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Company plans to add 100 area jobs in 2012

Henrico-based Mondial Assistance USA, a leading consumer specialty
insurance and assistance provider, has rebranded to Allianz Global Assistance as part of a global brand
transition expected to be complete in late 2012. Allianz, parent-company of Allianz Global Assistance, is the
20th largest company in the world (Forbes Global 2000, 2011) and 67th most valuable global brand (Interbrand, 2011).

Since 2000, Allianz Global Assistance’s Richmond-based operations have more than quadrupled in size from
213 to 900 associates, making it one of the area’s largest private employers. The company is still growing
and expects to add another 100 associates this year. In 2011, the company announced that it will lease Deep
Run One, a five-story office building in the Deep Run Office Park, consolidating its three area offices.

“For almost 30 years, we’ve been innovators in the consumer specialty insurance space, pioneering travel
and ticket insurance products and partnering with airlines and other online providers,” said Jonathan M.
Ansell, Chairman of Allianz Global Assistance USA. “The change to Allianz Global Assistance brings one of the
world’s largest and most-respected insurance brands to the Richmond market.”

The company’s popular Access America® travel insurance products will be renamed Allianz Travel Insurance.
In the United States, Allianz Global Assistance insures 13 million people, mostly with its travel insurance and
event ticket protection plans. Globally, the company consists of 28 business units representing 1.9 billion
euros (approximately $2.4B) in revenue – and is one of the fastest growing in the Allianz group.

Allianz Global Assistance, a unit of Allianz for the last decade, is moving to capitalize on the growing
recognition of the parent company’s brand among Americans and coincides with a national brand
awareness campaign. This campaign highlights core areas of the Allianz business in the U.S., including the
company’s focus on investment, insurance and retirement products and services.  The campaign launched in
2010 with ads running in the Wall Street Journal and on CNBC, NPR and other national media outlets.

In 2011, the company was recognized twice for its outstanding working environment with an Employer AllStar award, presented by the Richmond Society for Human Resource Management (RSHRM) and the Greater Richmond
Chamber of Commerce (GRCC), and the Platinum Fit-Friendly award, presented by the American Heart Association (AHA).

“We’re proud of the recognition we’ve received for our employee-friendly programs,” said Ansell. “We look forward to building upon our success and
maintaining our position as an employer of choice in the Richmond region.”

As the company has continued to grow, so has its community involvement. In 2011, the company’s
ScholarTrips program helped send five area students on study abroad trips by awarding $2,500 scholarships.
According to ScholarTrips recipient Katelyn Marshall, “the Mondial Assistance ScholarTrip gave me the
chance to experience the completely unique culture of Costa Rica, and to immerse myself in the Spanish
language.” In addition, associates supported a variety of causes through volunteer opportunities throughout
the year and during the company’s Month of Service.

Allianz Global Assistance USA
Allianz Global Assistance is a leading consumer specialty insurance and assistance company with operation
centers in 28 countries. In the United States, Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) insures 13
million customers and is best known for its Allianz Travel Insurance plans. 

In addition to travel insurance, Allianz Global Assistance offers event ticket protection and unique assistance
services such as international medical assistance and concierge services. The company also serves as an
outsource provider for in-bound call center services and claims administration for health insurers, property
and casualty insurers, and credit card companies. 
4% of the world’s total population, benefit from its services, which the Group provides on all five
continents.

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Managing Partner of Challa Law Offices and RichTech Member, Lakshmi Challa is the 2011-2012 recipient of the John C. Kenny Pro Bono Award. The award is presented annually to an individual or law firm that demonstrates a dedication to furthering the delivery of pro bono legal services to the poor and underserved in the Richmond Metro area. The Richmond Bar Association will convey the award to Ms. Challa on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at the RBA's monthly luncheon meeting at the Omni Hotel.

In 2009, working with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Ms. Challa  established the immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Project. This project provides pro bono legal assistance to undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic or sexual violence in obtaining legal status in the U.S. without reliance on their abusers.

Since the clinic's inception two years ago, Ms. Challa and those attorneys she has recruited and trained to assist her in the clinic have helped over fifty women remain in the United States, work legally, and provide for their families and their children.

Since 2009, Ms. Challa and the Challa Law Offices have dedicated over 1,000 hours to the success of this program. Ms. Challa has changed the lives of victims of domestic violence, giving them an opportunity to lead a life free from fears of domestic violence and deportation.

