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For the Record October 2025

Central Virginia

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is planning to locate a major manufacturing facility in Albemarle County, a state official confirmed to Virginia Business in August. A state commission has voted to recommend that the General Assembly approve a state incentives package exceeding $10 million for the project. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in July that AstraZeneca would bring to Virginia a multibillion-dollar facility to produce pharmaceutical substances for its weight management and metabolic portfolio. AstraZeneca’s largest single manufacturing investment, the Virginia plant is part of $50 billion in investments AztraZeneca plans to make in the U.S. by 2030 for manufacturing and research and development. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Eli Lilly & Co. plans to invest $5 billion in a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Goochland County that’s expected to create 650 permanent jobs and support 1,800 construction jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Sept. 16. Located in the West Creek Business Park, the 200,000-plus-square-foot plant will produce antibody drug conjugates, Lilly Chair and CEO David A. “Dave” Ricks said at a press conference. The Goochland facility is one of four plants Lilly is building nationwide as part of a $50 billion initiative to increase its domestic pharmaceutical production. Construction, which will take about three years, was expected to begin this fall. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Google plans to invest an additional $9 billion in Virginia through the end of 2026, with much of the funding going toward development ofa new data center in Chesterfield County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in late August. The investments will be focused on cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Google will also expand existing facilities in Loudoun and Prince William counties. Construction has already begun on the Chesterfield data center. A Google spokesperson said the data center will be located at a 300-plus acre site near Meadowville Technology Park. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Goochland County-based Fortune Global 500 company Performance Food Group announced Sept. 16 that it has entered into an agreement with US Foods to begin sharing information — a move indicating the two companies are considering a merger. Should PFG merge with US Foods, it would create the largest United States food service distributor, with roughly $100 billion in combined revenue. JP Morgan and BofA Securities are serving as financial advisers, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as legal adviser to PFG. Sachem Head Capital Management has advocated for PFG and US Foods to merge. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Anthony Romanello, the Henrico County Authority’s executive director, plans to step down early next year. He submitted his resignation letter to the EDA’s board on Aug. 21, stating his last day will be Jan. 16, 2026, although he said he told the board he would be willing to stay longer if he has not accepted a new job and the EDA has not identified a successor. The EDA board has formed an executive search committee to find Romanello’s successor. He joined the county in 2016 as deputy county manager and was promoted to his current post in 2019. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

At its downtown medical center campus in Richmond, the VCU Health System hopes to soon construct a major hospital tower that would eventually be 16 stories tall and feature 576 beds. The health system recently issued requests for proposals for both project management services and architectural and engineering services related to the project, to be located at the corner of East Leigh and North 12th streets. The project would also include the construction of a 73,500-square-foot central utility plant, north of Leigh Street and adjacent to the VCU School of Nursing. Contracts are expected to be awarded in November.(VirginiaBusiness.com)

Eastern Virginia

The withdrew $39.27 million that had been previously awarded under the Biden administration to an offshore wind logistics port in Norfolk. The port is part of the 111-acre Fairwinds Landing project at Lambert’s Point Docks. The administration also sought to terminate a $20 million grant for the Portsmouth Marine Terminal offshore wind development project; however the money had already been spent and the project completed. The withdrawal stems from an Aug. 29 announcement that Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy would withdraw or terminate a total of $679 million in funding for 12 offshore wind projects across the country. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

During a press conference, Jefferson Lab Director Jens Dilling confirmed that the U.S. Department of Energy lab wanted 7% of its workforce, approximately 65 employees, to voluntarily resign by the end of August. Dilling previously told employees that the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, commonly known as Jefferson Lab, would need to reduce its workforce as part of a restructuring plan. If the lab doesn’t reach its goals, its leadership will implement a plan for employee layoffs in January. (VirginiaBusiness.com; WHRO)

Florida-based Land ‘N’ Sea Distributing, a wholesale distributor of marine and recreational vehicle parts and accessories, is investing $1.1 million to expand in Norfolk, with plans to create 29 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in August. The company relocated from its previous 61,800-square-foot facility in Norfolk to a new 120,000-square-foot facility. The expansion coincides with its planned introduction of approximately 5,000 new products, the company says. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Norfolk Airport Authority’s plans to build a 165-room hotel at Norfolk International Airport have been delayed by approximately two years until 2028, as the authority has canceled the contract with developers due to an alleged contract violation. Airport authority CEO Mark Perryman said that Arizona-based developer Caliber Cos. left the project, and Virginia Beach-based LTD Hospitality, the remaining development partner, failed to notify the authority immediately. Now, the airport is considering building the hotel itself and bringing in a third-party operator to manage it. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Suffolk-based closed its $203 million acquisition of Hampton-based Old Point National Bank of Phoebus and
its parent company, Old Point Financial. The merger went into effect Sept. 1. The combined company now has total assets
of $19.5 billion, loans of $13.1 billion and deposits of $16.3 billion based on financial information reported as of Dec. 31, 2024. Old Point’s 13 bank branches will now operate as “Old Point National Bank, a Division of TowneBank” until February 2026, when the core systems and operations of Old Point National Bank are scheduled to be converted into those of TowneBank. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Next year, Virginia Wesleyan University will officially change its name to Batten University. The new name, which will take effect on July 1, 2026, honors Virginia Beach philanthropist Jane Batten, a former chair of the Virginia Wesleyan Board of Trustees, and her family, who have supported the Virginia Beach private university for decades. Nancy DeFord, chair of the university’s board, made the announcement in August. Virginia Wesleyan is situated on a 300-acre campus in Virginia Beach and has about 2,100 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Northern Virginia

