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ATCC expanding presence in Prince William County

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday that () plans to expand its bioresource center campus in , investing $54.7 million and creating an expected 75 jobs. The project will include a new biomanufacturing facility focused on global health.

“ATCC is a world-class resource for scientists performing vital research to solve important health issues,” Youngkin said in a statement. “They are a crucial component to Virginia’s thriving industry, and I am thrilled to see them invest in Virginia again.”

Founded in 1925, ATCC built its headquarters in Prince William’s Innovation Park in 1998. The nonprofit organization supports the sciences by maintaining the world’s largest and most diverse collection of human and animal cell products, as well as molecular genomic tools, microbe products and biological materials, according to the governor’s announcement.

Among its clients are the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the World Health Organization. The Virginia Partnership worked with the county to secure the project, and Youngkin approved $800,000 from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, created by VEDP, will provide training and recruitment services at no cost to ATCC.

“For almost 100 years, ATCC has played an important role in delivering credible biological materials that advance scientific research and address the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and spread of disease,” said ATCC Chairman and  Raymond H. Cypess. “This new state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility will enable ATCC to expand its resources to meet current and future global health and national security needs, and we are grateful to have received this grant to continue expanding our presence in Virginia as a top-rated life science employer.”

ATCC’s new facility will be dedicated to “the , manufacture, characterization, authentication, storage and distribution of key reagents,” which will give government agencies more capacity to address “emerging and endemic pathogens” in the event of another , the organization said in its own announcement.

“Currently, biomanufacturing facilities similar to our new suite are primarily focused on research rather than supply chain logistics and the operational infrastructure needed to launch an immediate response to a potential threat,” Cypess said. “As we continue to play a critical role in the federal government’s pandemic preparedness and readiness, this facility will allow us to scale production of biomaterials quickly and because of its location, distribute them both nationally and globally during a health crisis.”

Va. Chamber president and CEO to retire

Virginia of Commerce and Barry DuVal plans to in early 2025, the chamber announced Thursday.

DuVal became head of the chamber in April 2010. During his 14-year tenure, the business advocacy organization has grown from around 1,000 members to more than 32,000.

“During his tenure with the , has transformed the state chamber into the most influential business advocacy organization in the state,” Virginia Chamber 2024 Chairman Robert Duvall said in a statement.  “I want to express the appreciation of the of directors for DuVal’s outstanding leadership. … He has raised the profile of the chamber, and its programs have greatly enhanced the business climate of Virginia.”

Before joining the Virginia Chamber, DuVal spent eight years at Kaufman & Canoles Consulting. From 1998 to 2002, he served as state secretary of commerce and trade. Prior to that, the Newport News native was mayor of that city for six years.

DuVal led the development of Blueprint Virginia, a long-term plan for the state, in 2013, 2017 and 2021. The process included more than 100 business organizations and more than 7,000 business leaders collaborating to present policy recommendations to each new governor, with the goal of strengthening Virginia’s reputation as one of the top states for business, particularly in CNBC’s Top State for Business ranking, which Virginia topped for a record sixth time this year.

The chamber presented Blueprint Virginia 2030 in December 2021. Its objectives include improving broadband access, encouraging investment in transportation infrastructure and bolstering the number of health care professionals.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi said in a statement: “As the leader of the Virginia Chamber and architect of Blueprint Virginia, Barry DuVal has been an essential partner to me and so many others in strengthening Virginia’s economic development and business climate. I am tremendously grateful for his guidance, collaboration and impact — and believe the foundation he helped establish will support even greater progress across every region of the commonwealth for many years to come.”

DuVal also oversaw the launch in January of the WiseChoice Healthcare Alliance, creating a consortium for small business owners to purchase affordable health insurance for their employees. Virginia Chamber partnered with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for the alliance.

The chamber will immediately begin its for DuVal’s successor and is working with the McCammon Group for the search. The chairman of the search committee is former PBMares CEO Alan Witt, also a past chair of the chamber and currently dean of Christopher Newport University’s Luter School of Business.

“It has been an honor to lead the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and I am proud of the accomplishments of the chamber during my tenure,” DuVal said in a statement. “It has all been made possible by the support of the board of directors, chamber investors and members of the Chamber of Commerce that represent the very best of the business community in the commonwealth. The state chamber staff and team members are dedicated professionals who have executed the mission that has allowed the chamber to succeed, and I wish to thank them for their dedication.”

