For the Record: October 2001

Return to Virginia Business - October 2001

For the Record
October 2001

This report is compiled from company releases, business journals and newspapers from around the state. If you have an item for these listings please:

mail it to:
For the Record
Virginia Business Magazine
P.O. Box 85333
Richmond, VA 23293

or e-mail it to ForTheRecord@va-business.com, or fax it to (804) 649-6311.

Mergers & Acquisitions
Metro Information Services Inc., an information technology consulting firm headquartered in Virginia Beach, has been purchased by Keane Inc., a Boston-based software company, in a $135 million stock transaction, plus assumption of approximately $68 million in debt by Metro. (PR Newswire, 08/21/01)

As part of the merging of the North American metals operations of Alocoa Inc. of Pittsburgh and Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd., Alcoa’s Reynolds Aluminum Supply Co. in Richmond will be combined with BHP’s Vincent Metals Goods and Atlas Ideal Metals. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/21/01)

BB&T Insurance Services of Raleigh, N.C., has acquired Lowery D. Finley and Company, a Virginia Beach-based insurance firm. (Press release, 08/20/01)

CACI International, a technology company headquartered in Arlington, reached an agreement for the purchase of Digital Systems International Corp., an Arlington-based provider of resource planning systems. (PR Newswire, 08/13/01)

Performance Food Group, a food distributor headquartered in Richmond, purchased Fresh Express of Salinas, Calif., the nation’s largest independent producer of fresh-cut produce, for $290 million, including cash and assumption of debt. (Business Wire, 08/10/01)

Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Company, a Richmond-based provider of insurance and risk- management services, completed acquisitions of substantially all the assets of Aris Insurance Services of Calabasas, Calif. and Brooks & Willmes Insurance Brokers Inc. of San Jose, Calif. (Press release, 08/08/01)

General Dynamics, a Falls Church-based defense contractor, agreed to purchase Motorola Inc.’s Integrated Information Systems Group for $825 million in cash and assumption of liabilities. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group employs 3,000 workers and expects sales of $830 million in 2002. (The Washington Post, 08/07/01)

Estes Express Lines, a Richmond-based trucking company, entered into a joint purchase agreement to acquire G.I. Trucking Co. of Los Angeles, a subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corp., for $40 million in cash. Estes is purchasing the company in conjunction with senior management from G.I. Trucking. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/03/01)

Outtask, an Alexandria-based provider of business services to mid-size companies, acquired the customer base of the ASP hosting division of Aspen, a consulting firm that designs and implements an integrated-applications suite. Outtask will provide Aspen’s ASP customers with CRM and financial applications. (VentureWire, 07/31/01)

New Plants and Companies
Pittslyvania County has been selected as the site for a new distribution center for K-B Toys to be located in the former eToys building in Blairs. K-B will invest $10 million and create 150 new full-time jobs and up to 950 seasonal jobs by 2003. Virginia successfully competed with Alabama and Georgia for the investment. (Press release, 08/09/01)

Vienna has become the new North American headquarters for Cramer Systems Ltd., a Bath, England-based supplier of network resource management software for telecommunications operations support systems. (Business Wire, 08/01/01)

Blackstone has been selected as the site for a LaJobi Industries Inc. manufacturing operation. Based in Edison, N.J., LaJobi manufactures a line of baby cribs and will invest $4 million in the facility and hire 110 people to produce complementary case goods for its cribs. Virginia competed successfully with New Jersey and Canada for the project. (Press release, 07/31/01)

TeleCorp PCS Inc. has selected Lebanon in Russell County for the location of an inbound call center. The company will invest $4.6 million and hire 300 new employees to handle billing, coverage, technical and general customer support. Virginia competed successfully with Iowa and Tennessee for this investment. (Press release, 07/09/01)

Winchester Industrial Park has been selected as the production site for Northwood Manufacturing, a producer and manufacturer of travel and recreational vehicles. The company will invest $4.2 million to occupy a former travel-trailer manufacturing facility and will employ 200 people. Virginia successfully competed with Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama for the investment. (Press release, 07/02/01)

