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Submarine sandwich

Hiring and retaining workers remains a challenge everywhere, but it’s particularly urgent in the submarine-building industry.

The Navy is aiming to transform its submarine fleet, with the first nuclear-powered Columbia-class sub primed to arrive in 2028, along with production of more Virginia-class vessels.

That’s bringing plenty of work to — which is tasked with building two Virginia-class boats a year and producing six modular components for every Columbia-class submarine — as well as other Virginia companies supporting its mission. But the increased workload is also bringing worries about who they’ll hire to do all this work.

In March, announced it planned to hire 3,000 tradespeople this year and 16,000 more skilled workers by the end of the decade.

The Navy’s total submarine upgrade, says Hampton Roads Workforce Council President and Shawn Avery, “will require more than 100,000 skilled workers across the country with training necessary to complete this task,” including roughly 30,000 workers in Hampton Roads. Avery has said that the deficit could grow to 40,000 workers by the end of the decade if efforts aren’t taken to boost the workforce.   

In November 2023, the council was awarded $14 million by the U.S. Department of Defense to bolster the regional workforce and meet the needs of the Navy’s submarine industrial base and related industries. The award will go toward launching 10 projects that the workforce council will run, with oversight by the Navy and the Department of Defense.

According to the workforce council’s announcement last fall, the 10 projects will “add capacity to training facilities, market the industry across the region, connect veterans and transitioning service members to maritime careers, and expand outreach to local middle and high school students.” The new projects will run in conjunction with four existing maritime talent pipeline programs in Hampton Roads, funded by an earlier federal grant.   

These are positive developments, but it’s nonetheless hard to fill some maritime jobs, says Will Fediw, the Virginia Maritime Association’s senior vice president.

“We’re hearing from our statewide membership that finding workers is an issue across the board,” he says. “In some cases, companies are literally just looking for people that will show up on time for work each day, and it’s still tough.”

Fediw says that for the VMA, which represents more than 450 member companies, there’s still an awareness gap that prevents businesses from filling open jobs. 

“Training and educational institutions are responding to offer programs to better meet the needs of the industry. However, we’re hearing that many of them have open capacity, so we view it as a marketing and awareness problem,” Fediw explains. “Our association has been emphasizing the need to get into the K-12 space to introduce young learners to maritime and supply chain careers.”

Growing the pool

The council has been working on maritime talent recruitment for several years, and it’s received state and federal money for job training programs in the past, including an $11 million grant from the U.S. Administration in 2022 to develop a maritime talent pipeline known as the Regional System.

So far, 363 people are enrolled in maritime training through the regional training initiative, Avery says, and 309 have graduated from the program. Among the offerings are training for maritime welders, structural fitters, sheet metal fabricators, electrical technicians, outside machinists, wind turbine technicians and commercial drivers.

With the $14 million in DOD funding, the council plans to physically expand training spaces at New Horizons Regional Education Center, Paul D. Camp Community College, Virginia Peninsula Community College and public schools, as well as expanding the Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) program in other Hampton Roads school systems.

Students in middle and high schools in , Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News will have opportunities to learn more about maritime jobs and what skills are needed by the industry, Avery says. Also, federal funding will help the workforce council align and standardize training for skilled tradespeople, as well as increase outreach among local veterans and transitioning members of the military and their family members, making them aware of maritime jobs and training opportunities.

“While it seems that we are making progress, skilled trade careers are often still not viewed as having the same worth and importance as those requiring a four-year college degree,” Fediw says. “Discussions around the dinner table need to be had regarding the stability and financial benefits of alternative career paths.”

As with most workforce ventures, Hampton Roads maritime job training initiatives require partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Virginia Peninsula Community College and the City of Newport News, as well as VPCC’s foundation and the Newport News Economic Development Authority, have partnered to acquire a new training facility in southeast Newport News, says Todd Estes, VPCC’s vice president of workforce development and innovation.

“Newport News EDA generously contributed the site, and the college received federal funding support from the submarine industrial base,” Estes says. “The facility will initially offer three programs supporting the shipbuilding and ship repair industry, including welding, marine electrical and structural fitting.”

Design work started in February for the new facility, which will be located near Newport News Shipbuilding, with completion expected by early 2025, Estes says.

As for the council’s anticipated timeline for the DOD-funded programs, “the projects approved and allocated in fiscal year 2023 are well underway,” Avery says, and this year’s plans are being vetted by SIB and “are currently being approved and executed.”  

Prime for development

In the past year, Amazon.com continued its march across the commonwealth, announcing plans to build a 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center and a 219,000-square-foot delivery station in , which are collectively expected to produce more than 1,000 jobs.

About 60% the size of the Pentagon, Virginia’s second largest building belongs to Amazon — a 3.8 million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center in that opened in October 2022. The e-tail giant says it has invested more than $109 billion in Virginia since 2010, creating more than 36,000 jobs and contributing more than $72 billion to the state’s gross domestic product.

Amazon opened its first Virginia fulfillment center in 2006 in Loudoun County. With the Virginia Beach facilities, the Fortune Global 500 company will have 14 fulfillment centers and 17 delivery stations in the state, as well as its -based HQ2 East Coast headquarters campus, 15 Whole Foods Markets, five Amazon Fresh stores and three Prime Now Hubs.

Amazon Web Services, meanwhile, spent nearly $52 million between 2011 and 2021 to set up data centers in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, and in 2023 pledged to invest an additional $35 billion to build more data centers in the state by 2040.

Not surprisingly, economic development officials love Amazon, especially as its influence spreads beyond Northern Virginia.

Doug Smith, president and of the , says the Virginia Beach Amazon jobs help “cement the region’s dominance in fulfillment and technological innovation within the distribution space.”

The new delivery station is expected to open in time for the 2024 holiday season, and the fulfillment center is expected to come online in late 2025, an Amazon spokesperson told Virginia Business in March. About 1,500 workers work at Suffolk’s $230 million fulfillment facility in Northgate Commerce Park. While there’s no specific push for hiring right now, there are open positions there, Amazon says.

Smith, who was previously ‘s city manager and served as deputy city manager for Virginia Beach and Portsmouth, views Amazon’s investments in Hampton Roads as a net positive.

“Not only is Amazon already employing thousands of Hampton Roads residents and raising awareness of our strategic location for distribution, through their robotics fulfillment centers they are empowering workers to learn about the latest in robotics and automation,” Smith says. “Amazon offers tremendous development and upskilling services in conjunction with our state and local partners, and these skilled employees will attract not only more companies but also emerging industries like robotics and uncrewed systems manufacturing.”

Economist Vinod Agarwal, deputy director of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, sees Amazon as filling a gap left by Norfolk Southern, the Fortune 500 railroad company that moved its headquarters from Norfolk to Atlanta in 2021.

Norfolk Southern’s departure, he says, caused some companies to question whether to locate in Hampton Roads, but Amazon’s increasing presence helps reassure businesses, especially companies with similar warehousing and logistics needs.

“Anytime you can have firms of significant importance, known quantities so to speak, come to this area, that obviously has effects on other companies for their decision-making processes,” Agarwal says, noting that Amazon coming to Hampton Roads is “a big plus.”

Speculative buildings are under construction for the first time in Suffolk, following Amazon’s activity and the Port 460 Logistics Center’s development by Matan Cos. and Rockefeller Group, which also builds interest, Agarwal notes.

