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DOJ demands University of Virginia prove it’s dismantling DEI

SUMMARY:

  • U.S. sent letter to administration calling for university to produce report it has dismantled and dissolved initiatives
  • DOJ’s Civil Rights Division gives school a May 2 deadline
  • U.Va. voted to dissolve DEI office March 7
  • DOJ letter says it has received complaints that U.Va. has not made 30-day report public and possibly has not taken action on board’s mandate

Update: U.Va. given May 30 extension of deadline

The ‘s president, rector and university legal counsel received a letter Monday from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division calling for the university to produce audio and video from a closed session of its board of visitors last month, as well as show evidence that every division of the university and its health system has dissolved and dismantled its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, following a board vote in March.

The DOJ’s letter, dated April 28, says its civil rights office has received complaints that U.Va.’s administration has not made public a required 30-day report on its progress in ending DEI operations throughout the university, and alleges that U.Va. “may have failed to implement these directives.” The letter gives U.Va. President Jim Ryan, the university’s rector and legal counsel a May 2 deadline to update the Justice Department’s civil rights office on its progress.

Arriving one day before a Tuesday special meeting of the BOV, during which members voted on a second DEI-related resolution, the letter was signed by Harmeet K. Dhillon, the newly appointed assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s civil rights division and a U.Va. law school alum, as well as Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory W. Brown and senior counsel Jeffrey Morrison.

According to the letter, the DOJ issued letters to U.Va.’s undergraduate institution and its law school on April 11 and April 18 regarding admissions practices, “particularly regarding racial preferences” after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling to strike down affirmative action policies in college admissions, as well as executive orders issued by to dismantle DEI “apparatuses and instruments of discrimination based on race, skin color, ethnicity, national origin and other impermissible, immutable characteristics.”

The letter issues a May 2 deadline for the university to produce the official BOV resolution from March 7, “along with all written or electronic records (including audio or video recording) of the … public and closed session meeting and deliberations,” as well as certification that the resolution’s dictates are being enacted at every part of the university, including the UVA Health system and all of U.Va.’s undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and schools.

The letter also calls for “all reports submitted by you or members of your administration” to the board and the rector from around April 7 regarding the execution of DEI dissolution at U.Va.

“Per the directives of the Board of Visitors and that unanimous [March 7] resolution, your office and you were required to report to the Board of Visitors within thirty days, confirming the total elimination of DEI at the University of Virginia,” the letter says, adding that the civil rights department has “received complaints that your office and the university may have failed to implement these directives and further that you have refused to produce the report on the matter.”

The DOJ letter was made public on the C’ville Bubble account on X Monday, the day before U.Va.’s board met in a special session in part to discuss progress on the dissolution of U.Va.’s DEI office and other DEI initiatives.

Also on Monday, The Jefferson Council, a group of conservative U.Va. alumni who have been critical of the university’s leadership particularly over pro-Palestine student protests, claims of antisemitism and free speech issues, posted Ryan speaking in an undated video about the board’s then-upcoming March 7 vote. According to the Jefferson Council’s post, Ryan was addressing the U.Va. Faculty Senate about the DEI resolution.

“The board would like to talk to us about that update,” Ryan says in the one-minute video. “I will say I’m optimistic we’re going to end up in a good place.”

However, the council alleges that “multiple Jefferson Council researchers and allies have had their FOIA requests for the 30-day DEI report denied — a stonewalling that The Cavalier Daily independently encountered as well.”

On Tuesday, board members met at the Boar’s Head Resort off campus and voted for a resolution that says in part that “the University of Virginia has made progress on implementing the directives of the Board of Visitors’ March 7 resolution on diversity, equity and inclusion, and additional work remains to be done to ensure and advance open inquiry at the university and to best prepare students to become citizen-leaders ready to serve our community.”

The resolution also rescinds a September 2020 resolution that “endorsed pursuit of numerical goals for the composition of students and faculty,” a policy that called for U.Va. to hire more faculty from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, as well as more women in certain fields, and to aim to diversify its student body as well.

Moreover, the April 29 resolution calls for the president, interim provost and an appointee of the U.Va. Faculty Senate to report to the board at its next meeting in June on “work being done to ensure an intellectual climate and campus culture where all students, faculty and staff are able to express politically diverse views, engage in constructive discussion across differences, and respond to competing perspectives in good faith.”

