July 2002

This report is compiled from company releases, business journals and newspapers from around the state. If you have an item for these listings please:

mail it to:
For the Record
Virginia Business Magazine
P.O. Box 85333
Richmond, VA 23293

or e-mail it to ForTheRecord@va-business.com,
or fax it to (804) 649-6311.

Mergers and Acquisitions
Tutornet.com, a Great Falls firm offering online educational content, plans to acquire B.Cause Inc., a marketing firm based in Westchester, Pa. (05/17/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Aleron, a Reston-based bankrupt start-up operating a network for Internet service providers, was sold to Cincinnati, Ohio-based PowerNetGlobal Communications, a customer-centric solutions provider for $3.6 million. (05/17/02, The Washington Post)

SunTrust Banks Inc., an Atlanta-based commercial banking organization, plans to buy the Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown brokerage office in Richmond which will become part of SunTrust's new Alexander Key retail brokerage. (05/16/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Company of Richmond, an insurance intermediary, plans to acquire Hobbs Group, an independent insurance broker in Atlanta. (05/13/02, Press release)

STG Inc., an information technology firm catering to government and commercial clients headquartered in Fairfax, acquired PSC Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based defense contractor. (05/13/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Great Coastal Express Inc., a Richmond-based trucking company, plans to be bought by Heartland Express Inc., an Iowa-based publicly traded trucking company. (05/10/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

KPMG Consulting Inc., a global business advisor and systems integrator headquartered in McLean, plans to acquire 23 business consulting units of Andersen Worldwide's member firms for up to $284 million. (05/09/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Maximus, a government services company based in Reston, acquired Leonie Green and Associates, an Australian workforce services provider. (05/08/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Cavalier Telephone, a Richmond-based telephone company, acquired the East Coast assets of Advanced Telecom Group of California. (05/02/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Virginia Investment Counselors Inc., of Norfolk, an investment advisory firm, was purchased by BB&T Asset Management, a subsidiary of BB&T Corp., a Raleigh-N.C.-based registered investment adviser. (05/01/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Benefit Consultants of Virginia Inc., a brokerage and consulting firm based in Richmond, will be acquired by Raleigh, N.C.-based retail broker BB&T Insurance Services. (05/01/02, Press release)

Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Co., a provider of insurance services headquartered in Richmond, acquired InsurMark Group, an insurance agency headquartered in Reston. (05/01/02, Business Wire)

Trigon Healthcare Inc., a health insurance and managed care company headquartered in Richmond, plans to be a acquired by Anthem Inc., an Indianapolis-based health care benefits and insurance company. (04/30/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Metro-County Bank of Virginia Inc., of Mechanicsville, will merge with Southern Financial Bank of Warrenton. (04/26/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

ICF Consulting, a Fairfax-based management and technology consulting firm, plans to acquire two consulting divisions of Massachusetts-based management consulting firm Arthur D. Little Inc. (04/25/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

BACK TO TOP

Deals
Honeywell International Inc., an international conglomerate based in Morristown, N.J. with operations in Richmond, agreed to a three-year contract with the Teamsters Local 101. (05/23/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

AHL Services Inc., an Arlington marketing support services firm, partnered with Agiliti Inc., a Minneapolis, Minn.-based provider of hosting and IT services to support AHL's implementation of marketing and fulfillment solutions for Fortune 500 companies. (05/21/02, PR Newswire)

Northrop Grumman Newport News, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman of San Diego, will share work on a $6 million contract for repair parts for Virginia-class submarines with General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics of Falls Church. (05/21/02, PR Newswire)

Virginia Interactive Inc., a network manager of the Virginia's official state portal based in Richmond, has partnered with CrownPeak Technology, a Marina del Rey, Calif. content management firm to bring CrowPeak's Advantage CMS to state and local government Web managers throughout Virginia. (05/15/02, Business Wire)

MicroStrategy Inc. of McLean, a provider of business intelligence software, will help CVS Corp., headquartered in Rhode Island, roll out additional business intelligence applications. (05/15/02, PR Newswire)

Bassett Furniture Industries Inc., a manufacturer of home furnishings headquartered in Bassett, has chosen Ernst & Young to replace Arthur Andersen as the company's independent auditors. (05/14/02, Business Wire)

The Fairchild Corp., a Dulles-based manufacturer and supplier of precision fastening systems for the aerospace industry, decided to replace Arthur Andersen with Ernst & Young as its independent auditors. (05/14/02, Business Wire)

The Martin Agency, a Richmond-based ad agency, will develop integrated advertising campaigns for Dominion Resources, an energy company headquartered in Richmond. (05/13/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Smithfield Foods Inc., a hog producer and pork processor based in Smithfield, hired Ernst & Young of New York to replace Arthur Anderson as its auditor. (05/11/02, The Virginian-Pilot)