Hooker CEO talks layoffs, other takeaways from Q2 earnings report

This story is republished with permission from Furniture Today.

-based reported $95.1 million in consolidated net sales for the second quarter last week, a 2.8% drop from last year. It marked the second consecutive quarterly loss for the company, at $3.1 million.

Other than the usual sales figures, there were a few notable things brought up in the report and on the subsequent earnings call. One was that the company announced layoffs. didn’t reveal how many layoffs there were at first, but said they would result in annual savings of around $6 million, and that around $3 million in severance expenses will be shown next quarter.

Hoff gave more information this week, saying that there were 44 layoffs in total, representing 4% of the company’s total workforce. Twenty-four of those were in the form of early packages.

“We did a more expensive option of offering early retirement in order to pull forward who were going to anyway,” he told Today. “It helped us save jobs and I’m proud of how we did that.”

“Workforce reduction decisions like this are rare for our company and were incredibly difficult for us, as we’re acutely aware of the impact it will have on affected employees,” he said on the earnings call.

The layoffs will help expedite the company’s goal of saving $10 million in fixed costs in the second half of this fiscal year. Around $5 million in savings is expected to come by the end of the fiscal year, split between the third and fourth quarters. Other than layoffs, reductions will come from the consolidation of certain operations, including reducing the company’s Savannah, Georgia, warehouse footprint by half, restructuring the BOBO business into the Hooker Branded business, and eliminating BOBO’s store and separate warehouse, among other measures.

“Our first objective was to go to every cost center we have throughout the company and try to find any non-personnel, non-strategic cost that we could eliminate,” Hoff said on the earnings call. “Once we were through that exercise, we went to personnel as well. But even there, we focused on not eliminating strategic costs to execute our organic growth strategy that’s in place. I will tell you that when we say we’re confident we will surpass the $10 million, we’re very confident that we will surpass the $10 million.”

The bleeding slowed from last quarter

Despite the $3.1 million loss, the company’s loss in the first quarter was higher at $5.2 million. Sales fell 23.2% last quarter, compared to this quarter’s 2.8% decline. Sales were also $1.5 million higher than last quarter. A negative margin of 3.3% this quarter was an improvement over last quarter’s negative 5.5%.

Home Meridian gains

Hooker’s Home Meridian segment has suffered the past several years. In 2023, the company opted to exit the unprofitable Accentrics Home business, resulting in a $34 million non-cash charge and short-term revenue losses. But now, light seems to be appearing at the end of the tunnel.

Net sales increased by $1.6 million, or 5.6%, from last year in the segment, primarily driven by strong performance in its division. Last quarter, sales had fallen by $15.5 million. This marked the first year-over-year quarterly sales increase for the segment in two years.

“All metrics are up for HMI,” Hoff told Furniture Today. “For three years now we have seen straight improvement.”

The segment still reported a loss though, but at less than $1 million. The loss was lower than previous losses ($3.4 million last quarter and $3.3 million last year). Gross margin was 19.5%, one of the highest levels seen since the acquisition of the business in 2016, the company said.

“We believe we have reached the point at HMI where we have a significant path to profitability that is sustainable for the foreseeable future as demand normalizes in the home furnishings industry,” said Paul Huckfeldt, chief financial officer, on the earnings call.

When the business does improve, the margin goal for the segment is around 20%.

“And to stress, we haven’t raised prices,” Hoff said. “We’ve simply been able to exit businesses that were dragging that number down.

“Now it’s just a matter of growing sales,” Huckfeldt added.

Norfolk Council moves delayed casino forward

Updated Sept. 11, 2024

will have a temporary open by next November and a permanent resort in 2027 if all goes to plan, as the and casino giant Boyd , its new corporate partner, received a fresh start on the long-delayed project from on Tuesday.

City Council members and the mayor voted 7-1 Tuesday to approve a development agreement between the city, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming, which replaces Tennessee investor Jon Yarbrough as the King William County tribe’s corporate partner. In paperwork filed with the city, the partners have scrapped the casino’s old name, HeadWaters Resort & Casino, and provided a timeline to start of a temporary casino and a permanent structure within a few weeks of each other in early 2025.

Council member Andria McClellan was the sole no-voter Tuesday. She said that the larger casino proposed in 2020 was now smaller, and that some of her concerns, including public safety costs, had not yet been addressed.

