Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Solar startup moving into Bedford plant, creating 104 jobs

startup plans to invest $63 million to start a solar module in eastern and create 104 jobs, the company, the and the Bedford County Office of announced Thursday. 

Solarix, which bills itself as a 100% American-owned, SBA-certified, disabled veteran-owned company headquartered in Bedford’s community, purchased a 423,553-square-foot building at 2150 Perrowville Road that was used by Teva Pharmaceuticals, which ceased operations in 2020.

Solarix plans to begin manufacturing by July 2025 and to employ 104 people, according to the . The company bought the building for $16.5 million in July from AVET, according to public records. AVET, an entity located in , purchased the building in 2021 for $7 million.

“The building has been vacant for quite a few years, so I’m glad to see somebody in there,” said Pam Armstrong, Bedford’s director of economic development.

“The partners and investors were familiar with Virginia,” said Megan Lucas, and chief economic development officer of Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. “They were also looking for a building of this size, a large existing manufacturing facility, and that’s what brought their eyes to our market.” 

The company was created “specifically to develop this plant,” according to Dakota Forgione, Solarix’s controller and chief relationship officer.

The company’s goal, according to the news release, is to “support the commonwealth’s renewable energy supply needs and mitigate reliance on foreign manufacturers, particularly from China.” 

“As a 100% American-owned and managed company, we are immensely proud to contribute to our nation’s energy independence,” Carlos Class, CEO and co-founder of Solarix, stated in the release. “By reclaiming control of our supply chain from foreign manufacturers, we are safeguarding our electric grid infrastructure, ensuring its resilience for decades to come. This is not just a business endeavor; it is a commitment to U.S. national security and a sustainable future.”

Forgione noted that there are “very few” solar module manufacturers currently operating in the United States. “Just a handful with nominal capacity,” he said.

Napoli Gomez, co-founder and chief technology officer of Solarix, previously worked at JinkoSolar, which also manufacturers solar panels, as a process engineer in a Florida facility, according to his LinkedIn page. He has more than a decade of experience working in solar cells technology and PV module manufacturing, according to Solarix.

The modules will be designed to be suitable for various applications, including agrivoltaics, which is the practice of using land for agriculture while generating solar energy. They will feature bifacial dual glass technology, and every module will have a 30-year performance warranty, according to the news release.  

Former Gov. Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which pledges to transition Virginia’s electric grid to 100% clean energy by 2050. 

Solarix plans to initially achieve a production capacity of 1 gigawatt per year. In its second phase, which the company plans to launch in 2026, Solarix executives plan to expand the facility to be able to produce 3 gigawatts of electricity per year and have hired 200 workers, according to Forgione. 

“There is a very talented workforce pool that is readily available in the region,” she said. “A lot of that is because you had a lot of very technical jobs that were associated with Teva Pharmaceuticals.”

Solarix executives expect the facility to produce 200 modules per hour. In phase two of development, Solarix plans to add a solar module recycling line. The company will accept old and broken modules from other manufacturers. 

Solarix hopes to take advantage of the Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, a federal incentive created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to boost domestic production of materials related to clean and renewable energy. The company has not yet received any incentives from the state, according to Forgione.

The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance worked with the Bedford County Office of Economic Development to bring the project to Forest.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the sale price for the facility.  

Virginia Credit Union-Member One merger approved

Virginia ‘s with -based was finalized Thursday, following a vote by Member One’s customers to approve the deal announced in January.

Effective Thursday, Member One becomes a division of VACU “as the organization works toward full integration of its systems and service platforms,” according to a from VACU. The combined institution has $7 billion in assets, 1,100 staff members and approximately 500,000 members with 37 branch locations, according to the announcement. It’s expected to be the third largest credit union based in Virginia and one of the top 50 largest credit unions in the nation.  

None of the employees of either credit union will lose their job in the merger, and no branches will be closed, the statement said. Member One members will continue to use existing platforms, ATM networks and branch locations for the time being, and full systems integration is expected to conclude in 2026.

Chris Shockley remains VACU’s and after the merger, and Frank Carter, the president and CEO of Member One, will be senior executive business advisor of the combined credit union until he retires. The credit union does not have a firm date for Carter’s retirement, according to Lewis Wood, a spokesperson for .

“’Better together.’ That’s been our theme and vision as we’ve worked together the last several months in pursuing approval for our merger,”  Shockley said in a statement. “Now, we’re excited to move forward together, with our combined resources and talent empowering us to fulfill our mission to serve members, deliver best-in-class products and services, and support the communities we call home.”

