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Home improvement

Liberty Housing is renovating hundreds of single-family homes and townhomes for Navy families in several Virginia Beach and Norfolk military housing communities, with $120 million

in refurbishments that began in 2023 and are scheduled to be completed in 2026.

The upgrades range from replacing siding and roofing to updating kitchens and bathrooms to tearing down outdated homes, which Liberty will replace by building new houses.

No military families are being displaced during the renovations, and Liberty is not building additional housing. The homes that are being knocked down are unoccupied, says John Corriher, Liberty’s mid-Atlantic Navy/Marines regional vice president.

The military housing Liberty is renovating — and manages — is on federal land, according to a Liberty spokesperson.

The company is providing renovations and upgrades that military families asked for during open house gatherings, which members of Liberty’s construction and leasing teams held at four prototype homes in different communities. The company invited current residents, Navy commands and Liberty’s Navy partners.

Liberty representatives conducted a walk-through of each prototype home, showing military families every aspect of the dwelling, then asked them complete an online survey to provide feedback on what refurbishments they wanted and needed, Corriher says.

The feedback is driving the renovations. For example, many families with small children said they didn’t like carpeting, because frequent spills were difficult to clean. Liberty is replacing carpeting with wooden plank flooring.

“When the Kool-Aid spills, they can just wipe it up,” Corriher explains.

Some families also said they didn’t like pedestal sinks in the bathroom, which have no storage space beneath the basin. For the homes where bathrooms were being upgraded, Liberty used conventional sinks that have storage space underneath.

“We’re making upgrades and renovations that resonate with the families,” Corriher says.

The upgrades that have been completed include 1,426 roof replacements; 1,112 home siding renovations; 1,056 fences upgraded, with wood replaced with new PVC material; 290 bathroom renovations; 145 kitchen renovations; and 16 playgrounds updated with new equipment.

All homes in the Sandpiper Crescent neighborhood of Virginia Beach are being torn down and replaced with new construction. Liberty is also conducting major interior and exterior renovations of homes in the Shelton Circle, Gela Point and Wadsworth Shores multifamily communities in Virginia Beach, as well as interior renovations in the communities of Norwich Manor, Queens Way and Castle Acres in Norfolk.

The renovations are having an immediate positive impact, as Liberty is hiring local contractors to do the refurbishments, knock down housing and build new homes. The money they earn boosts the local economy, Corriher says.

While many childless service members live in barracks on military bases, about 700,000 military service members and their family members live in privatized military housing nationwide, according to the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group that published a national investigation into military housing in May with Mother Jones.

In recent years, investigations like these have revealed an array of problems with military family housing, including mold, pest infestations and difficulty getting these problems resolved.

The POGO-Mother Jones investigation brought to light examples of unresponsiveness, incompetence and even deception by some military housing outfits regarding work orders and maintenance of their homes. These revelations led to calls on Capitol Hill and by advocates for military families for improvements and accountability for military officials overseeing housing.

In at least one instance within the last few years, such deception was criminal. In 2021, Balfour Beatty Communities — described by the U.S. Justice Department as one of the largest providers of privatized military housing to the U.S. military — pleaded guilty to one count of major fraud against the U.S., agreeing to more
than $33.6 million in criminal fines and $31.8 million in restitution to the U.S. military, along with other measures.

“Instead of promptly repairing housing for U.S. service members as required, BBC lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

Reports in recent years of problems with family military housing prompted U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine to push for reforms. Thanks to the efforts of Kaine and other elected officials, Congress provided additional protections for military families in the fiscal 2020 and 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts.

Those pieces of legislation created a Tenant Bill of Rights for service members living in family military housing and boosted accountability for military commanders regarding conditions in such housing.

Referring to Liberty, “I’m very happy that they are doing this,” says Kaine, a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. In the 1990s, the Pentagon signed contracts with several other companies to provide housing for enlisted members, but it did a poor job of managing the program, Kaine says.

“Our goal is to continue to push the military and private housing providers to continue to do a better job responding to the concerns of military families,” he says. 

An overview of Hampton Roads

Home to 1.79 million people across 17 localities, is Virginia’s second most populous region, just behind Northern Virginia. It also boasts the commonwealth’s biggest city by population: Virginia Beach, with 457,900 residents. Nearby Norfolk is the densest locality in the region, with 4,467 people per square mile, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

Hampton Roads is also a major economic driver, as the home of the ; Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest Navy base; Naval Air Station Oceana, the Navy’s East Coast master jet base; Huntington Ingalls Industries, including its Newport News Shipbuilding division; and Dominion Energy’s $9.8 billion offshore wind farm being constructed 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, for which monopile installation began in May. Also underway is the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, the state’s largest-ever highway project.

As for , the region’s institutions include Christopher Newport University, Regent University, Virginia Wesleyan University, William & Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, four and ECPI University, which is headquartered in Virginia Beach.

The supersize era

In June, Tesla shareholders reaffirmed their intention to award the largest compensation package in history to the automotive company’s controversial leader, Elon Musk.

Valued as high as $56 billion, the deal had previously been thrown out by a Delaware judge, citing a failure by members of Tesla’s board to disclose conflicts of interest with Musk. But voters representing 72% of Tesla’s voting shares — excluding those of Musk and his brother — ultimately voted to uphold the deal, which was based on Tesla’s meeting a mix of market capitalization and financial goals.

Musk’s high-profile compensation deal has led to a massive reshaping of the landscape in recent years. Unlike standard employees, CEOs are compensated based on performance, receiving most of their income through equity awards.

Last year, payouts to chief executives reached new heights as stock awards swelled the value of compensation packages. And during the past five years, three dozen CEOs of S&P 500 companies have made at least $15.7 million annually, a new record, in what The Wall Street Journal has dubbed the “supersize era.” Most S&P 500 CEOs that the Journal studied received year-over-year raises of at least 9%; a quarter received at least 25%.

Stock awards made up 70% of packages for CEOs in 2023, with the median value of stock awards jumping 10.7% to $9.4 million, according to California-based corporate leadership data firm .

“Last year’s stock market was doing great, and that’s one of the main reasons why the CEO compensation packages increased that much,” says Lei Gao, associate professor of finance at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business.