The temporary casino is expected to meet the state’s deadline of November 2025, by which time a casino must be built and licensed by the Virginia Lottery under state law. According to paperwork filed with the city, construction of the “transitional casino” would begin in late February 2025 and be complete by mid-October 2025, with an opening date targeted for Nov. 5, 2025. The permanent casino’s construction would start in mid-January 2025 and be complete in August 2027, with its opening taking place the following month.

The budgets for both the temporary and permanent are “still under review,” Boyd Gaming’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Uri Clinton, said in an interview Tuesday before the vote. However, he noted that the focus is on building the permanent casino, as opposed to the construction of the temporary space. “Just to be very direct, the transitional casino is not a big item relative to the overall project,” Clinton said. “So right now, we’re still going through that, but it is very specific to its purpose [of meeting state lottery requirements]. It’s transitional by nature.”

According to a pitchbook provided to Virginia Business by the company, the permanent casino resort will include a 200-room hotel, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, a casino with 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, eight restaurants and bars, and 4,000 square feet of spa and gym space. The HeadWaters Resort & Casino name is no longer in effect, and Boyd is working now on a new name and brand for the casino.

Under the agreement, Boyd Gaming is now majority owner of Golden Eagle Consulting II, a limited liability company formed by the Pamunkey Indian Tribal Gaming Authority and Yarbrough, which won the city’s approval as operator of the Norfolk casino in 2020. The resort was approved by voters via referendum in November 2020, the first year commercial casinos were allowed to be brought to referendums in Virginia. Originally, the tribe partnered with Yarbrough, a billionaire who founded casino game producer Video Gaming Technologies, which he sold for $1.28 billion in 2014.

Pamunkey Indian Tribe Chief Robert Gray said Tuesday that the end of the tribe’s partnership with Yarbrough was “very amicable. We’re moving in this direction. It’s just a fantastic opportunity.”

The tribe and Yarbrough promised to build the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino on the Elizabeth River, but disputes between the city and the developers over design and proposed two-phase construction delayed the project multiple times — and now developers face a November 2025 state deadline, during which at least a temporary casino must be built and licensed by the Virginia State Lottery for the developers to retain the right to build a casino under the 2020 referendum vote.

Three other casinos approved by voters in Danville, Bristol and Portsmouth in 2020 have already opened, and in November, Petersburg voters will weigh in on their own casino referendum. Richmond voters twice rejected casino referendums, and the state legislature voted to provide Petersburg the opportunity earlier this year.

Clinton said his company has finished other casinos quickly, including a $500 million Sacramento, California, resort completed ahead of schedule and under budget, and an extension of a Louisiana casino that was “a ground-up construction.”

Gray began working toward building a casino in Norfolk even before the state allowed commercial casinos to be built; in 2019, the city approved a land deal that allowed the casino to be built on the waterfront. On Tuesday, he said the tribe spoke with several casino developers earlier in the year before landing on Boyd Gaming, a publicly traded, 49-year-old company that still has Boyd family members in some leadership roles. The tribe and the company began working together about six months ago, Gray said.

“[We’re] very excited, because I believe Boyd is the group that can bring us across the finish line in time and build and create a great opportunity here in the region,” he said. As for the tribe’s members, “they say it’s beneficial to tribal citizens in the way of education, , housing and various other needs.”

He said that the tribe decided to partner with Boyd over other companies because they “shared our commitment to the community, shared values, family values, commitment to even the workers,” including hiring local veterans, who are in ample supply in Hampton Roads.

Rendering of Norfolk casino

Based in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming operates 28 casinos in 10 states, including some with tribal partners, but this is its first venture in Virginia. The company reported $3.75 billion in revenue in 2023.

Boyd estimates that the permanent casino’s construction phase will produce $510 million in local economic impact, as well as 2,850 temporary construction jobs and $173 million in salaries and wages. In the operating phase, the company predicts $2.9 billion in economic impact, $583 million in salaries and wages, and 850 permanent jobs. Under the partnership, the tribe retains no less than 20% equity in the casino project, the same as it did in the partnership with Yarbrough.

The permanent project must cost at least $300 million, a requirement under state law.

Tuesday’s City Council vote gives Golden Eagle Consulting — now including Boyd Gaming — an amended and restated option to purchase an additional acre, in addition to 8.35 acres already planned for the casino and parking facilities, and authorizing the city manager to execute the development agreement and enter into site plan agreements and easements.

