BizSense Beat is a weekly collaboration between VPM News and Richmond BizSense that brings you the top business stories during NPR's Morning Edition on Fridays.
Here’s a recap of the top stories for the week of August 30, 2024:
Chesterfield brewery Steam Bell Beer Works closes after decade in business
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
A nearly decade-old Chesterfield brewery has poured its last beer.
Steam Bell Beer Works planned to close Sunday, it announced last week. It had operated at 1717 E. Oak Lake Blvd. near Brandermill since 2015.
With Steam Bell’s lease expiring, the brewery was apparently unable to come up with a new location amid a challenging business landscape, according to a social media post on Friday that appeared to be written by owner Brad Cooper.
Local Stone Brewing employees look to unionize
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Two years after their employer was acquired by a multinational conglomerate, the local workers of Stone Brewing Co. are looking to unionize.
Earlier this week employees at the California-based brewery’s Richmond production facility launched a union drive. They’re working with Local 322 of the Teamsters, which filed a petition for the union on Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board.
The unionization effort comes two years after Stone was acquired by Japanese brewing giant Sapporo Holdings Ltd. in a $168 million deal. Stone, now technically called Sapporo-Stone Brewing, operates a 200,000-square-foot production facility in the city’s Fulton neighborhood. The plant has been gradually upgraded and expanded since opening in 2016.
Airport commission defers high stakes vote on controversial FBO proposal
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Michael Schwartz
Richmond International Airport’s controversial bid to take over certain airline fueling and maintenance operations from two longtime local operators – and potentially causing those two companies to go out of business – has been put on hold, at least for the time being.
The Capital Region Airport Commission voted unanimously this morning to defer consideration of a hot-button proposal that would allow RIC to assume control of so-called fixed-base operator (FBO) services from privately-owned Richmond Jet Center and Million Air Richmond.
The deferral came at the request of RIC CEO Perry Miller and was made in light of a steady stream of vocal opposition against the proposal in recent weeks.
Fall Line Trail project reaches Richmond, though some question route through Bryan Park
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Work on the multijurisdictional Fall Line Trail is making its way into Richmond city limits, though not everyone on hand for a ceremonial groundbreaking was celebrating the multiuse path’s planned route.
City officials and supporters of the years-in-the-making trail converged on Bryan Park Wednesday to mark the start of construction of Richmond’s 13-mile portion of the 43-mile trail that’s planned to run between Ashland and Petersburg.
The event followed similar groundbreakings over the past year by Henrico and Hanover counties, which along with Richmond are among nine jurisdictions that make up the trail’s path and have provided support for the regional project.
With Wednesday’s groundbreaking, construction is officially underway in over half of those localities, according to Sports Backers, the nonprofit group that’s spearheading the project.
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