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Clear waters

After receiving its final federal approvals in January, ‘s $9.8 billion project remains on track for completion in late 2026, at which point the 2.6-gigawatt project could power up to 660,000 homes.

“CVOW is on budget, on time, and we’re gearing up for construction and excited about getting it to this point,” says Dominion spokesperson Jeremy Slayton.

At the , Dominion had 24 monopiles — the roughly 272-foot-long foundation posts for the massive 800-plus-foot-tall wind turbines — staged in late February, and 12 additional monopiles were scheduled for an April delivery. Dominion plans to begin installing monopiles 27 miles off the coast on May 1 and expects to have about half of the 176 posts installed by Oct. 31.

Because of federal protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales, the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility can’t work on installing the foundations from November through April. With that restriction, Dominion plans to install the remaining foundations in 2025 and begin turbine installation, which can take place year-round, in the 113,000-acre area of the Atlantic Ocean it’s leasing, Slayton says.

The project also includes three offshore substations, manufacturing on which began in fall 2022, although installation of the first substation’s topside foundations is set for late 2024 or early 2025 because the structures require underwater work first.

Onshore, Dominion is working on the electric transmission route and electrical infrastructure that’s scheduled to be operational in late 2025, although some work will continue into 2026. Drilling is set to be complete later this year for two separate portions of the project — the pipes where the offshore cables will come ashore and the underground transmission line.

On Feb. 22, Dominion announced it had reached an agreement with investment firm Stonepeak to sell a 50% noncontrolling stake in the project for nearly $3 billion. The deal, which requires approval from Virginia, North Carolina and federal regulatory agencies, is expected to close by the end of this year.

At the deal’s close, Dominion expects to receive $3 billion, minus a withholding amount of $145 million. If construction costs remain $9.8 billion or less, excluding financing costs, Dominion will get back $100 million from the withholding amount. But if construction costs total more than $11.3 billion, Dominion will not receive any of the withheld amount, and if the project costs reach that threshold, Stonepeak and Dominion would each contribute half of the additional capital costs. 

Meanwhile, the National Legal and Policy Center, a Falls Church-based nonprofit conservative watchdog group, filed a federal lawsuit in March aiming to stop construction of CVOW, claiming it would pose a risk to North American right whales. Dominion said in a statement that the arguments raised in the lawsuit “have no merit.”

Creating a hub

Hampton Roads leaders expect the CVOW project to be a catalyst for economic development in the region.

Each year during construction, CVOW could support 900 direct and indirect jobs, about 60% of which would be in Hampton Roads, according to Dominion. Its ongoing operations could support about 1,100 jobs in the region annually.

However, not all is sunshine and roses.

In November 2023, Renewable Energy canceled its plans to build the United States’ first offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, a $200 million project expected to create 310 jobs. The Spanish-German company said it couldn’t meet “development milestones” to establish the plant, although Siemens Gamesa said it would fulfill its production obligations for CVOW.

Nonetheless, Mike Hopkins, managing director of , a $100 million operations and center in , says his company is “very bullish on … offshore wind, and we’re confident this industry is going to take off and Hampton Roads is going to be a hub for offshore wind.”

Construction is underway on an offshore wind monitoring and coordination center for Dominion at Fairwinds Landing, and several other tenants are involved in aspects of the industry. Also, maritime companies operating in the region have announced workforce expansions, like Norfolk-based Lyon Shipyard, which said last year it plans to add 134 jobs as it increases work on commercial ships and vessels servicing the wind farm project.

At the ‘s Portsmouth terminal, where the wind farm’s monopiles are received and staged, construction is underway on $220 million in upgrades, expected to be complete by the end of 2025.

Virginia Port Authority Board Chair Aubrey Layne Jr. says the port has to reinforce 72 acres to be used by Dominion, “basically so [the area and facilities] can handle the weight.”

Dominion starting construction on the wind farm in May is “fantastic for the state of Virginia, and our ability to attract suppliers,” adds Matt Smith, Hampton Roads Alliance’s director of energy and water technology.

“As the industry builds out,” he adds, “the things that make Hampton Roads attractive” — such as its port infrastructure, maritime workforce and favorable business environment — “are going to continue to be so.” 

Commentary: Navigating risk

After the chaos of the pandemic years, 2023 brought a sense of normalcy and familiar market dynamics. By December, however, the industry was reminded of the fragility of global trade. Low water levels constrained transits at the Panama Canal, and the Suez Canal became virtually impassible by global container carriers due to terrorist attacks. As of this writing, the cargo ship Dali’s March 26 collision with the Key Bridge in Baltimore halted ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore potentially for months, putting pressure on neighboring East Coast ports. Nevertheless, the industry has adjusted remarkably well to these developments. Recent capacity investments by carriers, which were expected to throw the balance of supply and demand in favor of shippers by a significant margin, have proven surprisingly critical to supply chain resilience.

The impacts of geopolitics have been on the industry’s mind for several years now, beginning with the import tariffs, continuing through the pandemic, and especially since the onset of the Ukraine-Russia war. It is clear now that these risks to global trade are here for the foreseeable future. At the Transpacific conference in early March, the annual gathering of industry players organized by S&P Global, the prevailing message was one of continued disruption and fragmented supply chains. Between rising global tensions, growing protectionist policies, and black swan events, international trade is changing and facing more risks than ever before.

The coming year brings a variety of uncertainties to shippers trying to plan their networks. The diversions from the Suez Canal are expected to continue until the attacks on commercial vessels cease, meaning longer transit times around Africa for shippers utilizing this route. The more common route from Asia to U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports, the Panama Canal, is running without significant delays inbound, though export transit times are experiencing longer transits than usual; the situation could improve or deteriorate this year, depending on weather at the canal.

Overall, with longer transits around Africa absorbing extra capacity in the market, ocean freight supply is better balanced to the expected demand this year. Ocean carriers expect modest freight rate increases to account for higher operational costs and the supply/demand balance resulting from these disruptions. Rates remain relatively favorable to shippers, with recent highs still far below the extreme peaks reached during the pandemic period. One dynamic to watch in early 2025 is the shifting ocean carrier alliance landscape. The largest carrier, MSC, will be operating on its own. and will kick off their new alliance, the , which will feature a hub-and-spoke network. The will continue with its current members, and the remaining existing alliance, THE Alliance, may bring on a new partner or retool its network as well. The overall structure is in a state of flux, and it will be difficult for shippers to plan for changes too far in advance.

