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StubHub shares slip 2% in Wall Street debut

Summary

  • stock closed down 2% from its $23.50 price
  • Shares on NYSE under ticker symbol “STUB”
  • Platform facilitated over 40M ticket sales in 2024
  • Founded in 2000 by current CEO
  • Baker to stay on as CEO and maintain company control

NEW YORK (AP) — StubHub received a lackluster reception on Wall Street Wednesday.

The ‘s stock fell 6.4% from its initial public offering price of $23.50 per share on its first day of trading. The company’s shares are trading on the under the symbol “STUB.”

StubHub offered just over 34 million shares and raised approximately $800 million. At the closing price, the company has a market valuation of about $8.1 billion.

StubHub plans to use proceeds from the sale to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.

The company, which is based in New York, said buyers in more than 200 countries and territories used its platform to purchase more than 40 million tickets in 2024. It was co-founded in 2000 by current CEO, Eric Baker. He will remain CEO and maintain control of the company.

EBay bought StubHub in 2007. Baker left the company ahead of that sale and founded international online ticket exchange Viagogo in 2006. EBay sold StubHub to Viagogo in 2020 for $4.05 billion, essentially returning it to Baker, who then changed the name of the combined company to StubHub Holdings. It is among the largest platforms for secondary ticket sales. Its competitors include SeatGeek and Vivid Seats.

StubHub reported just a 3% increase in revenue to $827 million during the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. That puts the company on pace for slower revenue growth after notching a 29% jump for all of 2024.

Live Nation, which dominates the primary market for ticket sales through Ticketmaster, reported a 1.8% jump in revenue to just under $23.2 billion in 2024.

StubHub has come under criticism along with the broader ticketing industry over hidden fees and inflated ticket prices. The attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued StubHub last year, accusing the ticket resale platform of advertising deceptively low prices and then ramping up prices with extra fees. The company is also facing pricing and fee inquiries in Pennsylvania and New York.

Ticket prices for concerts and sporting events have been among the sharper rising costs for consumers over the last few years. Ticket prices rose 5.2% in 2024 after rising 6.8% in 2023, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s consumer price index. Rising ticket prices outpaced the broader increases for overall in both years and that trend has continued through 2025.

The IPO market is on track for its best year since 2021. Other notable debuts this year include the design Figma, the buy now, pay later company Klarna, Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin and the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which is majority owned by the Winklevoss twins.

Federal Reserve cuts key rate for first time this year

Summary

  • Fed lowers short-term rate by 0.25 points to about 4.1%
  • First rate cut since December, with two more expected this year
  • Officials cite concerns and policy impacts on
  • Chair led the decision; dissented
  • Fed had kept rates steady earlier in 2025 amid economic uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — The cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market.

The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and it lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of , tighter immigration enforcement, and other on inflation and the economy.

Yet the central bank’s focus has shifted quickly from inflation, which remains modestly above its 2% target, to jobs, as hiring has grounded nearly to a halt in recent months and the unemployment rate has ticked higher. Lower could reduce borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business loans, and boost growth and hiring.

“In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment appear to have risen,” Powell said at a press conference following the Fed’s two-day meeting.

Fed officials also signaled that they expect to reduce their key rate twice more this year, but just once in 2026. Before the meeting, investors on Wall Street had projected five cuts for the rest of this year and next. Stocks wavered a bit as Powell took questions from reporters. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.1% as of 3:40 p.m. ET.

Just one Fed policymaker dissented from the decision: Stephen Miran, who appointed and was confirmed by the Senate in a rushed vote late Monday just hours before the meeting began. Miran preferred a larger half-point cut, but Powell told reporters there wasn’t “very much support” for the bigger-size cut among Fed officials.

Many economists had forecast there would be additional dissents, and the meeting’s outcome suggests that Powell was able to patch together a show of unity from a committee that includes Miran and two other Trump appointees from his first term, as well as a Fed governor, Lisa Cook, whom Trump is seeking to fire.

