Michael Randle, Author at Southern Business & Development

NC lawmakers Tim Moore, Phil Berger see roads as top priority for Charlotte transportation plan

Posted on March 6, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Charlotte business leaders heard yesterday from the state’s top two lawmakers on a range of issues, with closest attention paid to their views on transportation and transit.

N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) returned to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance for a preview of the General Assembly short session that begins in April.

A year ago, Berger and Moore dismissed much of what is in the $13.5 billion transit mobility plan backed by city government and CLT Alliance. In recent months, the city and CLT Alliance, among others, have said the plan needs a makeover. What that entails and how soon consensus can be reached are undetermined; council and Mayor Vi Lyles held lengthy discussions at their annual retreat in January about reshaping the plan and pushing for regional support to help prod state lawmakers.

Charlotte Business Journal

Dominion receives final federal approvals for $9.8B wind farm off Virginia’s coast

Posted on March 6, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Richmond’s Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D) said Tuesday it had received the final two federal approvals it needed to begin construction on its $9.8 billion wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach.

The 2.6-gigawatt farm, which will total 176 turbines more than 20 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to generate enough renewable energy to power up 660,000 homes once it is complete. It is being touted as the nation’s largest offshore wind farm.

Bob Blue, Dominion’s chair, president and CEO, said in a statement the approvals will keep the wind farm’s construction “on time and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy.”

Richmond Inno

San Francisco defense intelligence firm relocates to Virginia

Posted on March 6, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

DataShapes, a signals and waveforms intelligence company, is making a big move to Virginia.

The San Francisco firm on Tuesday said it is relocating its headquarters to Charlottesville. The company said the move is aimed at facilitating the company’s focus on electronic warfare and intelligence work for U.S. government and defense organizations.

The new headquarters will be at the UVA North Fork Research Park near the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport.

Richmond Inno

Lego delays the start of production at forthcoming $1B Virginia factory

Posted on March 6, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Lego Group said Thursday production at its forthcoming $1 billion Richmond-area manufacturing facility would begin in 2027, about a year later than initially planned.

The delay was caused in part by the time it took to finalize a deal with a general contractor and getting ramp-up and design plans squared away.

The Danish company behind those beloved toy bricks said it selected a joint venture between Lexington, Kentucky’s Gray and Richmond’s Hourigan to be the general contractor for the Chesterfield County facility, which will span 1.7 million square feet in Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park. Gray|Hourigan, as the joint venture is called, will manage deep foundation and site preparation work this year. The construction of 13 factory buildings is expected to start later this year. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site in April without a contractor selected.

Richmond Inno

This summer is on track to be among Texas’ most extreme

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

An unrelenting stretch of blistering days amid an ongoing heat wave has put this summer on track to be one of Texas’ most extreme, weather data shows.

Although June was only Texas’ 16th warmest on record by average temperature, according to the state climatologist, a long period of very hot days between mid-June and mid-July has made this summer one of the most intense in terms of extended high temperatures.

In June, a sample of 38 weather stations across the state recorded a temperature at or above 100 degrees 250 times — the fifth-greatest monthly total for that month in the past three decades, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of National Weather Service data. The average temperature for June was 82.2 degrees, which was 2.6 degrees above the 20th century average, according to data provided by the state climatologist. Texas Tribune

CORE X Partners establishing cold storage operations in Gulfport, Miss.

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves again calls for phasing out personal income tax

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is renewing his call for legislators to phase out the state’s personal income tax over several years, and he is asking them to spend more money on economic development, highways and the judiciary.

The Republican governor is also requesting additional spending on Capitol Police as the state-run agency is set to gain a wider territory to patrol within the capital city of Jackson.

Reeves on Wednesday released his budget proposals for fiscal 2025, which begins July 1.

The Republican-controlled Legislature could consider the document as they decide how to spend state money. But House and Senate budget writers have a long history of largely ignoring budget recommendations from governors, even when they’re from the same party.

Jackson Clarion Ledger

What’s filming in Georgia in February 2024?

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The scripted side of TV and film business in Georgia has been a bit slow getting back into gear since the actors strike ended in early November, but it’s starting to pick up in February. The number of productions jumped from 28 to 40 in less than four weeks. And the scripted side has grown from 11 to 21, which is closer to pre-strike productivity.

At Assembly in Doraville, Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson and Samuel L. Jackson are starring in “Fight Night: Million Dollar Heist,” a limited series for Peacock.

Netflix is busy. Both “Cobra Kai” and “Stranger Things” are finally shooting their final seasons. Lindsay Lohan is starring in a new Netflix Christmas movie “Our Little Secret” and has been seen around town at Atlanta Hawks games and shooting in downtown Decatur. And Colman Domingo (”Rustin”) is starring in a limited series “The Madness.”

NBC’s season 2 of “Found” is also back. So is the fourth season of Netflix’s “Sweet Magnolias.”

Amazon has started two productions. Eddie Murphy will soon be in town to shoot action film “The Pick Up.” Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Nettles will be starting the new series “The Bondsman.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution

A China-U.S. Decoupling? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The U.S. trade deficit with China fell last year to its lowest in over a decade. This looks, at first glance, like a decoupling of the two economies thanks to the steep tariffs President Donald Trump slapped on Chinese imports in 2018.

Trump is spoiling to finish the job, floating a 60%, or higher, tariff on all Chinese imports if he’s re-elected this fall.

The U.S., though, hasn’t kicked the Chinese import habit as much as the data suggest. Chinese and Western manufacturers have found numerous ways around tariffs; they are likely to redouble those efforts if the levies go higher.

Last year, the overall U.S. trade deficit in goods shrank to $1.1 trillion from $1.2 trillion in 2022, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. As a share of gross domestic product, it fell to 3.9%, the lowest in over a decade.

Most of the reduction came via the gap with China. This dropped by more than $100 billion to $281 billion last year, the lowest since 2010.

The Wall Street Journal

Youngkin’s focus on Virginia wins praise from unlikely source: Democrats

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who spent the first two years of his administration hammering national hot-button issues such as critical race theory and parental rights, has a new message for the Democrats who run the General Assembly:

Send me bills that make Virginia look good.

In Youngkin’s view, that means business-friendly bills that cut taxes, expand workforce training and pave the way for a sports arena in Alexandria for the Wizards and Capitals. Democrats might or might not agree with the specifics, but the nuts-and-bolts debate signals the promise of a new relationship between a Republican governor who had seemed to be looking beyond Virginia and a legislature where Democrats have a fresh sense of power and purpose.

“We’re building a rapport,” said House Speaker Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth), once one of Youngkin’s sharpest antagonists in floor debates. “Give us some time. Let us build this rapport outside of the public limelight. And then when the time comes, we’ll be able to [get things done] because we’re working on some big, important stuff.”

The Washington Post