UMFS opens new $11 million residential center to enhance youth behavioral, mental health treatment
Local Asian American Society of Central Virginia to host author and artist of new book
Inauguration of University of Richmond’s 11th president slated for April 8th
Richmond ranked fourth worst city for spring allergy sufferers
Youngkin pledges to pull Virginia from carbon market by executive order
Pedal the James with Paddle Club RVA
The Dairy Bar in Scott’s Addition closes after 76 years; Tang & Biscuit to take over with new concept
Drink Beer and Help Friends of James River Parks
Q Rooftop at Quirk Hotel is Back
ZZQ Review by Swallow This by T.C. Mahone on Youtube
Richmond Folk Festival announces first group of artists for 2022 festival
Friday Cheers Becomes Friday Tears as Weather Postpones the Show
2nd Street Festival and the Richmond Folk Festival Dates Announced
Tonight’s Friday Cheers is Cancelled Due to Weather
Arts on the Lawn returns to Hermitage Richmond for second year May 14th
LEGO Group to bring $1 billion facility to Richmond area, creating 1,760 jobs
The Dairy Bar in Scott’s Addition closes after 76 years; Tang & Biscuit to take over with new concept
Schwarzchild Jewelers moving from longtime home in Cary Court to new Carytown Exchange development
Small cannabis entrepreneurs say they can’t compete against ‘Walmart of weed’
Fox Elementary mom launches national database of tutors with an eye towards academic equity
Kickers Dominate Independence – Photos and Game Summary
Kickers Draw Against Tormenta – Photos and Game Summary
Kangaroo vs. Ibis Battle in City Stadium as Tormenta FC Flies into Town – Kickers Preview
Kickers Dominate With Three Goal Win – Photos and Game Summary
The Valentine receives major national grant to upgrade archive storage facilities
U of R professors awarded $325K NEH Grant for open-source tool to analyze historic images
The Valentine Museum and “Reclaiming the Monument” receive historic grant
Lead Box Found in Lee Monument Not the Elusive Time Capsule
Governor Northam announces study to explore ways to reconnect Jackson Ward
The LEGO Group today announced plans to invest more than US$1 billion to build a new factory in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Once completed, the 1.7 million square foot facility will employ more than 1,760 people.
The LEGO Group today announced plans to invest more than US$1 billion to build a new factory in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Once completed, the 1.7 million square foot facility will employ more than 1,760 people.
The factory will be designed to operate as a carbon-neutral facility. 100 percent of its day-to-day energy needs will be matched by renewable energy generated by an onsite solar park. The site will also be designed to minimize energy consumption and the use of non-renewable resources.
“This is an exciting step for the LEGO Group, said Niels B. Christiansen, CEO of the LEGO Group. “More and more families are falling in love with LEGO building and we are looking forward to making LEGO bricks in the US, one of our largest markets. The location in Virginia allows us to build a solar park which supports our sustainability ambitions and provides easy links to country-wide transportation networks. We are also looking forward to creating fantastic employment opportunities for the people of Virginia.”
Construction will commence in fall 2022 with production projected to start in the second half of 2025. A temporary packaging site will open in an existing building nearby in early 2024 and create up to 500 jobs.
The Virginia factory will be the LEGO Group’s seventh factory globally and the second in the Americas. The company’s manufacturing site in Monterrey, Mexico primarily supplies the US market and will be expanded and upgraded to meet the growing demand for LEGO products.
Carsten Rasmussen, Chief Operations Officer, the LEGO Group said: “Our factories are located close to our biggest markets which shortens the distance our products have to travel. This allows us to rapidly respond to changing consumer demand and helps manage our carbon footprint. Our new factory in the US and expanded capacity at our existing site in Mexico means we will be able to best support long-term growth in the Americas. We are fortunate to find a location where we can begin construction quickly and create temporary capacity in under two years.”
The new factory in Virginia, like all LEGO facilities, will use state-of-the-art technology to mold, process, and pack LEGO products and ensure they meet the company’s rigorous safety and quality requirements.
“Our bricks are made to last for generations, so we need skilled employees trained to work with precision molding technology. We look forward to working with the Virginia Talent Accelerator program to help build a great team who are motivated by our mission to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow,” said Rasmussen.
LEGO factories in Europe and China are also being expanded, and in December 2021, the Group announced plans to build a factory in Vietnam to support further growth in Asia.
The LEGO Group currently employs approximately 2,600 people in the US where it has been operating since the 1960s. Its US head office is in Enfield, CT, and operates 100 LEGO branded stores across the country.
Trevor Dickerson is the co-founder and editor of RVAhub.com, lover of all things Richmond, and a master of karate and friendship for everyone.
