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Chain Bridge Bancorp plans to go public

Chain Bridge Bancorp, the holding company for , National , is planning to go public.

On Friday, the company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed of Class A common stock. The number of shares and price range for the have not yet been set.

The proposed offering would start “as soon as practicable after the registration statement is declared effective,” according to the company’s SEC filing. shares would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CBNA.

As of June 30, Chain Bridge had $1.4 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in total deposits. Chain Bridge had deposit clients in 48 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. About 38% of its total deposits came from Washington, D.C., and about 32% came from Virginia.

first announced it was evaluating an IPO in May. According to Friday’s SEC filing, the company would use the net proceeds from the proposed IPO to repay an outstanding balance of $10 million on an unsecured line of credit with another bank that is scheduled to mature on Dec. 5 and “for general corporate purposes,” which could include “funding potential strategic .”

Chain Bridge Bancorp was incorporated in May 2006, and the bank opened in August 2007. Its , John Brough, joined the company in July 2006 and became founding CEO of the bank in August 2007.

Piper Sandler & Co., Raymond James & Associates and Hovde Group are the book-running managers for the IPO.

In June 2020, California medical supply company Blue Flame Medical sued Chain Bridge, alleging the bank was responsible for destroying the company’s reputation and making it lose a $600 million state contract for personal protective equipment. In March 2023, a panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s ruling in favor of Chain Bridge.

Judge approves LL Flooring’s sale of Sandston plant, assets

A Delaware Court judge on Monday approved the sale of 219 LL Flooring stores to an entity connected to , which is owned by founder and former Thomas Sullivan. The court also OK’d the $104.75 million of the bankrupt flooring company’s eastern distribution center to an entity connected to data center giant QTS Data Centers.

The transaction between Henrico-based , which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, and purchaser LumLiQ2 and guarantor is expected to close by Sept. 30, according to court documents. The two parties reached a last-minute deal earlier in the month after LL Flooring — formerly known as Lumber Liquidators — announced it would be closing all of its 400-plus stores nationwide. Instead, 211 stores will close over the next few months, according to the company. In a court document filed Sept. 3, F9 offered LL Flooring $44.5 million in cash at closing and at least $22 million in assumed liabilities in a $66.5 million bid this summer, and the company also said it had paid a deposit of $4.1 million toward the total purchase.

SNA NE LLC, a limited liability corporation connected with QTS Data Centers, reached an agreement in September to purchase LL Flooring’s 995,792-square-foot distribution center on 97.55 acres in the White Oak Technology Park for $104.75 million. QTS owns much of the technology park property, as well as all 622 acres of White Oak Technology Park II. In a separate ruling, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved that deal too.

According to the Associated Press, Sullivan said that the stores purchased by F9 will be renamed Lumber Liquidators, and that the stores will align with Cabinets to Go, one of F9’s brands.

Sullivan founded Lumber Liquidators in 1994, and he departed in 2016, after a 2015 “60 Minutes” investigation into allegations that laminate flooring produced in China and sold by Lumber Liquidators in the United States had violated California Air Resources Board regulations and failed tests for maximum formaldehyde emissions, even after California authorities notified the company of the issue in 2013 and 2014. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice fined the company $33 million to settle allegations of securities fraud, which also included a $6 million payment to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 2020, Charles E. Tyson became the company’s president and CEO, and renamed the company LL Flooring in 2021. In 2022, the business opened 17 stores, but sales dropped the following year. Net sales in 2023 were down 18.5% from 2022, from $1.11 billion to $904.7 million. LL Flooring closed eight locations and opened three in 2023, and net losses last year amounted to $103.5 million, a large increase from a net loss of $12.1 million in 2022.

Last year, Sullivan purchased 9.4% of LL Flooring stock, and F9 attempted to purchase LL Flooring to merge with Cabinets to Go, but LL’s board rejected the deal. However, in July, Sullivan, F9 Brands President and CEO Jason Delves and Jill Witter, a Texas-based legal consultant for F9 Investments, were elected to LL Flooring’s board in a proxy war. The three resigned from the board as F9 and LL Flooring neared a deal on September’s agreement.