Ryan was among more than 550 university and college presidents and other leaders who signed an American Association of Colleges and Universities letter issued April 22 that condemned what they call the Trump White House’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference,” including threatening to pull approved federal funding for university research and revoking international students’ visas or terminating their legal statuses.

Of the six Virginia presidents who signed the letter, Ryan was the only head of a public university to do so.

U.Va. and the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Amazon holds grand opening for Virginia Beach delivery station

SUMMARY:

Amazon’s usually known for being on time, but the global e-tail giant waited until this week to hold a grand opening celebration for its 200,000-plus square-foot Virginia Beach delivery station, which has been up and running since September 2024.

The facility, located at 2201 Harpers Road, is Amazon’s 17th delivery station in Virginia and the Fortune Global 500 company’s sixth site in . State and city officials celebrated the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of the new station. Amazon has said it invested about $350 million in Virginia Beach to build the delivery station and a 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center slated to open later this year.

“We’re delighted to welcome Amazon’s newest delivery station to Virginia Beach,” said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer in a statement. ” This investment represents not just jobs and economic growth, but also Amazon’s confidence in our city.”

Cory Clark, site lead of Amazon’s Virginia Beach delivery station, said in a statement that the facility has created more than 600 direct and indirect jobs for the community since it opened about eight months ago, ahead of the 2024 holiday season.

“Amazon’s delivery station is a win for Virginia Beach’s economy,” said Virginia Beach City Manager Patrick A. Duhaney. “The 600 jobs with competitive wages and benefits are a welcome addition to the Virginia Beach community as a whole. This investment strengthens our city’s position as a prime location for business development and economic growth.”

Amazon delivery station ribbon cutting
Amazon celebrates opening of new delivery station in Virginia Beach on April 29, 2025, with ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo courtesy Amazon.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin first announced that would launch a fulfillment center and delivery station in Virginia Beach in September 2023, and said that both facilities combined would create an estimated 1,000 full-time jobs.

Amazon spokesperson Sam Fisher said the five-floor, highly automated fulfillment center at 1795 Dam Neck Road is on track to open later this year. The company has said it will feature 55 loading docks

When a customer hits ‘buy it now’ on Amazon, that order is processed at a fulfillment center where the items are actually stored. “The item will be picked off a shelf, packaged up and sent off to a middle-mile facility, or what we call a sortation center,” Fisher explained. “From there those items will be sent to a delivery station, like the one we just opened.”

Those items will typically arrive at the station in the middle of the night — around 1 a.m. in the case of the Virginia Beach site. Customer purchases are then unloaded from semi-trailers and sorted into bags to be loaded onto delivery vans.

Fisher said delivery drivers are still being actively hired, and the Virginia Beach delivery station itself will be hiring more people in the days and weeks ahead.

The new station delivers to all of Virginia Beach, downtown and east to Virginia Beach, the eastern half of Chesapeake to the ocean, and south to North Carolina.

One unique feature about the Virginia Beach delivery station, according to Fisher, is that it was the first Amazon facility in Virginia to host electric delivery vans.

Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $135 billion in Virginia, including infrastructure and compensation to employees, and has created more than 42,000 full and part-time jobs. The company says these investments support an additional 195,400 indirect jobs across the state, in fields like and professional services.

Weak GDP report tied to tariffs has Trump trying to blame Biden on the state of the economy

WASHINGTON (AP) —  got worrisome news on Wednesday about how the U.S. economy is battening down for potential fallout from his — and he was quick to try to pin the blame on his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.

The government reported that the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.3% during the first three months of the year. Behind the decline was a surge in imports as companies tried to front-run the sweeping tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and almost every country. And even positive signs of increased domestic consumption indicated that purchases might be occurring before the lead to price hikes.

Trump pointed his finger at Biden as the fell Wednesday morning in response to the gross domestic product report.

“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” the Republican president, who took office in January, posted on his social media site. “Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS.”

But the gives Democrats ammunition to claim that Trump’s policies could shove the economy into a recession.

“Trump has been in office for only 100 days, and costs, chaos and corruption are already on the rise,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “The economy is slowing, prices are going up, and middle-class families are feeling the pinch.”

The report landed as Trump is trying to put the focus on new corporate investments in the U.S. as he spends the week celebrating his 100th day in office. He planned remarks later in the day on the subject.

Trump’s economic message contains some clashing arguments and dismisses data that raises red flags.

He wants credit for an aggressive first 100 days back in the White House that included mass layoffs of federal workers and the start of a with 145% in new tariffs against China. He also wants to blame the negative response of the financial markets on Biden, who left office months ago. He’s also saying his tariffs are negotiating tools to generate trade deals but at the same time banking on hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenues to help cover his planned income tax cuts.

