For
the Record is
compiled from company releases, business
journals and newspaper reports from around
the state. If you have an item for these
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• Mail it to:
For the Record
Virginia Business Magazine
P.O. Box 85333
Richmond, VA 23293
The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification
and Community Revitalization Commission announced
grants totaling $11 million for economic development
and education in Southside and Southwest Virginia.
Approximately $8.6 million was earmarked for 12
economic development projects, mostly for infrastructure
improvements. The grants are part of a $64.5 million
budget adopted by the commission for the fiscal
year beginning July 1. (05/21/02004, Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
Citizens Cablevision of Floyd County
received an $11.7 million loan from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to install high-speed
fiber optic Internet access to parts of Wythe,
Patrick and Carroll counties. A total of 45,000
residents will benefit from the service. (05/15/2004,
The Roanoke Times)
Gibbs & Cox, an Arlington-based
engineering and design firm, was chosen to support
Australia’s Project SEA 4000 Air Warfare
Destroyer program. The program will provide
an affordable maritime air warfare capability.
The company was picked based on its experience
with the Navy and its Aegis air warfare system.
(05/20/2004, PR Newswire)
Shenandoah Telecommunications,
an Edinburg-based telecom holding company, reached
agreement with Lucient Technologies to purchase
up to $20 million of third-generation mobile network
equipment to enhance its 3G network. Shentel also
made Lucient its “vendor of choice”
for switching and base station requirements for
its mobile network through 2007. (05/21/04,
PR Newswire)
The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification Commission’s
$6 million grant to build a broadband network
for Southside Virginia has been matched by the
U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic
Development Administration. The funds will provide
for an open-access 144-strand fiber optic backbone
extending over 300 miles and serving 35 business,
commercial and industrial parks along Rt. 58,
Rt. 220 and Rt. 360. (05/17/05, Press release)
KB Toys, a Pittsfield, Mass. toy retailer,
reached agreement to sell its assets relating
to Internet operations to Toy Acquisition Corp.
Including in the deal are inventory, operational
systems and leases for a distribution center
in Blairs. Toy Acquisition will be re-named
eToys Direct and operate the Blairs facility
while maintaining corporate headquarters in
Denver. (05/11/04, Press release)
iDirect Technologies, a provider of
satellite-based broadband access, was chosen
by the Puerto Rico Department of Education to
support Mobile Universe in a project to provide
high-speed connectivity to 1,539 school locations
throughout Puerto Rico. (05/06/04, PR Newswire)
Buckingham Branch Railroad,
a Dillwyn-based short line operator, reached an
agreement to lease 200 miles of track from CSX
of Jacksonville, Fla. The track runs from Richmond
to Clifton Forge. The deal follows CSX’s
policy of selling or leasing portions of unprofitable
track. (05/04/04, Richmond Times-Dispatch)