“I am excited to recognize this significant milestone in our journey to bring a world-class casino and hotel resort to the Harbor Park Entertainment District,” Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander said in a statement. “Boyd Gaming Corp., in partnership with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, is set to deliver a premier destination that will generate millions of dollars in tax revenues, create numerous jobs and revitalize our waterfront. This project will not only enhance our tourism efforts but also enable us to invest in key priorities that will benefit our community for years to come.”

Keith Smith, Boyd Gaming’s and , added, “We are pleased to take this important step forward in helping the Pamunkey Indian Tribe realize its vision of a best-in-class gaming resort. The greater Norfolk area is one of the largest underserved gaming markets in the mid-Atlantic region, and represents a compelling opportunity to further expand and diversify our company’s nationwide presence. We appreciate the Norfolk City Council’s support and confidence in our development plans, and we look forward to partnering with the city and the tribe as we continue the process of developing a transformational gaming entertainment experience on the Norfolk waterfront.”

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected since publication.

Henrico EDA program will help international businesses get foothold

The Authority is launching a global business gateway program for internationally headquartered companies seeking to establish a presence in the United States.

The Henrico Global Business Gateway, which the EDA announced Tuesday, will provide international businesses with office space for up to three staffers each in the upcoming Workspaces location at Innsbrook, set to open in early 2025, as well as wraparound business services.

“The idea is that they would have a home for 12 to 18 months,” said Anthony Romanello, director of the Henrico EDA. “And then, as they bring on, as they sort of grow their U.S. business, they would move into a larger facility, hopefully in Henrico but certainly somewhere in the Richmond region.”

Richmond-based Gather, which has coworking properties in Hampton Roads and the greater Richmond area, is currently renovating the interior of its roughly 19,000-square-foot space at 4101 Cox Road. Raleigh, North Carolina-based Highwoods Properties, an office investment trust, is its landlord.

“The idea with going in with Gather is that they’ve got a whole ecosystem,” Romanello said. “They’ll be there with other businesses. There’s coffee and telephones and conference rooms and a Xerox machine and all kinds of access to services, so you walk in, and it’s ready to go. The other thing is that there’ll be the opportunity for B2B because they would be in there with other businesses.”

The Henrico EDA is signing a membership with Gather, reserving 20 seats for the gateway. Under the two-year agreement that the EDA can renew, it will pay about $110,000 a year. Similar to subleasing, companies in the gateway will then join Gather as members under the EDA, paying it a subsidized rate.

“We are excited to have the Henrico Global Business Gateway join our newest community,” Gather Doug White said in a statement. “Gather West End will provide these entrepreneurs with the environment needed to continue their growth and development. We are honored to partner with Henrico EDA on this important endeavor.”

The Henrico EDA will work with partners to offer wraparound services for companies in the gateway, including:

  • Business consulting services like market research, search engine optimization and website marketing services;
  • Professional services like legal counsel, immigration consulting, and marketing, accounting and real estate services;
  • Specialized workforce partners for recruiting and hiring staff;
  • Business development organizations and networking;
  • Startup community and capital/financing partners;
  • And tailored relocation assistance for company leadership or staff and their families.

The EDA is gathering partners in preparation for the gateway’s 2025 launch, although Long & Foster Real Estate is already on to help with relocation services.

The first gateway program participant will be African fintech firm Rego.

“We are profoundly humbled to be the pioneering participant of the Henrico Global Business Gateway,” Yogo Dubois, founder and CEO of Rego, said in a statement. “Henrico’s strategic location, conducive business environment, proactive governance and the extensive support from the have been instrumental in the process of our establishment in the beautiful county of Henrico.”

Although localities elsewhere have “soft landing” programs similar to the Henrico Global Business Gateway, Henrico’s program has distinguishing factors, Romanello said.

“Where ours really stands out is the partnership with Gather and that we would be putting our new international companies in a coworking environment so that they’ve really got that opportunity for B2B interaction,” Romanello said, “and we’ve really got this whole suite of wraparound services that we’re going to be able to provide them.”

U.Va. president, board members stand up for UVA Health execs

The ‘s and two members defended UVA Health Dr. Craig Kent and U.Va. School of Medicine Dean Dr. Melina R. Kibbe on Monday, after 128 UVA Physicians Group-employed faculty signed a letter demanding their immediate removal late last week.

The letter, which expresses “” in Kent and Kibbe, was sent Friday to the rector and U.Va.’s board of visitors, which is set to meet for its quarterly meeting in later this week.

The signers, whose names were not made public but were offered for four board of visitors members to view privately, accuse the two U.Va. executives of “foster[ing] a negative environment that is contributing to an ongoing exodus of experience and expertise at all levels that contravenes our mission to provide excellent — and safe — patient care.”

