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Newport News Shipbuilding sets massive stern on carrier Ford [Virginian - Pilot](Virginian - Pilot Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Newport News Shipbuilding lowered into place the 825-ton stern of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) in the construction drydock last week, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. announced. The first in the next generation of Navy carriers, the Ford will feature a new nuclear power plant, a redesigned island, electromagnetic catapults, improved weapons movement, an enhanced flight deck capable of increased aircraft sortie rates, and the flexibility for future technologies and reduced manning. The Ford is being built in modules that are welded together into so-called superlifts. The shipyard's 1,050-metric-ton crane lifts the superlifts into place in the construction drydock. The Sept. 12 superlift was among the largest of the 162 that constitute the Ford. The piece was 90 feet long, 120 feet wide and 30 feet deep and included the steering gear rooms, electrical power distribution room, store rooms and tanks. "This is among the top five largest superlifts in terms of dimension," said Rolf Bartschi, the shipyard's vice president of the CVN 78 Program. "What makes this lift especially impressive is that the unit was erected over the rudders already positioned in the drydock. Precision is of utmost importance in shipbuilding, and our shipbuilders went to great lengths to construct this lift and successfully hoist it into place." The Ford is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2015. - Chris DinsmoreTwo longshoremen in leadership roles Two Hampton Roads longshoremen recently were elected to top leadership positions within the New York-based International Longshoremen's Association. Thomas Little was formally elected international vice president representing the port of Hampton Roads. It's one of 25 such positions nationwide. Little had been serving in the position on a provisional basis following the death of Edward L. Brown Sr. in early 2010. Larry Bachtell was elected as vice president on the Atlantic Coast District Board of the ILA, which encompasses all ILA port areas from Maine to Virginia, eastern Canada, Great Lakes ports and Puerto Rico. Brown had held both positions representing Hampton Roads for several decades. The ILA represents about 65,000 longshoremen on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Great Lakes, major U.S. rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Canada, according to the group's website. - Robert McCabe Rec Warehouse closing Beach store Rec Warehouse, a retail chain that sells above-ground pools, spas and patio furniture, is closing its Virginia Beach store and plans to auction its contents Thursday, according to Iron Horse Auction Co. Inc., which is handling the public sale. Iron Horse, based in Rockingham, N.C., has scheduled the auction for 3 p.m. in the store, at 229 S. Rosemont Road. All new inventory and equipment will be for sale. Bidders can attend in person or participate in real time over the Internet, at www.ironhorseauction.com. The Virginia Beach store is the only Hampton Roads location for Rec Warehouse. Iron Horse also is handling auctions for stores closing in Greensboro, N.C.; Concord, N.C.; and Columbia, S.C. Thomas McInnis, chief operating officer of Iron Horse, said Rec Warehouse is paring back its number of stores as the economy has cut into sales of pool and recreational equipment. The company has 33 stores in eight states, mostly in the Southeast. - Carolyn Shapiro POpcorn company opens mall kiosk If you're a snack lover who believes that popcorn isn't just for the movies, MacArthur Center has a treat for you. Doc Popcorn, a chain out of Boulder, Colo., opened a kiosk inside the downtown Norfolk mall this month. On the third level, near the movie theater, it's the company's only location in Virginia. Doc Popcorn touts all-natural ingredients used to create flavors such as sweet butter, hoppin' jalapeno and sinfully cinnamon. The popcorn is sold in bags or refillable tins. Derron and Pam Simon own the local franchise. They had two previous locations in the region but closed those to shift to MacArthur Center, where they hope to tap into the diverse population of military personnel, college students and families, said Rachel Acevedo, a Doc Popcorn spokeswoman. The company has 28 locations nationwide. - Carolyn Shapiro agency has four bids for Superferries The two Hawaiian superferries docked at Lambert's Point, the Alakai and Huakai, might soon be changing hands. The U.S. Maritime Administration, which put the two vessels up for sale on an "as is, where is" basis in late June, has received four bids. The administration is "working expeditiously with bidders and other interested parties in evaluating its options, with a goal of maximizing the government's return