Cover Story
Planting the flag
As a new decade dawns, Amazon scales up for HQ2
• Amazon’s twin towers coming in 2023 • HQ2 “base camp” office opened in September • 400+ workers hired; 24,500+ to go In November 2018, Virginia won big — really big — when Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. chose Arlington County as one of two locations where it would build operations for its planned East Coast
Interview
Workforce in progress
Amazon exec is laying the groundwork to hire 25,000 workers for HQ2
After a long, successful tech career working as an executive for companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel Corp., Ardine Williams was entitled to rest on her laurels. It didn’t last long. Five months into her 2014 retirement, Williams was recruited by Amazon.com Inc. to run global talent acquisition for Amazon Web Services, overseeing the hiring
Opinion
The recession that wasn’t
What if they held a recession and no one showed up? Last summer, economic experts began ringing warning bells of an impending downturn, as evidenced by an inverted yield curve of short-term Treasury bills vs. long-term Treasury notes. And when one combined the inverted yield rate, said to be perhaps the most accurate predictor of
From This Issue
Recruitment pitch
Model workplaces overcome tight labor market with pay, perks
The lowest U.S. unemployment rate in 50 years isn’t slowing down the companies honored as this year’s Best Places to Work in Virginia. The winners find plenty of applicants are attracted to their good pay and supportive cultures. For example, Burns & McDonnell, a global architecture, engineering and construction company with four offices in Virginia,
The Land of OZ
Opportunity zones have financial impact, but how much?
Anybody up for pickleball? Barrett Worthington and Megan Charity hope so. Business partners based in Charlottesville, Worthington and Charity are among Virginia’s opportunity zone pioneers. They hope to build an $8 million entertainment complex called Rally, containing a restaurant, beer garden and courts for pickleball — a mix of badminton, tennis and pingpong — in
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Colonial Williamsburg hires Fleet
Followups - February 2020
Former Philip Morris USA President and CEO Cliff Fleet took over as the ninth president and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation on Jan. 1. Virginia Business reported in September 2019 that Fleet’s predecessor, Mitchell Reiss, was stepping down after five years at the helm of the historic tourism foundation. Colonial Williamsburg holds assets worth
A larger rotunda
Entering its third century, U.Va. recruits more first-generation students
Alita Robinson, a second-year University of Virginia student from Delaware, delivers a personal message when she calls potential donors seeking support for financial aid programs. “I always tell people the only reason I’m at U.Va. and have these opportunities … is because I got a scholarship,” says Robinson, who plans to study educational policies and
‘We’re all Dynamites’
Government contractor gives workers a sense of belonging
When employees join Dynamis Inc., they gain a new family. “We’re very supportive of each other,” Dynamis Recruiter Macaya Yao says. “I find that I’m really able to go to anyone in the company and ask for help and they’re willing to jump in and help out with whatever it is.” This familial vibe, an
Maritime Association turns 100, eyes expansion
In the Virginia Maritime Association’s 100th year, Ashley McLeod has a wish for inland businesses to recognize the impact of the Port of Virginia on the entire state. “One in 10 jobs in Virginia is related to maritime supply chains,” says McLeod, the association’s vice president for communications and marketing. “We want to be there
The cherry on top
From Day 1, staffing firm builds team spirit
The camaraderie that makes Accounting Principals different is evident on an employee’s first day as they’re greeted by a desk decorated with bright, colorful signs trumpeting personalized welcoming messages. This “cherry-on-top” culture is what makes Accounting Principals a great place to work, says Jennifer Dodge, managing director of the Jacksonville, Florida-based professional recruitment and staffing
New GRTC chief sets Richmond transit priorities
After 25 years in the transportation industry, Julie Timm went back to school to get her MBA. “I wanted to understand the business world,” explains the new CEO of the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC), the region’s municipal bus system. “Sometimes when transit people talk to our business partners, it’s like we’re talking a different
10th Annual Best Places to Work list
This is the 10th year that Virginia Business has compiled the Best Places to Work in Virginia list in collaboration with Pennsylvania-based Best Companies Group. Nearly 200 companies applied for inclusion on the 2020 list. A hundred companies were chosen in three categories: small (15-99 U.S. employees); midsize (100-249); and large (250 or more). Best
Morgan Olson training program set to start in March
The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, launched last fall by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, is set to begin its first big project in March, training an estimated 703 people to work at Morgan Olson LLC’s new plant in the Danville area at no cost to the employer. Many will train in classrooms and the welding