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Virginia Business announces 2022 Va. CFO Awards winners

Virginia Business presented to chief financial officers at companies and nonprofits around the commonwealth Thursday night.

This year’s Virginia Awards banquet — which is the largest annual gathering of CFOs in Virginia — was held at The Jefferson Hotel in .

Fifty-one CFOs from around the commonwealth were nominated in four award categories, representing a variety of nonprofits, government agencies and for-profit businesses, both public and private. Organizations represented ranged from state universities to arts organizations, technology firms, banks and Fortune 500 companies.

The 2022 Virginia CFO Awards were held June 16 at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.

“The job of chief financial officer is a challenging one.  They champion both growth and downsizing; they take on risk through acquisitions. They must have the highest degree of accountability, and they must provide CEOs with solid advice, whether the news is good or bad,” Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier said during the awards ceremony. “Recognition and support from above is always important.”

Winners and finalists for the magazine’s 17th annual Virginia CFO Awards were:

  • 2022 SMALL /GOVERNMENT VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: David Argabright, Feeding Southwest Virginia; Finalist: Sheila Wilson,  Planning District Commission
  • 2022 LARGE NONPROFIT/GOVERNMENT VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Hossein Sadid, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Finalists: Melody Bianchetto, University of Virginia; Betsy Drewry, Prince George County government; Luther Griffith, Sweet Briar College; Jarred Roenker, Airport Authority
  • 2022 SMALL COMPANY VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Cynthia Macturk, Fahrenheit Advisors; Finalists: Joel Flax, Cohen Investment Management Co. LLC; Ana Gomes, Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC; Cheryl Morris, Montessori School Inc.
  • 2022 LARGE COMPANY VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Sal Mancuso, Altria Group Inc.; Finalists: Harshan Bhangdia, Ellucian; Pete Graham, PRA Group Inc.; AJ Krick, Smith-Midland Corp.; Steve Mast, Criterion Systems Inc.; P.J. Ross, Hitt Contracting Inc.

The winners will be profiled in the August issue of Virginia Business.

 

 

VCU’s theater department receives $5M donation

Virginia Commonwealth University has received a $5 million from resident James H.T. McConnell Jr. for the Department of Theatre in the School of Arts, the university announced Thursday.

The gift will create three endowed funds to promote education and social awareness and to examine through the lens of , according to a news release from .

“Social justice theatre is focused on getting the audience involved,” McConnell said in a statement. “The purpose is very appropriate today. VCU is the best school in the commonwealth for this purpose.”

McConnell is an investor and philanthropist who has been a prominent supporter of public education and children’s education for most of his adult life and has supported the National Jewish Theater Foundation, according to VCU. He has also been interested in theater much of his life, with involvement in school plays and in college working behind the scenes.

McConnell’s family, the duPonts, have deep roots in Virginia. His family had a land grant from the crown, according to Architectural Digest, which featured McConnell’s home in Orange County in 2007.

“These funds will continue to support rigorous work and expand our interests in the theatre department and social justice,” Carmenita Higginbotham, dean of the , said in a statement. “We are excited and honored to receive this gift to the School of the Arts.”

Of the funds, $1.5 million will be used to establish the James H.T. McConnell Jr. Theatre Fellowship in Social Justice. This fund will support graduate students with a focus on advocating for social justice through theater.

The remaining funds will establish two positions in McConnell’s name, the James H.T. McConnell Jr. Theatre in Social Justice and the James H.T. McConnell Jr. Theatre Faculty Fund in Social Justice, which will support a chair and faculty whose work, teaching curriculum and community focus demonstrate a commitment to social justice.

“The theatre drama department is a great way to reach a lot of people with a lot of messages,” McConnell said in a statement. “There is no right or wrong interpretation of the performance one just saw. It is that each audience member can come out with a different interpretation. The performance can still be very successful. It is a very rare type of educational experience where different people come out from the same exposure with different feelings. It’s a nice teaching tool to not limit the response or the outcome.”

