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100 People to Meet in 2026: Innovators

These scientists, founders and executives are leading the way in tomorrow’s industries, from small modular reactors to indoor farming.

Beck
Beck

JEFF BECK

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ANSWERSNOW, RICHMOND

After working as a licensed therapist, Jeff Beck co-founded AnswersNow in 2016 to provide telehealth therapy for children with autism and their families. A graduate of Randolph-Macon College, Beck earned his master of social work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.
AnswersNow’s platform launched in 2017, and the company has raised more than $30 million, and this year, Beck was named one of Ernst & Young’s Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneurs of the Year. The business operates in eight states and estimates it will assist 1,000 families this year.

Telehealth took off during the pandemic, but Beck noted in a 2024 interview with Authority Magazine that for children with autism, “the ability to receive in-person care is severely impacted by shortages of available therapists,” and remote appointments can be a faster option.

In 2026, Beck expects AnswersNow to expand into four to six more states and to expand its network of approximately 100 clinicians by 50% to 100% to support its goal of serving 3,000 families next year.

Haskins
Haskins

CONAWAY HASKINS

VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS, , RICHMOND

Conaway Haskins joined VIPC in 2021 to head its entrepreneurial ecosystems division, which supports startups across the state through project funding, technical assistance and network building, with the goal of growing jobs, attracting science- and tech-based startups and supporting their growth.

Haskins has over 20 years of experience in economic development and government affairs. Before joining VIPC, he was associate director of the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, and he serves on Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic and Community Engagement’s advisory board.

In 2026, Haskins expects to focus on merging VIPC’s ecosystems and strategic initiatives teams. The latter works to develop emerging technology industries where Virginia has unique advantages and assets.

“Bringing these two groups together will amplify VIPC’s efforts to support regional and industrial ecosystems in all corners of the commonwealth and continue positioning Virginia as a leading state for innovation-led economic development,” he says.

Munson
Munson

JENNY MUNSON

PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, CANCER RESEARCH CENTER, VIRGINIA TECH, ROANOKE

Nearly two-thirds of the body is water, and much of it is fluid that flows between cells to deliver nutrients and remove waste. For Jenny Munson, this fluid-flow system points to treatments for lethal brain tumors and Alzheimer’s disease.

At Virginia Tech, Munson’s lab builds tools to measure, model and manipulate these flows, applying them to brain cancers to find invading tumor cells and address conditions affecting memory.

Munson also co-founded Cairina, a company that offers clinicians imaging tools and an algorithm to predict where a glioblastoma (a type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord) is likely to grow. The newest venture at her lab is Lympha Bio, which focuses on immunological testing and how chemotherapy affects the lymphatic system.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and neuroscience from Tulane University and her Ph.D. in bioengineering from Georgia Tech.

Nassar
Nassar

AHMAD NASSAR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYERS ASSOCIATION; CEO, WINNERS ALLIANCE, TYSONS

Ahmad Nassar has been involved for years with professional athletes, helping them secure licensing and marketing deals as founding CEO of OneTeam Partners and chairman of REP Worldwide. His newest venture is Winners Alliance, the Fairfax County-based company that represents worldwide athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, from cricketers to soccer stars. In June, he was named one of Ernst & Young’s Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year winners.

Nassar calls Winners Alliance “kind of a baby business, or a toddler business. We’re still growing, and I don’t mean that solely in a revenue or headcount way.”

Having earned a degree from the University of Chicago, Nassar was president of NFL Players Inc., the NFL Players Association’s marketing and licensing business, and since 2022, Nassar has been executive director of the PTPA. In March, the organization filed lawsuits against tennis’s governing bodies in the United States, the U.K. and the European Union, advocating for higher compensation and improved anti-doping and scheduling processes.

Polefrone
Polefrone

JOY POLEFRONE

APM TECH HUB REGIONAL INNOVATION OFFICER, COMMONWEALTH CENTER FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY

A former health innovation director at Virginia Commonwealth University’s da Vinci Center and an ultrasound and radiology strategist for Philips, Joy Polefrone earned her Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Virginia, focusing on cancer immunology and bioanalytical chemistry and proteomics.

Founded in 2010, CCAM is a public-private research and development consortium that hosts a training lab for scientists and engineers to develop and test technology for manufacturing, with a focus on producing active ingredients for medicines in Central Virginia. In 2023, the alliance was designated a tech hub by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Polefrone serves as the organization’s point of contact for the EDA, and she drives the consortium members’ collaboration and strategy.