VACU names Member One regional head for Roanoke, Lynchburg

Tim Rowe will be president of division ‘s markets in the and New River valleys and Lynchburg, as the former Roanoke credit union integrates with VACU. 

Member One Federal Credit Union and VACU finalized their merger Aug. 1, creating a combined institution with 500,000 members and $7 billion in assets, the third largest credit union based in Virginia. The integration of Member One into VACU will likely be completed in 2026, according to a news release. Until then, Member One will operate as a division of VACU, and its members will bank as they did before the . 

As market president for Member One, Rowe will lead regional efforts in member services, employee engagement and community involvement.

A lifelong native of the Star City, Rowe previously was executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Member One, where he has worked since 1986, according to his LinkedIn profile.  

After earning a bachelor degree in finance, insurance and business law from Virginia Tech, Rowe earned a MBA at Radford University. He’s also completed several trainings, including programs with Harvard Business School and Wharton Executive Education.

Rowe sits on the local advisory board of Virginia Western Community College and on the board of the Virginia Council on Economic Education, which provides economic and financial education, resources and training. For more than three decades, Rowe has been active with Roanoke area youth and high school sports.

Picture of woman wearing a black top and a gold necklace.
Jean Hopstetter

Additionally on Monday, VACU named Jean Hopstetter its senior executive vice president and merger integration executive for Member One. Hopstetter, who has spent 16 years at Member One and close to 30 years in the credit union industry, will lead integration of member-facing operations and the work of support and administrative staff.

Hopstetter holds a degree in business administration and a MBA from Saint Leo University in Florida. 

A current member of the board of the Roanoke County Public Schools Education Foundation, which raises funds to assist students and teachers, Hopstetter recently finished a six-year term on the board of the Taubman Museum of Art. 

“We understand the critical role local decision-making, engagement and leadership play in serving the unique needs of our various markets,” Chris Shockley, VACU’s president and , stated in a news release. “Our regional leadership team balances continuity with change and positions us to deliver value for our members, to effectively collaborate with our community partners, and to successfully integrate our operations.”

CACI strikes $1.27B deal to buy RF electronics provider

has entered into a $1.275 billion definitive agreement to acquire , the -based Fortune 1000 government contractor announced Monday.

Based in and founded in 2007, Azure Summit develops high-performance (RF) hardware and software for the . 

Pending regulatory approval, the all-cash deal is expected to close in the second quarter of FY 2025.

The purchase expands ‘s offerings in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare and signals intelligence, CACI President and John Mengucci explained in a statement.  

“For our shareholders, the of Azure Summit is compelling both strategically and financially,”  Mengucci stated. “It not only enhances our offerings in areas of enduring national security priorities but also brings with it an installed base of fielded, mature technology. And, from a financial standpoint, it will be immediately accretive across multiple financial metrics.”

Founded in 1962, CACI has 24,000 employees and reported $7.7 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue.

OpTech expanding Loudoun satellite plant

Optimum Technologies, a space flight hardware designer and manufacturer, plans to expand its satellite manufacturing plant, a project expected to create 40 jobs, announced Monday.

Known as , the company will invest $999,000 in the expansion, according to the governor’s office. OpTech was founded in Virginia in 2015 and specializes in products related to satellite, ground and missions systems engineering and includes the among its customers. The company also holds and commercial contracts.

“OpTech continues to expand due to high growth in the space sector,” Timothy Rumford, OpTech’s executive vice president, said in a statement. “We have seen great demand for our hardware and services and have outgrown our original [satellite manufacturing facility] that was opened in 2022. Our new facility will give us approximately five times the capacity and help continue our growth plans and, in turn, help support our nation’s needs for rapid and low-cost access to space.”

OpTech was founded by Jeffrey Gick and Chief Operating Officer John Hildebrand, who both were employed at Orbital Sciences Corp., while Gick worked previously at Hughes Space & Communications, and Hildebrand was at Lockheed Martin and United Space Alliance earlier in his career.