On the domestic front, labor contract negotiations covering U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports are underway ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. There are concerns that these discussions could become contentious and potentially lead to labor slowdowns. If that occurs, or if sufficient concern builds and convinces shippers to shift cargo to avoid potential slowdowns, the U.S. West Coast gateways will feel the pressure of a cargo surge. Further, any deterioration of conditions at the Panama Canal could put similar pressure on West Coast infrastructure.

There are plenty of risks ahead. Most industry experts agree that while the global market is showing significant resilience considering recent developments, any additional major disruption could push the system over the edge and create bottlenecks reminiscent of the pandemic era. Supply chain managers are advised to stay close to information, close to partners, and constantly evaluate contingency plans. Strong partnerships are always a good idea, and they will be more critical than ever as the global trade landscape changes.

is vice president of pricing and procurement at , a freight forwarder, customs broker and non-vessel-operating common carrier headquartered in .

Assembled with care

If you’re trying to visualize what powers growth around these days, picture 3D-printed helicopter blades and robotics, not old-style grommets.

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing produces objects by creating a series of consecutive layers, as opposed to “subtractive” manufacturing, which removes material to carve out an object. companies also use artificial intelligence, robotics, laser-beam machining and nanotechnology — and they’re all part of the growing manufacturing sector in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

With all these advancements, “there’s a spectrum of opportunities. It’s not your grandfather’s manufacturing,” says John Hull, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership. Both the Roanoke and New River valleys are finding ways to benefit significantly from the opportunities, he notes.

The Roanoke metropolitan statistical area — which includes the city of Roanoke and the counties of Roanoke, Botetourt, Franklin and Craig — is outpacing other Virginia regions in terms of manufacturing growth, accounting for about 50% of the sector’s expansion in Virginia from 2019 to 2023, and 1% of manufacturing employment growth nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That works out to about 1,500 more manufacturing jobs added over those four years, and 11.7% of all manufacturing jobs statewide are in the Roanoke region, according to BLS data.

A manufacturing consortium covering the New River Valley and Southern Virginia, led by the New River Valley Regional Commission, received a $500,000 Tech Hubs Strategic Development Grant last fall from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Only 29 applicants won grants, out of more than 400 applications.

The New River Valley proposal includes experts from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering’s Advanced Manufacturing Team, and Christiansburg-based Meld Manufacturing, which makes large-scale, metal industrial 3D printers. Radford University, New River Community College, and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center are all part of the consortium as well, and the participants expect to expand their research and work with the federal funding jolt.

Workforce development is a critical component in attracting regional economic development, says Ken Fadyen, ‘s economic development director. Photo by Don Petersen

‘To the next step’

The Roanoke and New River valleys are well-established centers of vehicle manufacturing, with Volvo Trucks’ largest truck manufacturing facility in the world situated in Dublin. In 2022, Volvo Truck’s 1.6 million-square-foot New River Valley assembly plant rolled out its first electric truck.

Kevin Byrd, executive director of the New River Valley Regional Commission, says that the federal Tech Hubs Strategic Development Grant will provide more professional opportunities in the region beyond vehicle manufacturing, especially in the burgeoning 3D printing industry. “It allows us to really dive deep, to take it to the next step. It’s allowing us to establish ourselves on the global map.

“In our backyard we have a lot of transportation industries that use additive manufacturing. They are taking materials and using 3D printers to make products,” he says. “These are primarily large-format products, such as parts for aircraft, helicopter blades and heavy truck components.”

But the consortium is not just for the most advanced manufacturing companies, according to Byrd. “We want to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers adopt and implement these new technologies, grow their business and create jobs at all skill levels.”

To do that, he says, the consortium will create a hub “to bring traditional and nontraditional partners together to learn from each other. We want to foster cross-sector relationships and make sure there is alignment.”

Katie Boswell, executive director of Onward New River Valley, a public-private economic development organization, sees the region as “highly collaborative.”

That was a big factor in winning the grant, she says: “We were meeting consistently, having leader summits and networking opportunities to talk through what would be a good fit [and] what technologies our region could focus on globally. We have a lot of industry partners that are doing a lot of work in this space.”

Workforce development has been a critical factor in attracting manufacturing to the Roanoke and New River valleys, says Ken McFadyen, Botetourt County’s director of economic development. “You could have the greatest sites, but if you don’t have a skilled workforce, it’s like you’ve got a car but no energy to fuel the car.”

The Roanoke Valley especially benefits from the workforce development efforts of Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, which has “demonstrated an eagerness to partner with industry,” says Hull. “With automation more common, workforce skills are in demand,” and VWCC can help companies “with industry-specific [workforce] training and with general skills training in areas such as math,” he says.

Amy S. White, VWCC’s dean of STEM and workforce solutions, finds that manufacturing companies in the region want soft as well as hard skills.

“They want not only technical skills, but the ability to work collaboratively. They want critical thinking skills, communications skills,” White says. “However you catalog it, they want us to create a flexible student who can adapt” to constantly changing workplaces.

But it is “customized training that we pride ourselves on” and that manufacturers are particularly interested in, White says. “We can go to a corporation and do training on the floor.”

At the college, she adds, “all of our classes are hands-on. We’re fortunate to have a lot of great equipment. We have a lab dedicated to robotics. We have hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical.” She’s especially proud of VWCC’s mechatronics program, which focuses on the integration of mechanical systems with electronics and software.

With advanced manufacturing, “technology changes at a crazy pace,” she says, and “usually academics doesn’t move at [the] speed of industry. That’s where partnerships come in.”

Transportation hub

Transportation-related manufacturing has been a mainstay of the Roanoke Valley for years, Hull notes, with long-standing clusters that serve the freight rail, heavy truck and passenger markets.

The manufacturing industry benefits from a large, diverse workforce in the Roanoke Valley, and its workforce development system is strong, according to Hull.

The Roanoke Valley is well-positioned to be a manufacturing hub, Hull says, with Interstate 81 running through its heart, while New River Valley has easy access to interstates 77 and 64, as well as I-81. ‘s Wood Haven Technology Park, an industrial park located at the intersection of interstates 81 and 581, is the region’s primary site for high-tech manufacturing. Last year, the county was awarded a $820,000 federal grant to improve Wood Haven.

Additionally, companies in the region are keeping up with technological trends and expanding to meet future needs, Hull adds: “They’ve done things to prepare for the EV [electric vehicle] industry. They’re looking at the technologies of the future.”

