Business

Out of Africa: Chester woman incorporates Senegalese products into business

By Caleb M Soptelean on September 2, 2019 Business, Travel

Omilade Davis-Smith is pictured with some of the bars of soap that she makes, cuts and sells. (Caleb M. Soptelean photo) Omilade Davis-Smith has a heart for Africa. The Chester resident and Richmond native incorporates products from French-speaking Senegal into her business, Essentially Omi. Each year, Davis-Smith makes anywhere from one to three trips to Toubab Dialaw, a West African town located on the Atlantic Ocean. She brings black soap back to the States, where she cuts it into bars her home in Stoney Glen. She also uses black soap to make shampoo and hair conditioner. She uses shea butter…

Candlewood Suites coming near I-295

By Caleb M Soptelean on August 13, 2019 Business, Economic Development, Planning & Zoning

It looks as if a Candlewood Suites hotel is coming to eastern Chesterfield County. A site plan for a 90-room, five-story hotel was approved by the county Planning Department on April 25. The plan calls for a 54,545-square-foot building at 572 E. Hundred Road, next to a Wawa convenience store and near a Hyatt Place hotel and Jalapenos, Chen’s and Taco Bell restaurants, west of Interstate 295. The owner of the 5.1-acre property – 572 Hospitality LLC of Glen Allen – plans 90 parking spaces and 1,024 feet of sidewalk. Shailen Patel is the contact person for the company. Another…

Craft brewery opening inside Molly’s Bicycle Shop

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 30, 2019 Business, Economic Development

Louis Scheer holds a mash paddle that was made by Eric Bardrof. (Caleb M. Soptelean photo) Something’s brewing in Chester, literally. Louis Scheer recently opened a craft beer brewery in Molly’s Bicycle Shop. The brewery – officially known as Molly’s Blind Dog Brewery and named after one of Scheer’s dogs, an Australian Shepherd who was deaf and mostly blind due to a birth defect – offers six brews at 4515 W. Hundred Road. Scheer – who purchased the bike shop in 2013 when it was located at 2126 E. Hundred Road in Enon – said he “grew up in the…

County approves new sign ordinance

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 30, 2019 Business, Chesterfield Government

By a vote of 3-2 with Steve Elswick and James Holland dissenting, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors approved a new sign ordinance on July 24. The vote was the culmination of a nearly three-year process, according to supervisor Chris Winslow. Twenty-four people spoke during public comment before the vote, and several complained about a lack of public input. However, supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle said that the Planning Commission held 12 meetings about the sign ordinance and noted that they were advertised and available to watch via live stream. The revised sign ordinance keeps the number of billboards at 81 but…

Dems, GOP respond to state’s No. 1 business ranking

By Press release on July 16, 2019 Business, Economic Development, Politics, State News

Filler-CornCox Northam Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, and House Democratic Leader Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax County, responded last week to the state’s recent No. 1 ranking by CNBC in its annual business rankings of the 50 states. The top ranking is determined following an extensive study of all 50 states based on 64 metrics in 10 categories of competitiveness. Virginia is tied with Texas for most years named top state for business by CNBC, with wins in 2007, 2009, 2011, and now 2019. Virginia ranked No. 1 in workforce and education. Its other rankings were:…

Local business giving away backpacks

By Press release on July 16, 2019 Business, Schools

Students in Chester are about to benefit from a national backpack giveaway! On Sunday, July 21, more than 850 participating TCC and Wireless Zone stores are teaming up to donate 187,000 backpacks full of school supplies to children through TCC’s annual School Rocks Backpack Giveaway. Between 1-4 p.m. on July 21, participating TCC stores are inviting local families to bring their children to the store to pick up a backpack filled with pencils, paper, a pencil box, folders, glue and more. The Chester store is located at 12101 Branders Creek Drive. For a list of other participating locations in Virginia,…

State approves emergency facility in Chester

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 9, 2019 Business, Economic Development, Health

Chris Accashian, Bon Secours St. Francis CEO It looks as if Chester may finally be getting an emergency room. Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center received notice that a Certificate of Public Need application it filed with the state last October was approved May 21. “We’re absolutely thrilled this was approved,” Bon Secours CEO Chris Accashian said last week. He thanked the Chesterfield County Fire and EMS and members of the public who helped by submitting public comments in favor of the application. Thirty-nine people submitted letters in support of the application, according to Bon Secours spokeswoman Jenna Green. “We’re…

Panda Express, Popeyes on the way

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 2, 2019 Business, Economic Development

Site plans have been approved for two fast food restaurants on Jefferson Davis Highway. Popeyes and Panda Express received site plan approvals on Dec. 20 and March 20, respectively. The two businesses would be located at 12131 and 12149 Jefferson Davis Highway south of a Dollar Tree store, which is located seven-tenths of a mile north of the Route 10 intersection. Bulldozers were seen on the Panda Express site last week. The site plans call for a 2,200-square-foot Panda Express with a 400-square-foot patio and a 3,185-square-foot Popeyes. Both businesses would be located on a 2.44-acre parcel. Ingenium Enterprises of…

Amin named Chester’s ‘Businessperson of the Year’

By Caleb M Soptelean on June 25, 2019 Business, Clubs, Economic Development

P.C. Amin, on right, is pictured with Jim Daniels. (Caleb M. Soptelean photo) P.C. Amin was honored as the Chester Business Association’s Businessperson of the Year last week. In receiving the Snead-Stebbins Award for his efforts to promote business in the Chester area, Amin gave the area high praise. Amin, who immigrated to the U.S. from India, said locals have not given him any problems in his almost 50 years in Chester. “Whatever I have done, I could not have done without my wife (Purnima),” he said. Amin initially worked as an engineer with the Virginia Department of Transportation. “He…

Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, Niagara Cares bring improvements to TDHS

By Lamar West on June 25, 2019 Business, Community, Schools

A crew from Niagara Bottling of Chester helped with improvements at Thomas Dale High School last week. (Courtesy photo) The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and Niagara Cares recently teamed up to give Thomas Dale High School’s fitness facility and urban garden a $75,000 renovation. Four times a year, the foundation and Niagara Cares collaborate on a two-day community enhancement project to promote a healthy style of living in communities. The locations are chosen based upon school needs and proximity to the Niagara bottling plants. Thomas Dale was chosen from a variety of schools across the country, and this was the…

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