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Southern Va. Year-in-Review: Major projects landed in region

For Danville and Pittsylvania County, 2024 was a monumental year.

In November 2024, battery-component manufacturer Microporous broke ground on a $1.3 billion plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, where it expects to create 2,015 jobs. The following month in Danville, Caesars Virginia hosted the grand opening of its $750 million .

“All indicators point to continued growth and momentum,” says Corrie T. Bobe, Danville’s director of economic development and tourism.

It’s a long way from Danville’s past as a textile manufacturing town, an identity that collapsed by the early 2000s as Dan River Mills entered bankruptcy and closed. Partnering with Caesars Entertainment to bring a casino to the city has proven to be a winning hand for Danville. It received more than $34 million in gaming tax revenue and supplemental payments from when Caesars opened a temporary casino in Danville in May 2023 through December 2024, according to City Manager Ken Larking.

The casino had 1,200 employees on opening day, according to Barron Fuller, regional president for Caesars Entertainment. It’s projected to attract more than 2 million visitors annually.

“This project represents a transformative … investment, converting an 80-acre blighted and historic former textile site — previously generating no revenue — into a world-class entertainment venue,” says Bobe.

Nestled next to the “Three Sisters” smokestacks, remnants of the shuttered Dan River Mills textile facility, Caesars Virginia may be the most obvious symbol of the evolution of Southern Virginia’s economy.

Far from putting all their economic development eggs into the casino basket, area officials have poured time and money over the last two decades into creating sites with supporting infrastructure to attract advanced manufacturing companies such as Microporous. More than $200 million has been invested in development at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill alone, making it one of the largest megasites on the East Coast.

The casino and Microporous project were enough good news to offset some bad news in February, when Goodyear announced it would be laying off 850 workers at its tire plant in Danville. Larkin said the city would work with state and regional partners to assist displaced employees.

Leaders in Southern Virginia are also hard at work to make sure they can support the area’s growing workforce. Danville began holding housing summits for the entire region in 2022.

“Since then, we’ve brought in 1,112 multifamily housing units and 912 single family [homes] and townhouses,” says Linda Green, executive director for the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance and vice president of economic development at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. “And that doesn’t normally happen in a rural area. In addition to that, we’ve currently got 23 projects ready to go.”

Late in 2024, residents began moving into Dan River Falls, the $85 million multiuse project in the city’s White Mill, a striking former warehouse on the banks of the river. A public-private project between the city’s industrial development authority and The Alexandria Co., Dan River Falls includes 150 apartments and 147,000 square feet of office and retail space. An adjacent $14 million riverfront park is slated to open in the spring.
“These developments will fully revitalize our riverfront, further enhancing the region’s appeal and quality of life,” Bobe says.

Danville and Pittsylvania

Announced in August 2024, RBW Sports & Classics, the United Kingdom’s only manufacturer of hand-built electric sports cars, is investing $8 million to establish a manufacturing plant in the Cane Creek Centre, an industrial park owned by Danville and Pittsylvania. It is expected to create 144 jobs.

The facility, the company’s first U.S. location, will produce its first left-hand drive electric classic sports cars — Roadster and GT models —for the U.S. market.

RBW Sports & Classics will open its facility at the Cane Creek Centre in the second quarter of 2025, according to Matt Rowe, economic development director for Pittsylvania County.

Cambridge Pavers announced in December 2024 its plans to invest $47.35 million to establish a 150,000-square-foot facility at Ringgold East Industrial Park, just outside of Danville in Pittsylvania. The New Jersey-based company manufactures pavers, slabs and wall systems used for patios, landscaping and pool decks. The Ringgold East operation is expected to create 55 technical, manufacturing and customer service jobs with an average pay of $58,151 annually.

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage is investing $16.85 million to build a stave mill in Brosville Industrial Park in Pittsylvania. The mill will produce staves, or strips of wood, from white oak, which are used to make bourbon barrels. It is expected to create 40 jobs and source 40% of the timber needed from Virginia forest owners.

A division of Scotland’s Speyside Cooperage, the bourbon barrel maker has three other Virginia facilities, and the Pittsylvania mill will supply wood for the company’s presence in Smyth County.

