Abandoned Burlington plant set to be razed

Work is expected to begin in the next month or so to demolish the old Burlington Plant in Halifax, members of Halifax Town Council were told Tuesday.

Town Manager Carl Espy explained that D.H. Griffin Company, based in Greensboro, N.C., has obtained building permits to tear down the old 387,000 square foot brick structure, which for many years housed one of Halifax County's largest employers before the textile maker took bankruptcy. The plant, which sits on 89.49 acres of land on the edge of town, closed its operations back in 2002. It has been vacant since that time.

The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority has received two $50,000 grants to fund the demolition of the facility. The first is from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and will be used for the abatement of hazardous materials (such as asbestos, commonly used in building construction in the 1940s).

The second $50,000 grant comes from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development's Industrial Revitalization Fund (IRF). When the IDA applied for the latter grant, it cited a need for partial demolition of the building in hopes of preserving the major part for readaptive reuse.

However, after documenting damages from an interior fire and numerous leaks in part of the roof, plus vandalism to much of the plant's copper piping, it was decided that the preservation of the current building is not economically feasible.

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IDA unveils new branding

A bold and modern new logo now brands the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County.

The new logo was unveiled at a reception held at Riverstone Technology Centre for new Halifax County Administrator Jim Halasz, new Halifax County School Superintendent Dr. Merle Herndon and new Halifax County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Matt Leonard.

The Authority's board members unanimously selected the design after weeks of working with Glerin Business Resources, a design firm headquartered in Halifax. The company undertook the task of updating the Authority’s brand identity which had not changed for more than a decade. Glerin will next tackle the redesign of the IDA website.

“I cannot stress enough how collaborative this exercise has been with Glerin. Their entire team has exceeded my expectations,” said Leonard.

“It was important for us to have a clear understanding of the direction and the message that the IDA wanted to present to the world. Starting with the logo helped us to chart that direction,” said Lisa Kipps-Brown, Glerin President and CEO.

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Symposium on the US Renaissance in Advanced Manufacturing to be held in South Boston

The week of October 22 through October 26 will find visitors from throughout the world coming to South Boston for a Symposium on the US Renaissance in Advanced Manufacturing.  The event will be hosted by the Riverstone Energy Center, the R&D Center for Advanced Manufacturing at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, the National Center for Coatings Application, Research, and Education (C-CARE), The Halifax Industrial Development Authority, the Modeling and Simulation Center, and Industry Week magazine.

The one week symposium will feature talks, panel discussions, and break out training sessions in various topics focused on advanced manufacturing.

Monday will showcase the Grand Opening and ribbon cutting for the National Center for Coatings Application, Research, and Education (C-CARE); symposium talks and panel discussions on the renaissance in advanced manufacturing; and guided tours of the Modeling and Simulation Center, the R&D Center for Advanced Manufacturing, and C-CARE.

Tuesday through Friday is broken down into separate tracks depending on the attendee's interest.  Track A features specialized training and hands-on coursework in coating application and automation technologies delivered at the C-CARE Lab, and Track B focuses on more general topics in advanced manufacturing.

On Thursday, Industry Week's "Excellence in Action Series" tours will dovetail with this event, where best practices of industries within the advanced manufacturing sector will be showcased.

Download the flyer with registration information.

Alternative energy executive to speak at Women in Technology Conference

Mary Doswell, Virginia Dominion Power's Senior Vice President of Alternative Energy Solutions will be the keynote speaker at the Women in Technology Conference that will be presented by the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business.

The conference will be held on October 22, 2012 in Riverstone Conference Room at Riverstone Technology Park (1100 Confroy Drive, South Boston, VA) from 11:15am - 1:30pm.  The event will be catered by Four Oaks Restaurant and is sponsored by the Chamber, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative, Halifax Regional Health System, and Halifax County IDA.

Tickets are $20 for Chamber members and $25 for non-members; download a pdf registration form.

Mary C. Doswell’s responsibilities include enhancing and expanding Dominion’s focus on “smart grid” technologies, energy efficiency, and alternative energy generation in conjunction with the appropriate business units.

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ALMS brings crowds to VIR

 There is no doubt that the recent appearance by the American Le Mans series proved to be a hit at Virginia International Raceway.

"We have not disclosed the exact amount of numbers. We're still waiting on a couple more reports from the ticket scanning and hand counting (numbers) just to make sure everything comes in consistent, but we know for sure that we have doubled our best Grand American Rolex event. And we parked cars where we've never parked cars before. "The feedback has just been amazing," Kerrigan Smith, VIR director of track operations, said.