For the first time since approving Amazon.com’s incentive package for its HQ2 East Coast headquarters in 2019, Arlington County announced it will finally cut the etailer a check for $81,745 in September — triggered by the county’s hotel tax revenue meeting a required threshold. Amazon opened the first phase of HQ2, the $2.5 billion Metropolitan Park, in Arlington in 2023. About 8,500 employees currently work there five days a week. A spokesperson from Amazon said it has reached 30% of its HQ2 hiring goal, and in June, Arlington granted Amazon a three-year extension to develop the second part of HQ2. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

George Mason University has been found in violation of federal civil rights law, the U.S. Department of Education announced Aug. 22, laying blame on President Gregory Washington’s shoulders. The public university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by “illegally using race” in hiring and promotions, the DOE said. The Trump administration says Washington’s policies benefited of color and discriminated against white employees. To settle the issue, the DOE demanded a public apology by Washington, among other requirements. Washington’s attorney and a lawyer hired by the university’s board are negotiating a resolution with the federal government, the board said later in August. See Page 76 for more on this story. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Mary Washington Healthcare plans to partner with the University of Mary Washington to launch a new medical school, a move designed to address the shortage of physicians in the Fredericksburg region. Dr. Christopher Newman, the health system’s president and CEO and a member of UMW’s board of visitors, said the two institutions are in “serious planning stages” of launching a medical school, which would be the first in Northern Virginia. The health system and the university’s boards plan to take up the matter this fall and likely will vote in 2026 to officially move forward. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Nexstar Media Group plans to buy Tysons-based broadcast rival Tegna for $6.2 billion, it announced Aug. 19. The transaction, if approved, will bring together two major players in U.S. television and the country’s local news landscape. Nexstar oversees more than 200 owned and partner stations in 116 markets nationwide and also runs networks like The CW and NewsNation. Meanwhile, Tegna, which was formed in 2015 when Gannett Co. spun off its broadcasting and digital business, owns 64 television news stations across 51 markets. Nexstar will pay $22 in cash for each share of Tegna’s outstanding stock. The deal is expected to close by the second half of 2026. (Associated Press)

Alexandria-based government contractor Systems Planning & Analysis announced in early September it plans to invest
$46.9 million to expand its headquarters, increase its presence in Fairfax County and create nearly 1,200 jobs in Alexandria and Fairfax, where it has a facility in Chantilly. In June, a limited liability company associated with SPA purchased its 239,000-square-foot headquarters building for $29.3 million, and the company expects to invest $15.4 million in renovations to the 35-year-old building on North Beauregard Street. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw, a Democrat, defeated Republican Stewart Whitson in September’s special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. The election was held to fill the seat left by U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died of esophageal cancer in May. Walkinshaw is Connolly’s former chief of staff; Whitson is a legal director at a conservative think tank. (The Washington Post)

Roanoke/ Lynchburg/ New River Valley

Amazon.com Services selected Amherst County for the site of a $16 million-plus, 78,000-square-foot distribution center, which county officials say will bring dozens of local jobs to the region. The county’s economic development authority announced in September that Amazon has purchased the largest lot in the Amelon Commerce Center — a 120-acre industrial park mostly owned by the EDA. The EDA sold the 26-acre site to Amazon in late August. Amazon declined to provide project specifics or an estimated timeline, with a spokesperson saying more details will be shared later. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies plans to launch a subsidiary dedicated to the commercialization of fuel for the next generation of nuclear reactors, it announced in late August. Called BWXT Advanced Fuels, the new company will pursue partnerships to deliver TRISO nuclear fuel for an anticipated “coming wave” of advanced nuclear reactors under development or in planning stages. BWXT first began manufacturing TRISO, or tristructural isotropic particle fuel, in partnership with Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy’s Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development Program in 2003. Currently, BWXT produces TRISO on a low-rate production scale. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Carilion Clinic is borrowing up to $400 million worth of bonds from the Roanoke Economic Development Authority, according to city documents. Roanoke City Council approved the $400 million bond issuance for Carilion on Sept. 2. Carilion Clinic opened its new Crystal Spring Tower in June. Hospital officials said the project cost $500 million. Of the newly issued bonds, at least $200 million will a portion of that tower, plus the adjacent parking garage. At least $110 million will refund bonds issued as far back as 2005. (The Roanoke Times)

At a Sept. 2 meeting, the Campbell County Board of Supervisors delayed action on a rezoning application, a request that would make it easier to build a data center in a heavily wooded area of the county’s Concord District. At the meeting, several residents spoke out against the proposed rezoning of about 57 acres. To attract a data center to the site, MESH Capital, the landowner, is requesting permission from the county to remove certain conditions that were placed on the property 25 years ago. (The News & Advance)

Virginia Tech has received a $16 million commitment from alumnus David Kellogg to back the Blacksburg university’s philosophy, and economics (PPE) program. Kellogg helped launch a research center in 2020 to support
PPE, and his new gift permanently names it the David H. Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1982, Kellogg worked for the CIA. In 1998, he founded IT firm Solers, which specialized in software and systems engineering. -based federal contractor Peraton acquired Solers in 2019, and today, Kellogg leads proprietary trading firms he founded or cofounded. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

In 2024, $923.1 million was directly spent by visitors in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, which includes the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Botetourt, Franklin and Roanoke. That’s a 4.6% increase over 2023, according to Visit VBR, the region’s destination organization. Demand for lodging between January and June of this year in Virginia’s Blue Ridge is up 3% and revenue is up 6.9%. The USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Bike National Championships were held in Roanoke in July and brought more than 1,200 riders for six days of racing. (News release)