EPL America, a specialty packaging manufacturer, is investing $34.7 million in new printing lines, a tubing line, and molds for producing closures and caps to boost capacity at its Airside Industrial Park facility in Danville, creating an estimated 24 jobs. This will allow the company to grow into the beauty and cosmetic markets and serve customers interested in replacing existing plastic products with laminate tubes.
“Market demand for its products in the [United States] remains robust, and the company has successfully tapped into Southern Virginia’s skilled labor force to support its continued growth and meet this increasing demand,” says Bobe.

The rest of the region

Danville and Pittsylvania are not the only Southern Virginia localities focused on drawing new business. In April 2024, Henry County supervisors awarded a $24 million contract to Chatham’s Haymes Brothers Construction to prepare a 172-acre pad site in Commonwealth Crossing, an industrial park in Ridgeway.

In January, Press Glass announced it would be closing its Stoneville, North Carolina, fabrication operations and moving them to Ridgeway in Henry County. That’s expected to increase Press Glass’ Virginia employee count to about 500. In 2023, the company announced a $155.2 million addition to its Ridgeway facility, and construction started last year.

Also, Hitachi Energy is investing $26 million to expand its South Boston facility, which manufactures transformers. This will pay for new equipment, upgrades and other production line improvements, which will expand capacity for producing distribution transformers.

Work started on the expansion in September 2024. It’s expected to be completed and new production underway by the end of 2026, says Kurt Steinert, Hitachi’s head of external communications in North America.

The facility currently has 585 employees, and the expansion is expected to create about 100 jobs. has begun, Steinert says.

In Mecklenburg County, Shalag US is investing $16.6 million to open a manufacturing and production facility in the former Global Safety Textiles building.

Shalag purchased the 154,000-square-foot building and associated property in August 2024 for $5.75 million.

The Oxford, North Carolina-based company manufactures a wide range of nonwoven fabric for use in products including diapers, feminine hygiene, air filtration and cleaning wipes. Its Mecklenburg facility is expected to create 52 jobs and allow the company to increase overall production capacity in the U.S. by 25%, according to a news release.

“They have started working on upfitting the building to their needs,” says Angie D. Kellett, director of the Mecklenburg County Office of Economic Development.

A sampling of Virginia’s major road projects

HAMPTON ROADS

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project
The state’s largest highway construction project is making steady progress, albeit now on an adjusted schedule. The $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion will widen the four-lane segments of the 9.9-mile Interstate 64 corridor between Norfolk and Hampton to six lanes on land and eight under the water with twin two-lane tunnels. The Virginia Department of Transportation contracted with Hampton Roads Connector Partners, a joint venture led by Dragados USA, for the project. The contract originally ended in November 2025, but in March 2024, VDOT and its partners announced an amendment to the comprehensive agreement, including moving the substantial completion deadline to February 2027 and the final completion to August 2027.

In April 2024, a $70 million custom-built tunnel boring machine dubbed Mary reached North Island, completing the first bored tunnel after 51 weeks. On Oct. 17, 2024, it began boring back toward South Island and Norfolk to create the second tunnel, which it’s expected to emerge from in late summer or early fall. Crews have begun interior construction on the first tunnel.

In May 2024, the first new bridge at the HRBT in more than 50 years opened — the eastbound north trestle between Hampton and North Island. Work on the westbound north trestle and the south trestle continues, with traffic expected on the former in the second half of 2025 and on the latter in the second quarter of the year.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Improve 95
To address congestion on Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, the more than $1 billion Improve 95 plan includes projects on sections of the interstate between Exit 126 and Exit 148, several of which have been completed. At Exit 126 in Spotsylvania County, the widening of the off-ramp from I-95 southbound and Route 1 southbound and safety improvements on Route 711 are expected to be completed in August.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY/ SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Interstate 81 improvements
The $3 billion I-81 Corridor Improvement Program, expected to be completed in 2035, includes more than 60 projects along 325 miles from Winchester to Bristol. Projects are in varying stages and include truck climbing lanes, highway widening and auxiliary lanes.