Still, there were still significant differences among the 19 officials on the Fed’s rate-setting committee about where the Fed should go next. Seven policymakers indicated they don’t support any further cuts, while two supported just one more and 10 favor at least two more. One official — likely Miran — indicated that they would support several large cuts to bring the Fed’s rate to 2.9% by year’s end. Fed officials submit their forecasts of future rate moves anonymously.

Powell said the wide divergence reflects the uncertain outlook for the economy, given that inflation remains stubborn even as hiring has stumbled.

“There are no risk-free paths now,” Powell said. “It’s not incredibly obvious what to do.”

The Fed is facing both a challenging economic environment and threats to its traditional independence from day-to-day politics. At the same time that hiring has weakened, inflation remains stubbornly elevated. It rose 2.9% in August from a year ago, according to the consumer price index, up from 2.7% in July and noticeably above the Fed’s 2% target.

It’s unusual to have weaker hiring and elevated inflation, because typically a slowing economy causes consumers to pull back on spending, cooling price hikes. Powell suggested last month that sluggish growth could keep inflation in check even if tariffs lift prices further.

Separately, Trump’s attempted firing of Cook is the first time a president has tried to remove a Fed governor in the central bank’s 112-year history, and has been seen by many scholars as an unprecedented attack on the Fed’s independence. His administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, but the accusation has come in the context of Trump’s extensive criticism of Powell and the Fed for not cutting rates much faster and steeper.

An appeals court late Monday upheld an earlier ruling that the firing violated Cook’s due process rights. A lower court had also previously ruled that Trump did not provide sufficient justification to remove Cook. Also late Monday, the Senate voted to approve Miran’s nomination, and he was quickly sworn in Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, Trump said Fed officials “have to make their own choice” on rates but added that “they should listen to smart people like me.” Trump has said the Fed should reduce rates by three full percentage points.

When asked what the signs would be that the Fed is no longer functioning independent of political pressure, Powell said, “I don’t believe we’ll ever get to that place. We’re doing our work exactly as we always have now.”

The Fed’s move to cut rates puts it in a different spot from many other central banks overseas. Last week, the European Central Bank left its benchmark rate unchanged, as inflation has largely cooled and the economy has seen limited damage, so far, from U.S. tariffs. On Friday, the Bank of England is also expected to keep its rate on hold as inflation, at 3.8%, remains higher than in the United States.

BWXT wins $1.5B contract for Tennessee uranium enrichment plant

A BWX Technologies subsidiary was awarded a $1.5 billion contract from the National Security Administration to help the United States establish domestic capability for , the Lynchburg-based nuclear components manufacturer announced Tuesday.

Under the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, Enrichment Operations will design, build and operate the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant at BWXT’s nuclear fuel services site in , .

To support this work, BWXT began construction in June on a centrifuge development facility in , Tennessee. That facility is expected to create about 100 jobs initially. Centrifuges built in Oak Ridge will be used in the Erwin pilot plant.

“‘s selection of BWXT for this project acknowledges our long-standing role as a trusted partner in advancing the nation’s nuclear defense mission,” Rex D. Geveden, BWXT president and CEO, said in a news release. “Once operational, both facilities will enable us to scale manufacturing so the United States maintains sovereign capability to produce vital nuclear materials for national security.”

Initially, employees at the pilot plant will work toward demonstrating readiness to produce low-enriched uranium for production of tritium, which is used in nuclear weapons. Ultimately, the plant will be repurposed to produce highly enriched uranium for naval nuclear propulsion. BWXT does not yet have an estimate of how many jobs the pilot plant will create, according to a spokesperson.

developed at the pilot plant will not be used to produce enriched uranium for the commercial nuclear power industry, according to the NNSA.

“Partnering with commercial industry for this pilot plant helps to establish critical supply chains for enduring defense enrichment requirements and ensures capabilities are ready on time to support mission need dates,” the NNSA stated.

