While affected by some of the woes of the national economy — unemployment is up and home sales are down — Lynchburg is adding jobs linked to a nuclear renaissance in the United States.

Two of the area’s largest employers are nuclear services companies and they’re ramping up their facilities and staff. Areva NP, a leading designer and builder of nuclear power plants around the world, has its North American headquarters in Lynchburg. Last year it submitted for federal review a new nuclear power reactor design. It plans to build an EPR (Evolutionary Pressurized Reactor) in the U.S. by
2015.

To meet that goal, Areva in Lynchburg is hiring at least 500 engineers and other professionals over the next three years, most of whom will earn more than $60,000 per year — nearly twice the region’s average household income.

Meanwhile, Babcock & Wilcox, is preparing for increased demand for heavy forgings and other components it makes for nuclear power plants. It is also growing its work force, though it has not attached a number to the expansion.

Together, the companies already employ more than 4,500 people in Lynchburg. As that number grows, regional leaders are watching for ripple effects in the housing market, in retail sales and in other high-tech businesses. Virginia Employment Commission projections say the region could add more than 7,000 jobs by 2014, reaching 117,200 jobs total.

“This is an exciting time for the nuclear industry, and we’re seeing that manifest itself in Lynchburg,” says Rex Hammond, president of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. The director of Region 2000’s Economic Development Partnership, Bryan David, says the expansion of the nuclear companies is a “game changer” in the region’s efforts to attract skilled workers. “These are knowledge workers,” David says. “These are the kind of highly skilled, highly trained workers that other communities are trying to attract.”

Other growth areas
Nuclear power is not the only industry stirring in Lynchburg. For several years, such sectors as high-tech, health care and higher education also have seen growth. As a result, in the first half of 2008, taxable sales increased 8 percent compared with the first six months of 2007, according to data from Virginia’s Department of Taxation.

The region has added jobs at a rate of 2 percent over last year, leading the state in job growth for most of the year.

Several other companies in the Lynchburg area have announced expansions this year, totaling more than $100 million in investments, including Areva’s expansion. The region recently cracked several business lists, hitting 24th on Forbes’ list of “Best Places for Business and Careers” and 71st on the Milken Institute’s top 100 “Best Performing Cities.”

Although Areva, B&W and Lynchburg’s regional leaders have placed their bets on a nuclear comeback, the resurgence of nuclear power does have its roadblocks. Opponents claim that nuclear power and its waste are huge environmental and public safety risks, and they are making their voices heard as new reactors are considered. Also, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission spends years reviewing the design for a reactor and the application for a construction license. While utility companies wait for the commission’s go-ahead, the price of almost every commodity used in the plant is going up.  The Department of Energy has offered $18.5 billion in loan guarantees to help new plants get financing, but competition is tight: 19 companies have requested a total of $122 billion in guarantees.

Lee Cobb, who recently retired as the region’s economic development director, acknowledges those issues, adding that no economic development project is failsafe. But he says promoting the nuclear industry is as safe as anything else the region could do, considering the growing demand for electricity. Cobb says that the industry’s presence in Lynchburg is no “accident of history. B&W came here for whatever its reason and chose to grow here.”

Lynchburg’s link to the nuclear power industry goes back to 1955. It was a small mountain city then with a slew of factories and foundries. The largest employer was Craddock-Terry, a shoe manufacturer.
In April 1955, Babcock & Wilcox announced it would build a 100,000-square-foot plant in Campbell County that would make equipment for nuclear plants and employ about 100 people. The plant grew to become one of the region’s largest employers as well as a leading designer and manufacturer for nuclear plants in the U.S.

But in 1979, a B&W-designed reactor suffered a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania, and the building of new nuclear plants in the U.S. screeched to a halt. But B&W continued business, building fuel for nuclear submarines and servicing existing plants. For a time, it changed its name to BWXT.

In 1989 a French-owned nuclear company, Framatome (now Areva), invested $50 million in a partnership with B&W and helped run some of B&W’s Lynchburg operations. (Framatone later bought B&W’s share of the partnership, and the two companies now operate separately.)

