Cover Story
Cyberwar zone
Biden, experts warn businesses attacks are coming
Earlier this year, Kwabena Konadu received a call from one of the small businesses he advises on IT and cybersecurity. The company’s chief financial officer had received an email from a purported ethical hacker — cyberspeak for “good guy” — who had found the official’s username and password for accessing company data on the dark
Interview
Rainmaker-in-chief
New VEDP leader aims to build on predecessor’s success
Published
On Aug. 29, 2005, Jason El Koubi’s first day as research and policy director for Louisiana’s Baton Rouge regional chamber of commerce, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state, resetting El Koubi’s and the state’s trajectory. It was a fast lesson in crisis management, but also one in economic transformation. That job was among his first
Opinion
Something phishy
Published
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,
From This Issue
Frederick solar farms move forward
Published
Frederick County is on the verge of seeing its first solar power farms. Three facilities are in the works, with another in the pipeline. That’s not to say Virginia’s northernmost county is exactly embracing fields of solar panels. “Solar farms change the character of the land from rolling fields and animals grazing in pastures to
Out & About May 2022
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Legal review
Attorneys in power positions amid talent shortage
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In law firms across Virginia, power is now definitely on the side of individual attorneys, who can command larger salaries and other perks so long as they’re willing to cope with heavier workloads. As demand for legal services has soared, the number of lawyers available to perform that work has slumped, leaving even the most
South Hill grant aims to boost business district
Published
South Hill merchants figured out ways to keep business going during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing Facebook Live videos from downtown stores that helped people shop from home, then pick up their treasures curbside. Sometimes featuring a rescue dog named Duncan, the videos have continued even as restrictions are rolled back. Now, the
A diversified portfolio
Beach officials seek to expand city’s economic base
Published
In a city where tourism reigns, nothing could be more welcome than a post-pandemic world. And though we’re not quite there yet, Virginia Beach is licking its chops over the prospect of maskless visitors pouring into town. The city, with fingers crossed in hopes that new coronavirus variants don’t arrive before the tourists do, is
Biotech industry seeks push forward
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With more than $25 million, nearly all taxpayer money, a collaborative partnership of government, business and nonprofit organizations plans to build an accelerator for biotech startups in the Roanoke Valley. Supporters say the initiative will create 250 jobs through 25 new startups over five years, generating $20 million in annual salaries as 30,000 square feet
Summer dreams
Hospitality industry hopes for stronger 2022
Published
Tournaments at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Events at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. A busy Oceanfront boardwalk. That was the scene in Virginia Beach during just one weekend in mid-March. And it was the perfect “prelude” to the summer travel season, says John Zirkle, general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Virginia Beach. “The
Top Five: May 2022
Most-read online news stories from March 15 to April 14
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The top trending major business stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from March 15 to April 14 were led by news of the death of Fairfax County developer John “Til” Hazel Jr. 1 | Fairfax County developer John ‘Til’ Hazel Jr. dies at age 91 Hazel was a key figure in the transformation of Tysons from a rural
Civica to produce lower-cost insulin
Published
Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug-maker with a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant under construction in Petersburg, plans to produce three forms of insulin priced at $30 per vial beginning in early 2024, a project that dovetails with a bill in Congress that would cap consumers’ out-of-pocket insulin costs. Civica’s 140,000-square-foot, $124.5 million Petersburg production facility will
Counties collaborating on industrial park
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In the coming months, the rubble of a demolished furniture factory on a roughly 70-acre property in Chilhowie will be hauled away to make room for an industrial park. Smyth County is teaming up with Bland and Washington counties, forming the Pathway Regional Industrial Facilities Authority to create Pathway Park, which will feature rail service