“We’ve always asked, ‘If we build it, will they come?’ Well, they’re here, so the answer is, yes, 100%,” says Gregg Christoffersen, who heads JLL’s industrial market for the region.

Port 460, a 5 million-square-foot industrial warehouse complex, is being developed on 540 acres in Suffolk near U.S. routes 460 and 58, with construction expected to begin this summer. According to Matan, the first phase will include about 2.4 million square feet of space, costing between $300 million to $350 million, with expected delivery in 2025. The Virginia Port Authority announced in January it will give the City of Suffolk $1 million to improve Route 460, part of an $86 million initiative to widen the road.

Agarwal notes that Hampton Roads localities working together — rather than competing against each other — is starting to pay off in terms of attracting big companies like Amazon to the region. But the , he adds, is a big factor, too.

Although Amazon isn’t the only player in town when it comes to Virginia’s industrial market, it has had an outsized impact on industrial in Virginia Beach, Suffolk and other parts of Hampton Roads, says Christoffersen. 

As Agarwal puts it, after companies like Amazon enter a region, they “expect lots of other businesses to come in.”  

Subs going Down Under

A 2021 agreement between , the United Kingdom and the United States should reap benefits in Hampton Roads soon.

Dubbed for the three participating nations, the international agreement calls for the U.S. and the U.K. to share nuclear propulsion technology with Australia, with the Royal Australian Navy set to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered , including three to five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s.

That means more business for -based Huntington Ingalls Industries, the Fortune 500 shipbuilder and parent company of Newport News , as well as the prospect of Australian shipbuilders setting up shop in Virginia.

“AUKUS is a defense-focused alliance to promote economic prosperity and regional stability in the Indo-Pacific with Australia, which has always been one of our best allies, and the U.K., which has historic ties to Australia,” explains , D-Virginia. “Its goal is to develop joint capacity so we can promote stability and defer aggression by China or anyone else who wants to create trouble in the region.”

Kaine, who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, was instrumental in passing provisions to implement and strengthen the agreement, which he says will create jobs in Virginia over the next decade.

AUKUS has two pillars, the first laying out a roadmap for Australia to develop the capacity to operate, build and maintain nuclear subs over the next 30 years. As a signatory to the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Australia currently does not have a well-developed nuclear industry, but the U.S. and the U.K. have shared nuclear propulsion technology for more than 60 years and now share that information with Australia under the new agreement.

Nuclear-powered submarines, being quiet, faster and less detectable, are highly preferred to diesel-powered subs, Kaine says.

The second pillar of AUKUS is more of a carte blanche for collaboration among the three nations in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, hypersonic capabilities and aerospace investments, and that in particular excites Kaine.

“I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities for Virginia companies and universities on this more open-ended ‘pillar two’ side,” he says. “We have a lot of innovators in Virginia. I think there’s a role for Virginia companies that have space assets. There will be a lot of opportunities to innovate in some of these areas like cyber and AI, and there’s going to be some great opportunities for Virginia businesses in that as well.”

What’s happening now

With decades of nuclear shipbuilding experience, HII is already collaborating with leading defense companies in the U.K. to support AUKUS and has engaged with more than 200 Australian companies hoping to qualify to become HII suppliers, according to Michael Lempke, who heads HII’s Australia business efforts.

While the greater goals of AUKUS are defense-oriented, the agreement is “an unprecedented opportunity for the integration and expansion of industrial capacity” across the three nations, explains Lempke. “We are well-positioned to leverage our longstanding expertise in nuclear shipbuilding, workforce , supply chain analytics, industrial maintenance and sustainment, and other related defense technologies to support our trilateral partners.”

(QMS), based in the suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, is one of the pioneering companies to take the plunge into Virginia’s waters. The company, run by Crystal Kennedy and her husband, Director Shaun Kennedy, specializes in nondestructive testing and inspection of materials used in marine vessels, typically metals.

In mid-April, QMS announced it would start a training school for Australian shipbuilders in temporarily, with plans to find a permanent facility in Newport News, so Australian students can learn from Hampton Roads experts. Although the Kennedys opened a U.S. head office in Thomasville, Georgia, in February, this is their first venture in Virginia.

“We put about 10,000 miles on the car in the little bit of time we were here, visiting potential partners and locations,” Crystal Kennedy says. “There were many places chasing us to lay our heads there, but Virginia really, really shone bright for us, especially Hampton Roads with its naval center of excellence.”

AUKUS’ success hinges on preparing a skilled workforce capable of supporting Australia’s long road to sovereign nuclear-powered submarines, Lempke notes, and HII is already partnering with several academic institutions in Australia toward that objective.

QMS is also part of this larger international effort, Crystal Kennedy says, and she hopes the Newport News facility, where hundreds of Australian technicians will be trained each year, will be open and operating by the end of the year.

“As of right now, America has different standards from Australia and the U.K., so we need to train people in all the procedures and requirements as we start to share information and [are] able to test any components in the whole of the trilateral agreement,” she says. “So, there won’t be any sending back parts or not being able to fulfill needs in the supply chain because the technicians coming out of our training facility will already have that knowledge.”  

This story has been updated since publication.

Riding the silver tsunami

As a registered nurse unit coordinator and charge nurse at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Andrea Samuel spends her days communicating with doctors and nurses in addition to administering direct bedside care.

A Miami native, Samuel entered nursing school at age 19 and has worked for Sentara since 1991. She celebrated her 78th birthday in March and has no plans to slow down.

“At this stage in my life, this is where I need to be,” says Samuel, who’s been a registered nurse for more than 50 years and earned her bachelor’s degree when she was 73. “I believe as long as you’re breathing, you should be able to make some contribution, and it just so happens that I’m able to work, my health is pretty good, and so I decided to stay where I am for now.”

Samuel isn’t alone in choosing to work later in life. According to a December 2023 report from Pew Research Center, nearly 20% of Americans 65 and older are still in the , nearly twice the percentage of older workers from 35 years ago. And nearly two-thirds of today’s older workers are working full time, compared with nearly half of older workers in 1987.

Healthier and, if they’re still employed, making more money than previous generations when adjusted for inflation, today’s older Americans have various reasons for working later. For some, it’s simply because they enjoy it. For others, concerns over economic disruptions and rising interest rates have made it a necessity.

A record 4.1 million Americans are turning 65 this year, part of a surge expected to continue for the next five years, according to analysis by Jason Fichtner, chief economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center and executive director of the Retirement Income Institute at the Alliance for Lifetime Income. Roughly 11,200 Americans turn 65 each day, according to estimates from the Retirement Income Institute, and the percentage of people 65 and older has doubled from what it was 35 years ago.

This so-called “silver tsunami” is having a major impact on workplaces as companies contend with the eventual retirements of seasoned employees who are often in senior and management positions.

The graying of our country is also playing out in national politics. President Joe Biden will turn 82 two weeks after this November’s presidential election; his GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump, turns 78 this June. According to a February ABC News/Ipsos poll, 86% of Americans think Biden is too old to serve another term as president; 62% feel the same way about Trump.

As our country ages, what does this mean for its workforce?

“I still need good benefits,” says nuclear pipe welder Johnnie R. Rainey, 74, with . “It’s a good company, and I just enjoy coming to work every day.” Photo by Ashley Cowan/

Silver lining

For 52 years, Johnnie R. Rainey has worked as a welder at Newport News Shipbuilding.