Trump highlighted the positive aspects of the GDP report at a Wednesday Cabinet meeting. But that meeting inadvertently revealed how his administration is also trying to take credit for policies that involve the Biden administration as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick talked about his recent trip to Arizona to see the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s computer chip factories.

TSMC notes on its website that it announced plans in May 2020, during Trump’s first presidency as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the global economy, to build its first plant in Arizona. It announced a second factory in December 2022, when Biden was in office. After getting up to $6.6 billion in commitments in 2024 from the bipartisan CHIPS and Act, TSMC announced plans for a third plant.

Trump dismissed the importance of the government support that Biden made possible for computer chip factories to open domestically.

“They’re building because of the tariffs,” Trump said.

Asked about his tariffs causing , Trump told ABC News in a Tuesday interview that the economy would have eventually imploded if he didn’t impose import taxes on allies including the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and India.

“Everybody’s gonna be just fine,” Trump assured.

Democrats’ statements after the GDP report noted how quickly the economy, which still has a healthy 4.2% unemployment rate, appears to lose momentum within weeks of Trump returning.

“In just 100 days, President Trump has taken the U.S. economy from strong, stable growth to negative GDP,” said Heather Boushey, a former member of Biden’s White House Council of Economic Advisers. “This astonishing turn of fortune is directly due to the incoherence of his and his mismanagement of federal policy more generally.”

But White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters that the GDP drop was a “one-shot deal” because of the increased imports, which mathematically subtract from the measure of economic activity. Navarro said that the individual and business income tax cuts planned by Trump would help growth in the months ahead.

“All we’re seeing is good, strong news,” Navarro said. “So the idea that there’s a recession coming should be heavily discounted.”

US inflation cools and Americans step up spending as they brace for tariff impact

SUMMARY:

  • eased to 2.3% in March, down from February’s 2.7%.
  • dropped to 2.6%, with a rebound expected later.
  • rose 0.7%, led by an 8.1% surge in .
  • Fed unlikely to cut rates soon due to tariff and inflation concerns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A closely watched inflation gauge cooled last month in a sign that prices were steadily easing before most of ‘s tariffs were implemented.

At the same time, consumers accelerated their spending, particularly on cars, likely in an effort to get ahead of the duties.

Wednesday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose just 2.3% in March from a year earlier, down from 2.7% in February. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.6% compared with a year ago, below February’s 3%. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed.

The slowdown in inflation could be a temporary respite until the widespread duties imposed by Trump begin to push up prices in many categories. Most economists expect inflation to start picking up in the coming months.

“Core inflation will inevitably rebound sharply in the coming months,” Harry Chambers, assistant economist at Capital Economics, said in an email. “Goods prices will rise much more strongly.”

Chambers expects core inflation will near 4% by late this year.

Wednesday’s report also showed that consumer spending increased 0.7% from February to March, a healthy gain. Much of the increase appeared to be driven by efforts to get ahead of duties, such as Trump’s 25% duty on imported cars, which took effect April 3. Spending on autos surged 8.1% in March. Still, that means auto sales are likely to fade in the coming months because those assets have already been secured.

But spending on restaurants and hotels also jumped after falling in February, a sign Americans are still willing to splurge a little on travel and dining out.

The spending increase is noteworthy because consumer confidence surveys have plunged for several months, suggesting Americans have grown increasingly worried about the economy. Yet so far, that hasn’t translated into a noticeable slowdown in spending.

Earlier Wednesday, the government reported that consumer spending slowed in the first three months of the year, compared with last year’s final quarter, as bad weather depressed shopping and Americans took a breather after healthy spending over the winter holidays.

The nation’s economy actually shrank 0.3% in the January-March quarter as imports surged as companies sought to get ahead of Trump’s .

Trump benefited in last year’s election from broad dissatisfaction among voters about the steep rise in prices that began in 2021 and that, on average, pushed prices up about 25% by the middle of last year. Grocery costs shot up nearly 30%. As a candidate, Trump said he would immediately lower prices if elected.

Yet the president has slapped 25% duties on steel and aluminum, as well as cars, and a 10% tariff on nearly all other imports. And China, the United States’ third-largest trading partner, now faces a 145% duty on its exports.