A Fortune 1000 company, BWXT manufactures and supplies nuclear components and fuel. It has nearly 10,000 employees across 20 major operating sites in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Ellucian announces new chief legal officer

Reston-based has hired Lisa Gilley as chief officer, the tech company announced Wednesday.

She succeeds Jim Bennett, who is retiring after 35 years with Ellucian. Gilley will report directly to Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen and will lead the company’s global legal function, supporting strategic initiatives for the company’s long-term growth.

“Lisa brings a customer-first mindset that will help Ellucian and our community shape the future of higher education,” Ipsen said in a statement. “Her breadth of expertise, legal acumen and leadership will strengthen how we deliver value to institutions and empower student success.”

Gilley joins Ellucian from Amazon Web Services, where she worked on the strategic customer engagements team and led commercial and generative artificial intelligence deals.

Before AWS, Gilley was at Higher Logic, a JMI Equity portfolio company that offers to create online communities. In that role, she modernized legal operations, mentored teams and advised company leaders and private equity partners.

She has more than 20 years of legal and executive experience, according to a news release, and has held leadership roles in enterprise software-as-a-service and tech companies. According to her LinkedIn profile, those include Discovery Communications and AOL.

Gilley holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and a degree from Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.

With 3,800 employees worldwide, Ellucian has an annual revenue approaching $1 billion and works with more than 2,900 customers across 50 countries, serving 20 million students.

Cygnus capsule stalls en route to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A newly launched supply ship has run into engine trouble that is preventing it from reaching the .

‘s capsule rocketed into orbit Sunday from Florida aboard SpaceX. But less than two days later, the capsule’s main engine shut down prematurely while trying to boost its orbit.

The  was supposed to dock Wednesday, delivering more than 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of cargo. But said everything is on hold while flight controllers consider an alternate plan.

This marked the debut of Northrop Grumman’s newest, extra large model, known as , capable of ferrying a much bigger load.

The shipment includes food and science experiments for the seven space station residents, as well as spare parts for the toilet and other systems.

Northrop Grumman is one of NASA’s two cargo suppliers to the space station. The other is SpaceX. Russia also provides regular shipments to the 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) orbiting lab, with the latest delivery arriving over the weekend.

Port of Virginia sees 8.7% drop in cargo traffic

SUMMARY:

  • ‘s container volumes drop 8.76% year-over-year amid tariff uncertainty
  • Consumers likely to feel impact as war lingers
  • Despite declines, port continues with major upgrades

Amid President ‘s trade war and shifting tariff policies, the Port of Virginia has seen a decline in container volumes in recent months.

The president has imposed a slate of new this year on more than 90 countries and several categories of products, with some as high as 50%. Port of Virginia data shows that the port has moved 2.19 million 20-foot equivalent units (or TEUs) through August of this year, compared to 2.4 million at the same point last year — an 8.76% decrease in cargo. Export loads through August have dipped by 9.3%, whereas import loads have dipped 7.5%.

Port of Virginia spokesperson Joe Harris attributed the dip to the “overall trade environment,” which he expects to fluctuate until there’s a policy that “everybody understands and can put to work.”

There is a lot of uncertainty over changes in tariff policy and fluctuating prices, Harris added. “You know, it moves back and forth. … It makes it hard for cargo owners, and the are the ones that have to move the cargo. So, as soon as we have a more stable trade environment … I can’t say you’ll see volumes go up, but they’ll level off. But the trade environment is just difficult right now.”

Tariffs are the most likely cause of the drop in container volumes at the port, said Vinod Agarwal, an economist at , adding that the ‘s frequent and unpredictable policy changes and uncertainty have made long-term planning difficult for shippers and businesses. While some companies in the country frontloaded their shipments to beat tariffs, Agarwal said, he hasn’t seen that happen to a noticeable effect at the Port of Virginia.

“Businesses do not like uncertainty,” he said. “They may not like the policies, but they can live with it if they know what in the world to expect.”