For example, Mack Trucks, a division of Sweden-based Volvo Group, is investing $14.5 million and adding more than 50 jobs and 72,000 square feet to expand its manufacturing operation in Roanoke County to include “an emerging medium-duty electric truck line,” the company announced in February.

Roanoke County-based Virginia Transformer Corp. is also getting into the electric vehicles market by launching a division to create components for commercial EV power chargers.

Meanwhile, in Roanoke city, manufacturing has long been a “stalwart” sector of the economy, says Marc Nelson, the city’s economic development director. “It’s one of the sectors we can always rely on. Wages are excellent. It’s been very steady over time.”

Now, he says, “we’re in a space crunch” for land for major economic development projects like the 123,000-square-foot distribution center that Amazon.com announced last year that could employ hundreds of workers at the city’s 440-acre Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology. “A lot of land is occupied. The city is 97% built out.”

To solve the problem, the city is seeking funds from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program, a state-funded initiative administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. “We received a small [$85,000] grant from the program last year to conduct engineering and design work” on another tract of land at the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology, Nelson says. “The additional funds would put us closer to developing the site, which would create additional capacity within the park.”

Growth in Salem, Botetourt

Transportation-related manufacturing has been a boon for Salem, says Tommy Miller, the city’s director of economic development. “We’ve benefited greatly with the existing and new Volvo manufacturing. We’ve got good momentum.”

In Salem, STS Group AG, a supplier for Volvo, is a new entrant. Last year, it announced it would invest $32 million to establish its North American headquarters and a manufacturing operation in Salem’s former General Electric factory, with plans to create 119 jobs. Improvements to the site are nearly complete, Miller says.

Salem also is home to Wabtec Graham-White, which produces products for the freight rail industry. Last summer, the company announced plans to invest $2.7 million to expand its existing facility to relocate its manufacturing lines for pneumatically controlled braking systems.

Miller wants to keep existing companies happy and maintain current industries while “diversifying our manufacturing base” to include even more advanced manufacturing. The goal, he says, is to “continue to have a healthy, growing ecosystem.”

In nearby Botetourt County, manufacturing accounts for 1 out of 5 jobs, and the county’s Botetourt Center at Greenfield is home to five manufacturing companies. Like Salem, the county prioritizes strong relationships with its existing manufacturers while also attracting new companies. Botetourt is succeeding at both, says McFadyen, its economic development director.

Since 2016, the county has made 11 economic development announcements; six have been expansions of existing manufacturing operations, while five are new.

Among the county’s growing companies is Universal Holdings, which announced in January that it would invest approximately $50 million to expand into a new facility for its heavy truck division. Similarly, Altec Industries, in Daleville, announced last year that it would invest $1.4 million to expand its construction equipment product line.

Beyond the Botetourt Center, McFadyen says, “We are always looking to the next large site we can develop. That may involve property . We’re constantly exploring.

“It’s important to understand the economic impact that manufacturing has in local communities. They attract dollars from outside the community. They create tax revenue. They create jobs that inject payroll into the communities,” he says. “If manufacturing doesn’t come, the economy is circular.” 

Roanoke/New River valleys at a glance

Taubman of , Roanoke Photo courtesy Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge

The Roanoke Valley region, in the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains, includes Alleghany, Botetourt, Franklin and Roanoke counties, the cities of Covington, Roanoke and Salem and the town of Vinton. Located along its namesake river, the New River Valley includes Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties, as well as the city of Radford and the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg. The combined region is home to Virginia Tech, Hollins University, Roanoke College, Ferrum College and Radford University. 

Population

Roanoke Valley: 315,251

New River Valley: 182,813 

Roanoke Valley major employers

  • Carilion Clinic
  • Wells Fargo Bank
  • HCA Virginia Health System
  • Kroger

New River Valley major employers

  • Virginia Tech
  • Volvo Trucks North America
  • Montgomery County School Board 
  • Radford University
  • Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
  • HCA Virginia Health System
  • Moog

Major attractions

The largest city along the Appalachian Trail, Roanoke is convenient to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The neon-lit Roanoke Star turns 75 years old this November. You can also visit the Taubman Museum or Center in the Square, which is home to museums, an aquarium and Mill Mountain Theatre. Also, you can catch a Salem Red Sox game or
take a boat around Smith Mountain Lake. After tailgating at Virginia Tech, you can
make time for an event at the Moss Arts Center or a movie at Blacksburg’s 1930s-era Lyric Theatre. FloydFest 2024 takes place July 24-28 at its new location in Check.

Top convention hotels

The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center

63,670 square feet of event space, 300 guest rooms

The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton
Conference Center

23,705 square feet of flexible meeting space, 147 guest rooms 

Boutique/luxury hotels

The Liberty Trust (Roanoke): 54 rooms

Fire Station One Boutique Hotel (Roanoke): seven rooms

Jackson Park Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection (Pulaski): 32 rooms

The Highlander Hotel (Radford): 124 rooms

Notable restaurants

Six & Sky Rooftop Grille (Roanoke)

Seafood, steaks

Bloom Restaurant & Wine Bar (Roanoke)

Tapas, wine bar

Gina’s “Food with Flavor” (Salem)

Comfort food

The Palisades Restaurant (Eggleston)

American cuisine

Chateau Morrisette (Floyd)

Winery, Southern cuisine

Brick House Pizza (Radford)

Pizza and wings

The Farmhouse (Christiansburg)

American cuisine, steaks

StartVirginia: HEARD AROUND VIRGINIA

Comcast said April 9 it is opening grant applications for a program benefiting small businesses across Greater Richmond. The global cable broadcasting company said the grant packages include business coaching, education sources, media schedules, creative production, technology makeovers and $5,000 in cash. Comcast’s RISE program is aimed at supporting the growth of small businesses while advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, and community investment objectives. Small businesses can apply for the grants throughout the month of May and a total of 100 grants for the Richmond area are planned to be announced in August. (Richmond Inno)

Lightshift Energy, an County that builds energy storage systems, has raised $100 million from a repeat investor to significantly expand its workforce and project pipelines over the next year. The Series B round brings Rossyln-based Lightshift’s total outside funding to $120 million. Founded in 2019 by Michael Herbert and Rory Jones, the company was previously called Delorean Power. The investment from two affiliates of Greenbacker Capital Management, a New York funder of renewable energy firms that gave the company $20 million in initial funding, has been split into two respective tranches. (DC Inno)

