, and drift down to 5.75% by the end of 2024, according to Virginia Realtors projections. That decrease could make homes more affordable for buyers and also help remove the “lock-in effect” for homeowners who have delayed their next home purchases because of high mortgage rates.
Virginia Realtors’ forecast also includes labor market predictions. In 2025, the number of jobs in Virginia will increase 1.2% over 2024 — an addition of 51,000 jobs. By the end of 2024, Virginia will have added 79,000 jobs, a 1.9% year-over-year increase, according to the forecast.
By the end of 2025, the association predicts the state’s fourth-quarter average unemployment rate will increase from 2.8% (the August 2024 rate according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Virginia Realtors’ projected fourth-quarter average) to 3.2% “due to weaker economic conditions across the country.”
Based in Glen Allen, Virginia Realtors represents more than 35,000 Realtors and is the state’s largest trade association.
Virginia was ranked No. 8 in the nation for venture capital investment in 2023, marking the state’s highest rating so far and its first time back in the top 10 in the past 15 years, according to an announcement Thursday by Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. (VIPC).
Earlier this month, VIPC hosted an event at Amazon.com’s HQ2 in Arlington County that included National Venture Capital Association President and CEO Bobby Franklin, and state and local officials. The NVCA releases an annual report listing how much venture capital funding businesses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia receive annually.
According to VIPC’s calculations based on NVCA’s data, Virginia recorded $2.484 billion in venture capital deal value in 2023, placing it in eighth place in the nation, just ahead of Illinois, which had $2.397 billion. Topping the list is California, with $79.2 billion, followed by New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Colorado, Florida and Washington.
Neighboring states North Carolina and Tennessee were ranked Nos. 13 and 14, with $1.87 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.
In the NVCA’s yearbook, released in May, Virginia is listed as having 235 companies that received VC funding last year, or 1.81% of the nation’s businesses that received venture capital investments. Virginia-based businesses raised $1.87 billion in VC funds in 2023, up from $792 million in 2022 and down from an all-time high of $2.82 billion in 2021, the report says. On the other side of the ledger, Virginia had 90 active investors in 2023, well below California and New York’s 1,000-plus investors, but within the top 20 states.
“The commonwealth is not only competing but outpacing other states in attracting investment, thanks to its supportive innovation landscape and growing pipeline of startups,” Franklin said in a statement.
The Top 10 ranking from NVCA comes in a year when Virginia won the title of CNBC’s Top State for Business in America and when the VIPC celebrated 10,000new, high-growth startup companies being created in Virginia in the first two years of Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s administration.
“Virginia’s top 10 national ranking demonstrates how dynamic high-growth companies in Virginia are offering VCs from across the country compelling opportunities to deploy capital,” VIPC President and CEO Joe Benevento said. “Capital fuels growth, and VIPC looks forward to fostering continued private sector engagement and investment within our thriving entrepreneur ecosystems, including through our new Virginia Invests venture capital partnership initiative.”
In May, the VIPC unveiled a partnership with seven venture capital fund managers to invest $100 million in 100 Virginia-based startups. VIPC expects Virginia Invests to attract at least $10 of private sector investment for every $1 committed by VIPC, according to Thursday’s release.
Fifteen Virginia schools ranked on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 Best National Universities list released Tuesday. Several Virginia schools were noted on other education rankings released by the media company, including 16 Virginia colleges on the best national liberal arts colleges list.
For U.S. News and World Report‘s Best Colleges lists, researchers evaluated nearly 1,500 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality for its national universities list and 13 indicators for the national liberal arts colleges list.
The University of Virginia was again the highest-ranking Virginia school on the list, maintaining its No. 24 ranking. It tied with Georgetown and Emory universities. Also notable: Mary Baldwin University jumped 34 spots in the ranking, to the 377th spot this year.
The 15 Virginia universities on the 2025 Best National Universities list are:
“We’re grateful that U.S. News has once again recognized the strength of the university and especially the success of our students,” Stephen Farmer, U.Va’s vice provost for enrollment, said in a statement.
Virginia Tech ranked No. 21 (tied with Texas A&M University) in top public schools. William & Mary ranked No. 23 (a tie with Florida State University and University of Minnesota Twin Cities). George Mason ranked No. 52 (tied with eight other schools), while James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University and Radford University rounded out the public schools with rankings of Nos. 78 (tie), 69 (tie), 161 (tie) and 170 (tie), respectively.
Hampton University ranked No. 7 among Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Norfolk State University ranked No. 23 on that list, tying with Virginia State University as well as Prairie View A&M University in Texas and the University of the District of Columbia. Virginia Union University ranked No. 47 (tie).
On the best national liberal arts colleges list, 16 Virginia colleges made the 2025 rankings:
No. 19 Washington and Lee University (tie)
No. 22 University of Richmond (tie)
No. 59 Virginia Military Institute (tie)
No. 103 Hampden-Sydney College (tie)
No. 103 Randolph-Macon College (tie)
No. 122 Roanoke College (tie)
No. 132 University of Mary Washington (tie)
No. 136 Hollins University (tie)
No. 136 Patrick Henry College (tie)
No. 162 Randolph College (tie)
No. 165 Bridgewater College (tie)
No. 173 University of Virginia’s College at Wise (tie)
VFP, a manufacturer of enclosures used to protect critical infrastructure, will invest $5 million to expand its Scott County facility, a move expected to create 50 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.
The expansion will allow VFP to respond to a growing data center market.
“Virginia’s robust data center industry relies on manufacturers like VFP, and those synergies have created a robust ecosystem of partners and suppliers,” Youngkin stated in a news release.
Founded in 1965 in Roanoke County, VFP began manufacturing products in Scott County in 1997. It currently employs 350 workers at its campus in Duffield, according to Scott File, its president and CEO.
Scott File is president and CEO of VFP. Photo courtesy VFP
Workers at the employee-owned company, manufacture a variety of products using materials ranging from heavyweight concrete to lightweight flexible metal. VFP shelters are used primarily by utility providers, municipalities, data centers and broadband providers. The products are used on all seven continents.
“Since relocating to Scott County over 25 years ago, VFP has experienced continued growth across all market sectors,” Scott File, president and CEO of VFP, stated in the release. “VFP attributes this success to the loyalty and talent of our employee-owners who share the common goal of supplying industry-leading, quality products and services to our valued customers.”
In 2008, VFP participated in the Virginia Leaders in Export Trade Program, an international business acceleration program offered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. It’s also part of the VEDP’s Supply Chain Optimization Program, which helps companies evaluate their supply chain management and import processes.
The VEDP worked with Scott County to secure the project for Virginia, which competed with Louisiana and Missouri.
Youngkin approved a $75,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Scott County with this project. Support for VFP job creation will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. The program, created by VEDP in collaboration with higher education partners, offers recruitment and training services at no cost to the company.
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LAURA HAYES CHALK