“I’ve been blessed,” says the 74-year-old nuclear pipe welder for Huntington Ingalls Industries. “I still need good benefits. It’s a good company, and I just enjoy coming to work every day.”

Rainey says his job at the shipyard allowed him to put his two sons through college, and that he wants to work as long as the quality of his welding holds out. Plus, “if I’m not working, I’ll just have a lot more chores around the house,” he says.

In some ways, Rainey is a throwback to bygone times. Back in 1880, nearly three-quarters of men 65 and older worked. Over time, that share slowly declined, reaching as low as 11% in 1987, according to Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew who has studied America’s older workforce. Ever since 1987, the percentage of older Americans in the workforce has been on the rise for several reasons, including fewer employers offering pensions and the fact that some workplaces are intentionally making changes to accommodate older workers.

Demographers say older Americans will make up a large percentage of the workforce for the foreseeable future. Generally, baby boomers had fewer children than their parents did, and boomers’ children have had fewer children than their parents.

Recent labor shortages also are fueling the demand for older Americans to remain in the workforce.

“Employers are facing a dearth of workers,” Fry explains. “The working-age population is not growing very fast. Not as many immigrants are coming in. The fact that more older Americans are working, that is an important contributor now to labor force growth.”

Employment estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics project that 57% of labor force growth between 2022 and 2032 will come from older working Americans.

“You want to have a growing economy?” Fry asks. “You need more workers.”

Hamilton Lombard, a demographer with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, says that nearly all of Virginia’s population growth since 2010 has come from its 60 and older population, largely due to birth and death rates and people living longer. During the 2010s, Virginia’s 18 to 59 workforce grew by just 1%, while the share of workers 60 and older rose by 46%.

From 1990 to the present, the share of Virginians in the labor force between ages 65 and 69 rose from 23% to 37%. And between 1990 and 2022, the share of working Virginians in their 80s rose from 2.7% to 4.6%.

“There’s basically no growth happening in the workforce unless you’re talking about people over 60,” Lombard says. “A lot of it is people who are retiring later than they have in the past, which is helping keep the labor force going.”

Other factors also are leading today’s Americans to work longer than previous generations. Jobs have become less physically demanding, contributing to longevity, and remote work has made it easier for older workers to keep punching the virtual clock. Not only are they healthier than prior cohorts of older workers, but they’re better educated, meaning more of them occupy white collar jobs that allow them to work longer.

The changing nature of retirement plans is also a factor. The pensions of yesterday have given way to 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans without mandatory retirement dates. Changes to Social Security in the 1980s effectively moved the retirement age for full benefits from 65 to 67. And a 2022 survey by Retirement Living found that nearly 70% of boomers were worried that they wouldn’t have enough savings to be able to retire, leading them to work longer. Participants in the survey reported having an average of $680,000 in retirement savings, far from the $1.2 million they said they would need to feel secure for retirement.

These converging trends may also be setting the stage for greater societal pressures. According to U.Va., the average American will be 38.6 years old in 2049, meaning that nearly half of the country will be in their 40s or older. This could pose a problem because when older people drop out of the workforce, it adds pressure on pensions, health care systems and entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

As the share of the population over the age of 65 won’t decline anytime soon, Lombard says, these challenges are here to stay, given that many boomers may live another 30 years. (The population of Americans over age 100 is expected to more than quadruple by 2054, growing from 101,000 now to about 422,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections.)  This is why Lombard takes issue with the term “silver tsunami.”

“It’s accurate in the sense that it’s a huge wave hitting us,” he says, but adds it might be more fitting to think of it “like a glacier. It’s coming and it’s not going to go away. It’s going to be permanently different, because we’re going to have a much larger share of population over 65 than we do now.”

Jean Moses, 76, left retirement to become director of estates and trusts at accounting firm Carmines, Robbins & Co. “I stayed at home for four months and was bored,” she says. Photo by Mark Rhodes

‘Unretiring’

Jean Moses retired once before. She didn’t like it.

“I stayed at home for four months and was bored,” says the 76-year-old director of estates and trusts at Newport News-based accounting firm Carmines, Robbins & Co. “The only thing that came out of my staying home that four months was the knowledge that our 2,600-square-foot house was not big enough for my husband and I to be [together] 24/7.”

After that brief flirtation with retirement in 2014, Moses returned to a workforce that desperately needed her.

Because becoming a CPA requires coursework beyond a bachelor’s degree and passing a difficult exam, and historically has not paid as well as jobs in tech and finance,  fewer young people have been entering the profession in recent decades. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants reported in April 2023 that 75% of working CPAs were expected to retire in the next 15 years. Meanwhile, between 2010 and 2021, the number of CPA exam candidates dropped by 36%. Moses says it’s common for “retired” CPAs to work during tax season.

“There’s a tremendous drain rate in the public accounting industry,” Moses says. “Staff are extremely short, so there’s lots of older people.”

While the accounting industry’s labor shortage is particularly acute, it points to a larger trend. An estimated 56% of retiring baby boomers hold leadership positions. When they retire, that’s a lot of knowledge walking out the door.

With most having worked for at least 39 years, older workers have been called the backbone of the U.S. labor force; many quit their jobs only three times on average over the course of their careers. Compare that with millennials, who have an average tenure of 3.2 years at each job.

According to a March report from T. Rowe Price, the pandemic led to 2.4 million excess retirements in 2020, but by March 2022, about 1.5 million retirees had re-entered the workforce. Roughly half of these “unretired” workers reported feeling the financial need to return, while 45% said they chose to work because of social and emotional benefits.

By 2030, most boomers will have left the workforce, and there is concern whether younger generations will be ready to take over those jobs. A report by management consulting firm Korn Ferry forecasts that by 2030, more than 85 million jobs will go unfilled because there won’t be enough skilled people to take them, a talent shortage that could mean $8.5 trillion in unrealized revenues annually.

Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP, says it’s important for employers to consider ways to encourage mentorship, transfer knowledge and plan for succession at their companies.

Becky Sawyer, executive vice president and chief people officer for -based , says that the health care provider has been examining these issues for some time.

“We’ve put into place mentoring programs,” she says. “We’ve created opportunities for senior colleagues to cultivate younger talent. We’re doing lots of talent calibration that allows us to identify people who are in early career tracks to put them through leadership development.”

Sentara recognizes the value of its older workers, Sawyer says. When the pandemic hit, the health care corporation reached out to all of its retirees to see if they would return to the workplace. Many did.

“Older workers are highly productive,” Sawyer says. “They’ve got valuable perspectives, problem-solving skills, institutional knowledge and skills and abilities that our newer workers … don’t always have.”

“There are huge benefits of older employees remaining active in their professions,” says Bill Crutchfield, 81, of Charlottesville-based electronics retailer Crutchfield. “We have far more institutional knowledge about our organizations than younger employees.” Photo courtesy

No expiration date

At 81, William G. “Bill” Crutchfield Jr., founder and CEO of Charlottesville-based electronics retailer Crutchfield Corp., regularly works eight to nine hours each weekday and several hours on weekends.

“Retiring at a fixed age like 65 is a terrible myth,” Crutchfield says. “I will continue to work as long as my physical and cognitive health remains strong, and as long as I am making positive contributions to my company. There are huge benefits of older employees remaining active in their professions. We have far more institutional knowledge about our organizations than younger employees.” 

