May
1, 2008– CANON INC. TO INVEST MORE
THAN $600 MILLION AT ITS NEWPORT NEWS PLANT- Virginia
Governor Tim Kaine and Tsuneji Uchida, President and Chief
Operating Officer of Canon Inc. announced the investment by
Canon of more than $600 million and the creation of more than
1,000 new jobs at a new 700,000 square foot manufacturing
facility on the Newport News campus of Canon Virginia. Construction
on the new facility, which will perform highly-roboticized
production of toner cartridges for Canon, begins immediately.
The project will also include an expansion of Canon Virginia’s
aftermarket service of Canon digital consumer products, an
advanced manufacturing research and development component,
and the establishment of Canon’s Market Engineering
Technical Center, which will provide training services for
Canon’s operations in the Americas. Additional expansion
will take place at Industrial Resources Technologies, Canon
Virginia’s toner cartridge recycling facility in nearby
Gloucester County, Virginia.
Canon’s decision represents an historic return of high-end
manufacturing to the U.S. Key to Canon’s rationale for
choosing the Newport News facility for this investment were
the close and cooperative relations that Canon Virginia has
had with local and state officials, the environmental benefits
of locating the new plant near the large U.S. customer base
and Canon’s North American toner cartridge recycling
plant, and the resources that are available through Virginia’s
Community College System that will be dedicated to training
the workforce that will be required for the expansion. Press
releases have been issued by both Canon Inc. and the Governor’s
Office.
April 27, 2008–
Two Newport News Companies Named Virginia Fantastic
50 – Bay Electric Company and International
Communications Group were named to the Virginia Chamber of
Commerce’s Fantastic 50 List of the fastest growing
companies in Virginia. Bay Electric Company has been on the
Fantastic 50 list since 2004 and this is the third straight
year that International Communications Group was named to
the list.
Bay Electric Company is a minority-owned commercial construction
contractor located in Newport News’ predominantly African-American
Southeast Community. International
Communication Group (ICG) manufactures communications
integration, automation and management systems in wireless
or mobile communications applications. ICG is located in Oakland
Industrial Park. Both companies are located in a Virginia
Enterprise Zone.
April 22, 2008–
Southeast Community Redevelopment Project to be Lead
by Aaron Brooks- The Newport News Economic Development
Authority announced the selection of a firm headed by acclaimed
NFL quarterback, Aaron Brooks, to develop the Southeast Commerce
Center, a 14-acre tract located in the predominantly African-American
Southeast Community of Newport News. Brooks, a Newport News
native, returns to his community with a dramatic vision for
its revitalization that includes for-sale townhomes and new
commercial development, including a grocery store. The site
is located off Interstate 664 along the Southeast Community’s
historic commercial downtown street, Jefferson Avenue. The
NNEDA will sign a pre-development agreement with Brooks’
firm, Tidewater Partners and Property Development, to guide
the project during its preliminary stage.
March 20, 2008–
Southern Business & Development Calls Newport
News Region Tops in Advanced Manufacturing, Great Innovation
Markets of the South- Southern Business & Development,
a leading site selection magazine, has ranked Hampton Roads
(the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-NEWPORT NEWS MSA) the #8 market
in the South for Advanced Manufacturing and the leading Southern
Market for Innovation. The twin designation recognizes the
technology assets that have made Newport News America’s
Hi-Tech Hometown. Newport News companies such as Canon Virginia,
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Continental, AG have leaded
the way in developing and implementing advanced manufacturing
techniques. Spurred by research from Jefferson Lab, NASA's
Langley Research Center and the region’s growing modeling
and simulation sector, Newport News companies such as Dilon
Technologies and Soluble Systems are leading examples of high-tech
innovation powering successful small companies in Newport
News.
March 17, 2008–
Muhlbauer Expands with New Sales/Service/Assembly
Facility in Oakland Industrial Park – Muhlbauer,
Inc,, the U.S. division of the German firm, Muhlbauer,
AG High Tech International, announced that it will build
a 30,000 square foot sales/service/assembly facility in Oakland
Industrial Park in Newport News, Virginia. Muhlbauer is
the world’s leading producer of machinery designed to
make smart cards. Smart cards have long been popular in Europe
and elsewhere in the world, but are just catching on in the
U.S. Muhlbauer, which currently leases space in the Oyster
Point business park in Newport News, plans to invest $7.5
million in the new facility. An expanding demand for smart
cards in the U.S., particularly by the government sector,
will fuel future job growth at the new facility, which will
feature a clean, high-tech look in keeping with the many architecturally
designed buildings in Oakland Industrial Park.