In addition to her career in science, Polefrone has been a yoga teacher and student for more than two decades.

Rolander
Rolander

JEFF ROLANDER

VICE PRESIDENT OF CLAIMS AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, FAYE, RICHMOND

After almost 20 years working for Allianz Group subsidiaries, Jeff Rolander left the French corporation in late 2021 to join Richmond travel insurance startup Faye, drawn by its focus on customer loyalty and retention. Following his most recent promotion, Rolander oversees the claims and frontline teams, comprising almost all of Faye’s roughly 50-person local workforce.

Founded in 2019 and owned by Zenner, Faye achieved $100 million in sales revenue this year, and Time magazine included the company on its Best Inventions of 2025 list. Its app allows customers to file claims quickly and to keep them in a virtual wallet, as well as offering a “cancel for any reason” coverage option.

Faye’s corporate office is in Delaware, but it has major hubs in Richmond and Tel Aviv. The company has leased an office in Henrico County, and it anticipates more growth in 2026. With about 150 employees worldwide, the company hopes to grow its local headcount by 35% within the next year.

Rosener
Rosener

GWENN ROSENER

CEO, FLEXPROFESSIONALS, FAIRFAX

In 2010, Gwenn Rosener co-founded her staffing firm, FlexProfessionals, which even pre-pandemic has focused on finding remote and hybrid jobs for women with family demands. The company has worked with about 1,000 companies over the past decade and a half, and many of its placements are in accounting, sales, marketing and human resources at organizations throughout Northern Virginia.

Before starting FlexProfessionals, Rosener was a systems engineer at General Electric and a senior manager at Capgemini, the French multinational IT company that purchased Ernst & Young Consulting in 2000.

Amid federal spending cuts and job layoffs in the private and public sectors, Rosener and her colleagues have been very busy fielding calls this year. Speaking this summer, Rosener said that many of the former federal workers she’s spoken with never expected to go through another job search after landing what used to be dependably secure employment.

Shen
Shen

JEREMY SHEN

CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, YOUNT, HYDE & BARBOUR, WINCHESTER

In March, tapped Jeremy Shen to be the Winchester-based accounting and consulting firm’s first chief strategy officer, a job that involves merging long-term strategy with practical execution.

“Public accounting is changing faster than ever,” Shen says, “and my focus is on making sure YHB remains sustainable and ahead of that curve.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Shen plans for YHB to focus on “strengthening national partnerships, exploring selective [] and continuing to evolve how a modern, independent firm competes and grows.”

Shen joined YHB as its marketing director in 2015. Over the last decade, he’s also helped with shaping business development and client engagement strategies at the firm.

A graduate of Longwood University’s MBA program, Shen worked for a firearms business, a global law firm and a metal manufacturer before moving to YHB.

Tiwari
Tiwari

AKSHITA TIWARI

CO-FOUNDER, qMe, PROCO, CHARLOTTESVILLE

Akshita Tiwari, 19, attended a STEM-focused high school in Loudoun County, and that’s where she got interested in quantum computing, which she’s now studying at the University of Virginia as a computer science major.

An entrepreneur, Tiwari also passes along her quantum knowledge to elementary and middle school students through qMe, a tech education startup she co-founded as a high school student.

She’s also launched another business to help fellow students find mentors in the work world. With two friends at the University of Maryland, Tiwari started Proco, an app that pairs business mentors with mentees. The app grew out of an assignment in one of her U.Va. classes, and it received $1,000 in seed funding from U.Va.’s VentureForward program and support from the Darden School of Business’ i.Lab Incubator. The team plans to grow the business post-graduation, and Tiwari has added a business minor to her workload.

In her free time, Tiwari is trained in Indian classical dance, and she loves trying new restaurants around Charlottesville.

Whitt
Whitt

JEFF WHITT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, , LYNCHBURG

In February, former Framatome U.S. Government Solutions President Jeff Whitt became executive director of the Virginia Innovative Nuclear Hub. Created in 2024 with a seed grant of $350,000 from the Virginia Department of , the organization connects researchers, utilities and nuclear tech companies, including Lynchburg’s Framatome, in promoting nuclear energy production in Virginia.