After over 76 years in business, The Dairy Bar has closed its doors in Scott’s Addition, but new life is planned for the space.
After over 76 years in business, The Dairy Bar has closed its doors in Scott’s Addition, but new life is planned for the space. The restaurant, which opened in 1946 as The Curles Neck Place (when owned by Curles Neck Dairy) and was renamed The Dairy Bar in the 1980s, was a mainstay in the constantly-changing neighborhood. It ultimately succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, according to a post by owner Corey Martin, who purchased the business from longtime owners Bill and Tricia Webb in 2020:
It is with heavy heart that the Dairy Bar has shut down. It has been somewhat of a Richmond Landmark since 1946. COVID placed a heavy hit on the Dairy Bar and once reopening was allowed the decline in sales along with increase in wages as well as food costs proved to be all but impossible to show a profit for a business with such tight margins. Once we were made aware that the former Landlord had sold the property we were pleased to find that the new buyers were literally business people from Scotts Addition neighborhood [sic]. They worked with us to allow an amicable and smooth transition. We so appreciate having the opportunity of meeting so many wonderful and colorful people both the patrons as well as our dedicated employees
The new owner Martin was speaking of is Stanley Shield Partnership, which bought the building and adjacent properties totaling 1.5 acres earlier this year for $7 million, according to Richmond BizSense. While there are currently no known plans to redevelop the property, the firm has developed nearby mixed-use projects including The Scout on Myers Street.
Neighboring shuffleboard bar Tang & Biscuit, which opened in 2018, announced today it will be taking over the space and plans to create a breakfast and lunch spot with a “funky diner feel” called Biscuits & Gravy.
No word yet on when renovations will take place or when the space will open.
A post shared by Tang & Biscuit Social Club (@tangandbiscuit)
The jeweler has leased 5,500 square feet at Carytown Exchange located at 3550-3403 West Cary Street & 3403-3550 Ellwood Avenue.
Schwarzschild Jewelers will be moving from their current location at Cary Court Shopping Center, commercial broker Thalhimer reported this week. The jeweler has leased 5,500 square feet at Carytown Exchange located at 3550-3403 West Cary Street & 3403-3550 Ellwood Avenue.
Schwarzschild Jewelers at Carytown Exchange will anchor the main building that faces Cary Street alongside J.P. Morgan Chase and other high-end retailers. The new custom-built location will have a modern yet elegant look and feel featuring state-of-the-art displays and amenities, Thalhimer said in a release.
The exterior of the building will keep with the eclectic nature of Carytown by showcasing an intense blue hue. The interior will highlight Schwarzschild’s commitment to customer service – showcasing boutiques from some of the world’s top jewelry and watch brands, a built-in entertainment bar, and an on-site jeweler and watchmaker for quick service. A grand opening will be held upon completion of construction scheduled for mid-2023. Schwarzschild Jewelers celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2023.
“Today, Carytown is one of the area’s most vibrant shopping areas in the City of Richmond,” said Kiley Schiffman Storrs, Director of Marketing for Schwarzschild Jewelers. “Schwarzschild has a tradition of innovation and culture geared towards providing the highest level of customer service to our clients, which includes positioning our stores in areas that are most convenient to our customers. Our new location puts us right where we want to be – in the center of one of the highest traffic areas, allowing us to provide the best experience possible.”
Many small cannabis entrepreneurs say large companies are jockeying to lock them out of the industry and have funding that gives them more access to lawmakers.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the country,” said Sarah Grant, general manager of The Dispensary in Richmond.
The shop opened last year and sells Delta-8-THC flower and vape cartridges.
“It’s hard to compete if you’re going against the Walmart of weed,” Grant said.
Grant said the lack of structure in the recreational cannabis market is stressful for smaller businesses and that her store could never compete with lobbyists from national cannabis corporations.
New lobbying clients, special interest groups and investors have entered the arena the past four years as Virginia lawmakers grappled with medical and recreational cannabis legislation. State lawmakers decriminalized simple possession of cannabis in 2021 with initial plans to legalize recreational cannabis by 2024—though that floundered in this year’s session. Potential sellers were left in limbo and parts of the legislation needed to be reenacted or passed again the next year before becoming law.
The market currently favors the four companies licensed to serve five health districts in Virginia. The Northwest health district does not currently have a licensed company. Only state licensed companies can open medical cannabis dispensaries in their district.
Some of those companies have merged to expand their business and have the cash to inject into Virginia politics.
Stephen Farnsworth is a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington and director of the school’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies.
“The recreational marijuana industry is the wild, wild West right now,” Farnsworth said.
The state’s commercial cannabis market could yield between $30 million to $60 million in tax revenue in the first year, according to a 2020 report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the state’s legislative watchdog agency. JLARC estimated that by the fifth year, commercial cannabis sales could generate between $154 million to $308 million in tax revenue.
