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Carilion Clinic receives $1M gift for education program

An anonymous couple has given a $1 million to support its employee career advancement program, the health system announced Thursday.

The Your Efforts, Supported program (YES) will launch later this year, with a goal to assist entry-level employees to earn certifications and further their to meet career goals. The gift — which will benefit Black employees enrolled in the program — will help Carilion pay to workers’ enrollment fees in degree, credential or certificate programs, as well as associated costs and their regular wages and benefits while they are in school. The YES program is open to entry-level employees of any race or ethnicity.

“This gift makes a profound statement about the value of education and its potential to transform lives through new opportunities while meeting urgent staffing needs,” President and CEO Nancy Howell Agee said in a statement. “We’re grateful to these donors who came forward at just the right time.”

The gift will set up the John Cooker Endowment Fund, in honor of a Black man who was enslaved by the donor’s grandfather’s family and continued to work for them after emancipation. According to the donor, his grandfather as a young boy called the man “John Cooker.”

“Although John Cooker has long since passed, his memory will live on through other African Americans who’ll have the opportunity to achieve the dreams John was never able to realize,” the donor said. “It’s the key reason why we will remain anonymous, and John will not. Our hope is that this gift will inspire others to help hard-working employees improve their lives through education.”

FDA moves toward menthol cigarettes ban

The said Thursday that it plans to ban sales of menthol cigarettes, a billion-dollar industry in which has a 9.4% market share.

Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of -based , manufactures Marlboro menthol among its other brands, but R.J. Reynolds Co.’s Newport cigarettes are the top-selling menthol brand in the United States. The ban, which was widely anticipated after the FDA announced its intentions in spring 2021, would affect only traditional menthol cigarettes, not heated tobacco products like Altria’s IQOS and Marlboro HeatSticks. Those products, however, were pulled from the U.S. market in November 2021 after the federal International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the products violated patents held by rival Reynolds.

“We believe harm reduction, not prohibition, is the better path forward,” Altria Group spokesman Steven Callahan said in a statement Thursday. “Taking these products out of the legal marketplace will push them into unregulated, criminal markets that don’t follow any regulations and ignore minimum age laws. We will continue to engage in this long-term regulatory process.”

Proponents of the ban, however, contend that the menthol ban could reduce the number of Black and younger smokers who are more likely to purchase mint-flavored cigarettes.

“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”

According to the FDA, there were more than 18.5 million U.S. menthol smokers ages 12 and older in 2019, and studies have suggested that the nation could see a 15% reduction in smoking within 40 years if menthol cigarettes were banned, as well as a reduction of 324,000 to 654,000 deaths attributed to smoking over that time.

Altria also reported its 2022 first-quarter earnings Thursday, recording net revenue of $5.89 billion since Jan. 1, a decrease of 2.4% compared with the first quarter of 2021. The report says that supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have contributed to higher energy prices, changes in consumer behavior and overall inflation.

Martin Agency’s Robinson wins Ad Age CCO of the year

Danny Robinson, ‘s , was named Ad Age’s chief creative officer of the year on Thursday, as the publication lauded him for having “revved up the agency’s creative output, turning out great ideas at a quicker pace across multiple categories and brands.”

Among -based Martin’s clients are Geico, UPS, Old Navy, Doordash and Axe, and noted the agency’s move into the world of products with the debut of “Scoop There It Is” ice cream, which was developed after the popular Geico ads featuring rappers Tag Team performing “Whoop! There It Is!”

Robinson, who became CCO in 2020, was previously Martin’s chief client officer. He also is a former copywriter who founded New York-based agency Vigilante (which orchestrated Oprah Winfrey’s famous car giveaway show), and he joined Martin in 2004 as part of the agency’s winning bid for Walmart’s account. He is Martin’s first Black CCO and remains one of the few at a non-Black-owned agency, Ad Age notes. He has restructured the creative department and diversified its workforce, with 55% of all creative staffers hired in 2021 being women or Black, Indigenous or other people of color.

“There’s an eclecticism to Danny’s journey,” jury chair Chaka Sobhani, global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett, told Ad Age. “Hope comes from the fact that you don’t have to come from certain universities, a certain background. Danny had all these different roles, and then ultimately found his place.”

In December 2021, Martin was named Adweek’s U.S. agency of the year for the second consecutive year.

Virginia Business wins 11 state press awards

Virginia Business has won 11 in the ‘s 2021 News & Contest, the state organization announced this week. The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. Judges for this year’s contest are from Pennsylvania’s press association.

The magazine won three first-place awards in the following categories:

  • Digital Advertising — Art Director Joel Smith’s digital ad for the Virginia CFO Awards was praised by judges for “use of color, emphasis on event date and time.”
  • Professional Services advertising — Smith and Account Manager Toni McCracken won for an ad for Glenn Industrial.
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Editor Richard Foster, Smith and freelance designer Sarah Barton won for the 2021 edition of the Virginia 500, which judges said was “simply well done. From the cover through the capsules, there was a sense of a grand project. It was deep yet easy to navigate.”