The Regional and Accelerator Mentoring Program () has selected four teams for its spring cohort, the organization announced April 2. RAMP serves across the and New River valleys. The cohort includes Roanoke-based Alice Innovations, a tech startup aiming to improve operating room service efficiency; Falls Church-based Bacchus Therapeutics, which makes a drug that targets specific cancer metabolic pathways; Roanoke-based Recens Respiratio, a health startup working to produce an autonomous nasal cannula system that will respond in real time to changes in patient oxygen demands; and -based Scanlily, which provides a QR code-based method for managing assets and equipment. During the 12-week cohort program, startups will receive $20,000 in nonequity funding, free office space and other perks. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Retail Alliance and Phoebus Partnership announced five small businesses in Hampton will receive $3,000 to $5,000 grants and expert consulting as part of a pilot program. The Retail Alliance is using a $100,000 Virginia Business District Resurgence grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to help existing businesses in Phoebus. Eleven businesses applied, and judges selected five: Central Gallery, Happy Hempo, Palace Jewelers, SeeWhich Books and Sly Clyde Ciderworks. (Inside Business)

A veteran-led and -owned venture capital firm is relocating its corporate headquarters from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Tysons to be closer to the types of startups it targets for investments: national security contractors led by one or more veterans. Veteran Ventures Capital is set to take up office space in the Boro Tower on Broad Street, steps away from the Greensboro Metro station and Tysons Galleria. Derren Burrell, founder and managing partner of the firm, will return to the region after doing several tours during his 20-year career with the U.S. Air Force. He joins Josh Weed, a general partner of the firm already based in Northern Virginia. (DC Inno)

Rural Southwest and Southside Virginia are in line for a new six-figure grant for entrepreneurship, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. announced March 21. The innovation partnership, which held its board meeting at the New College Institute in Martinsville, gave word that it will commit $100,000. That’s the latest grant in a series that the partnership has awarded within the region over the past couple of years. (Cardinal News)

Executive Insights: Cargo convo

Leaders from Virginia’s maritime sector share their views on offshore wind, supply-chain challenges, workforce recruitment and other factors impacting the industry.

Bridges

JEREMY BRIDGES
President and chief negotiator,
Norfolk

VB: You were vice president of labor relations for CMA CGM. What labor issues do you see arising in the next few years, especially in Hampton Roads?

Bridges: The global labor movement is more organized and energized than in decades. Like many places worldwide, Hampton Roads will see workers seeking significant increases in wages, benefits, protections against technology, and improvements to the quality of life to further solidify longshore work as some of the best blue-collar work in the commonwealth.

VB: How will the burgeoning offshore wind industry change the industry?

Bridges: Specifically for HRSA, the unloading, loading and assembly of windmill components at Portsmouth Marine Terminal translates to more work for our International Longshoreman’s Association workforce. This also includes opportunities for workforce skills expansion and training on new methods of operation and new cargo-handling equipment. My vision for the Hampton Roads Shipping Association is to be a modern organization with the most skilled and best-trained workforce on the East Coast; offshore wind operations provide another avenue to reaching that goal. Moreover, diversifying the cargo mix and types of operations in the Port of Virginia adds benefits to the Hampton Roads maritime community as we are better trained and more skilled, improving the value proposition to the existing and prospective shipping lines calling our port. 

VB: What’s one thing that would really change the maritime industry in the next five years? 

Bridges: The proliferation of artificial intelligence will undoubtedly be a big part of the industry conversation over the next five years. Getting it right in this space is of the utmost importance. There are a variety of potential shipping industry applications, affecting a wide range of things from a regulatory standpoint, workforce management, training and operations. Finding a fair and responsible way to incorporate this while bringing our union partners along is critical to our collective success.

 

Days


Commander, Naval Station Norfolk
Norfolk

VB: In addition to military personnel, you have more than 50,000 civilian employees at the base. What’s the biggest challenge in hiring and retaining qualified civilians? 

Days: One of the biggest challenges which I am certain even the civilian sector faces is remaining competitive in an environment with limited resources. Individuals have choices, and we have to be certain we are adequately compensating them and offering positions with growth potential. I think the best way we can help mitigate any hiring or retention issues is to ensure our employees feel valued and also provide them a path forward so they can continue to grow within our organizations.

VB: What do you think is important in keeping the Navy and the larger community connected? 

Days: I think it is all about access. It is so important for our local community members to know and understand what occurs on Naval Station Norfolk and all our other Hampton Roads installations. One way we try to provide this access is opening our gates to Norfolk and Portsmouth public school districts for STEM Day and to the general public for Fleet Fest each year. 

There is nothing like seeing firsthand the amazing work our sailors and civilians do on a daily basis. This certainly may inspire them to fill roles in the military, our civilian jobs or other maritime jobs in the region. Everyone can mark their calendars now for Fleet Fest 2024, which will take place on Oct. 19.

VB: What is one thing that you think will challenge or benefit the base in the next five years? 

Days: Along the theme of community engagement/outreach, I think just continuing to foster the community relationships is going to be imperative. There are so many mutually beneficial partnerships that the installation and community can initiate or continue. I believe that is going to be hugely beneficial.

 

Durfee

JAMES DURFEE
Vice president of business transformation, Riverside Logistics
Richmond

VB: What’s the biggest misconception about issues?

Durfee: The shipping community seems to have a short memory and forgets that everything that is currently happening has happened before. Another misconception I run across repeatedly is that the dynamics of one market apply to all markets; they don’t.  

VB: You’ve spent more than 30 years in the logistics and supply chain industry. How have you seen the industry change? 

Durfee: Technology. At Penn State, my alma mater, the business logistics school didn’t require computer science as a class. In today’s world, technology is the key to almost everything in the supply chain. Another area of change is the quality of people in the field. Early on, people with degrees in logistics were few and far between; most came from other disciplines and just fell into supply chain roles. Now most come from supply chain curriculums right into our space. That’s a good thing!

VB: When you taught at the University of Richmond, what lessons did you pass along to your students that would be valuable to others interested in logistics careers? 

Durfee: First, logistics has a broad application across our economy. Roughly 10% of the United States’ gross domestic product is spent on logistics-related stuff. Logistics permeates the entire economy. That means there are a lot of great roles out there for logistics majors, and these roles are impactful to the companies hiring them. The width and breadth of those roles is phenomenal. You can easily find a niche that makes the most of your skill set. The other thing is that the environment has changed dramatically from highly regulated (public) to highly deregulated (private) over the years, which has also created many opportunities for logistics students.

