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Massey Center, VCU Health hire cancer exec

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Center and Health announced Tuesday that Dr. Paula M. Fracasso, formerly of the University of Virginia, is now the ‘s deputy director and senior vice president of the ‘s cancer service line.

An oncologist, former pharmaceutical executive and medical school professor, Fracasso joined VCU and the Massey Center this month. Fracasso will work with at Massey, and the VCU School of Medicine to coordinate patient care, education and research initiatives concerning cancer.

“I’m excited to be joining such a strong, accomplished team of clinicians, researchers and staff all motivated by our shared mission to reduce the cancer burden for all Virginians,” Fracasso said in a statement.

“Dr. Fracasso’s deep expertise across the spectrum of patient care and clinical and translation research in [National Cancer Institute]-designated cancer centers will greatly contribute to our continued efforts to enhance patient care by streamlining operations under a centralized cancer service line,” VCU Medical Center President Michael Roussos said in a statement.

Fracasso, who served as professor of women’s oncology research as well as deputy director of U.Va.’s cancer center, previously worked at University in St. Louis, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC. At Washington University in St. Louis, she built the Siteman Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program for phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. She is also a member of the NCI’s operational efficiency working group, which aims to speed up the pace of clinical trials.

Fracasso holds an undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and medical and graduate degrees from Yale University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, her postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of and her clinical fellowship in hematology-oncology at Tufts Medical Center.

Chrysler Museum names communications director

Norfolk’s has named as its new .

Mars previously spent more than seven years working for the Virginia Zoo, including in and as creative director. She worked as its communications director since March 2021, according to her LinkedIn account. Mars has also worked in graphic design for newspapers and magazines, as well as in commercial real estate and other industries.

In her new role, Mars will work with museum staff to increase the visibility of its initiatives and exhibitions. In July, the museum announced its , a $50 million capital campaign to improve access to its permanent collection, increase learning and expand the Perry Glass Studio.

“Ashley Grove Mars brings an impressive breadth of experience in communication to this role, and her background in journalism will be most useful as she helps share the Chrysler Museum of Art’s story,” Erik H. Neil, the museum’s president and CEO, said in a statement Tuesday. “As the museum continues to cement itself as a premiere destination of arts and culture, strengthening our strategic communication efforts is vital to ensure the community is aware of all that we have to offer.”

Mars started her new position Tuesday.

“The Chrysler has long been known as a source of inspiration and distinction and is embarking on a pivotal phase of its legacy,” Mars said in a statement. “As a part of the team, I look forward to contributing to the strategic growth of the organization and to enhancing the visibility and accessibility of a cornerstone of this great community.”

In May, philanthropist Joan Brock donated $34 million, including 40 works of art and two position endowments, to the museum.

Accenture Federal Services promotes chief leadership officer

Arlington-based Federal Services promoted Elaine Beeman to chief officer on Sept 2.

In her new role, Beeman will focus on employee experience and succession planning and will continue leading the ‘s civilian portfolio.

Beeman joined AFS in 2009 as managing director of customer relationship for Accenture’s health and public service business. In 2015, she became lead for AFS’ civilian portfolio, focusing on workforce development and inclusion and diversity initiatives.

“ is a fundamental part of building an exceptional workplace for our employees,” Beeman said in a statement. “I look forward to coaching, mentoring and inspiring the extraordinary talent within to take the company’s growth to the next level.”

Beeman joined AFS’ parent company, , in 1993 and spent two years with Accenture in Australia, where she led the business transformation team for Telstra, an Australian telecommunications company. Before joining Accenture, Beeman led customer service and programs at AOL.

Beeman earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Delaware.

Accenture Federal Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP, part of Irish Fortune Global 500 company Accenture PLC. Accenture has more than 710,000 employees across 120 countries and reported $50.5 billion in fiscal year 2021 revenue.

New Kent, Cox announce $34M internet expansion

and have announced a $34 million public-private partnership to bring access via a -optic network to all county residents and businesses. 

Work on the first phase is scheduled to begin this month and includes building out service to support 3,000 county residents who don’t currently have access, according to a news release. The estimated completion for the first phase is in 2024, though residents will have access as neighborhoods are completed.

The second phase involves build out of the the fiber-optic network to all remaining county residents and businesses, for a total of 566.7 miles. Completion of the second phase is anticipated by the end of 2026 but residents and businesses will have access as soon as build out of their areas are finished, New Kent spokesperson Krista Eutsey said.

The county is investing $16.1 million, with an additional $17.8 million from .

Expanding broadband is a top priority for county leaders, New Kent County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas W. Evelyn said in a statement. The 212-square mile county is home to more than 23,000 residents. Between 2010 and 2020, its population grew by almost 5,000 .

“This is a major step forward and the partnership with Cox will help to ensure that our community thrives well into the future,” Evelyn said.

Cox has begun engineering and design work to start permitting and is working with property owners to gain needed access.

“Connectivity is at the heart of everything we do,”  J.D. Myers II, Cox senior vice president and Virginia region manager, said in a statement. “Our team here in Virginia has been focused on providing the most powerful connection — high-speed internet — to communities across our state.”

Cox serves more than 6.5 million homes and businesses across 18 states and is the largest division of Atlanta-based

Other areas of the state are gaining faster internet access. In July, Waynesboro-based Lumos announced an $83 million fiber internet expansion in Hampton Roads, and in December 2021, the state invested $722 million in grants to extend broadband access to 70 localities with internet gaps. Then-Gov. Ralph Northam anticipated that 90% of the state would have broadband by 2024.

 

GDIT secures $298M U.S. Courts contract

Falls Church-based Inc. announced Tuesday that received a $298 million blanket purchase agreement by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) Case Management Systems Office.

Under the five-year , which the AOUSC awarded in May, will provide , solutions architecture, operations and engineering and support services. GDIT will also put in place a development, security and operations approach to speed and secure software delivery, the company said in a news release.

“We have supported AOUSC with advanced technology capabilities and services for more than 25 years, and this contract gives us another opportunity to further advance its mission,” John Ludecke, GDIT’s vice president and general manager of the federal civilian division, said in a statement.

GDIT is a subsidiary of -based Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor , an aerospace and defense company that employs more than 100,000 worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021.

GDIT has more than 30,000 employees and reported $8.5 billion in 2021 revenue.

Juul settles with Va., 32 other states for $438.5M

After a two-year investigation, ongoing federal scrutiny and numerous lawsuits, Juul Labs Inc. tentatively settled with Virginia, 32 other states and Puerto Rico for $438.5 million on Tuesday.

Virginia will receive $16.61 million over the next six to 10 years, state Attorney General announced Tuesday, but the larger impact may be on -based Altria Group Inc., which has a 35% ownership of Juul, based in ,

In 2018, Altria invested $12.8 billion in Juul, which was then dominating the vape market. By late 2019, the company’s fortunes plummeted, with California’s attorney general suing the company for illegally to underage consumers. Fruit- and candy-flavored products, as well as a sleek, flash drive-mimicking tool, were part of their appeal to teens, numerous plaintiffs — including states joining California’s lawsuit — argued.

Juul has settled several lawsuits since 2021, including $87 million in settlements with four other states, but there are still thousands of other lawsuits pending. In late August, U.S. District Judge David J. Novak of the Eastern District of Virginia declined to approve a proposed $117 million settlement between Altria and shareholders in a lawsuit over its investment in Juul. Novak called the deal “inadequate.”

Altria’s investment in Juul has fallen to a worth of $450 million as of June 30, but the company has not yet sought to be released from its noncompete agreement. Its deal with Juul included an option to leave if its initial investment fell below 10% of its original value, i.e. $1.28 billion.

In Tuesday’s settlement, Juul agreed to not depict under 35 in its marketing, use paid influencers, offer free samples, sell flavors not approved by the or allow access to websites without age verification, among other mandates.

“Youth vaping is an epidemic, and from the get-go Juul has been a leader in the e-cigarette industry,” Miyares said in a statement. “But Juul targeted young people with deceptive social media advertising campaigns and misled the public about the product’s dangers. My office will continue to go after and hold accountable companies that market addictive products like e-cigarettes to minors, with no concern for their health or well-being.”

The FDA also has taken direct aim at Juul’s right to sell any of its products in the United States, saying in June it plans to ban vaping products but pedaling back the decision in July, when the agency said it needed to further review studies comparing e-cigarettes with conventional cigarettes,.

Altria officials have consistently maintained that Juul and other new products serve a purpose in helping long-term smokers quit cigarettes.

In his July 28 earnings announcement, Altria CEO Billy Gifford said, “The FDA has the opportunity to create a mature, regulated marketplace of smoke-free products that can successfully realize tobacco-harm reduction and improve the lives of millions of adult smokers. … We continue to believe that harm reduction, not prohibition, is the best path forward.”

Tuesday’s agreement also includes restrictions on sales and distribution, including where the product may be displayed and accessed in stores, limits on online and retail sales, age verification on all sales, and a retail compliance check protocol.

Juul released a statement on its website Tuesday calling the settlement “a significant part of our ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the past.”

“The terms of the agreement are aligned with our current business practices which we started to implement after our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019,” the company said. “With today’s announcement, we have settled with 37 states and Puerto Rico, and appreciate efforts by Attorneys General to deploy resources to combat underage use.”

 

Maximus lands $6.6B Medicare call center contract

Maximus Inc. won an up to $6.6 billion for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for contact center operations, the -based announced Thursday.

Under the contract, which has a one-year base period and nine one-year options, will continue supporting CMS’ contact center. The contact center operations contract handles more 35 million customer inquiries a year for CMS programs like 1-800 MEDICARE and the health insurance marketplace across a range of channels, from telephone and fax to email and web chat, according to a news release.

“This award reflects the commitment of thousands of Maximus employees who each day provide exceptional service to their fellow citizens,” Maximus President and CEO Bruce Caswell said in a statement. “Over the years, CMS has shaped this program to become the trusted source of information and assistance for Americans seeking to better understand their benefits. Going forward, this contract will allow our employees to continue providing the best customer experience to the American public.”

Maximus has been the prime contractor for the 1-800 MEDICARE and health insurance marketplace contact centers since 2018 and has supported CMS contact centers for more than a decade, starting as a subcontractor to -based Corp. The company operates 84 contact centers in 28 states and employs more than 20,000 contact center agents. handles more than 100 million contacts per year, according to a CMS news release.

Maximus has 38,000 employees. This year, employees in Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi have protested for higher wages, but the company has said it is limited by the federal Service Contract Act.

Maximus was founded in 1975 and provides business process management and services to federal, state and local governments. The company reported $4.25 billion in revenue in 2021 and has employees in nine countries. Of its 38,000 employees, about 4,600 are in Virginia.

Bitcoin whale Michael Saylor accused of tax fraud

-based Inc. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor is being sued by the city of , , which accuses Saylor of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to deprive the city of more than $25 million in income while living in “a luxury penthouse on the Georgetown waterfront” and claiming to be a resident of Virginia or Florida. 

The civil lawsuit, filed Aug. 22 by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine in the District of Columbia Superior Court and unsealed Wednesday, also names MicroStrategy as a defendant, alleging that the company and its executives conspired with Saylor to avoid his obligations to pay city income taxes. Under the city’s new False Claims Act, Saylor, who ranks No. 1,818 on Fortune’s list of world billionaires with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion, could be found personally liable for more than $75 million in unpaid taxes and penalties if the is successful.

“A decade ago, I bought an historic house in Miami Beach and moved my home there from Virginia,” Saylor said in a written statement sent to Virginia Business. “Although MicroStrategy is based in Virginia, Florida is where I live, vote and have reported for jury duty, and is at the center of my personal and family life. I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia, and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts.”

In August, Saylor stepped down as CEO of the publicly traded tech company he cofounded in 1989, taking on the position of executive chairman, while MicroStrategy President Phong Le was appointed CEO. The move followed MicroStrategy’s August earnings report, which tallied the company’s $1.98 billion impairment loss on its holdings. Saylor has long been a vocal advocate of bitcoin, and the company is best known as the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, having invested nearly $4 billion in the . 

Racine’s office alleges that Saylor avoided paying more than $25 million in taxes “by pretending to be a resident of other states with lower personal income taxes.” The attorney general is seeking to recover unpaid income taxes and penalties from both Saylor and MicroStrategy that could total more than $100 million, according to a release from Racine’s office.

According to the lawsuit, from 2005 to the present, Saylor has lived in “Trigate,” his 7,000-square-foot waterfront D.C. penthouse — where he’s docked “multiple yachts on the District’s Potomac riverfront” — but has claimed to be a Virginia resident. In 2012, according to the lawsuit, Saylor commenced a scheme to “fraudulently misrepresent” himself as a resident of Florida, where he bought a house in Miami Beach. He also obtained a driver’s license in the Sunshine State and registered to vote there.

At the same time, Saylor’s conduct — including voting three times in Florida elections using absentee ballots sent to Tysons or D.C., according to the lawsuit — showed that he didn’t intend to abandon the nation’s capital. 

Tysons-based MicroStrategy invested more than $2.2 billion to acquire 91,579 bitcoin, which rose to $5.94 billion in value as of mid-April. Photo by Stephen Gosling
MicroStrategy has invested more than $4 billion in bitcoin. Photo by Stephen Gosling

During or around 2013, Saylor asked MicroStrategy to begin using his Florida address on Internal Revenue Service forms, the lawsuit alleges, instead of his actual home address in D.C. MicroStrategy was aware that Saylor actually lived in D.C., according to the suit, because the company provided him with a security detail and transportation services such as flights and personal drivers. 

