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In This Issue... Expansions, Relocations & Launches, Who's Hot, Who's Not, Who's Winning Business, Deal Makers, Innovations, R&D / Intellectual Property, People, Trends, Commentary, Events, Click here to forward to a friend or colleague who might like this newsletter. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Philip Morris to Invest $300 Million in Richmond R&D Facility RICHMOND--Philip Morris USA will construct a $300 million research and technology center in downtown Richmond, housing more than 500 scientists, engineers and support staff, and nearly doubling the company's research space. As the newest addition to the Virginia BioTech Research Park, the R&D operation represents the company's largest capital investment since the 1980s. "Innovation has helped Philip Morris USA become and remain the leading cigarette manufacturer," said John R. Nelson, Philip Morris USA's president of Operations and Technology. "This is the next step in that effort, allowing us to develop new technologies that improve the products we currently manufacture and may lead to innovative new products." The cigarette manufacturer is increasing its commitment to research that addresses the harm caused by smoking. More from Phillip Morris. More from the Governor's Office. Commentary: How Virginia Can Leverage the Philip Morris R&D Coup... From the March 3, 2003 edition of Bacon's Rebellion Safer Cigarettes "Safe cigarettes" sounds like an oxymoron but it reflects a worthy goal. And it could provide the rallying cry for building a world-class tobacco cluster in Virginia. A research team at Virginia Commonwealth University recently probed the carcinogenic properties of the "Advance" brand cigarette, which burns a tobacco specially cured to cut levels of a nasty set of compounds known as nitrosamines. Within five days, the study showed, test smokers registered only half as much of the cancer-causing chemical in their urine as they had when they'd been puffing on their old, low-tar brands. More. Hilton Opens Luxury, Beachfront Hotel Tecton to Invest $6.5 Million in Roanoke County ROANOKE--Tecton Products LLC, a manufacturer of composite products, will invest $6.5 million to open its first Virginia plant in Roanoke County. The project will initially create 58 new jobs that include machine operators, engineers and technical associates. Tecton cited the county's proximity to a major customer as well as Virginia Tech, which it described as "critical to our future success." More. CarMax Cruises into L.A. RICHMOND-CarMax Inc., the pioneer of the used car superstore concept, is barreling into the Los Angeles market, adding two more stores to the three already in the region, and launching a multi-million dollar local advertising campaign. Said CEO Austin Ligon: "What better place than Los Angeles to grow if you are the nation's leading specialty retailer of used cars? California, and in particular, Los Angeles, is the world's greatest auto market." More. comScore Expands European Operations RESTON--comScore Networks, a consumer research company, has launched a multinational expansion through a consolidated comScore Europe business unit based in London. Said CEO Magid Abraham: "Client demand for our services in Europe has grown rapidly in recent years." More. Lindab Moves USA Headquarters to Portsmouth PORTSMOUTH--Lindab USA, an international group that develops, manufactures and markets sheet metal products and system solutions, will invest $6 million to relocate its corporate headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to its existing Portsmouth manufacturing facility. The expansion will add 57 new jobs over three years to the current workforce of 115. Said President Dick McCullough: "Virginia has been extremely easy to do business with (through several expansions) and it's much easier to recruit people to an area like this." More. In Brief... DANVILLE-- TWM Cabling Solutions, Inc., a Providence, N.C., manufacturer of wire and cable assemblies, will invest $1.6 million and create 50 new jobs in the City of Danville. More. HERNDON-DLT Solutions, Inc., a government solutions provider, will move its headquarters to a 26,000-square-foot facility on Sunrise Valley Drive in Herndon to accommodate its growth strategy. More. WARRENTON--The Fauquier Bank plans to expand its presence in western Prince William County with the opening of a full-service branch in Haymarket. More. FAIRFAX--NISCO, a developer of paperless invoice and financial management products, has opened an office in St. Louis, Missouri. More. Back To Top |
Who's Hot... |
