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Inside Business

Business notes for the week of May 15

Inside Business
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PRA Group Inc., a Norfolk-based financial services company, teamed up with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Earth Day to save the bay by building oyster cages. The day-long volunteer project brought more than 30 employees to the Brock Environmental Center on April 19 to learn about its ecosystem, regional impact, and current threats while handcrafting structures that will help restore the native oyster population. The wire cages built by PRA employees will be used by volunteer oyster gardeners to raise oysters for restoring sanctuary reefs, as well as by Hampton University researchers to survey young oysters on the Hampton River.

PRA Group Inc., a Norfolk-based financial services company, teamed up with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Earth Day to save the bay by building oyster cages. The day-long volunteer project brought more than 30 employees to the Brock Environmental Center on April 19 to learn about its ecosystem, regional impact, and current threats while handcrafting structures that will help restore the native oyster population. The wire cages built by PRA employees will be used by volunteer oyster gardeners to raise oysters for restoring sanctuary reefs, as well as by Hampton University researchers to survey young oysters on the Hampton River. (Courtesy photo)

Appointed/elected

Teresa Saeed, deputy clerk of James City County, was elected president of the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association. The organization’s mission is to promote education and certification of municipal clerks, increase efficiency of municipal clerk operations and to be alert and responsive to federal, state and local legislation that impacts the clerk’s office.

Certification

Krishna Loya, community engagement manager at the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center in Virginia Beach, met the requirements of certified volunteer administrator, which less than 2,000 professionals worldwide have achieved. She has worked at the nonprofit for 10 years and leads hundreds of volunteers throughout the year in providing hunger relief and serving other programs.

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Expansion

In collaboration with INIT, a Chesapeake-based supplier of integrated IT solutions and ticketing systems for buses, light rail and trains, The Rapid, a public transportation system that serves the greater Grand Rapids metropolitan area, became the first transit agency in Michigan to launch contactless payments. As an additional option to Wave cards and cash fares, riders can now use physical credit or debit cards and digital cards stored in their mobile wallets to pay for transit. The system provides contactless payments to eliminate barriers by expediting the boarding process and enhancing accessibility.

Grants and donations

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast received a $100,000 donation from TowneBank Foundation toward the urgent repair of the Virginia Enmeier Program Center at Camp Skimino in Williamsburg. The center is at the heart of the camp and serves as the dining hall and program center. The camp is used throughout the year and is the main resident summer camp in the region. The repair of a loose door frame led to the discovery of hidden water and termite damage that extended into all three stories of the building. Additional interior repairs are still awaiting funding or in-kind collaborations to restore the bathrooms, complete the electrical repairs, add new flooring and paint the interior of the building.

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Hampton Roads Educators Credit Union held a free Shred Day on April 7 to help the community properly dispose of sensitive data. On the same day, it collected food to benefit the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. A total of 5,100 pounds of paper was shredded, and 1,058 pounds of food and $824 in monetary donations were collected, which is the equivalent of more than 3,300 healthy meals that will be provided to the community.

The city of Newport News and the Newport News Green Foundation received a $125,000 grant from the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America and the African American Mayors Association. Four cities with African American mayors received grants to advance essential programs that improve community health, increase access to affordable basic nutrition needs and offer educational components that help market the program to residents. Funding will support the Sarfan Food Forest currently under development in the city’s Southeast Community. The focus of the project is an active green space with a diverse ecosystem of more than 75 different species of fruit-bearing trees. Plans also include an outdoor classroom, community farm stand, plants for an indigenous garden and pollinator meadow, recreational areas and more. Through this project, the city is creating the third-largest food forest in the nation.

The Virginia Natural Gas Foundation presented a $34,000 grant Norfolk State University to combat coastal erosion and bring awareness to student food inequity. The grant was presented on Earth Day in support of two ongoing initiatives to help with coastal restoration efforts along the Elizabeth River by creating a living shoreline and to expose students to the science of growing and harvesting their own food.

Norfolk’s Department of Economic Development selected a design-build team for the Historic Rosna Theatre redevelopment project. Norfolk-based companies VIA Design Architects and Compo Construction Co. will oversee the design, construction and build-out of the future Team Norfolk boxing center, which will serve as home to training, competitions and community meetings while serving local, regional and national boxing talent. The design firm will hold public community meetings in the coming months to present designs and concepts for discussion. The project timeline is slated to take 18-24 months.

Norfolk’s Department of Economic Development selected a design-build team for the Historic Rosna Theatre redevelopment project. Norfolk-based companies VIA Design Architects and Compo Construction Co. will oversee the design, construction and build-out of the future Team Norfolk boxing center, which will serve as home to training, competitions and community meetings while serving local, regional and national boxing talent. The design firm will hold public community meetings in the coming months to present designs and concepts for discussion. The project timeline is slated to take 18-24 months. (Courtesy photo)

New state initiative

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the formation of Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology in advance of his first international trade mission to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, where he met with industry leaders to discuss why Virginia is the best place for the semiconductor and microelectronics ecosystem to thrive. The alliance will bring together industry and university partners to create new workforce development opportunities and expand access to clean rooms, labs and equipment for training and research and development by faculty, students and entrepreneurs. It will be led by Virginia Tech in alliance with the University of Virginia, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University and Northern Virginia Community College. Job-ready workforce training will be a primary focus of the program as it creates three new Fast-Track to Semiconductor Careers certification programs that span the semiconductor supply chain. This upskilling initiative will target veterans and underserved communities and result in more than 25,000 hours of hands-on lab and equipment training that produces 500 job-ready workforce certifications over the next three years.

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