Shenandoah Valley

Ohio-based cabinet giant MasterBrand announced in August that it plans to acquire Winchester-based cabinet manufacturer American Woodmark in an all-stock merger, creating a company valued at $3.6 billion. The transaction is expected to close in early 2026, pending shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Afterward, the combined company will be known as MasterBrand and will be headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. However, the merged company plans to maintain a significant presence in Winchester. An American Woodmark spokesperson did not answer whether there would be relocations or layoffs in store for any of American Woodmark’s roughly 7,800 employees. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Augusta Medical Group, a network of primary care and urgent care clinics affiliated with the Augusta Health system, announced in September it is closing three Shenandoah Valley clinics — Buena Vista Primary Care, Churchville Primary Care, and Weyers Cave Urgent Care — in response to the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed this summer. The health system said the legislation’s changes to Medicaid would impact hospital funding and lead to enrollment drop-offs. While some patients will be reassigned to nearby practices about 10 minutes away, others will have to travel further. (Virginia Mercury)

Todd Gilbert, former Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, resigned Aug. 20 from his role as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia after a little more than a month on the job. Robert N. Tracci, the federal district’s first assistant U.S. attorney, has assumed the role of acting U.S. attorney. An anonymous source says Gilbert resigned after refusing Trump officials’ demand to oust his second-in-command, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee, instead creating a new role for him. Lee previously served U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh, a Biden appointee. (VirginiaBusiness.com; The Roanoke Times)

Mary Baldwin University announced in late August that president Jeff Stein had resigned after only two years in the role. With Stein’s departure, the Staunton-based private university’s board of trustees quickly confirmed Todd Telemeco as the university’s 11th president, effective immediately. In a letter sent to the Mary Baldwin community, Telemeco alluded to financial difficulties the university has been facing. He said the campus is costly to maintain and that the university’s discount rate is high, both of which exert pressure on the school’s resources. In September, faculty passed a vote of no confidence against the board for its handling of Stein’s resignation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Harrisonburg-based indoor herb and produce company Soli Organic announced in August it is relocating its headquarters to Ohio following a merger with Ohio-based indoor grower company 80 Acres Farms. Soli, which holds over a quarter of the U.S. market for organic culinary herbs, operates greenhouses in Elkwood and Harrisonburg, while 80 Acres runs five farms. Soli has not confirmed whether it will close any of its Virginia greenhouses, but a spokesperson said the company plans to maintain operations in the state. The combined company is expected to generate $200 million in first year revenue. (Daily News-Record)

Members of Virginia Military Institute’s board in August appointed retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Furness, a member of the Class of 1987, as the Institute’s 16th superintendent, succeeding retired Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, the Lexington-based school’s first Black leader, left in June after the board elected not to renew his contract. Furness served in the Marine Corps for 36 years before retiring in 2023. Furness has one master’s degree in military studies from the Marine Corps University at Quantico and another in national security and strategic studies from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Southern Virginia

Butler Human Services Furniture, a furniture maker with production facilities in Chase City, announced plans in late August to close its Mecklenburg plant and consolidate operations in Ohio. The layoffs of 51 Mecklenburg workers are expected to start in October, with the facilities closing in April 2026. Butler also has a office near Richmond staffed by eight employees, according to a spokesperson. Three of those employees will be laid off. Previously known as Butler Woodcrafters,
the company was founded in 1980 in Chesterfield County. In 2014, Sauder Manufacturing acquired the business. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Danville Regional Airport will receive about $900,000 in state funding to help pay for three projects. Grant money from the Commonwealth Aviation Fund will cover 90% of the costs. Of $900,443.72 from the state, $535,911.08 will go toward stormwater basin erosion control mitigation, $256,500 will be allocated to removing obstructions from Runway 31 and the remaining $108,032.64 will go to remarking Runway 2-20. The remaining 10% of the price tag will be covered by local money. The work is expected to be completed by the end of November. (Danville Register & Bee)

Hitachi Energy announced in September it will invest $1 billion to expand its U.S. grid infrastructure manufacturing, with roughly half of that investment going into Virginia, where it plans to add 825 jobs in South Boston. The electrical equipment manufacturer will invest $457 million to build the nation’s largest manufacturing site for large power transformers in the Halifax County town. The large power transformers to be produced at the plant will support large-scale industrial applications such as fast-growing AI data centers. The new manufacturing facility is expected to be operational by 2028. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Nathan Trotter, a Pennsylvania-based supplier and recycler of tin and tin alloy products, plans to invest $65 million in a Henry County tin processing operation that’s expected to create 118 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Sept. 9
in Martinsville. The 115,000-square-foot Tin Ridge processing facility is slated for development on 44 acres at the Patriot
Centre Industrial Park. The facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2026. Tin is included on a 2022 list
from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior of mineral commodities critical to the U.S. economy and national security. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

According to Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry, the City of Martinsville and the Martinsville Economic Development Authority have
made a deal: The city will pay the EDA an additional $140,000 per year and the EDA will hire Eric Payne as its director. In 2024, Martinsville’s city council brought Payne aboard as city attorney designee for an annual salary of $185,000. However, Payne did not obtain his license to practice law in Virginia as expected. During an Aug. 26 meeting, council members went into closed session to discuss the EDA executive director position, but they did not take public action. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Under a new proposal, the New College Institute (NCI) will become the Patrick & Henry Community College Center for Workforce and Economic Development at the Baldwin Building. The cloud surrounding NCI has most recently taken the form of a threat from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office to defund the institute. Upon approval of the resolution by NCI’s board, a request will be made to the secretary of education to assist with the development of a transfer plan, which will include approximately $3.1 million annually in state funding for NCI, to be appropriated to the community college. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Southwest Virginia