This year, the VIN Hub received $1.2 million in grants to create a research facility around a microscale reactor, all still in the planning stages.
Small modular nuclear reactors have a major cheerleader in , who has promoted SMRs as a clean energy source amid higher power demand from and artificial intelligence.

Zappernick
Zappernick

NATALIA ZAPPERNICK

DIRECTOR OF HORTICULTURE, , RICHMOND

In her sophomore year at Ohio State University, Natalia Zappernick decided that she wanted to work in biosystems and agricultural engineering. “I really haven’t looked back since then,” she says.

Zappernick moved from Baltimore’s Bowery Farming to Richmond this summer to start her new job as horticulture director for Babylon Micro-Farms, a growing indoor farming operation.

On a recent morning, Zappernick and two colleagues were studying 11 micro-farms at the Inc. 5000 company’s Richmond headquarters. “We’ll spend our day seeing what we need to do in terms of harvesting and farming tasks, collecting data, synthesizing it and sort of interpreting if our research trials worked or didn’t work,” she explains.

In 2026, Zappernick plans to expand Babylon’s produce menu. Currently, the company cultivates more than 45 leafy greens, lettuces, microgreens, herbs and flowers for its customers, including Aramark, Sodexo and other food service corporations.

 

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US stocks rise as Wall Street looks to add to its winning streak

Summary:

  • Stocks extend three-day rally on expectations of a December Fed rate cut
  • , Dow and all rose in early trading
  • and Nvidia climb on strong server demand

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising as Wall Street looks to build on its recent winning streak.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% in early trading Wednesday. The Industrial Average gained 227 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq added 0.7% as of 9:50 a.m. EST.

Stocks have risen for three straight days as comments from officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting in December. Traders are betting on a nearly 83% probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.

Dell Technologies rose 2.3% after saying it has received record orders for its artificial intelligence servers. Dell and other technology companies had fallen earlier in the month as investors worried the prices for their stocks had gotten too frothy amid the frenzy over AI. Nvidia, the market’s most valuable company, rose 2.5%.

joined a host of other retailers this week in reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and its shares jumped 11.7%.

On the downside, shares of dropped nearly 4% after the farm equipment company issued a downbeat forecast, citing pressure from .

U.S. will have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, closing on Thursday and opening for shorter hours on Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.03% and the yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.49%.

In international markets, shares in Europe and Asia advanced. Germany’s DAX gained 0.7% while the CAC 40 in Paris also rose 0.6%. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% in a broad rally that encompassed major exporters and technology shares.

U.Va. continues presidential search, despite Spanberger’s call for pause

SUMMARY:

  • presidential search committee held interviews with candidates despite Gov.-elect Spanberger’s call for them to pause process
  • Faculty, staff groups have urged rector, vice rector to resign from board
  • Former president Jim Ryan’s Nov. 14 letter has led to intensified criticism of U.Va.’s board

The University of Virginia’s presidential search committee has continued its work in a successor for former President Jim Ryan, despite calls from and groups of faculty and staff to pause the process.

In a Nov. 21 statement, the U.Va. ‘ special committee — a body that includes U.Va. board members and others with ties to the state’s flagship university — said that it had “just completed the first round of interviews” with candidates for the presidency last week. “However, we are not yet at the point of selecting finalists. To responsibly narrow this exceptional pool, we must conduct additional due diligence, hold further interviews and continue our internal deliberations.”

The committee’s unsigned statement does not provide a timeline for further interviews or clarify whether they are now taking the pause Spanberger requested in a Nov. 12 letter to U.Va. Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson, or moving full speed ahead.

U.Va.’s Faculty Senate also called for Sheridan and Wilkinson to immediately resign from the board in a Nov. 14 resolution released the same day that Ryan wrote a bombshell 12-page letter to the Faculty Senate that was then made public. In the days before his late June resignation, Ryan wrote that Sheridan, Wilkinson and board member Paul Manning exerted pressure on Ryan to resign the presidency by asserting that the Trump administration’s required him to step down for the university to reach a resolution of alleged civil rights violations.

However, Ryan wrote, the three board members may have misrepresented the DOJ’s orders, adding that the true pressure for him to resign might have originated with , board members and conservative attorneys hired by the board, or a combination of those individuals. Ryan also alleged that Manning, along with Sheridan and Wilkinson, who were not yet serving as rector and vice rector, failed to keep the rest of the board of visitors informed of their negotiations with Justice Department attorneys and prevented Ryan from directly speaking with them.

