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After two years, VCU Health makes Levy permanent CEO

Two years after he first became interim , Dr. Marlon F. Levy has been named System’s permanent head.

Virginia Commonwealth University announced Monday that Levy’s interim roles as the -based system’s CEO and senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences were made permanent in appointments by the VCU Board of Visitors and the Authority Board of Directors.

“Dr. Levy has the full confidence of both the VCU Board of Visitors and VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors to lead our health system and health sciences with the continued momentum he has already established,” said VCU’s rector, Todd P. Haymore, in a statement. “With his and the unwavering commitment of all our to our mission, VCU’s future is bright.”

Levy was appointed to his posts on an interim basis in November 2022 after VCU leadership called on his predecessor, Dr. Art Kellermann, to resign. Kellermann’s exit came shortly before news broke in 2023 that VCU Health had paid $72.9 million to back out of a $325 million failed development project that Kellermann warned against.

Formerly VCU Medical Center’s chief medical officer, Levy, who was a practicing abdominal multiorgan transplant surgeon who joined VCU Health in 2015 as chair of its transplant surgery department and director of the VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center. Previously, Levy was surgical director of transplantation at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He also has an MBA from Brandeis University.

In June, Levy and VCU President Michael Rao appeared before the Virginia General Assembly’s watchdog body, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC), which released a study that found the university and Rao had too much influence over the health system’s operations. State analysts recommended that VCU Health change its bylaws to make the health system’s CEO report to the health system’s board and to eliminate its president position, which was filled by the president of VCU. In September, Rao, whose contract was renewed into 2030, lost the position of VCU Health president.

Last month, VCU Health announced it had gained approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to start lung transplants at its Hume-Lee Transplant Center, becoming one of three facilities in the state providing lung transplants. Other successes the health system has chalked up during Levy’s interim leadership include financial recovery from the pandemic and receiving upgraded bond ratings from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. And VCU Health Sciences, which includes the university’s health colleges and schools, saw the VCU School of Medicine again receive full accreditation. Additionally, the university secured state approval for funding for a new dental school facility and hired new deans to lead the School of Pharmacy, the School of Medicine, and the College of Health Professions.

“In his two years in this interim role, Dr. Levy has done an outstanding job, and I’m grateful that we will keep him here,” Rao said in a statement Monday. “Dr. Levy has led VCU Health’s post-COVID financial turnaround, restoring VCU Health to a positive operating margin, maintaining strong bond ratings and setting our health system on a course for greater success and patient outcomes. In the two years of his service, he has worked to support our colleagues in research and teaching. Additionally, Dr. Levy puts the needs of patients, students, faculty and staff first. He is an experienced and trusted leader, whose empathy for people is evident in everything he does.”

MicroStrategy holdings surge in value as bitcoin breaches $87,000

whale Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of -based tech company , has reason to gloat today. 

Under Saylor’s laser-eyed guidance, MicroStrategy has pursued bitcoin as an investment strategy since 2020. The company announced its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020, making it one of the first public companies to convert its cash treasury reserves into as a store of value. MicroStrategy has since gone on to become the world’s largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. 

On Monday, bitcoin hit a record high, breaching $87,000 per coin. At 4:05 p.m., bitcoins were trading for $87,081.97, according to Coinbase, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

As of Nov. 10, MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries held a total of 279,420 bitcoins, which was worth $24.33 billion as of 4:05 p.m. The company’s 279,420 bitcoins were purchased for approximately $11.9 billion, and at an average purchase price of $42,692 per bitcoin, including and expenses.

Saylor, who has made bold pronouncements and statements about bitcoin in the past, in September told CNBC that he thought the cryptocurrency could rise as high as $13 million per bitcoin by 2045.

According to a Monday news release, in its most recent purchase, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 10, MicroStrategy bought about 27,200 bitcoins for approximately $2.03 billion in cash, averaging $74,463 per bitcoin, including fees and expenses. 

At close Monday, MicroStrategy shares were trading for $340, up from $297 at open. 

The bitcoin rally began on Tuesday with Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. Trump has made pro-bitcoin comments and promises during his campaign. In July, he said at a bitcoin conference: “If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future.” 

