Something phishy
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About seven or eight years ago, I was sitting at my desk one morning when I received an urgent text from my then-boss. She was holding a meeting, according to the text, and needed me to purchase $1,000 in electronic gift cards as a giveaway to the attendees as soon as possible. Needless to say,
Rising to the challenges
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Last summer, as I was eating dinner at a Norfolk bar with a group of my Lead Virginia classmates from far Southwest Virginia, one of them asked what decision makers in Richmond thought about their region. “Most of them don’t think about it at all,” I replied bluntly and not a little sadly. During my
The bigger picture
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Welcome to the 10th edition of The Big Book. Virginia Business Publisher Bernie Niemeier had the inspiration for this annual issue more than a decade ago when he was retrieving his mail and noted the heft of Vanity Fair’s jam-packed annual Hollywood issue. “Why can’t we have a big book like this?” he thought to
HII names new president and CEO
Chris Kastner was appointed COO in February 2021
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Christopher D. Kastner will become president and CEO of Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, on March 1. Mike Petters, who has served as the Fortune 500 company’s president and CEO since Northrop Grumman Corp. spun off its shipbuilding division in 2011, will become executive vice chairman of the board for
The longest year
Despite pandemic, two hospitals get top marks from patients
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Amid some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s patient satisfaction rate fell slightly in an annual nationwide survey, and just two hospitals in the commonwealth received top marks from their patients. Overall, Virginia patient satisfaction lagged the national average by 3% in 2020. The patient satisfaction scores come from the annual Hospital
Radford University chooses new president
Bret S. Danilowicz is provost at Florida Atlantic University
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Radford University’s eighth president will be Bret S. Danilowicz, who’s currently serving as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Danilowicz, who starts his tenure at Radford on July 1, 2022, succeeds Brian O. Hemphill, who left in June to become president of Old Dominion University
The 22nd edition of the Virginia Business Legal Elite
Legal Elite recognizes leading Virginia attorneys across 20 specialties
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Launched in cooperation with the Virginia Bar Association in 2000, Virginia Business’ Legal Elite polls lawyers licensed to practice in Virginia each year, asking them to identify which of their peers are the top attorneys across 20 categories of legal specialties. In compiling this year’s Legal Elite, Virginia Business contacted more than 14,000 attorneys and
Siemens Gamesa to build first U.S. offshore wind blade factory in Portsmouth
Spanish company to invest $200M, create 310 jobs
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Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., a Spanish wind turbine company, will invest $200 million to build the first U.S. offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Portsmouth, creating 310 jobs, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday from the Port of Virginia’s Portsmouth Marine Terminal. Siemens Gamesa is a partner in Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt, $7.8 billion
Amentum to acquire PAE for $1.9B
All-cash deal for Falls Church contractor expected to close in Q1 2022
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Falls Church-based government contractor PAE Inc. (Pacific Architects and Engineers) has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Germantown, Maryland, aerospace defense contractor Amentum in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022, at which time PAE will become a wholly owned
Ellucian acquisition deal closes
Reston higher ed tech company bought by private equity firms
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The acquisition of Reston-based higher education software company Ellucian by investment firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners has been completed, the companies announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. New York-based Blackstone and Texas-based Vista Equity acquired Ellucian from Texas-based TPG Capital and Los Angeles-based Leonard Green & Partners. “Today marks an