About a year later, the company’s then-chief financial officer grew concerned about MicroStrategy’s involvement in the scheme, according to the lawsuit, and counted the days Saylor spent in the District, finding Saylor spent a majority of each year there. When confronted about the scheme to avoid paying D.C. taxes, and Saylor’s possible liability to the company, Saylor agreed to a reduction of salary to $1, but his compensation remained higher because of fringe benefits, including use of the company’s plane, the lawsuit says. 

MicroStrategy continued to report Saylor’s Florida address on his W-2s from 2014 through 2021, and failed to withhold D.C. income taxes. 

“This was no mere clerical error,” the lawsuit says, alleging that MicroStrategy conspired with Saylor. 

MicroStrategy responded to the allegations in a written statement, sent to Virginia Business.

“The case is a personal tax matter involving Mr. Saylor,”  the statement said. “The company was not responsible for his day-to-day affairs and did not oversee his individual tax responsibilities. Nor did the company conspire with Mr. Saylor in the discharge of his personal tax responsibilities. The District of Columbia’s claims against the company are false and we will defend aggressively against this overreach.”

Saylor, a well-known “bitcoin whale,” is prolific on Twitter, with more than 2.6 million followers. He made no mention of the lawsuit there Wednesday, instead tweeting about the cryptocurrency. 

Saylor has also been known for his lavish parties and for his playboy lifestyle. In 2012, he purchased a waterfront Miami Beach home for $13.1 million, according to a 2014 story in The Washington Post. The 18,000-square-foot mansion, Villa Vecchia, has 13 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. 

That purchase came just after Saylor spent $5 million on custom woodwork for Trigate, which Saylor formed from his purchase of three units at the K Street NW Georgetown building between 2006 and 2008, the lawsuit says. Saylor posted on social media frequently before and during renovations of Trigate, during which Saylor lived on his yachts as well as in another penthouse he owned in the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. The lawsuit cited those posts as evidence that Saylor considered D.C. his home. 

The lawsuit is filed under a new D.C. law — the False Claims Act — that encourages whistleblowers to report instances of city residents evading tax laws by misrepresenting where they live. The act allows the court to punish tax evaders by imposing three times the amount of the taxes evaded. If the suit is successful, whistleblowers may be awarded up to 30% of the collected funds . 

In Saylor’s case, whistleblowers represented by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft filed an April 2021 lawsuit against Saylor alleging between 2014 and 2020, according to a release from Racine’s office. The release also says the whistleblowers’ complaint alleges Saylor openly bragged about evading taxes. That complaint too was unsealed and released publicly Wednesday.

Bon Secours names Richmond market president

Bon Secours has named as its new president for the ‘s market, effective Oct. 10.

He will oversee all Richmond market operations, according to a news release. Lutes replaces Faraaz Yousef, who left Bon Secours in April to become and executive vice president of Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health.

Lutes joins from Atrium Health, a nonprofit health system in Charlotte, North Carolina, with more than 70,000 employees, 40 hospitals and 1,400 care locations. He spent 15 years there, holding multiple roles and most recently serving as senior vice president and president for its southern market with oversight of five hospitals.

“Mike Lutes is exceptionally skilled with complex system operations in diverse markets and has demonstrated a real strength in establishing community partnerships,” Don Kline, Bon Secours Mercy Health chief operating officer, said in a statement. “He is a proven leader who has been successful throughout his career implementing a strategic vision and collaborating with physicians and associates, and we are excited to welcome him to our health care ministry.” 

Lutes has a bachelor’s in business administration and health care management from Appalachian State University and a master’s of health administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Stihl hires HR exec from HII

Virginia Beach-based Inc. has named as its new vice president of , effective Sept. 6.

She will be responsible for overall strategic management of human resources for the and outdoor manufacturer. Stihl employs more than 3,000 workers in the United States and supplies the majority of Stihl products for the U.S. market, as well as components and products for 80 markets around the world.

Stihl Inc. is the largest subsidiary of the global Stihl Group.

Doleman joins Stihl after serving as vice president of human resources for a division of Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. Before joining HII, she was vice president of human resources/operations at B&B Inc.

“We are pleased to welcome Melody to Stihl,” Terry Horan, president and CEO of Stihl Inc., said in a statement. “At the heart of our success as a company is our , the real people manufacturing, distributing, and selling Stihl equipment. Melody has a keen understanding of the human resource role in developing an employee-oriented company culture that emphasizes employee development and retention, and organizational quality and continuous improvement. She brings to Stihl more than 25 years of experience as a leader and mentor that will greatly benefit our employees here in , as well as our branches across the country.”

Doleman earned a bachelor of arts in mass communication and media studies from the University of South Carolina.

“Stihl is known for innovation, , and a commitment to their people,” Doleman said in a statement. “I look forward to bringing my passion for building highly engaged and empowered teams to the organization and working together to grow this world-class organization’s tradition of excellence.”