Spanberger, who previously asked Sheridan and Wilkinson to hold off hiring or deciding presidential finalists until she could fill five vacant board seats as governor, has ramped up her own criticism of Youngkin and the board following Ryan’s letter.

The governor-elect accused Youngkin of “overstepping” by naming politically motivated board members and seeking to influence universities via those appointments in an interview last week with The Washington Post, and she said naming appointees to the five U.Va. board vacancies will be a day one priority when she takes office in January 2026.

Meanwhile, the United Campus Workers of Virginia, a local chapter of the Communications Workers of America, and hundreds of current and retired faculty members have backed the U.Va. Faculty Senate resolution calling for a pause in the hiring process as well as Sheridan and Wilkinson’s resignations.

However, as of Monday, the rector and vice rector had not yet responded to the Nov. 14 resolution, U.Va. Faculty Senate Chair Jeri Seidman wrote in an email to fellow faculty senators, and on Tuesday, a U.Va. spokesperson said that the university did not have a comment beyond Sheridan’s previous letter to the Faculty Senate — which Ryan called “inaccurate” in his letter — and the search committee’s Nov. 21 report on its recent candidate interviews.

Meanwhile, U.Va.’s presidential search might be completed before Spanberger takes office.

Seidman, an associate professor of commerce, wrote that she’s received mixed responses from faculty members. Some say they’re “reassured” by the committee’s statement that it has not yet selected finalists, but others are “unsure if a pause has even occurred. … Whichever way you interpret it, I’m sure we will all continue to watch the search with intense interest.”

Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

Summary:

  • Companies from to and announce mass
  • slows amid “no-hire, no-fire” economy and shutdown fallout
  • Unemployment rises to 4.4% as revised data shows August job losses
  • Firms cite tariffs, restructuring and AI investments for reductions

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job.

Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite more broadly — or are redirecting money to .

Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And the record 43-day government shutdown also left many without paychecks.

The impasse put key economic data on hold, too. In a delayed report released last week, the said U.S. employers added a surprising 119,000 jobs in September. But unemployment rose to 4.4% — and other troubling details emerged, including revisions showing the economy actually lost 4,000 jobs in August. The shutdown also resulted in holes for more recent hiring numbers. The government says it won’t release a full jobs report for October.

Here are some of the largest job cuts announced recently:

HP

In November, HP said this week it expected to lay off between 4,000 and 6,000 employees. The cuts are part of a wider initiative from the computer maker to streamline operations, which includes adopting AI to increase productivity. The company aims to complete these actions by the end of the 2028 fiscal year.

Verizon

Also in November, Verizon began laying off more than 13,000 employees. In a staff memo announcing the cuts, CEO Dan Schulman said that the telecommunications giant needed to simplify operations and “reorient” the entire company.

General Motors

General Motors will lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio in late October, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles. Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs” at the start of next year.

Paramount

In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount plans to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce. Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs in late October, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In November, Paramount also announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions as part of divestitures of Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. And the company said another 600 employees had chosen voluntary severance packages as part of a coming push to return to the office full-time.

Amazon

Amazon said in October that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

UPS

United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs. UPS also closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.

Target

Target in October said it would eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally. The retailer said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts.

Nestlé

In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance amid headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years.

Lufthansa Group

In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

Novo Nordisk

Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce. The company — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring, as it works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

ConocoPhillips

Oil giant ConocoPhillips announced plans in September to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs. Between 2,600 and 3,250 workers were expected to be impacted, with most layoffs set to take place before the end of 2025.

Intel

Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business. In July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

Microsoft

In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years. The company has cited “organizational changes,” but the reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

Procter & Gamble

In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce. The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures.

Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as job cuts stay low

Summary:

  • fall to 216,000, below forecasts
  • Continuing claims rise to 1.96 million as job hunts lengthen
  • Labor market remains “low-hire, low-fire” despite big-name layoffs
  • Cooling and confidence fuel Fed rate-cut expectations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits declined last week in a sign that overall layoffs remain low, even as several high-profile companies have announced job cuts.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending Nov. 22 dropped 6,000 from the previous week to 216,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The figure is below the 230,000 forecast by economists, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.

Applications for unemployment aid are seen as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the . The job cuts announced recently by large companies such as and typically take weeks or months to fully implement and may not yet be reflected in the claims data.