Suffolk’s Bridgeway Commerce Park has been selected by AFFINA as the site for its new 40,000-square-foot customer contact center. AFFINA, a provider of customer relationship management programs to Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies, will invest $5 million and employ up to 450 individuals in the center, which will support the expansion of 1-800-MEDICARE. Virginia successfully competed with North Carolina for the investment. (Press release, 06/29/01)

Deals
Circuit City, an electronic products retailer headquartered in Richmond, has entered into a partnership with Internet retailer Amazon.com of Seattle, Wash. Amazon will feature Circuit City products online and allow shoppers the option of having the merchandise shipped to them, or picking it up at a Circuit City store. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/21/01)

Infracor, a Richmond-based construction company specializing in subsurface infrastructure, has retained CCG Advisors LLC of Atlanta to assist in development of an aggressive acquisition program. The company believes there are over 100 companies with revenues of $10-50 million in the water and sewer industry that may be suitable candidates for acquisition. (Business Wire, 08/20/01)

CarMax Auto Superstores, a specialty retailer of used cars headquartered in Richmond, has entered into a $102 million sale/leaseback agreement with Capital Automotive REIT, a McLean-based real estate investment trust, for nine CarMax properties in seven states. (Business Wire, 08/15/01)

Calpine Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based power generation company, acquired the remaining half interest in a Gordonsville co-generation plant owned by Edison Mission Energy for $35 million. In 1997, Calpine acquired half of the 240-megawatt plant which provides power and steam to Dominion and the Rapidan Service Authority. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/07/01)

DiamondBack Vision, a Reston-based developer of video-encoding technology, is taking the name of its MPEG-4 video-encoding technology, ObjectVideo. (VentureWire, 08/07/01)

Warren County officials announced plans with Competitive Power Ventures to build a high-efficiency, naturally gas-fired electric power plant in the Warren Industrial Park. With a planned investment of $280 million, plant construction will utilize about 300 workers to build and employ 25 permanent skilled workers with an annual payroll of about $1 million. (The Winchester Star, 08/03/01)

Media General Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based publishing company Media General, expanded its content agreement with MSN Money, Microsoft’s comprehensive online personal finance service, to include financial data on publicly traded Canadian companies. (Press release, 08/02/01)

DTI Associates Inc., a government-services contractor headquartered in Arlington, purchased the Oriole sounding rocket program of the Astrotech Space operations unit of SPACEHAB Inc. of Webster, Texas. Oriole is a next-generation sounding rocket for launching scientific and commercial payloads and a target vehicle for missile defense system testing. (PRNewswire, 08/02/01)

Media General Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based publishing company Media General, announced that DTN Financial Services LLC will redistribute MGFS’s fundamental data on publicly traded companies alongside the real-time data it gathers directly from the stock exchanges. DTN provides fully integrated financial information via the Internet. (Press release, 08/01/01)

Cigital Inc., a provider of software risk-management solutions headquartered in Dulles, announced a joint service offering with The Adrenaline Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based provider of digital products and services. The joint offering will enable large enterprises to rescue critical, large-scale software technology projects that are late, over budget or otherwise at risk. (PRNewswire, 07/30/01)

WebMethods Inc., a Fairfax-based provider of integration software, has been selected by Bank of America to connect its internal applications and extend these applications externally to the treasury systems of its corporate customers and partners. (PRNewswire, 07/31/01)

Teleglobe, a global communications and Internet services company based in Reston, announced an 18-month, $5 million agreement with Gigaport, a Dutch next-generation Internet project, to provide connectivity and linkage to the world’s major research and education networks. Under the agreement, Teleglobe will furnish a transatlantic fiber optic wavelength connection for Gigaport’s use in developing the next-generation Internet, which will have the infrastructure to support advanced applications for learning and research. (Business Wire, 07/31/01)

AMF Bowling Inc., a Richmond-based owner and operator of bowling centers, had its plan to pay about $1.8 million in retention bonuses to key executives approved by a court ruling while the company reorganizes its debts under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 07/27/01)