The two companies told newspaper reporters in 1989 that a nuclear renaissance was on the horizon. “Certainly, we were optimistic in the early ’90s,” says Ray Ganthner, Areva’s vice president of new plants deployment. The nuclear resurgence took longer than expected, he says.

While the nation was content with electricity from natural gas, coal and hydro, Areva focused on maintaining the existing fleet of nuclear plants. “We lost a lot of head count in those years,” Ganthner says. “It was not a growing business.”

Nuclear power began to make a comeback in public opinion in the 21st century. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 offered incentives to build new plants, including the offer of loan guarantees. Now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has more than a dozen applications for nuclear plants and has received a handful of applications for design certification.

One of those is Areva’s 1,600 megawatt U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor. The design, Ganthner says, is bigger and better than older reactors and relies more on computerized controls, reducing the risk of human error. It’s based on a design Areva already is deploying in Europe. It took 1.4 million man-hours to convert the design for U.S. use and send it to the NRC.

UniStar Nuclear, a division of Constellation Energy, has four sites in mind for Areva’s new design. Ganthner says preparing the site-specific designs — which include seismic data and the drawing of many miles of pipe and wire — could tie up 300 people for three years. That’s the reason the company is hiring hundreds of employees in Lynchburg.

B&W, on the other hand, sees several roles for itself in the nuclear resurgence. “We are currently looking for the potential to [build] small or modular reactors” for regions that don’t need huge plants, says Rich Reimels, president of B&W’s Nuclear Power Generation Group.

B&W’s shops in the Lynchburg area can make some of the heavy forgings needed in nuclear reactors, so the company wants to “ramp up and train welders,” Reimels says. He also sees a niche in retrofitting the nation’s 104 existing plants — most of which are more than 40 years old — to extend their functional lives.

Chris Mowry, B&W’s chief business development officer, points out one challenge of fueling the nuclear renaissance in Lynchburg: competing with other companies for engineers and other skilled workers.

‘Grow your own’ mindset
Ganthner agrees. Recruiting the engineers Areva needs takes long-term planning and forging relationships with colleges and universities, he says. Several colleges in the Lynchburg area have started programs to produce engineers. Sweet Briar College in Amherst graduated its first engineering majors this year. Two engineering degree programs in Lynchburg are in their second year, one at Liberty University and the other at Central Virginia Community College in conjunction with the University of Virginia.

Stan Shoun, vice president of work-force development for CVCC, says the region has adopted a “grow your own” mindset for work-force development. Some programs reach out even to middle school pupils, encouraging their interest in engineering and technology. “We want local talent and local companies,” Shoun says. “We do not want to send our kids to Northern Virginia. We don’t want to send them to Chicago to get a job. We want to show them that there is a career pathway [here]. We want to keep the best and the brightest for ourselves.”

Ron Sones, dean of Liberty University’s engineering program, says it offers graduates great employment opportunities with area companies. “They could hire hundreds of kids per year, if we could crank them out,” he says.

Liberty University itself remains an economic force in Lynchburg. It now has more than 11,000 residential students and about 4,000 employees.

Lynchburg’s growth is influencing how real estate agents market certain areas. A group promoting a new neighborhood called Wynbrooke Place this summer slapped the phrase “Just 9 miles to AREVA, BWXT & Liberty University” onto its ads. “We wanted to get the word out to all those new employees and families that we are very close,” says Mary Bryant, a real estate agent for Dawson Ford Garbee Realtors.

The company thought several aspects of the neighborhood might appeal to engineers, such as the fact its builder specializes in energy-efficient, “green” features.

Bryant expects new employees — along with friends or relatives who might follow them here — could provide a big boost to the local housing market.

The region also stands to gain a lot from other businesses that could spring up to serve those who move in. Mowry said B&W does business with several companies in the area already, and there’s a potential for more. “I think as the renaissance grows, there will be an opportunity for other companies to co-locate here … as people actually start cutting metal and making things,” he says. “The
renaissance is just beginning.”

Lynchburg’s economy at a glance

January through June 2008 (compared with same time 2007)

• Home sales: 920, down 19 percent
• Home prices: Average price $177,000, 2.7 percent increase
• Foreclosure filings: 68, up about 70 percent
• New car sales/registrations: Down 26 percent in Lynchburg city (through September)
• Taxable sales: $1.26 billion, up about 8 percent
• Jobs: 110,000, up 2.3 percent

Sources: Lynchburg Association

“If you are taking care of your customers, and if you are taking care of your people, you are going to grow your business,” she says. “It’s just as simple as that.”

