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QTS acquires rezoned Henrico tech park land

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

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

QTS already has a data center campus and network access point at the original White Oak 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 Southern Virginia 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 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 Henry County 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 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. 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 .

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 CEO 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 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 news release 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, president 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 Richmond 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 Forest 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 institutions include Averett University, Danville Community College, New College Institute, Patrick & Henry Community College and 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 ‘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 president, 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 CEO 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 economic development 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 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: 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 industrial 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, is expanding its U.S. headquarters, a project expected to create 515 jobs. Rendering courtesy Framatome

Chesapeake: 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 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/

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

Arlington 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.

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, aerospace and defense contractor 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.  

New River auto group divests two more dealerships

On July 15, automobile dealer Gary sold his and dealerships to New River Valley-Owned .

Duncan declined to provide financial details. Representatives from Shelor Motor Mile did not respond to requests for comment.

The deal follows Duncan’s 2022 sale of his Roanoke-based Acura, Audi and BMW franchises to the Parks Automotive Group of Kernersville, North Carolina.

In 1955, Gary Duncan’s father, Paul, launched the Duncan Automotive Network, which Gary Duncan and his siblings continue to run today. As the oldest child, Gary Duncan was first to work alongside his father and assumed ownership of the network’s early franchises after Paul Duncan’s death. 

Remaining in the network are Duncan Ford Mazda Lincoln (), Duncan Ford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (Rocky Mount), Duncan and Classic (Nashville, Tennessee, and Christiansburg), Duncan Suzuki (Pulaski), Byrider (Roanoke), and Duncan Service and Pre-owned (Roanoke).

On his motivation to sell, Duncan cites the greater economy of scale a larger buyer’s group like Shelor Motor Mile can offer, including better benefits for employees.

But “age was a factor,” Duncan adds, noting that at 72 years old, with 52 years in the business, he’s ready to relinquish some responsibility.

The trend of small businesses selling to larger buying groups isn’t unique to the automotive industry, says Don Hall, president and CEO of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. 

“Like so many other industries, ours is undergoing massive consolidation,” he says, forcing owners such as Duncan to make difficult decisions. 

Car dealerships have to purchase the cars on their lots, Hall points out, so smaller operations with less buying power might struggle to keep ample inventory. allowing buyers to check out a vehicle before ever entering a showroom can also be a significant expense, one that may be easier for bigger outfits with bigger pocketbooks to afford, Hall suggests.  

Despite such challenges, Hall contends there is still a place for small businesses in the automotive trade. “Local communities benefit by having smaller franchises around,” he says.

“It’s an exciting time to be a dealer,” Hall adds. “Whether you’re small or super large, if the customer isn’t a priority … you won’t enjoy the future of our business.”  

Micron expects to expand Manassas facility soon

Bolstered by hundreds of millions of dollars in state and federal funding, in Northern Virginia soon will be expanding.

In May, Idaho-based applied for federal funding through the 2022 and Science Act, which allocated more than $52 billion in subsidies for domestic companies researching and manufacturing semiconductors, to expand its plant. Micron manufactures dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips for automobiles at its Manassas facility.

The expansion will move its existing DRAM manufacturing from Taiwan to Virginia and will nearly double the workforce at the plant, which already employs 1,230 people.

That follows closely with the intended impact of the . In 2021, the United States manufactured roughly 14% of semiconductors worldwide but consumed 34%, according to a White House statement. This imbalance became evident in 2020, when the pandemic interrupted supply chains, creating shortages of automobiles, household appliances and other electronics.

While Micron’s application is working its way through the process, U.S. Sen. , who co-authored the CHIPS Act, says the federal subsidy will be significant.

“I am optimistic it will be a multi-hundred-million-dollar investment,” Warner says.

That will be on top of a yet-undisclosed amount of funding from the , much of which came in a repackaging of a 2018 $70 million incentive bundle. Virginia’s Major Employment Investment Project Review Commission unanimously approved the funding in a closed-door meeting in May, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Micron plans to invest $3 billion in the expansion by 2030.

“Gov. Youngkin is working with federal partners to ensure Micron’s application is as competitive as possible to bring this project to fruition in Virginia,” says Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for the governor. “Micron’s proposed expansion marks an unparalleled opportunity for Virginia … to demonstrate leadership in key semiconductor memory technologies.”

The state’s involvement helps Micron’s case with its CHIPS Act application, Warner says, and will prove important in keeping the burgeoning business at the forefront of Virginia’s economy.