FRANSMART, an Alexandria-based global franchise-development company that helps small- to mid-sized franchise organizations grow through franchise sales, secured three new franchisees who entered development agreements for 32 additional Italian Pie locations across the Southeast, which will boost the franchise to 44 units in the next few years. (Press release, 07/11/01)

O’Keefe & Company Inc., a full-service marketing-consulting agency headquartered in McLean, announced the addition of Hewlett-Packard Public Sector Organization, a division of Hewlett-Packard Company, to its client list. Based in Rockville, Md., the H-P division focuses on delivering solutions to the federal, state and local, and education marketplaces. (Press release, 07/09/01)

Carilion Bedford Memorial Hospital will be jointly owned and operated by Centra Health and Carilion Health System under a finalized agreement whereby Centra Health will purchase 50 percent of the hospital. (Press release, 07/09/01)

Expansions
Times Community Newspapers, a Herndon-based publisher of 17 local newspapers in Northern Virginia with distribution to 15,000 residences and businesses, will expand into western Prince William County with the launch of the Prince William Times newspaper. (Press release, 08/10/01)

Southern Financial Bank, a Warrenton-based financial institution, announced it would open a commercial loan production office and branch in Charlottesville, pending regulatory approval. With $700 million in assets, Southern operates 20 branches in Virginia and the District of Columbia. (Press release, 08/07/01)

NetCom Solutions International Inc., a provider of networking solutions headquartered in Chantilly, established a wholly owned subsidiary, NetCom Solutions Government Services Inc., to provide its Total NetworksÔ solutions to federal customers as well as state and local governments. (Business Wire, 08/06/01)

Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP, a McLean-based law firm, announced a new partner and 11 additional associates with plans to add at least five additional associates by year’s end. Seven of the 11 associates practice in the McLean office while the new partner practices out of WHTH&F’s office in Irvine, Calif. (Press release, 07/31/01)

Roanoke Cement, a producer of portland and masonry cement headquartered in Roanoke, announced plans to spend $4 million at its Botetourt County plant to build a new, totally automated packhouse. (The Roanoke Times, 07/31/01)

CJW Medical Center in Richmond announced plans to build a $44-million heart hospital at its Chippenham campus. (Press release, 07/10/01)

Executive Promotions
J. Richard Carlson, president and CEO, U.S. Inspect Inc., a Chantilly-based home inspection firm. (Press release, 08/17/01)

Craig Dubow, president and CEO of Gannett Broadcasting, a division of Gannett Co., a media company headquartered in Arlington. (Business Wire, 08/16/01)

Calvin C. LaRoche, COO, Orkand Corp., a provider of electronic services to governments based in Falls Church. (Business Wire, 08/16/01)

G. Wayne Harrell, principal in charge, Richmond office, Bovis and Lease, a project management and construction services company. (Press release, 08/15/01)

John McDonald, president, Virginia Sprinkler Company, a division of Ashland-based VSC Corp., a fire protection safety contractor. (Press release, 08/15/01)

David Montanaro, CEO and chairman of the board, NEC Eluminant Technologies of Chantilly, a fiber-based broadband access products provider and subsidiary of NEC USA. (Business Wire, 08/13/01)

C. Michael Gray, president and CEO, Performance Food Group, a Richmond-based food distributor. (Business Wire, 08/10/01)

Stephen E. Hare, executive vice president, CFO and treasurer, for Cadmus Communications Corp., a Richmond-based publication services company. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/09/01)

Hans E. W. Hoffman, CEO and president, ORBCOMM LLC, an operator of a commercial satellite-based data communications system headquartered in Dulles. (PRNewswire, 08/06/01)

William S. Black, president of NetCom Solutions Government Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of NetCom Solutions International Inc., a provider of networking solutions headquartered in Chantilly. (Business Wire, 08/06/01)

David E. Bosher, senior vice president and CFO, Payerpath Inc. of Richmond, an Internet-based healthcare-financial-solutions provider. (Business Wire, 08/03/01)

Chuck Hasper, CFO, Allied Research Corp., a diversified defense and electronic security firm based in Vienna. (Press release, 08/02/01)