But there’s nothing simple about making a tech company stand out in Northern Virginia, home to more than 1,100 technology firms. Chen knows what she must do to grow business, says Jim Allen, a former CFO for Veridian and now a consultant who has watched Chen in action. “She has a good understanding of how her business has to change,” he says. “What works at one size doesn’t work at the next size.”

Only 10 years old, ActioNet has 140 employees and annual sales topping $17 million. It has made Virginia’s Fantastic 50 list — the fastest growing companies in the state — five years in a row.  Based in Fairfax County, ActioNet has offices in Baltimore, New Orleans, San Diego, Honolulu and Dayton, Ohio. In addition to the U.S. Department of Transportation, federal customers include the Defense and State departments. In August, ActioNet announced a five-year, $32 million contract with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego to provide systems engineering, software development and more.

Chen, the company’s 37-year-old president and CEO, is slender with long dark hair, intense eyes and a tendency to punctuate sentences with throaty laughter. Part of her acumen is the product of upbringing: Both parents were entrepreneurs. Born in Taiwan, Chen is from a traditional family, the youngest of seven children. Her father owned an import/export company, and her mother started a boutique. In 1988, the family came to the U.S. — a move made for the children’s education. 

During Chen’s first year in college she knew little English and taped every lecture. Her parents wanted her to get a doctorate, but she stopped after completing a master’s degree in computer science from Binghamton University in New York. Immediately, she landed a job with a Federal Aviation Administration contractor in Northern Virginia. 

One job led to another. She worked for a small tech firm and lived comfortably in a town home, but by the late 1990s, she wanted her own business. “I was reading a book and I was inspired by this Japanese philosopher, who stated, ‘Action without vision is a nightmare, and vision without action is only a daydream.’ ” She knew she had vision, she added. “I thought, ‘I need some action.’ ”

An available domain name she found online struck a chord: ActioNet. She pulled out a credit card and $35 later reserved a domain for her business.  Within the first year, her company won a $50,000 account evaluating Y-2K issues for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Later, an administrator told her why she got the deal.

“He was spending so much money on a large business and not getting anything in return,” she remembers. “He said, ‘You know what? If I bring in this company [Chen’s ActioNet], I bet you this company is going to work so hard to deliver and give me more than what I asked for.’ And guess what? He was right.”

She finished the work under budget and on time. By the end of that first year, 1998, she hired Jeffrey D. Abish, now executive vice president. “I knew I could count on him,” she says, “I knew him back in school.”

Moving to a startup was a risk, Abish concedes. “Knowing her level of determination and the kind of person she was, I said why not,” he remembers.

Chen believes part of her success lies in hiring and retaining the right people. One of those is Victoria Scott, who was hired seven years ago as a college intern and now works as a project manager. “It wasn’t my first job, but it was my last,” says Scott. She describes Chen as “one of the most energetic people I’ve ever met. That’s how she is all the time. She’s good at motivating people. It’s infectious.”

As a director at some of the state’s largest publicly traded companies, Whittemore has had a say on everything from CEO pay to strategic direction.

She’s easily one of the most experienced and powerful corporate directors in Virginia. 

Gracious and self-effacing, Whittemore is not one to brag. Indeed, she dismisses the mention of power. Yet, she was the first woman to make partner at Richmond-based McGuireWoods, one of the country’s largest law firms. And her areas of expertise — including corporate governance and securities litigation — earned her a spot on the McGuireWoods’ team that worked on litigation involving Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. These poster-child cases of corporate fraud in the early part of the decade led to the reform legislation of Sarbanes-Oxley. 
As Whittemore likes to tell clients, “I sit on both sides of the table.”  As a director, she understands the importance of good legal advice. As a lawyer, she got an opportunity in the Enron-era cases “to look after-the-fact at what boards did and didn’t do and to have some understanding of how situations arose as they did.” 