February 1, 2008–
PenSoft Constructs New Facility in Oakland Industrial
Park – Peninsula Software of Virginia, Inc.
(PenSoft) became the second local manufacturer to break ground
on a new facility in Oakland
Industrial Park. PenSoft,
a leading manufacturer of payroll software designed to help
small and medium-sized businesses and payroll services providers,
will occupy its new 12,000 square foot facility in mid-2008.
Currently located in the Oyster Point business park, PenSoft
has contracted with Hamner Development to build its new building,
which is next door to the new facility being constructed for
Coastal Forms and Data Products. Like Coastal Forms, PenSoft
will be moving into a Virginia Enterprise Zone.
January 24, 2008–
Newport News Three-Time Winner of One of 100 Best
Communities for Young People – America’s
Promise – The Alliance for Youth named Newport News
and its neighboring city, Hampton, as one of America’s
top 100 communities for young people for the third consecutive
year. America’s Alliance was founded in 1997 after the
Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future and supports
efforts by communities, individuals, corporations and organizations
to improve the odds for children and youth. The “100
Best Communities” awards are given on the basis of a
community’s innovative programs and efforts to address
the particular challenges facing today’s youth.
January 15, 2008–
Coastal Forms and Data Products Facility Now Under Construction
– Coastal Forms and Data Products, a commercial printer
and full service supplier of printing services, is expanding
its presence in Newport News, Virginia by building a new 21,000
square foot manufacturing facility in Oakland
Industrial Park in Newport News, Virginia. The new facility,
being built as a turn-key development by Hamner Development,
will allow Coastal
Forms and Data Products to continue to expand in Newport
News, Coastal Forms is currently located in leased space in
the Oyster Point business park in Newport News. Coastal Forms
plans to occupy its new facility in mid-2008.
January 10, 2008–
Newport News Public Schools Earn Virginia Index of
Performance (VIP) Awards – Hilton Elementary
School in Newport News was one of 89 public schools earning
the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence, the
highest achievement award for a public school issued by the
Commonwealth of Virginia. “Students in these schools
are soaring far beyond the minimum requirements of the Standards
of Learning and No Child Left Behind,” said Governor
Kaine. The schools recognized must meet the high standards
of the program for consecutive two years. Nine more elementary
schools earned the Virginia Board of Education’s Excellence
Award, the VIP program’s next highest award level. An
additional 7 elementary schools earned the VIP program’s
third level award, the Virginia Board of Education’s
Competence to Excellence Award. All together, 17 of Newport
News’ 26 elementary schools (65%) earned Virginia Index
of Performance awards. VIP awards are based on the percentage
of students achieving at the advanced level on Virginia’s
Standards of Learning assessments and progress made toward
educational goals adopted by the Virginia Board as part of
its comprehensive plan for further strengthening public education.
December 1, 2007–
Newport News Automotive Injector Plant Gains Top Quality
Recognition – Siemens VDO has recognized its
Newport News fuel injection projection plant with an award
as the top quality mechanical plant in Siemens VDO’s
worldwide system. The Newport News plant competed with approximately
50 other locations for this distinction. Defect rates at the
Newport News plant averaged an amazing 1.67 parts per million
over a twelve month period ending in September 2007. This
award is a testimony not only to the plant’s management
and continuous improvement philosophy, but also to the technologically
proficient and committed Newport News workforce. Siemens recently
sold its entire VDO Automotive division to Continental, the
German tire and auto parts manufacturer in a deal valued at
more than $15 billion.
November 22, 2007–
Riverside Diagnostic Center Designated Breast Imaging
Center of Excellence – Riverside Health System’s
Diagnostic Center at Oyster Point has been designated a Breast
Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology,
the nation’s largest and oldest medical imaging accrediting
body. Riverside’s facility joins the top 2% of medical
imaging facilities in the nation with this accreditation.