Transom Capital-backed BridgeTower Media acquires Virginia Business to cover nation’s “Top State for Business”

LOS ANGELES and GREENSBORO, NC — BridgeTower Media, the authoritative source for business insights, data-driven marketing solutions and events across more than 40 and research brands, is acquiring Virginia Business.

is the only publication dedicated to covering economic activity in every sector and every region of the state of Virginia. More than 47,000 executives rely on Virginia Business for news and insights about business in Virginia, which CNBC recently rated the best state in the nation for business for a record sixth time.

 “It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” said and Hal Cohen. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

On the heels of a significant digital transformation, BridgeTower Media, a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, has been actively increasing its appeal to business executives and marketers by strategically expanding its media footprint to encompass more growth markets and industries across the U.S.

“Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world,” said Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier. “I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

About BridgeTower Media

BridgeTower Media is a leading business intelligence, marketing and event platform providing authoritative content and expert analysis through its 40+ B2B media and research brands. More than 4.4 million business decision-makers rely on BridgeTower Media for timely information and expert insights to grow their businesses. These deep and trusted first-party customer relationships power tailored insights for business executives and precision audience targeting for omnichannel marketing solutions. BridgeTower Media also celebrates professional and organizational success through 200+ events and its Best Companies Group. BridgeTower Media is a Transom Capital portfolio company. For more information, please visit www.bridgetowermedia.com.

About Transom Capital Group

Transom Capital Group is an operations-focused private equity firm focused on investing in the middle market. The firm strives to create long-term value by partnering with established businesses and helping them navigate transformative growth. Transom’s functional pattern recognition, access to capital, and ARMORSM Value Creation Process combine with managements’ industry expertise to create improved operational efficiency, significant top-line growth, cultural transformation and overall distinctive outcomes. Transom is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.transomcap.com.

Boeing names Ortberg as new president and CEO

Updated Aug. 1

‘s board of directors announced Wednesday that Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg will be its next and effective Aug. 8, succeeding , who previously announced his intention to step down after a turbulent, nearly four-year tenure as the County Fortune 500 and giant’s chief executive.

According to Boeing’s announcement, Ortberg started as an engineer at Texas Instruments in 1983, and then joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a program manager, becoming its president and CEO in 2013. In 2018, Rockwell Collins integrated with United Technologies and RTX — formerly Raytheon Technologies. Ortberg retired in 2021 but still sat on RTX’s board of directors before resigning on Tuesday, according to a document RTX filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to a Seattle Times story, Ortberg will be based in Seattle, Boeing’s original headquarters and near its large Puget Sound workforce, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Boeing’s headquarters moved in 2001 to Chicago and then to Arlington County in 2022. Although Boeing has not announced any plans to move its headquarters to Seattle, Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope, head engineer and Chief Technical Officer Todd Citron and Ortberg will all be in Seattle, the article notes.

“The board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the last several months to select the next CEO of Boeing, and Kelly has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter,” Boeing’s board chair, Steven Mollenkopf, said in a statement Wednesday. “Kelly is an experienced leader who is deeply respected in the aerospace industry, with a well-earned reputation for building strong teams and running complex engineering and manufacturing companies. We look forward to working with him as he leads Boeing through this consequential period in its long history.”

In late March, Boeing President and CEO Calhoun said he would step down by the end of the year. The announcement came amid ongoing bad press over production problems and fallout from a high-profile January incident in which a 4-foot wall panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet cabin in mid-air. The board also elected a new independent board chair, Mollenkopf, to succeed its previous chair, Larry Kellner, and lead the search for Calhoun’s replacement. 

In addition to National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration investigations, the incident also was investigated as a criminal matter by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In July, Boeing finalized a guilty plea to a federal criminal fraud conspiracy charge under which it will pay at least $243.6 million in fines related to Boeing’s violation of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that stemmed from Boeing’s role in two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing, which employs 170,000 workers worldwide, posted 2023 revenue of $77.79 billion, up nearly 17% from its 2022 revenue of $66.6 billion. For the first half of 2024, Boeing has posted $33.43 billion in revenue, down 11% from the first half of 2023, when it reported $37.67 billion.

