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Nanotech company to invest $2.9M in C-ville expansion

Laser Thermal, a nanotechnology company spun out of the University of Virginia, will spend $2.9 million and add 28 at its manufacturing, facility in , Gov. Glenn announced Monday.

The company provides testing services to companies wanting to understand thermal properties at the device level, such as semiconductor companies seeking to learn more about the properties of materials used in its , explained  Laser Thermal’s and co-founder, John Gaskins.

In October 2022, Laser Thermal began selling a tool manufactures to measure heat flow in devices. The company also has two additional tools in development, one to measure thermal properties at nanoscales invisible to the naked eye, and the other to measure bulk properties of materials, Gaskins says.

“Laser Thermal’s decision to expand its research and development capacity in Charlottesville highlights the economic development generated from our world-class universities like the University of Virginia and the innovation and talent they produce,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The company’s success also showcases Virginia’s ongoing technology sector growth and we look forward to a continued partnership.”

Founded in 2021, Laser Thermal currently has 14 full-time employees, Gaskins said. The adds an additional 5,200 square feet to the company’s existing 2,700 square feet in the city’s Ix Business Park.

“As a native Virginian, there was no other place I wanted to start a company due to proximity to major shipping hubs and international airports, the ability to maintain collaborative ties with the University of Virginia, and access to bright young talent from the first-class higher education network that exists here,” Gaskins said in a statement. “Many of our employees are originally from Virginia, or are happily transplanted, and love working at a high-tech company located in such a beautiful, friendly, and innovative state.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Youngkin, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and university and industry officials gathered in for the public launch of the Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology. The launch included a private summit with the goal of bringing together academia and business to develop ideas for encouraging the semiconductor industry to grow in Virginia.

Gaskins said he sees his company as “another piece of the semiconductor ecosystem, providing thermal measurements to companies and universities that really haven’t been available on the commercial scale up to this point.” Gaskins said the company is currently working on an Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contract, with others in the pipeline.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Charlottesville to secure the project for Virginia and will support Laser Thermal’s through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides consulting and funding to companies adding jobs to support employee recruitment and training activities.

CFA Institute sells Charlottesville HQ for $21.9M

The Charlottesville headquarters of CFA Institute sold for $21.9 million, | announced Tuesday.

The 150,000-square-foot , at 915 E. High St., is the former , which opened in 1904, according to Cvillepedia. CFA Institute, a nonprofit association of investment professionals, will back 47,000 square feet for its ongoing operations. The location has been the institute’s home since 2014, after a renovation that included sustainability features.

Thalhimer has been awarded the leasing by the buyer, Lo-Hi LLC, and the building will remain space. It is the only Class A building near downtown with parking. Lo-Hi will also be opening Lo-Hi , which will provide private office space for companies with up to 10 employees.

John Pritzlaff and Jenny Stoner of handled the and lease negotiations on behalf of the buyer and will handle the office space leasing going forward.

Magic Johnson won’t rule out renaming Commanders

Could the get a new name?

NBA legend Magic Johnson, one of the -based NFL team’s new co-owners, wouldn’t rule out the possibility during an interview Friday morning with Craig Melvin on NBC’s “Today” show.

“Everything is on the table, right? Especially after the last year,” the former Los Angeles Lakers star point guard said. “We will see [where] we are with the name. But I can’t say that right now.” Later in the interview, he added, “The name of the team will come up eventually.”

Asked about whether the team, which has its headquarters in County and plays home games at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, could relocate to Washington, D.C., Johnson declined to answer, saying, “We’re going to spend this year understanding what we have in place.”

Amid controversy with past team owner Dan Snyder, Virginia’s General Assembly tabled a 2022 incentive bill aimed at helping the Commanders build a new stadium and headquarters in Woodbridge. Virginia lawmakers are said to be open to working with the team’s new owners to bring the Commanders stadium to the commonwealth after the team’s FedEx Field runs out in 2027.

Johnson is a partner in a team of investors led by Maryland billionaire Josh Harris that purchased the Commanders for a record $6.05 billion from Snyder, after NFL owners unanimously approved the deal Thursday. Harris is now managing partner and majority owner of the Commanders, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils through his company Harris Blitzer & Entertainment LLC (HBSE).

During the “Today” interview, Johnson also commented on how the new management would differ from Snyder, who received a $60 million fine from the Thursday following a league investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, a toxic workplace culture and deliberate underreporting of revenue.

“First of all,” Johnson said, “you have to let the employees know that you respect them and that will be a safe place to work, and we want you to have a winning attitude too. … If we respect them, they will respect us and go to the wall for us.”