Boeing, Boeing, gone

So, how does Virginia stack up?

A study by Equilar tallied , , perks, stock awards, stock option awards, long-term awards and other compensation of 56 Virginia-based public companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more; it found that the median total compensation for Virginia CEOs who had been on the job for more than two years grew 10.4% in 2023 over the previous year.

That’s lower than the national median compensation for S&P 500 chief executives, which rose by 12.6%.

Virginia’s top-compensated CEO in 2023 was David L. Calhoun, the embattled former president and CEO of Arlington-based aerospace and defense company Boeing. Calhoun’s compensation package last year was $32.77 million, a 46% increase from 2022, when he earned $22.48 million. While his salary and bonus remained flat at $1.4 million, he received $30.23 million in equity awards, $13 million more than he received in 2022 and nearly $8 million more than Virginia’s second-highest compensated CEO.

Calhoun took over as CEO of the Fortune Global 500 company in 2020; his predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired in the aftermath of two Boeing 737 jet crashes that killed 346 people. Under Calhoun’s tenure, the 737 Max had continued issues, including the highly publicized blowout of a door plug panel mid-flight in January. Additionally, issues with a Boeing Starliner spacecraft this year left two astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station; they’re not expected to come home until February 2025 — on competitor SpaceX’s craft. Calhoun was succeeded as Boeing’s CEO in August by Kelly Ortberg, former president and CEO of Rockwell Collins.

“You need someone who can handle these disasters well,” explains Gao of Calhoun’s high compensation. “We want to get the best people to handle those companies in crisis, and without a decent pay package, it’s really hard to get those people.”

Last year, Boeing, which employs roughly 170,000 people worldwide, reported $22.02 billion in revenue, growing 10% over the previous year. In July, Boeing announced that it would buy back Boeing spinoff company Spirit AeroSystems in a $4.7 billion, all-stock transaction.

Virginia’s second highest compensated CEO for 2023 was Richard D. Fairbank of McLean’s Financial. Fairbank’s compensation package last year was $27.38 million. Fairbank took the No. 2 spot despite the fact that he hasn’t received a base salary since 1997. His total compensation actually decreased 1% from 2022, though he received a slight raise in bonus pay, from $4.2 million in 2022 to $5 million. His equity awards totaled $22.26 million.

Last year, the Fortune 500 credit card giant’s total revenue increased 7.4% to $36.8 billion. In his annual report to shareholders, Fairbank wrote that “credit card performance was solid, even as consumer credit losses normalized from historic lows seen during the pandemic.” He stated that Capital One shares were up 41% in 2023, with a total shareholder return of 44.3%. Additionally, its flagship suite of credit cards — Venture, Quicksilver and SavorOne — continued to enjoy solid growth, and Capital One launched two new lounges at Denver and Dulles airports.

But the biggest news came in February, when Capital One announced plans to acquire Discover Financial in an all-stock deal worth $35.3 billion. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would make Capital One the biggest American credit card issuer by balance owed and the sixth largest American bank by assets. In July, two Capital One customers filed a potential class action lawsuit against the plan, stating that it would drive up prices and reduce competition.

Virginia’s third-highest compensated CEO last year was Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Fortune 500 hospitality company Hilton Worldwide Holdings, headquartered in McLean. Nassetta received $26.56 million, a 13% increase from the $23.53 million he earned in 2022. His equity award was also the third highest, after Calhoun and Fairbank, at $21.75 million.

Hilton Worldwide reported $10.24 billion in revenue in 2023, up from $8.77 billion in 2022. The company’s revenue has been on the rise since a 2020 pandemic low of $4.31 billion; in 2019, the company reported revenue of $9.45 billion.

In its annual report, Hilton stated that it had added 1,000 hotels to its future pipeline in 2023, marking 3,300 hotels in , a record for the company. In an earnings release, Hilton reported a systemwide occupancy rate of 71.8% in 2023, up 4.6% from the previous year.

In April, Hilton announced that it would acquire a majority controlling interest in Sydell Group, owner of NoMad Hotels, in an effort to expand the luxury lifestyle brand with 100 new hotels worldwide.

Female CEO pay stays high

CEOs saw record gains last year, in part because 2022 was a rough year for CEO pay.

“There wasn’t much growth that year, partly because of what was happening with the market in terms of supply chain issues and fears of a recession, but as we came out of 2022 and into 2023, a lot of those concerns were cleared up,” explains Courtney Yu, Equilar’s director of research. “While there were the beginnings of inflation concerns in 2023, it was still a pretty good year for the stock market, and CEOs were awarded accordingly.”

Nationally, the highest-paid CEO at a publicly traded company was Hock E. Tan of California-based semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom, who received a pay package totaling $161.8 million in 2023.

The biggest increase in compensation for a Virginia CEO in Equilar’s study was Carey A. Smith of Parsons, the Centreville-based defense contractor. Smith’s compensation increased 167% year-over-year, from $6.97 million to $18.58 million. The bulk of her pay raise came through equity awards totaling $15.22 million. Smith has been with Parsons for eight years, serving as president since 2019, CEO since 2021 and chair since 2022.

The biggest drop in CEO compensation was Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy of Arlington conglomerate Graham Holdings. O’Shaughnessy saw a 50% decrease in overall compensation, from $3.64 million in 2022 to $1.75 million last year.

Of the 56 top-earning publicly traded Virginia companies in Equilar’s study, four were helmed by women: Kathy J. Warden of aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman; Phebe Novakovic of aerospace and defense contractor ; Smith of Parsons; and Toni Townes-Whitley of federal contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC).

Warden and Novakovic ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, for total compensation among Virginia CEOs. Warden’s compensation was $23.53 million, and Novakovic’s was $22.58 million. Smith pulled in $18.58 million and was ranked seventh overall, while Townes-Whitley was 13th with $10.99 million.

According to Equilar, median pay for female CEOs at S&P 500 companies outpaces that of men by 7.7%; women made up 25 of the 341 chief executives in its study. Overall, S&P 500 female executives were awarded a median pay package of $17.6 million.

In a state-by-state comparison of S&P 500 CEOs, Virginia led the pack, with its executives receiving a median pay package of $21.9 million, according to Equilar. Still, this takes only S&P 500 companies into account; if a state had a lone S&P 500 company with a highly compensated CEO, it could feasibly put that state at the top of the list.