Chuck Flournoy, president of M4 Cable, a new division of Richmond-based MAPCOM Systems, a provider of services for the cable television industry. (Press release, 08/01/01)

George C. Pappas, president and CEO, Plesk Inc., a provider of automated Web-hosting software headquartered in Chantilly. (Business Wire, 08/01/01)

Jeffrey D. Maddox, CEO, Alexandria regional headquarters of CPA, a provider of intellectual property renewal services based in the United Kingdom. (Internet Wire, 07/30/01)

Ron Martin, president, Ronile Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Ronile of Georgia, a Rocky Mount-based supplier of space-dyed yarns to the commercial carpet market. (Press release, 07/06/01)

John J. Hackett, CEO, Blue Ridge Networks, a provider of premium virtual-private-networking technology and services headquartered in Chantilly. (PRNewswire, 06/28/01)

Real Estate
The City of Chesapeake purchased a 331-acre tract of land for $3.65 million for the purpose of developing a business and technology park. (The Virginian-Pilot, 08/17/01)

Divaris Real Estate Inc. has been appointed by Konover Property Trust to be the exclusive listing agents for five Virginia shopping centers totaling 715,087 square feet in Petersburg, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Blacksburg and Danville. (Press release, 08/10/01)

Stocks
Intersect Software, a provider of enterprise engineering management applications, headquartered in Sterling, raised $18.4 million in its Series-B round from Bessemer Venture Partners, BlueStream Ventures, Columbia Capital and individual investors. The funding will be used for research and development and to build its sales, marketing and customer-support infrastructure. (VentureWire, 08/08/01)

NVR Inc., a McLean-based homebuilder, has been authorized by its board of directors to repurchase up to $100 million of its outstanding common stock. (Press release, 08/07/01)

Versura, an Arlington-based online platform for higher-education institutions, lenders and loan buyers, raised $5 million in first-round funding from Palisade Private Partnership, General Electric Trust and individual investors. The funding will be used to expand business through marketing and sales and by investing in its Web site. (VentureWire, 08/01/01)

Bedford Bancshares Inc., a bank-holding company headquartered in Bedford, announced a plan to repurchase up to 208,447 shares of its outstanding common stock. (Business Wire, 08/01/01)

Landmark Communications Inc., a Norfolk-based media company, agreed to lend $5 million and invest another $10 million in Chicago-based Coolsavings.com Inc., which delivers coupons and sales promotions to consumers via the Internet. Landmark will have a major ownership share in the company and gain control of the board of directors when the two-stage financing is completed. (The Virginian-Pilot, 08/01/01)

Network Access Solutions Corp., a broadband-solutions provider for businesses headquartered in Herndon, became eligible to begin trading its common stock on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board of the National Association of Securities Dealers. (PRNewswire, 07/27/01)

Sonic Telecom, Ltd., a provider of global solutions for multimedia transmission headquartered in Chantilly, secured $3.5 million bridge financing and a lead investor for its $25 million Series D stock offering. (Business Wire, 07/10/01)

Aros Corp., a McLean-based medical-coding company and formerly named APACHE Medical Services Inc., began trading under the OTC Bulletin Board stock symbol AROS. (Press release, 07/10/01)

Divestitures
C&F Financial Corp., a one-bank holding company headquartered in West Point, signed an agreement with Northern Neck State Bank for the sale of its Tappahannock branch office including approximately $16 million in deposits and $3 million in loans. (Business Wire, 08/07/01)

Apptus, a Reston-based application-infrastructure provider, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. (VentureWire, 08/07/01)

Orbital Sciences Corp., a Dulles-based developer and manufacturer of low-cost space systems, sold its Pomona,Calif.-based Sensor Systems division to the Hamilton Sunstrand unit of United Technologies Corp. for $20 million. (The Washington Post, 08/06/01)