The Martin Agency, a Richmond ad agency, was selected by Coca-Cola Co. to create a nationwide ad campaign to promote its newest soft drink, Vanilla Coke. (05/10/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Carilion Health System, a Roanoke-based health care provider, extended preferred pricing for health insurance products in the Roanoke Valley to Aetna, CIGNA, Southern Health Services and Unicare. (05/10/02, roanoke.com)

Illumitek, a data analysis software provider headquartered in Herndon, plans to partner with behavior detection technology maker, Mantas of Fairfax, to create fraud and compliance standards for the financial services industry. (05/09/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

George Mason University in Fairfax and James Madison University in Harrisonburg will create a joint project to protect the nation's critical infrastructure - financial services, utilities, health care, and communications - by serving as a knowledge base for researchers and policy makers and funding research projects. (05/07/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Iridium, a satellite telephone service provider based in Arlington, will market and sell its services through Telstra Corp., an Australian telecommunications company. (05/06/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Luck Stone, a Richmond-headquartered producer of crushed stone products, reached an asset purchase and sale agreement with Martin Marietta, a producer of construction aggregates based in Raleigh, N.C. (05/03/02, Business Wire)

Smithfield Packing Co., a Smithfield-based unit of Smithfield Foods Inc., and its partner Sumitomo Corp. of Japan, reached an agreement with Ito Yokado Co., a retail food chain in to sell Smithfield branded fresh pork throughout Japan. (05/02/02, PR Newswire)

Sunrise Assisted Living Inc., a McLean-based assisted living provider, reached an agreement with PRICOA Property Private Equity to form a joint venture to develop assisted living properties in Germany and the United Kingdom. (05/02/02, PR Newswire)

The Mills Corp., a real estate investment trust headquartered in Arlington, signed an agreement to purchase the joint venture interests held by its partner, Simon Property Group of Indianapolis for $430 million. (04/30/02, PR Newswire)

EPhone Telecom Inc., a Herndon-based provider of voice over Internet services, signed an agreement to purchase bandwidth from Cogent Communications Group of Washington, D.C., a high-speed data carrier. (04/26/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

BACK TO TOP

New Plants and Companies
NeuStar Inc., a registrar of Internet domain suffixes, will move its corporate office from the District of Columbia to its network-operations center in Sterling. (05/24/02, The Washington Post)

ITT Educational Services Inc., an Indianapolis, Ind. provider of technology oriented degree programs, opened a new ITT Technical Institute in Springfield. (05/20/02, PR Newswire)

Visteon Corp., a partsmaker for the auto industry based in Michigan, plans to set up a fuel tank manufacturing plant in Chesapeake to supply Ford's Norfolk truck plant. (05/17/02, The Virginian-Pilot)

Airgas Inc., a dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide maker based in Radnor, Pa., will build a $10 million plant in Hopewell and employ 50 people. (05/17/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Trinity Packaging Corp., an Armonk, N.Y.-based plastic-bag manufacturer, will locate in Rocky Mount and hire 300 workers through a $9.1 million investment. The company had cancelled previously announced plans to locate in Clarksville. (05/11/02, Press release)

WAM!NET, a global provider of secure, digital content delivery and hosting solutions headquartered in Minnesota, opened its Government Services division in Herndon, creating more than 200 new jobs through a $1.5 million investment. Virginia competed with Maryland and Washington, D.C. for the project. (05/03/02, Press release)

Eli Lilly and Company, an innovation-driven corporation based in Indianapolis, plans to invest $425 million in a new insulin manufacturing facility in Prince William County, creating over 700 high-tech jobs. Virginia competed with North Carolina and South Carolina for this project. (05/02/02, Press release)

Tacit Knowledge Systems Inc., a California-based maker of collaboration software, opened an office in Great Falls to serve federal government customers. (04/25/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

BACK TO TOP

Executive Promotions
John E. Harrison, president, CEO and chairman, Liquid Networks Inc. in Arlington. (05/20/02, PR Newswire)

Jeffrey Hammel, CFO, Luna Innovations in Blacksburg. (05/17/02, Press release)

William Horan, COO, Operation Blessing International in Virginia Beach. (05/16/02, Press release)

Thomas McDonough, CEO, CyberWolf Technologies Inc. in Falls Church. (05/08/02, Business Wire)

John Berik, CEO, US2 in McLean. (05/08/02, PR Newswire)