Yu says that Virginia CEOs generally make less money than those in other states because of the type of industries the state has. Where the median pay last year for Virginia’s CEOs was $7.3 million, the S&P 500’s was $16.3 million nationally.

“Thirty percent of the companies in this Virginia study are part of the industrial sector, which doesn’t necessarily lend itself to being known for high CEO compensation,” Yu says. “That’s why you see such a difference in the median values for total compensation between Virginia companies and the S&P 500.”

Pay disparity continues to grow

While CEO pay is up, the way that their compensation is publicly reported has undergone a recent change.

In August 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced new disclosure rules related to CEO pay. The rules state that companies must now disclose how much CEO stock holdings increase when the market rises. According to Gao, this change should provide more transparency when it comes to how CEOs are compensated and stoke additional investor confidence.

Yu says the change was not factored into Equilar’s study of CEO pay in Virginia, as the study concerns new compensation, not previous awards.

“It’s to help companies actually get a more full picture as to how an executive’s wealth is changing,” explains Yu of the change. “You could see a lot of differences in how equity changes.”

In recent years there have been growing concerns about the pay gap between CEOs and average employees, with some critics arguing that this difference is a powerful driver of economic inequality. When the stock market does well, this difference is heightened, as CEO pay rises while employee wages largely stay the same.

Citing findings from Institutional Shareholder Services, the Financial Times reported in June that median chief executive pay at S&P 500 companies rose by 12% in 2023, outpacing worker pay at the fastest rate in 14 years.

“The growth that we see in CEO compensation usually far outgrows the pace at which the median employee wage increases,” Yu says. “As we see higher and higher CEO compensation numbers, we tend to see that the CEO pay ratio increased more, because we’re not seeing as much growth with the median employee pay as we see with CEO pay.”

Equilar’s study of Virginia companies found a wide range of pay ratios, from 3,083:1 to 4:1. Freddie Mac’s former CEO, Michael J. DeVito, who left in March, earned $651,000 total compensation, while median worker pay was $168,105, the state’s lowest disparity. The largest disparity was Richmond-based leaf tobacco supplier Universal Corp., which heavily employs seasonal part-time laborers from developing countries; the average Universal employee earned just $1,711 annually, 0.035% of the $4.82 million earned by Universal CEO George C. Freeman.

Looking ahead, Yu predicts further increases in total chief , usually through increases in equity awards.

“Barring another pandemic or barring another fear of recession, typically compensation tends to grow every year,” he says. “It will just be a matter of how much.” 

DOWNLOAD PDF CHART OF 2023 VIRGINIA CEO PAY

EO opens workforce development hub in Abingdon

A former Kmart in is now home to a and hub launched by , a nonprofit that spun off from the United Way of Southwest Virginia to oversee workforce programs.

EO received the certificate of occupancy for the 87,000-square-foot Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub and began moving employees into the center at the end of August, a week earlier than anticipated, says Mary Anne Holbrook, EO’s vice president of development. By mid-September, all 44 EO employees had moved in. A grand opening celebration is set for the week of Oct. 21.

Construction on the hub began in July 2023. 

“We’re overwhelmed with the support of the business community,” EO President and Travis Staton says. “Raising $26.5 million in a year shows at a local level how a public-private partnership can be built,” he explains, emphasizing the wide-reaching support of local employers as well as advocates in state government.

The name EO, which doubles as the Latin word for “go” and an abbreviation for “Endless Opportunities,” represents the organization’s mission to serve as a “cradle-to-career” support system to prepare Southwest Virginians for career success while retaining the local workforce. Holbrook notes that operations in the hub are expected to create 100 jobs.

To help close the regional gap in access to early child care that bars some parents from working, EO’s hub includes a roughly 25,000-square-foot child care facility owned and managed by Ballad Health that opened in early September.

The hub also supports workforce development, with classrooms for early childhood education and the Career Commons, an approximately 20,000-square-foot area with learning labs where regional employers created activities for K-12 students.

“When you look into Career Commons, it is a miniature city of employers,” including a hospital, a grocery store and a , Holbrook says. “So, students of all ages will be able to do appropriate career exploration activities on their field trips, and those begin in mid-October with the middle school students from across Southwest Virginia.”

The hub includes a classroom for high school students who participate in Washington County’s early childhood education career and technical education program to attend lectures. The students can then complete practical hours working in Ballad’s early childhood development center. EO will also offer professional development opportunities for early childhood educators already in the field at the hub.  

Building out

always has plenty going on, and in this issue of , we’ll take you on a tour around the region to check in on some of the largest and most consequential projects that are under .  

In our main feature, “Latest and greatest,” freelance writer Jim Morrison will bring you up to date on major construction projects like Atlantic Park in Virginia Beach and upgrades to Norfolk’s Half Moone Cruise Terminal, as well as ambitious improvement plans for Norfolk International Airport, and the latest on redevelopment efforts around Circle and MacArthur Center malls in Norfolk and Fort Monroe in Hampton. We also are keeping up with several current infrastructure projects, led by the expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, where Mary the boring machine is in action. At the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, a second boring machine is back at work after hitting an old anchor last fall, requiring the removal of the anchor and repair of parts on the machine.  

This year’s issue also reports the latest on offshore wind, from progress on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to LS GreenLink’s plan to build a $681 million subsea cable factory in Chesapeake, the first such U.S. plant to produce cables used for offshore wind farms. Plus, we have an update on Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which will celebrate two years in business in January 2025.   

As usual, Hampton Roads Business devotes ample attention to and commercial , , workforce training and local Inc. 5000 businesses, as well as providing numerous charts and lists that can help newcomers and longtime residents. 

We hope you’ll enjoy reading the 2024 Hampton Roads Business guide and will find something in here that may spark an idea or introduce you to a person who can help your business.  

Growth in the valley

It can take a village — or a valley — to attract a multinational corporation.

Shenandoah Valley economic and workforce officials combined forces to entice to locate a 315,000-square-foot advanced electronics and testing facility on a 63-acre site in Waynesboro, a project announced in November 2023.