Specifically, the letter outlines “egregious acts” such as hiring doctors “despite concerns regarding integrity and quality,” and “pressuring physicians, nurses and other staff to abstain from using the Be Safe process to report patient safety concerns.” The letter further says that the two executives have used “explicit and implicit threats and retaliation — often relayed to faculty via their chairs and chiefs” against employees who have “raised concerns about patient safety, capacity constraints and moral distress.” Other accusations include “excessive spending” on C-suite executives and “failure to be forthcoming” on audit performance and other financial matters, as well as “subjecting [medical] residents to bullying and harassment” and withholding recommendations for promotion and tenure in the case of faculty members who raise concerns.

In an email sent to approximately 1,400 U.Va. medical school faculty members this weekend, President Jim Ryan wrote, “The letter itself is daunting. There are many accusations. There are few details. Some of these accusations are fairly evident references to specific matters that we have already addressed or are actively working on. Others are new to us, but we will do our best to run them to the ground and get to the bottom of them. Even though it is difficult to investigate generalized and anonymous claims of wrongdoing, without specific details or names to follow up with, we will do our best to investigate.”

Ryan also notes that only four people are allowed to see the signatures — a group that did not include him. The faculty letter says that board of visitors members Rachel Sheridan and Porter Wilkinson, “in their capacity as chair and vice chair of the audit, compliance and risk committee,” and Drs. Stephen Long and David Okonkwo “because they have both worked at academic medical centers and can understand the rank and specialties of those signing,” would be allowed to “view and verify the signatures, should this be requested by the board of visitors.”

The president continues in his letter, which was provided to Virginia Business on Monday, that the university will conduct a “thorough review,” investigating the letter’s allegations, but says that he finds it “difficult to believe that the right answer here is to force yet another change in leadership … [that] will inevitably fail to satisfy 1,400 faculty members and thousands more health system team members.”

Ryan added that he views the faculty letter, which was published Friday by the Cavalier Daily, as an “unfortunate” decision by the signers. “They have besmirched the reputations of not just Melina and Craig. Instead, through some of their allegations, they have unfairly — and I trust unwittingly — cast a shadow over the great work of the entire health system and medical school.” Ryan wrote that his email inbox was “overflowing with testimonials” from other faculty members “who attest that the health system today is in the best shape it has ever been in.”

Kent and Kibbe released a response Monday, which includes: “Our leadership team respects and takes seriously this feedback and we are committed to learning more. We are also deeply grateful for the support and affirmation we have received from so many across UVA Health and the leadership of the University of Virginia.” Their statement also mentions “consistently high ratings” from third-party evaluators, as well as a 30% increase in total scheduled patient appointments and a 6% improvement in the number of new patients who are seen within 14 days.

Thomas A. Scully, a member of U.Va.’s Health System Board and a U.Va. alum, said in an interview Monday that he views the faculty no-confidence letter as a backlash fueled by a new merit pay system going into effect soon.

“I am 100% convinced that there’s a 99% correlation between 128 anonymous people and where they are in the pay scale, because [U.Va. is] just about to undertake this pay reform,” said Scully, a general partner in New York-based law firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s health care group who served as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President George W. Bush and is also a past president and CEO of the Federation of American . “I think the reaction here is 100% people who are very likely to be on the lower performing end of the [pay] scale, who are going crazy before this happens.”

Kent has “done a lot of good stuff” since joining U.Va. in 2020, Scully says, including reaching agreements with other health systems so U.Va. can expand its medical care to other parts of the state. Kent also played a significant role in establishing the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which broke ground in late 2023.

Late last year, Kent’s contract was renewed through 2030.

Kibbe, meanwhile, was hired in 2021 as the medical school’s dean and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health.

According to Scully, Kibbe instituted a pay system revamp. “When she got the job a couple years ago, she said, ‘We have a pay problem here. We have people spread all over the place, and there’s no connection between what the physicians are getting paid and what their performance is and what the patient quality is and what the patient happiness is.'”