Only 3 other facilities in Virginia have received this designation.
The designation is fitting given Newport News’s leadership
in the field of photonics medical imaging via research and
development at Jefferson Lab.
Dilon Technologies is another
Newport News company receiving international recognition as
a pioneer in the breast cancer imaging field.
October 1, 2007–
Jefferson Lab to Double its Power with $400 Million
Project – Jefferson Lab (the Thomas Jefferson
National Accelerator Facility) has received approval from
the U.S. Department of Energy to double the power of its Continuous
Electron Beam Accelerator to 24 gigaelectronvolts (GeV). The
upgrade will allow scientists at the Lab to delve deeper into
the mysteries of how quarks—subatomic nuclear particles—behave
inside the atom. The $400 million project includes $310 million
for the accelerator upgrade and $100 million to build a new
experimental hall and refurbish an existing hall. Construction
is expected to begin in 2009 and be completed by 2016. The
upgrade will add 50 new permanent positions at Jefferson Lab
and allow 200 to 400 more scientists to visit the Lab annually
from around the world to conduct experiments in particle physics.
September 20, 2007–
Alion Science and Technology Launches Homeland Security
Certification Program – Alion Science and Technology’s
Newport News office has developed an on-line Homeland Security
certification program in cooperation with Hampton University
(which was recently ranked as the #3 HBCU (Historically Black
College and University) in the nation. Alion brings its considerable
expertise in Modeling and Simulation and distance learning
to deliver a program that includes homeland security fundamentals,
anti- and counter-terrorism strategic objectives and threat
assessment/risk management studies. The program is aimed at
working professionals, including first responders, security
personnel, city managers, transportation officials and emergency
planners. Alion’s Hampton Roads office is located in
City
Center at Oyster Point in Newport News.
July 13, 2007–
CNBC Names Virginia as Top State for Business –
Following on the heels of Forbes Magazine’s No. 1 ranking,
CNBC has also designated Virginia as its “Top State
for Business.” CNBC’s ranking is based on 40 different
measures of competitiveness grouped into 10 categories: cost
of doing business, workforce, economy, education, quality
of life, technology and innovation, transportation, cost of
living, business friendlieness and access to capital. Virginia
ranked third under economy, fourth in business friendliness
and eighth in workforce. This ranking reinforces that Virginia
and Newport News are a great location for any company wishing
to maximize its long-term competitive advantage.
July 11, 2007–
Forbes Magazine ranks Virginia No. 1 Business Climate
for the Second Year in a Row – Forbes Magazine
ranked Virginia first among business-friendly states in its
annual survey for the second year in a row. The top ranking
was based on a composite of factors in which Virginia ranked
among the top ten states. Virginia ranked first in Regulatory
Climate, fifth in quality of the workforce, sixth in quality
of life, eighth in prospects for growth. This ranking affirms
Virginia’s consistently business friendly environment,
which makes a decision to locate in Newport News a great long-term
investment for any company.
June 29, 2007–
Banana Republic Leads New Retail Coming to City Center
at Oyster Point – Banana Republic announced
the opening of its first Peninsula store in City Center at
Oyster Point. The new store will open this fall, joining other
national fashion retailers: Ann Taylor Loft, Chico’s,
Coldwater Creek, J Jill, Jos. A. Bank and Talbot’s.
Taste Unlimited, a Hampton Roads specialty food retailer,
will be joining forces with Medik’s Market to offer
a line of organic and gourmet foods to City Center shoppers
and residents. The newest restaurant to open at City Center
will be Salsa’s Mexican Restaurant. Salsa’s will
be the flagship, upscale product of the Hampton Roads-based
Plaza Azteca Restaurant chain. City Center’s developers
continue to build and market retail product to enhance this
highly successful, new urbanist development.
May 22, 2007–
Newsweek Names Newport News Schools Among Top in the
Nation – For the third straight year, Newsweek
Magazine has rated Warwick High School among the top 100 high
schools in the nation. Warwick High School is home to the
school system’s International Baccalaureate program—which
is just one of several magnet programs operating from elementary
to high school. Also, for the second straight year, Newsweek
Magazine ranked Newport News’ other four high schools
among the top 1,000 in the nation. Prior to that, the magazine
had ranked four of the city’s high schools among the
top 1,000.