"Teams, potential sponsors, current sponsors, everybody just raving over how great the event was. If anybody got to see it on ESPN2, when it was aired on Sunday, just an amazing display of what VIR offers and the beauty of the best kept secret (in sports car racing).

"I'm hoping ... that title goes away for us very soon," Smith said.

The ALMS returns in 2013. "We're excited to hopefully repeat the same great level of racing and add a few more fans to it," Smith said.

The ALMS and Grand Am will merge in 2014, and VIR hopes to stay on the schedule with a combined event.

Smith said there are talks ongoing to reach out and bring some more diversity of racing to VIR in 2013.

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ABB to build transformers for local biomass plant

ABB in South Boston has won an order from the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) and its development partner, NOVI Energy, to build two small transformers for the biomass power project now being built at the former site of Georgia-Pacific.

In 2008, the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority, relying on state and tobacco funds, funded the expansion of ABB's 90,000 square foot facility in South Boston. Today ABB is using the expanded area to build small power transformers that will support the renewable energy project locally.

NOVI Energy is the project developer of the NOVEC Energy Production-Halifax County Biomass facility (NEPHCB), a 49.9 megawatt wood and biomass-fueled electric generation project. It is currently under construction at a 104 acre site in South Boston. The plant is expected to be in operation by mid-2013.

The plant will draw fuel from the local forest products industry, including waste wood from regional timbering operations and manufacturing at mills.

The transformers will be used to step up the voltage to run the power plant. They are the largest transformers ever supplied by the ABB South Boston plant to be used in the local community.

"ABB has had a long term presence in Virginia and has greatly contributed in many ways to the South Boston community," said Fred Mistal, consultant to NOVEC Energy Production. "So it is a privilege to partner with ABB in setting up this unique, green application known as the NOVEC Energy Production, Halifax County Biomass plant.

"ABB is a world-class provider of transformers, but they are also a local supplier wanting to re-invest in this community," he added.

The new power plant will have the capacity to process as much as 600,000 tons of waste wood annually into renewable electric energy. An independent fuel study was completed with the results indicating an abundance of waste wood is available within a 75-mile radius of the facility from both regional logging operations and manufacturing facilities associated with the forest products industry.

Power produced at the new plant will enter the regional transmission system at the local Dominion Virginia Power substation, or nearby transmission to help serve the energy requirements of the customer-owners of NOVEC.

"When I learned about this project, I knew I had to support the community with a high quality ABB transformer, especially since it's going to be installed behind my house," said Brian Raney, ABB EPC Market Manager.

from The News and Record

ABB re-invests in South Boston

In 2008, the local Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County, along with state money, funded the expansion of ABB’s 90,000 square foot factory in South Boston.

Today, ABB is using this expanded area of the factory to build transformers that will support a new local business in Halifax County.

ABB has won an order from the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), and its development partner, NOVI Energy, for two small power transformers. These transformers are a critical component for a unique green application that will supply power to the local market.

NOVI Energy is the project developer for the NOVEC Energy Production, Halifax County Biomass facility, a 49.9 megawatt (gross) woody biomass-fueled, electric generation project to be constructed on a 104-acre site in South Boston.

The project will obtain all its fuel needs from the local forest products industry as waste wood from regional timbering operations and manufacturing at mills. Construction is under way, and the plant is projected to be in operation by mid-2013.

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SVHEC Hosts Successful Workforce Forward Forum

The Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) hosted the Workforce Forward 2012 Forum  on September 20th at The Prizery in South Boston, VA. Leaders in business, industry, economic development, and education gathered for a day focused on advanced manufacturing and the workforce development needed for Southern Virginia to take advantage of the manufacturing renaissance. Forum attendees engaged with three panel discussions and keynote speaker Harry Moser.

The first panel focused on Manufacturing Trendsetters and featured panelists Rick Dockstader, plant manager at Presto Products’ South Boston facility, Ken Morgan, Board Chairman of Morgan Lumber Company, LLC, and Angela Lewis, president of Lindstrand USA. Leigh Cockram, Executive Director of the newly formed Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, facilitated the panel. As experienced manufacturers in Southern Virginia, panelists spoke about their individual businesses, as well as the advantages and challenges of being located in the region. The panelists agreed that people skills were the key assets for employees to have, and that workers in Southern Virginia were top-notch, “We have a wealth of skilled labor here,” Lewis said. When asked about workforce challenges panelists cited employees lacking computer skills and difficulty with workforce training. Angela Lewis pointed out the toll long-term unemployment has taken on Southern Virginia’s workforce describing it as “heartbreaking” how some have lost confidence in themselves and in their ability to find work again.

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