Virginia’s illicit recreational cannabis market is estimated to be the No. 4 in the nation, according to the 2020 U.S. Cannabis Report. Virginia’s market generated roughly $1.8 billion of America’s estimated $60 billion in total illegal cannabis sales in 2020.
A burgeoning industry always has numerous wealthy interests competing for the best position in the field, Farnsworth said.
“From the point of view of an elected official, that means there are a lot of people who want to influence you,” Farnsworth said.
High stakes to get into the business
Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, sponsored a bill to establish a recreational cannabis market through a handful of medical dispensaries that already operate in the state, and large-scale industrial hemp processors. The measure was an attempt to reenact legislation passed last year and accelerate the creation of the recreational cannabis market.
The currently licensed medical cannabis dispensaries each paid $70,000 total in permit fees for their medical facilities to become operational. The annual renewal fee is $10,000. The dispensaries would have paid $6 million to hold another license to open recreational retail stores and hemp growers would pay half a million dollars each, under Ebbin’s amended bill. Lawmakers were unable to agree on several conditions of the bill, choosing instead to carry it over to the 2023 legislative session.
Jason Amatucci is president of the Virginia Industrial Hemp Coalition, a group that wants to establish robust hemp-centered agricultural and manufacturing industries in the commonwealth. Amatucci pointed to California’s thriving hemp industry. California produced almost 4 million square feet of hemp grown in protected areas in 2021 —about double the production amount of the next largest state, Colorado, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. California has a $4 billion annual market, according to Forbes business magazine, though the majority is medical and recreational cannabis sales.
Amatucci said he didn’t want to see pharmaceutical companies gain a foothold in the recreational market before small businesses could.
“The government wants to protect Big Pharma,” Amatucci said, referring to the retail purchasing power of national medical marijuana companies and the donations made to legislators. “Follow the money on this, because it’s all in plain view for everyone to see.”
The only way to legally purchase cannabis with over .3% THC is by going to a practitioner licensed by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy. The practitioners issue a written certification that the patient suffers from an ailment and would benefit from the use of medical cannabis. Approved patients then apply to the board to get their official card. The General Assembly recently passed a bill that, starting in July, allows patients to bypass the Board of Pharmacy application and take the referral to the dispensary.
Virginia’s licensed medical cannabis companies can grow cannabis at their processing facility and sell it through their dispensaries. There are currently 11 medical cannabis dispensaries open throughout the state, according to cannabis legalization advocacy group Virginia NORML. Each licensee is allowed to operate one dispensary for growing and processing cannabis, and up to five satellite locations for retail.
The four operators licensed to serve Virginia are:
Dalitso, which also goes by Beyond / Hello, for the Northern health district.
Dharma Pharmaceuticals, which also goes by RISE, in the Southwest health district.
Green Leaf Medical in the Central health district.
Columbia Care in the Eastern health district.
Green Leaf Medical, headquartered in Richmond, was acquired by Columbia Care in 2021.
Cresco Labs, a Chicago-based medical cannabis giant, announced plans to acquire Columbia Care in late March for $2 billion, but the deal has not closed yet.
Florida-based Jushi Holdings, which operates in five other states, acquired the Virginia-based Dalitso in 2021 for approximately $22 million.
Dharma Pharmaceuticals was acquired in 2021 by Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, which operates in 13 other markets, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.
The state’s four licensed pharmaceutical processing firms now fall under the ownership of three out-of-state companies valued at hundreds of millions and traded on the stock market.
The merger of Cresco Labs and Columbia Care could make them the second-largest retailer in the country and the largest retailer outside of Florida if the company hits its forecasted revenue, according to a joint press release. They would have 130 retail shops in eight states, the company stated. The company estimated it could make over $100 million annually.
Cannabis money has made its way into campaign donations. The licensed operators donated between 2021-2022 a combined amount close to $160,000 to Democrats and just over $100,000 to Republicans, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance reports.
Jushi donated the most with $117,000 total. Dalitso, now owned by Jushi, contributed $30,000. The other operators donated total amounts between approximately $21,000 and $50,000. Then there are other donations from testing labs and individuals involved in the industry.
The amounts don’t rival the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, that other political special interest groups have spent. But the cannabis industry is new and smaller business owners who thought last year they would have a clearer path to the market are worried.
“At a minimum, a campaign donation is going to buy you an opportunity to be heard,” Farnsworth said.
Donations don’t guarantee a lawmaker will support legislation favorable to a lobbying firm, but money can buy access, Farnsworth said.
Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, is the only nurse practitioner in the House of Delegates, according to VPAP. Adams is registered with the state to refer patients for medical cannabis. Adams owns RVA Telecare, where a consultation for a medical cannabis card costs $155.