Construction of the $200 million-plus project is well underway, according to Jay Langston, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership in Harrisonburg. A groundbreaking ceremony attended by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Northrop Grumman Chair, and President Kathy Warden was held in February for the facility, which is expected to be operational by 2026.

The Falls Church-based aerospace and defense giant anticipates creating an estimated 300 jobs — mostly a variety of engineering and manufacturing positions — over the next five years.

“The Northrop Grumman model opens up a new sector in manufacturing electronic components unlike anything we’ve had,” Langston says.

Northrop Grumman employs about 95,000 employees — 6,800 in Virginia —
and reported $39.29 billion in 2023 revenue. This year, the company ranked No. 109 on Fortune magazine’s annual Fortune 500 list and No. 382 on its Global 500 list.

“Northrop Grumman has put its faith in us. It’s a big name. It’s a statement for us,” says Langston, adding that regional economic development officials plan to promote the Waynesboro facility as an example for attracting other advanced manufacturing companies to the region.

Manufacturing overall is big business in the Shenandoah Valley, employing more people than any other private sector industry, according to a December 2020 SmartAsset report. 

Greg Hitchin, Waynesboro’s director, appreciates the importance of Northrop Grumman’s decision to make such a big investment in the valley. “It’s a tremendous opportunity” for the city to attract “new manufacturing of this caliber,” he says.

Hitchin led a team to “work through all factors we needed to get this here. … We got a GO Virginia grant to do our due diligence work ahead of time.” That $821,000 grant, awarded in July 2021, allowed the city to perform due diligence on nine sites, totaling 1,182 acres.

In November 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he had approved an $8.5 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the city in securing the NG project, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Talent Accelerator Program is providing Northrop Grumman with employee training and recruitment services at no charge.

Hitchin believes one of the key reasons Northrop Grumman chose Waynesboro was the fact that the location had been upgraded to a Tier 4 site, a state site-readiness designation meaning that all infrastructure permit issues have been identified and quantified, and that plans for necessary infrastructure improvements have been completed and approved. Tier 5, the highest designation, is for shovel-ready sites, and “zero is a cornfield,” Hitchin says.

A new access road to the Northrop Grumman Waynesboro site is being funded by a Virginia Department of Transportation grant.

Now, he says, “the building is going up. The concrete walls are up. It changes every day. It’s well on the way to meeting its schedule.”

Students at Blue Ridge Community College study mechatronics, a training program that college officials say will provide skilled area workers for Northrop Grumman. Photo courtesy Blue Ridge Community College

Timely training

Another factor that may have helped draw Northrop Grumman to Waynesboro is access to the valley’s strong programs.

“Our mechatronics program is something that is going to be very valuable” to Northrop Grumman, as well as to other advanced manufacturing companies, says John Downey, president of Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave.

Mechatronics, he explains, is the integration of mechanical systems with electronics and software. “We teach the basics. They train on the more specific,” Downey says.

BRCC is working with Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, near Northrop Grumman’s Albemarle County plant, which produces maritime systems and equipment. BRCC also is working with James Madison University, regional technical schools and even high schools on associated workforce development efforts.

That’s because Northrop Grumman and other high-tech companies don’t just need high-tech training; they also need workers trained in accounting, human resources and other professions.

“The education system in the valley provides the gamut,” Downey says. “We even train and test CDL drivers. It saves [companies] time. They can get people on the road a lot sooner.”

Key workforce development issues on the horizon are artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, Downey adds. “That’s a huge growth area for . We need to be in the forefront, helping not only big manufacturing companies but also smaller businesses in the community.”

The Shenandoah Valley is home to various kinds of manufacturing — such as food, medical and pharmaceuticals — that help keep the region recession-resistant, Downey says.

The food and beverage industry — from growing and processing to packaging and transporting — remains “by far our dominant sector” in the valley, according to Langston.

“ is so important to us, but we take it for granted in general. We want to better celebrate it,” he adds. The Shenandoah Valley is home to four of Virginia’s top five agricultural counties — Rockingham, Augusta, Page and Shenandoah — producing more than $1.3 billion annually in commodities sold, according to the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census.

Agricultural production is a huge investment and a great engine for jobs, according to Langston. “People don’t think about who is doing the construction, putting up the silos, providing the equipment. There are people who specialize in all kinds of things that are necessary to make it all work — fuel, equipment dealers, delivery truck, fertilizer, storage.”

Neil A. Houff, president of Weyers Cave-based Houff Corp. and a Virginia Crop Production Association board member, observes that farms in the Shenandoah Valley “are getting bigger and getting smaller.”

Growth is “going in both directions — large and niche. Some midsize farms are consolidating, while some are breaking into niche markets,” Houff says.

What is driving that divide, he notes, is the valley’s proximity to large populations of people of different income levels. “That makes us attractive to traditional food production and traditional farming,” while making room for niche markets such as organic farms and small vineyards.

Sustainability and humane treatment of livestock have become bigger issues in recent years, Houff adds.

Farmer Focus, a partner-owned collective of nearly 100 family farms raising humanely treated poultry, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The Harrisonburg-based company plans to add 300 jobs by 2025.

Overall, the poultry industry in the valley has been “pretty steady,” Houff says. The area also is a big beef production area, he says, but most of the beef grown is shipped west for processing because facilities in Virginia facilities are on the smaller side.

What’s more, many existing businesses seem to be in growth mode, Houff adds.

Dairy processing operator HP Hood announced plans this spring to invest more than $83.5 million to expand its Winchester-area facility. The project includes upgrades to production and packaging equipment, as well as construction of additional warehouse and cooler space.

In May, fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava opened a 55,000-square-foot production and packaging facility in Augusta County. The company made an initial investment of approximately $35 million in the Verona facility, which manufactures dips and spreads.

Leiber, a German-based manufacturer, is set to invest up to $20 million to establish its first U.S. operation in Innovation Village in Rockingham County, it announced in September 2023.

The new facility, which will extract brewer’s yeast from the byproducts of beer making and process it into animal food, will reflect two aspects of the region’s agribusiness, says Joshua Gooden, deputy director of economic development and tourism for Rockingham County.

Rockingham received a $4.5 million grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program in August for site development at Innovation Village. Gooden says the county plans to build a 20-acre pad site on a 165-acre property in hopes of attracting another large industrial facility.