Trump has also said he wants all bitcoin mined in the U.S. and has pledged to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” The president-elect also launched a new venture with his family to trade cryptocurrency, World Liberty Financial.

He also said he would remove Gary Gensler, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman who has an aggressive stance on crypto. The president does not have the to remove an SEC chair without cause during his term, but Gensler’s term will end in 2026. 

Saylor’s strategy hasn’t always led to fortune. He stepped down as CEO after MicroStrategy’s August 2022 earnings report, when the company disclosed that it had paid a total of $3.977 billion for its bitcoin, which at that time had fallen to a market value of about $2.451 billion. At that point, MicroStrategy also had taken on about $2.4 billion in loans and debt to acquire bitcoin. At points in 2022, the currency fell below $20,000 to prices it had not seen since 2020.

Va. will hold 2 special elections to fill empty state Senate seats

Updated Nov. 10

Two seats are now open, with the election of state Sens. , R-Goochland, and , D-Loudoun, to the this week, so the state will hold to fill those seats in districts 10 and 32 ahead of the Virginia General Assembly’s new session beginning in January 2025.

Republican McGuire, elected Tuesday to replace U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Farmville, in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, is the Senate incumbent in bright red Senate District 10, which covers multiple counties to the west and southwest of . Four Republican candidates have announced their bids for the seat as of Friday, the most prominent of which is former state Sen. , who lost the Republican primary to state Sen. Glen Sturtevant in 2023 and moved from Chesterfield County to Appomattox County to establish residence in District 10.

Sen. Amanda F. Chase
Former state Sen. Amanda F. Chase

Chase, who served in the state Senate for eight years and called herself “Trump in heels,” was censured by the Senate in a bipartisan vote in January 2021 for “failure to uphold her oath of office, misuse of office and conduct unbecoming of a senator,” a resolution related to her “propagating unfounded claims” about the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of , as well as a laundry list of other issues. In 2019, Chase left the Senate Republican Caucus and was stripped of all committee assignments, so it is unclear what her party affiliation would be if she is re-elected to the Senate.

She faces Republican candidates Shayne Snavely, an Amelia County-based Army veteran who was Chase’s head of security when she was a state senator and a founder of Executive Protective Services; Powhatan County GOP grassroots activist Jean Gannon; and Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Duane Adams, a former insurance executive. So far, the state GOP has not announced a date for a primary or a caucus to choose the party’s nominee, and no Democrats have announced a bid.

Subramanyam, the Democratic incumbent state senator in eastern , defeated Republican Mike Clancy in the state’s 10th Congressional District on Tuesday to replace U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat who announced last year she would not run for re-election due to her diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy.

Subramanyam’s open seat has attracted six Democratic contenders, who will run in a Nov. 16 firehouse primary to determine the party’s nominee. , a CPA who represents House of Delegates’ District 26 in Loudoun County, has received endorsements from Subramanyam, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott since declaring his candidacy Wednesday.

Del. Kannan Srinivasan

Other candidates include Hurunnessa Fariad, director of outreach for the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network; former Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney Buta Biberaj; former delegate Dr. Ibraheem Samirah, who lost to Subramanyam in the 2023 Democratic primary for the state Senate nomination; Sree NagiReddi, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 2019; and Puja Khanna, a business owner in Aldie who also ran for the Loudoun County board.

Ommair Butt, a Loudoun County parent who vocally opposed the county school board’s gender-inclusive bathroom policy and supports ridding Virginia of the car tax, declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the district Thursday on WJLA Channel 7.  Rafi Khaja, an Indian immigrant who ran unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates, also is running for the Republican nomination. Local Republicans have announced a firehouse primary on Nov. 16.

The state has not announced when the special general elections for both Senate districts will take place, but according to state law, vacancies must be filled within 30 days of the vacancy or receipt of notification of the vacancy. The Virginia State Senate is closely divided, with 21 Democrats and 19 Republicans holding the 40 seats, and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears making tiebreaker votes when necessary.