“‘ decision to expand its manufacturing facility in Loudoun County demonstrates the trust manufacturers have in Virginia,” Youngkin said. “The company is a key component of the Northern Virginia aerospace industry, and we are gratified to see this investment.”

According to the governor’s office, the Virginia Partnership worked with Loudoun County to secure the project, and the Virginia Jobs Investment Program will support recruitment and training of the new employees at no cost to OpTech.

Virginia Realtors CEO retires

Virginia Realtors Terrie L. Suit is retiring after 11 years heading the state’s largest , according to a Sept. 14 announcement.

Glen Allen-based , which represents 36,000 Realtors, has appointed Martin K. Johnson as interim CEO. He has held varying roles with the , including senior vice president of advocacy, chief lobbyist and, most recently, chief external affairs officer.

A former state delegate and state secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security, Suit became CEO of Virginia Realtors on Sept. 13, 2013. She entered the industry as a Realtor in 1985 before transitioning into mortgage lending, an industry she worked in for 20 years.

“Throughout Terrie’s tenure with our association, we have achieved significant progress on behalf of the real estate industry — both in Virginia and beyond,” Virginia Realtors 2024 President Tom Campbell said in a statement. “Under her leadership and vision, we have been able to advocate for homeowners across Virginia and pass meaningful legislation to help protect our industry. Virginia Realtors thanks for her steadfast dedication and wishes her the very best in her .”

In 1996, then-Gov. George Allen appointed Suit to the Virginia Real Estate Board. A Republican, she also served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, from 2000 to 2008, chairing the House of Delegates’ General Laws committee and the Virginia Commission.

In April 2011, then-Gov. Bob McDonnell appointed Suit as Virginia’s first secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security.

Reared in a military family and born in Orléans, France, Suit graduated from Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She completed her MBA at the University of Mary Washington. In 2022, appointed Suit to Mary Washington’s board of visitors; her first term ends next year.

“I want to thank the many talented leaders I’ve been fortunate to work alongside during my time as Virginia Realtors CEO,” Suit said in a statement. “I believe in the power of this organization and the importance of its mission. I believe in the power of owning property, and I know that this organization’s tireless efforts will continue helping more and more Virginians to realize that dream.”

NoVa, Hampton Roads home sales decline in August

Home sales in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads dropped year-over-year and month-over-month in August, although inventory and selling prices in both regions increased from the same time last year.

Northern Virginia

August in Northern Virginia dropped 8.1% from August 2023, according to data released Sept. 12 by the .

Home sales in the region last month totaled 1,411 units, down almost 14% from the 1,639 sales recorded in July. Pending sales stood at 1,280 units, down from 1,304 units last year.

There were 1,814 active listings in August, up almost 22% from 1,492 listings last year. New listings numbered 1,349 units, down from 1,410 in August 2023.

inventory and prices in the region grew year-over-year and month-over-month in August. The month’s supply of inventory (MSI) — a measure of how many months there would be homes on the market if no new inventory were added — stood at 1.4 months, up from 1.08 months in August 2023 and up from the MSI of 1.3 in July. That inventory level is higher than the five-year average of a 1.2 MSI.

As inventory rose, homes stayed on the market longer — an average of 18 days, up 5.9% from August 2023 and up from July’s 16-day average.

The median sold price for a Northern Virginia home last month was $738,000, up 5.4% compared with August 2023 and up from the July median of $735,000.

“Fewer homes sold this August compared to last year even though consumers had more choices as supply loosened,” board member Tatiana Bush with eXp Realty said in a statement. “The increase in inventory did not dampen prices, which continued to climb. The good news is that mortgage rates are slowly declining, giving consumers more buying power.”

NVAR reports home sales activity for and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, and Clifton.

Hampton Roads

Home sales in Hampton Roads last month totaled 2,282, down about 8% from the 2,478 recorded in August 2023 and down 2.7% from July’s 2,346 sales, according to () data released Aug. 10.