The inflation-fighters at the target a 2% inflation rate and pay close attention to Wednesday’s inflation gauge, known as the personal consumption expenditures price index. The better-known consumer price index was released earlier this month and also showed a steady decline.

Inflation figures were revised higher for January and February, leaving price increases in the first quarter higher than previously estimated. The higher figures would likely leave Fed officials wary of cutting rates soon even before taking tariffs into account.

Trump has pushed the Fed to cut its key short-term interest rate because inflation has cooled. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell has underscored that the central bank is likely to remain on the sidelines as officials gauge how tariffs will impact the economy. The Fed isn’t expected to lower its rate at its policy meeting next week.

Wall Street bounces back from an early loss as volatility continues

SUMMARY:

  • US GDP unexpectedly contracts, sparking concerns.
  • Dow drops 479 points; S&P 500 and also tumble.
  • slide, led by Super Micro Computer’s 17.7% plunge.
  • Tariff uncertainty and weak job data shake investor confidence.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks bounced back from steep early losses to end mixed, continuing their wild swings amid uncertainty about what ‘s will do to the economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Wednesday, extending its winning streak to a seventh day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Indexes started the day lower after a report suggested the U.S. economy may have shrunk at the start of the year, before most of Trump’s announced could take effect. The S&P 500 had beenb down as much as 2.3%. Treasury yields fell.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks sank Wednesday after a report suggested the U.S. economy may have shrunk at the start of the year, before most of President Donald Trump’s announced tariffs could take effect.

The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in late trading and on track to break a six-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 223 points, or 0.6%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% lower.

The stock market had been heading for much worse losses earlier in the morning, when the S&P 500 was down as much as 2.3% and the Dow dropped 780 points. They initially tumbled after the report on the U.S. economy fell well short of economists’ expectations, a sharp turnaround from the economy’s solid growth at the end of last year.

Importers rushed to bring products into the country before tariffs could raise their prices, which helped drag on the country’s overall gross domestic product.

Such data raises the threat of a worst-case scenario called “stagflation,” one where the economy stagnates yet remains high. Economists fear it because the has no good tools to fix both problems at the same time. If the Fed were to try to help one by adjusting , it would likely make the other problem worse.

“Even if today’s weak GDP may have partially reflected companies trying to get ahead of tariffs, it was still a stagflation warning shot over the bow of the economy,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Financial markets got some better news later in the morning when a report said the measure of inflation that the Fed likes to use slowed in March. Inflation decelerated to 2.3%, closer to the Fed’s goal of 2%, from February’s reading of 2.7%. Stocks more than halved their losses following the report.

Still, much of Wednesday’s raised concerns about a weakening economy. A separate report on the job market from ADP suggested employers outside the government may have hired far fewer workers in April than economists expected, less than half.

It’s discouraging because a relatively solid job market has been one of the linchpins keeping the U.S. economy stable. A more comprehensive report on the job market from the U.S. government will arrive on Friday.

Wednesday’s reports add to worries that Trump’s trade war may drag the U.S. economy into a recession. The president’s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs has created deep uncertainty about what’s to come, which could cause damage by itself.

“I’m not taking a credit or discredit for the stock market,” Trump said Wednesday. “I’m just saying we inherited a mess.”

Uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs has already triggered historic swings for financial markets, from stocks to bonds to the value of the U.S. dollar, that battered investors through April. The S&P 500 at one point dropped nearly 20% below its all-time high set earlier this year, with scary headlines at one point warning of the worst April since the Great Depression.

But the uncertainty has been two-sided, and hopes that Trump may relent on some of his tariffs and reach trade deals with other countries helped the S&P 500 claw back a chunk of its losses. It’s set to finish April with a loss of less than 2%, which would be milder than March’s, and it’s roughly 10% below its record.

Stronger-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies have helped support the market, and Seagate Technology jumped 9% for one of Wednesday’s biggest gains after the maker of data storage joined the parade.

But potentially discouraging trends within the artificial-intelligence industry helped offset such gains for storage makers. AI stocks have been pulling back sharply on worries that their prices shot too high in prior years, when a frenzy around the industry drove them to breathtaking heights.

Super Micro Computer warned that some customers delayed purchases in the latest quarter, which caused the maker of servers used in AI and other computing to slash its forecast for sales and profit. Its stock tumbled 14.3% for the largest loss in the S&P 500.

Other AI-related stocks also fell, including a 1.3% drop for Nvidia. Because the chip company is so huge in size, its loss was one of the single heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

Starbucks sank 6.9% after the coffee chain fell short of analysts’ forecasts for revenue and profit in the latest quarter. Starbucks did log its first quarterly sales increase in more than a year, but acknowledged that its turnaround effort is far from complete.