NFL owners approve $6.05B sale of Washington Commanders

Dan Snyder‘s controversial 24-year tenure as the embattled owner of the -based has come to an end with the record $6.05 billion sale of the team — and a $60 million fine from the .

In a special meeting Thursday, all 32 NFL team owners unanimously approved the team’s sale to a partnership led by Maryland billionaire and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris for the highest price ever paid for any North American . Simultaneously, the league imposed the hefty fine on Snyder, the team’s owner since 1999, over a sexual harassment allegation by an employee and for underreporting revenue.

The sale, which may be finalized as soon as Friday, required the approval of the NFL’s finance committee and three-fourths of the league’s team owners. NFL owners were expected to vote on the sale during their May meeting in Minnesota but delayed the decision until the special meeting Thursday due to the deal’s complexity. (According to ESPN, in order to meet NFL guidelines for the sale, Harris had to restructure his offer to reduce his debt in the deal to no more than $1.1 billion, while upping his personal equity to at least 30% of the purchase price.)

Harris, who is also managing partner and majority owner of the NBA’s 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, co-founded private equity company Apollo Global Management. He and a partnership including NBA legend Magic Johnson and billionaire Danaher Corp. co-founder Mitchell Rales reached an agreement with Snyder in May for the sale of the Commanders.

Late Thursday afternoon, the team posted a message from “future Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris” on its Twitter account: “Today my partners and I were entrusted by the NFL with the stewardship of a great franchise. As a lifelong Washington fan who grew up here, I know that the Commanders are more than just a sports team. This is an institution, passed down from generation to generation.

“From day one, is our top priority to deliver you a championship caliber team, and we will strive every day to ensure that we are a franchise that you can be proud of. To Commanders fans everywhere, our promise is simple: We will do the work, create the culture and make the investment needed to deliver for this team and for Washington.”

Dan Snyder purchased the Washington Commanders in 1999.

Leading up to the sale, Snyder and the team’s head have been under scrutiny for years by the NFL, Congress and national media amid widespread reports of alleged sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. As the sale’s approval was announced Thursday, the NFL released the results of an investigation into Snyder and the Commanders by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, who sustained a report of sexual harassment of a female employee by Snyder as well as allegations that the team deliberately underreported the franchise’s NFL revenues. The NFL imposed the $60 million fine as a resolution to the matters.

“The conduct substantiated in Ms. White’s findings has no place in the NFL. We strive for workplaces that are safe, respectful and professional,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Thursday.

Goodell also congratulated Harris and “his impressive group of partners,” saying, “Josh will be a great addition to the NFL. He has a remarkable record in business, sports, and in his communities. The diverse group that Josh has put together is outstanding for its business acumen and strong Washington ties and we welcome them to the NFL as well.”

Thursday afternoon following the sale’s approval, Magic Johnson tweeted, “This is truly the biggest achievement in my business career and a historic moment for the entire Black community. Talk about God’s perfect timing. This was the right organization for me to be a part of given it’s global appeal, history of winning, and the diverse fanbase and DMV community. I have a special relationship with the DMV. Many don’t know I’ve done business in the Washington, DC area for many years. I was one of the owners of the Washington Hilton, I built multiple Starbucks franchises and Magic Johnson Theaters, and empowerment centers with the Magic Johnson Foundation. I also have my company SodexoMAGIC headquartered here. The DMV community has embraced and supported me, and I am honored and ecstatic to be a co-owner of the Commanders franchise!”

Harris and Rales’s investment group made a failed bid to buy the Denver Broncos last year. The Broncos instead went to Walmart heir Rob Walton for $4.65 billion, setting what was then a sales record for an NFL sports team. Harris also previously held an ownership stake of less than 5% in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Snyder’s tenure in charge of Washington team began in 1999 when he purchased it from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, who first purchased a stake in the team in 1961 and became its majority owner in 1974. During Cooke’s ownership, the team won three Super Bowls in 1982, 1987 and 1991 under Head Coach Joe Gibbs.

A lifelong entrepreneur from Maryland, Snyder co-founded a wallboard advertising company in 1989 with his sister, Michele Snyder, that became Snyder Communications LP. In 2000, Snyder sold the business, which employed 12,000 people, for more than $2 billion.

When Snyder first purchased the Ashburn-based team, it was known as the Washington Redskins, a name criticized for decades as racist and derogatory against Native Americans. The name and logo were retired in 2020 amid a summer of national racial protests and following pressure from corporate sponsors. The team changed its name to the temporary generic moniker of the Washington Football Team before settling on the Commanders.