May 3, 2007–
Newport News Restores Japanese Teahouse –
Nearly 20 years after receiving a 16th century Japanese teahouse
as a gift from Canon Virginia, the City of Newport News has
restored the structure, named Swallows’ Rest, and built
a Japanese-style garden surrounding the ceremonial teahouse,
which is on display at the Peace Garden in Newport News Park.
The teahouse, originally exhibited at the National Gallery
of Art, is the only one of its kind in the United States.
March 25, 2007–
Virginia Named Most Business Friendly State, Again
- Virginia was named as the nation’s most business-friendly
state in 2007 by Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. in its
Top Ten Pro-Business States: America’s Economy in the
21st Century. Pollina is a Chicago-based corporate relocation
consultant. Factors evaluated by Pollina included taxes, human
resources, labor climate, energy costs, infrastructure spending,
workers compensation legislation and jobs lost or gained.
Virginia is consistently ranked among the top business-friendly
states in this survey, ranked number one in 2003 and number
two in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
March 9, 2007–
USS Monitor Center Opens at Mariners' Museum –
The $30 million, 65,500 square foot USS Monitor Center is
now open. This interactive exhibit, located at one of the
world’s best nautical museums, explores all facets of
one of the first ironclad warships, including its historic
battle with the CSS Virginia (aka the Merrimac).
March 3, 2007–
Newport News Schools Named Among Best for Music Education
– The International Music Products Association
and its American Music Conference has named the Newport News
Public Schools as one of the 100 Best in the nation for music
education. The school system’s commitment to school-based
music programs was cited.
January 23, 2007–
Plan for Southeast Waterfront Redevelopment Unveiled–
The Cambridge land planning firm of Chan Krieger Sienciewicz
unveiled a plan before the Newport News City Council for the
redevelopment and revitalization of the two-mile long waterfront
along Hampton Roads harbor in Southeast Newport News. The
plan calls for the redevelopment of those areas of the waterfront
occupied by lower-income housing into housing for medium and
higher-income households. The Plan also recommends a variety
of amenity upgrades including walking and biking trails and
better access to the waterfront and to the area’s existing
parks. The City views this as a long-term redevelopment initiative
that will substantially transform the character of Southeast
Newport News over the next decade.
December 21, 2006–
Icelandic USA announces second expansion in 2006-
Icelandic USA, the world’s largest processor
of North Atlantic fisheries seafood product, announced a 182-job
expansion at its U.S. plant and headquarters in Oakland
Industrial Park. This expansion testifies to the efficiencies
that Icelandic USA has experienced in its Newport News plant
and the quality and availability of its workforce here. The
new job growth will push employment at the plant past the
600 worker mark.
December 15, 2006–
Construction begins on The Point Condominiums at City
Center at Oyster Point– Construction began
on 54 luxury condominium units and 14,000 square feet of new
retail space at The Point in City Center at Oyster Point.
The Point is located on the strategic corner of Thimble Shoals
Boulevard and Town Center Drive, facing the Thimble Shoals
roundabout in one direction and the Mariners Row retail street
in the other direction. Floor plans range from a 1,025 square
foot loft to a 2,329 square foot 3-bedroom unit. Units are
priced from $290,000s to $500,000.
December 13, 2006–
Liebherr Mining continues to grow in Newport News–
Liebherr Mining and Liebherr-America, the U.S. divisions
of Liebherr the Switzerland-based Liebherr Group, will add
30 more positions to its 400-person workforce. Liebherr continues
to see strong demand for its mining trucks. Liebherr Mining
is located in Copeland
Industrial Park in Newport News.
September 23, 2006–
National LambdaRail, newest, fastest information superhighway,
connects to Jefferson Lab– Jefferson
Lab – the electron beam accelerator
located in the heart of Newport News – connected
to the National LambdaRail network, the ultrafast fiber-optic
network that is the nation’s newest information superhighway.
The National LambdaRail Internet connects Jefferson Lab to
academic and government research institutes across the nation.
Regionally, the network connects Jefferson Lab with NASA’s
Langley Research Center, the College of William and Mary,
Old Dominion University, the U.S. Joint Forces Command and
the Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center.