The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded Mountain Empire Community College a $491,548 grant to support opioid abuse recovery, according to an early September news release from U.S. Rep Morgan Griffith’s office. The funding will support Project Southwest Virginia Opioid Abuse Recovery, a workforce development initiative meant to help people recovering from substance use disorder. Project SOAR will provide hands-on training in skilled trades like carpentry, welding, electric and plumbing to 180 participants across Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise counties, with the goal of preparing them for in-demand occupations and supporting their recovery. (The Coalfield Progress)

Ballad Health and Gov. Glenn Youngkin in late August unveiled plans for a $3 million behavioral health crisis center at the health system’s Ridgeview Pavilion in Bristol, Virginia. The 6,000-square-foot facility will be a 24-hour walk-in center designed to reduce reliance on hospital emergency rooms or law enforcement intervention. The 2024 Virginia Special Session I budget bill funded the project. It’s expected to open in fall 2026 and will be Ballad Health’s second such facility; its first is in Johnson City, Tennessee. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Wellmore Energy Co., a metallurgical coal mining company and subsidiary of United Coal Co., planned to lay off 72 workers in Buchanan County, according to notices sent to the state in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. According to two notices, six employees who work at a surface minerals operation in Grundy and 27 employees at Wellmore’s Elk Creek operation in Hurley were expected to lose their jobs beginning Sept. 6, with all separations completed by Sept. 19. According to a third notice, Wellmore expects to lay off 39 employees from its surface minerals operation in Grundy and a preparation plant in Big Rock, beginning Oct. 4, with separations completed by Oct. 16. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Washington County Promise Program, a partnership between the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia and Virginia Highlands Community College, has expanded to include students from three additional class years. The Promise Program covers VHCC tuition and fees not already paid by other financial aid or scholarships, and it provides up to $500 per semester per student for books and educational supplies through the VHCC bookstore. The program initially covered students graduating high school between 2025 and 2037. With the expansion, kindergarteners enrolling in Washington County schools in 2025, 2026 and 2027 will also be eligible. (Bristol Herald Courier)

If voters approve its creation in November, Wise County will create and operate an electric authority within the county. The authority would not replace electricity from Appalachian Power or Old Dominion Power for residents. It would work directly with large industrial users that want to come to the county and build their own power plants to help meet their electricity needs. Members of the authority would be appointed by the county’s board of supervisors, but details like how many members it would entail and how long their terms would be aren’t yet determined. (Cardinal News)

Five Southwest Virginia projects will receive $6.12 million total in Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program grants, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith announced Aug. 29. The largest grant, $2 million, will go to the Wolf Creek Resort & Lodge project, an ecotourism and outdoor recreation site that will be developed on 1,200 acres in Tazewell County over seven years and will include a lodge, a 650-home development and an equestrian facility. The funding will go toward the purchase of the privately owned land, and the project’s total estimated cost is $75 million. (Cardinal News)

Out and About October 2025

1. Chair John J. Haley rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange Sept. 8 in celebration of the Tysons-based government contractor’s 50th anniversary. (Photo courtesy NYSE Group)

2. On Aug. 14, donated $500,000 to Riverside Health’s Riverside Smithfield Hospital, which is scheduled to open in January 2026. Participating in the event were (L to R) Smithfield Foods Vice President Jim Monroe; Smithfield Foods Chief Business Officer Keller Watts; Riverside Smithfield Hospital President Jessica Macalino; Dr. Mike Oshiki, Riverside Health’s president of acute care; Smithfield Foods President and CEO Shane Smith; and Kristen Witt, Riverside Health’s chief philanthropy officer. (Photo courtesy Smithfield Foods)

3. Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County Authority members, AT&T executives and others gathered Aug. 5 to celebrate the opening of AT&T’s regional hub in Chantilly. (Photo courtesy Fairfax County Economic Development Authority)

4. On Sept. 9, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, executives and local officials broke ground for a $65 million tin production facility in Henry County. (Photo courtesy Nathan Trotter)

5. Jeff Calloway, a single dad who has limited mobility following a stroke, watches as workers with Cenvar Roofing install a new roof at his Evington home Aug. 7. The Lynchburg-based company donated the roof and labor, valued at $12,000, through its Cenvar Gives program. (Photo courtesy Cenvar Roofing)

Homegrown success: Hampton Roads Inc. 5000 firms

It may go without saying that a company called TheBestReputation might lean into the name it built for itself as it considers success.

TheBestReputation CEO and co-founder Chris Hinman also credits his team’s hard work for helping land the Williamsburg-based digital , public relations and online reputation management firm at No. 201 on the 2025 list of the nation’s 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies.

This year, 277 Virginia companies made the Inc. 5000 list, including 22 businesses headquartered in . Of those 22 companies, 11 also appeared on Inc.’s 2024 list.

With 1,934% three-year growth, TheBestReputation is the top-ranking company from the Hampton Roads region on this year’s Inc. 5000 list, and it also ranked fifth among all Virginia companies on the 2025 list.

“I think it’s a testament to the hard work and to the type of online reputation that we’ve built, not only for ourselves, but for our clients,” Hinman says.

Hinman and his wife, TheBestReputation President Casi Hinman, worked as independent contractors for another online reputation management firm before forming their company in 2021. “I knew that we could design something from the ground up and do a whole lot better,” he says.

Now, the company, a first timer on the Inc. 5000, has its own proprietary system for developing leads, and works with about 70 companies across the globe. With about 15 employees and a little more than $2 million in , Hinman hopes to double the company’s revenue and employees in the next year. “We’ve grown our business over 50% just in the last, say, 90 days alone,” he says.