With those credentials, it’s not surprising that Whittemore, 62, has been recruited by companies in and outside Virginia. Currently she heads the Compensation Committees at Owens & Minor Inc., a Fortune 500 medical supply distributor based in Richmond; and Albemarle Corp., a manufacturer of specialty chemicals that’s relocating from Richmond to Baton Rouge, La. Whittemore also chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee for T. Rowe Price Group Inc., a Maryland-based global investment firm. 

That her gender helped crack open the board room door is a fact Whittemore readily acknowledges. “There is no question that I have had opportunities to serve as a director because I’m a woman,” she says. “I’ve been the beneficiary of that opportunity which I greatly appreciate, and I hope that I have lived up to the expectations of those who have given me the opportunity to be — in most of these situations — the first woman who has served on these boards.”

While diversity remains a key concern, boards today are struggling with myriad issues. The economy is tilting toward recession, following huge routs in the stock market.  Throw in proxy battles, shareholder resentment over CEO pay and tougher Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, and the stereotypical image of a cushy director’s post starts to fade. In fact, some boards are having a harder time getting directors. 

At such a critical juncture, Virginia Business decided to examine the boards of Virginia’s largest public companies. Who sits around these tables? Are companies run by small knots of the same powerful people or by diverse groups?  How much are directors paid? What is a typical term of service?

A review of the recent proxies of 38 companies with annual revenues of at least $1 billion each provided some answers. Assisting Virginia Business in the research was human resources consultant Findley Davies Inc. of Charlotte.  Virginia Business also interviewed several board members to discuss their roles.  Besides Whittemore, these directors spoke with the magazine: J. Alfred Broaddus Jr., retired president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond who serves on four public company boards; Eddie N. Moore Jr., president of Virginia State University and a director on two boards; Linda D. Rabbitt, CEO of the private Rand Construction Corp. and a director on two boards; and Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion Resources Inc. Farrell also serves on the board of Altria Group.

What did the survey reveal?  A few of the takeaways: 

• Virginia boards are slowly becoming more diverse. Women hold 11 percent of the more than 400 director seats on the 38 boards.  This compares with 14.8 percent of board seats held by women at U.S. Fortune 500 companies. However, 32 of the 38 firms (or 84 percent) have at least one woman on the board. 

• While proxies do not provide definitive information on ethnicity, they do reveal the names of directors, and several African Americans are serving. Some of these directors include Dr. Frank S. Royal, former state Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III, Kay Cole James, Karen Hastie Williams and Moore among others.

• The average age of a director is 60.4 years.

• The average tenure for board service is eight years.

• The average annual cash compensation in fiscal 2007 for an outside director (for which Virginia Business has information) was $79,100.

In many cases, the cash component helps directors pay taxes on stock awards. Typically, a significant portion of director compensation is paid in stock to align the pay of board members with the interests of shareholders. Individuals with chairman titles (including?CEOs) who are fully employed by a company do not receive director fees. They are only paid to outside directors. 

In 2007, the highest paid outside director was Shaun F. O’Malley. The lead independent director for McLean-based Freddie Mac received $323,811 in total cash compensation. In addition, Freddie Mac reported $276,068 in equity compensation for total direct compensation of $599,879, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage’s Corp.’s most recent proxy. (The federal government took over the mortgage finance giant in September because of financial problems stemming from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.)

These days boards of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange are required to have a majority of independent directors. And only independent directors can serve on audit, nominating and compensation committees. Overall, boards are charged with these key functions: oversee top management, direct strategic planning and develop policies that help the success of a company and its shareholders.

Virginia Business’ examination of the boards of the largest publics turned up plenty of retired executives, some politicians, university presidents, lawyers and entrepreneurs. Royal, a physician, is a regular on the list.  He currently sits on three boards and chairs the Compensation, Governance & Nominating Committee for Fortune 500 Dominion Resources. Royal, 68, declined to be interviewed. 

More diverse representation
When it comes to diversity, Moore sees change.  “Diversity in the board room is moving slowly, but moving.” Moore, 59, is a former state treasurer of Virginia and former executive with Gulf Oil Corp. He serves on the boards of Owens & Minor and Universal Corp., a Richmond tobacco company.