Fediw


Senior vice president, Virginia Maritime Association
Norfolk

VB: The past four years has been a busy and rocky time with the pandemic and supply chain problems. Have you had to adjust your priorities based on VMA members’ needs? 

Fediw: I would say that regardless of what’s happening around the globe or in the market, their overall needs remain the same — being better connected, better represented and better informed about what’s going on so that they can adapt and capitalize on any given situation. Recent years and disruptions have validated the need for a trusted, longstanding association that can pivot quickly and educate decision-makers on threats and opportunities.

 VB: What is your view on the proposed Southwest Virginia inland port promoted by state legislators from the region?

Fediw: Over the past several years we’ve successfully advocated for multimillion-dollar investments from the commonwealth for dredging and terminal infrastructure projects, ensuring that our port can receive the largest vessels in the world and service them quickly and efficiently.

Another area of focus is “outside the gate,” ensuring that cargo can quickly transit inland to the market. The key stakeholders involved in the potential inland port in Southwest Virginia are thoughtfully planning to ensure that the timing and market conditions are there for a successful investment. Overall, it has the potential to open new capacity and fluidity to better serve and attract port customers and adjacent economic development. 

VB: How did the cancellation of Siemens Gamesa’s blade production plant in Portsmouth affect Hampton Roads’ prospects as a wind energy hub? 

Fediw: While it was disappointing to see the blade facility cancellation, the market continues to demonstrate that we’re the premier offshore wind hub for the central Atlantic region. There are several major investments in the works that could bring new offshore wind-related capabilities to our region that are independent of any specific offshore wind project, further validating that Virginia is a strategic area to expand and grow because of who we are as a state and what we have to offer. 

Gregorio

TRACY GREGORIO
CEO, ; assistant treasurer, Virginia Maritime Association board

VB: Obviously, military is a major issue these days — what has been the biggest challenge for G2 Ops so far, and what do you anticipate will be a major factor in the future?

Gregorio: Securing adequate funding and resources through a federal defense authorization bill is crucial for cybersecurity. Without it, we’re not just pausing but losing ground against unseen cyberthreats. Timely financial support is essential to stay ahead. Temporary funding measures also disrupt contract management and the deployment of sophisticated technical solutions.

 VB: You’re also the cybersecurity committee chair of the Virginia Ship Repair Association. How significant is the Biden administration’s cybersecurity executive order regarding Chinese-made shipping cranes? 

Gregorio: The Biden administration’s order on Chinese cranes highlights the need for secure supply chains and infrastructure. At the Virginia Ship Repair Association, we’re guiding members to protect data and operational technology. Cultivating a culture of cybersecurity awareness at all organizational levels is our goal.

VB: A lot of maritime businesses in Virginia are working hard to hire and retain skilled employees. How is it going for your business, and where are your employees coming from?

Gregorio: Our success lies in fostering innovation, continuous learning and development. Our team, comprising cybersecurity, engineering, cloud technology and AI experts, comes from veterans, local talent and college recruits. This keeps us technologically advanced.

VB: Where do you hope to see G2 Ops in the next 10 years?

Gregorio: G2 Ops aims to lead in securing maritime operations globally, expanding our cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI and digital engineering leadership. We’re focused on delivering cost-effective, timely and high-performance solutions. Investing in technology and strengthening partnerships, we aim to be the preferred partner for secure, advanced maritime operations.

Hopkins


Managing director, Fairwinds Landing
Norfolk

VB: Siemens Gamesa canceled its $200 million project in Portsmouth, and expenses are growing in the U.S. offshore wind industry. How does Hampton Roads become an offshore wind hub in this environment? 

Hopkins: Perseverance and focus. Offshore wind in the United States is a nascent industry starting out on the heels of a pandemic. There will be challenges and delays we must overcome because the need for renewable sources of electricity will only increase. Hampton Roads has many long-term competitive advantages over other East Coast locations to attract offshore wind companies seeking robust port infrastructure, which is in short supply and high demand.

Hampton Roads has a strong maritime workforce, a central location with deep water and no air draft restrictions, large existing terminals that are being upgraded more economically than competing ports, and a great quality of life. In a long-term, apples-to-apples comparison, Hampton Roads is a hands-down better value for offshore wind companies. Hampton Roads must play to its strengths and continue to drive collaboratively towards its objective of being an offshore wind hub.

VB: What is Fairwinds Landing’s role in the logistics, shipbuilding and offshore wind industries, and where do you see it in five years? 

Hopkins: Fairwinds Landing’s role is to provide a robust, multifunction marine terminal to enable growth in key pillars of the Hampton Roads economy — shipbuilding, offshore wind and waterborne logistics. In five years, Fairwinds Landing will be a fully rebuilt facility for bustling maritime operations employing hundreds of local residents with good-paying jobs.

Fairwinds Landing will be contributing to national security by expanding the shipbuilding industrial base for nuclear aircraft carriers. Fairwinds Landing will be promoting renewable energy by providing a long-term home for offshore wind maintenance operations and manufacturing. And Fairwinds Landing will be supporting efficient supply chains for heavy lift and project cargoes. Simply put, Fairwinds Landing will be looking like an ideal location for maritime companies seeking great waterfront infrastructure to grow their businesses. 

 

VCU revives Atlanta’s Creative Circus ad school

Editor’s note: The print version of this story in the May 2024 issue of Virginia Business incorrectly reported the amount of ‘s purchase of the . acquired Creative Circus’ and intellectual assets from Texas-based Ancora Education for $75,000.

The potential bottom line wasn’t the sole motivator behind Virginia Commonwealth University’s purchase in December 2023 of the Creative Circus, a well-known Atlanta portfolio school.

“I want to be very careful that the intention is not seen as a purely business ,” says Vann Graves, executive director of the , VCU’s graduate program for advertising, branding and . “Really, it was a way to ensure that there are different levels and different pipelines and opportunities for students into the industry.”

Founded in 1995, the Creative Circus shut its doors at the end of 2022, due to declining enrollment. At one time, however, the school served as a “vital part of the pipeline into the industry,” Graves says. “And we think it’s important to keep it alive.”

Joe Maglio, CEO of McKinney, a Durham, North Carolina-based national advertising agency, agrees. McKinney provided financial support to VCU to help the school relaunch the Creative Circus. VCU purchased the Creative Circus’ branding and intellectual assets from Texas-based Ancora Education for $75,000. (McKinney and VCU declined to disclose the amount of the ad agency’s donation.)