August 24, 2006–
Two City Center Announced– Newport
News Town Center, LLC, City
Center at Oyster Point’s developer, announced a
second office building to be built in City Center’s
retail district. The five-story, 85,000 square foot office
building is expected to have a restaurant on its first floor.
Two City Center will be next to the Marriott Hotel and Conference
Center and will face onto City Center’s retail street,
Mariner’s Row. Pre-leasing is under way. Contact Alex
Stern of NAI Harvey Lindsay at 757-873-2020.
August 17, 2006–
Dilon Technologies raises $7.25 million in private
equity– Dilon
Technologies, an entrepreneurial high-tech company marketing
technology borne at Jefferson Lab, has raised $7.25 million
in new capital from a private stock sale. The sale was handled
by the New York-based niche investment banker, Taglich Brothers.
Dilon has developed a gamma ray camera capable of detecting
early breast cancers. Dilon’s cameras are being used
in major research hospitals nationwide.
August 17, 2006–
Forbes Magazine ranks Virginia No. 1 Business Climate–
Forbes Magazine ranked Virginia first among business-friendly
states in its annual survey. The top ranking was based on
a composite of factors in which Virginia ranked among the
top ten states. Virginia ranked first in Regulatory Climate,
fourth in Labor, fifth in Quality of Life, eighth in Economic
Climate, tenth in Growth Projections and tenth in Business
Costs. Hampton Roads, Newport News’ metropolitan area,
was featured prominently and positively in the Forbes article.
June 15, 2006–
New Marriott Hotel and Conference Center opens at
City Center – A new 256-room Marriott Hotel
and Conference Center opened for business at City
Center at Oyster Point, the central business district
for the Virginia Peninsula region of Hampton Roads. The new
Marriott overlooks City Center’s spectacular five-acre
fountain plaza and contains an impressive rotunda that houses
Rockefeller’s restaurant. The Conference Center can
accommodate groups of 1,000 for a seated dinner and up to
1,500 for a reception. The hotel and conference center are
supported by a 713-car attached parking garage. Next to the
hotel, high-end retail and restaurants continue to open at
City Center [see April 7, 2006 announcement].
June 9, 2006–
Asheton Rezoning Approved – The rezoning
of more than 400 acres owned by the Newport News Economic
Development Authority was approved by the Newport News City
Council for development of Asheton,
a new urbanist “legacy community.” Asheton will
be built around a mixed-use village center and contain approximately
1,600 upscale housing units. It will provide another new opportunity
for the City’s executives, managers, professionals and
scientists to live in a high-amenity, walkable community in
Newport News. Housing styles range from single-family detached
in various lot sizes, to townhome, to condominiums above retail,
to live-work units. Asheton is being developed by L.M. Sandler
and Sons and is expected to take ten years to complete.
April 27, 2006–
Three Newport News Companies Make Virginia’s
Fantastic Fifty List – The Virginia Chamber
of Commerce has named three Newport News companies to its
“Fantastic Fifty” list for 2006. The list honors
companies that have the highest revenue growth during the
past four years. To be eligible, companies must have revenues
of less than $100 million in its most recent year and have
had revenues of at least $200,000 four years ago. The three
companies making this year’s list were: Bay
Electric Company (which also made last year’s Fantastic
Fifty list), Foundation
Engineering Science and International
Communications Group. Bay Electric is a commercial contractor
with 76 employees. Foundation Engineering Science provides
environmental engineering services and has 32 employees. International
Communications Group designs and manufactures satellite navigation
equipment for the maritime and aerospace industries and has
25 employees.
April 7, 2006– City Center’s
Mixed-Use District has Grand Opening – Shoppers
thronged the new mixed-use district in City Center at Oyster
Point as several national fashion retailers opened their doors.
Among the retailers new to the Newport News market area are
Ann Taylor Loft, Chico’s, Coldwater Creek, J Jill, Jos.
A. Bank and Ten Thousand Villages. Talbot’s and Talbot’s
Petites, which had already successfully established itself
in this market, also has moved to City Center. Visit the City
Center website for a full list of retailers and restaurants
at City Center.
