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Your Schools Want to Know

Chesterfield County Public Schools want to know how the skills of our
graduates are meeting employers’ needs. For the second time in as many
years, the Superintendent will be inviting Chesterfield employers to give
their perceptions of the preparedness of Chesterfield’s recent grads in a
short telephone survey.


Employers will receive by mail simple directions
for phoning and responding to survey questions at their convenience from
May 8th through May 19th. Calls can be received anytime, day or night.
Please watch for the postcard inviting your participation and call! Thank
you for your help.

Tidewater Fibre Corporation

Tidewater Fibre Corporation will be expanding its curbside recycling operations in Chesterfield County along Old Stage Road. Tidewater Fibre, awarded the largest recycling contract in Virginia by the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) in 1999, has been temporarily conducting business at 14500 Jefferson Davis Highway in order to provide recycling services to Chesterfield County residents and other nearby localities in the region.

The new 70,000 square foot facility will provide Tidewater Fibre with a larger, more efficiently designed building in which to process the recycled items of more than 200,000 households in the Richmond metro area. The company expects to employ over 70 people and will invest more than $6 million upon completion of the new facility later this year.

Pohlig Brothers Named Medium Business of the Year

Pohlig Brothers, Incorporated, a manufacturer of packaging and cardboard products, was named the 2000 Medium Business of the Year by Chesterfield Economic Development and honored by the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors with its Business Appreciation and Recognition Award at the March 15 board meeting.


The Board of Supervisors recognized the company for its ongoing commitment to its employees and its continuous efforts to improve the quality of products and services to customers.


Pohlig Brothers also was noted for its involvement in many civic activities, including the United Way Campaign, the Greater Richmond Partnership, Chesterfield Business Council, Goodwill Industry Board, the Rotary Club, the Richmond Symphony and Leadership Metro Richmond.


In business for nearly 134 years, Pohlig Brothers currently employs 70 people. Previously operating in Richmond, the company relocated to the Chesterfield County Industrial Park in April 1996.


Pohlig Brothers makes custom-designed rigid and folding paperboard boxes and other paper products. The company also manufactures acid-free boxes sold to the photography, art and museum industries across the United States and exported to Japan and other foreign markets.

Con-Way Southern Express

Con-way Southern Express (CSE), a freight carrier for commercial and industrial businesses headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently broke ground for a new freight assembly center in Chester. The company’s purchase of 37 acres on Old Stage Road will provide for construction of a 100-door transfer station, along with a 22,100 square foot maintenance shop and fueling area, 8,000 square feet of office space, and expansion capacity for 50 additional loading docks.

In addition, the new location will allow CSE to reduce transit times between several major markets along the east coast. The company will relocate current employees from its 34-door facility in the City of Richmond and hire an additional 15-20 employees, bringing the initial employment to 75. Total investment is estimated at $11.2 million and construction should be completed in November 2000.

Business Appreciation Week

Chesterfield County joins Governor Jim Gilmore and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance in acknowledging the contributions of Virginia business during Business Appreciation Week, May 14-20. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Honoring a New Century of Business in Virginia.”

Happenings in Economic Development

  • After five years with Chesterfield County, Susan K. Deusebio, Project Manager, left the department to take a position with McKinney and Company. We all wish her the very best!
  • In December 1999, Faith V. McClintic was named Assistant Director of the
    department. Congratulations!
  • Elizabeth (Liz) Kashurba was promoted from Automation Specialist to Project Manager. Liz has been with our department for almost ten years. Congratulations!

Precision Manufacturing Program

John Tyler Community College has been selected as a Center of Excellence in Precision Manufacturing.

The College has an on-going regional industry partnership with over 30 manufacturing companies for precision manufacturing. The initiative has included a complete renovation of the College precision lab; retrofit and replacement of machines; curriculum revision with industry participation and endorsement; new sate of the art equipment, industry financial support and donations of consumable supplies and tools and funding from the Virginia General Assembly to expand the program and assist other community colleges to replicate this successful program. Eighty students are enrolled in machine technology courses at the college this fall.

For more information contact Lynn Wilson, Coordinator, High Performance Manufacturing Technology, John Tyler Community College, (804) 796-4505, email lwilson@jt.cc.va.us

Prillaman Chemical Corporation

Prillaman Chemical Corporation announced an expansion at their location on 1001 Old Bermuda Hundred Road. The chemical distbutor expanded operations by 500 square feet and invested close to $900,000 for new warehousing equipment.

Creative Memories

The Antioch Company has announced the location of a new manufacturing and distribution center in Chesterfield County. The facility will be home to the company’s subsidiary, the international direct-selling scrapbook company Creative Memories, and will create 140 new jobs by the end of 2002.