The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, dropped 1,000 to 223,750.

For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the week ending Nov. 15 rose 7,000 to 1.96 million, the government said. The increase is a sign that the unemployed are taking longer to find new work.

Last week, the government said that  picked up a bit in September, when employers added 119,000 new jobs. Yet the report also showed employers had shed jobs in August. And the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, its highest level in four years, as more Americans came off the sidelines to look for work but did not all immediately find jobs.

On Tuesday, the government reported that retail sales slowed in September after three months of healthy increases.  plunged to its second-lowest level in five years, while wholesale eased a bit.

The data suggests that both the and inflation are slowing, which boosted financial ‘ expectations that the Federal Reserve will reduce its key interest rate at its next meeting Dec. 9-10.

JLARC: Data centers received $2.7B in state tax cuts

SUMMARY: 

  • Virginia avoided $2.7B in Virginia sales and use taxes from FY 2015 to FY 2024
  • Exemption accounts for 53% of state economic incentive spending
  • In FY 2024, the tax exemption for data centers reached $1B

In Virginia, data centers are often exempt from paying and use taxes. The exemption adds up.

From fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024, tax exemptions totaled $2.7 billion, according to an annual report on Virginia’s spending on that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released earlier this month.

Overall, Virginia gave $5.2 billion in tax incentives and grants during that time period to woo companies to locate in Virginia or expand operations already based in the commonwealth. The exemption for data centers accounted for 53% of that total.

Since 2010, Virginia has offered an exemption to the state’s retail sales and use tax as a way of attracting large data centers. The exemption isn’t set to expire until 2035.

“The data center exemption … has become the largest economic development incentive that the state is supporting,” Kimberly Sarte, associate director for ongoing oversight and fiscal analysis at , said Tuesday.

And, it seems likely to grow.

In fiscal 2024, Virginia exempted data centers from $1 billion in tax. That’s up from $685 million in fiscal 2023. The growth, JLARC explains, is due to the rapid pace that new data centers are being built along with data center expansions.

“The size of the exemption will just continue to increase as data centers continue to grow and continue replenishing equipment that is exempted,” Sarte said.

In an Oct. 29 response to the JLARC report, Jason El Koubi, president and CEO of the , noted that in a 2024 report on data centers in Virginia, JLARC included an analysis of how data centers impact Virginia’s .

“Notably, the analysis estimated that the data center industry supports an impressive 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in income, and $9.1 billion in Virginia [Gross Domestic Product] overall to the state economy annually,” he wrote.

The same report found that in fiscal 2023, capital investment in Virginia data centers, exceeded $24 billion and that data center investment represented 84% of the total capital investment across all economic development projects announced by  VEDP between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2024.

In his letter to JLARC, El Koubi highlights that the JLARC report on incentive spending states that incentives on data centers are rising in proportion to capital investment.

“Virginia – and the nation – are experiencing the highest levels of infrastructure-related capital expenditure, as a share of GDP, since the railroad boom of the 1880s,” El Koubi wrote in the letter.  “These investments are driving critical economic activity and generating substantial tax revenues across the commonwealth at a time when federal workforce reductions and spending cuts are exerting temporary pressure on Virginia’s economy.”

Of the state’s incentives from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024, sales and use tax exemptions made up 66% of spending, while tax credits and other measures accounted for 13%. The remaining spending went to grants like the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund, which is considered a “deal-closing” fund that’s employed at the governor’s discretion.

Collectively, the state’s grant programs awarded $2 billion to 5,000 projects during the time period captured in the report. Completed projects receiving grant funds, the JLARC report stated, created about 59,000 jobs and $16 billion in capital investment or other spending.

Of companies that received grants, the majority (63%) made the investments they promised. However, only 28% met job goals, and only 41% met wage goals.

Between fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2024, grant awards totaling $258 million were canceled, reduced or recaptured because the projects did not move forward or meet their goals, according to JLARC, which is the oversight agency of the Virginia General Assembly.

Of completed individual projects that received a Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund grant only 38% met their capital investment goals. However, other projects that received the grant exceeded their capital investment goals. As a collective, all of the projects that received Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund grants created 83% of the total capital investment expected and achieved 52% of their job creation goals and 136% of average wage goals.