Instead of retirement, Crutchfield’s company tries to move older employees to part-time schedules to give them flexibility while still being able to access their expertise and labor.

“We encourage folks to stay and work as long as they can,” says Chris Lilley, Crutchfield’s chief human resource officer. “In our IT department, that’s really the place where the brain drain hits the hardest. We try to make sure that we’re promoting a ton of succession, and we’re moving people through the ranks and giving them opportunities.”

The company recently brought back three former copywriters to work part time after an employee went out on emergency leave. Two of the three returning workers are in their 60s.

“When we have an opportunity and we have work for [older workers] to do, we’ll take them back,” Lilley says.

Flexibility in the workplace, such as allowing older employees to transition to part-time work, is one way employers can keep older workers engaged. Career breaks and sabbaticals can also help prolong careers.

Erika Payne, senior employment program manager for nonprofit Senior Connections, says she constantly fields calls from employers seeking older workers. Often these employers are adult day centers, assisted living facilities, child care facilities and medical facilities that need drivers to deliver prescriptions.

On occasion, Payne has run into age discrimination from employers, mentioning one particular grocery chain that seems to ignore résumés submitted from older workers.

“There are simple things that we can do in the workforce to encourage older workers to stay in the workforce,” Payne says. “If we change our mindset, offer some small tweaks or accommodations, [we can] bring those individuals that are wanting work into the job market.”

Carolyn Clements, 71, retired from a career in banking and finance, but decided to return to work part time as Ball Office Products’ business development manager. Photo by Caroline Martin Bookbinder

For County resident Carolyn Clements, the realization she needed to return to the workforce came to her while vacuuming her attic.

In 2012, after decades of working in banking and finance, including for SunTrust, Bank of America and NationsBank, Clements decided to retire. A few months into her retirement, while vacuuming, she received a call from Melissa Ball, owner of Ball Office Products in Henrico County. Clements’ attic cleaning served as evidence that she had run out of things to do.

“[Ball] said, ‘Carolyn, people don’t vacuum their attic,’” Clements recalls. “My comment was, ‘That may be the reason why I was having such a hard time finding a place to plug that thing in.’”

The following January, Clements started a management job at Ball; now she’s the company’s part-time business development manager.

Clements wants to work as long as possible.

“I don’t have an expiration date. I’ve looked on my wrists. I’ve looked on my ankles. I went to my dermatologist and had her check me out,” says the 71-year-old. “As long as I can continue to learn, and as long as my mind is sound and my body is functioning, I want to keep working.

“I feel like I’m giving back now, and that’s a really good feeling.”  

The Lake takes shape in Chesterfield

The first wave of commercial tenants is coming to , a long-planned, 105-acre mixed-use that’s slated to bring a surf park to western County.

The Lake’s centerpiece will be a 13-acre artificial lake with a tow cable. It’s expected to be ready by summer 2025 for wakeboarding, kayaking, standup paddle boarding and other activities. It’ll be followed by an adjoining 6-acre surf park, one of a handful of such facilities nationwide that can generate waves large enough to surf.

“The anchor for our overall development is entertainment,” says project developer Brett Burkhart, founder of Lake Adventures and Flatwater Ventures. “We wanted to have restaurants and an amphitheater, and around that have some cool activities like surfing and wakeboarding on the lake.”

Burkhart lined up $323 million in financing for the development. Construction began in 2022 and is expected to take around five years to complete. Construction costs have increased, he says, though he declines to give a revised estimate.

In January, construction began on three buildings at The Lake’s entrance off Genito Road near State Route 288. A Chipotle and a Starbucks with a drive-thru will be the first tenants. The development’s initial phase also includes three retail and restaurant buildings by the lake. A Kilwins candy and ice cream shop has leased space in one.

Work should be completed by this fall, Burkhart says.

The Lake is also slated to include 150,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, 100,000 square feet of office space, a 170-room hotel, an amphitheater, 830 apartments and 360 townhomes.

Chesterfield’s primary interest in the project is its commercial component, which is expected to help retain visitors to the county’s nearby River City Sportsplex who might otherwise head to Richmond for hotels, restaurants and shopping, says H. Garrett Hart III, the county’s director. He also hopes The Lake will attract talent for businesses to Chesterfield.

Supervisors approved an agreement in 2022 to provide Lake Adventures with local tax rebates of up to 80% over the next 20 years for the development’s mixed-use and commercial portions. The funds will help defray the cost of building a parking deck instead of surface parking, leaving more space for commercial offerings.

“That’s the benefit of tourism, keeping those dollars in Chesterfield to be able to put back into our own infrastructure,” says J.C. Poma, Chesterfield’s executive director of sports, visitation and entertainment.  

FOR THE RECORD May 2024

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares completed its acquisition of Danville-based American National Bankshares, parent company of American National Bank and Trust, on April 1. Based on the $35.31 per share closing price of Atlantic Union common stock on March 28, the transaction value was approximately $507 million. The deal was announced in July 2023, and in February, the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors approved the acquisition. Under the terms of the merger, American National shareholders will receive 1.35 shares of Atlantic Union common stock in exchange for each share of American National common stock, with cash paid in lieu of partial shares. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The City of Richmond intends to change the financial structure of the planned new Minor League Baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels at the Diamond District in a move that would cut costs by about $200 million but would shift the financial risk to the city and its taxpayers. In a plan that City Council heard on April 8, city officials propose issuing general obligation bonds backed by the city rather than creating a community development authority to issue bonds. If the project fails to generate the expected revenue, however, Richmond would have to pay off the debt. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The Hanover County Board of Supervisors approved permits and rezoning for a 1,200-acre data center park on March 27. Denver-based developer Tract is planning a tech park for data centers on Hickory Hill Road, northeast of Ashland, that would have between 30 and 38 buildings. Based on county projections, the park would provide an estimated $40 million in tax revenue per year over the first five years. The 20-year estimate is almost $1.8 billion in tax revenue. The development faced opposition from residents in Ashland and the county’s Beaverdam District. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Five developers are vying for the opportunity to build a casino in Petersburg, including a partnership between Cordish Cos. and NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith. Other contenders are Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, Warrenton Group, and Rush Street Gaming, which operates the Portsmouth Rivers Casino. As of mid-April, the city was waiting on the General Assembly to decide whether to allow a referendum to take place in 2024 or 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Tucker Door & Trim, a Georgia-based manufacturer and distributor of doors, windows and specialty millwork for the construction industry, was set to open its first facility in Virginia on April 1, creating 50 jobs, according to a March 20 announcement from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The company is investing $10 million in a Henrico County manufacturing and assembly facility for fiberboard and fiberglass doors and windows, aimed at increasing production for clients in the Northeast United States. The facility at 2700 Distribution Drive adds to Tucker Door & Trim’s two facilities in Georgia serving wholesale customers. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Chronic understaffing, misplaced letters and packages and a poorly executed transition to a regional postal hub are among the critical issues plaguing Richmond’s main mail processing facility, according to an audit from the U.S. Postal Service released March 28. In July 2023, Richmond’s mail processing center in Sandston became the first in the U.S. to transition from a local to a regional postal hub as part of the U.S. postmaster general’s 10-year modernization plan. Around that time, Richmond residents began reporting widespread issues with mail delivery. The report included 10 recommendations for the facility to improve, and USPS agreed to nine of them. (Axios Richmond)