In addition to its manufacturing draw, the Shenandoah Valley is rich in natural, historic and cultural attractions that power a thriving tourism industry, with lots of state parks, campgrounds, wineries and breweries. Langston says that the region’s abundance of open spaces was a boon to area businesses during the pandemic.

The Virginia Metalcrafters Marketplace, with roots tracing back to the late 19th century, has become an attraction on the edge of Waynesboro for visitors who want to drink and dine. What was once the Waynesboro Stove Co. became Virginia Metalcrafters, a company known for its decorative hardware, fireplace accessories, trivets and other decorative items, although that company closed in 2006.

In 2016, Basic City Beer turned the site into a tourism attraction, opening as the first occupant of what is known today as Virginia Metalcrafters Marketplace.

The self-described “microcosmic brewery” was joined by Common Wealth Crush, an urban winery. Happ Coffee relocated to the market from downtown Waynesboro, and Basic City has expanded since its opening, adding an arcade in its tap room, a speakeasy-style bar and an 800-capacity music venue. Hitchin says a coworking space will be added to the mix soon.

And let us not forget Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of mega-sized convenience stores, which is building a location on Interstate 81 in Rockingham. Owned by Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, Buc-ee’s is known for its huge size and its mascot — a toothy, ballcap-wearing cartoon beaver.

The chain purchased 21.3 acres for the center for $6.6 million in September 2023. Gooden says it’s expected to open in spring 2025. The Buc-ee’s center in Rockingham will be 74,000 square feet and have 120 fueling positions.

Rails and roads

Business success in the Shenandoah Valley depends greatly on its extensive logistics and transportation network, Houff and Langston agree.

Led by the ‘s Inland Port in Front Royal, the region’s logistics industry “is essential for us — for manufacturing, agriculture [and] the food and beverage industry,” Langston says.

But since the pandemic, he has seen a slowdown in the desire to build new logistics facilities. “If it’s not overbuilt, it’s very close. Speculative logistics is no longer out there. I’ve heard that this is a countrywide phenomenon.”

Transportation, too, is critical in the valley, which has Interstates 81 and 64 and two major rail lines — CSX and Norfolk Southern — running through it.

“The poultry industry would not exist without rail. Virginia could not support it,” Langston says. “We need corn and soybean meal from the west to feed our animals and our birds.”

Given its importance, Houff is pleased to see plans to improve rail infrastructure in the region.

The Virginia Inland Port has finished $15 million in structural improvements, including three new rail sidings, and it can handle more freight from the Port of Virginia’s ocean terminals, which are set to be the widest and deepest channels on the East Coast. What’s more, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s $3.1 billion Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Program lists 64 planned upgrades along the 325-mile corridor from Winchester to Bristol.

“The I-81 improvements are going to be a huge plus,” Langston says. “They’ve been needed for years.”  

Big Run Overlook, Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah Valley at a glance 

The Shenandoah Valley lies between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains, bisected by Interstate 81. The region includes Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Page and Frederick counties, as well as the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton,
Lexington, Waynesboro and Winchester. Agriculture remains a key industry for the region, once known as the breadbasket of the South. Advanced manufacturing is growing, and the valley has numerous logistics and food and beverage industries. It’s also a hub for higher education, including James Madison University, Mary Baldwin University, Shenandoah University, Virginia Institute and Washington and Lee University.

Population

373,472 (2021)

Top employers

•  Amazon.com  •  Booz Allen Hamilton
•  Capital One Financial  •  Freddie Mac
•  General Dynamics  •  Inova Health System
•  Northrop Grumman  •  RTX

Major attractions

The Shenandoah Valley, which was settled in the 1700s, is known for its historical and cultural attractions, including the Virginia Museum of the Civil War, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse. The region also is home to such natural attractions as Shenandoah National Park, the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, Natural Bridge and Luray Caverns.

Boutique/luxury hotels 

The Blackburn Inn and Conference
Center (Staunton)
8,400 square feet of event space, 49 rooms 

The Mimslyn Inn (Luray)
Nearly 5,000 square feet of event space,
45 rooms   

The Georges (Lexington)
1,700 square feet of event space,
33 guest rooms

Top convention hotels

The Omni Homestead Resort (Hot Springs)
72,000 square feet of event space,
483 rooms

Hotel Madison (Harrisonburg)
21,000 square feet of event space,
230 rooms

Hotel 24 South (Staunton)
8,500 square feet of event space,
124 rooms 

Best Western Plus Waynesboro Inn & Suites Conference Center
5,500 square feet of event space,
75 rooms 

Notable restaurants

Local Chop & Grill House (Harrisonburg)
American, localchops.com

The Catamount Lounge (Front Royal)
Cocktails, thecatamountlounge.com

The Shack (Staunton)
New American, theshackva.com

The Joshua Wilton House (Harrisonburg)
American, joshuawilton.com

Zynodoa (Staunton)
Southern, zynodoa.com

On the ledger

This story has been updated since publication.

With its 2023 purchase of Farmers Bankshares for $53 million, Suffolk’s TowneBank secured its leadership of the banking market with a nearly 28% share. Truist remains in second place at 23.72%, and the rest of the top five banks in the market are Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank.

According to TowneBank Executive Chairman Bob Aston, TowneBank is eyeing expansion along the Interstate 85 corridor as far south as Greenville, South Carolina. In September, TowneBank announced it plans to acquire Midlothian’s Village Bank and its parent company, Village Bank and Trust Financial, for approximately $120 million. As of June 30, 2024, TowneBank’s market share is 29.95%.

In personnel news, Tyrone Noel is Bank of America’s new Hampton Roads regional president as of September 2023, replacing Francisco “Frank” Castellanos, who now oversees the greater Washington, D.C., market for Merrill. Also, in March, Lisa Morgan was named Atlantic Union’s new Hampton Roads market president, succeeding Andy Hodge.

As for the region’s largest , Langley Federal is still at the top of the pack by far, with $5.34 billion in assets in fiscal 2023, up from $5.1 billion in fiscal 2022. 