So far, consumers haven’t felt the full impact of tariffs due to businesses absorbing the cost or stockpiling goods before the tariffs went into effect. However, Agarwal warned, as the trade war continues and inventories deplete, price increases will eventually hit consumers more significantly.

“We don’t think we are taxing the consumer, but we actually are, indirectly, because consumers are going to pay for these goods in terms of higher prices,” Agarwal said. “Or, businesses have to absorb these costs.”

While reciprocal tariffs can be fair, he said, the Trump administration’s broad and politically driven tariffs are impacting stability.

Despite the challenging environment, the port is still moving forward with major improvement projects.

The port said this summer it was on track to complete its $450 million dredging project to become the deepest and widest harbor on the East Coast by the end of this year. The port also said the first phase of a $650 million modernization expansion of Norfolk International Terminal’s north terminal is expected to be completed in October.

Virginia’s Performance Food Group exploring merger with US Foods

SUMMARY:

  • and reached an agreement to share confidential information
  • Agreement signals companies are exploring a , but nothing is guaranteed
  • Sachem Head Capital Management has pushed for the merger, nominating directors to ‘s board
  • A merger would create the largest U.S. food service distributor

-based company Performance Food Group announced Tuesday 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.

PFG said it entered “a clean team agreement” with US Foods, which allows the companies to share confidential information with each other to determine what types of synergies might come from the combined companies and if the merger would face challenges from regulators.

The company stated that the agreement follows discussions between PFG’s management team and board members with several of PFG’s large stockholders, who shared their perspectives. It also follows PFG engaging with US Foods on how the two companies could explore a potential business combination while safeguarding confidential information.

The clean team process will involve a group of independent lawyers, economists and consultants performing analysis using more detailed confidential information.

“There can be no assurance that this information sharing will result in any transaction proposal, or any assurance as to its outcome or timing,” PFG said in a news release. “PFG does not intend to make additional comments regarding this matter unless and until a definitive agreement is executed or PFG and US Foods terminate discussions.”

JP Morgan and BofA Securities are serving as financial advisers in the process, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as adviser to PFG.

New York-based investment firm Sachem Head Capital Management, which is managed by Scott Ferguson, has advocated for PFG and US Foods to merge. Reuters reported earlier this month that Sachem Head has recently begun building its stake in Performance Food and that it has nominated four directors to the board of PFG. One of the four nominated was Ferguson, according to PFG.

In a September announcement about Sachem Head nominees, PFG noted that it has recently seen growth.

“Against this backdrop, Sachem Head has focused its dialogue with us on the suggestion that PFG explore a potential business combination with US Foods and, absent a transaction, that PFG consider ways to further improve margins,” PFG stated.

PFG and US Foods did not immediately return requests for comment.

PFG is No. 80 on the 2025 and No. 272 on the Fortune Global 500. In August, the company reported $63.3 billion in net sales for fiscal 2025, a 8.6% increase from the previous year. The company, which employs about 43,000 , went public in 2015. PFG delivers food products to more than 300,000 locations in the United States and Canada, including restaurants, businesses, schools, theaters and retailers.

Headquartered in Illinois, US Foods Holding is ranked No. 122 on the Fortune 500 rankings for 2025 and No. 413 on the Fortune Global 500. It reported $37.8 billion in revenues in the last fiscal year and employs 30,000 people.

Retail sales up 0.6% in August from July even as tariffs hurt jobs and lead to price hikes

Summary

  • Luigi Mangione accused of killing CEO in December
  • Judge Gregory Carro dismissed , citing NY law limits
  • Second-degree murder charges remain
  • Mangione, 27, appeared in court for first time since February
  • Case has drawn national attention and a cult following online

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased their spending at a better-than-expected pace in August from July, helped by , even as President ‘s tariffs start to hurt the job market and lead to price increases.