“We are pleased that Creative Memories will be locating in the Walthall Enterprise Zone,” said County Administrator Lane B. Ramsey. “Chesterfield County, with its central East Coast location, continues to increase the number of businesses that export internationally.”


Based in St. Cloud, Minn., Creative Memories offers photo-safe scrapbook albums, supplies and hands-on workshops. Creative Memories has more than 49,000 consultants in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia who teach people how to organize their photographs and memorabilia, how to chronicle their family history, and how to create safe and meaningful family scrapbook albums.


The Antioch Publishing Company manufactures a variety of photo albums as well as journals, diaries, bookmarks, bookplates and more.


The 121,000 square-foot manufacturing and distribution center, located in the Enterchange at Walthall on Interstate 95, will support approximately 20,000 consultants in states on the eastern seaboard. Through three shifts, Creative Memories will produce more than 40,000 line items in 10,000 packages on a daily basis. The plant is expected to be operational by Oct. 1 following capital equipment investments of more than $7.5 million. Additionally, the facility will support the firm’s growing business in the United Kingdom and future thrusts into Europe as it enters Germany in 2001 and the Benelux and Scandinavian countries in 2002 and beyond.


“Chesterfield County was chosen because it offered a number of amenities, including its proximity to international shipping hubs,” said Ole Dam, vice president of operations for The Antioch Company, based in Yellow Springs, Ohio. “The presence of an international airport facility and deepwater port access were critical to our decision.”


The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Greater Richmond Partnership and the Chesterfield County Department of Economic Development assisted the company with its decision. The company also qualifies for workforce training services through the Virginia Department of Business Assistance.

Rogar International

Rogar International has completed a 18,000 sq.ft. expansion of the firm’s facility in the Oak Lake Business Center. The company invested an estimated $350,000 in the expansion and hired 12 new employees.

1999 Investment Announcements

Date Company New or Expansion Investment (millions) # New Employees Square Footage
01/99 Eternal Technologies New $20.000 120 86,000
01/99 Capital One Expansion $8.000 350 45,000
03/99 Conner Industries New $1.000 10 18,000
03/99 Dickinson/Legg Inc. New $0.400 6 12,700
04/99 Tarmac Expansion $7.625 25 50,000
05/99 Carl Zeiss New $2.000 74 36,000
05/99 Tidewater Fibers Corp. New $5.000 60 37,500
06/99 DuPont – Mylar Expansion $1.400 9,000
06/99 Filtrona Richmond Expansion $20.000 230 180,000
07/99 ABB Expansion $8.000 50 80,000
07/99 White Tire New $2.500 35 47,200
08/99 ERNI Components Expansion $10.000 60 50,000
09/99 EPE New $1.000 100 79,800
10/99 DuPont – Nomex Hdqtrs. Expansion $10.000 100 78,000
11/99 Super Radiator Coils Expansion $3.000 100 57,000
11/99 Ennoventions Expansion $4.470 50,000
12/99 Rogar International Expansion $0.350 12 18,000
12/99 Logistics Link New $3.500 21 225,000
1999 TOTALS $108.245 1,353 1,159,200

Defense Supply Center Richmond Receives 1999 Large Business Award

Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors established a Business Appreciation and Recognition Award to recognize existing businesses within the county that contribute to the county’s economy and its citizens. The Board has awarded Defense Supply Center Richmond as the recipient of Chesterfield County’s 1999 Large Business Appreciation Award (awarded in late December 1999).

The Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR) is a Department of Defense installation that sits on just over 600 acres in southern Chesterfield County, Virginia. The center and its tenant organizations employ about 3,000 workers whose mission is to provide logistics support to the military services worldwide. That support includes the acquisition of material for more than 700,000 items of supply, as well as the maintenance of a wide array of logistics information, technical specifications and data. On an average day it processes over 7,000 supply requests from around the globe. The value of the material it provides to its customers is anticipated to reach the $1.4 billion mark this year.

DSCR has been committed to Chesterfield County and its schools in the following programs:

  • DSCR has three formal partnerships with Chesterfield County Schools where,
    on a weekly basis, 75-95 employees spend one hour in these schools tutoring
    in reading and math, and providing special programs for 3,000 hours per year;
  • “Transportation Day” when military vehicles were taken to the
    schools for display and employees make presentations;
  • “Career Day” where employees shared their experiences, career
    information and provided motivation;
  • Partnered 15 deaf Salem Middle School students with hard of hearing employees
    at DSCR for a day of job shadowing and luncheon;
  • Hosted Bensley Elementary’s 5th grade Graduation Luncheon at the Bellwood
    Officers’ Club for the past three years;
  • And provided support in the Ukrop’s Golden Gift Campaign, Campbell
    Soup and General Mills label programs, and the Angel Tree program.