In April and May, Boeing received no orders for its 737 Max planes, and only four new orders for any planes in the month of May, the company reported in June. In June, Boeing sold 14 new jets and three 737 Max jets, including one to Alaska Airlines to replace the one that experienced the blowout.

In July, the company announced it was going to purchase Spirit Aerosystems in a $4.7 billion, all stock transaction; the fuselage maker, responsible for manufacturing the part that blew out in the Alaska Airlines flight, was spun off from Boeing in 2005. In addition to the $4.7 billion payment, Boeing agreed to take on Spirit’s net debt, making the deal’s total value $8.3 billion. The is set to be finalized in mid-2025.

QTS acquires rezoned Henrico tech park land

‘s area could soon see more facilities after the county’s board of supervisors voted in May to rezone a 622-acre site for the planned II.

Developer shepherded the land, now owned by Kansas-based , through its rezoning to light . “It is a fabulous opportunity for Henrico County and to drive this region forward,” Mark Hourigan says.

QTS already has a data center campus and network access point at the original White Oak Technology Park, which is adjacent to the White Oak II site. A company spokesperson in July said QTS was unable to share details of its plans for White Oak II at that time.

A limited liability company belonging to Hourigan purchased about 397 acres of the White Oak II site — about 223 acres for $38.05 million from Atlantic Crossing and 174 acres from Vienna Finance for $20.5 million — on June 28. QTS in turn bought that acreage from the Hourigan company for $118.8 million the same day, county records show.

“[QTS] came to us with a vision and a plan for eastern Henrico that allowed them to have complete control of that entire site,” Hourigan says, “and in evaluating all the options and ways that we might be able to consider moving forward with that, we thought that was the best long-term outcome for the county and for that site,” given QTS’ proven track record and access to capital.

QTS acquired parcels, including approximately 225 acres of the White Oak II site, in several December 2023 transactions totaling $18 million.

Now that the site has been rezoned, Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Authority, says next steps will include installing water, sewer and power lines by 2026.

During the rezoning process, county residents raised concerns about environmental impacts and losing part of a Civil War battlefield. Ultimately, the county planning commission endorsed the rezoning.

Two days after approving the rezoning, Henrico’s board of supervisors established a $60 million affordable housing trust fund, funded by anticipated tax revenue from data centers.

“We are incredibly excited about the industrial development that is happening and that will be happening in eastern Henrico,” Romanello says. “Developments like what’s happening in White Oak, like what QTS is doing, are really helping to make Henrico an even greater community.”  

Launch pads

In the 2000s, leaders in strategized a path for building back a regional economy decimated by lost textiles jobs.

These visionaries, according to Linda Green, executive director for the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, decided to invest in parks and other locations readied for manufacturing operations.

“We have been very blessed by local legislators … who believed in development of sites,” she says. “They were looking for economic transformation.”

Southern Virginia borders North Carolina, spanning from in the west to Greensville in the east and north to Charlotte and Lunenburg counties — all of which are localities with a diverse set of assets and strengths, Green says.

The SVRA and its local partners have attracted more than $1.6 billion in economic development investments, creating 5,000 jobs in recent years, according to Green.

The regional economic development organization champions Danville and the counties of Halifax, Patrick and , which are home to more than a dozen industrial parks, says Green.

The granddaddy of them all, of course, is the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, which boasts a whopping 3,528 acres — making it the largest industrial site in Virginia and one of the largest mega-sites (defined as industrial sites with 1,000 or more acres) available on the East Coast.

Jointly owned by Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville through the Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Berry Hill sits in the county. It’s a certified Tier 5 pad site, the highest level in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Business Ready Sites Program tier system, which indicates a property’s readiness for industrial development.

While Berry Hill has flirted with suitors, the megasite hasn’t yet received an invitation to the ball. In January 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made headlines for taking Berry Hill out of the running for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. electric vehicle battery factory over concerns about a project partner’s ties to the Chinese government. Michigan won that project — which Ford later scaled back from 2,500 employees to 1,700 employees, citing less-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.

Before that, Hyundai had considered Berry Hill for a $5.5 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant that ultimately went to Georgia. Additionally, Albemarle Corp., a chemical manufacturer with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, considered the Virginia megasite for a $1.3 billion lithium hydroxide processing facility and 300 jobs, but the company selected South Carolina instead.

Berry Hill does have a promising lead on a beau, however. In November 2023, the of Microporous, a Tennessee supplier of lead acid battery separators, confirmed to Virginia Business that the megasite was the top contender for its planned lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant, which could top $1 billion in investments and create 1,500 jobs. In July, a Microporous spokesperson confirmed Berry Hill is still in the running to win the project.