Another Hampton Roads company, Suffolk-based Reed Integration, jumped from No. 1,961 in 2024 to No. 898 on this year’s Inc. 5000, posting 471% growth. The company focuses on systems engineering, analysis, management and training and has grown to 50 employees in 13 states. Founder and CEO Becky Reed says the company that bears her name has experienced a “unique twist” in recent years, with its training side blending with its analysis arm.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of the company’s trainings were conducted in-person, Reed says. Being forced to pivot to virtual during the pandemic led the company to its current growth. Reed Integration’s work is about 80% to 90% government contracts, with some commercial customers.

“We do some human performance analysis that factors into the training side for developing e-learning and distance learning,” she says. “We are now getting into immersive learning with virtual reality. We’re converting some of our courses to virtual reality. The training has taken a really, really cool jump into the technology side.”

That includes developing a wide range of trainings, including in operational readiness for the Coast Guard as well as work with the Air Force in areas like sexual harassment prevention.

In Virginia Beach, Vierra Construction and Development ranked No. 1,704 on Inc’s 2025 list, marking 256% three-year growth. CEO and President Ross Vierra served as a surface warfare officer in the Navy before pushing a broom as he learned the general contracting from the ground up. In 2011, he bought what became Axis Global Enterprises in 2021, rebranding the company to bear his name.

“It was really great because now my friends and family and everybody say, ‘Oh, I see you’re doing a project over here,” Vierra says. “Well, we’ve always been doing a project over there, but now you recognize the name.”

The real estate development, construction and integrated security company has done projects for the federal government, completed design-build work for restaurants, built secure storage facilities and hotels, and is a partner in the $130 million Trilogy at Olde Hampton multifamily project under development in Hampton, among other work. Trilogy is planned to include hundreds of apartments, town-homes and 6,000 square feet of retail. Vierra Construction was also the general contractor on the new eight-story Nautilus Observation Tower at Owl’s Creek Landing in Virginia Beach, which includes the longest steel slide in the United States.

“It’s neat to see where we’ve come from and where we’re continuing to grow and build our vision as well as our clients’,” Vierra says.

An overview of Hampton Roads

Home to 1.79 million across 17 localities,  is Virginia’s second most populous region, just behind Northern Virginia. It also boasts the commonwealth’s biggest city by population: Virginia Beach, with an estimated 457,066 residents. Nearby Norfolk is the densest locality in the region, with 4,467 people per square mile, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

Hampton Roads is also a major economic driver, as it’s home to the Port of Virginia; Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest Navy base; Naval Air Station Oceana, the Navy’s East Coast master jet base; Huntington Ingalls Industries, including its Newport News Shipbuilding division; and Dominion Energy’s $10.7 billion offshore wind farm being constructed 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, with construction 60% complete as of July. Also underway is the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, the state’s largest-ever highway project.

As for , the region’s institutions include Christopher Newport University, Regent University, Virginia Wesleyan University, William & Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, four community colleges and Virginia Beach-headquartered ECPI University.

TowneBank grows market share via M&A

TowneBank is once again the leader in the market, holding a nearly 30% share as of June 2024.

That’s set to grow quickly. Towne’s $203 million acquisition of Norfolk-based Old Point National Bank of Phoebus and its parent company closed in September. In August, announced it plans to acquire North Carolina’s Dogwood State Bank for $475 million, expanding into the Carolinas.

The Old Point acquisition follows TowneBank’s purchase of Midlothian’s Village Bank and its parent in April, as well as its 2023 purchase of Windsor-based Farmers Bankshares.

Coming in at No. 2 again this year is Truist Bank, holding 22.54% of the market. It’s followed by Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America.

Looking to the region’s credit unions, Langley Federal remains at the top of the list, with $5.5 billion in assets and over 395,000 members as of the first quarter. Langley President and CEO Tom Ryan announced in February his plans to retire at the end of this year; as of press time, his successor has not been named.

 

 

From the Editor: In this year’s Hampton Roads Business

This year’s edition of takes a look at the impact on the region from a host of policy changes on everything from to federal spending and restrictions on wind energy.

In this issue’s main feature, local freelance journalist Jim Morrison finds that while regional business leaders are concerned about some of the changes, they also see opportunities in the administration’s priorities. So far, defense spending has not changed greatly, especially compared with other sectors of the federal government, but economists and others encourage diversification into the private sector to hedge against potential future cuts.

Also in this year’s issue, we check in on the newly opened Atlantic Park in Virginia Beach, Norfolk’s forthcoming casino, LS GreenLink’s industrial cable factory under construction in Chesapeake, and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, which is on track to be complete in early 2027.

Plus, in our annual Executive Insights, we talk regional economic issues with local leaders from , health care, , and tourism.

Additionally, Virginia Business Associate Editor Josh Janney updates us on personnel shifts at Fort Eustis and what it could mean for the future. We also look at the newest Hampton Roads businesses on the Inc. 5000 and explore Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is still on schedule but has seen costs balloon in response to rising tariffs.

As usual, we include freshly updated lists and charts of commercial real estate firms, the region’s biggest expansions and economic development announcements, higher education institutions and startup resources, among other information.

We hope that you enjoy this year’s Business issue and find something here to help your business grow.

Frank founder Charlie Javice gets 7 years for fraud

Summary

  • sentenced to 7+ years in prison
  • Jury convicted her of defrauding
  • Frank falsely claimed 4M customers, had only 300K
  • $175M acquisition unraveled after fraud revealed

NEW YORK (AP) — Charlie Javice, the founder of a startup company that promised to revolutionize the way college students apply for financial aid, was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison for cheating JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million by greatly exaggerating how many students it served.