If Trump cuts federal workforce, Warner predicts ‘disaster’ for Va.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday he hopes President-elect Donald Trump won’t pursue massive cuts and relocations in the — because if he does, it would be a “disaster for Virginia’s economy,” particularly in and Hampton Roads. “We would get hit worse than any other state,” Virginia’s senior senator said.

Warner, a moderate Democrat known for reaching across the aisle, said also that Trump’s proposed immigrant deportations and additional restrictions on and guest workers would harm the state’s agriculture, seafood, and poultry businesses by depriving them of workers.

“There is no state in the nation that gets hurt worse than Virginia when we have government shutdowns … when we in Congress don’t do our job, because we have not only a massive , but we have a huge contractor workforce as well,” Warner said during a press call Thursday. “When you think not just [about] the contractor workforce up in Northern Virginia, but all the folks … who are at our military installations as we go down through the peninsula into Hampton Roads, we would get hit worse than any other states. These kind of attacks that Mr. Trump has made on the federal workforce, I think is unwarranted.”

Trump has said he wants to rid the executive branch of “rogue bureaucrats,” whom he claims hampered his agenda during his first term as president. He also said he would bring in more political appointees to serve in agencies, instead of just the highest-level positions like secretaries and commissioners.

Warner added that if Trump “dramatically cut[s] back on our national security,” that would be particularly painful to Virginia’s and technology sectors, as well as to the military presence in Virginia.

“The president-elect has said he wants to have the world’s strongest national security defense,” Warner said. “We’ve got to protect our armed forces. Part of what we’ve got in Hampton Roads is a major Coast Guard facility, and that doesn’t get lumped in with national security. So, any time you talk about cutting non-defense spending, think about items that are not classic defense, but I would call the Coast Guard very important.”

The state has more than 140,000 civilian federal employees, and Trump’s platform calls for 100,000 federal jobs to be moved out of the Washington, D.C., metro region to other states. He also has vowed to revive Schedule F, which Trump instituted at the end of his first term in 2020, to strip civil service protections from potentially 50,000 career government workers, making them at-will workers and more vulnerable to firing.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who joined Trump twice on the campaign trail in Virginia, said in August that Virginia’s federal civil servants shouldn’t be afraid, because “there are fabulous opportunities for folks to find a new employer in Virginia should the one they work for move away.” But Democrats and others have said it’s not that simple to find a new job that matches up with workers’ abilities and training.

“My message to federal workers is I will be there to protect them, to protect their professionalism, to protect their careers,” Warner said. “The idea is, well, Donald Trump claims to be a good businessperson. If he is, he would recognize that by moving federal workers all over the country, you’d lose vast amounts of experience, vast amounts of folks who know their jobs and do their jobs for Democratic or Republican administrations.” He added that he and newly re-elected U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine are “already on a bill” to oppose Schedule F from being re-enacted, and U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat who represents part of , has sponsored a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“If President-elect Trump comes in and takes an axe to cut back … without looking at the programs that he’s cutting,” Warner said, “no area in the country will get hit harder than Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia.”

The wind sector — including Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm and connected industry in Hampton Roads — could also see changes during a Trump presidency, as could the state’s nuclear industry, spanning from Newport News Shipbuilding’s construction of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers for the Navy to nuclear fuel and reactor manufacturers BWX Technologies and Framatome in Lynchburg, Warner said.

As for immigration restrictions on guest worker visas and other temporary foreign worker programs — as well as the possibility of mass detentions and deportations of undocumented migrants residing in the United States — Warner said that family-owned seafood businesses on the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula in Virginia will be “dramatically hit. Without those workers, Virginia would lose thousands of Virginia-based jobs and many, many multigenerational businesses. Many of these businesses bring the same workers in every year. They go back [home], they come for the season.”

Immigrants also hold jobs at Virginia’s orchards, farms, poultry businesses and , the senator said. “And then you’ve got landscape workers,” which is less of a seasonal job in the South, he noted. “I’d love to see some resolution so we can add more predictability.”

Navy Federal ordered to refund customers $80M, pay $15M civil penalty

The is ordering to refund more than $80 million to customers and pay a $15 million civil for allegedly charging illegal .