N. Richard Friedman, chairman and CEO, and Paul L. Lemar, president and COO, The Resource Dynamics Corporation in Vienna. (05/07/02, Press release)

Todd Bramblett, CEO, Ikimbo Inc. in Herndon. (05/07/02, The Washington Post)

John Sidgmore, CEO and president, WorldCom Inc. in Ashburn. (04/30/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Robert Harnett, CEO, Blue Ridge Networks in Chantilly. (04/29/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Neil Wilkin, president, Optical Cable Corporation in Roanoke. (04/24/02, Press release)

John deLorimier, president, Information Experts in Herndon. (04/08/02, Press release)

Russell C. Cook, president, United Energy Corporation in Bristol. (Press release)

BACK TO TOP

Contracts
CACI Technologies Inc., Chantilly: $8.1 million over three years from the Air Force Research Laboratory for a variety of tasks to improve signal processing capabilities. (05/23/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Vienna: $5.6 million from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic Division in Norfolk to renovate Building 419 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. (05/22/02, Press release)

Sensytech Inc., Newington: $6.2 million for delivery of four AN/SRQ-4 Radio Terminal Sets for the U.S. Navy. (05/22/02, Business Wire)

CyberRep, McLean: a multiyear contract with Brother International Corporation to provide customer service and technical support in customer contact center in Bartlett, Tenn. (05/21/02, PR Newswire)

Ion Track Instruments, Alexandria: $36 million from the U.S. Navy to secure Navy facilities and ships around the world by providing explosives detection and identification systems. (05/20/02, Business Wire)

Bloodworth Integrated Technology, Reston: $28 million over six years from the Defense Information Systems Agency to provide support for process improvement and re-engineering. (05/17/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

VERSAR Inc., Springfield: $3 million over three years from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide Architecture and Engineering services at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. (05/15/02, PR Newswire)

Computer Sciences Corp., Falls Church: $160 million, including one base year and four one-year options, from the U.S. Department of State to provide information technology and technical services at worldwide locations. (05/14/02, PR Newswire)

Ciber Inc., McLean: $20 million over five years to develop a full range of information systems and data warehousing for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (05/14/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

ITT Industries Inc.'s Night Vision Division, Roanoke: $450 million over five years from the U.S. Army OMNIBUS VI procurement for Generation 3 night vision devices. (05/08/02, PR Newswire)

Vcampus Corp., Reston: $1.2 million over 12 months from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to implement, host and manage employee e-Learning. (05/07/02, Business Wire)

SRA International, Fairfax: $1 billion from the Defense Information Systems Agency to provide systems engineering and other information technology services to DISA's missions and other Defense Department and federal organizations. (05/06/02, Press release)

SIGNAL Corp., Fairfax: $5 million over five years from the U.S. Army to provide web hosting, maintenance and enhancements to the Joint Computer Aided Logistics Support Web site for the Army's Communications-Electronics Command. (05/06/02, Business Wire)

Centex Construction, Fairfax: $132 million for two new construction contracts; one in Washington, D.C., the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse Annex and Renovation ($100 million) and Hampton, the F-22 Facilities project at Langley Air Force Base ($32 million). (05/06/02, Business Wire)

ManTech International Corp., Fairfax: $53 million over a one-year base period plus two one-year options from the Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Countermeasures Program Division to provide services in technical security, engineering, logistics and administration. (05/06/02, Business Wire)

ManTech International Corp., Fairfax: $1.7 million over 18 months from the Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division to deliver information technology, statistical modeling, analysis and engineering services. (05/03/02, Business Wire)

CACI International Inc., Arlington: $500 million from Science Applications International Corp. to provide engineering, implementation planning, staging, testing and installing network nodes for the Defense Information Systems Agency. (04/29/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

BACK TO TOP

Cutbacks and Closings
General Electric, a Fairfield, Conn. technology and manufacturing company, plans to cut 145 salaried positions at its Salem operations due to a reduced volume of orders. (05/24/02, The Roanoke Times)

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, a Dulles-based state-funded, non-profit organization, cut 10 jobs and chose not to fill four-and-a-half vacant positions to help meet a $3.3 million reduction in its state appropriation. (05/22/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Teleglobe Inc., a Quebec-based provider of global communications and eBusiness services with an office in Reston, laid off 425 employees in a reorganization plan. (05/15/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Haleos Inc., an optical components maker based in Blacksburg, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. (05/10/02, The Roanoke Times)

Ikimbo Inc., a maker of instant-messaging and file-sharing software based in
Herndon, has cut 25 employees. (05/07/02, The Washington Post)

Ikimbo Inc., a Herndon-based maker of enterprise-level instant messaging and collaboration software, laid off 20 employees due to the slow economy. (05/03/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