Snyder’s wife, Tanya, took over as co- of the team in 2021, after the NFL’s $10 million fine of the team for an “improper” and “highly unprofessional” workplace culture. A few months earlier, in March 2021, the Snyders bought out the team’s minority co-owners to become its sole owners. Reports at the time placed the team’s value at $3.5 billion.

After buying the most expensive house in Virginia for $48 million in October 2021, the Snyders apparently moved to England by late 2022, according to public documents Dan Snyder filed to start a business in the United Kingdom.

By November 2022, with controversies, investigations and negative press mounting, Dan and Tanya Snyder hired Bank of America Securities to consider potential sales of the team. And in April, the Snyders reached a tentative agreement to sell to Harris’ group, the same month that the Commanders settled a lawsuit with the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office over the team’s practices in handling season ticket deposit funds from fans.

 

 

Microsoft Federal sees leadership change

Microsoft Corp.’s federal arm has new , after its former president, Rick Wagner, left the company to pursue “new opportunities.”

Wagner had run Federal, now based in Rosslyn, since 2020. Candice Ling announced in a LinkedIn post this week that she had accepted his former job. Microsoft’s federal team works with the civilian and sectors on a variety of projects, and is part of the team on the Pentagon’s $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability Contract to build out cloud capabilities for the Department of Defense.

“Rick Wagner, president, Microsoft Federal, has decided to leave the company to pursue new opportunities,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Virginia Business in an email Wednesday, adding that his departure was announced last week. “We are deeply grateful for his leadership and contributions to the company and wish him all the best in the future.”

Ling served as the federal sector’s civilian vice president since October 2021 and previously spent 19 years with Canadian consulting firm CGI Inc., most recently as a senior vice president in Fairfax. She joined Microsoft as a government industry leader in Asia in 2018.

Ling wrote in her LinkedIn post that she wants “to champion a public-private centered strategy, fostering co-innovation and accelerating time-to-mission. We are also dedicated to and laser-focused on accelerating AI adoption in support of your mission.” She went on to say she is “committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusivity while supporting each and every one of you to achieve your goals.”

Breaking Defense, a defense industry trade publication, reported that Wagner’s departure marks the third senior-level Microsoft with ties to the industry to leave in the last year. Toni Townes-Whitley, who stepped down as Microsoft’s president of U.S. regulated industries in September 2022, will become the new of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in October, succeeding Nazzic S. Keene.

In her LinkedIn post, Ling also announced that Heidi Kobylski will take over her previous role. Kobylski has spent more than 13 years at Microsoft, including as general manager of the federal civilian unit.

Rail equipment manufacturer to expand in Salem

Wabtec Corp. is investing $2.7 million to expand its existing facility in , adding 38 , Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Wabtec provides equipment, systems, digital solutions and other services for and rail globally. The expansion will accommodate the relocation of its pneumatically controlled braking systems lines within its Graham-White manufacturing facility in Salem.

Virginia competed with Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Mexico for the project.

“Wabtec Corp.’s expansion of its Salem facility fuels the resurgence of high-quality manufacturing jobs in Virginia, and we thank the company for its long-term commitment to the commonwealth as a valued employer,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The Roanoke region offers the skilled workforce and custom solutions to support Wabtec’s continued growth, and we are confident they will thrive for the next 100 years in Virginia.”

Wabtec’s Salem facility employs more than 200 in Salem and manufactures air dryers, valves, gages/flowmeters and braking equipment for the rail freight, rail transit, truck and bus industries.

“As a leading global provider of transportation solutions, we are proud of our long history of manufacturing excellence in Salem and delighted to be expanding our operations there,” said Mike Fetsko, president of Wabtec’s freight and industrial components business, in a statement. “Wabtec’s collaborative relationship with the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the business-friendly approach from state and local agencies, provided us with the confidence to make this significant investment. With new products and additional high-quality manufacturing jobs, our expansion in Salem represents our continued commitment to the community and its key role in supporting Wabtec’s future growth.”

The Virginia Partnership worked with Salem and the to secure the project for Virginia and will support job creation through the (), which provides consulting services and funding to companies creating jobs to support employee recruitment and training activities. Salem, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, the Greater Roanoke Workforce Development Board and Center for Manufacturing Excellence in Southwest Virginia will provide custom programs to support the company’s expansion, including talent recruitment, marketing assistance and workforce training.

Inova hires new chief information and digital officer

Inova has snagged another top from the Cleveland Clinic.

Matthew Kull has been named as chief information and digital officer of the health system, which spans five hospitals and employs 20,000 in Northern Virginia, the system announced Monday. Kull will start Aug. 7.