Wednesday is set to mark the close of a third straight losing month for the S&P 500. Stocks in the energy industry took some of the hardest hits, dropping over three times more than any of the other 11 sectors that make up the index.

Halliburton, an oil services company, lost more than 22% in April as the price of crude slid on worries that tariffs will weaken the global economy.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.17% from 4.19% late Tuesday.

Yields have largely been sinking since an unsettling, unusual spurt higher earlier this month rattled both Wall Street and the U.S. government. That rise had suggested investors worldwide may have been losing faith in the U.S. bond market’s reputation as a safe place to park cash.

In stock markets abroad, indexes finished mixed across Europe and Asia.

Notes: Eds: UPDATES: with close of US trading.

QXO completes $11B purchase of Beacon Roofing Supply

Beacon Supply, a -based roofing material and company, is now a subsidiary of Connecticut software and tech business after the closing of its $11 billion purchase Tuesday, QXO announced.

Beacon CEO Julian G. Francis, who has been with the company since 2019, has left the company, a QXO spokesperson said Tuesday. However, many of Beacon’s employees in Herndon will remain in place. In 2023, Beacon reported $9 billion in revenue and $9.76 billion in 2024, and it employed about 8,000 people in the United States and Canada.

QXO announced its definitive merger agreement in March, with the Connecticut firm agreeing to Beacon for $124.35 per share in cash, after Beacon declined a previous offer of 10 cents lower per share in January. With the closing of the , QXO has also completed its $830 million equity private placement. Shares of Beacon’s stock ceased trading before the opening of the market Tuesday.

Brad Jacobs, chairman, CEO and founder of QXO, is a billionaire serial entrepreneur who has built seven multibillion-dollar companies primarily through .

“Acquiring Beacon is a major step forward in our strategy to make QXO the leading tech-enabled company in the $800 billion building products distribution industry,” Jacobs said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome Beacon’s talented team and, together, apply our proven playbook to accelerate growth, expand margins and create an unmatched customer experience.”

The purchase makes QXO the largest publicly traded distributor of roofing, waterproofing and complementary building products in the United States. Jacobs has stated his plans to build QXO to a $50 billion business, and spokesperson Joe Checkler said QXO expects to double Beacon’s profits within the next five years.

According to Checkler, regulatory approvals from the U.S. and Canadian governments came quickly, leading to a “pretty fast” closing of the transaction.

Buc-ee’s hiring for new Virginia location opening in June

If you’ve always dreamed of spending your working hours surrounded by Beaver nuggets, you’re in luck.

— the Texas-based chain of travel centers that has amassed a league of passionate fans who rival Beatlemania in terms of pure obsession  —  will hold a multiday hiring event in May for its upcoming 74,000-square-foot location, which is expected to open June 30.

Located at the intersection of and Friedens Church Road, the Mount Crawford center will be the mega chain’s first location in Virginia.

The Buc-ee’s will offer 120 fueling positions and the chain’s famously clean restrooms. It’s expected to create 200 with the gas station and .

The hiring event will be held at the Hotel Madison Shenandoah Valley Conference Center at 710 S. Main St. in Harrisonburg from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 13-15.

Open positions include cashier, janitorial service, maintenance and workers in deli/food service, grocery and gift departments. Starting pay ranges between $18 and $24 an hour, with full-time positions available.

Interested workers are encouraged to apply online at the convenience chain’s website, but walk-ins are also welcome at the event.

Buc-ee’s broke ground on the Rockingham County location on Jan. 30, 2024, after buying 21.3 acres for $6.6 million in September 2023.

In a 2023 news release, S.L. Nusbaum Realty said Buc-ee’s is planning to open four Virginia locations over the next several years.

In June 2023, Buc-ee’s paid $6.5 million for about 28 acres in New Kent County east of Richmond, at Exit 211 off Interstate 64.

Although Buc-ee’s initially planned to open the New Kent location by 2025, according to a 2023 S.L. Nusbaum Realty news release, its expected opening has been pushed to 2027 to coordinate with road projects.

In February 2024, Buc-ee’s submitted a conditional use permit application to Stafford County for a 74,000-square-foot travel center on about 36 acres by Exit 140 off Interstate 95. In March, Buc-ee’s submitted a request to rezone the property from B-2 zoning for urban commercial to B-1 zoning for convenience commercial.