Federal investigators are looking into whether -based Sentara Health’s insurance subsidiary misled regulators when it drastically increased premiums in Hampton Roads and areas across the state in 2018 and 2019, according to court documents. Sentara Health Plans, then known as Optima Health, announced in 2017 it was increasing 2018 premiums in Hampton Roads by an average of 81% for its individual plans. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield pulled out of the marketplace for the 2018 Affordable Care Act open enrollment period in Hampton Roads, leaving Sentara as the only game in town. The U.S. government is investigating whether Sentara unfairly increased those premiums as it earned more than $655 million in federal subsidies.
(The Virginian-Pilot)

The Virginia Department of Transportation says the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project will now be completed in 2027. The new end date is part of a renegotiated deal VDOT reached with the construction company tasked with the project, the agency announced March 28. Officials have been meeting with the construction company on the project since 2022, when Hampton Roads Connector Partners told VDOT it “encountered unforeseen cost and schedule impacts since signing the contract in 2019,” according to a news release. The costs of building materials rose sharply during the pandemic, though costs are expected to stabilize this year. (WHRO)

An anonymous alumna donated $30 million to renovate and rename a building in honor of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, currently the university’s chancellor. According to a March 20 university announcement, Robert M. Gates Hall will house three academic centers: the Global Research Institute, the Institute for Integrative Conservation, and the Whole of Government Center of Excellence. The currently vacant Brown Hall on W&M’s Williamsburg campus will be renovated into Gates Hall, a LEED-certified facility. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Beach-born-and-bred entertainment superstar Pharrell Williams will film a movie this spring and summer in Virginia based on his childhood, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced April 5. There had been rumors about the musical film project, “Atlantis,” in movie trade publications, but Youngkin confirmed the feature is being made in Central Virginia and Hampton Roads. It will be co-produced by Williams, who grew up in Virginia Beach’s Atlantis Apartments housing project. The film is set in summer 1977 in a neighborhood inspired by Atlantis, although it’s a fictionalized account based on the 51-year-old Williams’ life. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

DAVIS

Jason R. Davis became president and CEO of Norfolk-based law firm Kaufman & Canoles on April 1. Davis, who has been with Kaufman & Canoles since 1997, succeeds William R. Van Buren III as president. Van Buren served as the firm’s president and chairman for 16 years and will remain chairman. Davis has been a member of the firm’s executive committee and co-chairs its health care team. In his practice, he represents and advises hospitals, physicians, long-term care facilities and other health care providers. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from William & Mary Law School.
(VirginiaBusiness.com)

 

ODER

G. Glenn Oder is retiring as executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority in October, the authority announced March 29. Oder has led the FMA for the past 12 years after leaving the General Assembly, where he served as a state delegate from 2002 to 2012, representing the 94th District in the House of Delegates. With Oder’s departure, the executive director role will be retitled to CEO, effective July 1. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 

 

 

Arlington County and the Washington Capitals have started talks about potential improvements to the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the NHL team’s practice facility and headquarters in Ballston. The 18-year-old, 137,000-square-foot county-owned facility also is open to the public and serves as the home ice for college, high school and beer league hockey teams. As of April, discussions were “in the early stages,” and there was “no timeline” for any potential decisions or actions, according to Sergey Kocharov, the Capitals’ head of communications. (ARLnow)

Metro is opening the door to new development on Alexandria’s Eisenhower Avenue corridor, offering roughly half an acre adjacent to the transit agency’s newest office building for a residential or commercial project — or a combination of the two. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority issued a request for proposals March 28 seeking a developer to ground lease, design and construct a project totaling as much as 300,000 square feet at 2403-2414 Mill Road. The half-acre lot is less than a third of a mile from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station and Is used for temporary surface parking. (Washington Business Journal)

Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser reached a deal in late March to keep the Washington Wizards and Capitals NBA and NHL teams in the District of Columbia through 2050, effectively ending all negotiations to relocate the teams to Alexandria. Gov. Glenn Youngkin had touted the $2 billion arena proposal announced in December 2023 as possibly creating 30,000 jobs and $12 billion in economic activity for the state, but Senate Democrats blocked a vote on legislation that would have established a state authority to own the property and buildings in Alexandria. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

OmniRide, the bus service overseen by Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, is facing a $16 million budget shortfall in Prince William County, unless the county can afford a steep subsidy increase sought by the bus system for the budget year beginning July 1. PRTC is subsidized in Prince William through a motor fuel tax that is projected to bring in not nearly enough to cover the $33 million the transit agency is requesting from the county. OmniRide will be forced to cut service if it can’t secure local funding to offset its rising costs. Prince William supervisors acknowledge the county’s need for robust bus service, but in early April, they expressed skepticism they can afford to pay the amount OmniRide is seeking, particularly amid inflation and the drying up of pandemic relief funds. (InsideNoVa)

Deshundra Jefferson, chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, applied pressure on members to raise taxes substantially on data centers, as the board barreled toward approval of next year’s budget. Data centers currently pay a rate of $2.15 per $100 of assessed value on computers they possess, and Jefferson, a newly elected Democrat, is likely to have the votes to pass an increase to $3.70, the maximum allowed under state law. The board is expected to finalize the budget April 23, and it will go into effect July 1. (InsideNoVa)

Tysons-based developer Cityline Partners and Fairfax County planning commissioners hit a stalemate in April over inclusion of -affordable housing in Cityline’s proposed high-rise, which would be part of the developer’s Arbor Row project on 19.4 acres near Tysons Galleria, joining two completed residential buildings. Commissioners opted to postpone a vote in April on the 23-story residential tower at Arbor Row after county staff voiced objections to the developer’s refusal to include workforce-affordable units in the new building. (FFXNow)

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY

After approving two solar farms in the past few years and last month denying the largest proposal yet, the Amherst County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an update to its utility-scale solar zoning rules March 19. The revised ordinance caps utility-scale solar operations at 50 acres under panel, a measure intended to limit the operations’ scope. At the joint meeting, the Amherst County Planning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance with an added measure to cap 10 megawatts of solar-generated power, but supervisors opted to not include that action. (Amherst New Era-Progress)

Freedom First Federal Credit Union is discontinuing its basic personal checking account, this month notifying more than 20,000 account holders of the change that took effect May 1. The switch makes Freedom First the only major credit union in the Roanoke Valley that would collect monthly fees if account holders don’t maintain a certain balance or have a certain amount of regular paychecks. Under one checking account option, residents must keep a minimum average daily balance of $2,500 or risk a $7 monthly fee. (The Roanoke Rambler)

Roanoke-based Luna Innovations is in danger of losing its place on the Nasdaq due to transaction questions that led the company to withhold its annual report. Luna, which makes and distributes fiber-optic sensing and monitoring technology, announced last month that it was indefinitely delaying its fourth quarter and annual reports after it discovered transaction discrepancies. Luna is no longer in compliance with the stock market’s rule requiring companies to file reports in a timely manner to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a letter from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department. (Cardinal News)

Pulaski County will become the owner of a raceway and a historic Minor League Baseball stadium after the properties’ current owner, Christiansburg-based Shelor Motor Mile, donates them to the local government. The donation is the largest gift the county has ever received, according to a statement. The speedway, officially named Pulaski County Motorsports Park, is a 152-acre property located in Fairlawn, while Calfee Park is a 3,200-seat stadium in the town of Pulaski. (The Roanoke Times)