CFPB announced the actions against the nation’s largest credit union on Thursday. CFPB alleges that from 2017 to 2022, -based Navy charged customers surprise overdraft fees on certain ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases, despite their accounts showing sufficient funds at the transaction times.

The $15 million will go to CFPB’s victims relief fund, called the Civil Penalty Fund. According to a CFPB news release, the penalty is the largest that CFPB has levied against a credit union for illegal overdraft fees.

“Navy Federal fully cooperated with the CFPB’s investigation and we will continue to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, just as we always have and as we believe we did here,” The credit union said in a statement. “Nevertheless, this settlement enables us to focus on serving our members and their families. As a member-owned, not-for-profit credit union, we are focused on putting our members first.”

Additionally, the credit union stated, “over the past several years, Navy Federal has continued to comply with evolving expectations — including by automatically refunding certain overdraft fees since January 2023.” It will also eliminate “nonsufficient fund fees” for personal checking accounts in the first quarter of 2025, a reform it announced in October.

As of Sept. 30, Navy Federal had $180 billion in assets. The credit union has 360 branches, more than 14 million members and about 24,000 employees.

“Navy Federal illegally harvested tens of millions of dollars in junk fees, including from active-duty service members and veterans,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “The CFPB’s work to rid the market of illegal junk fees has saved American families billions of dollars.”

The CFPB said in a news release it found that Navy Federal violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act through charging surprise overdraft fees on purchases made with sufficient funds in consumers’ accounts at the transaction times and by charging overdraft fees resulting from delayed peer-to-peer payments that had undisclosed processing times.

Through its Optional Overdraft Protection Service, Navy Federal charged consumers $20 for most overdraft transactions and collected nearly $1 billion in overdraft fees from 2017 to 2021, according to the CFPB.

According to the CFPB, Navy Federal charged customers overdraft fees if a customer’s account had a negative balance once a transaction posted, although the account had had enough to cover the transaction when the consumer made it. The credit union collected an average of $44 million annually in these fees, the CFPB alleges.

Navy Federal, the CFPB alleges, also charged overdraft fees when customers tried to use funds from payment services like Zelle, PayPal and Cash App that showed in Navy Federal systems as immediately available to spend but were still processing. The credit union did not disclose that payments received after 10 a.m. Eastern time initially, and later after 8 p.m. EST, wouldn’t post until the next business day. Navy Federal collected at least $4 million from these fines, according to the CFPB.

“We will continue to support and invest in our members — including the military, veterans and their families — to help them meet their financial goals,” Navy Federal said in a statement.

Developer downscales plans for Pittsylvania power plant/data center campus

The developer a and data center campus on 2,233 acres in the Banister and Callands-Gretna districts of County withdrew its rezoning application Monday, after facing vocal opposition from residents at public meetings held last week. 

Instead, Herndon-based Balico, the development company behind the project, intends to file a rezoning application with by Nov. 19 pitching a scaled-down version on about 600 acres in the same area, according to Balico founder and CEO Irfan Ali. 

Ali acknowledged the project has a “certain amount of a perception issue,” but insisted the controversies generated after the project’s first application wasn’t the main reason for Balico’s initial withdrawal. 

“The reason we scaled it down is because, really, what my engineers and lawyers concluded is that we don’t want to trigger a traffic impact analysis study with [the Virginia Department of Transportation],” Ali said Wednesday, “so we’re staying under the threshold in this filing.” 

However, Ali hopes the project will eventually be able to grow beyond 600 acres. “This is the first phase, and ultimately we will continue,” he says. 

The initial application for the project would have included up to 84 data center buildings and a 3,500-megawatt plant in a rural area along Chalk Level Road. That development would have created 700 jobs and deliver a minimum of $120 million per year in tax revenue to Pittsylvania County once it was built out, Ali had said.

At last week’s public meetings, attendees sternly expressed concerns about the project, including worries about dropping property values, traffic and the impact on the area’s rural nature. 

Last week, Robert Tucker, vice chair of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, announced Balico didn’t have the votes to get the rezoning passed by the supervisors. When reached Friday, Tucker said he wouldn’t support a smaller proposal from Balico either. 