    • Congratulations to all the employees at DSCR! Chesterfield County appreciates your hard work and dedication in our community.

    Logistics Link

    Logistics Link has completed a new 225,000 sq.ft. facility on 12 acres on Bermuda Hundred Road. Capital investment in the facility is estimated to be $3.5 million. A total of 21 employees will work at the new facility.

    Gold Medal for Chesterfield Schools Again

    Chesterfield County and the Richmond area have again been recognized for their high standards of quality. Expansion Management magazine designated Chesterfield County Schools as a Gold Medal school system, which is the highest ranking the magazine awards. The indices by which Chesterfield was evaluated for this prestigious designation include:

    • Graduate Outcome Index – the end product of the education

      process including graduation rates and college bound scores;
    • Resource Index – the community’s financial commitment to the

      student’s education, consisting of student-to-teacher ratios, per

      pupil expenditures and teacher salaries;
    • Community Index – the level of affluence and adult education in

      the district; and
    • Education Quotient – a combination of the above indices

      weighted to reflect the greater importance of the graduate

      outcome and resource index.

    More than ever before, business location decisions are driven by the quality and availability of workers. Communities that successfully attract new businesses and provide the environment that existing industry needs to expand will be the communities that produce the best and brightest workers. One way of evaluating the future workforce is by looking at the quality and accomplishments of local schools.

    For the past nine years, Expansion Management has evaluated secondary school districts throughout the nation as a service to its readers and site location professionals. As in each of the past nine years, the top school districts receive the Gold Medal designation and are among the nation’s top performing schools.

    In addition to the prestigious Gold Medal for Chesterfield, Expansion Management recognized the Richmond Metro Area as a Five-Star Community and ranked the Commonwealth of Virginia 8th in Worker Training.

    Consider Becoming A Safe Place Site

    Project Safe Place is a national prevention and outreach program available in more than 300 communities to assist teens who are in a urgent situation. The program works by providing a network of “Safe Places”: businesses and public locations that display the Safe Place logo on
    their premises.

    Safe Place sites can be any location where young people feel comfortable. Cloverleaf Mall was the program’s sponsor and the initial Safe Place site in Chesterfield County. The program has now expanded into the city of Richmond. Not only shopping malls, but restaurants, convenience stores, libraries, fire stations, entertainment centers and small businesses can be an excellent location for a Safe Place.

    Volunteers are always needed for the program. If you would like more information about becoming a Safe Place site, or volunteering please call 275-7697.

    Chesterfield County Celebrates Quality Month

    Chesterfield County proclaimed October as “Quality Month” in recognition of our continuing efforts to improve service delivery to our customers – Chesterfield County taxpayers.

    As a continuation of that celebration, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and the Department of Economic Development would like to acknowledge all of our corporate citizens for the valuable contributions you make to the fiscal well-being Chesterfield County enjoys. Without your ongoing support and commitment to making your businesses successful and profitable in Chesterfield, the County would be unable to provide our residents with the outstanding quality of life we have all come to enjoy.

    So, a very big and sincere “Thank You” to all of our corporate partners for choosing to make Chesterfield County your First Choice for business!

    Panattoni Development Company Receives 1999 Developer Award

    Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors established a Business Appreciation and Recognition Award to recognize existing businesses within the county that contribute to the county’s economy and its citizens. Based upon the Board of Supervisor’s approved Business Appreciation Award criteria, the Board has awarded Panattoni Development Company as the recipient of Chesterfield County’s 1999 Developer Appreciation Award.

    Panattoni Development is a development firm with an established reputation for its vision and responsiveness. They are located at 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive in the Boulders Office Park and specialize in the development of build-to-suit manufacturing and distribution facilities. The company has a net worth of over $150 million and has completed over 40,000,000 square feet of distribution facilities located in 45 cities across the United States since 1986.

    The first project Panattoni worked on after opening their office on Beaufont Springs Drive was a 317,000 square foot, build-to-suit for Rehrig International, Inc. in the James River Industrial Park in Chesterfield County which totaled over $10 million. Rehrig is the largest manufacturer of plastic shopping carts.

    Congratulations to all the employees at Panattoni that contributed to the success of the company! A special thanks goes to Leslie Jones for receiving the award. Chesterfield County appreciates your presence in our community.