“When you look across grant programs collectively, they tended to do a better job,” Sarte said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated

Virginia SCC approves Dominion gas plant in Chesterfield

SUMMARY:

  • Virginia approves new 944-megawatt natural gas peaker plant in
  • Dominion says increased energy demand forecasted for next 15 years necessitates project
  • Neighbors, environmental groups opposed the project, saying it was overly expensive and potentially harmful

‘s $1.47 billion natural gas power plant in County received the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s approval Tuesday, despite opposition from neighbors and environmental groups.

Dubbed the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, or CERC, the project was filed for SCC approval in March. Dominion submitted an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct a 944-megawatt natural gas plant, which would provide electricity at peak demand hours. It’s projected to be in operation by June 1, 2029, according to the SCC’s decision.

The Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, the NAACP, Advanced Energy United and other organizations, as well as individual Chesterfield residents, advocated against the building of the peaker plant, citing increased costs to residential power customers and potential environmental impacts.

However, the Fortune 500 utility argued that the plant is needed “to provide system reliability,” as power demand has increased substantially due to greater and overall internet use in recent years. Meanwhile, Dominion is required by the Virginia Clean Act, signed into in 2020, to produce almost all power via renewable sources by 2045, although fossil fuel plants can be used under the law as backup resources as authorized by the SCC.

According to the SCC, this is the first new natural gas plant submitted for evaluation since the passage of the VCEA. “Since that time the commission has approved [Dominion’s] requests to build or purchase energy from approximately 3,500 megawatts of solar and 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind assets,” the decision says. “This case … is not about choosing CERC over compliance with the VCEA. Instead, the commission is called upon to determine whether a ‘threat to the reliability or security of electric service to the utility’s customers’ exists, such that the CERC project is required to obviate such threat.”

Ultimately, the commission found in Dominion’s favor, noting that development and load growth in the PJM regional power grid, which includes Virginia, has created a need for more power generation. According to the ruling, load forecasts in Dominion’s territory are the highest in the PJM grid, with about 5% growth in energy demand expected yearly over the next 15 years.

“There is little doubt that Dominion’s need for additional generation assets is urgent,” the opinion says. “The near-term reliability concerns motivating the CERC project … cannot be addressed by non-carbon-emitting resources.”

Dominion next seeks approval from the state Department of Environmental Quality to build the plant.

“This is good news for our customers, Virginia’s economy and the reliability of the grid,” the utility said in a statement Tuesday. “This project will provide reliable power for hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Chesterfield and beyond. As part of our all of the above energy strategy, it will ensure our region has the reliable power we need to continue growing and thriving. We look forward to concluding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s permitting process next month and getting to work on this important project next year.”

Advanced Energy United, a national organization that opposed the plant, called the SCC’s decision a “step backward” in a statement Tuesday.

“Virginians need low-cost energy, but this approval allows Dominion to move forward with one of the most expensive options on the table,” said Shawn Kelly, Advanced Energy’s regulatory director. “Utilities across the country are using proven tools like battery storage, demand flexibility and modern grid management to meet peak needs at lower cost. This approval embraces none of these lower-cost options.”

Glen Besa, board chair of anti-plant Friends of Chesterfield, said in a statement that the SCC “just gutted the Virginia Clean Economy Act and gave Dominion Energy a blank check to build new gas plants and raise our electric bills. This decision only benefits Dominion shareholders and Big Tech, the richest corporations in the world, to power their at our expense.”

Although Dominion came out the winner with CERC’s approval, the SCC rejected its requests for base-rate increases of $822 million in 2026 and $345 million for 2027, instead ruling that the utility should raise rates by $565.7 million next year and $209.9 million in 2027. The commission also created a new rate class for the biggest users of electricity — 25 megawatts or more — effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Certain large-scale customers, such as data center developers, will be required to pay a minimum of 85% of contracted distribution and transmission demand, as well as 60% of generation demand.

Chantilly’s VTG makes sixth acquisition of 2025

Chantilly engineering firm and government contractor announced Tuesday that it has acquired Fairfax tech company Inc., its sixth this year.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and VTG did not immediately return requests for comment.

Founded in 1993, is known for delivering full software lifecycle development, cloud services, cybersecurity, data science and systems engineering to intelligence community programs. VTG says that MSI’s workforce will bring “deep technical expertise” to the company.