UPS is cutting a daytime package sorting shift at a Roanoke facility, affecting 153 employees. Day-shift employees at the customer center at 3941 Thirlane Road NW by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport “will be separated from employment, unless otherwise required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement” by June 3, according to an April 3 letter from the Atlanta-based shipping company to Virginia’s Rapid Response state coordinator. The letter cites a “reduction in volume” and said 120 part-time hourly employees, seven full-time hourly employees, 22 part-time management employees and four full-time management employees will be affected. (Cardinal News)

PEOPLE

POE
SIMMS

Roanoke County’s former assistant director for economic development, Danielle Poe, started her new job as director of economic development for Franklin County on April 15. At Roanoke County, Poe was responsible for development, business retention and expansion and key community partnerships. She succeeds Beth Simms, who left the Franklin County post in October 2023 after more than two years to become Patrick County’s administrator. Poe is the 2024 chair of Roanoke Valley and is a Radford University alumna. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

 

 

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

American University announced on March 18 that James Madison University President Jonathan Alger will be its next president, starting July 1. Alger joined the Harrisonburg public university in 2012. He will be the 16th president of AU, a private university in Washington, D.C., replacing President Sylvia Burwell. During his tenure, JMU more than doubled its endowment, received R2 research classification from the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and joined the FBS level in NCAA Division I football. Alger also launched the Valley Scholars program, which provides scholarships for first-generation students from the Shenandoah Valley. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Bridgewater College will receive a $250,000 grant from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation if the college matches the amount in cash and pledges by November, the college announced in mid-May. The matching grant from the private foundation would help fund the $8.5 million renovation of Bowman Hall, which was built in 1952 and 1953. The renovation started last spring and is set to end in August. Bridgewater College previously received a $250,000 Mary Morton Parsons Foundation grant in 2018, although that grant was a two-to-one challenge. Bridgewater College used the funding to renovate and expand its Mack Library into the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons. (Daily News-Record)

Strasburg-based First National entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Prince George-based Touchstone Bankshares in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $47 million, First National announced March 26. The parent companies’ merger combines community banks First Bank and Touchstone Bank to create a bank with expected total assets of about $2.1 billion, $1.5 billion in loans and $1.8 billion in deposits. The resulting company is expected to be the ninth largest Virginia community bank by deposits and will have 30 branch offices across Virginia and two branches in North Carolina. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

HP Hood, a nationally branded dairy processor, will invest more than $83.5 million to expand operations at its Winchester-area facility in Frederick County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced April 9. The project includes upgrades to production and packaging equipment as well as construction of additional warehouse and cooler space. HP Hood’s expansion will provide increased production capacity that will fund technology allowing Hood to offer new products, according to a news release. Constructed in 2000, the Winchester-area facility employs more than 600 workers. In 2013, HP Hood invested $84.6 million to expand the operation, increasing ultra-high temperature production capacity. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Kraft Heinz plans to invest an estimated $26 million in its Frederick County plant to lower carbon emissions, part of the up to $170 million in federal funding the company is receiving from the U.S. Department of Energy. The department selected Kraft Heinz to receive the funding for implementing clean energy projects on March 25. The Chicago- and Pittsburgh-based company operates a manufacturing facility in the Fort Collier Industrial Park, located north of Winchester at 220 Park Center Drive, where it produces Capri-Sun and Kool-Aid beverages, among other food products. Kraft Heinz will install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers at 10 facilities. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

Winchester City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request on March 26 from Winchester Acquisition Partners, advancing the investment group’s plans for a mixed-use redevelopment of Ward Plaza. The declining shopping center built in the 1960s sits on 22 acres in the 2200 block of Valley Avenue. Winchester Acquisition Partners, headed by McLean-based John. W. “Wes” Gray Jr., plans to build 453 residential units, offices, a grocery store and other retail stores. The investment group needs the council to approve site and subdivision plans and to obtain required building permits before it can begin construction. (The Winchester Star)

A new aviation training center at Danville Regional Airport is one step closer to reality. The Danville Planning Commission voted 6-0 during its April 8 meeting to recommend granting a waiver of yard setback requirements so the project could move forward. A proposed 12,532-square-foot hangar will be the location of the new Danville Aviation Training Facility. Danville Community College’s aviation maintenance technology program and Averett University’s aeronautics program will use the training facility. (Danville Register & Bee)

Chicago-based Foresight Health, the company that purchased the long-shuttered Pioneer Community Hospital in 2022 from Patrick County Real Estate, sold the property March 12 after its plan to reopen it as a critical access facility collapsed. According to a deed filed at the Patrick County Circuit Court clerk’s office, Foresight sold the 10-acre property in Stuart to Chicago-based Wolf of  Wabash for $1.6 million. Foresight has entered into an agreement with the new owner to lease back the property and use the proceeds of the sale to modernize the building and open a behavioral health and substance abuse program. (Cardinal News)

A project that will bring 69 apartments to downtown has received another financial boost from the state. A $2.8 million grant from the Industrial Revitalization Fund, announced March 29 by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, will help pay for planned renovations at the One Ellsworth development, a construction project that will turn a former BB&T bank building into affordable housing. Developer JRS Realty is currently working to remove asbestos from the building, which was constructed in 1974. (Cardinal News)

Matt Penning, director of development for Reston-based Milestone Towers, a wireless tower developer, made a presentation at the April 8 Patrick County Board of Supervisors meeting. The company has signed a lease with Verizon for a cell tower on Patrick County High School property, according to Penning. Three other carriers could be hosted by the proposed 199-foot-tall tower. A supervisor noted parents are concerned about safety of children participating in extracurricular activities near the proposed tower. The board voted to table any action until its next meeting. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Thunder Road Harley-Davidson and South Boston Speedway have signed a new sponsorship agreement that will have the Danville-based Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership continue as the title sponsor for the speedway’s showcase pre-Fourth of July NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division event for the next three years. The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on June 29 is the opening race of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. This season marks the 11th year Thunder Road Harley-Davidson has sponsored the event. (Danville Register & Bee)

A new dual-branded hotel under Hilton’s Tru and Home2Suites brands was approved by Danville City Council April 2. Council members voted 9-0 to grant a special-use permit for a waiver allowing RMS Investments in Raleigh, North Carolina, to exceed the city’s 50-foot height limit so it could build a hotel that would employ about 30 people at 1080 Riverside Drive. The new hotel will be 53 feet tall. (Danville Register & Bee)

The Virginia Museum of Natural History will soon unveil its largest addition since the facility opened in Martinsville in March 2007. Construction of the Jean S. Adams Education Pavilion, a 1,221-square-foot, three-season, open-air programming and visitor area, is currently underway, with completion anticipated this summer. The museum is currently leading a public campaign to raise funds for the first-ever life-sized model of Pelagornis sandersi, the prehistoric bird with the largest known wingspan — about 20 to 24 feet. (Martinsville Bulletin)

The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded Washington County $100,000 to improve broadband service on the Virginia Creeper Trail and Mendota Trail, according to a March news release from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith’s office. The funding, with a $130,000 local match, will help the county offer 100 Mbps/20 Mbps download/upload speeds along the two trails. The county and an engineering firm will develop coverage studies and research how best to deploy broadband fiber before moving onto design, construction and deployment, which should be finished by the end of 2024. (Cardinal News)