“We’re working closely with the university to advise on the rollout of the curriculum as this new iteration of the Creative Circus is developed,” Maglio said in a statement to Virginia Business.

In late March, VCU named Berwyn Hung as director of the revived Creative Circus at VCU. Hung, who has taught at the Brandcenter since 2011, was director of program development at the Creative Circus, where he also taught, from 1998 to 2011.

He remembers feeling disappointed when he heard the school was closing. “It was hard not to be sad, because I helped build so much of what it was,” Hung says. “It was really nice finding out we had bought [the Creative] Circus, and that we’re going to be bringing it back.”

Numerous graduates from Atlanta’s Creative Circus hold top roles at advertising agencies nationwide. The school filled a niche for students who earned bachelor’s degrees in advertising but who often graduated without having worked in the creative side of the business — think copywriting, photography or design — according to David Haan, executive director of the Creative Circus from 2009 to 2022.

“If you came out with an advertising degree, it was pretty easy to [get hired] as an account executive or a media person or even a research person, but creative was kind of a different animal,” Haan says. “I don’t just show up at the Atlanta Falcons and say, ‘Hey, I’m a pretty good football player. Do you want to hire me?’”

While most students at the Creative Circus had undergraduate degrees, Hung remembers teaching some students there who weren’t yet old enough to drink and others who had a year or two of college under their belts but had decided to work on their advertising portfolios instead of chasing a diploma. 

During his tenure at Atlanta’s Creative Circus, Hung developed about two new classes a year. “We were able to do a lot of crazy things that you probably couldn’t do today without getting fired,” he recalls.

For instance, Hung would write the names of the students who were the losers of different challenges on posters, which were publicly displayed. And in one particularly tough class, called Design Deathmatch, the student who got the worst grade on a project — even if that grade was a B — failed the assignment.

“It was kind of like the Wild West,” Hung says.

Several years before the Creative Circus announced it was closing, Haan could see the market shifting. Some state schools, which had previously fed students to Atlanta’s Creative Circus, began offering creative tracks, and some ad agencies began training newcomers who demonstrated talent on the job, according to Haan.

Like its previous Atlanta-based incarnation, VCU’s Creative Circus will employ industry leaders to teach classes.

Initially, the Creative Circus at VCU will offer virtual classes, but eventually Graves would like to offer hybrid instruction. Classes could begin as soon as spring 2025, according to Graves.

The first courses will focus on copywriting, direction, design and content creation. “The goal is for it to be focused on foundational learning,” Graves says.

He hopes to keep the cost of each course between $1,200 and $1,800.

VCU’s Creative Circus will be a certificate program, but the university hopes to ultimately offer stackable credentials, which could be applied toward an undergraduate degree.

Maglio believes it’s important to offer a path for people who don’t have the inclination, time or money to attend graduate school to get a foothold in the advertising industry.

“It’s all about unleashing the untapped potential and the creativity that exists in so many people, regardless of their starting point,” he said. “Ultimately, the Creative Circus will fuel our industry by graduating a new generation of talent with diverse backgrounds and unique points of view, ready to roll on day one.”

Watercourse of study

Starting this fall, students will have a new interdisciplinary school dedicated to maritime work, and management — an upgrade from an earlier program offered through the Strome College of Business.

In September 2023, the State Council of for Virginia (SCHEV) approved ODU’s School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations, building on the university’s bachelor’s degree program in maritime and supply chain management, the only such program offered east of the Mississippi River.

As of March, the new school was still developing courses in partnership with industry experts and was expecting to launch a campaign to make students aware of its offerings, says Ricardo Ungo, an assistant professor at ODU whose research focuses on transportation, supply chain management and maritime . ODU’s maritime program will be interdisciplinary.

Although the new school will bring together classes that were offered at Strome and other parts of the university, it also will support the Maritime Consortium created in 2021 to promote and expand ODU’s maritime-related resources and support workforce and research needs for multiple local industries.

The new school also will offer a wide range of interdisciplinary classes, Ungo says. “The idea is to open up the opportunities for students from different majors across the university to learn about supply chain logistics and maritime operations.”

Mileta M. Tomovic, Mitsubishi-Kasei professor of at ODU and interim director of the new school, says he expects some students already enrolled in supply chain and maritime operations courses at Strome to move to the new school in the fall.

The program “will be pulling from a number of different departments at the university to offer the best education that ODU can offer to make it broad, yet targeted, all at the same time,” says Deborah Waters, a -based maritime attorney and advisory board chair for ODU’s School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations.

Having served a decade on the Virginia Port Authority board, Waters sees ODU’s new supply chain and logistics school as a continuation of the state’s investment in the and connected industries.

In 2014, the port was in financial doldrums, having lost about $120 million over the past five years, but then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe injected about $1.5 billion in state funding to turn around the port, also hiring CEO John Reinhart, who retired in early 2021, having brought the port back to profitability.

Waters says the state’s 2014 investment showed recognition of “the value of the port as a catalyst for commercial activity in the commonwealth and in the region.”

Today, the port is thriving, but a major challenge to maritime employers is growing the industry’s talent pipeline so they can fill tens of thousands of jobs over the coming decades. 

About 40 people serve on the supply chain school’s advisory board, Tomovic says, and many are involved with local, regional and international maritime employers — from to the Port of Virginia — as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation, the International Longshoremen’s Association and the Virginia Maritime Association.

The members of this group “have been instrumental in pushing forward with this idea of the School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations,” Tomovic says. “They see that there is a significant demand for qualified personnel.”

In Hampton Roads alone, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council anticipates the need for at least 30,000 new shipbuilding hires just to work on Navy submarines. 

While parents and students are interested in knowing about employment possibilities before committing to a multiyear college program, ODU strives to help students “understand what the job entails and what are the pathways for the future,” Tomovic says. In turn, the school is focused on developing internships and other opportunities with local businesses for students.

One example of a company looking to fill thousands of jobs in the next decade is Newport News Shipbuilding. In mid-March, the company announced it plans to hire 19,000 skilled trade workers within the next decade, as the Huntington Ingalls Inc.subsidiary works to deliver the Navy’s order of nuclear-powered submarines.

“They are good-paying jobs that take skill and education,” Waters says. “They’re one of the companies that not only needs tradesmen like welders and pipefitters, [but] they also need more advanced workforce capability like engineers — they’re screaming for engineers and naval architects and accountants and logistics people.” And these are all jobs that ODU’s new school can prepare students to land in the future.