“Based on everything that we’ve experienced with this particular investor and the community reaction, I don’t think that I’m going to support that,” he said. “I can’t speak for the other supervisors, but I don’t think the support is there.”

A scaled-down project would create between 300 and 400 jobs, according to Ali, who noted he’s heard of Pittsylvania residents traveling two hours to go to work. “This will create jobs right in their own backyard,” he said. 

Balico has hired LINK Public Affairs, a communications firm, to rally local support for the project. “We’re building already quite a strong momentum among the business community,” said Ali. 

require water for cooling servers. Initially, Ali hopes to tap into a source of nonpotable water in Chatham. Long term, Ali said, he’s talking with officials in Hurt about building a pipeline to carry water about 19 miles from a town water source to the data center campus. Town Mayor Gary Hodnett did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The pipeline, Ali said, would be able to deliver up to 18 million gallons of water a day. The data center campus will only require 2 million gallons a day, he noted, so the remaining water could be used by homes in that area that rely on individual wells.

Building the pipeline and a water treatment facility would cost about $17 million, Ali estimated. Before work begins on that, however, Ali said he will need to identify a user for the data center campus. “None of this can be financed if we don’t have a user at the back end,” he said. 

Matt Rowe, director of for Pittsylvania , receives multiple calls a week from data center developers looking at the county.

Rowe pointed out that the region isn’t subject to “hurricane impacts” and has low seismic activity. The soil in Pittsylvania is good for load-bearing capacity, he added. 

“When you get closer along the coast there and certain places, [where] you’re dealing with more sand, and that just adds cost to construction,” Rowe said. 

Location also works in favor of Pittsylvania, he noted. 

“Almost all internet traffic is going through Ashburn, Virginia, or Marietta, Georgia, or the QTS facility in Sandston,” Rowe said. 

Pittsylvania officials will need to consider what role they want data centers to play in the region’s economic future, Rowe maintained. The county’s was adopted in 2010.

“What’s even more important to the county and for long term is looking at probably doing a total rewrite of its comprehensive plan because that’s really what guides … future growth.” Rowe said. 

Caesars Virginia casino sets opening date

The resort in will open Dec. 12, Nevada’s announced Thursday.

A $750 million, 587,000-square-foot casino and resort in Danville’s Schoolfield neighborhood, the permanent casino will replace the temporary Caesars casino that opened nearby in May 2023. According to Thursday’s announcement, the new casino — which will be the state’s third permanent casino and the most expensive yet — will have more than 90,000 square feet of space with 1,500 slot machines, 79 live-action table games, 48 electronic table games, a poker room and sportsbook. The resort will have a 320-room hotel, 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a 2,500-seat entertainment venue, a full-service spa and pool, and an array of restaurants and bars.

Announced earlier was the inclusion of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Ramsay’s Kitchen. Local developer Rick Barker and local restaurateur Steve Parry will be behind the 500 Block Food Hall with other dining options.

“Our property started out with just over 400 team members when the temporary facility opened last year, and we are on track to hire more than 1,200 by the time we open our doors in December,” Chris Albrecht, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Virginia, said in a statement. “Through numerous hiring events in the region, training at facilities in Danville and overall support from local and state leaders as well as the business community, we are prepared to continue delivering the family style service that Caesars is known for to our guests in the new, beautiful destination resort.”

As of May 2023, the casino has paid more than $66 million in gaming taxes to the City of Danville and the state. Caesars Entertainment has partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina and EBCI Holdings in the Danville casino’s ownership.

The cost of the casino, which was approved by Danville voters in 2020 following the state’s legalization of casino gaming, has grown from $400 million to $650 million and finally $750 million. In May, Danville City Council amended the agreement to reflect the higher cost.

Caesars said in Thursday’s announcement that it will release more details about the Dec. 12 grand opening ceremony as the date gets closer.