The Breaks Interstate Park Commission received a $300,000 Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program grant to add a swimming pool to the Breaks water park, the Virginia Department of Energy announced March 26. Adding the pool is expected to increase visitation for the water park, which draws 12,000-plus visitors each season. Scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, the new pool also is expected to increase annual revenue by nearly $100,000 and to create five to seven seasonal jobs. Breaks Interstate Park’s annual revenue is more than $3 million, and the park has 10 full-time employees and 85 seasonal workers. (News release)

Emory & Henry College officials are planning a restructuring to reduce the school’s budget that will likely require small reductions in faculty, staff and programs over the next three years, Jennifer Pearce, E&H’s vice president for external affairs, said April 8. The number and positions that could be impacted, as well as the timing of layoffs, aren’t known, although the college will likely make a decision on the numbers by the end of June. John Wells, president of the 188-year-old private liberal arts college, spoke to the college’s board of trustees about the restructuring in late March. (Cardinal News)

A 95-room Hampton Inn in Norton opened April 12, although officials were still planning a grand opening ceremony as of early April. SAI Properties announced in early October 2023 that it would open the Hampton Inn in the previously vacant building on the corner of Park Avenue and 11th Street. From 2002 to about 2019, the building was the Norton Holiday Inn. The Hampton Inn includes a spa, a meeting/event space, a pool and a fitness center. According to hotel official Vik Kshirsagar, the hotel has only exterior work remaining. (The Coalfield Progress; Kingsport TimesNews)

In a March 21 meeting, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority approved two loans and one grant for projects in Buchanan, Russell and Wise counties with the potential to cumulatively create 107 full-time jobs and 40 additional construction-related jobs. The Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority will receive an up to $2.214 million loan to help with the construction and development of an office building at the Southern Gap development. VCEDA approved an up to $500,000 loan to the Russell County Industrial Development Authority for an unannounced project. VCEDA also awarded an up to $186,091 grant to Mountain Empire Community College for workforce development and training. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Abingdon-based Virginia Highlands Community College and Bristol, Tennessee-based King University partnered on an agreement to streamline admissions and coursework for students progressing in the registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing degree pathway, the schools announced April 3. Under the agreement, VHCC students who are earning associate degrees in nursing and have registered nurse licenses are guaranteed admission to King’s RN-BSN program, which is fully online. Students with qualifying grades of C+ or better will be classified as juniors, and candidates can then complete King’s RN-BSN program in three semesters, rather than four. (News release)

 

Crisis in Baltimore

Since the March 26 container ship collision that collapsed the Francis Scott in , ships previously bound for the Port of Baltimore have been diverted to other ports, including the .

The Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali hit the Key Bridge at about 1:30 a.m. March 26 after issuing a mayday following an onboard power outage. The Dali, chartered by , had previously called at Virginia International Gateway’s terminal and left March 22 for Baltimore, its next scheduled port of call. Six road construction workers were killed in the accident.

Baltimore’s port was closed to ships after the bridge collapsed, with supply chain experts warning it could have a major impact on East Coast trade. In early April, the Port of Baltimore opened temporary shipping lanes to accommodate smaller boats and essential cargo. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District planned to open a limited access channel for larger vessels by late April and restore full service to the port’s main navigation channel as soon as late May.

According to Rachel Shames, vice president of pricing and procurement for CV International, a -based international and transportation company, the collision was expected to create a temporary increase in cargo volume at other East Coast ports, including Norfolk’s terminals.

“It’s likely that nearby East Coast ports, including Norfolk, Philadelphia, New York and others will absorb cargo traffic from Baltimore in the short term,” she wrote. “This sudden increase in volume may strain operations at other ports.”

As National Transportation Safety Board investigators looked into the cause of the crash in late March, the Biden administration pledged federal support to rebuild the bridge, calling on Congress to authorize billions of dollars in funding likely needed for the bridge’s replacement, an undertaking that could take at least a year.

In an interview with Virginia Business, Shames said that the impact of the port’s temporary closing “could end up rippling down to Wilmington, [North Carolina], Charleston, [South Carolina], and Savannah, [Georgia],” although, she noted, “Norfolk is probably the most practical place to absorb most of the capacity. You want to keep the cargo that was supposed to go to Baltimore … as close as possible to Baltimore.”

Apart from the human toll, the port’s closure means a temporary stop to about $15 million a day in daily economic activity for Baltimore, and experts estimated that the ripple effect on railroads, distribution centers and trucking will also cost the city tens of millions of dollars.

Shames also noted that Baltimore’s port is the top U.S. port for the import and export of automobiles, light trucks, wheeled farm vehicles and construction machinery, which often move on specialized vessels.

The Port of Virginia’s Marine Terminal has facilities that accommodate vehicles, including ramps that allow workers to load and unload rail cars and ships, but not on Baltimore’s scale, Shames said.

“There is capacity at [] … but not a lot, nothing like what Baltimore can do. It will not be as simple as just shifting. Unfortunately, I think we are going to be looking at congestion, and I just don’t know how long. That can mean delays for cargo [and] probably extra costs. It’s a ripple, a domino effect.”

As of early April, the Port of Virginia had received about 43% of all redirected container traffic from the Port of Baltimore, more than any other East Coast port, according to supply chain tracker Project44.

However, the increased traffic won’t impact the Port of Virginia’s service levels, Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris said. “This is a modern, 21st-century port that has a significant amount of experience in handling surges of import and export cargo.”  

Carter Bank vs. Justice family saga continues

‘s says a Feb. 12 federal filed against it by GLAS Trust Co. contains “false and misleading” allegations as part of a complex financial dispute over debt repayments from loans to , his family and their businesses.

GLAS filed suit in the seeking to recoup $226.2 million lent to the Justice family-owned Bluestone Resources, a coal-mining conglomerate. Justice is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.

The Justices and Carter Bank had a longstanding business relationship that soured after Worth Harris Carter Jr., the bank’s founder, died in 2017, according to court documents. A May 2021 federal court complaint, which the two sides later agreed to dismiss, acknowledged that the “Justice Entities” had $368 million in outstanding loans with Carter Bank.

In its February suit, GLAS said it represents investors who backed financing that Greensill UK, which filed for insolvency protection in 2021, extended to Bluestone. The lawsuit alleges that Carter Bank pressured Justice and his family to repay debts to the bank, and Bluestone paid “to satisfy the debts of the Justice Family and their other lines of business to Carter Bank.” The lawsuit also claims that “Carter Bank knew that each of these transfers were made by entities that were not obligated for the loans they were repaying.”

Carter Bank refutes these claims, stating it received repayments in good faith and was not party to the financing arrangement between the Justices and Greensill.

Additionally, the bank’s holding company, , stated in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it has an indemnity agreement with the Justices, supported by substantial collateral, to protect itself from such claims. “The Company and Carter Bank intend to pursue vigorously all remedies afforded to Carter Bank under the Justice Indemnity Agreement,” the bank wrote in the February filing.

Jay Justice, president and of the Justice companies, said that in 2023, Carter Bank blocked the Justices’ plan to settle their debts in an “apparent attempt to continue extracting interest payments from the Justices.”