Henrico Doctors’ Hospital names new chief medical officer

Dr. Ajit Singh is the new chief medical officer of Doctors’ Hospital, HCA Virginia announced Wednesday.

Henrico Doctors’ Hospital encompasses the Forest, Parham and Retreat campuses.

“Ajit values teamwork and is passionate about providing best-in-class care to our patients,” Henrico Doctors’ Hospital CEO Ryan Jensen said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have such an accomplished and collaborative leader join our campuses and help guide us during this challenging moment in healthcare.”

Singh has been with for 13 years and was most recently the chief medical officer of HCA Virginia’s Johnston-Willis Hospital. While there, he improved physician engagement survey results and helped decrease hospital-associated infections, HCA said in a news release.

Prior to joining HCA Healthcare, Singh was chief medical officer of Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Indiana.

Singh holds bachelor’s degrees in and surgery and a postgraduate degree in dermatology from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in India. He completed a family medicine residency at Southside Hospital, now South Shore University Hospital, in New York, and he holds an MBA from Indiana University.

HCA Virginia Health System operates 14 , 27 outpatient centers and five freestanding emergency rooms and is affiliated with 3,000 physicians.

Metro bringing back first group of 7000-series trains

The announced Wednesday that it will return eight 7000-series to service on Thursday, months after all 748 railcars were taken off track due to a wheel malfunction that caused a derailment near National Cemetery.

The return of eight trains — with eight railcars each — to service comes after an intense training period on safety processes for inspectors over the past month, according to WMATA, which runs the Metrorail and Metrobus services. In October 2021, the wheel problem caused a derailment and led to the removal of the 7000-level trains, which make up about 60% of all of ‘s fleet. Its older 6000-series cars were returned to service to prevent further delays, and as of early March, Metro had 330 railcars in service.

The eight 7000-series trains will initially run on the Yellow Line, which runs from Alexandria up to Fort Totten in Maryland, and the Green Line, which runs from Prince George’s County, Maryland through Greenbelt, Maryland.

According to Metro’s announcement, it is working on second and third phases to return more 7000-series trains to service this summer, which will allow faster service on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines by July. The later phases, which include using the Automated Wayside Inspection System (AWIS) equipment as part of Metro’s inspection process, will require approval from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.

Safety incidents have been a source of difficulty for the authority over the past few months, with WMSC citing concerns about driver fatigue, and Metro had to remove 72 train operators in May who were out of compliance with safety certifications.

In May, Paul J. Wiedefeld, WMATA’s general manager and CEO, resigned early after announcing his retirement would take place June 30. Randy Clarke, head of Austin, Texas’s system, is set to become Metro’s next general manager.

Va. Beach economic development director is finalist for Oregon job

Virginia Beach and Director of is one of three finalists to be the next in , .

Adams has worked for the city of since 2015 and became deputy city manager in 2021. He heads up the city’s economic development department, and also has responsibility for the city’s convention and visitors bureau and . He has been instrumental in several expansion announcements in Virginia Beach, including a $15.8 million investment from Acoustical Sheetmetal Co. to expand its Virginia Beach complex and create 200 jobs and Premium PPE’s $5.3 million expansion creating 180 jobs.

Adams and the two other candidates — Keith Stahley, assistant city manager for Olympia, Washington, and Eric Zimmerman, who served in the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh and is a previous deputy manager in Medford, Oregon — are the three finalists and are being interviewed all day Wednesday by Salem’s mayor and city council members, as well as the city’s executive leadership team and labor leadership. In the evening, the public will have the chance to ask the candidates questions during a virtual community forum.

Salem began searching for a new city manager in February. Following Wednesday’s interviews, Salem City Council members may visit the candidates’ communities prior to making a hire.

Adams started in Virginia Beach as the city’s purchasing agent in 2015, moving up as operations administrator in early 2017, then unexpectedly became the director of economic development in 2018 after his predecessor, Warren Harris, resigned during an audit and was later indicted on 14 counts of felony embezzlement. Harris pleaded guilty to four of those counts and said he would pay back a significant portion of the funds. In 2021, Adams was promoted to deputy city manager.

Before he came to Virginia Beach, Adams served as chief administrative officer and director of finance for the city of Starkville, Mississippi. He was also a purchasing manager for Mississippi State University and a partner and operations officer for Benefits Concepts PA, in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as business development officer and commercial credit analyst for the National Bank of Commerce.

Adams earned his MBA from Hult International Business School and a bachelor’s in business administration in marketing from Mississippi State University.

Virginia Beach is the largest city in the commonwealth, with a population of about 450,000 and an annual operating budget of nearly $2.5 billion. Salem has a population of about 175,000 and is the county seat of Marion County in the Willamette Valley, and the city’s operating budget is $736 million.

Adams could not be reached immediately for comment.

 

Lego to build $1B factory in Chesterfield

It’s highly unlikely that it will be built from brightly colored plastic bricks, but the will be bringing a $1 billion toy plant to ‘s Meadowville Technology Park, creating more than 1,760 jobs, the company and Virginia Gov. Glenn announced Wednesday during a press conference at the Science Museum of Virginia.

“The Group’s decision to establish its U.S. manufacturing plant in Virginia shines a global spotlight on the advantages that make the commonwealth the best business location in the nation, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with this iconic company,” Youngkin said. “This transformational project will … bolster Virginia’s manufacturing industry, which continues its renaissance with major investments by high-caliber corporate partners like the Lego Group. Thank you to the Senate and House leadership in partnering with our team in this process.”

Billund, Denmark-based Lego Group plans to invest the $1 billion over a 10-year period, with groundbreaking on the 1.7 million-square-foot facility starting later this year on the 340-acre site at the technology park. The international toy company plans to begin operations from a temporary building in early 2024, creating 500 jobs. The permanent will begin production in the second half of 2025.

Lego will begin hiring workers for the moulding, processing and packing plant in late 2022 or early 2023, with plans to reach its full workforce of more than 1,760 workers within 10 years. Lego CEO Niels B. Christiansen said he thinks the average annual salary for employees at the facility will be “north of $60,000.” As part of the project, the company plans to build an onsite solar park that it says will offset 100% of the factory’s power needs.

Christiansen said, “We were impressed with all that Virginia has to offer, from access to a skilled workforce, support for high-quality manufacturers and great transport links. We appreciate support for our ambition to build a carbon-neutral run facility and construct a solar park and are looking forward to building a great team with support from the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program.”

From left: Lone Dencker Wisborg, ambassador of Denmark to the U.S., Lego CEO Niels Christiansen, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin

Chesterfield first received an email from a consultant working with Lego in October 2021.

“It’s been very interesting in that as we’ve been working to get it ready to go and everything like that, it’s become clear from the team, it’s taken us seven months to get here, but the first day they met us on the site, they picked the site. … They didn’t tell us that ’till about a month ago,” Chesterfield Economic Development Director Garrett Hart said.

The Chesterfield factory will be the seventh factory worldwide for Lego, which reportedly produces as many as 36 billion Lego bricks annually, and its only U.S. manufacturing facility. A factory in Monterrey, Mexico, is currently the primary supply source for the company’s U.S. market and will be expanded and upgraded to meet growing demand for its products, the company said in a news release. Lego is also expanding its manufacturing in Europe and China, and it announced plans in late 2021 to build a factory in Vietnam to support growth in the Asian market.

Lego factory chesterfield county
Rendering of Lego factory planned for Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park

The () worked with Chesterfield County, the Greater Partnership and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment (MEI) Project Approval Commission to secure the project. Lego will be eligible to receive an MEI custom performance grant of $56 million based on an investment of more than $1 billion and the creation of jobs estimated to be in excess of 1,760, as well as site development improvements estimated at up to $19 million, subject to approval by the Virginia General Assembly.

Support for Lego’s job creation efforts will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a workforce initiative program created and administered by VEDP in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System and other higher education partners.

Founded in 1932 by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, Lego is celebrating its 90th birthday. The company, which began making its iconic interlocking plastic bricks in 1947, reported 2021 revenue of $4.38 billion and employs about 24,500 workers worldwide, including around 2,600 employees in the United States, where it has been operating since the 1960s. Its U.S. headquarters is in Enfield, Connecticut.

Lego operates 168 retail stores around the world, about 100 of which are in the United States, and has built eight Legoland amusement parks, which are owned by the Blackstone Group’s Merlin Entertainments subsidiary.

VCU buys former Va. ABC property for $16M

Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday purchased the former Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority’s former central office and warehouse at 2901 Hermitage Road in for approximately $16 million, according to .

The sale of the 292,285-square-foot warehouse was included in the state operating budget. The Virginia ABC moved its headquarters and distribution center to a larger property in Hanover County in June 2021.

Purchasing the property is key to ‘s plans for its Athletic Village project, which will be spread over about 40 acres (including the 20-acre parcel acquired through this transaction).

In December 2021, VCU bought 5.83 acres on Sherwood Avenue to be part of the project.

The whole project is expected to take five to seven years to complete in phases and will have a soccer stadium, indoor-outdoor tennis complex, outdoor track-and-field facility, practice fields and a multipurpose facility.

“The ABC parcel provides the final key piece for our vision of a VCU Athletic Village and allows us to move forward with the project. We have worked on the planning phase of these facilities for some time and now that we have the needed property, we will clear the site in the near future,” Ed McLaughlin, VCU vice president of athletics, said in a statement.

The Athletic Village is part of the city’s master plan for the Diamond District, which includes replacing the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ baseball stadium and revitalizing the area near the Scott’s Addition neighborhood. Three development teams have been chosen as finalists to develop the area, and they are expected to respond to a request for offers by June 28.

 

Hampton Roads Community Foundation elects new chair

The Community Foundation elected Sharon Goodwyn as , the foundation announced last week.

An attorney at LLP, Goodwyn is the first African American and the first woman to serve as chair of the foundation, which was established in 1950. She served as vice chair of the board for three years.

“I am deeply grateful for the board’s faith in my ability to uphold and advance the community foundation’s vision, mission and values,” Goodwyn said in a statement. “There’s no place quite like the community foundation, and there’s no better time to lead its work in addressing racial inequities in our region, growing its charitable footprint and working together to create a thriving community for all.”

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation has provided more than $344 million in grants and scholarships since its founding in 1950. In 2021, the foundation provided more than $20 million in grants and scholarships, including nearly $1 million to Black-led nonprofits. The foundation has $525 million in assets.

Goodwyn has worked for Hunton Andrews Kurth for more than 30 years. She earned her law degree from the University of Virginia and holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University.

She also has served as a board member of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Virginia Wesleyan University, St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.

The 15-member board elected Frank Batten Jr., chairman of Dominion Enterprises, as vice chair.

 

Port of Va. partnering with Norfolk Southern

The is part of a new partnership with Corp., Hapag-Lloyd and Union Pacific . The partners will provide expedited train from the East Coast to the western U.S., Southern announced last week.

The partnership, called OceaNS Bridge Express, will start at the Port of Virginia’s Norfolk International Terminals and interchange with Union Pacific in Chicago, with connections to West Coast markets.

“Union Pacific’s intermodal network is strategically positioned to provide container shippers an alternative with this overland service to the West Coast,” Kari Kirchhoefer, Union Pacific’s vice president of premium, said in a statement. “Our joint service product to Seattle/Oakland/Los Angeles/Long Beach will expedite these transatlantic shipments to consumer markets in the west.”

Although ports in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) have reported delays getting containers out of ports, Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris told Virginia Business in April that that wasn’t the case for the Port of Virginia.

“There has been some vessel queuing here and one of the biggest drivers of this is the fact that 90% of the world’s vessel fleet is off schedule,” he said. “Over the long term, we expect to maintain our efficiency.”