“Maritime is something that we are perfectly positioned to be involved with,” Tomovic says. “We do have a significant number of companies that are present here, and their support and their involvement with us makes us in a unique position to create this school that is going to meet their needs.”  

Virginia 500 Spotlight: ERIK H. NEIL

FIRST JOB: Busboy at Washington Golf & Country Club in

HOBBY/PASSION: Traveling, especially to Italy

HISTORIC PERSON I WISH I COULD MEET: [Chrysler Corp. founder] Walter Chrysler, who created this great collection and gave it to the people

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: Princeton Tigers basketball

RECENT BOOK READ: “Stay True: A Memoir,” by Hua Hsu

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Trust, but verify.

SOMEWHERE I’D LIKE TO VISIT: Mexico City

WHAT SPARKED MY CAREER PATH: I visited the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.

DID YOU KNOW?  Beatles legend Paul McCartney’s photography exhibit, “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm,” made the second stop on its global world tour and its U.S. debut at the Chrysler from December 2023 through early April. The exhibition of about 250 photos taken by McCartney during the height of Beatlemania attracted about 60,000 visitors to the , some from as far as California. The next stops for “Eyes of the Storm” are New York’s Brooklyn Museum, then Tokyo and Portland, Oregon.   

Rising alarm

Over the years, scientists have warned about sea-level rise, especially in Norfolk, which has the highest rate on the East Coast.

“Norfolk is very flat. When you see a small increase in water levels, a wide part of land floods in response,” says Molly Mitchell, a researcher at the , which issues annual sea-level report cards for 32 coastal communities in the United States.

Hampton Roads as a whole will probably see between 1 and 3 feet in sea-level rise by 2050, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Mitchell says that’s just the beginning. “Change [in the rate of sea-level rise] is happening more rapidly. Between 4 and 6 feet of sea-level rise by 2100 is considered pretty likely.”

It’s hard for non-scientists to picture the overall impact of oceans even a foot above where they are now, but researchers recently produced the Global Maritime Trends 2050 report, which forecasts that about a third of the world’s 3,800 ports will be unusable by 2050 due to sea-level rise — particularly those in Houston, Shanghai and Mexico. The report, which was produced in collaboration with Economist Impact, recommends that ports step up efforts to decarbonize and boost infrastructure resilience and efficiency.

While the was not singled out in the report, Norfolk International Terminals, its largest maritime facility, is vulnerable to storm surge . Mitchell contends that everything on land at the port has the potential to flood, including buildings and roads leading to the port.

“Part of the solution is to identify where the problems could occur and look at ones that are easily fixed, such as raising low-lying roads on the way to the port,” she says. “Flooding is not just an issue for the Port of Virginia, but sea-level rise is higher at the Port of Virginia than at the Port of Charleston, so they will have to deal with that sooner.”

Officials at the Port of Virginia say they’re working on the issue, although so far, sea-level rise has not raised significant concerns among port customers.

“That’s not to say that we don’t take sea-level rise seriously,” says Cathie J. Vick, the port’s chief development and public affairs officer. “Our assessment is that sea-level rise will have minimal impacts on our operations because there is already ample space between the projected median high-tide line and the decks of our berths. We currently do not experience tidal flooding at our terminals, but from time to time may have standing water from prolonged rain events.”

After conducting critical infrastructure surveys, port officials raised power stations to protect them from flooding events, such as sea-level rise, tidal surges and torrential rain. “We have very specific construction guidelines to ensure our investments will remain viable over the long term,” Vick says. “We are very fortunate because we are not in a position to have to begin planning a retreat from any of our terminals or offices.” 

Instead, the port is focused on slowing climate change and its effects, such as sea-level rise. According to NOAA, moving to more renewable energy sources is starting to slow sea-level rise. “We have committed to becoming a net-zero [carbon] operation by 2040 and are taking deliberate actions to use clean fuels to move cargo and power our operations,” Vick notes.

This year, the port became the first major U.S. East Coast port to run its entire operation from all carbon-free energy sources. The power purchase agreement with , in cooperation with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, will allow the port to offset its carbon footprint by reducing carbon emissions 45% per container.

“From the big ship-to-shore to the forklifts in the shops, more than 50% of the equipment we use is electric or hybrid-electric,” Vick says. “This effort and investment will continue until we have hit our 2040 goal [of becoming carbon neutral].”

Plans in place

In addition to the port, the cities of Norfolk and are also fully involved in flood management to protect their assets.

The issue is particularly acute in Norfolk. With Norfolk’s risk of flooding and damage from coastal storms on an upward trajectory, the city and the are collaborating on the Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, a combination of structural, nonstructural and natural measures to counteract flooding that will be implemented over the next decade. Known as Resilient Norfolk, the
$2.6 billion project includes storm-surge barriers, almost 9 miles of floodwalls and levees, 11 tide gates and 10 pump stations, as well as home elevations, basement fills, oyster reefs, wetlands mitigation and living shorelines.

“We have $40 billion worth of real estate in the city, including the Port of Virginia, the Naval Base, universities and the region’s only Level 1 trauma center, that will benefit from these measures,” says Kyle Spencer, Norfolk’s chief resilience officer. “For every $1 million we do in flood projects, we will typically see $6 million back in benefits.”

The city will fund 35% — or $931 million — of the project, while federal funds, including $400 million awarded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will pay for 65%.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin included $73.85 million for Resilient Norfolk in his 2024 budget, but the General Assembly reduced that allocation to $25 million, although the state’s 2024-26 budget won’t be finalized before mid-May at the earliest.

Molly Mitchell is a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which issues annual sea-level report cards for 32 U.S. coastal communities. Photo by Kristen Zeis

“We’re working with the governor’s office to find additional state funds,” Spencer says. “That’s a continuous effort, but the cost of not doing anything is far worse. It’s not just about property damage. There’s a huge amount of risk to personal safety.”

Currently under design, the first phase of Resilient Norfolk will include a system of floodwalls with a levee and surge barriers from downtown to Ghent. Construction of a downtown floodwall is slated to be completed in the early 2030s. In the second phase, floodwalls and barriers will be installed to decrease storm surge from entering Pretty Lake at Shore Drive. The design portion is expected to get underway this year, with construction continuing through early 2028.

Flooding impacts at the port will be addressed in phase three when a storm surge barrier will be installed from Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) to Lambert’s Point, where construction of the maritime operations and center is underway. Construction on the storm barrier, meanwhile, is expected to begin in late 2027. The city is also working with the port to develop shoreline projects to mitigate wave activity against NIT.