One larger project getting underway is a 7-mile widening of I-81 in Roanoke and Botetourt counties that will add a third northbound and southbound lane between Exits 143 and 150. In mid-July 2024, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded Roanoke-based Branch Civil a $362 million design-build contract for the project, which also includes replacing eight bridges and installing more than 8,500 feet of sound barrier along northbound lanes.

Coalfields Expressway
The proposed 115-mile Coalfields Expressway — U.S. Route 460/121 — is slated to run through Southwest Virginia (for about 50 miles) and southern West Virginia, boosting commerce and tourism. Construction is underway on a 4.81-mile, four-lane segment of Route 460/121 in Buchanan County.

The first phase is expected to cost $199 million and be completed late this year. The approximately $207 million second phase’s completion is expected in 2027.

DXC Technology promotes HR executive

Fortune 500 global IT company announced Thursday that it has promoted to chief people officer.

In the role, Ragone will lead the -based company’s global strategy. She was most recently vice president of business HR at DXC, which she joined in 2017 as vice president of human capital consulting, digital labor growth and optimization. Ragone previously worked for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and started her career at EDS.

She will report directly to DXC President and Raul Fernandez.

“Since 2020, I’ve had opportunity to work with Jennifer as a board member and now as CEO of DXC,” Fernandez said in a statement. “She has a deep understanding of our business and a proven track record in HR leadership that makes her the ideal choice to advance our people-first strategy. Her expertise in leveraging and data analytics for talent development aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of work ensuring we continue to attract, develop and empower top talent globally.”

As of last year, the company had about 133,000 employees worldwide and almost 6,000 private and public sector customers.

Federal watchdog reverses course, drops Capital One lawsuit

The reversed course Thursday and dropped a against -headquartered and its parent company, , which alleged the companies cheated millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments.

The U.S. government’s watchdog charged with protecting consumers from financial institutions filed a dismissal with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought back to court if accepted by the judge in the .

“We welcome the CFPB’s decision to dismiss this action, which we strongly disputed,” a spokesperson for Capital One said in a statement Thursday.

The CFPB, launched in response to the 2008 financial crisis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thursday’s filing reflects the overnight changes in the federal government under President Donald Trump, who promised to slash federal spending and cut thousands of federal jobs, as well as shuttering some departments and agencies. The CFPB was one of the agencies forced to close in the first weeks of the second Trump presidency, leaving the lawsuit against Capital One and other recent enforcement measures in limbo.

Sending a message

Erin Witte, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), a Washington, D.C., association of nonprofit consumer organizations, said it’s unusual for the CFPB to drop a case filed during a previous administration.

“It’s a really unprecedented move from the Trump administration,” she said.

Dropping the lawsuit, according to Witte, sends a message to leaders at banks, student loan providers and mortgage lenders that there will be no consequences for violating the law.

“I think it’s clear that the bureau is taking steps that are harming the consumers that they should be protecting,” she said. “The entire reason that we have a CFPB is because conduct like this was not being monitored, it wasn’t being addressed, and now the CFPB is turning its back on these people instead of protecting them.”

The lawsuit, which was filed Jan. 14 during the final days of the , alleged that Capital One misled consumers about “high interest” accounts, claiming Capital One Financial illegally deceived consumers and that Capital One N.A. — a national bank and wholly owned subsidiary of Capital One Financial — violated the Truth in Savings Act by falsely representing the 360 Savings accounts as providing a variable interest rate that was “one of the nation’s” “top,” “best” and “highest” and that customers would earn much more interest than with the average savings account.

Almost immediately after Trump took office Jan. 20, CFPB’s director, Rohit Chopra, was fired. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, an architect of Project 2025, took over as the agency’s acting director. Over the weekend of Feb. 8, news broke that Vought had shuttered the agency’s headquarters and employees were told to cease work.

The National Treasury Employees Union filed two federal lawsuits Feb. 9 against Vought, alleging that “the administration has unlawfully trampled the power of Congress to create a federal agency that it deemed necessary to protecting American consumers” and that the CFPB violated the Privacy Act by disclosing employee records to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

In a Feb. 24 response to one of those lawsuits, federal attorneys noted that Trump on Feb. 11 nominated Jonathan McKernan, a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to be the agency’s director. That, the filing states, is “inconsistent” with the view that the administration plans to dismantle the agency.