March 24, 2006 – Alion Science and
Technology and C² Technologies Locate at City Center -
Alion
Science and Technology announced that it will open an
office at City
Center at Oyster Point where it will be a tenant at One
City Center, a new office building in City Center’s
mixed-use retail district. Alion is an employee-owned research
and technology company with specialties in modeling and simulation,
defense operations, wireless communications, information technology,
naval architecture and marine engineering, industrial technology
and environmental engineering. Alion will bring 50 new jobs
to Newport News. Alion has been awarded a $48.5 million contract
to provide modeling and simulation technologies to the US
Joint Forces Command, which will be administered out of its
City Center location. Alion is a Virginia company headquartered
in McLean.Also locating at One City Center is C²
Technologies. C² is an information technology company
with specialties in distance learning, strategic human resource
management and mission-critical support services. C² will
occupy the entire second floor of One City Center and will
bring 100 new jobs to Newport News. C² has been awarded
a $346 million contract from TRADOC to supply distance learning
services for the Army, including both classroom and online
education. C² is also a Virginia company, with its headquarters
in Vienna.
December 21, 2005– Wolseley North America
Locates its Headquarters Operations in Newport News
– Wolseley North America, an affiliate of Wolseley
plc—the world’s largest distributor of plumbing
supplies and other building materials—has announced
the location of its headquarters operations in Newport News.
Wolseley North America—with $14 billion in sales—manages
Ferguson Enterprises, Stock Building Supply and Wolseley Canada.
Ferguson Enterprises—the hemisphere’s largest
distributor of plumbing supplies and the nation’s third
largest distributor of HVAC equipment—with $7 billion
in sales, is already headquartered in Newport News. Wolseley
will create a corporate campus around Ferguson’s two
existing corporate office buildings. The first Wolseley building
will be 220,000 square feet. Wolseley has pledged to create
at least 420 new jobs and invest at least $30 million within
the next three years in return for state and local incentives
valued at more than $5 million. Wolseley’s employment
and investment in Newport News is expected to grow significantly
over the next ten to fifteen years. Wolseley’s new corporate
campus is located in a Virginia
Enterprise Zone.
November 30, 2005– Northrop Grumman
Newport News Awarded $1.9 Billion Contract –
The Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman Newport News
a $1.9 billion contract for the three-year refueling and overhaul
of the USS Carl Vinson nuclear aircraft carrier. Up to 2,500
shipyard employees will work on the ship. Northrop Grumman
Newport News is Virginia’s largest manufacturer.
November 20, 2005–
Warwick High School Graduate Wins Rhodes Scholarship
– Maria Cecire, a 2001 graduate of Newport News’
International Baccalaureate program at Warwick High School,
was named as a Rhodes Scholar. She was one of 32 winners of
one of the world’s most prestigious academic scholarships.
Ms. Cecire told reporters, “I feel like I’m lucky
to have had such great preparation. At Warwick High School,
I had some great teachers.” Ms. Cecire’s award
is not only a testimony to her own academic talent and efforts,
but also to the academic strength of the Newport
News Public Schools.
November 9, 2005– Fort Eustis to be
Home to U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command
– With the results of the 2005 Base Realignment and
Closure (BRAC) process finalized, Fort Eustis in Newport News
is slated to be the new home for the U.S. Army’s Training
and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), raising the status of the base
from a two-star to a four-star command. Also relocated to
Fort Eustis will be the Army Contracting Agency (ACA) and
the Eastern division of the Army Network Enterprise Technology
Command (NETCOM). With other changes being made at the base
(a partial relocation of its Transportation School to Fort
Lee in Petersburg and the relocation of a Surface Deployment
and Distribution Command unit to Illinois), Fort Eustis will
have a net gain of at least 1300 military and civilian positions.
The BRAC recommendations will be implemented at Fort Eustis
by 2011.
November 1, 2005– Iceland Seafood Merges
with Icelandic USA; Company to Expand in Newport News –
Iceland Seafood (Samband of Iceland) and Icelandic USA have
merged to form the nation’s largest seafood processing
company. With its corporate headquarters in Oakland
Industrial Park in Newport News, Icelandic USA continues
to expand. The company anticipates hiring more than 165 new
workers and adding a second shift at its Newport News plant.
From its Newport News headquarters, Icelandic USA also manages
facilities in Norfolk, Virginia; Cambridge, Maryland; and
Boston, Massachusetts. The company is located in a Virginia
Enterprise Zone.