“That will be designed to stop catastrophic flooding from going into the Lafayette River and flooding Hampton Boulevard and key port assets,” Spencer notes. “The port is a working waterfront, so we can’t really put a floodwall up, but we can raise equipment off the ground and build deployable floodwalls to put in place before storms and put them around critical equipment like water pump stations and electric substations.”

Phase four will include construction of floodwalls, storm surge barriers and tide gates to diminish storm surge from entering Broad Creek at I-264. In the final phase,  homes and other structures will be elevated and basements filled in flood-prone areas of the city, including southside Norfolk and Willoughby.

After residents in some of those areas questioned why their neighborhoods would not be protected with floodwalls, the city asked the Army Corps of Engineers to re-evaluate the plan. The reevaluation will take three to five years at a cost of $4 million to $6 million.

Spencer notes that Resilient Norfolk, while accounting for sea-level rise, is primarily designed to deal with catastrophic storms. “We’re overdue for one of these large storm events,” he adds. “We’re seeing the environment changing and rainfall happening at a faster rate, and we need to adapt.”

Flooding makes beachhead

Resilience is also a priority in Virginia Beach where high tides in low-lying areas can lead to flooding even on sunny days, a situation known as recurrent flooding. In 2021, voters overwhelmingly approved a $568 million bond referendum to install tidal gates at West Neck Creek, the Lesner Bridge, Rudee Inlet, Elizabeth River and Back Bay, pump stations and pipes to improve stormwater drainage and minimize inundation from heavy rains and tidal flooding, and restoration of the Elizabeth River shoreline. The 10-year plan also includes about
$2.6 billion worth of improvements, from elevating roads to converting the 100-acre Bow Creek Municipal Golf Course into a stormwater park to mitigate flooding in surrounding neighborhoods. 

In addition, Virginia Beach plans to construct a marsh terrace on Back Bay to restore about 300 acres of wetland lost over the last 350 years. Designed to prevent erosion, the berm will be the first of its kind on the East Coast.

“They’ve done a lot of these on the Gulf Coast, but it’s never been looked at before on the East Coast,” says C.J. Bodnar, technical services manager for the . “It will recreate lost wetlands and could lead to a slight reduction in flooding.”

Along with the bond referendum, Virginia Beach has obtained more than $40 million in grants. “We continue to look for state and federal grants to help with the cost of these projects,” says Mike Tippin, the stormwater engineering center’s administrator.

Mitigating sea-level rise isn’t “just about property damage. There’s a huge amount of risk to personal safety,” says Kyle Spencer, Norfolk’s chief resilience officer. Photo by Mark Rhodes

Despite the costs, Tippin and Bodnar stress that the city cannot put off addressing sea-level rise.

“If we don’t do anything, we’ve got the city of Virginia Beach becoming the island of Virginia Beach,” Bodnar says.

Overall, Virginia has led the Southeast U.S. in adapting to climate change, but there’s still much to accomplish, says Jessica Whitehead, executive director of Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience. “The state has been moving forward and taking action despite not having endured a major storm to force everyone to the table. That says something about the scale of climate change — that we have so far to go.”

Whitehead adds that multiple strategies are needed to address sea-level rise and other climate change issues and build resilience. “There’s never a single project that will fix 100% of the problems. You have to figure out the menu of options and choose what’s feasible depending on how much funding you have.”  

This story has been updated since publication.

Spies in the sky?

High-level federal concerns over Chinese-made ship-to-shore ramped up in February after issued an executive order addressing and espionage risks the cranes pose at U.S. ports.

Then in early March, a congressional investigation revealed cellular modems had been found on some Chinese crane components at a U.S. port and a modem
was discovered in another port’s server room — although the specific ports were not disclosed — according to The Wall Street Journal.

Chinese state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., known as , manufactures about 80% of all cranes in use at U.S. ports — including all 27 of the ‘s ship-to-shore cranes. The port has eight more cranes on order from ZPMC, including four that will be delivered in December and another four set to be delivered in August 2025.

However, notes Cathie Vick, the Virginia Port Authority’s chief development and public affairs officer, there have been no reports of cybersecurity breaches involving Port of Virginia cranes, and the federal government has not alerted the port about any instances of Chinese espionage involving Virginia cranes.

Nonetheless, “it’s incumbent on the industry to stay vigilant,” says Derek Miller, the American Association of Port Authorities’ government relations director.

During congressional testimony in late February, Rear Adm. John Vann, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command, said the Coast Guard had found “vulnerabilities that are there by design” in crane software networks but had not found malware or Trojan horse-type software.

At the Port of Virginia, “before any new cranes are put into service, they are subject to a detailed forensic cyberanalysis that is performed by one of the nation’s federal law enforcement agencies,” Vick said in a Feb. 21 statement after Biden released his executive order expanding the Coast Guard’s authority to address cybersecurity concerns. “New cranes awaiting analysis are isolated with dedicated firewalls to ensure there is no contact with port networks or the internet.”

Additionally, the port undergoes regular cybersecurity exercises with federal entities, and some of the regulations implemented in Biden’s executive order, like mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents or active cyberthreats, were already included in the port’s protocols.

The AAPA is supportive of the Biden administration’s actions, Miller says, “particularly the executive order, which really was aimed at bringing the Coast Guard’s authorities when it comes to cybersecurity up to the level that they are with physical security.”

The White House also announced it would direct more than $20 billion in federal funds to invest in port infrastructure over the next five years, including supporting domestic of cranes from a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japanese company Mitsui E&S Co.

Following Biden’s order, members of two U.S. House of Representatives committees sent a letter to ZPMC that made public the investigators’ discovery of modems at U.S. ports. The Coast Guard also issued a Feb. 23 directive listing risk management steps for owners and operators of Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes.

“Obviously, the Port of Virginia will follow whatever the directions are and the law, but having said that … there’s been no, at least publicized, documented issue with the cranes in terms of their software,” says Aubrey Layne Jr., board chair of the Virginia Port Authority. “And so … for the policies to come out, that was a little bit perplexing.

“Any Chinese-owned companies now are being scrutinized, and we get it, so we want to make sure that we are compliant, but it is very political right now, and we’re trying to stay out of all that,” notes Layne, who served as Virginia’s secretary of finance and, before that, the state’s secretary. “We’re just trying to run our business in a safe way for the American people.”