On Nov. 14, the $515 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is set to host its grand opening with country music star Blake Shelton performing, and the Norfolk Casino’s groundbreaking took place in October. Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened its doors in January 2023, becoming the state’s first permanent casino. On Tuesday, Petersburg voters passed a casino referendum with more than 80% supporting the Cordish Cos. $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel project, which will become the state’s fifth casino — and the final one, at least under current state law.

Complete Health and Commonwealth Primary Care Announce Collaboration to Advance Value-Based Care in Virginia

Complete , a nationally recognized leader in Value-Based Care, and Commonwealth Primary Care, one of Virginia’s largest and most respected primary care practices, have agreed to collaborate to advance Value-Based Care through “Complete Health Partners.”

Through this collaboration, Complete Health Partners will deliver tech-enabled care coordination and other Value-Based Care services to some 20,000 Commonwealth Primary Care, MD ValueCare, and Complete Health—Virginia Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients. They will reward providers for quality, service excellence, and outcomes rather than service volume.

“Complete Health believes that value-based care is the future of healthcare. By focusing on delivering high-quality, personalized care while simultaneously reducing costs, we can truly meet the needs of our patients,” said Jeff Preuss, Chief Executive Officer at Complete Health. “Our mission is to keep patients happy, healthy, and out of the hospital.”

Complete Health Partners facilitates value-based care initiatives for both organizations. By prioritizing coordinated efforts for long-term health, the organization aims to enhance patient care and reduce healthcare costs.

 

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Omni Homestead GM receives lifetime achievement award

The American & Lodging Association presented Mark Spadoni, managing director of The in , with the association’s General Manager on Oct. 28.

The association honored Spadoni in San Antonio at its second annual The Show conference, cosponsored by Questex’s Hotel Management brand.

“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from AHLA,” Spadoni said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with great teams who understand the importance of hard work, passion and dedication. The Omni Homestead Resort team continues to uphold and enhance the legacy of this incredible resort, welcoming guests to enjoy both its rich history and contemporary luxury.”

Spadoni joined the Omni Homestead in 2021. He has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 40 years, working at The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa in Georgia for about 20 of those years. The Westin received Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice in 2017, 2018 and 2019 under his tenure, as well as in 2022.

In March 2020, Spadoni received the Savannah Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served on the boards of the Savannah Convention Center, the Tourism Council in Savannah, Visit Savannah and the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. Spadoni also was the first chair of Visit Bath County’s board.

Spadoni also founded the Savannah Harbor Foundation to support children’s charities and co-created the Savannah Voice Festival and its sister foundation.

The nearly 260-year-0ld Omni Homestead Resort completed $170 million in propertywide renovations in October 2023. Renovations included upgrades to its 483 guest rooms, a new, 4,000-square-foot pavilion, 72,000 square feet of meeting space, new food and beverage options and a restoration of the Warm Springs Pools.

“Congratulations to Mark on receiving the GM Lifetime Achievement Award,” Kurt Alexander, president of Omni & Resorts, said in a statement. “This recognition celebrates his remarkable dedication, professionalism and the profound impact he has made on our brand and the hospitality industry.”

Located in Hot Springs, the Homestead resort was founded in 1766. Omni Hotels & Resorts and KSL Capital Partners announced the purchase of the property in 2013.

Accenture Federal Services wins $1.6B task order

Services has been awarded a task order of up to $1.6 billion to scale and enhance Cloud One, the cloud computing platforms available to the that are managed by the Air Force, the federal contractor announced last week. 

“ will help the optimize its current cloud environment and support Cloud One in realizing its full potential,” Justin Shirk, a mission operations and cloud ecosystems managing director for Accenture Federal Services, stated in a news release.

Initiated in 2017, Cloud One is designed to provide common secure computing environments, standardized platforms, application migration and support services and data management, according to the DOD.

The Accenture subsidiary will work as a managed service provider for cloud account services, delivering enterprise-scale software support. It will also offer multi-cloud billing and account management services for the Air Force.

This order is the first of three follow-ons to the Air Force’s original Cloud One contract. The length of the task order support contract is up to five years and 3 months.

Two offers were received for the contract, according to the Department of Defense.

Accenture Federal Services employs 15,500 workers. Its parent company reported $64.9 billion in revenue in FY 2024.