October 20, 2005–
Bocelli Plays Newport News – Andrea
Bocelli is just one of the world-class performers in the Ferguson
Center for the Arts inaugural season. Bocelli enraptured
a sell-out audience with a night of arias and popular Italian
songs. Other performers appearing on the Ferguson schedule
this season include Michael Crawford, Bruce Hornsby, The Parsons
Dance Company, B.B. King, Judy Collins, David Copperfield,
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Temptations, the Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra, The Chieftains, the Miami City Ballet
and Bill Cosby. Performances of Miss Saigon, Madame Butterfly,
The Barber of Seville, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, Sleeping
Beauty and Swan Lake are also among the more than three dozen
events scheduled for this season.
September 30, 2005–
Marva Maid Dairy to Expand in Newport News –
Marva Maid Dairy will expand its presence in Newport News
by investing $7 million in the Newport News plant by the end
of 2007 to modernize and add to its equipment. It will also
add several new positions at the plant. Marva Maid is a regional
supplier of milk and other dairy products and is a division
of the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association.
Marva Maid Dairy is located in Copeland
Industrial Park and is in a Virginia
Enterprise Zone. Marva Maid also has distribution centers
in Richmond, Virginia and in Northeastern North Carolina.
September 7, 2005– Children’s
Hospital of the Kings Daughters Opens New Surgery Center
– Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters (CHKD),
one of the nation’s most renowned pediatric hospitals,
opened its $4 million same-day surgery center at its Oyster
Point campus in Newport News. The surgery center will
treat as many as 2.500 children annually. The center contains
two operating suites and an aquatic therapy pool. This is
a 14,000 square foot expansion of CHKD’s medical complex
in Oyster Point. Specialties include general pediatrics, orthopedics,
urology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery, and ear/nose and
throat.
September 6, 2005–
Kitchen Design Purchases Oakland Industrial Park Building–
Kitchen Design has exercised its option to purchase the 64,000
square foot building it has been occupying through a capital
lease in Oakland
Industrial Park. The building was purchased from the Newport
News Industrial Development Authority. Kitchen Design’s
purchase reflects its continuing growth and financial strength.
Kitchen Design manufactures kitchen cabinets and counter tops.
August 17, 2005–
Printpack, Inc. Acquires PBM Plastics in Oakland Industrial
Park– Printpack, Inc., which leases a 108,000
square foot manufacturing plant from the Newport News Industrial
Development Authority in Oakland
Industrial Park, has purchased the business assets and
equipment of PBM Plastics, another Oakland manufacturer. Printpack
is a manufacturer of specialty rigid containers in Oakland
and PBM Plastics is a technology leader in the manufacturing
of thin-wall, deep draw, thermoformed plastics and a leading
supplier of baby bottle liners. Dennis M. Love, President
of Printpack, stated, “PBM Plastics is an ideal addition
to Printpack because it adds important customer relationships
and melt-phase forming technology to our RampartTM division.”
RampartTM is the world’s leading manufacturer of high
barrier, co-extruded, and thermoformed containers. Its acquisition
of PBM Plastics will strengthen both operations. Printpack
will continue to operate both plants in Oakland Industrial
Park.
July 14, 2005– Alpha Terminal Company Announces New Coal Terminal – Alpha Terminal Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. and a co-owner of Dominion Terminal Associates (DTA), announced a planned $20-25 million investment at the DTA facilities in Newport News. Alpha would build a new coal import facility. Final engineering is underway and all permits have been acquired. The new pier will allow DTA, which now can handle up to 22 million tons of coal exports, to take advantage of new sources of inexpensive, low-sulfur coal being mined internationally.
May 9, 2005–
Warwick High School Named One of Nation's
Best– Newsweek magazine
announced its rankings of America’s best high schools
and Warwick High School in Newport News was ranked number
62. Warwick High School joined the ranks of the nation’s
100 best high schools due to the number of students successfully
taking Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
classes. Newsweek’s ranking is based on the
number of AP and IB tests administered compared to the overall
student body size. According to Newsweek, AP and
IB participation rates are indicators of a school’s
efforts to get students to excel and prepare for college.
Warwick High School is Newport News’ magnet school for
its IB program—the first offered in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
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