Trash to treasure for Henrico dump

A Henrico County-based energy company is seeking rights to build an electricity-producing plant at the Springfield Road Landfill near Short Pump.

Ingenco intends to build a plant that will capture methane gas produced by the decaying heaps of garbage and turn it into electricity. The facility will be able to produce 4,000 kilowatts of electricity an hour, or about enough juice to power 2,000 homes.

Ingenco plans to sell to power companies.

The company is seeking a conditional use permit, which will be considered by the Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 24.

“Landfills make gas, and it’s a nuisance to the community,” said Alan Petersen, the company’s vice president of development. “We want to build a facility that can take the gas to produce electrical power and pay the county handsomely for collecting and maximizing the capture of the gas.” Read more

Startup sprouts from S&K ruins

And from the ashes, new life emerges.

Sounds biblical, but in this case it applies to three entrepreneurs who have a plan to sell low-priced menswear online.

Bert Hardy and two other former S&K Menswear executives are trying to take the S&K model and cut out the stores, leaving a profitable online operation.

They first tossed around the idea six months ago while helping S&K wind down. Read more

Bright spots for homebuilders

Homebuilders have been eerily silent the past few quarters, but for builders in Chesterfield County, the market is starting to turn around.

The county issued 291 residential building permits in April, 7 percent fewer than the same month last year. That’s a dramatic improvement over January, when permitting activity was down 58 percent from the previous year. Slow construction continued in the county through February and March, with permitting activity off almost 40 percent from the year before. Read more

Circuit City’s HQ Liquidation: The Sequel

The bargain hunters are back at Circuit City’s Western Henrico headquarters.

The electronics store’s Deep Run III building was opened Tuesday to shoppers. But unlike the sale that ended at Deep Run II, this one is going to take longer – until April – and prices are not negotiable yet. Read more

Inside the liquidation of Circuit City’s HQ

Qimonda fallout hits local support office

A Japanese company that provided sales and service to Qimonda’s Henrico semiconductor plant is closing its Richmond office, a sign that the fallout from the plants closure is reverberating throughout the region. Read more

Polluted Henrico parcel gets makeover

A site in Henrico County is slated for commercial development almost 30 years after being identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a threat to public health. Read more