from these vessels," according to a spokeswoman. The administration took possession of the ferries in July 2009 after a bankruptcy judge ruled that the owner - Hawaii Superferry Inc. - could abandon them to lenders, which are owed nearly $159 million. The administration, which guaranteed the loans, moved them to Norfolk. The plan was to sell the ferries together - they would be sold separately only if they could be sold at the same time, according to a June 20 sale notice in the Federal Register. - Robert McCabe Medical center honored for its care Riverside Regional Medical Center's cardiovascular telemetry unit has received national recognition from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The unit, which provides care to cardiovascular patients after a procedure or intensive care, was awarded the Silver Beacon Award for Acute and Critical Care Excellence. The award honors the nation's top pediatric, progressive and adult critical-care units, based on leadership, staffing, communication, evidence-based practices and patient outcomes. It is the second time Riverside Regional's critical care has been recognized with a Beacon award; the hospital's intensive-care unit received the award last year. - Amy Jeter 3 hospitals named top performers Three Hampton Roads hospitals were named top performers by The Joint Commission, the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News and Sentara Bayside Hospital in Virginia Beach were among 405 hospitals - 14 percent of all Joint Commission- accredited hospitals reporting data - to receive the designation in the new recognition program. Sentara Bayside stopped providing inpatient care last month and became an outpatient center, but hundreds of employees moved to the new Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach. The top hospitals were recognized for following best practices 95 percent of the time on 22 measures that include care for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. - Amy Jeter T. Parker Host buys gulf coast ship firm T. Parker Host Inc., a Norfolk-based ship agency and brokerage, has announced the acquisition of NSA Agencies Inc., New Orleans, a ship agency on the Gulf Coast. The deal, finalized Sept. 7, will widen Host's business to include an area stretching roughly from Tampa, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas. "We're expanding the unique agency package provided on the East Coast to the U.S. Gulf, to include not only traditional ship agency, but freight forwarding, reporting, supervision and logistical support services as well," said David Host, president and CEO at T. Parker Host Inc. "It's what we do." Founded in 1923, Host operates on the East Coast from Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia to the north, to Jacksonville, Fla., to the south. It is the leading service provider to the coal-export industry, the company said, and plans to broaden NSA's services to include more coal operations. "That's some of the expertise we're hoping to bring," said Finn Host, Host's vice president/operations. The existing NSA management team and their employees will be retained by Host, the company stated. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed. - Robert McCabe Technology company to hold job fair Advanced Technology Services Inc. will hold a free job fair Saturday at Bayside Harley-Davidson in Portsmouth. Known as ATS, the company is filling positions for diesel, calibration and maintenance technicians, as well as "leadership positions." The fair will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2211 Frederick Blvd. For more information, go to www.advancedtech.com/careers, phone 855- 4ATS-JOBS or email [email protected]. - Philip Walzer College to host economic forum The College of William and Mary's Mason School of Business will hold its fourth annual forum on the economy at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Brinkley Commons Room in Miller Hall. Five faculty members will speak: John Boschen, professor of economics and finance; John Gilmour, professor of public policy; Deborah Hewitt, associate professor of economics; Eric Kades, vice dean of the college's law school; and John Merrick, associate professor of business. Topics will include the debt-ceiling debate, credit downgrades and market fluctuations. The forum is titled "What Happened? What's Ahead?" It is free and open to the public. For more information, email [email protected]. - Philip Walzer company seeks innovation through its 'hackathon' Two dozen employees of Dominion Enterprises participated in a two- day "hackathon" this weekend. The goal was not to illegally enter one another's secure sites, but to share know-how and break down barriers between divisions. Hackathons are a growing business phenomenon to inspire innovation and attract tech-savvy employees. "The whole idea is for them to freely come up with something without the constraints of a