Norfolk Southern Corp., whose service area includes 22 states and Washington, D.C., moved its headquarters from Norfolk to Atlanta last year.

Boeing partners with Va. Tech on veterans’ center

When ‘s $1 billion Innovation Campus opens in Alexandria in 2024, it will include a hub to connect and their families with career resources and employment opportunities. It will also carry the name of one of the commonwealth’s largest defense contractors, The Co.

The Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families, announced Monday at the company’s headquarters, is a partnership between the world’s third-largest defense contractor, the state and Virginia Tech. Support for the center comes from a record $50 million donation Boeing made to Virginia Tech in 2021 to support diversity at the graduate campus. Virginia and U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner all attended Monday’s announcement.

Boeing in May announced the move of its global headquarters from Chicago to its existing 4.7-acre campus in Arlington’s Crystal City. For a brief time, it will be Northern Virginia’s largest defense contractor; Raytheon Technologies Corp., the world’s second-largest aerospace and defense contractor, announced in early June that it will shift its corporate headquarters from Massachusetts to Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood in the third quarter, where its Raytheon Intelligence & Space business is located.

Boeing CEO , a Virginia Tech alumnus, acknowledged the clustering of scientific research occurring in Northern Virginia at Monday’s announcement, referring to it as an “innovation corridor,” as he announced the new center.

“The fact that it is close by and within driving distance of the policymaking capital of the world with respect to technology, I think someday that’s going to matter a lot,” Calhoun said, referring to the Innovation Campus.

About 20% of Boeing’s defense business “is built on the back of veterans,” Calhoun added.

Moreover, Virginia is home to a large population of active and former military members, said, including about 725,000 veterans as well as 150,000 active duty, National Guard members and reservists. The center will work with the state’s veterans and defense affairs secretariat, and the Virginia Department of Veterans Services will help staff the facility, the ‘s office said.

“I’m biased, I want them to stay in Virginia,” said Youngkin, who was a founding member of Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus advisory board before running for governor. Calhoun remains on the board.

Academic Building 1 of Virginia Tech's Innovation Campus is projected to open in August 2024. Rendering courtesy Virginia Tech
Academic Building 1 of Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus is projected to open in August 2024. Rendering courtesy Virginia Tech

Details about the veterans’ center, including its size, are still being worked out, Virginia Tech President said Monday, and he did not give specifics about how much of Boeing’s $50 million donation would be dedicated to it. Transitioning veterans looking to gain technology skills will be part of of Tech’s initial focus for the center, Sands said, adding that they will have access to certificate and master’s programs.

In September 2021, Virginia Tech held a groundbreaking ceremony for the campus’s $302 million Academic Building 1, which is expected to open in August 2024. The campus will anchor a 65-acre innovation district in Alexandria and is a major player in the state’s Tech Talent Investment Program. Created as part of Virginia’s successful bid to attract Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion-plus East Coast headquarters under development in National Landing, the Tech Talent Investment Program aims to produce 31,000 in-demand computer science and computer engineering graduates during the next two decades, through a cooperative program with 11 Virginia universities.

“We’re looking forward to veterans not only being part of the student cohorts, but actually bringing their connections, their experience into the classroom,” Sands said. The center will also provide the university with opportunities for researching the needs of military families as they transition to civilian life.

Boeing’s May announcement also included news that the contractor would establish a research and technology hub in the region. Boeing spokesperson Connor Greenwood said Monday that details were being worked out. “It’s a concept that we are working on.”

Beyond the veterans’ center, Boeing will play a significant role at the Innovation Campus, Sands said, calling it one of “their major footprints.”

“The part of it that I can share is that Boeing is deeply engaged in the research and the student programs at the Innovation Campus … Boeing will have a significant presence in the Innovation Campus, especially around project-based learning,” Sands said. “So we’re bringing authentic projects from our partners, including Boeing, into the learning environment, and they will be deeply engaged in that.”