Rocco Enterprises, a Harrisonburg-based poultry company, was sold to Cargill North American Turkey Operations, a division of Cargill Inc. Following the sale, Cargill sold Rocco’s chicken division to George’s Inc., a family-owned chicken company headquartered in Springdale, Ark. (Daily News-Record, 08/03/01)

eMotion, a Vienna-based digital-media management firm, sold PictureQuest, its B2B portal for rights-protected and royalty free images, to Creatas, a provider of downloadable stock photography, illustration and footage. (VentureWire, 08/01/01)

Chesapeake Corp., a global provider of specialty packaging headquartered in Richmond, completed the sale of substantially all assets of the U.S. display business of its subsidiary Chesapeake Display and Packaging Company to CorrFlex Graphics LLC of Statesville, N.C. (Business Wire, 07/31/01)

Anteon Corp., a Fairfax-based information-technology and engineering-solutions company, sold its wholly owned subsidiary Interactive Media Corp. to Forum Inc., an affiliate of Pearson Publishing based in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in McLean, IMC provides computer-based learning content and Web-based delivery systems and was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Analysis and Technology before its acquisition by Anteon in June 1999. (Press release, 07/30/01)

PSINet Inc., an provider of Internet and information-technology solutions headquartered in Ashburn, entered a definitive share-purchase agreement for the sale of PSINet Hong Kong Limited and certain of its subsidiaries to Silver Linkage Investments Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Pacific Limited. CITIC principally engages in infrastructure, trading and distribution, and property in Hong Kong and Mainland China. (Business Wire, 07/09/01)

Dominion, a Richmond-based nationwide energy producer, sold Saxon Capital Inc., a residential mortgage company, through a private placement of approximately $227 million in capital for Saxon Capital Acquisition Corp., which was formed to acquire the mortgage company. The transaction provides Saxon with more than $100 million in working capital. (Business Wire, 07/06/01)

AES Corp., an global power company headquartered in Arlington, signed a definitive agreement to sell the customers and related assets of AES Power Direct to The New Power Company, a subsidiary of New Power Holdings Inc. AES Power Direct was formed in 1999 by AES to pursue sales of gas and electricity in deregulated markets. (Business Wire, 07/06/01)

Contracts
Owens & Minor, a provider of medical services headquartered in Richmond, announced a five-year, renewal of a distribution deal worth up to $250 million with Inova Health System, a not-for-profit health system based in Northern Virginia. (PR Newswire, 08/16/01)

Performance Food Group, a Richmond-headquartered food service distributor, has been awarded a contract, valued at $110 million annually, to service 250 restaurants, principally in the Southeast, operated by Ruby Tuesday Inc. and SRG Inc. (Business Wire, 08/15/01)

E-OIR Measurements, a night-vision technology firm based in Fredericksburg, has been named main vendor on a five-year, $406 million contractor for the Army’s night warfare lab at Fort Belvoir, Md. E-OIR will be working with 19 subcontractors on the project. (The Free Lance-Star, 08/14/01)

Keane Federal Systems, a McLean-based subsidiary of Keane Inc., an information technology firm, has been named prime contractor to build a new logistics system to modernize the Air Force’s supply chain system. Maximum value of the contract, to be completed by 2011, is $127 million. (PR Newswire, 08/08/01)

Orbital Sciences Corp., a developer and manufacturer of low-cost space systems, headquartered in Dulles, was awarded a seven-month contract worth up to $11 million by The Boeing Company. Orbital will develop a concept for an alternative boost vehicle for the country’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Segment, formerly the National Missile Defense program. (Press release, 08/02/01)

i2 Inc., a Springfield-based developer of visual analysis software, was awarded a $2 million, three-year contract from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide the agency with its proprietary software. (PRNewswire, 07/31/01)

Computer Sciences Corp., a Falls Church-based consulting and information-technology services firm, won a contract with the National Aeronautics & Space Administration to provide engineering services at the Wallops Island flight facility. The contract is valued at $14 million over three years with a one-year option period. (PRNewswire, 07/31/01)

PEC Solutions Inc., a Fairfax-based professional services firm specializing advanced technologies, was awarded a contract by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services to maintain and enhance the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting System. The contact is valued at $570,000 for a one-year period with three option years; if all options are exercised, the total contract value will be in excess of $2.43 million. (Business Wire, 07/31/01)