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| TNS Secures $240 Million, Will Buy Back Shares RESTON--TNS, Inc., a processor of credit card transactions, will spend up to $166.5 million to purchase up to 9 million of its shares of common stock, or about 32 percent of total shares outstanding. Six million shares will be tendered by controlling stockholder, GTCR Golder Rauner L.L.C. and affiliated investment funds. Meanwhile, TNS has obtained a commitment from General Electric Capital Corporation for a $240 million credit facility, a portion of which will be used to finance the tender offer. Said CEO John J. McDonnell: "The board [of directors] determined that increasing the company's financial leverage to fund the tender offer is a prudent use of our financial resources and an effective means of providing value to our stockholders." More. Online Resources Raises $40.8 Million in Offering CHANTILLY--Online Resources, an outsourcer of Internet financial services, has raised $40.8 million through a secondary offering, selling about 4.8 million shares for $8.50 each. The company will keep about $37.4 million from the offering, with the remainder going to selling shareholders. Online Resources powers Internet financial services for 700 firms nationwide. More. In Brief... HERNDON--IceWEB, Inc., a developer of portal framework software, has raised $1 million from the sale of preferred stock and warrants to Barron Partners LP. More. WILLIAMSBURG--INCOGEN has received the remaining $1.2 million of a two-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to continue its research in cancer diagnostics. More. COVITS 2005 to Feature Tom Ridge RICHMOND--Virginia Secretary of Technology Eugene Huang has announced that Tom Ridge, the former Secretary of the Office of Homeland Security, Dr. Robert Gates, the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Frank Sesno, CNN Special Correspondent, will participate in the Commonwealth of Virginia's Information Technology Symposium (COVITS) on September 19, 2005 at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia. VCU is the co-host of this year's conference. More. Back To Top |
Who's Not... |
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| Xybernaut Delays SEC Filing FAIRFAX--Xybernaut Corporation, developer of mobile and wearable computers, has delayed its 10-K filing with the Securities Exchange Commission, pending completion of an internal investigation undertaken by its audit committee. In February, the committee had engaged independent counsel to assist in looking into the documentation of certain expenses of the chairman and CEO, the accuracy of certain public disclosures and other matters. The company reported an unaudited loss of $19.7 million in 2004 on revenues of $13.9 million. More. Back To Top |
Who's Winning Business... |
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| DCS Wins $99M Navy Contract VIRGINIA BEACH--DCS Corporation, an Alexandria-based company with operations in Hampton Roads, has been awarded a five-year, $99 million contract to provide weapons and systems integration support services to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division's Integrated Product Teams and weapons support facilities. The IPTs provide research, development, test, evaluation, and integration support for aircraft weapon system programs. More. VSE Racks up $55 Million in Contracts ALEXANDRIA--VSE Corporation has won a number of military contracts, including a $12.8 million job to apply self-sealing systems and add-on armor to fuel tankers in Kuwait and Iraq. In other awards, the company was awarded a $40 million contract to develop anti-submarine warfare systems, and $2 million to provide sensor and display kits for combat vehicles. More. CACI Awarded Battle Command Training Contract ARLINGTON--CACI International Inc. has won a $27 million prime contract by the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) to support battle command training for U.S. Army Reserve units. CACI will provide training and related technology support for war-gaming simulations. More. Back To Top |
Deal Makers |
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| DuPont to Acquire Majority Interest in Magellan Systems RICHMOND-Chemical giant DuPont has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Magellan Systems International, developer of the M5 high-performance fiber. As anext-generation material in protective applications, M5 contains unique attributes of strength, stiffness, and resistance to high temperatures. Whilestill under development, the material has a range of potential uses to enhance protection of military, law enforcement, firefighters and industrial workers, and also to address high-performance industrial applications. Magellan's M5 R&D and manufacturing operations are located in Chesterfield County only a few miles from DuPont's Kevlar-manufacturing facilities. Said Magellan CEO Gene Vetter: "This arrangement will make it possible to accelerate the commercialization of this amazing new fiber. … Armed Services personnel, firefighters and police forces will see it a lot faster than we could have provided it to them on our own - and that's what counts." More. Heritage Financial to Merge with New York's Silvercrest CHARLOTTESVILLE--Heritage Financial Management, a Charlottesville-based investment advisory and family office services firm, has been acquired by Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC. With the addition of Heritage's $400 million in assets, the combined firm will have nearly $6 billion in assets under management. Said CEO G. Moffett Cochran, a native Virginian with ties to Charlottesville: "Silvercrest will provide Virginians with a compelling choice in the management of their financial affairs. Our approach to wealth management should be welcome to families who seek an alternative to the remote big banking, brokerage and asset management conglomerates." Massey Flips Big Elk Property, Books $46 Million in Profit RICHMOND--Massey Energy Company has sold its ownership interest in its Big Elk Mining property to a privately held coal company for $52 million in cash and non-interest bearing notes, plus the assumption of reclamation liabilities associated with the property of approximately $10 million. Massey acquired the Big Elk property, located in Kentucky, at the 2004 Horizon Natural Resources bankruptcy action. The company expects to recognize a pre-tax gain of approximately $46 million on the sale. More. Corillian Acquires InteliData RESTON-InteliData Technologies Corporation, developer of online banking and bill-paying solutions, has been purchased by Portland, Ore.-based Corillian Corp. in a transaction valued at roughly $20 million in cash and stock. InteliData's products enable Wachovia, Bank of America and other financial service providers to deliver real-time, Internet-based financial services to their customers. Said Corillian CEO Alex Hart: "With the rapid adoption of online banking and bill payment, leading financial institutions are increasingly interested in the advantages of owning a payments warehouse to better control the user experience and reduce bill payment processing costs. More. General Dynamics Acquires MAYA Viz FALLS CHURCH--General Dynamics has acquired MAYA Viz Ltd., a Pittsburgh developer of visualization and collaboration technologies that support real-time decision making. MAYA Viz's principal military application, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Command Post of the Future program, is an executive-level decision support system providing situational awareness and collaborative software tools to support joint-service military decision making. More. In Brief... BLACKSBURG--Anderson & Associates and Tele-Works have teamed to create a software component that will enable rescue workers to locate individuals during floods, tornados or other events. BASSETT--Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc., has partnered with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" show to place its furniture in the home of the Leslie family from Braithwaite, La. More. RICHMOND-Strategic Ranking LLC has affiliated with PRWeb and SEO-PR to add cost-effective press release optimization and online news distribution services to its existing search engine optimization services. More. Back To Top |
Innovations |
| Velocity Incorporates New Intel Chip into High Performance PCs RICHMOND--Velocity Micro, a boutique manufacturer of high-performance PCs, has introduced a line of systems based on Intel's new dual core processor technology. Employing the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 840 processor, the Velocity Micro computers will operate at speeds up to 4.0 GHz. Combined with Velocity's liquid-cooling system, said CEO Randy Copeland, the new processor "is perfectly suited for power users who run several applications on their computer simultaneously." More. Digital Bazaar Releases Software to Make Online Music Stores BLACKSBURG--Digital Bazaar, a developer of media file distribution technology, has launched a free software program that allows artists to create and manage their own online digital music stores. The software uses a peer-to-peer based distribution network to deliver songs, while ensuring payment of royalties to artists. Said CEO Manu Sporny: "There is no reason that there should only be a handful of online music stores -- our technology allows anybody with a great idea for a music store to immediately start selling music." More. Ai Releases NeuralStar Upgrade RESTON--Ai Metrix, Inc. has released NeuralStar Version 7.2, its next-generation solution for dynamic management of high traffic, converged networks that combine data, voice, video and other technologies. In benchmark tests, NeuralStar 7.2's discovery engine performed 20 times faster than the comparable Hewlett Packard product. Said Ai CEO Phil Carrai: "Discovery speed isn't just for bragging rights. It can make all the difference in how well you respond to network outages." More. Surety Rolls out Rules-of-Evidence Solution HERNDON--Surety, a provider of electronic time stamping and digital notarization technology, is partnering with Massachusetts-based Image Fortress to provide a solution that meets the Federal Rules of evidence for electronic documents. The solution combines Surety's electronic time-stamping technology with Image Fortress' online preservation service, which protects electronic files from the effects of changes in and obsolescence of digital formats. More. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to Celebrate Creativity in Business RICHMOND-Seven VMFA Creativity Awards winners will be announced May 5 at an "Un-Gala" at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Twenty-six businesses are finalists for the first Creativity in Business Awards to be presented by the VMFA Business Council. Said VMFA Business Council Chair Will Loving: The awards celebrate "the creative energy for new products, services and culture that thrives in Central Virginia." For more information, including a list of nominees, click here. More. Back To Top |
R&D / Intellectual Property |
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| In Brief... VIENNA--CEL-SCI CORPORATION has announced that its CEL-1000 immune-modulating peptide has been shown in mice to protect against viral encephalitis, a potentially lethal inflammation of the brain that is on the U.S. government's list of priority pathogens for bio-defense research. More. Breathing Life into Chemical Engineering Michael Peters is transforming VCU's chemical engineering department into a life sciences pioneer. Chemical companies in the United States are reinventing themselves, and the schools that educate the next generation of chemical engineers need to change with them. That's the appraisal of Michael Peters, the new chemical engineering chair at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering. More. Back To Top |
People |
| Smith to Succeed Minor RICHMOND-G. Gilmer Minor, III, CEO of Owens & Minor, has announced a plan appointing COO Craig R. Smith as his successor. Owens & Minor is the nation's largest distributor of brand-name medical and surgical supplies. Minor, who will continue as chairman, said he plans to devote more time to his alma mater, the Virginia Military Institute, coaching little league baseball, writing and teaching, his family and his dog Brownie. More. Taylor to Run Tredegar Film Unit RICHMOND--Tredegar Corporation has named Nancy M. Taylor president of its film products subsidiary, effective immediately. She replaces Thomas G. Cochran, who is leaving the company to pursue "other opportunities". Said Tredgar CEO Norman A. Scher: "We would like to thank Tom for his many contributions to Tredegar," adding that his departure "should not be construed" as related to the company's first quarter financial results. More. In Brief... ARLINGTON-Emanuel J. Friedman, a co-founder of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc., will retire from his roles co-chairman and co-CEO effective June 9, the date of the firm's annual shareholder meeting. More. Hirschler Fleischer Named a "Great Place to Work" RICHMOND--Richmond Magazine has announced that Hirschler Fleischer is named as one of the "Great Places to Work" in the Richmond region in the April 2005 issue. Hirschler Fleischer is the only law firm to make the list. "We are fortunate to have an incredible team," said James L. Weinberg, president of Hirschler Fleischer. "We've worked hard to build a firm that allows each individual the opportunity to achieve everything that's important to them." More. Back To Top |
Trends |  Chmura Economics & Analytics
|  Retail sales in Virginia grew 6.2% for the year ending with January 2005. The pace of retail sales growth has continued to slow since reaching 12.5% growth in June 2004. As the pace of growth in Virginia has decelerated, retail growth in the state has fallen behind the national pace. In the United States, retail sales grew 8.1% for the year ending with January 2005. For details and forecasts of retail sales across Virginia, as well as a list of Chmura Economics & Analytics (CEA) products and services, click here, or call (804) 649-1107. Online Advertising Surging on Old Media Outlets PORTSMOUTH--Old-line media companies such as newspapers and local radio and TV stations are benefiting from the surge in Internet advertising, tapping into half of the $3.9 billion that is being spent by local advertisers in 2005, according to a newly released report, "What Local Web Sites Earn: 2005 Survey," from Borrell Associates Inc. Spending on local online advertising grew 28 percent last year, and is expected to accelerate 46 percent in 2005. More. Back To Top |
Commentary |  The Cow at the Stoplight Where have I seen that look of cud-chewing vapidity before? There's something vaguely... Republican... about it. More.
| A Primer for the Feeble Minded It's spring, the campaign season. You'll hear a lot of nonsense about local government spending and taxes. Tape this column to your refrigerator. Beware of any claim that links increased government spending to a tax cut. It doesn't work like that. More. Back To Top |
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