The magazine also won six second-place awards, including:

also took third-place awards in the following categories:

  • , Churches and Organizations in advertising — Joel Smith and Account Manager Lindsey DiStanislao, for an ad for the Virginia Department of Veteran Services
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Andrews, Foster and Smith for the 2021 Hampton Roads Business guide, which judges said was “very engaging from the cover on back.”

Virginia Business competed in the specialty publication category, which also includes the Washington Business Journal, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, magazine and Style Weekly.

Reinvent Hampton Roads names new president and CEO

The first president and CEO of Reinvent , Jim Spore, will retire June 15, the regional organization announced Thursday.

Nancy L. Grden, executive director of the Hampton Roads Collaborative for Growth & Innovation (HRMC) and associate vice president of Old Dominion University’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, has been named the next president and CEO.

Spore has been in the role six years, after leaving his role as city manager of , where he spent more than two decades. He will stay on through mid-August in an advisory role.

“The biggest change I’ve seen in six years is one in the region’s culture — one from competition to collaboration,” Spore told , adding that there is a much better understanding than there was six years ago of the localities in Hampton Roads working together collectively instead of individually.

The organization serves as GO Virginia Region 5’s support arm and has awarded dozens of grants and invested $55 million in the region since late 2017.

Spore

“Jim has given outstanding service for RHR and defined its path,” John O. “Dubby” Wynne, RHR board chairman, said in a statement. “With Jim’s leadership, RHR has developed a framework for progress on a host of initiatives, including encouraging regional collaboration, retaining and attracting talent and advancing infrastructure and resiliency. Hampton Roads is in a much better place thanks to Jim’s leadership, relationships and vision, as well as his long and distinguished career serving the community.”

He added that the board’s decision to hire Grden was unanimous.

Spore told Virginia Business that he and Grden have worked together for years in a number of roles and he feels nothing but comfort knowing the organization is in good hands.

Grden said “has a good foundation and a good base,” and the most important thing for her will be working with many players, including elected officials, city leaders, established organizations and up-and-coming organizations.

At ODU, Grden was co-chair of the Economic Development Task Force, a joint university and community initiative to identify talent and innovation pathways for the region.

She has an MBA from the University of South Carolina, a master’s in regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s in economics from Bucknell University.

Va. Lottery Board awards first casino license

The has issued its first license for a in Virginia to , the board announced Wednesday.

With its permanent casino still on track to open at the former Bristol Mall in July 2024, Hard Rock International Inc. is preparing to open a 30,000-square-foot temporary casino with 870 gaming slots and 21 tables on July 8.

“Since enacted by the 2020 General Assembly, the board’s priority for casino gaming in the commonwealth is that it be conducted with integrity and in a responsible manner,” said Board Chairman Ferhan Hamid in a statement. “Today’s approval reflects the confidence we have in the rigorous and conscientious review conducted by Virginia Lottery staff.”

The 90,000-square-foot permanent facility will include a 3,200-seat performance venue and a 20,000-person capacity outdoor venue.

Three other casinos are also in the process of opening in Norfolk, Portsmouth and . voters initially voted down a casino referendum on the November 2021 ballot but may get to vote again in the future.

Developers of the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk are asking the City Council for permission to build a temporary casino, which would operate at Harbor Park, where Norfolk’s minor league baseball team plays. It would be in the space where there is currently a boxing center on the first floor and a restaurant on the second floor and would be about 31, 572 square feet. The Norfolk Planning Commission will review the proposal at a public hearing Thursday. A permanent casino is planned for next door.

“The Virginia Lottery has worked diligently for two years to build the appropriate regulatory structure for casino gaming,” said Acting Executive Director Kelly T. Gee. “I am proud of the tireless work by our Gaming Compliance Department and our legal counsel for conducting the necessary investigative work to assist the board in its decision. There are still many steps to the finish line, but there is no doubt that this is an exciting time.”

Hard Rock has hired about 100 employees so far, with the bulk of them due to start within 30 to 45 days of the opening of the temporary casino, a spokesperson said in early April. In February, the casino named Allie Evangelista its president. 

“We are excited by the Virginia Lottery Board’s action today granting a license to open Virginia’s first casino in Bristol subject to the completion of outstanding operational activities,” said Jon Lucas, chief operating officer of Hard Rock International, in a statement. “We appreciate the Virginia Lottery’s assistance and diligence in working closely with our team over many months to reach today’s important milestone for Bristol, Southwest Virginia and the commonwealth.”

 

Telly Tucker named IALR’s first president

Telly Tucker, County’s director since 2020, will become the first president of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research () on May 31, the -based institute announced Tuesday.

Tucker’s return to Danville is a return to his past. The Lynchburg native served as the city’s economic development director before heading to Arlington in January 2020. He spent five years in Danville and helped turn around the former textile hub after many big employers left town in the 1990s and 2000s. The , with an expected opening date in late 2023, is driving more economic opportunity and development to the region.