For The Record October 2024

Central Virginia

Fortune 500 company CarMax will be the naming sponsor for the Richmond Flying Squirrels‘ new ballpark starting with the 2026 season, the Double-A Minor League Baseball team announced Sept. 4. The Diamond’s replacement will be known as CarMax Park. Although Squirrels President and Managing Partner Lou DiBella said that the deal with CarMax had been signed several months ago, few other details were revealed about the transaction, including the amount CarMax agreed to and how long the sponsorship will last. In August, the Richmond Economic Authority’s board approved a 30-year lease and stadium development agreement between the EDA and the Flying Squirrels. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Henrico Economic Development 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 Sept. 10, will provide international businesses with office space for up to three staffers each in the upcoming Gather Workspaces coworking location at Innsbrook, set to open in early 2025, as well as wraparound business services. 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. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Henrico County’s LL Flooring, which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, has signed an agreement to sell 219 stores and other assets to F9 Investments. In its Sept. 6 announcement, LL Flooring said it planned to close 211 other stores nationwide, up from 94 stores previously announced. With this agreement, F9 Brands owner Tom Sullivan, the founder and former of Lumber Liquidators and founder of Cabinets To Go, was likely to assume ownership of the 219 LL Flooring stores, the company’s name and other assets by the end of September, following approval by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NASCAR officials confirmed on Aug. 27 rumors that the Cup Series — the association’s premier series — would no longer make one of its two annual stops at the Richmond Raceway beginning next season. NASCAR removed a Henrico County track stop on the schedule, traditionally held in the spring, because it added a Cup Series race in Mexico City in 2025. The second stop at the Richmond Raceway, traditionally held in the summer, remains on NASCAR’s 2025 schedule. The three-fourths-mile track has held 136 Cup Series events thus far. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Goochland County-based Performance Food Group, the largest Richmond-area company on the Fortune 500 list at No. 84, is borrowing $1 billion to help pay for its $2.1 billion cash acquisition of Cheney Brothers, a privately held Florida food distribution firm. PFG announced the definitive agreement to acquire Cheney Brothers, which generates about $3.2 billion in annual revenue, on Aug. 14 and announced its plan to pay for the acquisition with internal cash resources and proceeds from a $1 billion, eight-year note bearing interest at 6.125% on Sept. 4. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The University of Virginia was the first Virginia college to publish the demographic data of its first-year students after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn affirmative action, or race-conscious admissions, last year. The share of new students who are Black, as well as the share of Asian and Asian American students, declined. The only ethnic group whose numbers increased among first-year and transfer student populations was Latinos. Of the 3,989 first-year students who started class on Aug. 27, 53.9% — 2,150 students — identified as a race other than white. (The Daily Progress)

Eastern Virginia 

Anheuser-Busch, which produces Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers, is investing $6.5 million into its Williamsburg brewery to uphold quality standards, improve infrastructure and drive efficiency, the company announced in August. Part of the money will go toward increasing the capacity and capability of the Williamsburg brewery’s warehouse. Located in James City County near Busch Gardens Williamsburg, the brewery has operated since 1972. It employs more than 400 people, making it one of the area’s major economic drivers. (Daily Press)

Former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, filed paperwork to mount his second run for Virginia attorney general. Jones served in the House of Delegates starting in 2018 and resigned in December 2021, a month after he was reelected to the House. The same year, he lost the Democratic primary for attorney general to incumbent Mark Herring, who then lost a close race to Republican Jason Miyares. As of early September, Jones had not officially announced his candidacy for attorney general.
(Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, a subsidiary of Norway’s Kongsberg Group, plans to establish its first U.S. defense assembly plant in James City County, investing more than $100 million and creating an estimated 180 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in September. The plant will be tasked with maintaining and refreshing cruise missiles for the U.S. Navy, as well as joint strike missiles for F-35 fighters purchased by the Air Force. (VirginiaBusiness.com))

Norfolk will have a temporary casino open by November 2025 and a permanent resort in 2027 if all goes to plan, as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and casino giant Boyd Gaming, its new corporate partner, received a fresh start on the long-delayed project from Norfolk City Council in September. Council members and the mayor voted 7-1 to approve a development agreement between the city, the tribe and Boyd Gaming, which replaces Tennessee investor Jon Yarbrough as the King William County tribe’s corporate partner. The partners have scrapped the casino’s old name, HeadWaters Resort & Casino, and plan to start construction of a temporary casino and a permanent structure in early 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A month before the Something in the Water festival was scheduled to return to Virginia Beach, founder Pharrell Williams announced the music fest had been postponed from October to April 2025. In a social media post, Williams wrote, “It just isn’t ready yet.” The Sept. 13 announcement came hours after tickets went on sale for Virginia residents. Virginia Beach City Council members said they felt “blindsided” by the postponement. (13NewsNow)

Overseas travel, stays at high-end hotels and schmoozing with industry stakeholders are some of the perks that come with being head of a large city’s department of economic development. But former Virginia Beach Director of Economic Development Chuck Rigney may have overstepped. His travel expenses are under review, as the city has opened an investigation into department travel costs that did not adhere to city policies. Over 12 months, Rigney expensed roughly $47,000 in travel and other spending, according to expense reports. He resigned July 24. Rigney said in an interview with the Virginian-Pilot, “I’m certainly not trying to hide anything.” (The Virginian-Pilot)

Northern Virginia

Amazon.com has acquired part of an industrial park slated for development in Manassas for $56.6 million. Minnieville Capital Acquisitions bought eight parcels totaling about 39 acres at and around the Colchester Industrial Park just north of Dumfries Road. The company, led by McLean’s Jeff Mulhausen, assembles and entitles data center land for its clients. The buyer’s Seattle address in certain Prince William County property records, is associated with a P.O. box used by Amazon. The parcels are part of a 64-acre assemblage approved for rezoning for three data centers and an electric substation.
(Washington Business Journal)

NASA’s decision to send Boeing‘s Starliner capsule home without astronauts follows years of missteps by the aerospace and defense company in its space business and raises doubts over the future of the unit, analysts and industry sources said. Taking astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station was to have been a turning point for Starliner after years of delays, technical glitches and supply chain mishaps. Starliner has cost $1.6 billion in overruns since 2016, according to Reuters. Wilmore and Williams will be brought home in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule next year, NASA decided after deeming its propulsion system unsafe for the return journey. (Reuters)

