Kansas company wants to buy Qimonda property

The former Qimonda plant in eastern Henrico County has a prospective buyer.

According to bankruptcy court documents, Richmond Semiconductor, LLC is making a stalking horse bid to buy the shuttered facility for $12 million. The plant sits on 210 acres, and the buildings total 1.3 million square feet.

Richmond Semiconductor is an entity of Overland Park, Kan.-based Quality Group of Companies. Quality Group owns and manages a number of data centers across the country and also has a real estate investment division. CEO Chad Williams did not return phone calls seeking comment. Read more

Top 10 business news events of 2009

Good riddance, 2009.

Companies that have been around for decades dropped like flies. RIP S&K Menswear, Circuit City, LandAmerica and Roper Lumber. It’s also time to start saying our goodbyes to Ukrop’s, although the stores won’t be changing over just yet.

But there were some more uplifting moments, and some funny ones, too. Plus, tough times are instructional.

We tallied the Top 10 biggest moments in business, and there is some painful medicine there. But there’s lots of reasons for encouragement – some of which we’ll be getting to in tomorrow’s Top 10 trends to watch.
Read more

The Herd: New Hires and Promotions for 11.18.09

Law:

Erin R. McNeill has joined the risk management practice group of Sands Anderson Marks & Miller and will practice law from the Richmond office. McNeill has also joined the Animal Law team. McNeill graduated from the University of Florida and received her law degree from the College of William and Mary.

Courtney S. Schorr has joined the business and professional litigation practice group at the Washington office of Sands Anderson Marks & Miller. Schorr graduated from University of Notre Dame with a degree in government and American studies. She received her law degree at UVA.

S. Perry Coburn has joined the law firm of Christian & Barton, as an associate. He will focus his practice on general litigation matters, including contract and business tort disputes. Coburn received his law degree from the College of William and Mary and his undergraduate degree from Connecticut’s Trinity College. Christian & Barton is a broad-based civil practice law firm in Richmond.

Human Resources

Brian White has joined Actum Inc. as director of service delivery. White brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the Marine Corps., Operations and Human Resources management. He was formerly an HR Manager and business partner with Qimonda North America Corporation.

Sean Harrington has joined Actum Inc. as vice president of sales and marketing. Harrington brings over 10 years of experience in the staffing and health care industries.  He is a graduate of JMU.

Government:

Carolyn N. Graham has been named Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services for the city of Richmond.  Graham comes to Richmond from Washington D.C., where she worked in HR. Graham received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Baltimore and her first master’s degree in education from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She also holds a master’s in public administration from City University of New York Bernard Baruch College in New York; a master’s of divinity from the New York Theological Seminary in New York; and a doctorate in ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Doris D. Moseley, interim acting director of the Richmond City Department of Justice Services, has been appointed to the position of director of Richmond City Department of Social Services.  As director, she will oversee an agency of approximately 500 city employees, and is responsible for operations, strategic planning and policy development in the social services arena. Moseley held various positions within the Department of Social Services from 1989 to 2007.

Charles J. Kehoe, superintendent of the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, has been named director of the Department of Justice Services, replacing Doris Moseley.  Kehoe possesses a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Lewis University and a master’s of social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Promotions:

Kris Helms has been promoted to director of safety at Martinair. Helms received his B.S. in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He joined Martinair in 2006 as a charter pilot, later becoming a training captain and director of training.

Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. Please send HR notices in the body of an email (not as a PDF) to TheHerd@richmondbizsense.com.

Environmentalists urge support for Senate climate bill

On the same day U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Barbara Boxer introduced their version of federal climate change legislation, a handful of local environmental advocates gathered for a midday powwow at the Qimonda plant in Sandston to support its passage.

“We’re here today to call on Senator Warner and Senator Webb to support this bill,” said Glen Besa, director of the Sierra Club of Virginia. Read more

Texas Instruments offers $172.5 million for Qimonda equipment

Texas Instruments wants to buy the chip manufacturing equipment from the shuddered Qimonda plant in Eastern Henrico for $172.5 million. Read more

Qimonda-ites at protest: “Where’s my money?”

About 50 of Qimonda’s laid off workers protested outside their old workplace yesterday, demanding the bankrupt company pay them backed wages instead of dishing it out to other creditors and or current executives.

Workers at the rally said that they are owed their severance pay and paid time off. Some workers said that they had never received their final paycheck. Read more

1.24 million reasons to protest…

Dry cleaner goes pro bono for jobless

If you can’t find a job, at least you can have a clean suit.

Puritan Cleaners is offering free dry cleaning to unemployed workers through the end of August.

Customers who bring a letter from the Virginia Unemployment Commission or their previous employer can have a suit and two dress shirts, or two regular dresses, pressed and cleaned each week.

With unemployment on the rise, the promotion is a well-timed marketing device and could pay off with customer loyalty once the beneficiaries find jobs. Other companies have run similar promotions; for example, tax preparers offered discounts and freebies to Qimonda and Circuit City employees.

But community outreach is nothing new for Puritan, which has run charitable programs for years, most notably Coats for Kids.

“Helping our neighbors in their time of need is just the right thing to do,” said President Gary Glover in a news release.

“We hope in some small way, we can help them get a new job.”

Pirate flag over Qimonda

Last Thursday was Christopher J. Davis’s last day at the Qimonda chip manufacturing plant in Eastern Henrico.

He turned in his badge and walked out into the courtyard. Instead of getting in his car and driving home for the last time, Davis had one last thing to do.

He lowered the Qimonda flag, which flies alongside the United States flag, the Virginia flag, and the Henrico County flag.

Davis then attached the Jolly Roger, the skull and cross bones design infamous for flying over pirate ships of yore, and hoisted both flags back into the sky. Pictures of the prank were posted on Davis’ Facebook page.

This story comes on the heels of other Qimonda news:

 Lakita Blair, also a former employee, recently filed a $40 million class-action suit federal court in Delaware over severance, wages, bonuses and deferred compensation.

Bankruptcy filings skyrocket

A record number of people are filing for personal bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is housed in Richmond. Read more

Next Page »