What’s more, in July, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority approved leasing 85 acres at Berry Hill for a lithium-ion energy storage facility to be developed in 2026 by a subsidiary of North Carolina solar energy company Strata Solar. The company has not released details on the number of jobs or the amount to be invested in the project.

Making it rain

While Southern Virginia’s largest megasite waits for the perfect match, Cane Creek Centre, another industrial park in Pittsylvania that’s also jointly owned with Danville, has filled its dance card with names in recent years.

In summer 2019, Ikea closed its manufacturing facility at Cane Creek Centre, resulting in hundreds of lost jobs. The site’s fortunes quickly turned, however, when Morgan Olson, a maker of walk-in step van delivery vehicles, announced plans in October 2019 to invest $57.8 million into bringing its own operations to the 925,000-square-foot former Ikea facility, a project expected to create more than 700 jobs.

Last fall, Morgan Olson filed a notice with the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act announcing plans to lay off 435 employees at the Cane Creek facility. The company’s layoffs in Virginia, Tennessee and Michigan, according to news reports, were caused by other companies delaying vehicle purchase orders.

A spokesperson for Morgan Olson declined to comment on how many workers remain at the facility. Green notes, however, that she still sees trucks and activity in the company’s parking lot. The layoffs were a major loss, she says, adding, however, “I do think they’ll build it back.”

Also at Cane Creek Centre, AeroFarms, a New Jersey-based indoor agriculture company, announced in 2019 it would invest $42 million and create 92 jobs to build an indoor vertical farm, later upping the investment to $53 million and 150 jobs. In June 2023, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stressed in a that “the critical Danville … farm continues to scale according to plan.” (By September 2023, AeroFarms announced it had emerged from bankruptcy with a new acting CEO and executive chair.)

In 2021, Walraven, a manufacturer of installation systems for plumbing and mechanical applications, said it would invest $7.15 million to move its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing operations from Cadillac, Michigan, to a building at Cane Creek, a move expected to create 46 jobs.

And in November 2023, Tyson Foods officially opened its $300 million, 325,000-square-foot food production facility at Cane Creek Centre. The Arkansas company known for brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean and Sara Lee, described the operation as one of its most highly automated plants to date, featuring high-speed automated case packing lines and other advancements. The facility created nearly 400 new jobs.

Shovel-ready

Having a plentiful supply of shovel-ready sites has helped Southern Virginia economic development officials attract companies.

One notable example is IperionX. In 2022, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based titanium manufacturing company committed to investing $82 million in Halifax County over three years, a project expected to create 108 jobs. It was a relationship that began because of Southern Virginia Technology Park’s 50,000-square-foot shell building.

“It was actually kind of a fast and furious project,” says Kristy Johnson, executive director of the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority. The shell building that IperionX selected was the first built in that park, Johnson says. “It really is what brought IperionX to the community. Without it, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even speak to them.”

Virginia competed with North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia for the project. IperionX will begin operations at its Halifax campus in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Dominic Allen, that company’s chief commercial officer. He noted the region’s skilled workforce drew the company to Halifax.

In 2023, IperionX executives learned of a second 15,000- square-foot building available in the park and leased it for an expansion.

To build on its success, the Halifax IDA is developing a new project, the Wilkin site, consisting of roughly 250 acres on two to three parcels along Highway 360. Johnson expects to have pad-ready sites available in five to 10 years.

Henry County also continues to increase its stockpile of shovel-ready sites. In April, its board of supervisors awarded a $24 million contract to Chatham’s Haymes Brothers Construction to make about 150 acres at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre pad-ready for construction.

“The state says it will be the only site [in Virginia] of at least 100 pad-ready acres with all utilities and rail to the site,” notes Mark Heath, and CEO of the Martinsville Henry County Economic Development Corp.

In addition to a 7-acre, pad-ready site currently available at Commonwealth Crossing, the park also has a 100-acre site that can be developed when needed.

Henry’s Patriot Centre Industrial Park has more than 300 acres in different stages of development available. Current tenants include Howmet Aerospace, a Pennsylvania provider of advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries; Eastman Chemical, a specialty materials company headquartered in Tennessee; Keeco, a California home textiles supplier; and ICF International, a Reston professional services firm.

