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Reporter's Notebook
Notes and thoughts from the travels
of Virginia Business writers and editors
Virginia Business
June 2006
The recent Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce gala
in Richmond attracted a number of politicians, some
of whom attempted to practice their Spanish. Sen. George
Allen acknowledged his shortcomings as a Spanish speaker
in an address to the group. Nonetheless he attempted
to say that Gov. Tim Kaine is an "abogado," the
Spanish word for lawyer. When Kaine, a fluent Spanish
speaker, took his turn, he thanked Allen for his kind
remarks but added it was the first time “I have
ever been called an avocado.”
Vienna-based INDUS Corp., an IT services
provider, made the Fantastic 50 list of the state’s fastest-growing companies for the ninth time this year.
The company has been absent from the list only twice since the list was started
in 1997. Shiv Krishnan is the company’s president and CEO.
Virginia still has 18 companies on the Fortune 500 list, but the deck has been
shuffled since last year. Richmond-based Genworth Financial, spun off by General
Electric two years ago, joined the list as the 223rd largest public company in
the nation (and the seventh biggest in state). LandAmerica Financial, also based
in Richmond, rejoined the list at No. 500 after a one-year absence.
Those companies replaced MCI, the largest Virginia company on the list
last year at No. 90, and US Airways, which had been No. 295. Verizon Communications
bought
MCI, and US Airways moved its headquarters to Tempe, Ariz., after merging
with America West.
The new top Virginia company on the list is Reston-based Sprint Nextel,
formed in a merger completed last year. It is ranked 59th. By itself, Nextel
was No.
157 last year.
At least one new name should be added to the group of Virginia companies
next year. MeadWestvaco, now based in Connecticut, will move to Richmond
later this
year. The company ranked 322nd on the latest list.
Steve Barnett has overseen the transformation of a group of rooms at the Retail
Merchants Association in Richmond into state-of-the-art classrooms.
Barnett is director of MBA and Off-Campus Business Programs at Longwood University.
This September, Longwood plans to begin a graduate business program focusing
on retailing and retail management. The classes will be held on Longwood’s
Farmville campus and at the merchants’ association.
Barnett expects about 20 grad students to attend classes at the merchants
association. Another dozen undergraduates also will study there as part of
the “2 plus
2” program in which community college students work toward a Longwood bachelor’s
degree.
Students from Regent University’s School of Law in Virginia Beach won the
American Bar Association’s (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition
on April 8 by defeating Seton Hall University at the national legal competition
in Chicago.
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