Central Virginia
Amazon to open fulfillment center in Prince George County
This will create 150 jobs, paying a minimum wage of $15/hour
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. — which is building its $2.5 billion HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington — will open a fulfillment center for its AmazonBasics line in Prince George County by the end of the year, creating 150 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday. The fulfillment center will open in the former 798,000-square-foot Ace Hardware
City of Richmond moves up in general obligation debt rating
Moody’s designates it as a second-to-highest creditworthy entity.
Moody’s Investors Services upgraded the city of Richmond’s general obligation debt rating to Aa1, its second-to-highest creditworthiness rating, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday. A city’s credit rating determines the amount that a locality may borrow for capital projects, including schools. The city has not received an upgrade since 2014. With this change in rating,
BWX Technologies awarded $1B nuclear propulsion contract
The Lynchburg-based company has nearly $4 billion in Navy work.
A subsidiary of Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) was awarded approximately $1 billion in contracts from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program for the manufacturing of naval nuclear reactor components, the company announced Monday, bringing the company’s naval nuclear propulsion contracts up to nearly $4 billion. BWXT Nuclear Operations Group Inc. will
VCU receives $2.5M grant to extend battery life development
Research could extend the life of lithium-ion batteries commonly used in smartphones and other devices
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers will receive a $2.5 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop long-lasting rechargeable batteries, the university announced Thursday. VCU researchers believe they can significantly extend battery life, drive down costs and reduce safety risks by redesigning materials found in lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used to
Eastern Virginia
International Space Station resupply mission launched from Wallops Island
Rescheduled three times, craft is set to deliver 8,000 pounds of cargo.
The 13th cargo resupply mission (NG-13) took off Saturday afternoon from Wallops Island in Accomack County to the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft will deliver more than 8,000 pounds of cargo to the space station, Gov. Ralph Northam said. The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Falls Church-based defense contractor Northrop
Three-building office portfolio in Chesapeake sells for $8.4M
The property is located in the Greenbrier submarket.
Three office buildings in Chesapeake have sold for $8.4 million, according to an announcement Thursday from Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based commercial real estate company Colliers International. The three-building portfolio in the Greenbrier submarket was sold by Virginia Beach-based Davenport Group Real Estate Inc./Lefcoe Development Co. The property at Volvo Parkway was 95% occupied at the time
Smithfield Foods announces RedWhiteandCool program to hire vets
The agriculture giant partners with the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association.
Smithfield Foods Inc. and the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA) on Tuesday announced RedWhiteandCool — an initiative to recruit, train and hire transitioning military veterans into the refrigeration industry as refrigeration technicians. Smithfield Foods is a founding sponsor of the program. “There is a shortage of skilled labor in our country and the commercial
Two Va. hospitals ranked in nation’s top 100
Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church and Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk were in the top 2% of the America’s Best Hospitals survey released Tuesday.
Healthgrades has named its 2020 list of the top 250 hospitals in the United States, and two Virginia hospitals landed in the top 100. Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church and Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk are in the top 2% of the America’s Best Hospitals survey released Tuesday. Inova Fairfax was recognized as one
Northern Virginia
Arlington machine learning developer receives $63M investment
Carbon Relay will use the boost to expand its Red Sky Ops platform.
Arlington- and Boston-based machine learning developer Carbon Relay received a $63 million investment from New York City-based venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners, the companies announced Wednesday. Carbon Relay will use the investment to grow its Red Sky Ops platform for optimizing application performance in Kubernetes environments. Kubernetes — originally developed by Google
UiPath donates $16.4M in software licenses to GMU business school
Students will learn robotic process automation technologies.
New York City-based software developer UiPath has donated $16.4 million in software licenses to George Mason University’s School of Business for students to learn robotic process automation (RPA) technologies, the university announced Wednesday. RPA configures computer software for users to integrate human interaction actions in digital systems for business processes. With RPA, robots can capture
Virginia Values Veterans program certifies 1,000th employer
Reston-based software firm Carahsoft is latest to earn certification in program that connects veterans to workforce
Reston-based computer software company Carahsoft Technology is the 1,000th employer to earn certification from the state government’s Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. Administered by the Department of Veterans Services, the V3 program is designed to connect Virginia veterans to the workforce, assisting with recruiting, hiring, training and retaining military veterans
McLean defense contractor wins $248M Navy contract
Alion will develop and engineer advanced warrior training.
McLean-based defense contractor Alion Science and Technology Corp. was awarded a $248 million Navy contract, the company announced Thursday. The contract is for the Navy Continuous Training Environment (NCTE) for architecture development. Alion will provide research, development and engineering to develop architecture for advanced warrior training at Fleet Warfighting and Training Commands. “It is imperative
Roanoke/New River Valley
Va. Tech selects architecture firm for first Innovation Campus building
SmithGroup has designed two buildings on Tech’s Blacksburg campus.
Virginia Tech has selected Detroit-based architecture and planning firm SmithGroup to design the first academic building for its Innovation Campus in Alexandria, the university announced Friday. SmithGroup responded to a public request for proposals (RFP) issued last summer by Tech after its June announcement that it would build its Innovation Campus in Alexandria. The RFP
Carter Machinery Co. Inc. acquires Baltimore tractor company
Salem-based Carter Machinery employs 1,350 people.