In December, the Henry Board of Supervisors and the county Industrial Development Authority approved an agreement with a South Carolina real estate developer, Marlboro Development Team, to construct a 105,000-square-foot shell building on Lot 2 at Patriot Centre. Construction is expected to cost about $3.2 million, with completion slated for 2025.

Henry also has another 1,200 contiguous acres across from Patriot Centre available for future growth.

On top of a healthy supply of shovel-ready sites, economic development officials in Southern Virginia like to point to the region’s location as a selling point.

When Green attends conferences to market the region’s industrial parks, she uses a map to hit home how Virginia is smack in the middle of the East Coast. “And we are right in the middle of those population corridors,” Green adds. “It makes a huge difference.”

When Press Glass, a Polish flat-glass fabricator for the commercial construction industry, announced plans to invest $43.55 million to establish a 280,000-square-foot manufacturing operation at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre in 2018, an executive touted the industrial park’s proximity to the company’s production facility in Stoneville, North Carolina, as well as the easy access to highways and interstates.

Clearly, Henry was a good fit for Press Glass. In summer 2023, the company announced it would invest $155.2 million to expand the facility, the single largest business investment in county history. “It’s under construction now,” Heath says of the expansion, adding that Press Glass currently employs about 300 workers in the county.

Changing the story

David Denny, executive director of regional economic development organization Virginia’s Growth Alliance stays busy marketing the eastern side of Southern Virginia.

VGA represents the City of Emporia as well as Brunswick, Charlotte, Greensville, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties. While this portion of Southern Virginia has the region’s largest geographic footprint, Denny says, it also has the region’s smallest population, a fact that can make it tough to convince companies the area can deliver workers.

After crunching some numbers, however, Denny realized his area’s story didn’t stop at town limits or even at the Virginia state line. Denny decided to tell a new story – drawing a drive-time circle around Greensville-Emporia and around Clarksville.

Within those two circles lies a workforce that could reach the region within an hour, stretching from to Durham, North Carolina, and all the way to Lynchburg.

Demonstrating that companies can find workers in the region, along with working to improve the shovel-ready status of his region’s industrial sites, is Denny’s primary strategy for the region.

Greensville is home to the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 1,600-acre megasite located on Interstate 95 with rail access. Like Berry Hill, it’s within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the nation’s population and is easily accessible to the East Coast’s major metropolitan areas.

The Greensville Industrial Park is jointly owned by the county and Emporia. Mostly full, one available parcel remains available in the park, as well as one shell building.

About 80 miles northwest from Greensville in Charlotte County, the Heartland Industrial Park has 265 available acres and is already home to forestry equipment dealership Pro and Eastern Engineered Wood Products, a designer and distributor of flooring and roofing systems for professional contractors. “Wood products are spread across [the region],” Denny says. “We’re known as the wood basket of Virginia.”

Denny is also enthusiastic about the Stonewall Industrial Site under development in Brunswick County. Currently, the 82-acre park on U.S. Route 58 offers 28 acres of developable land. In June, the project received $500,000 in federal funding for an entranceway to the park and other road work.

Future growth is the name of the game. Economic developers must always think about what will come next.

It requires courage for economic developers to make the type of investments to develop shovel-ready sites, according to Heath. Sometimes lots or shell buildings sit vacant and wait for years before a company moves in.

“It’s pretty much common sense,” says Heath, “that if you want to be competitive in economic development, you have to have existing product.” 

Martinsville Speedway Photo courtesy Martinsville Speedway

Southern Virginia at a glance

Running along a large stretch of the Virginia-North Carolina border, Southern Virginia includes Brunswick, Charlotte, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Patrick and Pittsylvania counties, plus the cities of Danville, Emporia and Martinsville. Once rooted in tobacco processing and textile manufacturing, the area has pivoted toward becoming an advanced manufacturing hub known for its innovative workforce training. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research is a regional catalyst for manufacturing advancement, economic and workforce development. Area higher education institutions include Averett University, Danville Community College, New College Institute, Patrick & Henry Community College and Southside Virginia Community College.