Most recently, Kull served as chief information officer for Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic, where he was responsible for digital and functions across the 200 sites and more than 75,000 employees. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic in 2018, he held the role of senior vice president and for Dallas-based Parkland Hospital. He has also held senior-level roles at AmerisourceBergen Corp., Lucidity Consulting Group, McKesson Corp. and other companies.

“Matt is a recognized technology leader who brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in global organizational technology, digital innovation and operations that will benefit , our team members and patients,” said Inova CEO and President Dr. J. Stephen Jones, who joined Inova from Cleveland Clinic in 2018, in a statement. “His will undoubtedly drive our digital transformation initiatives forward, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Inova team.”

As , Kull will help develop Inova’s overall technology strategy and will be responsible for driving digital health innovation and improved care delivery through IT to patients, team members and the community. He will also oversee a team responsible for all IT services including applications, program management, data, security, technical infrastructure, clinical engineering and support services.

“With a shared vision for innovation and passion for leveraging technology to enhance patient outcomes, I am excited to join this dynamic team of IT professionals at Inova,” Kull said in a statement. “Together, we are poised to improve the way health care is delivered through technology and ultimately improve the lives of those we serve.”

Kull has an MBA from Southern Methodist University and was named a 2022 Ohio CIO of the Year by InspireCIO, a leadership network.

Va. semiconductor alliance powers forward

Virginia’s initiative to become a bigger part of the country’s burgeoning semiconductor chip industry charged forward Tuesday with the public launch of an alliance intended to unite academia and businesses in developing talent and establishing and facilities.

Announced in April by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor , or VAST, led by , is funded by a $3.3 million grant from the state’s GO Virginia initiative and includes plans to train 600 adult learners, with a focus on veterans and those from underserved communities, beginning in 2024, in addition to offering internships and certificates. VAST plans to create three 10-week Fast Track to Semiconductor Careers certificate programs: Chip Fabrication and Nano Characterization, Semiconductor Packaging and Characterization, and Semiconductor Equipment Maintenance and Repair.

Headquartered in the Arlington-based Virginia Tech Research Center, VAST includes George Mason University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University and Northern Virginia Community College.

On Tuesday, , U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and other partners gathered to sign a memorandum of understanding to focus on the state’s attempts to match momentum being created by the $280 billion federal Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors () and Science Act. The public memorandum signing was followed by a private summit between industry officials, including Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc., which has a plant in Manassas, as well as officials from academia, and the and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., in an attempt to inspire collaboration and attract more semiconductor businesses to establish a presence or expand in the commonwealth.

Speaking to the crowd at Northrop Grumman’s headquarters, Youngkin said he is personally “engaged making sure that a robust economic incentive plan is presented to those companies that we think we want to go get. And you all are on the list. And so we are looking forward to working with you in order to beat the competition and have you come to Virginia”

Also among Youngkin’s goals from the event was developing a “clear path to launching collaborative research” among VAST’s university partners as well as “specific projects that might have not been either contemplated before today, or were being contemplated, but might not have been contemplated in Virginia.”

Virginia has lagged behind other states, including Arizona, New York, Michigan and Ohio, in building out its semiconductor industry. Intel Corp. considered Chesterfield County’s Upper Magnolia Green site for a $20 billion chip factory, but ultimately picked Ohio instead. Industrial site development has been a priority for Youngkin; he proposed $350 million for such projects in his 2022-2024 budget, which is still awaiting General Assembly approval. Officials at Tuesday’s even also noted Virginia’s deep bench  of major top defense and aerospace contractors, with four of the world’s top five largest defense contractors now headquartered in Northern Virginia being a potential draw.

Rebuilding the nation’s semiconductor industry has also become a top U.S. national security priority in recent years amid a growing competition with economic rival China.

Youngkin announced VAST in April, days before he traveled to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea for his first international trade mission, during which he touted Virginia as a place for the semiconductor industry and its suppliers to thrive. On Tuesday, Youngkin said he was “encouraged” by that trip, where he met with industry and supply chain leaders. “I was also encouraged by the singularity of view that deeper relationships with the United States from all of the suppliers in Taiwan, in Japan and in Korea was top of their list,” Youngkin said. “And Virginia was a hugely competitive area for them to want to get to. So I feel confident that we will, in fact, see real benefits from our trip.”

Warner, who introduced an early version of the semiconductor legislation in 2020, added that he hoped the summit might accomplish “three or four leads that the and I can work on. There is a power when you’ve got a governor and your senior senator double-teaming a company to try to make the case [for] what we can do from the state standpoint [and] what we can do from the federal standpoint,” Warner said. “I think that combination is a good one and can provide wins.”