In an opening statement for Thursday’s nomination hearing before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, McKernan noted the CFPB suffers “from a crisis of legitimacy.”

“This must be corrected if the CFPB is to reliably do what it’s supposed to do — look out for the American consumer,” he stated. “To that noble end, the CFPB needs to be made accountable to our elected officials and its past excesses need to come to an aend.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, implied Thursday that McKernan’s role might not be highly valued by the Trump administration. “It kind of feels like you’ve been lined up to be the No. 1 horse at the glue factory,” she said at the nomination hearing.

In June 2024, Chopra told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee that the agency had returned $20.7 billion to consumers through law enforcement activity since its 2011 creation.

CoStar eliminates some jobs, but plans to add about 1,000 jobs

Arlington County-based real estate data and analytics company on Thursday announced several substantial changes to its Virginia workforce, including the elimination of some jobs and the addition of others.

The company said it plans to fill more than 1,000 new positions predominantly in , including 500 new sales professionals. CoStar said that its Homes.com network is now one of the two most heavily trafficked real estate collections of websites in the U.S., drawing an average monthly audience of 110 million unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Google Analytics.

Other new positions include analysts and additional roles in development, technology, artificial intelligence, video production, real estate writing, news, management and other roles.

But the news wasn’t positive for all CoStar staff, as the company said it “expects to eliminate roles in 2025 from efficiencies gained by using and reallocate those resources into other areas.” CoStar also said it anticipates reducing some roles during normal annual performance management. According to a news release from the company, these job eliminations are part of CoStar’s commitment to “efficient allocation of its shareholders’ resources.”

The company did not say how many people were being laid off.

“We do not take decisions that affect the daily lives of our employees lightly,” a CoStar Group spokesperson said in a statement. “We value and appreciate all our employees and the work they have done to support CoStar Group’s success and growth to-date. Impacted employees have been offered the appropriate resources to help them through this transition.”

In its release, CoStar said that it would aim to maximize revenue generation, regularly evaluate performance and pursue advancements with AI as part of an ongoing effort to enhance productivity and efficiency.

“CoStar Group sees rapidly growing value in leveraging artificial intelligence to improve content creation, drive operational efficiencies, and build the next generation of digital real estate user interfaces,” the company said in the release.

The company established a global operations center in Richmond in 2016 and has since grown that office to over 2,350 employees, becoming one of the area’s larger employers. CoStar announced it will complete a 1-million-square-foot campus development along the James River in May 2026 and that the campus will house 3,500 employees. In November 2024, the company announced plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to .

Petersburg City Council grants zoning approval for $1.4B casino resort

Petersburg City Council and Planning Commission unanimously gave final approval Tuesday for the zoning permits for Live! Resort — paving the way for site development work to start in preparation for the construction of the multi-phase project.

The $1.4 billion casino resort, which will be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site at the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate 95, is being co-developed by Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and developer Enterprise and is scheduled to be completed in phases.

According to a news release from Cordish, the resort is expected to generate $2.8 billion in economic stimulus to the region, $504 million in tax revenues, including $240 million to the City of alone, as well as $802 million in economic benefits during construction, $201 million in annual economic benefits each year after opening and over 7,500 new construction and permanent jobs in its first 10 years.

“We are grateful to our partners at the City of Petersburg for moving so quickly to get these zoning permits approved,” said Cordish Gaming Group President Rob Norton in a statement. “Our team is excited to move forward with the construction work so that we can start generating tax revenue for the city and jobs for Petersburg residents. The first-phase casino is the initial step in our long-term commitment to building a world-class destination for the city and region.”

Cordish hopes the casino will spur significant urban development and create a thriving entertainment and hospitality destination. The project will contain more than 450,000 square feet of gaming, hotel and dining space, as well as over 75,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

The project will also feature an upscale 200-room hotel featuring 20 suites, a resort pool and fitness center, 1,600 state-of-the-art slot machines, 65 live action table games, high-limit slot and table areas, a 4,000-seat state-of-the-art entertainment venue, 10 best-in-class food and entertainment options, and free surface parking.