“We’ve seen historically that if a company doesn’t continue to invest … technology will pass them by,” Warner says. “So, this CHIPS funding is extremely important.”

The timeline is not clear for when the federal review process will wrap up, nor has Micron designated a timeline for the expansion.  

Top Five August 2024

The five most popular daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from June 12 to July 12 included news of Republican Gov. ‘s appointees now holding a majority on the governing boards of Virginia’s state colleges and universities.

1   |   Youngkin peppers university boards with GOP power players

New members included some conservative movers and shakers, such as Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. (June 28)

2   |   $681M subsea cable plant coming to Chesapeake

, the U.S. subsidiary of a South Korean cable manufacturer, is expected to create 338 jobs. (July 9)

3   |   Condair invests $57.2 million on Chesterfield County plant

The Swiss commercial and humidification systems manufacturer, plans to hire 180 workers for a factory slated to open in 2025. (June 18)

4   |   Dominion Energy to buy N.C. offshore wind lease for $160M

Virginia is purchasing the lease from Connecticut energy company Avangrid. (July 8)

5   |   State delays choosing Shenandoah medical marijuana provider

As 40 applicants vie for the lucrative license to be the sole pharmaceutical cannabis distributor for the , Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, the state Cannabis Control Authority delayed the selection, saying staff need more time to review. (June 26)

StartVirginia: Heard Around Virginia August 2024

Blacksburg is moving forward with the renovation of a former dry-cleaning business into a business . Slated to open by the end of 2025, the Blacksburg Retail Incubator is planned at 414 N. Main St., a 5,000-square-foot building owned by the town. After the building has been improved, Downtown Blacksburg Inc. will locate there and operate an incubator to house entrepreneurs seeking to create or expand a business providing products to the community. Officials hope to attract merchants that serve a new or underserved market. There will be room for events and receptions as well. (The Roanoke Times)

County’s , a data and analytics company co-founded in 2014 by former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, has been acquired by Arcadia, a Boston health care data platform, according to a June 27 announcement. A spokesperson for Arcadia declined to provide financial terms of the deal. The merged company will have 400 employees. CareJourney derives analytics from Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and commercial claims data across more than 300 million beneficiaries and over 2 million providers nationwide. Its clients include payers, providers and employers. Chopra, who served as the nation’s first chief technology officer under President Barack Obama, is now Arcadia’s chief strategy officer. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

CAV Angels, an investment syndicate composed of of Virginia alumni, students and friends, recently closed three funding deals to push its lifetime investments close to $26 million. The recent investments include MITO Material Solutions, an Indianapolis company that makes resin additives for , New York City’s Ask Alex, which offers AI-powered data and marketing software that automates workflows for brick-and-mortar operators; and Richmond augmented reality company ARtGlass. Exact terms of the funding deals were not disclosed. All were group deals. (Richmond Inno)

is hosting its third annual Shenandoah Valley Entrepreneurship Summit Sept. 9-10 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. With the theme “Learning by Doing,” the summit will offer several hands-on workshops as well as networking and relationship-building opportunities. Session topics will be led by expert entrepreneurs and business owners and will center around subjects such as marketing, finance, technology and business management. Tickets are $155 (or $80 for students) and include meals and admission to SCCF’s first Demo Day on night one. More information can be found at sccfva.org. (News release)

, a Crystal City startup vying to improve the motors that power electric vehicles, crossed the $1 million funding threshold in June. The 2-year-old company recently closed a $650,000 pre-seed funding round led by BetterWay Ventures, a Charleston, South Carolina-based venture capital firm that funds green startups. Houston investment firm EcoSphere Ventures, Los Angeles-based Climate Avengers and Alexandria investment firm Intbox Ventures also participated. Torev is in talks with several automakers about establishing pilot programs that its founders hope will lead to its hardware being tested out in passenger cars and, eventually, construction and military equipment. (DC Inno)

McLean fintech Verituity has raised $18.8 million to expand the customer base for its software, which helps verify financial transactions such as refunds and insurance claims. Sandbox Industries of Chicago and San Mateo, California-based Forgepoint Capital led the round. Washington, D.C.’s Ardent Venture Partners and Santa Monica’s MTech Capital also took part. Forgepoint and Ardent led Verituity’s $10 million Series A round in 2021. Started in 2020, Verituity’s business has skyrocketed from processing roughly $13 million in payouts in 2022 to over $2.6 billion in the past year, according to investor Forgepoint. Customers include financial giants such as BNY Mellon, Citizens Bank and Assurant. MasterCard inked a partnership with Verituity earlier this year. (DC Inno)