An April 2023 news release from the Justices claimed that “the Justice plan includes the sale or refinancing of assets that would completely retire the remaining Carter Bank loans within four months.”

Deep dive

The has set the stage to offer the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast by 2025, with the recent widening of Thimble Shoal Channel West allowing for two-way traffic for all vessels, including (ULCVs).

Completed in March, the shipping channel is now as much as 1,400 feet wide in some areas, allowing for two ULCVs to pass at the same time. Previously, the U.S. Coast Guard had one-way restrictions in the area. The widening, which began in 2019, reduces the time large vessels spend on berth by up to 15%.

That’s coupled with the ongoing of the channel and Harbor to 55 feet deep, with an ocean approach to 59 feet deep, the only channel on the East Coast with congressional authorization for that depth. Deeper channels can accommodate vessels with deeper drafts, enabling the port to handle a wider range of ships and cargo types, says Cathie J. Vick, the port’s chief and public affairs officer.

Shipping companies are putting much larger vessels in their East Coast port rotations. The ULCVs coming through the Port of Virginia, though, don’t need to be concerned about channel width, overhead draft restrictions, capacity or cargo handling infrastructure.

The wider channel allows for consistent vessel flow, contributes to greater berth and container yard efficiencies and further improves harbor safety. In addition, the port is quick to load cargo. The turnaround time to load a truck is about 30 minutes. Loading cargo onto a train takes about 36 hours.

The entire dredging project was initially expected to be finished by the end of 2024. However, federal permits allowing local beach replenishment using the dredged material, had to be renewed, delaying completion until fall 2025. Once work is finished, the Port of Virginia will possess the deepest and widest channels on the East Coast.

This is just one part of the port’s $1.4 billion strategic infrastructure investment package to accommodate larger cargo volumes on ULCVs, which have become more frequent port visitors in recent years. The widening and entire dredging costs $450 million, according to Vick. “It will increase the speed of cargo moving through the gateway,” she adds.

Some $72 million of that $450 million is federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The federal government and the port agreed to split the cost in 2015 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began evaluating the potential economic value of expanding and upgrading the port.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior senator, says the project is 20 years in the making and will benefit the port “for years to come. The infrastructure bill is the first big one to happen since the Eisenhower administration, when the interstate system was built. We limped along on making improvements, but the money didn’t allow for big projects like this one.”

The Port of Virginia has also been working on developing Craney Island into a major marine terminal to handle container, bulk, and break-bulk cargo. Upgrades planned for Norfolk International Terminals include new ship-to-shore cranes and an expansion of its central rail yard, set for this year, cementing Virginia’s status as home to the East Coast’s largest intermodal rail port.

“The target is for shipping companies to choose to come to Virginia first when coming to the East Coast,” Vick notes.

Virginia Pilot Association President Capt. Whiting Chisman says the wider channel will provide container and Navy ships with safer travel conditions. This is an even bigger consideration following the March 26 container ship collision with ‘s , which has led to Baltimore-bound ships being diverted to the Port of Virginia and other East Coast ports.

The short-term environmental impact of the dredging will be minimal, according to Joe Rieger, deputy director of restoration for the nonprofit Elizabeth River Project, which supports the environmental health of the river and its role in the local economy. Rieger evaluated the dredging plan because the Elizabeth River is part of the port’s main shipping channel. Dredging and widening is not taking place in shallow water, six feet or less, where the most productive sea life is found, he notes. Benthic organisms, also known as bottom feeders (like worms and shellfish), are typically found at higher densities in shallow water and are the base of the marine food chain. Since the dredging is deepening waters already at 45 feet to 50 feet deep, there’s limited environmental impact.

 “As long as they are not going into shallow water,” he says, “there is no threat.”

, the David L. Peebles Professor of Business at ‘s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, applauds the port taking action to ensure future growth.

“This is a major and impressive feat and unusual for the government to do something before there’s a problem. The port is being proactive and customer-focused,” Swan says. “They have been for 10 years. … It’s amazing they can pull it off. Saving 15% on their time when a vessel is at berth will save money, making the port a profitable choice.

“It’s a large cost savings for these ultra-large container vessels, making the port a better option than others along the East Coast. No other port on the East Coast will have this combination of width and depth.”

Flying off the glass cliff?

You’ve no doubt heard of the — the barrier above which couldn’t rise professionally — but have you heard about the ?

It’s not as familiar a term as the ceiling, but the glass cliff is real. It’s what happens when a woman or someone from another marginalized group is put in charge of a failing institution.

This can serve a couple of purposes: The corporation can claim its first hire to a top position of a person representing X group, staving off negative headlines a little longer. Also, if the company is truly at the edge of a financial cliff, the stakes are lower than if the leader could actually do something to turn around the company’s fortunes. Maybe the new leader is just a convenient scapegoat.

It isn’t always evident what’s a glass cliff and what isn’t until later on.

Take County-based , for example. Ever since a Boeing 737 Jet experienced a midair panel blowout while filled with Alaska Airlines passengers in early January, the aerospace company has come under considerable federal scrutiny over its safety and manufacturing practices. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation, and the FBI wrote letters to passengers telling them that they may be victims of a crime.

In April came the corporate fallout: Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced he was stepping down by the end of this year, and Stan Deal, head of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes business unit, retired effective immediately. 

Now Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer, has also been put in charge of the commercial planes unit — “the toughest job at Boeing,” according to The Wall Street Journal. 

This may not be a glass cliff situation. This could be Pope’s proving ground. We just don’t know yet. 

A third-generation aerospace employee, Pope led Boeing’s parts and services business  and also held several finance positions. After her promotion to , she was seen as a probable successor to Calhoun, but GE Aerospace Larry Culp and Carrier Global CEO Dave Gitlin are now favored for Boeing’s CEO, Fortune reported in April.

If hired as CEO, Pope would be the century-old Fortune 500 company’s first woman leader. Boeing’s not exactly a pioneer in terms of hiring female aerospace CEOs — in Virginia alone, we have General Dynamics Chairman and CEO Phebe N. Novakovic and Northrop Grumman Chairman, President and CEO Kathy Warden.

But Boeing never hired a woman to lead its company in good times or even less-bad times.

Now it’s in real trouble. In the first quarter of the year, Boeing delivered 83 jets, down from 157 in the previous quarter, and United told Boeing to halt production of the 737 Max 10 jets it ordered. Sales ground to a halt in January, with only three plane orders, and are still down.

Pope, in her new capacity, wrote in an email to employees last month, “This is a pivotal moment for us, and we have serious work ahead to build trust and improve our operations.”

And who’s in charge? Women.

Pope is joined by Katie Ringgold, who previously led 737 airplane deliveries at Boeing, as new head of the Max program, and Elizabeth Lund has been promoted to senior vice president of quality for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

They’re tasked with fixing the reputation of Boeing, starting with bringing quality control measures up to standard, most experts acknowledge. These are lessons earlier leaders didn’t learn after two Max 8 planes crashed in 2018 and 2019 incidents, claiming hundreds of lives.

Boeing stopped production of the jets and then resumed in late 2020, but C-suite leaders demanded more jets produced faster, according to a March 28 New York Times article based on interviews with more than two dozen current and former Boeing employees.

We can’t say this is a glass cliff yet. Maybe Pope and company will succeed where others (mainly men) have failed. But it’s not a job most people would want, unless they’re promised golden parachutes.