Another year, another seemingly endless batch of stories from your friendly neighborhood business publication.
As usual, the BizSense news crew worked its hardest to dig up all the important, informative and entertaining happenings in the local business scene in 2015. Now, as we take stock of the year that has passed, it’s fun to slow down and remember the unusual, too.
There are a few stories that stand out among the hundreds from the last 12 months. These are the stories that were memorable, fascinating, bizarre or just downright solid, scrappy reporting.
Here they are, in no particular order, our picks of the year. And here’s to another great year in 2016:
Dolls have bad days, too
Rebecca Floyd had a realization in a toy store one day: Toys can be “freaky.” All those smiling doll faces staring back at her spawned her startup, Frowny Faces. The company’s hand-made frowning dolls hit the market and had Floyd dreaming of a Frowny Faces empire, complete with Frowny Faces-themed children’s books and greeting cards.
Martin Agency pumps brakes on bike race campaign
The big bike race was a bear to cover, given the hype and all the unknowns. That was until word got around about a campaign created by The Martin Agency, innocently aimed at promoting the race in a mashup with Richmond’s Civil War history. Somewhere in between the campaign’s launch and the starting date of the race, a few feathers were ruffled and the campaign was pulled. The whole affair showed the sensitivity of those involved in packaging the race and the region in a certain light.
Two more huge sales shaking up downtown office market
BizSense hit a hot streak in December of digging up news of huge downtown office deals in the works. It started with the pending sale of the Williams Mullen Center and led to news of Riverfront Plaza, the Bank of America tower and Gateway Plaza all being under contract. Rarely have we seen that large a chunk of downtown in flux.
Captive audience: Mystery maker unlocks newest venture
Josh Czarda likes to put groups of people in a room for an hour, leaving them only with vague clues and hidden keys to find their way out. It turns out his live action puzzles at Escape Room RVA are Richmond’s hottest team building exercise. We did our best to try to figure out what makes Czarda tick and see how he crafts his puzzles and watches from the behind the scenes.
Connecting the dots between HDL and its buyer
The Texas company that swooped in to scoop up the scraps of Health Diagnostic Laboratory wasn’t a total stranger to the once fast-growing local blood testing firm. This story found the connections between all involved. The CEO of the buyer, True Health Diagnostics, later addressed those ties to a degree, but some remain skeptical.
Lawyer to congregation: Pastor hindering church’s exit from bankruptcy
In another head-scratching chapter of the odd saga of the Richmond Christian Center, a Southside church that languished in bankruptcy for nearly three years, the congregation’s founding pastor was again threatening to derail its salvation for his own good. The pastor swears it’s not true, despite a reputable local attorney stating otherwise in front of a judge. It’s a lesson to never underestimate the power of loyalty between a flock and its shepherd.
Grace Street lot vetted for GRTC transfer center
Sometimes the most interesting stories start with a hole in the ground. That’s precisely how this story began, when BizSense noticed crews boring holes in a downtown parking lot on West Grace Street. With the help of some sources, we eventually found that the lot is being considered as the potential site for a large transfer station for GRTC. Maybe it’ll come to fruition; maybe it won’t.
Justin French mansion sold at auction
Finally. Too many reporters spent too many years trying to figure out what would become of the West End mansion once occupied by infamous Richmond developer Justin French. He sat in prison for years before the labyrinth that is the big bank foreclosure system untangled itself enough to get the property to auction. It’s finally under new ownership, but we still don’t know exactly why it took so long.
In firm’s first ad, GWAR blood runs deep
It’s now two years in a row that a venture with ties to GWAR graces this list. The Richmond metal band’s tentacles were all over this creative ad for a local Bloody Mary mix. GWAR’s presence in the local business scene, both on the fringes and in the mainstream, keeps things interesting when the white collar world gets you down.
West End mitt maker a step away from the World Series
Finally, in a year when the Mets regained some semblance of being Amazin,’ the team’s success had a local baseball glove maker on the verge of seeing its products on the sport’s biggest stage. A season-ending injury got in the way, but that won’t deter the slow and steady approach of Peter Vinci and his father. Besides, there’s always next year.
