Michael Schwartz

Michael Schwartz is the editor of Richmond BizSense, and covers banking, lawsuits, finance, M&A and golf. He can be reached at [email protected] or 804-855-1037.

With healthcare reform looming, nHealth was losing millions

The financial records of nHealth, the Richmond-based startup health insurer that said last week it was shutting down as a result of federal healthcare reform, show it was losing millions in its first year and a half of existence.

Media General joins battle for newspaper street vendors

Richmond-based Media General jumped into the legal fray in Florida this week when it filed a motion in federal court there to fight a proposed ban on street solicitation in St. Petersburg, according to a report from the Tampa Tribune. Media General, owner of the Richmond Times Dispatch and the Tampa paper, joined forces with… Read more »

Trading Day: SEC roundup for local public companies

First Capital Bancorp changes its articles to possibly sell more stock, while a Markel chairman buys more stock for a family trust. Plus bond news at Altria and Media General and stock awards at a handful of local companies.

From big firm to “boutique” firm

Another group of Richmond lawyers has caught the entrepreneurial bug. Fifteen lawyers from several LeClairRyan offices have left the Richmond-based law firm to set out on their own.

A few protestors get creative with costumes

A small band of protestors, some wearing homemade oil barrel costumes, seized the moment yesterday by gathering at the Cary Street BP to call for Virginia Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner to vote against federal legislation deemed by some as pro-big oil and anti-environment.

Bank president makes “tough decision” to retire

With his company having lost nearly $19 million in the last two years and regulatory examiners breathing down the company’s neck, the head of Central Virginia Bankshares announced his plans to retire by year’s end, the company said Friday.

Anti-Massey billboards pop up in W.Va.

An anti-Massey Energy group has begun a billboard campaign in West Virginia pushing for prosecution of the Richmond-based coal mining company. According to a report from the Martinsburg Journal in Martinsburg, W.Va., a group called Prosecute Massey, part of Washington, D.C.-based non-profit the Daily Citizen, has purchased billboard space around West Virginia bearing the message… Read more »

Startup health insurer shutting

The hotly debated healthcare reform bill signed into law in March has killed a local insurance company, and one that had raised more than $10 million from mostly local investors.

Virginia Business Bank tries to break out of holding pattern

After almost eight months of operating under a strict regulatory turnaround/survival plan and having moved on to its third president since the fall, a Richmond-based bank has rethought its plan and might reinvent itself if it can secure a fresh round of capital.