REGIONAL VIEW shenandoah valley


Brothers build Shenandoah


hemp empire by Don Harrison


is trying to bring hemp back to its Shenandoah Valley roots. After all, he explains, “back in the 1600s, this area was used heavily for hemp production and rope and clothing.” Johnson is one of four brothers behind


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Pure Shenandoah, which seeks to create a market for hemp fiber, the pliable male variety of the cannabis plant. The family business already deals in the potent female CBD strain, selling recreational oils and applying to the state to become a medical marijuana grower. “The fiber side has almost unlimited


potential,” Johnson says. “It has 20,000-plus uses, from clothing and paper to packaging materials. You can even build a house with it.” Sourcing nearly exclusively from area


farmers, Pure Shenandoah expects to plant 1,400 acres of hemp fiber this year. By comparison, only 2,000 acres were grown in all of Virginia in 2020. In August 2020, Pure Shenandoah opened a $3.3 million hemp processing


FOR THE RECORD


The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority seeks $62.3 million in damages in a lawsuit against Jennifer McDonald, its former executive director, and her related real estate companies. The case comes up in the court on April 9 for a hearing on the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment against McDonald and her real estate entities for various schemes alleged by the plaintiff in its lawsuit. Opening statements filed by the EDA’s attorneys state that the defendants are liable to the EDA for $20.65 million for several counts that include fraud, conversion, conspiracy and unjust enrichment. The EDA also seeks $350,000 in punitive damages. (The Northern Virginia Daily)


In February, the attorneys general of Virginia, Massachusetts and New York sued Virginia-based Nexus Services Inc., alleging that its Libre by Nexus subsidiary “preys on consumers held in federal detention centers by offering to


Photo by Norm Shafer


anner Johnson, CEO of Pure Shenandoah LLC, says that his Elkton-based company


(L to R) Brothers Jake, Tanner, Talbot and Abner Johnson operate Pure Shenandoah, which has a hemp processing facility in Elkton.


facility in Elkton’s historic Casey Jones building. This year, it plans to retrofit part of an existing 200-acre farming operation into a full-fiber endeavor for $1 million, including the conversion of four poultry structures for hemp processing. It plans to lease 100 acres at the Elkton site this year, and eventually purchase the entire farm. It also aims to pick up an important client — Waynesboro’s Old Dominion Hemp Co., the country’s leading animal bedding distributor. Samuel Morton, an associate profes- sor of engineering at James Madison University and lead faculty member of JMU’s Industrial Hemp Research Program, says Pure Shenandoah may prove more successful than previous commercial attempts: “They are using all


pay for consumers’ immigration bonds to secure their release.” In exchange for those services, the suit alleges, “Libre demands large upfront fees and hefty monthly payments while concealing or misrepresenting the true costs of its services.” Nexus CEO and President Mike Donovan said the allegations are “offensive, 100% false and detrimental” and claimed the suits were retaliation for previous lawsuits. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


On Feb. 25, Atlanta-based medical cannabis production company TheraTrue Inc. announced it is seeking to establish a facility in Staunton. The minority-owned medical cannabis production company also announced in February it has received $50 million in funding commitments and has submitted medical cannabis license applications in Georgia and Virginia. These applications mark the first major actions of TheraTrue Inc. in the medical cannabis industry. TheraTrue is looking to provide vertically integrated production facilities designed to deliver medical grade cannabis products to patients in Georgia and Virginia. (News Leader)


parts of the plant. On an economic basis, you have to do that.” Glenn Rodes, a partner in the family-


owned Riverhill Farms in Rockingham County, obtained Virginia’s first hemp fiber growing license and serves as unofficial adviser to Pure Shenandoah. “They are the only ones really pursuing [hemp fiber], and it’s a tough business right now. The regulatory side is still uncertain, and we are definitely going to need local markets to buy the product. Hemp fiber is bulky and would be difficult to ship long distances relative to its value.” What isn’t a problem is growing the


hemp, Johnson says. “The soil, the climate, it is ideal here in the valley. It really flourishes, and that’s a major competitive advantage.” ■


Harrisonburg-based Valley Guard Supply LLC announced on Feb. 10 it will invest $1 million to establish a personal protective equipment manufacturing facility. A service-disabled veteran-owned company, Valley Guard makes three-ply disposable masks but intends to expand into manufacturing other types of safety and security gear. The project investment will create 45 jobs. Valley Guard is a startup manufacturer of personal protective equipment that opened in April 2020. The company has leased a facility in Harrisonburg and is currently purchasing machinery and hiring full- time staff to establish its first permanent location in the state. (News Leader)


In an interim report, investigators looking into reported racist incidents at Virginia Military Institute say some alumni and current cadets reported hearing racial slurs “on a regular basis” at the state- funded military college in Lexington. Indianapolis-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg LLP, which submitted its report on March 8 to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, detailed


www.VirginiaBusiness.com


several uses of racial slurs, including an account from one Black alumnus who reported being called the n-word “many times” between 2018 and 2021, and a white graduate who attended the school in the late 1990s saying that racial slurs were “common” and “absolutely a part of life in the barracks.” (VirginiaBusiness.com)


PEOPLE


Tynisha Willingham, dean of Mary Baldwin University’s College of Education, was named the Staunton school’s interim provost and chief academic officer, effective Feb. 15. She replaces Ty Buckman, who joined the


Willingham


Foundation of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture as its executive vice president in February. Willingham started her tenure at MBU last summer, coming from Wisconsin’s St. Norbert College, where she served as associate academic dean and associate professor of education. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


VIRGINIA BUSINESS | 13


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