Retail sales rose 0.6% last month from July, when sales were up a revised 0.6%, according to the ‘s report. In June, retail sales rose 0.9%, the government agency said.

The August performance, announced Tuesday, was also likely helped by the continued efforts by Americans to keep pushing up purchases ahead of expected price increases.

The sales increases followed two straight months of spending declines in April and May.

Excluding auto sales, which have been volatile since Trump imposed on many foreign-made cars, retail sales rose 0.7% in August. Sales at auto vehicle and parts dealers rose 0.5%.

The data showed solid spending across various other outlets. Business at electronics and appliance stores was up 0.3%, while online retailers saw a 2% increase. Business at clothing and accessories retailers rose 1%.

And business at restaurants, the lone services component within the Census Bureau report and a barometer of discretionary spending, rose 0.7%. Business at furniture and home furnishings stores was down 0.3%.

A category of sales that excludes volatile sectors such as gas, cars, and restaurants rose last month by 0.7% from the previous month. The figure feeds into the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s consumption estimate and is a sign that consumers are still spending on some discretionary items.

“This is further evidence that we shouldn’t underestimate the strength of the consumer,” Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman wrote in a note Tuesday. “Back-to-school shopping was a key theme in August, as evidenced by the strong clothing and electronics sales.”

Government retail data isn’t adjusted for , which rose 0.4% from July to August, according to the latest government report. That was faster than the 0.2% pace the previous month. So that could have inflated the sales figures as well.

Consumer prices increased 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department said last week, up from 2.7% the previous month and the biggest jump since January. Excluding the volatile food and categories, core prices rose 3.1%, the same as in July. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Stronger-than-expected retail sales, coupled with higher inflation as well as data showing soaring applications for unemployment aid, all create a complicated picture of the economy. Such data put the Federal Reserve in an increasingly tough spot as it prepares to cut rates at its meeting this week, economists said.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added 22,000 jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected.

Carl B. Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, noted the retail sales increase “will not be enough of a surprise to stop the Fed from cutting rates this week, but it should support a hawkish message from the Fed Chair that a knock-on rate cut is not assured.”

Major retailers including Walmart, Macy’s and Best Buy recently reported their quarterly results, underscoring that shoppers are still buying, but are choosy. Some have raised prices ,but many have described the hikes as modest.

Still, so far, shoppers haven’t felt the big sting as some economists predicted earlier in the year as many retailers ordered goods ahead of tariffs and absorbed a big chunk of the costs as they came in, worried about passing on any hefty price increases.

The price gains have also been gradual enough to mute changes in consumer behavior, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts last month.

But Walmart and others said they expect to see costs increase as they replenish inventory at post-tariff levels.

Jewelry maker Pandora hasn’t announced specific price increases, but Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in a call with analysts last month that the company is monitoring the scenario.

He noted that “the U.S. consumer will eventually have to bear the brunt of these tariffs,” but added, “it’s not just on jewelry, it’s on many product categories. So the big question mark is, what happens with inflation in the U.S., unemployment rates, all sorts of other macro drivers, and I think this is ahead of us.”

Matt Priest, president and CEO of group Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, told reporters Monday that members are starting to pass along price increases to shoppers. Its members had previously paid a total of $3 billion in tariffs annually for years; that number is now on track to hit $5 billion by year-end. He warned that women’s shoes will be affected first.

“Women’s shoes are more fashion-oriented,” Priest said. “Our ability to front-load women’s product based on fashion trends was limited, and so we are seeing that those increases start to hit consumers first.”

New York judge tosses terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, lets murder count stand

Summary

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday dismissed terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione in New York state’s case over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but he kept the state’s second-degree murder charges against him.

In a written decision released as Mangione appeared in court, Judge Gregory Carro said that although there is no doubt that the killing was not an ordinary street crime, New York law doesn’t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology.

“While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,” Carro wrote.