The casino plans to hire employees in numerous fields including hotel operations, finance, marketing, human resources, information technologies, food and beverage, facilities, security and surveillance and gaming operations. According to the release, preference will be given to local residents first, then surrounding communities.

Cordish did not immediately respond to questions inquiring about the construction timeline of the project.

In November 2024, more than 80% of Petersburg voters said yes to the city’s casino referendum, giving the project the green light.

Virginia has three operating casinos: Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the state’s first permanent casino; the Hard Rock Bristol Casino, which opened in November; and the Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which opened in December.

Meanwhile, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming started construction on the long-delayed Norfolk casino earlier this month.

All four of those casino projects were passed via local referendum in 2020, but voters rejected the Urban One casino project in 2021 and 2023 votes. Last year, Virginia General Assembly lawmakers passed legislation that gave Petersburg a chance to host a casino, pending voters’ approval of a referendum on the November ballot, and barred Richmond from a third try. The state’s casino laws cap the number of casinos to one per city in five designated cities: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and now Petersburg, which replaced Richmond.

V2X nabs $100M FBI contract

V2X secured a $100 million, five-year contract to provide aviation maintenance and support services for the ‘s Critical Incident Response Group, the -headquartered and defense contractor announced Wednesday.

‘s role in the contract will be to deliver mission-critical aviation resources, enabling the FBI to gather intelligence, investigate operations and investigate law-enforcement activities. The Fortune 1000 company will support the FBI’s specialized aviation fleet by providing field-level maintenance, special mission equipment sustainment, training and administrative services. V2X will provide the services at multiple locations across the country.

“This contract underscores V2X’s expertise in delivering agile aviation solutions in support of national security,” Vinny Caputo, senior vice president of Aerospace Systems at V2X, said in a statement. “We are proud to provide the FBI with the aviation resources needed to execute their mission anytime, anywhere — ensuring operational readiness when it matters most.”

The FBI Critical Incident Response Group provides rapid assistance to incidents in a crisis, with expert help available in cases involving the abduction or mysterious disappearance of children, crisis management, hostage negotiation, criminal investigative analysis and special weapons and tactics.

V2X was formed by the $2.1 billion merger of Vertex and Vectrus in 2022 and has about 16,000 employees. Previously based in , the company announced in December 2024 it had opened new corporate headquarters in Reston. V2X reported $4.32 billion in revenue in 2024, up 9% from the previous year.

Pope no longer COO at Boeing but remains head of commercial airplanes unit

Arlington County-based company and defense contractor announced Tuesday that is no longer the company’s chief operating officer but still leads its commercial airplane unit, as of Feb. 19.

According to an SEC filing posted Tuesday evening, Pope will no longer hold the title but will continue to serve as Boeing’s executive vice president, as well as president and of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The company declined to elaborate on the role change.

The company’s website states that Pope has had a three-decade career at Boeing and has held numerous senior leadership roles at the corporate, business unit and program levels.

A person familiar with the company’s decision explained that the company is not expected to name a new COO, with the position being eliminated. However, the person noted Pope would still maintain essential roles within the company and that she has received praise from new CEO Robert “Kelly” Ortberg for her work. Pope is still leading BCA, which the source described as the company’s second most important leadership role.

The source noted that in late 2023, former CEO Dave Calhoun talked about potential retirement and named Pope as COO and his possible successor. This was the month before a January 2024 incident where a Boeing 737 Jet experienced a midair panel blowout while filled with passengers. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation, and the wrote letters to passengers telling them that they may be victims of a crime.

Amid the fallout from that incident and ongoing bad press over production problems and plummeting sales, Boeing announced in March 2024 that Calhoun was stepping down by the end of 2024, but his departure was moved up when Ortberg took over as president and CEO in August. As part of the management shakeup last March, Pope was appointed to lead the company’s Boeing Commercial Airplanes business unit, replacing BCA President and CEO Stan Deal.

As unit leader, Pope oversees the design, production and delivery of advanced jetliners to customers worldwide.

The source familiar with the decision said that the COO title was a legacy role going back to Calhoun, and that Ortberg has made other changes to streamline the organization.