Women’s pioneer Whittemore also sees progress. For the last five years, she has attended an annual meeting at Stanford University where directors gather from all over the country. “The first year I went, I would say there was at most 10 percent that were women,” she recalls. Every year since, though, the numbers of women and minority representatives have grown. “I would dare say the percentage is now 40 percent.”

The bottom line, say board directors, is that companies should continue to recruit diverse candidates. “It is good policy and a best practice to reflect the community that you serve,” says Moore.

So, how do boards recruit candidates? Referrals may come from a board’s own nominating committee. Sometimes, outside search firms are retained to help fill a vacancy. Who ultimately gets picked, though, to stand for election may depend upon the profile a company is looking for at a given time, says Whittemore. For instance, a board may need someone with experience in a particular industry, finances or global business experience. 

Some executives are snatched up almost as soon as they retire. A case in point would be Broaddus. After leaving his post at the Federal Reserve in July 2004, several boards courted the well-known economist. Broaddus, 68, was later elected as a director at four public companies where he serves today: Markel Corp., a specialty insurer in Richmond, Owens & Minor, Albemarle and T. Rowe Price. 

Directors on Virginia’s boards also include two former politicians and a current state senator.  Former Gov. Gerald Baliles serves on the boards of Altria and Norfolk Southern Corp., while Lambert is a director at Dominion Resources and SLM Corp. Virginia state Sen. Walter A. Stosch is a director on the board of Universal Corp.
 
University presidents also are in demand. Besides Moore, VCU’s President Eugene Trani serves on the boards of Universal and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. Richard Morrill, the former president of the University of Richmond and its current chancellor, holds a seat on Albemarle’s board.

Findley Davies’ examination didn’t turn up the same small groups of people at board after board. It did show that Whittemore and Broaddus serve on three boards together: Albemarle, Owens & Minor and T. Rowe Price.

Whittemore is former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and headed the search committee that made Broaddus president in 1993.  “I think that’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever been involved with,” she says. Federal Reserve presidents cannot serve on corporate boards. So when the chairman and CEOs on the boards where Broaddus now serves learned he was retiring, “whether or not they knew me, they were going to see if it were possible to have Al come on their boards,” says Whittemore. “I, knowing him as I did, encouraged them as did the other board members who knew Al. Of course Al is very prominent, very well known, very well regarded.” 

A major time commitment
Sarbanes-Oxley gave audit committees increased responsibility for the accuracy of financial statements. The regulations also require compensation committees to make greater disclosures in proxy reporting.  Consequently, serving as a director takes more time today than in earlier years.

Rabbitt, who sits on the boards of human resource consultant Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. in Arlington and Toronto-based Brookfield Properties, says she attended a conference recently on directorships sponsored by the Deloitte accounting firm. “They said, ‘If you sit on a board, you should estimate about 250 hours a year.’”
Asked how much time he puts in, Broaddus responds, “at least 40 hours a week, if you include all the background reading you need to do.” 
Boards may meet in full session as many as seven times a year. Many outside directors also serve on committees, which meet separately.

Director compensation
Pay varies among boards and even directors on the same board. It depends on such factors as number of meetings attended, committee assignments and whether someone serves as the lead independent director, which carries more responsibility. For instance, this board member presides over the executive sessions of the outside directors and is frequently a point of contact for shareholders. A review of the directors’ pay mentioned in this story showed a range of $35,468 in total cash compensation last year for Rabbitt — her payment for serving on Watson Wyatt’s board —  to $161,279 for Royal, a long-time board member and lead independent director for Dominion.

Rabbitt, 59, founder and CEO of Rand Construction in Alexandria, says she wasn’t drawn to board service because of the money. “My own company provides me with a very nice lifestyle.” Instead, she thrives on the challenge and the collaborative benefits of being with other business-savvy directors. “It makes you think bigger thoughts about your own business.”

As CEO of a company that generates $200 million a year in revenue, Rabbitt brings experience in operational skills. But, she adds, CEOs have to use good judgment. “You really can’t sit on but a couple of boards and do everyone justice.” 

Corporate governance policies may require CEOs to get board permission before accepting outside directorships.  In Virginia, 12 of the 38 large public company CEOs sit on at least one outside board. John A. Luke Jr., CEO of Richmond-based MeadWestvaco, sits on three boards, in addition to his own.