Salem-based Carter Machinery Co. Inc., an independent dealer of Caterpillar Inc. equipment, entered into an agreement to acquire Baltimore-based Alban Tractor Co. Inc. effective Feb. 4, the company announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Carter Machinery will become the Caterpillar dealer in a territory that will now include Northern Virginia, Washington,
Custom Truck One Source adding 61 jobs in Bedford County
Company announces $2.6M expansion in Forest area.
Custom Truck One Source will expand its manufacturing business in Bedford County, investing $2.6 million and creating 61 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. The Kansas City, Missouri-based company plans to double production at its specialized truck and heavy equipment plant in Bedford’s Forest area to meet growing demand. “Custom Truck One Source has been
Mack Trucks plant in Roanoke County to create 250 jobs
$13 million facility in Salem will be fully operational within a few months
Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that Mack Trucks will create 250 jobs at a Roanoke County facility building a new line of medium-duty trucks. The company, part of the Volvo Group, plans to invest $13 million in the project, according to state and county officials. The plant, to be known as Mack’s Roanoke Valley Operations
Shenandoah Valley
Shentel installs residential fiber optic across valley
A growing number of Shenandoah Valley communities are seeing more competition among broadband providers. Edinburg-based Shenandoah Telecommunications Co., or Shentel, founded more than a century ago by farmers seeking improved telecommunications services for their rural communities, is still focused on that mission, though these days it’s a little more high-tech than it was in the
JMU announces partnership with Handshake
San Francisco tech company connects college students with job and internship listings
James Madison University has partnered with San Francisco-based jobs listings tech company Handshake to produce a live feed of job and internship opportunities on its website, JMU announced Tuesday. Although more than 900 colleges and universities use Handshake, JMU says it’s the first school in the nation to fully integrate Handshake into its website, making
Eastern Mennonite University names VP for innovation and student recruitment
Jason Good attended EMU and held several previous positions with the university.
Eastern Mennonite University has named Jason Good as vice president for innovation and student recruitment — a new position for the private liberal arts university in Harrisonburg, EMU announced Monday. He will start on Jan. 27. Good, an EMU graduate who formerly worked as the university’s director of admissions, most recently served as director of
Yount, Hyde and Barbour acquires Woodcock & Associates PC
Woodcock & Associates specializes in construction accounting.
Winchester-based accounting and consulting firm Yount, Hyde and Barbour (YHB) has acquired Fredericksburg-based accounting firm Woodcock & Associates PC, YHB announced late last week. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Woodcock & Associates specializes in construction accounting and has worked with clients in the Greater Washington-Richmond corridor since 2000. The firm provides assurance,
Southern Virginia
Dominion to build yet another solar facility for Facebook
Greensville project is eighth collaboration in Va. and N.C.
Dominion Energy Inc. will build a solar facility in Greensville County — its eighth facility to be dedicated to Facebook Inc., the company announced Thursday. The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved the 100-megawatt project, Sadler Solar, on Jan. 22, and the facility is expected to be operational by the end of this year. Dominion will
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
Amazon HQ2 and Arlington County government will be solar powered
Arlington and Amazon will purchase power from Dominion solar farm in Pittsylvania County
Arlington County and Amazon.com Inc. have entered into agreements with Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. to purchase power for local government operations and Amazon’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters from a solar farm more than 200 miles away in Southern Virginia. The Arlington County Board voted Tuesday to approve the agreement with Dominion to procure power from
New Sim Lab gives nursing students real-life experience
If you thought simulators were just for pilots and astronauts, think again. Nursing students at Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) can now train on complex, real-life patient-care scenarios inside the Clinical Simulation Lab for Nursing Education at Sovah Health’s Martinsville campus. The Sim Lab, which opens this month, features sophisticated, high-tech “patient simulators” that respond
Southwest Virginia
Norfolk Southern moving Roanoke distribution center, locomotive shop to Pennsylvania
Eighty-five employees will be eligible to transfer
Norfolk-based Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS) is moving its Roanoke distribution center and locomotive shop operations to Pennsylvania, the company announced Tuesday, affecting a total of 104 employees in the Roanoke Valley area. The Fortune 500 rail transportation company will move those jobs and its associated work to Altoona, Pennsylvania, with 19 clerical positions eliminated. Roanoke’s
In St. Paul, renaissance is on the agenda
People once called St. Paul the Western Front. “St. Paul was a coal town, so the railroad would run in and drop people off there,” says Kimberly Christner, president and CEO of Williamsburg-based Cornerstone Hospitality. “One side of the railroad was dry and … the other side was wet with alcohol, and that was the
Blue Ridge Designs LLC invests $2M to expand Southwest Va. operations
Carroll County-based screen-printed apparel manufacturer's expansion will create 118 jobs
Carroll County-based screen-printed apparel manufacturer Blue Ridge Designs LLC will invest $2.28 million to expand its operations, creating 118 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday. Blue Ridge Designs was established in January 2019 and manufactures screen-printed apparel with watercolor ink. Since January 2019, the company has purchased six presses and three dryers, hired 80 employees
Three Va. universities ranked among top 10 in nation for online degrees
U.Va., Virginia Tech and VCU earned top 10 spots in U.S. News & World Report's Best Online Programs rankings.
Online degrees from three Virginia universities were cited in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Online Programs rankings. The University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development was ranked third in the nation for online master’s in education programs. Master’s degrees offered through the online program include administration and supervision; curriculum