Comstock is facing a new lawsuit from a Japanese company that alleges the prominent Reston Station has shorted its stake in a jointly owned apartment complex to the tune of $10 million. Tokyo developer and multi asset manager Daito Trust Construction Co. and Comstock, through affiliates, developed BLVD Reston Station, an apartment tower at 1908 Reston Metro Plaza, in the heart of Comstock’s mixed-use mega-development at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. Daito claims Comstock breached its contract by wrongly reducing Daito’s ownership share in the joint venture, according to its complaint filed Aug. 30. (Washington Business Journal)

The company behind the Dulles Greenway has for the first time been told it cannot raise fares again. Now some Northern Virginia leaders want to go a step further and force its owners to either lower tolls or turn the road over to the state. The toll road connects the east and west of County from Leesburg to the airport. In 2023, the Greenway tried to raise tolls from $5.80 to $8.10 during rush hour and $5.25 to $6.40 other times. But the Virginia State Corporation Commission ruled in September that the proposed hike was unreasonable and “contrary to the public interest.” (The Washington Post)

After a lengthy and contentious debate, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved a revised ordinance that imposes strict regulations on data center development in the county. The ordinance requires data centers be a minimum distance of a mile from any Metro station, a 200-foot setback from any area, an 80,000-square-foot size limit in most industrial zones, noise studies before site plan approval, and enhanced screening and equipment enclosure requirements. The ordinance includes a grandfather clause for any projects in the pipeline before July 2024 to proceed under earlier rules. (FFXnow)

PEOPLE

Stu Shea, Peraton‘s chairman, president and CEO, has stepped down, and Steve Schorer has been named to succeed him at the Reston-based federal contractor owned by Veritas Capital, Peraton announced in September. Schorer, previously CEO of Alion Science and Technology, which Huntington Ingalls Industries purchased for $1.65 billion from Veritas in 2021, was also president of DynCorp International. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Roanoke/Lynchburg/New River Valley

Commercial real estate firm JLL has been hired to roll out a strategy on attracting potential developers for the former Central Virginia Training Center in Amherst County. At one time the county’s largest employer, CVTC closed in 2020 after relocating its last remaining resident. The state-owned residential campus in Madison Heights served people with developmental disabilities and had a controversial history of eugenics-driven sterilizations from 1924 through 1979. It has close to 100 buildings on site. The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance unveiled a master plan in 2022 that envisioned a mix of residential and commercial retail uses. (Amherst New Era-Progress)

A rupture of the Mountain Valley Pipeline during pressure testing in May was caused by a manufacturer’s defect in an elbow joint, a fitting used to accommodate a curve in the pipe, according to an analysis released in late August. The failure was an isolated incident, the project’s owner, EQT Midstream, said in a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and there is no risk of a similar incident in the future. The rupture occurred on Bent Mountain in Roanoke County during hydrostatic testing, when water is run at high pressure through the pipe to test for leaks or flaws before potentially explosive gas is introduced. (The Roanoke Times)

Crews will work up the last, large undeveloped piece of land at the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology so it will be ready if a business wants to locate there. It spans 82 acres, about two-thirds of which is suitable for building. Funding for the $10 million project comes from the state. The objective is to make the land shovel-ready for a building as large as 400,000 square feet, including securing permits, clearing forested land and smoothing out the building pad. (The Roanoke Times)

Roanoke County-based TMEIC Corp. Americas, a subsidiary of Japanese TMEIC Corp., will move its corporate headquarters to Texas early next year, but a company spokesperson said few local jobs will be affected. The new plant in Brookshire, Texas, west of Houston, will begin operations in October to make utility-scale photovoltaic inverters for solar energy systems and could create about 300 jobs there, the company said. (Cardinal News)

Following complaints from co-workers and patients’ parents over sexual and profane comments, the Virginia Board of Medicine suspended the medical license of Roanoke-area pediatrician Dr. Dalton M. Renick on Aug. 22, stating that “a substantial danger to public health or safety” warranted Renick’s summary suspension. He formerly worked for Carilion Clinic in Roanoke County and New Beginnings Pediatrics in Blacksburg, both of which issued statements noting that he is no longer employed at either practice. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

BWX Technologies in September tapped Gary D. Camper to be president of BWXT Nuclear Operations Group. Based in Lynchburg, Camper will lead more than 5,000 employees at five sites across four states, all of whom are manufacturing nuclear reactor components and fuel for U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers. Camper has worked for four decades at BWXT and previously served as vice president of contracts and procurement and as chief operating officer of the Nuclear Operations Group. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

President of Virginia Western Community College since 2001, Robert Sandel steered the two-year college into the 21st century, more than doubling enrollment and overseeing more than $138 million in construction and renovations. In August, the Roanoke-based college announced Sandel’s plans to retire at the end of June. Details on the search for his replacement will be released later. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Southern Virginia 

Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Henry County has been awarded more than $6.2 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program to extend an existing paved runway. On Sept. 4, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $18.7 million in new federal funding for improvements to airports across Virginia, with the airport near Spencer receiving a third of the total money allocated. A total of $6.22 million was designated to add 998 feet of runway to the regional airport serving the Martinsville area, allowing access to a broad fleet mix. (Martinsville Bulletin)

In September, deli meat company Boar’s Head Provisions Co. indefinitely shut down its meat production facility in Jarratt, the source of a listeria outbreak that killed at least nine people and hospitalized 57 others. The plant has not operated since late July. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened an investigation earlier that month, and on July 31, the U.S. Department of ‘s Food Safety and Inspection Service notified Boar’s Head it was withholding its federal marks of inspecting and suspending operations of ready-to-eat products at the Jarrett facility. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

An Aug. 13 job fair in North Carolina attracted more workers for Caesars Virginia, which plans to add another 500 employees by the time its casino resort is completed at the end of this year. More than 150 job candidates attended the job fair in Browns Summit on Aug. 13 — about 35 miles south of Danville on the way to Greensboro — and more than 70 trainees were enrolled in Caesars Virginia’s Dealer Academy. Another hiring event was held at the Greensboro Coliseum on Aug. 22. Eighty-five job candidates attended, with 33 enrolled in the academy and five hired on the spot. (Danville Register & Bee)

