Biz Beat Roundup: Two area banks officially tie up

Business Activity

• Alexandria-based Burke & Herbert Bank completed its acquisition of LINKBANK last month and has now taken over branding at the three former area LINK branches downtown, on Plank Road in Spotsylvania County and in Spotsylvania Courthouse Village. LINK customers will officially become Burke & Herbert customers Monday (June 15). Burke & Herbert also has a branch on Cowan Boulevard in Fredericksburg and a downtown loan office. Burke & Herbert had intended to open a branch at The Vakos Companies’ Park Place on William project at 520 William St. downtown, but it’s unclear whether that will proceed now that it has taken over the LINK branch just down the street at 410 William St. Burke & Herbert is now the sixth-largest area bank by deposits, according to FDIC data, trailing only Atlantic Union Bank, Truist Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America and PNC Bank (in that order).
• Billikens Smokehouse in downtown Fredericksburg will close its Caroline Street restaurant Nov. 26 after nearly 10 years in business, the restaurant announced today on Facebook. Billikens said in the post that it will shift its focus to catering events such as weddings, corporate events, retirement parties, reunions and more.
• Under Armour is planning a roughly 8,000-square-foot retail store at 1775 Carl D. Silver Parkway in Fredericksburg. The store is expected to open in the first half of 2027.
• FX Clinical Research has opened a facility at 1227 Central Park Blvd. in Fredericksburg.
• The Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce this week held a grand opening at its new headquarters at 317 William St. in downtown Fredericksburg.
• Bora Bora Smoothie Cafe has opened at 296 Garrisonville Road, Suite 101, in North Stafford.
• A Starbucks location has opened at the Aquia Town Center in Stafford.
• The 3N Kingsway International Food Market recently opened at 201 Kings Highway in Stafford’s Ferry Farm Shopping Center.
• A Kabob Corner restaurant location has opened at 560 Celebrate Virginia Parkway in Stafford. The chain also has locations in Central Park and Stafford Marketplace.
• Riddim & Spice Jamaican Restaurant at 1169 Courthouse Road in Stafford recently celebrated its grand opening.

Movers & Shakers

• Cary Street Partners financial advisor and Managing Director Lee Murray was re-appointed last week to the University of Mary Washington (UMW) Board of Visitors. Kaci Easley, director of community engagement and local affairs for Dominion Energy, was also appointed to the UMW board.
• Baron Braswell of Spotsylvania, a financial services advisor for MassMutual, was appointed last week to the Virginia State University Board of Visitors.
  
• This week’s edition of the Biz Beat Banter podcast features Dietmar Weselin, who grew up in Germany during World War II, made his way to the United States and Fredericksburg, became a business success and now gives of his time and talents to support wounded members of the U.S. military.
• This week on Biz Beat Clips, we kick off a two-part series taking viewers inside Amazon’s two large Stafford warehouses on Centreport Parkway. This week features the company’s cross-dock facility, which is the beginning of the journey for many Amazon packages.
• Mary Washington Hospital has been recognized by Healthgrades for its outpatient orthopedic care.
• Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery will be in downtown Fredericksburg on Wednesday (June 10) for a presentation of Virginia Main Street’s Milestone Award to Fredericksburg Main Street and a walking tour.
• Shore United Bank customers will have free access to Greenlight’s family finance app, the bank announced last week.
• FFP report: The Fredericksburg Nationals clinched the Carolina League North first-half crown after Sunday’s 8-6 win over the Hill City Howlers.
• The UMW College of Business recently honored the following school alumni who have excelled in their professions:
  • Hall of Fame Award: Presented posthumously to Kevin Ely ’97, managing director at Cambridge Associates and member of UMW Foundation Board of Directors from 2017 until his passing in 2022
  • Distinguished Business Award: Erika Bush ’11, founder of Living Dappled; Samuel Foltz ’95, president of FXBG Accounting & Advisory and associate professor of accounting at Germanna Community College; and Jamie Scully ’04, senior vice president with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer
  • Outstanding Young Alumni Award: Philip Anderson ’15, strategy and operations at Google and former special operations intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy; Carolina Brusch ’23, senior revenue specialist at Hilton; Luis Gavignano ’22, owner-operator of multiple McDonald’s restaurants in Mid-Atlantic; and Christina Malave ’17, account director at Rescue | The Behavior Change Agency
• Atlantic Builders has named Brian Davidson as Central Virginia president and Robert “Rob” Dodd Jr. as director of commercial construction. Davidson recently served as chief operating officer at Van Metre Homes, and Dodd is the founder and owner of DLR Contracting Inc., which built a number of local commercial building including many for Silver Companies.
• Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC) is graduating its first class of 22 medical residents, including 15 in internal medicine, six in family medicine and one in family medicine obstetrics. Launched three years ago, MWHC’s Graduate Medical Education programs now include internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, anesthesiology, family medicine obstetrics and a transitional year residency. This summer, MWHC will start gastroenterology and cardiology fellowships. Additional approved programs expected to begin next year including psychiatry, neurology and pulmonary critical care. MWHC is also trying to start a local medical school in partnership with UMW.
• Ray Cash has been named as Fredericksburg’s new Community Planning and Building Director. Cash has more than 22 years of experience in the field, and most recently was Assistant Director of Community Development and Planning in Goochland County.
• UMW has opened enrollment for a new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence in Business (MS in AI in Business). The graduate degree is the first of its kind in Virginia to focus specifically on artificial intelligence in a business context.

Real Estate Review

• 

  This Orange County home, called Lynn Haven Manor, sold last week for $1.325 million, topping the list of weekly home sales in the region.

  There were 155 home sales in the Fredericksburg region last week, including one for $1.325 million, according to this week’s report from the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors (FAAR). Check back weekly for the past-week sales.

• Flint Development, a commercial real estate developer, has begun site work on a 40-acre industrial development just north of the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions site and south of the newly opened Wawa and Starbucks off Interstate 95 in Thornburg. Located at 6241 Patriot Highway, the Flint project will feature a “555,675-square-foot state-of-the-art facility designed to meet the growing demand for logistics, distribution and manufacturing space along the I-95 corridor.” Flint’s total investment in the site is $213.5 million, according to a news release. Flint has been involved in other large industrial projects in the region of late, including the 1.2-million-square-foot World Class Distribution center in Carmel Church and the under-construction Capital 95 Logistics Center, a 934,534-square-foot facility off Centreport Parkway in Stafford.
• FFP report: Last week, a group of concerned citizens showed up to voice their displeasure about three data center projects already approved by King George County.

Biz Beat Roundup runs every Wednesday and includes a roundup of business news from around the Fredericksburg region. Send submissions to: [email protected]