Dominion’s Farrell says one other for-profit board is enough for him. “Everybody has to make their own judgment about that,” he says. “Some boards can be very active, and there is a danger that it could take up too much of your time.” Farrell, 53, was elected to Altria’s board this year. Openings on the board occurred after the company spun off cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International.

“I was contacted by the chairman of the Nominating Committee,” recalls Farrell. After getting the okay from Dominion’s board, Farrell agreed to sit for election. “Altria is extremely well run,” he says.  “Its business is different in many ways than Dominion’s, and similar in many ways. So I thought it would be a good experience for me …” Dominion is one of the country’s largest energy producers. 

Serving as a director, says Farrell, gives him a different perspective. “Your role is to represent the interests of the shareholders and to support the management team … There’s no question that I’ve brought back valuable lessons.”

In some cases, boards are having a harder time recruiting directors because of greater exposure to personal risk. “Now granted that WorldCom was an extreme situation, but those directors had to contribute personally to the settlements that occurred,” says Whittemore. “In all of this major litigation, it’s not unusual that the insurance runs out, and directors are sitting there with their assets on the line.” 

The remedy? “Do your due diligence and know the company. Know the executives. Know the other board members,” she advises.

Still, many directors are saying yes to the opportunity to serve.  Perks include prestige, stock grants — whose values are anything but guaranteed in today’s volatile markets — and sometimes foreign travel. Albemarle, a global company with operations in Europe and the Far East, took its board to China last month. Broaddus was looking forward to meeting with Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing, the site of this year’s Olympic Games.

Proxy fights
With proxy fights on the rise, board service at times might feel like an Olympic competition. Last month, Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover resigned abruptly amid pressure from activist shareholders. He was replaced by James A. Marcum, a turnaround specialist elected to the company’s board in June at the insistence of investor Mark Wattles, one of the largest shareholders of the struggling consumer electronics retailer. 

Media General Inc., owner of Virginia Business magazine, saw three new directors elected to its board this spring after Harbinger Capital Partners, a hedge fund, bought a chunk of stock and sponsored a dissident slate. While Harbinger didn’t have a majority, it called for changes in the company’s operations. 

Whittemore has served on Owen & Minor’s board for 17 years, Albemarle’s board for 12 years, and T. Rowe Price’s board for 13 years. Not surprisingly, she sees institutional knowledge as a positive. “Wholesale changes on boards do not promote good functioning,” she says.

As for activist shareholders:  “Shareholders certainly have the right and should be heard,” she says. Yet, Whittemore worries about “a tension between groups of shareholders who have short-term goals — who are in it for the quick profit — versus shareholders who are longer term and committed to the company.”

CEO pay
As seen in the government’s $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, CEO pay continues to be a sore subject. Some activist groups were sponsoring “say on pay” proposals even before the bailout and huge downtowns in the market. After hearing from angry constituents,  Congress added language to last month’s bailout legislation to prevent CEOs of failed companies from walking away with golden parachutes.

“Given some of the abuses that we’ve had, it’s not hard to understand why many people feel that way,” Broaddus says of public sentiment about CEO compensation. [In 2007, the average annual pay package for CEOs of large public companies in Virginia was $6 million.]

VSU’s Moore ventured that it may be time to rethink executive pay. While quick to note that he doesn’t feel executive compensation is out of line with the responsibilities at the companies where he serves on the board (Universal and Owens & Minor), Moore did offer this thought:  “What I do think is contributing to the problem is the emphasis on increasing earnings, increasing earnings per share, better cash flow position. When you start tying incentives to that, you’re about dictating a higher level of risk. I think we should consider some other measures than the absolute profit measures as the basis of pay of executives.” 

The good citizens of the commonwealth expect something to happen when they flick on their switches. What happens when it is dark outside and the wind becalmed? Renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, are legitimate parts of the fix but can’t carry the entire burden. Not by a long shot.

Our state’s need for new power and related infrastructure is far above the national average. Meeting its needs responsibly will require a mix of technologies and fuel sources, including emission-free nuclear power, as well as an increasing emphasis on renewables and conservation.

Freezing in the dark may be okay where the writers work, but I have serious doubts that most Virginians would put up with that for very long.