The judge also said there was insufficient evidence that Mangione intended to influence or affect government policy by intimidation or coercion — another element of the terrorism charges — and noted that federal prosecutors opted not to charge Mangione with terrorism offenses even though the federal terrorism statute served as a model for the state law.

But in keeping the second-degree murder charge, Carro ruled there was sufficient evidence that Mangione “murdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution.”

Mangione’s lawyers did not comment after the hearing.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office issued a brief statement, saying, “We respect the Court’s decision and will proceed on the remaining nine counts.”

The judge scheduled pretrial hearings in the case for Dec. 1, which is days before Mangione is next due in court in the federal case against him.

Mangione handcuffed and shackled for court appearance

It was Mangione’s first court appearance in the state case since February. Wearing beige prison clothes, he was handcuffed and his ankles were shackled as police officers escorted him into and out of the courtroom. He was mostly silent, only talking with his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo. While leaving the courtroom, he appeared in good spirits and raised his eyebrow at the gallery crowd.

The 27-year-old Ivy League graduate has attracted a cult following as a stand-in for frustrations with the . Supporters of Mangione took up three rows in the courtroom gallery. As was the case at his last hearing, a few dozen supporters, mostly women, showed up to Tuesday’s proceedings. Some were dressed in green — the color the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi wears — as a symbol of solidarity, and one woman sported a “FREE LUIGI” T-shirt.

Outside, some supporters who gathered across the street from the courthouse cheered and clapped as news of the dropped terrorism charges spread.

Mangione earlier pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind as he arrived for an investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested five days later after he was spotted eating breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City. Since then, he has been held at the same Brooklyn federal jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is locked up.

Judge rejects ‘double jeopardy’ argument

Mangione’s lawyers argued that the New York case and a parallel federal death penalty prosecution amounted to double jeopardy. But Carro rejected that argument, saying it would be premature to make such a determination.

Bragg’s office contended that there are no double jeopardy issues because neither of Mangione’s cases has gone to trial and because the state and federal prosecutions involve different theories.

Mangione’s lawyers said the dueling cases have created a “legal quagmire” that makes it “legally and logistically impossible to defend against them simultaneously.”

The second-degree murder charge carries a potential penalty of 15 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The federal charges allege that Mangione stalked Thompson and do not involve terrorism allegations.

Diary writings a basis for terrorism charges

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for “an act of political violence” and a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Bragg’s office quoted extensively from Mangione’s handwritten diary in a court filing seeking to uphold his state murder charges. They highlighted his desire to kill an insurance honcho and his praise for Ted Kaczynski, the late terrorist known as the Unabomber.

In the writings, prosecutors said, Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said killing an industry executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.” They also cited a confession they say he penned “To the feds,” in which he wrote that “it had to be done.”

Mangione’s “intentions were obvious from his acts, but his writings serve to make those intentions explicit,” prosecutors said in the June filing. The writings, which they sometimes described as a manifesto, “convey one clear message: that the murder of Brian Thompson was intended to bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry.”

In Tuesday’s ruling, Carro noted that terrorism “has been famously difficult to define.” He was critical of state prosecutors for emphasizing the phrase “revolutionary anarchism” in Mangione’s diary when they accused him of intending to influence government by intimidation or coercion.

“Not only does this stretch the import of a two-word phrase beyond what it can carry, but it ignores other, more explicit excerpts from defendant’s writings in which he states that his goal is to spread a ‘message’ and ‘win public support’ about ‘everything wrong with our health system,’” the judge wrote.

Eli Lilly to invest $5B in Goochland plant, creating 650 jobs

SUMMARY:

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. plans to invest $5 billion in a manufacturing facility in Goochland County that’s expected to create 650 permanent jobs and support 1,800 construction jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday.

According to the governor’s office, the project’s an upgrade from the company’s previous plans, which called for a $2.148 billion investment and hiring 468 workers.

Located in the West Creek Business Park, the facility’s production area will be more than 200,000 square feet, not including offices and other spaces.