In Arlington, Tucker led an economic development team of more than 50 staff members to attract and retain businesses in Arlington after Amazon.com Inc. announced its East Coast headquarters plans, which will ultimately employ about 25,000 people in the county.

“On behalf of the search committee and the board of trustees, I want to share our excitement with the selection of as the first president of IALR,” Roy Ford Jr., chair of the IALR board of trustees, said in a statement. “We have full confidence in Telly’s ability to successfully steer IALR to help realize as home to a dynamic economy where all can live and thrive. His collaborative approach and strategic insight, combined with his significant experience and deep knowledge of our region, positions him as a perfect champion of our vision for the next chapter of IALR.”

In December 2020, the institute broke ground on a $25.5 million, 51,250-square-foot manufacturing center on its Danville campus. It is under and will open by the end of the year. IALR, which opened in 2004, focuses on economic development in the areas of manufacturing, research and conference services, serving the counties of Patrick, Henry, Franklin, Pittsylvania, Halifax and Mecklenburg and the cities of Danville and Martinsville.

The seven-member search committee worked with Washington, -based management consulting firm Korn Ferry to conduct a national search for the institute’s first president. The committee narrowed the candidates to five before selecting Tucker. The new role of president was created after a seven-month strategic planning process indicated a need for expanded executive leadership, according to a news release from the institute.

“I am honored to have been selected as the first president of IALR,” Tucker said in a statement. “The opportunity to lead a premier institution engaged in meaningful and impactful economic development, applied research, advanced learning, conference services and advanced manufacturing is truly a privilege. I’m very much looking forward to this challenge and opportunity to work collaboratively in support of the larger mission of economic transformation within Southern Virginia.”

Before his first stint in Danville, Tucker was assistant director of development for James City County, program administrator for the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, an economic development specialist in Lynchburg, and started his career as a math and Spanish teacher in Lynchburg city schools.

Tucker has also been named to several statewide boards and earned a Certified Economic Development designation granted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington, D.C., serving on its Racism and Economic Development Committee.

Tucker earned a bachelor’s in business administration in international business and Spanish from James Madison University.

Something in the Water officially heads to D.C.

Music superstar and native Williams announced Tuesday that his signature three-day music , , will be held in June in Washington, , making its departure from Virginia Beach official.

Scheduled for June 17-19 on Independence Avenue, the three-day festival includes a long list of pop and hip-hop artists, including “Pharrell & phriends & some people we can’t announce.”

The festival was previously held on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront in April 2019, before the pandemic caused its cancellation in 2020 and 2021. In September 2021, however, Williams wrote a letter to the city manager saying that he would cancel the 2022 festival because of the city’s “toxic energy.” He said that the fallout from his cousin Donovon Lynch’s killing by a Virginia Beach police officer in March 2021 and a special grand jury’s finding of no probable cause to charge the officer, combined with other issues surrounding Williams’ projects in the city, made him decide to call off the festival, which yielded $24 million in local economic impact in 2019.

However, in recent weeks, there were rumors of the festival moving to Washington, confirmed Tuesday via Williams’ social media platforms and the event’s website.

Barry Biggar, president and CEO of Visit Fairfax, said that his office is excited about SITW’s move, but the festival’s impact on surrounding Northern Virginia localities “depends on how full the hotels in D.C. are and how much they charge. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

In a January interview with , Williams said that he wanted to restage the festival elsewhere, noting, “Something in the Water — when you talk DMV, they always say, ‘Man, whether it’s Missy Elliott or Timbaland or Chad Hugo or Michael Vick, it must be something in the water.'”

Caesars Virginia names Danville casino contractor

Caesars Virginia has named Baltimore-based as the to build its $500 million resort and in , Caesars announced Monday.

The resort will have a 500-guestroom hotel, a casino with more than 1,400 slot machines and table games, a Caesars sportsbook and a World Series of Poker-branded poker room. It will also include 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and a 2,500-person entertainment venue, along with bars and restaurants.

In September 2021, Caesars upped the price tag by $100 million for a larger hotel with 500 rooms, instead of 300. The project promises to bring 900 jobs and 1,300 new operational jobs. It is set to be complete in late 2023.

Whiting-Turner has built the Horseshoe Baltimore casino and The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, as well as projects at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, The LINQ Hotel + Experience Las Vegas and other resorts. In Virginia, the company has restored the University of Virginia’s Rotunda and built the NASA Integrated Engineering Services Building in Hampton.

“ is thrilled to be working with Whiting-Turner to build ,” Robert Livingston, senior vice president of development for Caesars Entertainment, said in a news release. “We are confident Whiting-Turner, and their proven record of success, will make for an incredible partner to build the world-class resort we’ve promised the city of Danville.”

In March, demolition began to take down the finishing plant on the Schoolfield site to make room for the new casino.

Danville is one of four Virginia cities with casinos in the works — the others are in Norfolk, Portsmouth and . voters initially voted down a casino referendum on the November 2021 ballot but may get to vote again in the future.