The payment reform process took a couple of years, said Scully, adding that he thinks it was bound to stir up controversy. “As soon as they did it, I thought, ‘Holy cow, you’re sticking your head in a bees’ nest.'”

founder and chairman , another member of the Health System Board and also a U.Va. graduate, wrote a letter to the editor Monday defending Kibbe and Kent, writing that the 128 signers represent “less than 1/10 of 1%” of the health system’s 18,000 employees. Crutchfield cited high safety rankings by Vizient and other third-party auditors of UVA Health’s four hospitals. He concluded, “These anonymous writers are doing harm to UVA Health and, in turn, to our patients. If a small cabal of people hiding behind anonymity can force outstanding leaders out of U.Va., it will make it extremely difficult to recruit outstanding new physicians, nurses, technicians, and administrators.”

Scully said that he hopes the Health System Board will “come out with a strong statement supporting the current leadership and saying we have total confidence. … I’m sure we’ll talk about it. And I’ve talked to a number of people on the board so far, and I think my view is widely shared.”

In defense of UVA Health’s leaders

Like so many , I was surprised and shocked to read the U.Va. faculty letter of no confidence in Dr. Craig Kent and Dr. Melina Kibbe. This is especially disturbing since I have served on various UVA Health boards over the past 30 years. It is my that our health system is better today than it has been at any time over that period. And it is evolving into one of the truly top health systems in the nation. Drs. Kent and Kibbe must be given an enormous amount of credit for this accomplishment.

In full disclosure, I am not writing this letter as a member of the UVA Health System . I am writing it as a friend of the who believes that there is another side to this story which needs to be understood.

There are two aspects of this letter which need to be addressed. First, it comes from 128 people. Our health system has 18,000 employees. Therefore, the writers represent less than 1/10 of 1% of our employees. And, based on an outpouring of emails to Ryan, the UVA Health System Board and the Board of Visitors, the allegations of these anonymous writers do not reflect the opinions of a broad cross section of our and staff. Instead, they express widespread support for Drs. Kent and Kibbe.

Second, facts made by these anonymous writers are simply not true.

  • They speak of safety issues. UVA Health has recently received A ratings in safety audits for its four . Our Vizient mortality ratios are at an all-time low suggesting we are saving 2-3 out of 10 patients that were otherwise not expected to live.
  • As to an exodus of faculty talent, this allegation can be disputed by Drs. Kent and Kibbe’s successful recruitment of outstanding faculty from some of the nation’s top academic medical centers. If our work environment were so toxic, these people would not have joined our faculty. Furthermore, the data does not support this claim. UVA Health has a 5.1% turnover rate as compared with the national average of 8.3%. Also, I should add that Forbes magazine recently rated UVA Health as one of the nation’s top employers.
  • As to attacking the values of the University of Virginia, I find these allegations to be totally erroneous. Drs. Kent and Kibbe have made building a strong organizational culture a cornerstone of UVA Health’s new 10-year strategic plan. From what I hear from a cross-section of employees in our health system, the culture has improved dramatically over the past few years.
  • The assertion that there is excessive spending on C-suite executives is naive. It is true that new senior-level staff have been hired. However, most of it has been to prepare UVA Health for an even stronger future. Dr. Kent hired an outstanding chief strategy officer to lead our first-ever enterprise-wide strategic plan. Prior to this, we were possibly the only major academic medical center that did not have such a critically important internal function. Instead, we relied on expensive outside consultants. We added staff to create our first ever UVA Health Leadership Institute.  This is another investment in our future.  It will provide us with a tremendous pipeline of outstanding future leaders.  And as an occasional lecturer in the program, I can attest that it has been a tremendous morale boost for our participants.
  • Other allegations in this letter are vehemently denied by the large number of UVA Health System employees who are emailing us in support of Drs. Kent and Kibbe.

Although not addressed by the anonymous writers, Drs. Kent and Kibbe have been extraordinarily successful in raising financial support. The School of Medicine has attracted a record amount of research funding. This research is an investment in the future of health outcomes. For example, the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology could be a game-changer for not only our community but for the world.

There is another important consideration which is overlooked in this letter. UVA Health is one of only a handful of health systems in the nation which maintained profitability throughout the pandemic. This is a major management accomplishment for which Dr. Kent must be commended. Had we not maintained profitability, our ability to fund construction and acquisitions could have been handicapped. This would have become an impediment to our ability to provide world-class healthcare to our service areas.

Finally, I have a serious philosophical concern about these anonymous writers.  The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. Often attributed to it is the phrase “First do no harm.”  These anonymous writers are doing harm to UVA Health and, in turn, to our patients. If a small cabal of people hiding behind anonymity can force outstanding leaders out of U.Va., it will make it extremely difficult to recruit outstanding new physicians, nurses, technicians, and administrators. It will make it extremely difficult to attract important strategic alliances. And it will make it extremely difficult to raise needed philanthropic support. If these things happen, the quality of in our community will be harmed. To me, those who inflict harm to the patients of UVA Health may be violating the Hippocratic Oath.