Population

Pittsylvania County: 59,171

Henry County: 48,568

Danville: 42,248

Halifax County: 33,056

Mecklenburg County: 30,232

Patrick County: 16,971

Brunswick County: 15,057

Martinsville: 13,221

Lunenburg County: 12,060

Charlotte County: 11,448

Greensville County: 10,868

Emporia: 5,601

Top Employers

• Buitoni • Caesars Entertainment
• Eastman Performance Films
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber • Keeco
• Monogram Foods • Morgan Olson
• Sentara Health • Sovah Health • Telvista

Professional Sports

Martinsville Speedway is a short track — half a mile — and hosts multiple NASCAR race weekends each year in the spring and fall. With a 3.27-mile road course, Virginia International Raceway also hosts multiple race weekends each year, including the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) Weathertech Championship in August.

Major Attractions

While racing is the top draw in Martinsville, other attractions include the Virginia Museum of Natural History, with dinosaur and prehistoric whale fossils; the Gravely-Lester Art Garden, featuring public art and the museum’s historic Little Post Office. Eastward, Danville has the Caesars Virginia casino, as well as the Danville Science Center and the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History. Danville’s downtown River District features bars, restaurants, shopping and boutique hotel The Bee. For those who like to get outdoors, hike the scenic Riverwalk Trail or go paddling and tubing on the Dan River.

2024 Virginia CFO Awards: Nonprofits: John Zabrowski, VHC Health

John Zabrowski zeroed in on accounting and finance early in life, double majoring in the subjects at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and then doing two internships in public accounting after graduation.

“I love economics, I love statistics,” he says. “I found that I was really attracted to the types of jobs where the assignment was to learn about the client and build great relationships with the management team and help deliver an audit.”

Zabrowski worked at a couple banks, became a certified public accountant and earned his MBA from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago. But he soon found that “something was missing” for him in the corporate finance career he was building. “After a couple years, [orchestrating transactions] wasn’t really enjoyable,” he remembers. “I didn’t get fulfillment out of it.”

In 2005, he applied for a job at Deaconess in Evansville, Indiana, and was hired as a finance manager. At the ‘s suggestion, he started his tenure there by witnessing an open-heart surgery, standing in the room right next to the patient on the table and observing the institution’s in action. And that was it — Zabrowski was hooked.

“What I thought was so cool about it was that everybody in that room did something to make that patient’s life better,” he says. “That’s my passion. That’s what drives me.”

He stayed at Deaconess for eight years, rising to system controller and director of finance. From there, he became a regional CFO for St. Vincent Health, working at a 508-bed, dual-campus, integrated health care and trauma care institution in Evansville, Indiana. He was instrumental in the establishment of significant ambulatory assets and helped build a specialty orthopedic in collaboration with an orthopedic group.

Soon, his effectiveness as a finance leader and genuine enthusiasm for health care leadership drew the interest of County-based VHC Health (formerly Virginia Hospital Center), which he joined in 2018. He now serves as VHC’s system senior vice , CFO and chief strategy officer.

During his tenure, Zabrowski has been a key player in acquisitions, growth plans and joint venture development. He also led the issuance of $274 million in municipal bonds, successfully obtaining for VHC Health an AA- stable outlook rating from Fitch Ratings and an A+ stable outlook rating from S&P Global.

“John is intelligent, thoughtful, and strategic — the best CFO I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with,” says VHC Health President and Christopher T. Lane. “His balanced approach to strategic and financial growth combines a supportive, enthusiastic attitude with high expectations to achieve the team’s goals.”

Zabrowski, for his part, shares that enthusiasm for his co-workers at VHC.

“The people I’ve worked with, I couldn’t begin to be more blessed that they’re happy to work with me, happy to teach me, happy to give me an opportunity to learn,” he says. “Everyone here is phenomenal and really helpful and really supportive.”

That attitude of teamwork is part of what enables his institution to be taking on what he describes as an “aggressive” capital project to open up 25 new physician offices over the next five years. The goal is to modernize the system’s facilities and adjust the way it delivers care.

“It’s a really massive investment,” he notes. “To be able to count on spending half-a-billion dollars and having a capital plan to run it, that’s really good.”

Along with the ability to help improve patients’ lives, the work of building something new inspires him. He’s focused on facilitating access and bringing a “people-first lens” to the work of innovating better ways of delivering care.

“I like the opportunity to innovate and build with this team,” he says. “We have done so many amazing things in such a short period of time. I find that really rewarding and invigorating.”

Big deals

These announcements were some of the largest in Virginia for 2023 and the first half of 2024:

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Chesterfield County: In April, the offices of U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan announced that Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe plans to build a $400 million manufacturing facility with the assistance of $136 million in construction-related federal tax credits. The new plant, which will manufacture Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC) stacks used in the production of renewable hydrogen, is expected to create 150 jobs.