Ms. Challa has also been of great assistance to Commonwealth Catholic Charities, an organization offering numerous support services to individuals and families throughout Virginia. Ms. Challa offers her support specifically with respect to unaccompanied minors who are brought into the United States. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors for the Virginia Poverty Law Center and has done pro bono work for the Red Cross.

Governor Bob McDonnell and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:  AMZN) today announced the company’s plans to open two fulfillment centers in Virginia, investing a total of $135 million. The company will invest $85 million and create more than 1,000 jobs in Chesterfield County, and invest $50 million in Dinwiddie County, creating more than 350 jobs.            

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McDonnell said, “This project that includes a $135 million investment and more than 1,350 new jobs is a tremendous win for the greater Richmond region. Amazon is known all over the world, and the new centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties will fulfill orders across the United States. The establishment of these new operations is testament to the positive business climate and success the company has experienced in the Commonwealth.”
           
“Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties were chosen for this significant project due to the ease and speed with which the facilities can be built and become operational,” said Jim Cheng, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “In addition, the skill and availability of the region’s workforce were key factors. We are thrilled that Amazon recognized the assets and solid infrastructure in place in the greater Richmond region and will make a great investment to establish its new fulfillment centers in Virginia.”

“We look forward to opening two new Amazon facilities in the Richmond area next year, bringing tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of new jobs to the state,” said Dave Clark, vice-president, Amazon North American Operations.  “We’re grateful to Governor McDonnell and other state, county and local officials for their commitment to our investment in Virginia.”

As a new member of the Chesterfield and Dinwiddie County communities, Amazon also announced that it is donating $10,000 to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, which will be allocated to food banks in these counties. 

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County, Dinwiddie County, the Greater Richmond Partnership, and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McDonnell approved a total of $3.5 million in grants from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist both Chesterfield County and Dinwiddie County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $850,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the Dinwiddie County project. The company is eligible to receive benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide funding and services to support the company’s recruitment and training activities.

“We are so pleased that international Internet giant Amazon has selected Chesterfield County for their new one million-square-foot fulfillment center,” said Art Warren, the Chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. “It is exciting this outstanding announcement coincides with the opening of the new Meadowville interchange which will benefit everyone, present and future. And, the infrastructure surrounding this announcement further positions the Meadowville technology Park as a key destination for business. Welcome Amazon as the newest member of our corporate family.”
           
“Dinwiddie County is extremely pleased with Amazon’s decision to locate a fulfillment center in the Dinwiddie Commerce Park,” said Doretha E. Moody, Chairman of the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors. “This is an excellent example of the commitment of the Board of Supervisors to economic development and creating employment opportunities for our community.”
           
“The Tobacco Commission is glad that we were able to team up with Dinwiddie and the Governor's Office to attract Amazon to Virginia,” said Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr., a Commissioner of The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. “We believe that they will be a good employer and a good corporate citizen that will provide good jobs for the region.  We believe that Amazon will be pleased with our workforce and the region.”

The new facilities are expected to be complete next fall. Amazon’s fulfillment centers in Virginia will be operated by Amazon.com.kydc LLC.

Governor Bob McDonnell and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:  AMZN) today announced the company’s plans to open two fulfillment centers in Virginia, investing a total of $135 million. The company will invest $85 million and create more than 1,000 jobs in Chesterfield County, and invest $50 million in Dinwiddie County, creating more than 350 jobs.            

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McDonnell said, “This project that includes a $135 million investment and more than 1,350 new jobs is a tremendous win for the greater Richmond region. Amazon is known all over the world, and the new centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties will fulfill orders across the United States. The establishment of these new operations is testament to the positive business climate and success the company has experienced in the Commonwealth.”
           
“Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties were chosen for this significant project due to the ease and speed with which the facilities can be built and become operational,” said Jim Cheng, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “In addition, the skill and availability of the region’s workforce were key factors. We are thrilled that Amazon recognized the assets and solid infrastructure in place in the greater Richmond region and will make a great investment to establish its new fulfillment centers in Virginia.”

“We look forward to opening two new Amazon facilities in the Richmond area next year, bringing tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of new jobs to the state,” said Dave Clark, vice-president, Amazon North American Operations.  “We’re grateful to Governor McDonnell and other state, county and local officials for their commitment to our investment in Virginia.”

As a new member of the Chesterfield and Dinwiddie County communities, Amazon also announced that it is donating $10,000 to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, which will be allocated to food banks in these counties. 

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County, Dinwiddie County, the Greater Richmond Partnership, and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McDonnell approved a total of $3.5 million in grants from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist both Chesterfield County and Dinwiddie County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $850,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the Dinwiddie County project. The company is eligible to receive benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide funding and services to support the company’s recruitment and training activities.