Danville Utilities plans to build a battery storage facility at Mount Cross Road to reduce dependence on the regional electric grid. If constructed, the storage system would discharge energy into the city’s electric system during extremely hot or cold weather when electricity demand is at its highest, said Jason Grey, director of Danville Utilities. The project, expected to be up and running by April 2026 at 900 Mount Cross Road between Averett University’s North Campus and Abundant Life Church, would decrease Danville Utilities’ demand on the regional PJM grid during peak usage. (Danville Register & Bee)

RBW Sports & Classics, a United Kingdom manufacturer of hand-built electric vehicles that have designs inspired by British sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s, plans to invest $8 million to establish a manufacturing facility at Cane Creek Centre in Danville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Aug. 22. The project is expected to create 144 jobs. Those workers will produce RBW’s first left-hand drive, electric Roadster and GT models for the U.S. market. RBW delivered its first cars in 2022 and opened its first factory in the United Kingdom in 2023. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Shalag US, a nonwoven fabrics manufacturer, will invest $16.6 million to open a new manufacturing and production facility in Mecklenburg County, creating an anticipated 52 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Sept. 12. Founded in Israel in 1983, Shalag expanded to the United States in 2010 and manufactures a wide range of nonwoven fabric for use in products such as diapers, air filtration and cleaning wipes. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Mecklenburg and Virginia’s Growth Alliance to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $117,460 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. (News release)

Southwest Virginia 

A project aimed at expanding recreational opportunities at the Big Cherry Reservoir in Big Stone Gap received $2 million Sept. 4 from the Virginia Department of Energy‘s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program. The project is expected to total $3.4 million and is still in the environmental review stage. Improvements will include cleared trails, a general store, rental cabins, safari tents and yurts. The existing boat ramp and dock will be improved, too. Also on Sept. 4, the Bird Dog Distributors expansion project in Dickenson County received $525,000 from the AMLER program. (Cardinal News; news release)

On Sept. 10, Bristol, Virginia, City Council unanimously approved proposals to redevelop two shuttered elementary schools. Developers Clyde Stacy, president of Par Ventures in Bristol, and James Bunn will convert the former Stonewall Jackson Elementary School into a boutique hotel and the former Washington-Lee Elementary into residential housing. They will pay $150,000 for each parcel. Hotel construction is expected to take at least two years once the sale is complete. The developers said the 5-acre Washington-Lee site would be multifamily housing, with the first units available within two years of closing on the property. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Camrett Logistics, a third-party logistics firm based in Wytheville, is investing $575,000 to upgrade a warehouse it recently acquired in the town, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Aug. 29. The company bought the approximately 162,000-square-foot warehouse on Industry Road for $3.9 million in May and expects to create 10 jobs there. The project will include new docks, bathrooms and offices at the former Donnkenny apparel manufacturing facility, which closed in 2015. Camrett currently operates 11 facilities in Virginia, including in Pulaski County, Roanoke and the town of Bluefield, and provides warehousing and distribution services for clients including the Volvo Trucks North America plant in Dublin. (Cardinal News)

Four Southwest Virginia economic development projects have been recommended to receive a cumulative $10 million in federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) grants, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, announced Aug. 19. The recommended grants for the four projects are: $4.75 million for Project Intersection in Wise County, $2 million for the Richlands Electric Diversification Project in Tazewell County, $2.75 million for the Cumberland Outdoor Recreation project in Dickenson and Buchanan counties and $500,000 for Project Wildcat in Wise County. The projects are on sites where coal was mined prior to 1977, the year the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise will serve as the Virginia state lead on a $398,000-plus Appalachian Regional Commission grant focused on improving the use of geographic information system and geospatial technologies in land record management to foster economic development, the college announced in early September. U.Va. Wise has partnered with the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky and West Virginia University on the grant, which is part of the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies program. The University of Tennessee is managing the grant. (The Coalfield Progress)

A Sept. 1 report from the Virginia Port Authority shows that the authority and its consultants are continuing to assess the feasibility of locating Virginia’s second inland port on a site adjacent to the Norfolk Southern mainline in the Oak Park development in Washington County. A 2022 study from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and concluded that Southwest Virginia’s Mount Rogers Planning District met criteria as a potentially successful site for a second inland port. The county and its industrial development authority offered the Oak Park site. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Kuhn continues moving Loudoun projects forward

It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for lately as he tries to rezone land for flex industrial use in Leesburg and Purcellville.

The of and JK Land Holdings, Kuhn is one of Northern Virginia’s most prominent developers and land conservationists, having purchased swathes of property in to keep the land rural. But his reputation as a data center builder has run into growing opposition from residents who oppose more data center in Northern Virginia.

In Leesburg, Kuhn has proposed to rezone and redevelop the 7.6-acre site of the shuttered Westpark Golf Club hotel and conference center into an 86,400-square-foot flex industrial building. The site neighbors a golf course that Kuhn sold to County in 2022 to be turned into a public park.

Kuhn’s development proposal — approved 5-2 by the town council in July — faced scrutiny over the project’s scale and appearance, as well as truck noise levels.

Another concern was whether the building would become yet another data center; Kuhn’s team later changed the plan to exclude as a permitted use for the land.

Work on the building’s site plan and design are underway, and in mid-August, Kuhn said he expects both proposals to be presented to the town for approval by late September. “We’re hoping that we’re demolishing the old building within the next six months,” Kuhn said.

Progress in Purcellville has not gotten as far.

Town council members there voted 4-3 in late July to continue gathering information before deciding on Kuhn’s application to annex and rezone land outside town to develop the Valley Commerce Center. Like Kuhn’s proposal in Leesburg, he has offered a plan that would not include a data center.

Concerns with the Valley Commerce project include water usage, location suitability and traffic increases, according to Purcellville Town Council member Caleb Stought, who voted against the application.

Kuhn’s project will add an estimated 3,500 trips per day to roads “that are already prone to significant congestion and gridlock,” Stought says.

Kuhn has also filed a rezoning application with Loudoun County. In August, JK Land Holdings purchased the 25-acre Telos Corp. headquarters site in Ashburn for $60 million — and that could be a potential space to develop data centers, although Kuhn hasn’t said what he intends for the site.