Another year, another seemingly endless batch of stories from your friendly neighborhood business publication.
As usual, the BizSense news crew worked its hardest to dig up all the important, informative and entertaining happenings in the local business scene in 2015. Now, as we take stock of the year that has passed, it’s fun to slow down and remember the unusual, too.
There are a few stories that stand out among the hundreds from the last 12 months. These are the stories that were memorable, fascinating, bizarre or just downright solid, scrappy reporting.
Here they are, in no particular order, our picks of the year. And here’s to another great year in 2016:
Dolls have bad days, too
Rebecca Floyd had a realization in a toy store one day: Toys can be “freaky.” All those smiling doll faces staring back at her spawned her startup, Frowny Faces. The company’s hand-made frowning dolls hit the market and had Floyd dreaming of a Frowny Faces empire, complete with Frowny Faces-themed children’s books and greeting cards.
Martin Agency pumps brakes on bike race campaign
The big bike race was a bear to cover, given the hype and all the unknowns. That was until word got around about a campaign created by The Martin Agency, innocently aimed at promoting the race in a mashup with Richmond’s Civil War history. Somewhere in between the campaign’s launch and the starting date of the race, a few feathers were ruffled and the campaign was pulled. The whole affair showed the sensitivity of those involved in packaging the race and the region in a certain light.
Two more huge sales shaking up downtown office market
BizSense hit a hot streak in December of digging up news of huge downtown office deals in the works. It started with the pending sale of the Williams Mullen Center and led to news of Riverfront Plaza, the Bank of America tower and Gateway Plaza all being under contract. Rarely have we seen that large a chunk of downtown in flux.
Captive audience: Mystery maker unlocks newest venture
Josh Czarda likes to put groups of people in a room for an hour, leaving them only with vague clues and hidden keys to find their way out. It turns out his live action puzzles at Escape Room RVA are Richmond’s hottest team building exercise. We did our best to try to figure out what makes Czarda tick and see how he crafts his puzzles and watches from the behind the scenes.
Connecting the dots between HDL and its buyer
The Texas company that swooped in to scoop up the scraps of Health Diagnostic Laboratory wasn’t a total stranger to the once fast-growing local blood testing firm. This story found the connections between all involved. The CEO of the buyer, True Health Diagnostics, later addressed those ties to a degree, but some remain skeptical.
Lawyer to congregation: Pastor hindering church’s exit from bankruptcy
In another head-scratching chapter of the odd saga of the Richmond Christian Center, a Southside church that languished in bankruptcy for nearly three years, the congregation’s founding pastor was again threatening to derail its salvation for his own good. The pastor swears it’s not true, despite a reputable local attorney stating otherwise in front of a judge. It’s a lesson to never underestimate the power of loyalty between a flock and its shepherd.
Grace Street lot vetted for GRTC transfer center
Sometimes the most interesting stories start with a hole in the ground. That’s precisely how this story began, when BizSense noticed crews boring holes in a downtown parking lot on West Grace Street. With the help of some sources, we eventually found that the lot is being considered as the potential site for a large transfer station for GRTC. Maybe it’ll come to fruition; maybe it won’t.
Justin French mansion sold at auction
Finally. Too many reporters spent too many years trying to figure out what would become of the West End mansion once occupied by infamous Richmond developer Justin French. He sat in prison for years before the labyrinth that is the big bank foreclosure system untangled itself enough to get the property to auction. It’s finally under new ownership, but we still don’t know exactly why it took so long.
In firm’s first ad, GWAR blood runs deep
It’s now two years in a row that a venture with ties to GWAR graces this list. The Richmond metal band’s tentacles were all over this creative ad for a local Bloody Mary mix. GWAR’s presence in the local business scene, both on the fringes and in the mainstream, keeps things interesting when the white collar world gets you down.
West End mitt maker a step away from the World Series
Finally, in a year when the Mets regained some semblance of being Amazin,’ the team’s success had a local baseball glove maker on the verge of seeing its products on the sport’s biggest stage. A season-ending injury got in the way, but that won’t deter the slow and steady approach of Peter Vinci and his father. Besides, there’s always next year.