Pending sales in the region totaled 2,123, down from the 2,289 recorded in August 2023 and from the 2,315 reported in July.

The number of Hampton Roads homes for last month was the highest it’s been since October 2020, when the region had 4,887 active listings. Active residential listings totaled 4,811, up from 3,680 active listings last year and from July’s 4,461 listings. The month’s supply of inventory was 2.38, up from 1.68 in August 2023 and from 2.28 in July.

August 2024 statistics for the Hampton Roads housing market. Image courtesy Real Estate Information Network
August 2024 statistics for the Hampton Roads housing market. Image courtesy Information Network

“Traditionally, when inventory increases, prices will fall, but I think recent data shows that despite increases in inventory, it’s still somewhat of a seller’s market here in Hampton Roads,” Gary Lundholm with The Real Estate Group, president of REIN’s board of directors, said in a statement. “Just five years ago during the same month, there were over 8,000 homes on the market. So, despite the increase in listings over the last few years, inventory is still well below what we might consider normal and that has impacted selling prices.”

In August 2019, active listings in the region totaled 8,824, which dropped to 5,105 listings in August 2020, then 4,467 in August 2021, and down again to 4,117 listings in August 2022.

The median sales price (MSP) for the region rose year-over-year and has risen about 37.5% from August 2019’s MSP of $255,000. Last month, the MSP stood at $350,620, up from the MSP of $341,100 recorded in August 2023 but down from July’s MSP of $355,500.

Hampton Roads homes spent a median of 21 days on the market, up from the median of 14 in August 2023 and from the 18-day median recorded in July.

Founded in 1969, REIN is a regional multiple listing service that covers an area stretching from Williamsburg east to Virginia Beach and south across the North Carolina border.

Boar’s Head to indefinitely shutter Va. facility tied to fatal listeria outbreak

Deli company Boar’s Head Provisions Co. is indefinitely shutting down its meat production facility in , the source of a outbreak that killed at least nine people and hospitalized 57 others.

The plant has not been operating since late July. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened an investigation on July 19.

On July 31, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Safety and Inspection Service notified Boar’s Head it was withholding its federal marks of inspection and suspending the operations of ready-to-eat products at the Jarratt facility. The suspension “will remain in effect until you provide the Raleigh District Office with adequate written corrective and preventive measures to assure FSIS that you can demonstrated a program that meets the regulatory requirements,” according to the USDA notice.

In the past year, government inspectors logged 69 instances of “noncompliance” with federal rules at the plant, according to documents obtained through Associated Press public information requests. The reported instances included mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment.

Of the nine tied to the outbreak, one each was reported in Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey, Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and New York, and two were reported in South Carolina. All nine people who died were older than age 70. The 57 hospitalizations occurred across 18 states, and those hospitalized ranged from ages 32 to 95, although it is likely that more people were ill but recovered without being tested for listeria, according to the CDC.

The USDA notice followed Boar’s Head’s July 25 recall of its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst from the affected facility. On July 29, the food manufacturer expanded its voluntary recall to every item produced at the Eastern Virginia facility, after testing confirmed listeria infections in the products were connected to the outbreak. The expanded recall included about 7 million pounds of 71 ready-to-eat products produced under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brands.

In an update Friday, Boar’s Head said it was permanently discontinuing its liverwurst product and indefinitely closing the Jarratt plant. The company conducted an investigation of how the liverwurst product became contaminated, according to the announcement, which “identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst.”

Regarding employees at the facility, Boar’s Head said in its update: “It pains us to impact the livelihoods of hundreds of hard-working employees. We do not take lightly our responsibility as one of the area’s largest employers. But, under these circumstances, we feel that a plant closure is the most prudent course. We will work to assist each of our employees in the transition process.”

About 500 union workers were employed at the plant, Jonathan Williams, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 union spokesperson, told The New York Times. Boar’s Head is providing severance packages and relocation to the employees, according to Williams. Employees were given the option to work at the company’s plant in Petersburg or to transfer to facilities in other states.

