Matt Busse

If approved, the $417 million deal would create a combined company with nearly $24 billion in assets.

With the potential for tens of millions of dollars at stake, a regional consortium hopes a new federal economic development program will boost the nuclear industry in the Hill City and Southwest Virginia.

Advocates say adding daily flights would improve access to Washington, D.C., while boosting employment and lowering ticket prices. Opponents say it would increase congestion and delays, worsening service for Virginia’s regional airports.

Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries’ newest production site will help boost supply in Virginia’s medical marijuana market — and could position the company for further success if retail pot becomes legal.

Environmentalists say Tuesday’s order, which follows another stay issued Monday, should halt all work on the 303-mile pipeline through Virginia and West Virginia. The principal company behind the project says it might appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the natural gas project said that a Richmond-based appeals court has no jurisdiction to hear pending cases against it. That same court ordered the company to hold off on construction activity in Jefferson National Forest while cases are unresolved.

More than $3 million in state funding, secured in January, has cleared the way to finish development of a 104-acre parcel of land at the Alleghany Regional Commerce Center.

Musser Biomass and Wood Products will significantly increase its production of wood chips and sawdust, which it sells to other companies.

Pipeline officials say a provision in the recent national debt-limit deal means legal challenges to the controversial project are moot — but opponents argue that Congress overstepped its authority.

After the COVID-19 pandemic sparked product shortages, the manufacturing consulting group now is part of a national mission to strengthen domestic supply chains.