 

 

 

Amentum-led team receives $5.87B nuke cleanup contract

A team led by -based Services Inc. will manage the decontamination and decommissioning of a -era weapons complex under a $5.87 billion, 10-year contract announced by the U.S. Thursday.

Southern Ohio Cleanup Company LLC, based in Aiken, South Carolina, is a joint venture led by Amentum Environment and Energy Inc., and includes Texas-based Fluor Corp. and Cavendish Nuclear Inc, a subsidiary of London-based Babcock International Group. Under the contract, the companies will handle the demolition and disposal of facilities, process equipment, related process buildings and other ancillary facilities at the 3,777-acre Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. The contract also includes remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater and disposition of uranium material.

The Ohio plant operated from 1954 to 2001 and was initially built to produce enriched uranium to support the nation’s nuclear weapons program and later switched to enriching uranium for commercial nuclear reactors. Weapons-grade uranium enrichment ceased at the site following the Cold War and production facilities were leased to the private sector.

“Amentum and our heritage companies have a long history of supporting the DOE’s environmental management program and have managed numerous decontamination and decommissioning projects across the DOE complex. Our extensive experience at the Oak Ridge Reservation enables us to bring advanced technical solutions to complete the work safely and effectively at Portsmouth,” Amentum John Heller said in a statement Monday, referring to the company’s work at the Tennessee-based site established during World War II to process material for nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. “We will partner with our DOE client, regulators and community stakeholders to further advance the Department of Energy’s mission.”

Amentum moved its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to Chantilly earlier this year. The company has more than 44,000 employees in 85 countries, including locations across Virginia in Alexandria, , Chantilly, Dahlgren, , Fredericksburg and Norfolk.

Stihl names new president, CEO

Virginia Beach-based chainsaw and outdoor power equipment manufacturer Inc. has announced a shift a little more than a year after Terry Horan took on the role of president and CEO.

, senior vice president of sales and marketing, will become the company’s new president and on August 4, replacing Horan, who was named to the company’s board of directors, the company said Friday.

Stihl Inc. is the largest subsidiary of the global Stihl Group and employs more than 1,900 workers in .

“Terry has the heartfelt thanks of the Stihl family for his exceptional leadership,” Nikolas Stihl, Stihl Group advisory board and supervisory board chair, said in a statement. “He has built a strong leadership team and established the foundation for significant growth through a demonstrated commitment to our loyal distribution network and local Stihl dealers, focusing the organization on winning as one team.”

Stihl spokesman Roger Phelps told Virginia Business Friday that Horan’s decision to step down from his current role was made in consultation with the company’s board and is part of its larger succession plan. Keffer joined Stihl in April 2022 as vice president of sales and marketing from Stanley Black & Decker Inc., where he spent nearly two decades, according to his LinkedIn profile. Keffer has been helping to lead Stihl’s toward battery-powered equipment, Phelps said.

Stihl joined the American Green Zone Alliance to support battery electric transition training and education, Landscape Management reported in late June.

“The USA is by far our most important market worldwide,” Stihl Executive Board Chairman Michael Traub said in a statement. “These appointments provide stability and continuity, which are critical to our long-term strategic and operational success. Chris has quickly established himself as an innovator and leader and has a keen understanding of our market and our customers. His experience and expertise will enable the company to lead in all markets in which we choose to compete.”

In October 2021, Stihl announced that its U.S.-based president of operations, Bjoern Fischer, and Nick Jiannas, vice president of U.S. sales and marketing, were leaving by mutual agreement. Fischer had served as president since 2016 and had been with Stihl since 2012. Horan, who served as RPM Consumer Group president at Ohio-based sealant, coating and building materials manufacturer RPM International Inc., was hired after an extensive search.

Neither Horan nor Keffer were immediately available for comment Friday.

“For nearly 100 years, Stihl has remained steadfastly committed to providing the premium quality tools our professional and demanding residential users expect,” Horan said in a statement. “Working on this marquee brand alongside our loyal and dedicated workforce has been the pinnacle of my 37-year professional career. I look forward to supporting Chris and the executive council, as together we continue our legacy of market leadership.”

Before joining Stihl, Keffer served as president of product management for Stanley Black & Decker’s group. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications and an executive MBA from Loyola University Maryland.

“I would like to thank Terry, the Stihl board and the Stihl family for their confidence in me,” Keffer said in a statement. “Stihl has always had a long-term strategic outlook. So, while our market may be facing short-term challenges, we see tremendous opportunity in our future. We have the , products, programs and partners to grow our position as the leading authority in the gas and battery outdoor power equipment markets.”