    Attention Minority Owned Businesses Looking To Grow

    The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce is teaming up with The Metropolitan Business League (MBL) to publish the region’s first-ever Minority Business Directory. Funding support
    for the directory is being provided by
    Bell-Atlantic.

    The Minority Business Directory will list businesses owned by ethnic and racial minorities, one of the country’s fastest-growing business segments. The Chamber, The MBL, the Greater Richmond Partnership and other organizations will be distributing the directory to contacts all around the world as a way to promote Greater Richmond area minority businesses. In addition, the Chamber will provide the directory to its Board of Directors and the top fifty employers in the region.

    In order to have a comprehensive directory, the Chamber is requesting help in identifying minority owned firms. If you or someone you do business with is a minority-owned firm, contact Cheryl Trott, the Chamber’s Vice-President of Research and Information, at 783-9344. You will receive a form that will serve as a listing in the directory. There is no cost to have your business listed. Publication of the Minority Business Directory is planned for Spring 2000.

    TechnoBrands.com

    TechnoBrands.com (formerly Comtrad Industries, Inc.) has relocated to the Enterchange Building in the Walthall area. The company expanded to 50,000 sq.ft. and will have 140 employees relocating. The estimated investment for the first year is $4,470,000.

    Super Radiator Coils

    Super Radiator Coils has announced a 57,000 sq.ft. expansion at the company’s site in Southport Industrial Park. The estimated capital investment for the expansion is $3,000,000.

    DuPont Nomex

    DuPont Nomex Headquarters relocated from Wilmington, DE. DuPont refurbished the Nylon Building on the Spruance site. The labor total is 100 with 70 employees being relocations. The estimated capital investment is $10M.

    EPE Packaging

    EPE Packaging, of Orange County, California, announces the location of its new manufacturing plant in the River’s Bend Business Center in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The new facility, officially named EPE of Virginia, will be 80,000 square feet and is expected to employ up to 100 people in production, management, engineering and sales. EPE is a world-wide manufacturer of custom foam packaging for the computer, computer peripherals and electronics industries and other companies that produce high-value products which require engineered protective packaging.

    Tracing its roots back 26 years to its founding in Tokyo, Japan, the EPE group has grown to include 26 plants in its global network. EPE’s worldwide headquarters remain in Tokyo.

    The Chesterfield County location was chosen because of its strong, pro-business climate and the availability of management and skilled technical personnel.

    According to Paul Puletti, Plant Manager of EPE Virginia, “Chesterfield is a growth area with tremendous potential. During our exploratory visit to this region, we were very impressed with the cooperation of the county, Virginia Power and other local government departments.” He added, “EPE’s experience in this early state of its start-up has been nothing but positive.”

    River’s Bend Business Center is developed by Liberty Property Trust, and McKinney & Company is providing complete design and construction management for EPE.

    International Trade Web Site

    Virginia Companies currently selling to foreign markets or those companies interested in selling overseas should check out the interactive web site www.exportvirginia.org. The Division of International Trade Development at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) has set up this new information web site to make it easier for Virginia businesses to find practical information about exporting from the Commonwealth to countries around the world.


    Users will be given the opportunity to explore the benefits of international sales, chat on-line with trade managers from VEDP’s foreign offices, search various informational databases, and access an extensive list of international trade related web sites.

    In addition, the web site allows users to self-register an organization for inclusion in the Exporters Directory and access contact information for Division of International Trade personnel. VEDP’s primary we site is located at http://www.yesvirginia.org.

    Precision Manufacturing Program at JTCC – Serves Chesterfield Business with New/Improved Facility

    John Tyler Community College (JTCC) has been named a Center of Excellence in Precision Manufacturing, and assumes the leadership role for the Commonwealth in assisting regional manufacturers with precision manufacturing training and retraining requirements.

    Thanks to the leadership of Bryce Jewett, president of Jewett Machine and Jewett Automation, and the support of more than 30 area manufacturing companies, JTCC has renovated its precision manufacturing lab, retrofitted and replaced machines, revised the instructional program with industry participation and endorsement, added “state-of-the-art” equipment, and secured financial support and donations of consumable supplies and tools from business partners. The program also received funding from the Virginia General Assembly (under HJR 622) to expand the program and assist other community colleges in replicating it.

    Lynn Wilson, the Center’s new coordinator, joined the JTCC team in May following her employment as the Business Partnership Specialist for Chesterfield County Public Schools. Prior to her work in Chesterfield, Lynn served Virginia Power in their Public Affairs department.

    For more information about JTCC’s Precision Manufacturing program, contact Lynn Wilson, Coordinator-High Performance Manufacturing program, at 796-4505 or e-mail at lwilson@jt.cc.va.us.