Central Virginia
Vodka brand revived after a two-year absence by Veronica Garabelli
A
fter shutting down in 2013, Richmond-based Cirrus Vodka is back.
“It’s a much bigger mouse-
trap, but it’s the same product, which I think is the best vodka in the world,” says Sterling Rob- erts, who reopened Cirrus along with a friend, Gary McDowell, and Paul McCann, the compa- ny’s founder and master distiller. McCann started Cirrus
Vodka in 2004. Two years later, the potato-based vodka com- pany won a gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and McCann left his career as a policy analyst to focus on Cirrus full time. By 2013, McCann had set up Cir- rus’ distillery on Hardy Street, but that property and its equip- ment was foreclosed that year, so Cirrus stopped production. T at’s when Roberts and
McDowell, self-proclaimed Cirrus Vodka fans, stepped in. T ey weren’t able to stop the foreclosure but set up a bigger
FOR THE RECORD
The Brink’s Co., a major secure transportation and cash management services company based in Richmond, has reached an agreement with New York- based activist investment fund Starboard Value LP under which three new directors have been added to Brink’s board and two current directors have retired. Brink’s also said that Thomas C. Schievelbein, Brink’s chairman, president and CEO, will retire. (
VirginiaBusiness.com)
Virginia is moving forward with a plan to speed train travel between Washington and Richmond by 2025. The state’s rail agency and the Federal Railroad Administration are exploring the feasibility of higher-speed rail on the stretch connecting the two cities. Cutting down the travel time between the cities from the current 2 hours and 45 minutes to 90 minutes would make train travel more attractive to travel- ers in the corridor. Ridership between the cities was 186,268 in the past fiscal year, according to Amtrak. (The Washington Post)
Photo courtesy Cirrus Vodka
operation at nearby Ownby Lane, which opened last year. T e new distillery has the
capacity to produce 100,000 cases per year, and Cirrus hopes to eventually distribute in all 50 states. T e product now is sold in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, where it is available at more than 100 ABC stores. T e goal, Roberts says, is to ramp up production to 15,000 cases by July.
A big part of taking the company to the next level is marketing, including intro- ducing Cirrus in states that may not be as familiar with the product. T e Vodka costs $27.99 for a 750-milliliter bottle and $49.99 for the 1.75-liter bottle. “T e beauty to our brand is,
if they taste it, we got [them],” Roberts says. “It’s that simple.” It also helps that McCann
is not running the show by himself. “He was spread way too
The Lynchburg Regional Cham- ber merged with the Region 2000 Business and Economic Alliance to become the Lynch- burg Regional Business Alli- ance. Megan Lucas has been named the new organization’s president and CEO. (WDBJ7. com)
Martin’s Food Markets will close three of its 22 Richmond- area stores next summer, affecting more than 350 employees. The grocery chain said it plans to close stores in Richmond, Hanover County and Petersburg. According to the company, the leases for the stores are set to expire “and a business decision was made not to extend the leases for these stores.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
PEOPLE
Gary L. Armstrong, named Richmond regional president, Park Sterling Bank. Armstrong was executive vice president and commercial bank- ing group leader at Glen Allen- based First Capital Bank, which was bought by Charlotte-based
Regional View
Cirrus Vodka’s new distillery has the capacity to produce 100,000 cases per year.
thin,” says McDowell, adding that McCann was previously producing, bottling and market- ing the vodka without any help. How does McCann feel
about producing vodka again? “I never really left it, to be
quite honest,” he says. “It has been my life essentially for the past 12 years.”
Park Sterling earlier this year. (
RichmondBizSense.com)
Daniel A. Gecker named to the Virginia Board of Education. He is a partner at Richmond-based Urban Development Associates LLC and a former chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. (News release)
Michael Heaton, named president of Markel Ventures, the investment arm of Henrico County-based Markel Corp. Heaton will retain his title as chief operating officer. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Edward A. Mullen, named part- ner at the law firm Reed Smith in Richmond. He is a member of the firm’s Global Regulatory Enforce- ment Group. (News release)
Stephen C. Piegrass, named partner at the law firm Trout- man Sanders in Richmond. His practice focuses on representing clients involved in regulatory enforcement actions and inves- tigations. (News release)
Kevin D. Schneider, promoted to chief operating officer
www.VirginiaBusiness.com
of Henrico County-based Genworth Financial Inc. Schneider was executive vice president-global mortgage insurance. (VirginiaBusiness. com)
ON THE WEB
Complete list of For the Record and People at
VirginiaBusiness.com
Lee Warfield, named president, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, Richmond. He succeeds Paul F. Silver, who will continue to be the firm’s chairman. (
VirginiaBusiness.com)
Competing bids for Media General
Richmond-based television station owner Media General Inc. and Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. have agreed on terms of a deal under which Nexstar would acquire the Virginia company. Under the terms of the
proposed Nexstar deal, Media General shareholders would receive, for each of their shares: $10.55 in cash, 0.1249 of a share of Nexstar Class A com- mon stock and a contingent value right entitling sharehold- ers to net cash proceeds from the sale of Media General’s spectrum in the Federal Com- munications Commission’s upcoming spectrum auction. Media General, however, must terminate an earlier $2.4 billion deal to acquire Iowa-based media company
Meredith Corp. for the Nex- star transaction to go through. Meredith has not accepted Media General’s offers to ter- minate its acquisition. Instead, the Iowa company has made a counter offer to make the Meredith-Media General com- bination more appealing. The amended agreement
offers Media General share- holders more than $20 per share, a value that includes: $3.90 per share in cash, one share of Meredith Media Gen- eral for each share of Media General and a similar contin- gent value right to proceeds from the sale of Media Gen- eral’s spectrum. In addition, the new Meredith Media General would pay an annual dividend starting at 68 cents per share. (
VirginiaBusiness.com)
VIRGINIA BUSINESS
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