In a statement, VTG President and CEO John Hassoun said the acquisition was “another strategic milestone in our growth journey.” MSI has been 100% employee-owned since 2015, and its culture supports practices like open-book management and consensus-driven decision-making

“Their collaborative spirit and commitment to mission success make them an ideal fit for VTG,” he said. “Together, we will accelerate innovation, strengthen our partnerships, and deliver transformative outcomes for our customers across the intelligence community.”

VTG did not specify what will happen to MSI’s or how many employees will be joining VTG. It is also unknown what will become of the company’s employee-owned status.

However, MSI President Roland Burdett, in a statement, said, “All of the employee-owners of MSI are excited about the acquisition. We are looking forward to joining VTG, and working together on future opportunities.”

VTG said the acquisition reflects its shared vision with its majority investor, Connecticut-based private equity firm A&M Capital Partners, to deepen its technical capabilities and scale.

The firm has also this year acquired Loki Solutions, , , , and .

Headquartered in , and with company roots dating back to 1866, VTG provides engineering services for naval, aerospace, network and digital systems. It performs work in 40 U.S. states and more than 20 countries and has over 1,600 employees.

Federal agency boosts size of most single-family loans the government can guarantee to $832,750

Summary:

  • lifts 2026 conforming loan limit to $832,750
  • Increase reflects a 3.3% rise in US
  • High-cost areas like LA and NYC will see limits above $1.24 million
  • and guarantee conforming loans, not jumbos

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing the size of home loans that the government can guarantee against default as it takes into account rising housing prices.

Beginning next year, mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to acquire loans of up to $832,750 on single-family homes in most of the country, the agency said Tuesday.

The new conforming loan limit is a 3.3% increase from its 2025 level.

FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home loans from banks and other lenders, guaranteeing them against default. The loans are then bundled into securities sold to investors.

But FHFA sets limits to the size of the loans that Fannie and Freddie can buy. Such loans are known as conforming loans, while mortgages above the conforming loan limit are known as .

FHFA adjusts the limits of a confirming loan annually to reflect changes in U.S. home values, which have been rising this year, albeit more slowly.

The U.S. has been in a slump since 2022, when began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

Sales have remained sluggish this year, running essentially flat compared to last year through the first 10 months of 2025, even after getting a boost this fall as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage declined to its lowest level in more than a year.

The FHFA’s House Price Index showed that, on average, U.S. home prices climbed 3.3% in the July-September quarter compared to a year earlier.

The 2026 single-family home conforming loan limit will apply to most of the country, though the FHFA allows higher loan limits for certain states, such as Alaska and Hawaii, and in counties where the local median home value is more than double the conforming loan limit.

For example, the conforming loan limit for single-family homes in Los Angeles and New York counties will be $1,249,125 starting next year.

New limits for a rent algorithm that prosecutors say let landlords drive up prices

Summary:

  • settles DOJ case over rent-pricing software
  • Company barred from using real-time confidential data for pricing
  • Critics say algorithm enabled to coordinate and raise rents
  • States and cities nationwide are cracking down on rent-setting tools

Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic collusion.”

The deal announced Monday by the follows a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, launched during the Biden administration, against the Texas-based software company. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a judge.

RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees nationwide price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage’s clients charge the highest possible rent.

“RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price,” said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, RealPage can no longer use that real-time data to determine price recommendations. Instead, the only nonpublic data that can be used to train the software’s algorithm must be at least one year old.

“What does this mean for you and your family?” Slater said in a video statement. “It means more real competition in local housing . It means rents set by the market, not by a secret algorithm.”

RealPage attorney Stephen Weissman said the company is pleased the DOJ worked with them to settle the matter.

“There has been a great deal of misinformation about how RealPage’s software works and the value it provides for both housing providers and renters,” Weissman said in a statement. “We believe that RealPage’s historical use of aggregated and anonymized nonpublic data, which include rents that are typically lower than advertised rents, has led to lower rents, less vacancies, and more procompetitive effects.”

Over the past few months, more than two dozen property management companies have reached various settlements over their use of RealPage, including Greystar, the nation’s largest landlord, which agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit, and $7 million to settle a separate lawsuit filed by nine states.

The governors of California and New York signed laws last month to crack down on rent-setting software, and a growing list of cities, including Philadelphia and Seattle, have passed ordinances against the practice.

Ten states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington — had joined the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit. Those states were not part of Monday’s settlement.