Javice, 33, was convicted in March of duping the giant when it bought her company, called Frank, in the summer of 2021. She made false records that made it seem like Frank had over 4 million customers when it had fewer than 300,000.

Addressing the court before she was sentenced, Javice, who was in her mid-20s when she founded the company, said she was “haunted that my failure has transformed something meaningful into something infamous.”

Sometimes speaking through tears, she said she “made a choice that I will spend my entire life regretting.”

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein largely dismissed arguments by Javice’s lawyer, Ronald Sullivan, that he should be lenient because the negotiations that led to Frank’s sale pitted “a 28-year-old versus 300 investment bankers from the largest bank in the world.”

Still, the judge criticized the bank, saying “they have a lot to blame themselves” after failing to do adequate due diligence. He quickly added, though, that he was “punishing her conduct and not JPMorgan’s stupidity.”

Javice was among a number of young tech executives who vaulted to fame with supposedly disruptive or transformative companies, only to see them collapse amid questions about whether they had engaged in puffery and fraud while dealing with investors.

Her prosecution drew comparisons to the case against Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of a blood testing company, Theranos, that collapsed amid fraud allegations.

Javice, who lives in Florida, has been free on $2 million bail since her 2023 arrest. She was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud charges. Her lawyers had argued that JPMorgan went after Javice because it had buyer’s remorse.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Javice founded Frank to launch software that promised to simplify the arduous process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a complex government form used by students to apply for aid for college or graduate school.

Frank’s backers included venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg. The company said its offering, akin to online tax preparation software, could help students maximize financial aid while making the application process less painful.

The company promoted itself as a way for financially needy students to obtain more aid faster, in return for a few hundred dollars in fees. Javice appeared regularly on cable news programs to boost Frank’s profile, once appearing on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list before JPMorgan bought the startup in 2021.

Sullivan told Hellerstein that his client was very different from Holmes because what she created actually worked, unlike Holmes, “who did not have a real company” and whose product “in fact endangered patients.” Sullivan said the bank rushed its negotiations because it feared another bank would acquire Frank first.

A prosecutor, Micah Fergenson, though, said JPMorgan “didn’t get a functioning business” in exchange for its investment. “They acquired a crime scene.”

Fergenson said Javice was driven by greed when she saw that she could pocket $29 million from the sale of her company.

“Ms. Javice had it dangling in front of her and she lied to get it,” he said.

And in seeking a long prison sentence for Javice, prosecutors cited a 2022 text she had sent to a colleague in which she called it “ridiculous” that Holmes got over 11 years in prison in the Theranos case.

Prosecutors added that the message was “desperately needed” because of “an alarming trend of founders and executives of small startup companies engaging in fraud, including making misrepresentations about their companies’ core products or services, in order to make their companies attractive targets for investors and/or buyers.”

Trump’s trade battle with China puts soybean farmers in peril

Summary

    • halts U.S. soybean purchases in response to Trump’s tariffs
    • Virginia soybean exports to China declined in war during Trump’s first term
    • Farmer’s loyalty to Trump tested

Beijing, which traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all grown in the U.S., is in effect boycotting them in retaliation for the high tariffs has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal.

A lot of cash is at stake. In 2023, Virginia farmers sold about $784 million worth of soybeans to China.

That year, farmers here grew about 22 million bushels of soybeans on 570,000 acres, according to the Virginia Department of and Consumer Services. Soybeans were Virginia’s top agricultural and forestry export in 2023 at over $1.4 billion. Pork came in second at more than $862 million.

“We’re going to see the effects on our soybean farmers this year,” said Josey Moore, a Virginia Soybean Association board member and a commodity specialist with the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

China has been working “for a while” to be less reliant on U.S. agriculture, Moore said. “We’ve kind of seen them trying to be less dependent on those imports, so they’ve even upped their soybean production over there and [are] stockpiling.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, also expects farmers take a hit from the tariffs. “When we impose tariffs on other nations, they slap retaliatory tariffs on us,” he said in a statement.

Virginia’s top five agricultural and forestry export customers in 2023 were China, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Belgium.

“Once a major destination for Virginia soybeans, China has purchased less U.S. soybeans over the past few years,” VDACS spokesperson Amanda Thompson said in a statement. “VDACS continues to use a global network of trade representatives to help Virginia soybean farmers gain access to new market opportunities.”

She noted that the $26 million Portsmouth Agricultural Intermodal Export Facility, which will ease logistics for global shipments of produce, is scheduled to open in 2026 and will “help facilitate the export of soybeans.”

While China may be buying fewer U.S. soybeans, Virginia farmers do not seem to be scaling back. In 2025, Virginia farms grew soybeans on 600,000 acres of the crop, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Soybean farmers statewide are in the middle of harvest right now, according to Rachel M. Gresham, executive director of the Virginia Soybean Association. 

Coming into this year, many farmers were just hoping to break even because crop prices were weak while costs had increased. But Trump’s tariffs, which helped make their crops uncompetitive around the world, drove prices down further, and tariffs on steel and fertilizer sent costs up even more.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s Democratic senior senator, sees the situation as a one-two punch for the commonwealth’s soybean farmers.

“Trump’s erratic trade policies pose a direct threat to the livelihood of Virginia’s soybean farmers,” he said in a statement. “These tariffs are already leaving their mark in the form of higher costs for critical inputs like fertilizer, herbicides, machinery and feed, all while disrupting and shrinking critical markets for soybean exporters. Virginians deserve better.”