William G. Crutchfield Jr.
Health Services Foundation Board, 1993-1997; U.Va. Board of Visitors, 1997-2005; UVA Health System Board, 2018-present.

Crutchfield is the founder and of Charlottesville’s Crutchfield Corp. He is a U.Va. graduate and a member of the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.

LL Flooring to sell 219 stores; 211 other stores set to close

Henrico County’s , which declared Chapter 11 last month, has signed an agreement to sell 219 stores and other assets to , the company announced Sept. 6. LL plans to close 211 other stores nationwide, up from 94 stores previously announced.

With this agreement, F9 Brands owner , the founder and former CEO of and founder of Cabinets to Go, will likely assume ownership of the 219 LL Flooring stores, the company’s name and other assets by the end of the month, following approval by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

Earlier on Friday, Sept. 6, LL Flooring announced that it had not found a purchaser and planned to close all of its stores over the next three months, but later in the day, the deal with F9 emerged, meaning that about half of the flooring retailer’s 400-some stores will remain open under new ownership.

Under the deal, F9 Investments, part of the Cabinets to Go parent company , will acquire 219 stores, LL Flooring’s intellectual property, and inventory sitting in the 219 stores and at the company’s Sandston distribution center, which was sold to a limited liability corporation connected to QTS Data Centers earlier this week for $104.75 million.

In its August bankruptcy filing, LL Flooring said it planned to close 94 stores, but that number rose to 211 in subsequent court filings. The 219 stores to be purchased by F9 “are open and continuing to serve customers with few changes to store operations and policies.” According to a court document filed by F9 attorneys this week, its purchase proposal “provides a certain recovery for stakeholders, and ensures continued employment for approximately 750 to 1,000 of the debtors’ employees.”

In June 2023, Tennessee-based F9 attempted to purchase LL Flooring, formerly Lumber Liquidators, but the company’s rejected the offer, sparking a proxy war.

Although financial details were not provided in the sale announcement, in a document filed Sept. 3 in Delaware Bankruptcy Court, attorneys representing F9 said that it had offered LL Flooring $44.5 million in cash at closing and at least $22 million in assumed liabilities in a $66.5 million bid this summer. In a second document filed this week in the LL Flooring bankruptcy case, F9 said it had paid a deposit of $4.1 million toward the total purchase.

According to LL Flooring’s announcement, the is set to close by the end of September, pending approval by the federal bankruptcy judge.

LL Flooring filed for bankruptcy in August and announced it was pursuing a sale of its business, and that it had separately received a nonbinding letter of intent to sell its eastern distribution center. That sale was approved by the court, and an entity connected to QTS Data Centers has agreed to buy the 995,792-square-foot distribution center on 97.55 acres in the White Oak Technology Park for $104.75 million. QTS owns much of the technology park property, as well as all 622 acres of White Oak Technology Park II.

LL Flooring’s sales fell in fiscal 2023 to $904.7 million, down from $1.11 billion in fiscal 2022, when it opened 17 stores.

In May 2023, Sullivan purchased 9.4% of LL Flooring stock in preparation for a bid to merge LL Flooring’s stores with Cabinets to Go. According to a court document filed by F9 this week, LL Flooring owes about $7 million to F9, which owns many of the LL Flooring store locations and leases them to the company. On July 10, Sullivan, F9 Brands President and CEO Jason Delves and Jill Witter, a Texas-based legal consultant for F9 Investments, were elected to LL Flooring’s board, in an attempt to “hold the board accountable for the company’s abysmal stock price performance on an absolute and relative basis, an ineffective operational strategy, tremendous waste of capital and flawed strategic review process, among many other failures,” according to a May 31 announcement by F9, which owned 8.85% of LL Flooring’s common stock at the time.

Sullivan founded Lumber Liquidators in 1994 and left in 2016. In 2019, the company paid $33 million to settle allegations of securities fraud to the U.S. Department of Justice for “filing a materially false and misleading statement to investors regarding the sale of its laminate flooring from China to its customers in the United States,” according to a Department of Justice statement. The total fine included a $6 million payment to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate settlement. The settlement goes back to activities that took place in 2014 and 2015.