Chesterfield County: Condair Group, a Swiss humidification systems manufacturer, announced in June that it would invest $57.2 million in a new production plant. Initially, workers at the facility will focus on manufacturing products for the large-scale cooling needs of the data center industry. The company plans to retrofit an existing 400,000-square-foot warehouse at 1410 Willis Road for its facility, which it anticipates will create 180 jobs.

Prince George County: Florida’s PGT Innovations, a manufacturer and supplier of windows and doors, announced plans in November 2023 to retrofit the former Rolls-Royce facility in the Crosspointe Logistics Center for use as a new plant for its wholly owned subsidiary Triple Diamond Glass. With an investment of $54.3 million, PGT Innovations, expects the venture to create 659 jobs.

EASTERN VIRGINIA

In Lynchburg, Framatome is expanding its U.S. headquarters, a project expected to create 515 jobs. Rendering courtesy Framatome

: A South Korean cable manufacturer’s U.S. subsidiary, , announced in July plans to build a $681 million subsea cable manufacturing plant in Chesapeake, producing an expected 338 jobs. The cables will be used for offshore wind farms, and this would be the first such plant in the United States.

Newport News: Liebherr Mining Equipment announced in June that it will invest $72.3 million to expand its plant at the border of Newport News and Hampton, creating an estimated 175 jobs. The manufacturer of industrial-scale mining trucks used to transport material at open-cast mining operations has more than 550 employees.

Norfolk: In November 2023, Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, began production on an eight-acre satellite campus at to support the shipyard’s growing nuclear-powered military aircraft carrier component manufacturing workforce. Anticipating an investment of $100 million over five years, NNS expects the expansion — its first satellite campus — to create 150 jobs.

Virginia Beach: With an investment of $350 million, e-tailer Amazon announced in September 2023 that it plans to build a 650,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center and a delivery center in Virginia Beach, producing more than 1,000 jobs. The delivery station is expected to open for this year’s holiday season, and the fulfillment center is set to come online in late 2025.

Virginia Beach: Virginia Beach’s Doma Technologies announced in November 2023 that it plans to invest $3.7 million in an expansion that will include a new 69,000-square-foot facility. The cloud-based software company anticipates that the expanded operations will create 307 jobs over the next three years.

LYNCHBURG/ ROANOKE/ NEW RIVER VALLEY

Lynchburg: French nuclear power company Framatome announced in December 2023 that it would invest $49.4 million to expand its U.S. headquarters in Lynchburg. Framatome, which has operated in Lynchburg since 1989, expects the expansion to create 515 jobs. Groundbreaking took place in April.

Roanoke County: In February, San Francisco-based banking giant announced plans for an expansion of its commercial offices that is expected to create 1,100 jobs. The $87 million expansion will make Wells Fargo the largest employer in Roanoke County.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

County: In February, online real estate company CoStar Group announced plans to relocate its global corporate headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Central Place Tower in Rosslyn, which it purchased for $339 million. Investing $20 million in the move, CoStar Group will bring around 500 current corporate employees to the new headquarters and anticipates adding 150 positions.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Rockbridge County: Wisconsin’s Modine Manufacturing said in March that it will invest $18.1 million in the expansion of its Rockbridge facility. The manufacturer of data center cooling equipment anticipates that the growth will create around 211 jobs.

Waynesboro: In February, and Northrop Grumman began construction on a 315,000-square-foot electronics manufacturing and testing facility. Investing more than $200 million in the venture, the Fortune 500 company expects the facility to create roughly 300 manufacturing and engineering jobs over the next five years.

Halifax County: In June, Hitachi Energy announced plans to invest $26 million to expand its South Boston facility, where transformers are made. Expected to create about 100 jobs, the move comes as the company is increasing global transformer production worldwide, investing $1.5 billion toward the goal.

Henry County: In August 2023, Poland’s Press Glass said it plans to invest $155.2 million in the expansion of its plant in Ridgeway. Expected to create about 335 jobs by 2025, nearly doubling the facility’s workforce, the investment is the largest in Henry County’s history.

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Russell County: Data center storage rack manufacturer Tate announced in November 2023 it was moving into a vacant 280,000-square-foot plant in St. Paul, near the Russell-Wise counties border. The $14.9 million renovation is expected to create 170 jobs over four years, and the plant opened in January.