This isn’t the first time Virginia soybean farmers have felt the sting of tariffs, however.

When the first imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018, China retaliated with a 25% tariff. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates U.S. soybean farmers experienced $9.4 billion in annualized losses during the 2018 trade war.

The year before that tariff was imposed, Virginia farmers sold $360 million in soybeans to China. In 2018, that number dropped to $58 million.

“We saw during Trump’s first term how hard retaliatory tariffs hit soybean farmers and others in the agriculture sector, and it’s happening again,” Kaine stated. “That’s why I’ve strongly opposed Trump’s broad-based tariff regime.”

Political pressure is growing

American soybean farmers are fretting over not only this year’s crop but the long-term viability of their businesses, built in part on China’s once-insatiable appetite for U.S. beans.

“This is a five-alarm fire for our industry,” said Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky soybean farmer who leads the American Soybean Association trade group.

The situation might even be enough to test farmers’ loyalty to Trump, although he still enjoys strong support throughout rural America. If no deal is reached soon, they hope the government will come through with aid as it did during Trump’s first term, but they see that only as a temporary solution. Trump said Thursday he is considering an aid package.

U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of trade talks between May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. No progress on soybeans has been reported.

Getting closer to harvest, “I’m honestly getting worried that the time is running out,” said Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

After Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded with tariffs of its own,  which now total up to 34% on U.S. soybeans. That makes soybeans from other countries cheaper.

China’s retaliatory tariffs also hit U.S. growers of sorghum, corn and cotton, and even geoduck divers have been affected. But soybeans stand out because of the crop’s outsized importance to U.S. agricultural exports. Soybeans are the top U.S. food export, accounting for about 14% of all farm goods sent overseas.

And China has been by far the largest foreign buyer. Last year, the U.S. exported nearly $24.5 billion worth of soybeans, and China accounted for more than $12.5 billion. That compared with $2.45 billion by the European Union, the second-largest buyer. This year, China hasn’t bought beans since May.

With U.S. farmers hurting, the Trump administration is under growing pressure to reach a deal with China. As talks drag on, Trump appears ready to help.

“We’re going to take some of the tariff money — relatively small amount, but a lot for the farmers — and we’re going to help the farmers out a little bit” during this transition period, Trump said.

The only way most farmers survived Trump’s trade war in his first term was with tens of billions of dollars in government payments. But that’s not what most farmers want.

What farmers expect from Trump

Brian Warpup inspects one of his soybean fields in Warren, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Brian Warpup inspects one of his soybean fields in Warren, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

“The American farmer, especially myself included, we don’t want aid payments,” said Brian Warpup, 52, a fourth-generation farmer from Warren, Indiana. “We want to work. We work the land, we harvest the land, the crop off the land. And the worst thing that we could ever want is a handout.”

Farmers are looking to Trump for a long-term solution.

“Overwhelmingly, farmers have been in President Trump’s corner,” said Ragland, the president of the soybean association. “And I think the message that our soybean farmers as a whole want to deliver is: ‘President Trump, we’ve had your back. We need you to have ours now.’”

He said farmers appreciate the willingness to provide some short-term relief, but what they ultimately need are strong, reliable markets. “Our priority remains seeing the United States secure lasting trade agreements — particularly with China — that allow farmers to sell their crops and build a sustainable future with long-term customers,” he said.

Ragland, 39, hopes his three sons will become the 10th generation to till his 4,500 acres in Magnolia, Kentucky. Unless something changes soon, he worries that thousands of farmers may not survive.

Darin Johnson, president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, said he still has faith in the Trump administration to reach a good trade deal with China.

“I think where the patience is probably wearing thin is the time,” said Johnson, a fourth-generation farmer. “I don’t think anybody thought that we were going to take this much time because we were told 90 deals, 90 deals in 90 days.”

China’s negotiating strategy

The U.S. soybean industry grew in response to Chinese demand starting back in the 1990s, when China began its rapid economic rise and turned to foreign producers to help feed its . Protein-rich soybeans are an essential part of the diet.

While China relies on domestic crops for steamed beans and tofu, it needs far more soybeans for oil extraction and animal feed. In 2024, China produced 20 million metric tons of soybeans, while importing more than 105 million metric tons.

American farmers have come to count on China as their biggest customer, and this has “given the Chinese a point of leverage,” Sutter said. By holding off on buying U.S. soybeans, China is seen as trying to leverage that purchasing power in the trade talks.

“I think that’s the strategy,” said Sutter of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. “I think that’s why China is targeting soybeans and other agricultural products, because they know that farmers have a strong lobby and farmers are important to the U.S. government.”

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, didn’t answer specific questions on soybean purchases but urged the U.S. to work with Beijing.

“The essence of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutual benefit and win-win,” Liu said.

China turned to Brazil when Trump launched his first trade war in 2018. Last year, Brazilian beans accounted for more than 70% of China’s imports, while the U.S. share was down to 21%, World Bank data shows. Argentina and other South American countries also are selling more to China, which has diversified to boost food security.

What American farmers are doing in response

U.S. farmers also are broadening their customer base, said Sutter, who recently traveled to Japan and Indonesia in search of new markets. Taiwan pledged to purchase $10 billion worth of soybeans, corn, wheat and beef in the next four years.

“There’s strong diversification efforts underway,” Sutter said. But “China is so big, it’s hard to replace them overnight.”

Farmers are working to boost consumption at home, too. Growth in biodiesel production has taken in some of the soybeans that were once exported. Others are crushed to produce soybean oil and soybean meal. The United Soybean Board is investing in research into the benefits of using soybeans to feed dairy cows and hogs.