Thos. E. Capps
Richmond

Capps is the retired chairman of the board, president and CEO of Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc.

Forming a nonprofit organization can be perfect for people who want to be their own boss and devote their work to charitable causes. A nonprofit is established just like a for-profit enterprise, with the additional step of applying for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.

In Virginia, nonprofits must:

- Be registered as either a non-stock corporation or a limited liability company (LLC).

- Register with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the ability to raise funds.

- Obtain a local business license, and, if required, register with the Virginia Department of Taxation.

A nonprofit organization becomes tax-exempt (allowing individuals and businesses who donate to the organization to deduct their gifts on their federal tax returns) by filing an application to become classified as a 501(c)(3) organization.

Necessary forms include IRS Form 8718 and IRS Package 1023. For instructions on filling out these forms, read IRS publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization.
All IRS forms can be obtained by calling (800) TAX FORM or downloading them from http://www.irs.gov.

The Business Information Center of the VDBA can e-mail you a step-by-step explanation with live links to numerous resources and all required forms and instructions. Call (866) 248-8814 to request nonprofit instructions or e-mail your request to vbic@vbda.virginia.gov.

Business One-Stop to be unveiled in 2008

Starting a business in Virginia will become easier in early 2008 when the online “Business One-Stop” is introduced.  Entrepreneurs accessing the one-stop site will need to answer only a few simple questions to receive detailed information on the registrations, licenses and permits required.

Debut date of the new “Business One-Stop” will be announced on the Virginia Department of Business Assistance Web site, http://www.vdba.virginia.gov and the Virginia Business

Portal, http://www.business.virginia.gov.

Sabra Dipping Co. makes vegetarian and kosher dips and spreads, including the top-selling hummus brand in the country.

“In recent years, Sabra has emerged as a top brand in the growing dips category,” Ronen Zohar, CEO of Sabra, said in a statement. “We are projecting growth and planning exciting innovation. We are very optimistic about our company’s plans for Chesterfield County and look forward to breaking ground and settling into the community.”

Sabra is a U.S./Canadian joint venture between Pepsico and Israel-based Strauss Group.

Downs spoke about the project during a meeting of the Richmond chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women. More than 80 members turned out to get an update on Stonebridge, a 300,000-square-foot plus project that has been in the works for three years. Located at Midlothian Turnpike and Chippenham Parkway, it’s considered a strategic gateway project for Chesterfield. 

Crosland plans to close on the 83-acre parcel in March, shortly after more than $11 million in bonds are sold by a community development authority, said Downs.  The process to establish the authority is “ongoing,” he added, and will dictate the closing date. Crosland has agreed to buy the former mall site from Chesterfield for $16 million. It plans to demolish the old mall before construction on the new project begins.

Bond money would help pay for public infrastructure and environmental cleanup. Meanwhile, Downs said in an interview, financing for the remainder of the money “will be arranged. We have a number of resources that we are pursuing.”

The county’s Planning Commission approved conceptual plans for the development yesterday.  As a lead tenant, Kroger has committed to building a 125,000-square-foot store, said Downs. Besides retail, the first phase of building would include 300 units of multi-family rental units and an open green space for public events.  Land also has been reserved for the eventual development of Class A office space. 

Despite a weak economy and some negative perceptions of the Cloverleaf Mall tract — where physical conditions declined after the mall’s anchor tenants left — the site’s real estate fundamentals remain solid, said Downs. More than 100,000 cars pass the site daily. Plus, about 180,000 residents with an annual household income of $66,000 live within five miles. “We have a unique opportunity to reposition this property,” he told the audience.

Crosland, a private development firm with properties in seven states, is paying careful attention to what’s in the pipeline and has put the brakes on some projects, said Downs.  In Virginia, investments include land in Homestead Preserve, a second-home resort project near The Homestead in Bath County, and the 110,000-square-foot Rutland Commons Shopping Center in Richmond. Crosland also plans a multi-family project on property near the city’s Lee Bridge.

The company said it continues to hire new engineers, however, to work on plans for a proposed reactor that is currently being reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The company has so far hired 350 people at U.S. locations this year, and plans to add another 200 to 250 next year. (The News & Advance)