“We are so pleased that international Internet giant Amazon has selected Chesterfield County for their new one million-square-foot fulfillment center,” said Art Warren, the Chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. “It is exciting this outstanding announcement coincides with the opening of the new Meadowville interchange which will benefit everyone, present and future. And, the infrastructure surrounding this announcement further positions the Meadowville technology Park as a key destination for business. Welcome Amazon as the newest member of our corporate family.”
           
“Dinwiddie County is extremely pleased with Amazon’s decision to locate a fulfillment center in the Dinwiddie Commerce Park,” said Doretha E. Moody, Chairman of the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors. “This is an excellent example of the commitment of the Board of Supervisors to economic development and creating employment opportunities for our community.”
           
“The Tobacco Commission is glad that we were able to team up with Dinwiddie and the Governor's Office to attract Amazon to Virginia,” said Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr., a Commissioner of The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. “We believe that they will be a good employer and a good corporate citizen that will provide good jobs for the region.  We believe that Amazon will be pleased with our workforce and the region.”

The new facilities are expected to be complete next fall. Amazon’s fulfillment centers in Virginia will be operated by Amazon.com.kydc LLC.

BranCore Technologies founder, Glenn Davis, gave the commencement address to the VCU School of Business 2011 Winter Graduation Class.  The graduation ceremony took place on Saturday, December 10th, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.  Glenn was recently selected to receive the School of Business Alumni Star Award for 2011.
 “It is truly an honor to be able to give back what I have learned, over the years, to my Alumni, said Glenn Davis, President and CEO of BranCore Technologies.

TBL Networks today announced that they have moved their headquarters to a new location at 1801 Bayberry Court, Suite 202, Richmond, VA 23226. With this move, TBL Networks, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, becomes suite neighbors to the Richmond Cisco office.

“We are very fortunate that our growth has necessitated this move,” said Alan Sears, President and CEO of TBL Networks, Inc. “This new office will allow us to continue to provide the highest level of support to our clients, in addition to providing more facilities to demonstrate the advanced solutions that TBL provides. These advantages will help TBL continue to bring the best information technology solutions to businesses in Central Virginia, while never forgetting the importance of customer service and community.”

TBL Networks is the only technology integrator in the Commonwealth of Virginia with five Cisco Voice CCIEs. TBL's Voice Engineers have personally deployed over 30,000 IP Phones and more than 2,700 Call Center Call Seats. In addition, TBL Networks employs Central Virginia’s only VMware VCDX, and two EMC Technical Architects.

In 2011, TBL Networks was named to the CRN’s Next-Gen 250 and the Inc 500. In addition, TBL’s CEO Alan Sears was recently named as one of Richmond’s Top 40 under 40, and two TBL Datacenter engineers were recognized as VMware vExperts.

TBL pursues the goal of techumanity, the positive synergy between technology and humanity. TBL lives this ideal by working with the international World Community Grid for cancer research and local charity CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation, which supports families with children facing chronic and life threatening illness.

TBL’s new office space will provide more room for examples of the latest technology in Voice, Virtualization, Storage and Disaster Recovery. The new office will have two Cisco TelePresence System 1100s, a 65" plasma display, camera, microphones, and integrated lighting system for immersive video meetings. Also, TBL’s new office will house a VCE Vblock, the world’s first completely integrated infrastructure for rapid virtualization deployment offering that is comprised of technology from VMware, Cisco, EMC and Intel.

On November 1st, Governor McDonnell kicked off “Job Creator Appreciation Month” in the Commonwealth.  Each day this week, the governor’s website has featured a small business that has created additional jobs in the Commonwealth in recent months.

C3RS, the first featured company, is a tire recycling company in Louisa in the process of hiring 10 more employees by year’s end.  Capstone ISG, highlighted on Wednesday and founded in 2003 has recently added employees in Bristol, Lynchburg and Virginia Beach and is making plans to expand in Richmond and Northern Virginia.  

Yesterday’s featured job creator, Solid Stone Fabrics in Martinsville, was later featured on WSET in the evening news in a story about small business hiring driving the decrease in regional unemployment.  

Assura, Inc. is today’s featured Virginia job creator and is hoping to add two to five more consultants in 2012.  “The American economy is built on small businesses like ours and we are fortunate to do business in Virginia where the business climate is conducive to growth and innovation.  We look forward continuing our growth trend into 2012 and beyond,” said Karen Cole, Assura’s CEO.

