Virginia Businesses in the News


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For the Record is compiled from company releases, business journals and newspaper reports from around the state. If you have an item for these listings: • Mail it to: For the Record Virginia Business Magazine P.O. Box 85333 Richmond, VA 23293 • E-mail it to ForTheRecord@va-business.com • Fax it to (804) 649-6311

The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond received Mobil Travel Guide's five-star award, its highest rating, for the fifth consecutive year. The Inn at Little Washington was the only other Virginia property so honored. Only 31 hotels, resorts and inns in North America received five-star recognition for 2005. The Inn's restaurant also received a five-star designation, one of 14. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

George Mason University announced plans to build a 70,000-square-foot high-security lab in Prince William for the study and testing of new vaccines and other defenses against bioterrorism. GMU will seek $25 million of the $40 million cost from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Groundbreaking for the facility, to be part of GMU's National Center for Biodefense, is envisioned for 2006, depending on fund raising. (The Washington Post)

James E. and Robert S. Ukrop received the 2004 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Virginia Economic Development Association, given to honor individuals who have committed time and effort in bringing jobs to Virginia. James Ukrop is chairman of Ukrop's Super Markets Inc. and First Market Bank; and Robert Ukrop is president and CEO of Ukrop's Super Markets. (Press release)

The University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business plans to launch an executive MBA program on the Charlottesville campus in 2006. Details of the program, offered to executives who seek graduate study but face difficulties in leaving their full-time jobs, are yet to be worked out with U.Va. and the state. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Virginia Tech received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation supporting efforts to increase the number of engineering graduates. The grant will fund three new programs, based on existing programs, designed to improve retention and graduation rates among engineering students. (Press release)

Virginia Tech leads a consortium of colleges that hope to secure approval to build an advanced, $300 million underground research facility 7,000 feet beneath Butt Mountain, 15 miles west of Blacksburg. The National Science Foundation has sought proposals for such a facility to conduct research in astrophysics, geoscience and particle research that must be shielded from cosmic rays. The facility would be a national lab like the Jefferson Lab in Newport News or Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tech's partners in the enterprise are North Carolina State, West Virginia University, the University of Tennessee, Iowa State, the Michigan Technology Institute and Oak Ridge. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The College of William & Mary's executive MBA program ranked 33^rd in the country and 57^th worldwide in a survey by the Financial Times. W&M's program is 20 years old and has over 600 graduates. (PRNewswire)

The College of William & Mary's Mashall-Wythe School of Law received a $1 million gift from the Gladys and Franklin Clark Foundation, the largest one-time donation ever received by the law school. The money will help finance a renovation and expansion of the law library. (Daily Press)