Albemarle Corp., a Richmond-based
provider of specialty chemicals, will convert a former
zeolite
plant at its Pasedena, Texas facility to production
of the flame retardant product Martinal. The project
will increase Albemarle's production of ATH-based products
by 20 percent. (PRNewswire)
EIT Inc., a provider of electronic design and
manufacturing services headquartered in Sterling, announced
a $12 million investment to open a manufacturing facility
in Danville, creating 120 jobs. Virginia completed
against North Carolina for the project. (Press release)
Great Wolf Lodge Resorts Inc. of
Madison, Wis., owner and operator of indoor water
park resorts will
expand its lodge in York that opened in the fall of
2004. Stronger than expected advance bookings led the
company to announce the addition of 100 rooms to the
facility, bringing it in line with its larger resorts
elsewhere in the U.S. (Daily Press)
IDirect Technologies Inc., a Herndon provider
of satellite-based broadband services, will open an
office in Singapore to support its growth in the South
East Asia market. (PRNewswire)
Luna Innovations Inc., a Blacksburg technology
firm, will move its headquarters to Roanoke, taking
office and laboratory space in the Carilion Biomedical
Institute. When the building is completed in the
summer of 2006 Luna, expects to house 50 employees
and expand to as many as 100 workers by 2008. (The
Roanoke Times)
Smithfield Foods Inc., a Smithfield-based provider
of meat products, announced plans to invest $800 million
for company acquisitions and plant expansions in Romania
over the next five years. Smithfield has built its
European operations around its Polish subsidiary Animex,
but the Romanian investment is viewed as a signal of
shifting emphasis to Romania. (Daily Press)