Boar’s Head also announced several new food safety and quality measures. The company will appoint a new chief food safety and quality assurance officer, who will report directly to its president. Boar’s Head is recruiting for the new role now and plans to have the executive “begin as soon as possible.”

Second, Boar’s Head said, it is establishing a food safety council composed of independent food safety experts to help with the implementation of new quality assurance programs and advise the new food safety executive and the company.

The founding council members are:

  • David Acheson, president and of The Acheson Group
  • Mindy Brashears, director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University
  • Martin Wiedmann, Cornell University’s Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety and co-director of the New York Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence
  • Frank Yiannas, the former deputy commissioner for food policy and response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Third, the company will create “an enhanced companywide food safety and QA program” that will be led by the new C-suite executive.

Navient faces $120M fine, ban over student loan abuse claims from consumer watchdog

The Financial Protection Bureau filed a proposed order Thursday to permanently ban -based , formerly the nation’s largest student loan servicer, from servicing federal and fine the company $120 million.

“These bans would largely remove Navient from a market where it, among other illegal actions, steered numerous student loan borrowers into costly repayment options,” the CFPB said in its settlement announcement. “Navient also illegally deprived student borrowers of opportunities to enroll in more affordable income-driven repayment plans and forced them to pay much more than they should have.”

If approved by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where the CFPB filed a against Navient in 2017, the company would be permanently prohibited from servicing federal direct and directly servicing or acquiring most loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Under the order, Navient would have to pay a $20 million penalty into the CFPB’s victims relief fund and provide $100 million in redress for harmed borrowers.

“For years, Navient’s top executives profited handsomely by exploiting students and taxpayers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “By banning the notorious student loan giant from federal student loan servicing and ensuring the winddown of these operations, the CFPB will finally put an end to the years of abuse.”

In 2017, Navient serviced the student loans of more than 12 million borrowers, including more than 6 million under its contract with the U.S. Department of Education, totaling more than $300 billion in federal and private student loans. It was part of — the nickname for the Student Loan Marketing — until 2014, when the student loan giant created by Congress split into two entities: Sallie Mae Bank and Navient. Led by David L. Yowen, who was appointed to his post last year, Navient was listed No. 657 on the 2024 Fortune 1,000 list.

In a statement Thursday, Navient said, “This agreement puts these decade-old issues behind us. While we do not agree with the CFPB’s allegations, this resolution is consistent with our go-forward activities and is an important positive milestone in our transformation of the company.”

Navient, the statement continued, “is no longer a servicer or purchaser of . In 2021, with the approval of the Department of Education, Navient transferred its contract to service government student loans to a third party, and earlier this year, Navient reached an agreement to outsource student loan servicing of its legacy FFELP student loan portfolios, which began on July 1, 2024. Navient will oversee its third-party servicing provider to meet all operational terms of the agreement.”

According to the CFPB, its investigation leading to the 2017 lawsuit “kicked off a series of efforts by state and federal agencies to examine forbearance steering and other breakdowns in the income-driven repayment program. Those efforts have resulted in more than $50 billion in debt relief for more than 1 million borrowers who were wrongly steered into forbearance, as well as those who had payments miscounted. Today’s order complements actions already taken by the Department of Education and state attorneys general to provide redress to borrowers harmed by Navient.”

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) ordered Navient and Sallie Mae to pay almost $100 million for illegally overcharging nearly 78,000 military members, according to the CFPB, and in 2022, 39 state attorneys general — including in Virginia — announced a $1.85 billion settlement with Navient for “originating predatory student loans in addition to its forbearance steering practices.”

In 2021, Navient’s DOE loan servicing contract ended, and in May, Navient announced it would transfer its remaining 2.7 million private student loans to a third-party company, Mohela, where nearly 900 Navient employees were expected to transfer by July. Nicknamed Mohela, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority itself has been sued for overcharging student loan borrowers, including in a lawsuit filed in July by the American Federation of Teachers.

ATCC expanding presence in Prince William County

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

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

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

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

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

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

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