Adams has sponsored several pieces of legislation on cannabis reform. She provided testimony in favor of the now-dead bill introduced by Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, which many hemp advocates said would limit their products and instead favor the medical cannabis industry. The bill also aimed to eliminate access to synthetic Delta-8 products.
Adams declined interview requests to discuss the revenue she makes from issuing medical cannabis referrals. Adams did not respond to a follow-up phone call and email to comment if she feels there is any conflict of interest between her two roles as a lawmaker and her medical cannabis referral practice.
State code defines conflict of interest for lawmakers. A legislator with a personal interest should disqualify themselves from voting on measures, according to state code. They can participate in discussions if any potential interest is disclosed. Personal interest can exist when a lawmaker has a personal interest in a business or provides a service related to the proposed measure, according to state code.
Adams listed her Integrated Health Consulting business earlier this year as an economic interest with the state’s Ethics Advisory Council. RVA Telecare is listed twice with the State Corporation Commission, once under Integrated Health, and once as its own entity. The company is not listed as a potential conflict of interest with the council.
The lawmaker voted on a bill that allows a patient to bypass obtaining a medical cannabis card from the Board of Pharmacy after getting a referral from a medical provider, which her office could do. She later was recorded as “present but not voting” on an identical Senate bill. The lawmaker did not excuse herself from voting in support of Hanger’s bill.
The delegate spoke before the final House vote on Hanger’s bill, and said that she has no financial interest in her support of the legislation.
“All I can tell you is that I spend a lot of time reading, studying,” Adams said. “I have no financial stake in anything … this is a public safety issue.”
Adams wanted the market to be safer and more regulated, she said in testimony.
Cannabis advocates said Hanger’s bill would push people toward the medical cannabis industry, which Adams is a part of, while eliminating access to certain hemp produced, low-THC CBD products.
“They can position themselves so that the medical monopoly is the only ones that can sell these products,” Amatucci said. “What we have now, with this medical monopoly system is worst product, worst prices.”
Luke Greer is the owner of the Northern Virginia Hemp Co. and has operated in Virginia since industrial hemp farming was legalized.
“I don’t mean to villainize large money interests,” Greer said. “But I don’t feel that they should prioritize that over the small businesses that have been operating in the space prior.”
Colorado’s Department of Revenue issues licenses to recreational cannabis retailers for approximately $7,500 per license and application fees. California’s Department of Cannabis Control issues licenses on a ranked revenue system capped at $96,000 for a retailer making more than $7.5 million. Applicants negatively affected by the criminalization of cannabis can apply in California to have the fee waived.
Virginia lawmakers have also disagreed on how and whether to make the recreational market more accessible to people who have been operating in it prior to decriminalization, or what cannabis reform advocates call the legacy market.
Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, introduced the 2021 House bill that legalized simple possession of cannabis and established the initial outline for a recreational market. The bill included social equity provisions intended to keep already existing processors from squeezing out smaller entrepreneurs. It also confronted decades of disproportionate policing for cannabis crimes.
Lawmakers disagreed on the number of licenses allocated to social equity applicants and how much these sellers should pay for licensing.
Legislators killed a bill proposed by Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, which required licensed industrial hemp sellers wanting to have an additional license, for example, to sell recreational cannabis, to pay a $1 million fee to the Board of Pharmacy and be a long-time resident or business owner in an economically disadvantaged area.
Grant said these fees are inaccessible to small business owners, especially if they have already been financially impacted by the legal system.
“People have been in this business their whole life, just in the illicit market,” Grant said. “Those folks should definitely have an opportunity to get into this legally.”
Amber Littlejohn is executive director of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, a group that wants Virginia to establish a legal market that is favorable to minorities targeted by the war on drugs.
“When we make the investment in social equity programs, we are going to get that back,” Littlejohn said.
Supernova Women is an advocacy group run by women of color who want to lower barriers of entry and build sustainability in the cannabis industry. A Supernova Women study this year found for every dollar invested in a social cannabis equity program, there is a $1.20 return.
“Even if people are not compelled by the moral imperative, there is actually economic and broader social reasons to do it,” Littlejohn said.
She was hopeful that her groups’ demands for inclusion in the industry would be met but said that it would be an uphill battle.
Michael Carter Jr. is an 11th-generation farmer whose family owns Carter Farms in Orange County. Carter said social equity programs won’t solve the damage done to communities of color but recognizing the past by opening access to licensing could be a start.
“We had the opportunity to make up the deficit when it comes to opportunities like this,” Carter said. “But many farmers and many African Americans realize that we’re not gonna get that opportunity.”
Copyright © 2016 - 2020 RVAHub.com. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Boulevard Creative, LLC.