Richmond, Va., - October 26, 2011, undefined Power Distribution, Inc. (PDI), a leading provider of mission-critical power distribution equipment for data centers,  alternative energy, industrial, and commercial power markets, today announced it ranked Number 300 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ ranking of the 500 fastest growing companies in North Americaundefined due in part to its 286 percent growth.

PDI’s Chief Executive Officer, Rob Sweaney, explains the reasons behind the company’s dramatic growth, “As more enterprises gravitate to the cloud for data storage, they need to expand their data centers, but still keep operational costs in check. To help manage this growth,  these companies are turning to PDI for efficient power management solutions to support their increased data storage and retrieval needs.” 

“PDI, like all 2011 Technology Fast 500™ companies, have excelled in fostering innovation and channeling it into spectacular growth -- against the backdrop of one of the most challenging economies in history,” said Eric Openshaw, vice chairman and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications leader, Deloitte LLP. "Deloitte recognizes PDI for its remarkable accomplishment.”

“We are pleased to honor PDI as a 2011 Technology Fast 500 company,” said Mark Jensen, managing partner, technology and venture capital services, Deloitte & Touche LLP. “As one of the fastest growing tech companies in North America, PDI has demonstrated excellence in technological innovation, entrepreneurship and rapid growth.”

TBL Networks, Inc. announced today that the company has achieved Vblock Qualified Partner Status. TBL Networks becomes just the 58th company in the world to receive this certification from VCE.

“TBL Networks is very honored to receive the title of Vblock Qualified Partner,” said Alan Sears, President and CEO of TBL Networks, Inc. “With this certification, TBL Networks will continue to provide its clients with the most advanced solutions in Unified Communications, Virtualization and Storage.”

TBL Networks is now qualified to sell the VCE Vblock, the world's first completely integrated converged infrastructure offering for rapid virtualization deployment. To be considered for the status of Vblock Qualified Partner, a company must receive the highest designations and certifications for the Cisco, EMC, and VMware products that comprise the Vblock Infrastructure Platform. TBL’s accolades include Cisco Gold Certified Partner, VMware Enterprise Level Solutions Provider Partner, and EMC Premier Tier Velocity² Services Partner.

TBL Networks is a major source of expertise for the technology sector in Central Virginia. Recently, TBL was included on CRN's Next-Gen 250 channel partner list. In addition, TBL was ranked 406 on the 2011 Inc. 500 list, becoming the only firm in Central Virginia to make the list, and ranked 34th overall in IT services.

TBL Networks is the only technology integrator in the Commonwealth of Virginia with five Cisco Voice CCIEs, employs the state’s only VMware VCDX, and had two engineers recognized as 2011 VMware vExperts.

Smiths Interconnect, a division of global technology business Smiths Group plc, today announces the purchase of Power Holdings Inc. (PDI), a leading designer and manufacturer of specialist power distribution, conditioning and monitoring systems. The purchase price of $235m will be subject to post closing adjustments with respect to working capital at completion.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, PDI is the parent company for Power Distribution, Inc., Marelco Power Systems, Inc. and Onyx Power, Inc.  It produces power distribution units, static transfer switches, remote power panels, power conditioning units, medium and low voltage transformers and patented power monitors used mainly in data centre and alternative energy applications. The acquisition, from private equity firm Bertram Growth Capital I, L.P., will be cash-funded and is subject to regulatory approval.

Smiths Group Chief Executive Philip Bowman said: “Smiths Interconnect operates in a highly fragmented market that offers great scope for consolidation. PDI is its sixth and largest acquisition in three years, all adhering to our strategic criteria of adding complementary technologies, extending geographic reach or leveraging existing sales networks. This latest transaction expands its range of power quality technologies into new, specialised, high growth markets.”

Smiths Interconnect’s strategy is to build its core technology groups: microwave; connectors and power management.  Recent acquisitions have significantly expanded the product offerings and capabilities of the connectors and microwave groups.  The acquisition of PDI transforms the existing power protection group with a new range of products and growth opportunities.

Smiths Interconnect President Ralph Phillips added: “The addition of PDI strengthens our offering of technically differentiated solutions for applications requiring ultra-reliable and precise power performance including higher-growth end markets such as data centres and alternative energy.  We will now be able to provide a breadth of high reliability power quality capabilities, including conditioning, protection, distribution, filtering and monitoring to ensure the optimum function of advanced electrical systems.” 

PDI, which also has facilities in Santa Ana, California and Howell, Michigan, employs around 370 people.  It is expected to generate sales of around $156 million this calendar year with more than 90% of revenues from non-government funded markets.