But Iowa farmer Robb Ewoldt, a director with the Soybean Board, knows that such domestic uses are growing gradually.

“We cannot replace a China in one shot,” Ewoldt said. “It’s not going to happen. We need to be realistic in that.”

Virginia Business Associate Editor Beth JoJack contributed to this report. 

Wall Street rises as tech stocks rebound ahead of jobs data

Summary

  • gained 0.3%, Dow rose 0.1%, climbed 0.5%
  • Amazon and other Big Tech stocks helped lift markets
  • Oil companies slipped as crude prices dropped
  • Investors await Friday’s U.S. for Fed outlook

NEW YORK (AP) — ticked higher on Monday as recovered some of their losses from late last week.

The S&P 500 added 0.3%. The Industrial Average rose 68 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%. All three are near their all-time highs set a week ago.

Big Tech stocks ticked higher to lead the way. Amazon added 1.1% following its 5.1% drop last week, and Microsoft rose 0.6% to recover some of its 1.2% decline. While their moves were modest, they were still two of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 Monday because they’re two of Wall Street’s most valuable stocks.

On the losing end of the market were companies in the oil business, which were hurt by slumping crude prices. Drops of 2.6% for Exxon Mobil and 2.5% for Chevron were two of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

This week’s highlight is scheduled to arrive on Friday, when a report will be due about how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The hope is that it will be balanced enough to keep the on track to continue cutting interest rates.

The Fed just delivered its first cut of the year, and officials have penciled in more through the end of next year. That’s critical for investors because U.S. stocks have shot to records from a low in April in large part because of expectations for several cuts from the Fed. Easier rates can give the job market a boost and make investors more willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments.

If Friday’s job numbers prove too strong, they could make the Fed less willing to cut rates. That could hurt stocks, which already face criticism that they’ve become too expensive following their big rally. If the job numbers are too weak, they could mean a recession that would hurt stock prices on its own.

One wild card may pop up in the interim: The U.S. government is nearing a deadline that could result in its shutdown.

The United States has already had many such shutdowns in the past, which have caused only minimal waves for the U.S. and for the . But another shutdown could delay the collection and release of economic data, such as on jobs and inflation. Without those reports, increasing uncertainty on Wall Street could make markets more twitchy.

This shutdown may also be different because the White House may push for large-scale firings of federal workers this time around.

“We believe that a shutdown will have only a small and transitory economic impact, but it may spur some financial market volatility,” according to Jennifer Timmerman, investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

On Wall Street, Electronic Arts climbed 4.5% after the video game maker confirmed rumors of a $55 billion buyout. A group of investors will pay $210 in cash for each share of EA, and they are calling it history’s largest all-cash deal to take a business private.

CSX chugged 5.4% higher after the railroad operator named Steve Angel as its chief executive. Angel was previously CEO of Linde and its predecessor Praxair, and he is replacing Joe Hinrichs, who also left CSX’s board.

Stocks in the marijuana-related business soared after posted a video to his social media network calling hemp-derived CBD a “game changer” in improving the quality of life for seniors. Tilray Brands jumped 60.9%, and Canada’s Canopy Growth rose 17% in Toronto.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points to 6,661.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 68.78 to 46,316.07, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 107.09 to 22,591.15.

In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly rose in Europe and Asia.

The FTSE 100 in London added 0.2% as GSK climbed 2.2% after the pharmaceutical giant said CEO Emma Walmsley will step down at the end of the year. Luke Miels, currently GSK’s chief commercial officer, will replace the 56-year-old Walmsley, who was the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 1.9%, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

Oil prices slumped more than 3%. Analysts cited reports that oil-producing nations in the OPEC+ group might raise their production limits next month, which added to the notion that too much supply is washing around the world.

Gold topped $3,850 per ounce to continue its record-breaking run amid expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Fed, along with worries about inflation and the mountains of debt that governments are carrying worldwide.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.14% from 4.20% late Friday.

Volkswagen of America taps new sales/marketing EVP

Volkswagen of America, the -headquartered subsidiary of the German automaker, has appointed Brian Nash as its executive vice president of and and for the North American Region.

In the new role, which took effect Monday, Nash will be responsible for developing and leading sales, product marketing, dealer relations and after-sales strategy. The company said his focus will be on building momentum for a refreshed lineup of Volkswagen vehicles.

Nash previously spent more than a decade at Mazda North American Operations, where he oversaw the dealer network, drove sales growth and introduced digital retail strategies.

“We are proud to welcome a seasoned leader whose vision and experience will drive our next chapter of growth,” said President and CEO Kjell Gruner in a statement. “His expertise in dealer collaboration and strategies that prioritize customer satisfaction will be instrumental as we continue to strengthen the Volkswagen business.”

Before Mazda, Nash started his automotive career in retail. He worked within dealer groups before transitioning to an original equipment manufacturer.

The company also announced last week that Rachael Zaluzec, senior vice president of brand marketing and customer experience with Volkswagen’s North American Region, will have a realigned role making her responsible for the company’s U.S. brand strategy. She and her team will now report directly to Gruner. The company says she will maintain a close connection with and provide support to Nash’s leadership team.

Volkswagen did not immediately return requests for comment.

Volkswagen Group of America has approximately 10,000 employees in the U.S. and sells its vehicles through a network of about 1,000 independent dealers.

Based in Germany, the Volkswagen Group has 115 production facilities across 17 European countries and 10 countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. The car maker has about 680,000 employees worldwide. Its vehicles are sold in more than 150 countries. In 2024, Volkswagen reported about $380.82 billion in sales .