EDC, a Richmond-based general contracting and construction-management firm, was awarded a $3.9 million contact to construct the Superior Market Grocery Store at the River Lofts. The 33,282-square-foot market and attached two-level, pre-cast parking structure are part of Forest City Residential Group’s master plan to redevelop Richmond’s Tobacco Row warehouses into upscale apartments. (Press release, 07/30/01)

GTSI Corp., a Chantilly based business-to-government marketer of information technology solutions, was awarded three contracts by NASA for its SEWP (Scientific, Engineering and Workstation Procurement) III contract pertaining to mass storage, networking and computer-aided design. Each of the three contracts has a ceiling of $4 billion over a five-year term. (Business Wire, 07/30/01)

Jacobs Facilities Inc., an Arlington-based provider of professional-technical services, was awarded a $90 million contract by the Internal Revenue Service to provide architectural and engineering support services nationwide. Jacobs will assist the IRS in the implementation of its Business Systems Modernization Program. (Business Wire, 07/25/01)

XO Communications, a Reston-based provider of broadband communications services, signed a three-year service contract worth more than $10 million with MAXIMUS, a provider of program management, information technology and consulting services to state and local government headquartered in Reston. XO Communications will provide local and long-distance communications services in each of MAXIMUS’ 200-plus locations nationwide. (Business Wire, 07/12/01)

TRW Inc., an advanced-technology products and services company headquartered in Reston, has been awarded a $2 billion contract by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to design and build a software system that will help HUD disburse and track more than $26 billion in annual grants. (Business Wire, 07/09/01)

CACI International Inc., an Arlington-based global provider of information-technology services, was awarded a contract by the General Services Administration to provide logistics services on the Logistics Worldwide Schedule. The initial $40 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a base period of five years with a five-year option. (PRNewswire, 07/02/01)

Cutbacks & Closings
A slowdown in the global communications industry was sited by Acterna, a Germantown, Md.-based provider of communications testing services in announcing that 61 out of 115 workers at the firm’s Salem manufacturing plant will be laid off. (The Roanoke Times, 08/09/01)

BGF Industries, a Greensboro, N.C.-based manufacturer of electronic and other high-performance fabrics with plants in Altavista and South Hill, announced permanent layoffs of 47 and 50 employees, respectively, in those plants. (Danville Register & Bee, 08/07/01)

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., a Chicago-based maker of boxes with a sawmill in Keysville, announced the closing of the Virginia sawmill due to a downturn in demand for lumber. The closing will result in the loss of 40 jobs. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/07/01)

Pulaski Furniture Corp., a furniture manufacturer headquartered in Pulaski, announced its plans to sell its Martinsville plant to Richmond, British Columbia-based Investors Corp. fell through. In December, Investors detailed intentions to buy the plant, invest more than $12 million and hire as many as 380 people for furniture manufacturing jobs. (The Roanoke Times, 08/04/01)

JPS Apparel Fabrics Corp., a South Boston-based producer of filament apparel fabrics primarily for women’s fashion, closed its plant resulting in the loss of 346 jobs. (Danville Register & Bee, 08/04/01)

Vista Information Technologies, a consulting firm specializing in business technology services headquartered in Herndon, cut 20 percent of its staff reducing its total workforce to about 225 employees. (VentureWire, 08/02/01)

Cosmetic Essence Inc., the former Elizabeth Arden manufacturing plant in Roanoke, reduced its workforce by 73 employees. (The Roanoke Times, 08/01/01)

WDJB-TV in Roanoke, the CBS affiliate of Schurz Communications Inc. of South Bend, Ind., cut four positions and closed its Danville bureau as a result of sagging advertising revenues. (The Roanoke Times, 07/27/01)

AMF Bowling Worldwide, a Richmond-based owner and operator of bowling centers, and its U.S. subsidiaries filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to implement a restructuring plan to reduce significantly its long-term debt and interest expense. (PRNewswire, 07/03/01)

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