Afton Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of Richmond-based Newmarket Corp., has acquired the North American Fuel Additives Business from GE Water &
Process Technologies. Afton Chemical is a leading supplier of gasoline and diesel performance additives to the fuel market place. (News
release)
C3RS, a Louisa County-based recycler of waste tires, will invest $4 million to open a Louisa facility and create 35 jobs. The company will
take waste tires, grind and shred them into rubber crumb and sell the material for use in other manufacturing processes. Virginia competed
with North Carolina for the investment. (News release)
Tourism dollars spent in the Charlottesville area increased 6.7 percent in 2007, rising to $435 million in 2007, according to a report from
the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. The area’s tourism spending supported 4,957 jobs with $85 million in wages. The
bureau also reported the generation of $15 million in local taxes. (The Daily Progress)
Philip J. Shoonover resigned abruptly as the top executive at Circuit City Stores Inc. in September. James A. Marcum was named acting
president and CEO. Marcum was named to the board in June at the insistence of Mark J. Wattles, president of Wattles Management LLC, the
third-largest stockholder in the company. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Dinwiddie County raised the level of cash proffers for developers from $5,629 to $9,688 per unit in rezoning requests. The unanimous vote of
the Board of Supervisors put the increase into effect immediately. To support the increase the board cited expectations that the county’s
increasing population will trigger more demand for emergency services and road maintenance. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
LeClairRyan, a Richmond law firm, will open an office in New Haven, Conn. to expand its presence in the Northeast. Richard W. “Deke” Bowerman
will head the new office. (News release)
Reynolds Packaging Group, a manufacturer of metal foil products, will close its Richmond operations and move production to Louisville, Kent.
in response to lower-priced products from foreign competitors. The move will mean the loss of 490 jobs in the Richmond plant and distribution
center. Reynolds Aluminum had been a fixture in Richmond for decades before the company was sold to Alcoa Inc in 2000. Earlier this year
Alcoa sold Reynolds to Rank Group Inc., a New Zealand investment firm. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau received the Southeast Tourism Society’s Shining Example Award as CVB of Year. It is
the first time the Richmond group has won the award. Its “History” campaign, positioning unexpected taglines with vibrant photographs was the
basis for the honor. (News release)
The Richmond area dropped from 56th to 102nd in a survey of metro areas and their generation of high-tech jobs. The annual survey by the
Milken Institute, a California think tank, and Florida asset management firm Greenstreet Real Estate Partners studies job generation, wage
growth and development of the high-tech industry. The index has been published since 2003. From 2002 to 2004 the Richmond region ranked from
106 to 125. In 2005 the Richmond region was redefined, adding six more counties, and moved up to 63rd. The loss of 1,000 banking and finance
jobs, including some when Wachovia Securities moved its headquarters, had an affect on this year’s ranking. Provo, Utah was tops in the
latest survey. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
RV Cole Furniture of Richmond will replace its bricks-and-mortar store with an online operation. The store, located in Richmond’s Shockoe
Slip, has had a Web presence for five years and now will shift all sales online. RV Cole will retain its suppliers so customers will have the
same selection of contemporary furniture. Owner Rudy Valente, 82, built a furniture empire in New York after coming to America in his early
20s. He still retains many of his Manhattan customers after he closed several stores and moved to Richmond to be near his grandchildren.
(Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Star Scientific, Inc., a Petersburg-based tobacco products manufacturer, hired Roger Grogman, former Corporate Vice President of Marketing
for the McLane Company, Inc., as a consultant on marketing programs for its very low-TSNA dissolvable smokeless products, Ariva® and
Stonewall®. McLane Company is the largest distribution company in the U.S. convenience store market. Star anticipates Grogman’s knowledge of
multiple product categories and business channels will aid in the growth and development of the Ariva® and Stonewall® brands. (Business Wire)
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