“Staff is in the process of reviewing the new rezoning application and previously submitted conditional use permit application,” a county spokesperson said in a statement. “Comments will be complete by the end of April and provided to the applicant for them to address.”

Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s has 51 locations in the Lone Star State, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.

PAX acquires Manassas restoration company

Maryland-based and exterior services company announced Tuesday that it acquired — a -based limited liability company that provides commercial , roofing and masonry services in the mid-Atlantic region.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. PAX described Culbertson, which was founded in 1938, as a “perfect fit” for its company. Culbertson specializes in masonry repair, waterproofing and roofing and its clientele includes schools, hospitals, historic landmarks and commercial buildings.

“Culbertson’s legacy of quality craftsmanship, client-first approach and technical expertise aligns with our core values,” said PAX CEO Mike Wade in a statement. “Together, we will continue to provide exceptional restoration and roofing solutions with an ever-increasing level of service and innovation for our clients.”

PAX says the will increase operational capacity and strengthen expertise in handling complex restoration and roofing projects. The acquisition will not disrupt any ongoing projects, according to PAX.

“Joining forces with PAX marks an exciting new chapter for Culbertson,” said John Bourque, president of Culbertson, in a statement. “For more than 85 years, we’ve built our reputation on quality workmanship, trusted relationships and a deep commitment to our clients. Partnering with PAX allows us to continue that legacy while expanding our capabilities and resources. We’re confident this move will bring tremendous value to both our employees and our clients across the region.”

Formerly known as Patuxent Roofing & Contracting, PAX Services Group provides roofing, waterproofing and restoration services. The company is headquartered in Millersville, Maryland and serves commercial, institutional and industrial clients. PAX is a portfolio company of New Rochelle, New York-based private equity firm New State Capital Partners.

Henry County eyes $1.2M sale of 1,200-acre industrial site

Henry County’s Authority has signed a -option deal with an unnamed company for the potential of a 1,200-acre, undeveloped industrial site adjacent to the county’s Industrial Park, according to a news release.

The potential buyer negotiated a six-month purchase option agreement with the IDA for $50,000.

The deal gives the business the exclusive right, but not the obligation, to buy the site, which is officially called Patriot Centre II but is commonly known as the , for $1.2 million, according to the announcement. The agreement allows the company to conduct environmental studies, feasibility studies and planning at the site. The option can be extended by another six months for an additional $50,000.

“This agreement represents an exciting opportunity for our community,” Dale Wagoner, county administrator and executive director of the IDA, said in a statement. “If it moves forward, it could lead to significant capital investment and bring high-paying to Henry County —exactly the kind of growth we want to support our residents and future generations.”

If the company decides to purchase the site, the sale will include a with the IDA to incentivize targeted capital investment and job creation, according to the news release.

Businesses located in the Patriot Centre Industrial Park include Howmet Aerospace and Eastman.

ODU breaks ground on $184M biosciences building

Old Dominion University on Monday broke ground on the biggest capital project in the 95-year-old university’s history — a new biological sciences building.

The planned five-story, 162,586 square-foot building will be located on ‘s campus in , near the university’s Oceanography and Mills Godwin Life Sciences buildings.

ODU spokesperson Jonah Ross Grinkewitz said the $184 million project is funded by a state bond issue and will house classrooms, teaching laboratories, a 120-seat lecture hall and other student support spaces. State and campus leaders, and community members gathered Monday to commemorate the .

“Today would not be possible without significant support from the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said President Brian O. Hemphill in a Monday statement. “With the leadership and action of Gov. Youngkin and the General Assembly, a $184 million investment has been made in Old Dominion University, specifically our students, representing the largest in the history of our institution in terms of both scope and size.”

The building is meant to support faculty and student research in biomedical and ecological areas. As part of the project, the Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan Orchid Conservatory will be relocated within the biological sciences building with an added water feature and a two-story tropical display house. The exterior design incorporates an existing pond and features a terraced seating area.

A team that includes VMDO Architects, Ballinger and O’Shea Wilson Site Works designed the building. Newport News-based will serve as the project’s general contractor.

The building is expected to be ready for use in spring 2028.

Virginia Secretary of Aimee Guidera said the building embodies the ODU’s mission of being a “forward-focused, innovative and entrepreneurial research university.

“The pioneering biological research conducted at this state-of-the-art research and development hub will prepare students to succeed in their lives and careers beyond graduation,” Guidera added in a statement.