timeline," said Julie DuRose, director of online marketing for Dominion Enterprises, a marketing services company based in Norfolk. Dominion is owned by Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, the parent company of The Virginian-Pilot. At Dominion Enterprises, the workers - from different divisions - gathered to share ideas and develop programs that could be used by more than one department. "We have a ton of businesses within Dominion Enterprises," DuRose said. "What we're trying to do is integrate them somewhat and have them working together. So one of the requirements of this hackathon is that they have at least one, possibly two, different businesses working together." The hackathon began at 9 a.m. Friday and was to last until midnight, DuRose said Friday. The IT folks planned to return at 9 a.m. Saturday and finish by 5:30 p.m. Awards were to be given for best ideas. - Philip Walzer Beach delays new permitting system Technical problems have delayed the launch of a new permitting system for Virginia Beach, the city announced last week. The city is replacing an automated permitting system for building construction that is more than 20 years old. Final testing of the system in the city's Permits and Inspections Office "exposed unacceptable inconveniences" to customers. The new system now will go live Oct. 10. The existing system will go out of service beginning at the close of business Oct. 6. To schedule an inspection on Oct. 7, for Oct. 10, contact the office at (757) 385-4211, using option 4. - Chris Dinsmore NTelos unveils new cellular site Ntelos Wireless added a new cellular site to enhance coverage in Virginia Beach, the company said last week. The new site, near Princess Anne and Dam Neck roads, will improve cellphone services for places such as Landstown High School, Sentara Princess Anne Hospital and the Virginia Beach Higher Education Center. It was activated Aug. 23. - Carolyn Shapirocertifications STROKE: The stroke program at Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk received a Certified Primary Stroke Center designation from the national accrediting group The Joint Commission. The certification was based on compliance with national standards for stroke care, clinical guidelines for care, and performance-measurement guidelines. contracts COLONNA'S: The Army has awarded Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk a nearly $17 million contract for drydocking, cleaning, painting, repairs and modifications to the SP4 James A. Loux, a logistics support vessel stationed at Joint Base Eustis. The work is expected to start in December and to take about six months. KITCHEN: Kitchen Corps has received a contract to provide a temporary cafeteria for Meadows of Dan Elementary School in Patrick County after a recent cafeteria fire. The Chesapeake-based company will supply a production kitchen, walk-in cooler, freezer storage unit and dining facility designed to serve 200 students a day. expansions SIERRA LOBO: Sierra Lobo Inc., an engineering and technical services company based in Fremont, Ohio, has opened a new office in the Hampton Roads Technology Center at 100 Exploration Way in Hampton to serve NASA. WALMART: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened its newly renovated and expanded store at 657 Phoenix Drive in Virginia Beach last month. The new layout adds 38,000 square feet and creates a more open shopping area with wider aisles and lower shelving. Wal-Mart also rearranged departments for customer convenience, so the pharmacy, for example, is next to the food area. As part of the expansion, the store plans to hire about 200 more employees, nearly doubling its workforce. new businesses RUNNING: Fleet Feet Sports, a retail chain for runners, plans to open its first Hampton Roads store this month at 4001 Virginia Beach Blvd. in Collins Square in Virginia Beach. The chain, based in Carrboro, N.C., sells a variety of apparel, shoes and other running gear. It also offers a program called No Boundaries to help beginning runners and walkers start training. SKATING: Victory Family Skating Center opened Friday at 2850A Airline Blvd. in Portsmouth. The roller rink will be open Thursdays through Sundays. The owners are Michael and Julia Palmer. online ST. GREGORY: Saint Gregory the Great Catholic School in Virginia Beach has launched a new website at www.sggsvb.org. The site was built by Web Teks, a Chesapeake-based technology solutions firm, using Eloom's CommunityManager.net to be easily managed by the school and allow teachers to post homework assignments. VBGOV: The City of Virginia Beach launched a new vbgov.com, the city's official website. Last overhauled in 2006, the new site features updated branding, design improvements and enhanced navigability. The redesign reflects new technology, growth in mobile computing, the rise of social networking and changing user needs. (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |