Business notes for the week of April 22

Appointed/elected

The Williamsburg Community Foundation recently elected three new trustees: Ti’Juana Gholson, Leigh Houghland and Jeanne Zeidler. The foundation also elected a new chair, Alison Lennarz, and a new vice chair, Melinda Morgan, from among its trustees. Gholson, with more than 20 years in the human services field, is the owner of several businesses and coaches/mentors small-business owners. Houghland has been in the banking industry for over 25 years and is the regional executive and senior lending officer for Chesapeake Bank in Williamsburg. Zeidler, with more than 30 years in museums, cultural and educational organizations, retired after eight years as president and CEO of the Williamsburg Health Foundation. The foundation board honored the work of two retiring trustees, Margaret Pritchard and Kathleen Slevin.

Awards and honors

The Coldwell Banker Premier franchise based in Virginia Beach announced its ranking in the prestigious Coldwell Banker Chairman’s Circle. This designation is awarded to the top affiliated companies throughout the Coldwell Banker network of over 100,000 agents in 44 countries. Coldwell Banker Premier was ranked No. 26 based on units sold in 2023 and No. 36 based on adjusted gross commission income. Coldwell Banker Premier, founded by CEO Steve DuBrueler, is one of 40 out of over 600 residential and commercial franchises the award.

Virginia Beach-based 360IT Partners was named the 2024 Partner of the Year for ScalePad Workstation Assurance. ScalePad’s Sales and Success teams chose recipients based on last year’s performance in ensuring their clients are prepared for the worst with enhanced device protection and a speedy replacement in case of damage or failure.

Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank, with operations in Hampton Roads, was recognized by the Small Business Administration as an Export Lender of the Year for help small and internationally focused businesses obtain export financing. Fulton offers an Export Working Capital Program to provide an array of financing and payment services.

Community service

Nearly 50 volunteers from Realtors Have a Heart, a community-oriented group of real estate professionals and division of Hampton Roads Realtors Foundation, gathered on Feb. 27 to provide assistance to Edmarc Hospice for Children, a nonprofit organization offering aid to families with children facing terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers tackled a variety of indoor and outdoor projects to enhance the work environment at Edmarc’s headquarters in Portsmouth.

Donations and grants

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $5.68 million to Trinity Woods Inc. in Emporia and $5.44 million to Magnolia Gardens Inc. in Suffolk to help finance energy efficiency and climate resilience renovations for the homes of seniors under the department’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program.

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast was awarded a $45,000 grant from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to help support the transformation of the Norfolk Lodge at Camp Skimino in Williamsburg. This funding will also expand capacity for Camp Skimino by adding more programmatic opportunities for Girl Scouts. The transformation includes necessary repairs to the lodge’s foundation and flooring as well as science, technology, engineering and math and “makerspace” equipment. Access to this equipment will help Girl Scouts more easily obtain badges in STEM and will allow Girl Scouts to explore topics like astronomy, ecology and biology.

Environment

Coastal Virginia Conservancy completed the first of three phases of its sediment restoration project in Paradise Creek, situated on the southern branch of the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth. The work has restored 26 acres to date in the 20-year effort to revitalize the ecological health of the region’s waterways and coastal lands. Paradise Creek had been polluted by past industrial activities. In the first phase, 5 million pounds of contaminated sediment were removed from the creek bed. Clean sand was backfilled in and a contaminate-absorbing activated carbon material was placed over the entire 16.8-acre project area, creating a healthier habitat for aquatic life to thrive. Monitoring efforts following the completion of the project have revealed a 60% reduction in contamination levels.

Norfolk-based RISE Resilience Innovations is challenging the world’s entrepreneurs to develop new solutions that protect vulnerable Southwest Virginia residents from dangerous flood disasters. Inspired by two massive flood events in 2021 and 2022 that left one person dead and millions in property damage, the nonprofit’s 2024 Riverine Community Resilience Challenge offers innovators up to $1 million for the development of products that protect life and property. Since forming in 2018, RISE has been on a mission to find, fund and scale innovative solutions to climate-induced problems. For more information, visit RiseResilience.org.

Expansion

Grocer Publix joined the GoodRx Gold network to offer prescription drugs at discounted prices through a monthly membership. The network includes more than 1,000 popular prescriptions priced at less than $10 available at more than 1,200 Publix pharmacy locations across the Southeast. Gold offers telehealth visits with licensed health care professionals for as low as $19 and free home delivery.

Walmart Supercenters in Hampton Roads launched a live bait pickup and delivery service to better serve customers who fish. Customers can order from a wide selection of live bait, including night crawlers and red worms, online and select a pickup or delivery time. Express Delivery can be delivered as quickly as 30 minutes.

Openings

The city of Chesapeake announced Associated Builders & Contractors – VA opened its new headquarters at 530 Independence Parkway. Acorn Care opened at 501 Baylor Court to offer primary and urgent care services. COVA Insurance opened a new office at 638 Independence Parkway. Longhorn Steakhouse opened at 4118 Portsmouth Blvd.

Partnership

The Hampton Roads Realtors Foundation established a dedicated scholarship fund with Tidewater Community College to support students pursuing careers in real estate-related fields. The foundation committed $12,500 to fund $2,500 per year over five years. TCC students interested in applying for this scholarship are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for further details and application procedures.

Workforce development

The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office welcomed its first Navy veteran as a deputy sheriff intern under the Virginia SkillBridge program. Chief Petty Officer Jose Herrera, who is retiring after near 21 years with the Navy, started with 16 other recruits in the basic academy on April 1. The Department of Defense enables active-duty service members to gain valuable work experience during their last 180 days of service. The internship allows participants to build their resumes, explore employment interests, develop new job skills and gain additional work experience to help them successfully transition into the civilian workforce. Skillbridge interns receive full military pay and benefits during their internship rather than being paid by the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office.

Virginia Peninsula Community College is partnering with the state community college system, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and Richmond-based Tech For Troops to bring free laptops to veterans through the Virginia Veteran Laptop Project. VPCC’s role is to facilitate the distribution of the laptops to military-affiliated students. VPCC is also working with its information technology team to donate outdated computers, TVs and other electronic devices to Tech for Troops. VPCC has a little more than 1,600 military-affiliated students, which is about 26% of its enrollment.