Smithfield Foods Inc., a meat producer headquartered in Smithfield, will shut down a backfat and smoked pork chop factory in Norfolk and consolidate production into more efficient operations, letting about 160 employees go. (05/03/02, The Virginian-Pilot)

Virginia Tech in Blacksburg will cut more than 200 positions to plug a $25 million hole in the university's budget created by state funding cuts. (05/02/02, The Roanoke Times)

Curtis Papers Inc., a Milford, N.J. producer of premium coated papers, plans to close its Richmond factory due to a slump in demand in premium-priced paper products. (05/02/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

DuPont Textiles & Interiors of Wilmington, Del., a manufacturer of man-made fibers, plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce, eliminating more than 2,000 jobs worldwide and as many as 200 at its Waynesboro plant. (04/30/02, News Leader)

VeriSign Inc., an Internet addressing company based in Mountain View, Calif., laid off 350 employees nationally due to restructuring. Most of the lay offs were in its offices in California and Dulles. (04/26/02, The Washington Post)

BACK TO TOP

Divestitures
Massey Energy Co., a coal producer headquartered in Richmond, sold virtually all of its remaining interest in Appalachian Synfuel to an unidentified affiliate. (05/14/02, PR Newswire)

Adelphia Communications, a Pennsylvania-based cable TV provider with systems in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, plans to sell its markets in Virginia where there are 575,000 customers. (05/10/02, The Freelance Star)

PSINet Inc., a provider of IP-based communications services headquartered in Ashburn, entered into a share purchase agreement for the sale of PSINet Europe B.V. and its subsidiaries to a group of investors led by Israel Corp. and ClearBlue Technologies Holdings Limited for $9.5 million. (04/26/02, Business Wire)

BACK TO TOP

Expansions
Siemens VDO Automotive, a leader of automotive innovation, plans to expand its production facility in the City of Newport News. Fifty-five jobs will be created through the $2.6 million investment. (05/13/02, Press release)

AVID Medical of James City, a provider of customized medical procedure trays and surgical accessories and kits, will expand its plant in Toano for $3.5 million and double its work force to 300 employees in the next three years. (05/03/02, Daily Press)

BACK TO TOP

Real Estate
United Dominion Realty Trust Inc. of Richmond, bought Presidential Greens Apartments, a 397-unit community in Alexandria for $30.2 million. (05/22/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Atlantic Realty Companies, a Tyson's Corner-based commercial real estate development firm, acquired the 103,000-square-foot Huntwood Plaza building in Alexandria for $10.6 million. (05/21/02, Press release)

BKG Properties Inc., a New Mexico-based real estate firm, acquired the 14-story, 186,540-square-foot Main Street Tower in Norfolk for $15.2 million. (05/08/02, The Virginian-Pilot)

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., a publicly owned real estate investment trust of New Jersey, sold a 67,926-square-foot industrial building at 5740 Bayside Road in Virginia Beach to J&H Realty Corporation of North Carolina for $2,150,000. (05/03/02, PR Newswire)

United Dominion Realty Trust Inc., a multifamily real estate development trust headquartered in Richmond, sold a portfolio of 950 apartment homes in Memphis, Tenn. for $38.7 million. (05/01/02, Business Wire)

BACK TO TOP

Financing
The Commonwealth Bank of Richmond, approved a five-for-four stock split. (05/24/02, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

LogiXML, a producer of customized programming language and applications developer headquartered in McLean, secured approximately $2 million in strategic investments. (05/22/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

SI International Inc., a government services contractor based in McLean, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. (05/10/02, Potomac Tech Journal)

The Mills Corp., a self-managed real estate investment trust headquartered in Arlington, agreed to sell 6,525,000 shares of common stock to Morgan Stanley for an undisclosed amount. (05/02/02, Business Wire)

BACK TO TOP

StarBand Communications Inc., a satellite Internet services provider headquartered in McLean, filed suit against EchoStar Communications Corp., a leader in the satellite TV industry, alleging that it is illegally billing and collecting revenue from 31,000 StarBand customers. (05/24/02, The Washington Post)

Motient Corp., a wireless-messaging company based in Reston, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reducing its debt from about $500 million to less than $20 million. (04/26/02, The Washington Post)

Robert O. Copeland, a Virginia Beach real estate developer and owner of Channel 21, sued the Federal Communications Commission, citing it allowed another company to unfairly bid up his offer during a 1999 auction for Channel 21. His original bid was $806,000 and the final bid $5.2 million. (04/25/02, The Virginian-Pilot)

BACK TO TOP

Send your company news and announcements to
ForTheRecord@va-business.com.