According to the DOJ, the CBS news program “60 Minutes” conducted an investigation starting in 2014 to test laminate products sold by Lumber Liquidators, which were shown to violate California Air Resources Board regulations and failed tests for maximum formaldehyde emissions, even after California authorities notified the company of the issue in 2013 and 2014. In a March 2015 episode of “60 Minutes,” Lumber Liquidators issued a “false and misleading statement to investors” that denied the allegations and affirmed that the company had complied with CARB regulations, the DOJ statement concluded.

Sullivan and other executives left the company in the months after the airing of the CBS report, and in 2020, Charles E. Tyson became the company’s president and CEO, after which Lumber Liquidators renamed itself LL Flooring in 2022.

In July, news broke that LL Flooring was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and shareholders elected the three F9 nominees to the company’s board. However, in the August SEC filing, LL Flooring revealed that the three F9 board members resigned shortly after the decision to enter Chapter 11 proceedings. According to F9’s court document, “these three persons did not engage in and recused themselves from discussions of the LL board” on F9’s bid to purchase LL Flooring’s assets.

ACI doubles its Chesterfield HQ

Commercial and industrial () is doubling its headquarters in , a roughly $25 million project.

The contractor, which provides mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection products and services, plans to open a second 170,000-square-foot building on 18 acres beside its existing building, which sits on 25 acres, in early November. The facility will be primarily used for warehouse and space, with some office space.

“Since so much of our work is non-office-based, that’s how we set up our facilities. They’re a large manufacturing center, along with some office that supports it,” said ACI Evan Shriver.

The company will create modular components in the new facility, expanding its production.

“We’re dedicating that space to building some structural steel components that we can then put the main piping systems, electrical systems, plumbing systems and fire protection systems together on, and then ship them all across the country to then build the buildings in sections like that,” Shriver said.

“But it’s mainly achieved by building it here in our factory in Richmond,” he added, “as opposed to having to find skilled tradesmen across the country and move those around. It’s much easier to just build it in a controlled environment and then ship it out there.”

ACI currently has 1,200 employees and plans to hire up to 100 people to work in the second headquarters building, likely within the first two years of its opening, Shriver said. The company expects to have about 50 people working in the facility when it opens.

As of Aug. 30, the exterior of the new building was complete. Over September, the company is working on final landscaping and the paving of parking lots and roads. Interior drywall and paint finishes are ongoing.

ACI began planning the in 2019, Shriver said, and physical construction started in early 2023.

“This is part of the strategic vision of the company … to maximize offsite construction through modular building, and that increases safety, quality and productivity and helps remove geographic barriers so we can then pursue projects all across the country,” he said.

While a construction site has factors outside of a contractor’s control, a controlled environment like a manufacturing facility reduces safety risks and has the advantage of automated machinery, Shriver added.

ACI works on large commercial buildings for , advanced manufacturing, data centers, higher education, chemicals manufacturers and other industries. In addition to its Chesterfield County facilities, the contractor has offices in Roanoke, Sterling and Suffolk, as well as in Wilmington, North Carolina. In 2022, the company expanded its presence in Roanoke and Hampton Roads.

Peterson Cos. names president

Daniel McCahan, most recently chief operating officer of Madison Marquette, will become of -based on Sept. 9.

McCahan worked at Washington, D.C.-based investment firm Madison Marquette for 13 years, first joining as a senior vice president.

“We are pleased to welcome Daniel McCahan as president of Peterson Cos.” Jon Peterson, Peterson Cos.’ and chairman of the committee, said in a statement. “Dan brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success in the both the commercial and residential real estate sectors, making him a valuable addition to our leadership team.”

As a senior vice president at Madison Marquette, McCahan managed the development of a 3 million-square-foot-plus portfolio and managed the company’s day-to-day activity as co-developer of The Wharf.

Before joining Madison Marquette, McCahan held executive roles at Archstone, where he contributed to the $700 million CityCenterDC project, and Urban Atlantic, where, as a project manager, he was responsible for Henson Ridge, a residential redevelopment of a former public housing site in Washington, D.C.

A Washington, D.C., resident, McCahan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the and a master’s degree in planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Founded in 1965 by the late Milton V. Peterson, the privately held Peterson Cos. developed multiple major mixed-use projects in Northern Virginia and Maryland, including National Harbor in Maryland, home to the MGM National Harbor resort; the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center; The Capital Wheel; Fairfax Corner; Fair Lakes; Burke Centre; and Tysons McLean Office Park.