The plant will produce antibody drug conjugates, Lilly Chair and CEO David A. “Dave” Ricks said Tuesday at a press conference held in Richmond’s Main Street Station.

“It’s a combination of two special kinds of medicine: one to guide, say, a chemotherapy just to cancer cells, and then the therapy itself to kill the cancer cell,” he said. “That sort of combination medicine is at the cutting edge of science we have today, and we’re building that right here.”

The Goochland facility will be one of four plants Lilly is building nationwide as part of a $50 billion initiative to increase its domestic pharmaceutical production.

“Lilly is now defining the standard for building new manufacturing sites in our country,” Ricks said, “a new network that will strengthen our supply resilience, that will scale innovation, create an export economy and ensure reliable access to life-saving, life-changing medications. Today marks an important milestone in bringing that vision to life.”

Additionally, he said, “our new site in Goochland County … will be our first dedicated, fully integrated active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug product facility for cancer, autoimmune conditions and other advanced therapies.”

In August, the state Major Employment Investment Project Approval Commission (MEI) unanimously voted to recommend that the General Assembly approve state incentives packages valued at more than $10 million apiece for Lilly and AstraZeneca, which is expected to propose a project in Albemarle County, according to a state official.

The Goochland facility ‘will truly break barriers of delivering solutions, cures, health to not just Virginians and Americans, but around the world,” Youngkin said Tuesday. “A facility that is breaking through some of the historic norms of combining active pharmaceutical ingredients and the manufacturing of the pharmaceutical itself in the same place, doing it in a campus where innovation will … literally find its home and its destination right here in the commonwealth of Virginia.”

Goochland’s West Creek Business Park, where Lilly is building its facility, is home to used car retailer CarMax’s headquarters and a campus for Fortune 100 financial services company Capital One Financial.

Construction is expected to begin imminently and take about three years, Ricks said in response to a Virginia Business question, although the facility likely won’t be manufacturing antibody drug conjugates at that point.

“We’re ready to go now. We’ll begin with ground preparation, permitting and all that, and you’ll see activity on the site in the coming weeks, so it’s going to happen quickly,” Ricks said.

“The typical timeline for a facility like this is five years,” he added. “That seems like a very long time to me, … so we’d like to beat that timeline. That includes regulatory approval processes, which can be up to a year, so we’re working with the federal administration, FDA and others to speed those timelines up.

“But within three years, we’ll be having sort of a facility built. It will look like a manufacturing site. The rest is up to the regulatory approval process … making sure we can make the medicine perfectly from there,” he said.

In terms of hiring full-time workers, “that will evolve over the coming year or two,” Ricks said. “There’s quite a bit of training required to begin working in a pharmaceutical plant, so we have a bit of a runway in front of that, but we’ll be excited to engage with community partners to find permanent talent for the site in the coming years.”

The average wage in Lilly plants is about $100,000 a year, Ricks said, and “the benefits our workers in the plant have are the same ones I have.”

Ricks said he expects that once the facility is operational and running with 650 employees, “the vast majority will be from the community here in Virginia.” Often there is a single-digit percentage of employees in management rotating between sites to share expertise, he said, “but engineering and certainly almost all, if not all, the operators … and technicians will be from the region.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership will support Lilly through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. Created by VEDP in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, the program provides free customizable workforce recruitment and training services to qualified new and expanding companies.

Choosing the plant’s location was a competitive process, Ricks said.

“We chose Virginia,” he said, “because we have learned we have reliable partners here and great who turn commitments into results. … We did a request for information originally in February to land the site and received over 400 responses from across the country, from 46 states, and we chose this site amongst all those.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said a team, including himself, visited Lilly in Indianapolis. The trip included walking a manufacturing line and meeting employees, he said.

An S&P 100 company based in Indianapolis, Lilly has manufacturing plants in nine countries and products marketed in approximately 95 countries. The company employs about 49,000 people worldwide and posted $45.04 billion in revenue last year.