FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Even during a business battering pandemic, Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment, powered by Pace-O-Matic, is generating a significant amount of revenue for the Commonwealth of Virginia and its cities and counties.

The company has over 5,700 skill games in restaurants, bars and convenience stores across the Old Dominion. As the result of a new state law, skill game manufacturers and distributors, starting July 1, are required to pay the Commonwealth $1,200 per month for each one. 84% of the taxes go into a new COVID-19 Relief Fund, which the General Assembly will disburse to organizations working to help Virginians struggling with the novel coronavirus. (more…)

Company Representative Will Reveal Amount Outside Chesterfield Nursing Home During August 19 Event to Benefit Small Businesses and Senior Housing Facilities

What? Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment to
Announce Multi-Million Dollar Tax Payment to Virginia’s COVID-19 Relief Fund During Pizza for Providers Event in Chesterfield County

When? Wednesday August 19, 11:30 am outside Lucy Corr Nursing Home

Where? 6800 Lucy Corr Boulevard, Chesterfield, VA 23832

Who? Representative of Queen of Virginia Skill, Lucy Corr Nursing Facility

Why? To support three restaurants that experienced revenue declines during pandemic; and three nursing homes, which have done heroic work to keep COVID19 out of their buildings (more…)

NORFOLK, VA (July 8, 2020) – Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads (Habitat SHR) is proud to announce its first Women Build Week, August 3-7 from 8am-5pm daily at 1128 Seaboard Avenue in Chesapeake. The project recruits and empowers women of all ages, backgrounds and industries to come together to build a home for a qualified, low-income family and make a powerful and visible impact in our local community through affordable housing.

Women Build Week 2020 is a chance to gain skills on a build site and, in addition, introduce women to the construction trades as a career path. The volunteer women groups who participate will assist Habitat SHR in the framing of the house. (more…)

TowneBank and Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) have finalized the purchase of the Norfolk Southern Tower at 3 Commercial Place in downtown Norfolk as well as the adjoining Commercial Place parking garage at 520 East Main Street owned by the City of Norfolk. Closing on both the office tower acquisition and the garage occurred simultaneously on June 23. While TowneBank and CHKD now jointly own the tower and the garage and will share the space equally, Norfolk Southern will continue to occupy several of the floors until the end of 2021.

“TowneBank and CHKD are both respected corporate citizens and assets to our community,” says Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander.  “Their significant investment reinforces Norfolk’s downtown as the urban employment hub of the region.” Alexander is pleased that nearly 900 people will eventually work in the tower, several hundred more than are presently there from Norfolk Southern. (more…)

What? Employees at 13 Nursing Homes in Hampton Roads and a Hospital ER** Will Receive Free Fresh Pizzas From 6 Local Restaurants*, Delivered by Fire Trucks in 3 of the Cities***, Courtesy of Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment

When? Wednesday June 3 from 11am-Noon

Why? To Support Restaurants and Nursing Homes Hard Hit by COVID-19

Where? Best Places for Media Coverage are Norfolk or Portsmouth. Crews can meet at restaurants (Azalea Inn/Norfolk or Amici’s/Portsmouth) and follow to nursing homes

Who? Randy Wright (Norfolk) and Joel Rubin (Portsmouth) representing Queen of Virginia, Local Elected Officials, Representatives of Restaurants and Nursing Facilities

At lunchtime on Wednesday June 3, Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment, Powered by Pace-O-Matic, will boost beleaguered small businesses while feeding the staffs at 13 nursing homes and one hospital emergency room in Hampton Roads.

Dubbed “Pizza for Providers,” the company is partnering with six restaurants in the region, which until their dining rooms had to close due to the coronavirus were popular places to eat, drink and play Queen games. On June 3, those establishments will prepare pizza to feed day shift employees at the nursing homes and hospital ER. Queen of Virginia Skill is covering all costs to support the restaurants that have suffered financially more than any other segment of the economy because of government ordered restrictions.

***Fire departments in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News have agreed to deliver the pizzas to the health care facilities in their cities. The restaurants will thank the firefighters by providing free pizzas to their station houses.

*Participating restaurants are:

• Azalea Inn in Norfolk (2344 E. Little Creek Road)
• Chicho’s in Chesapeake (1400 Kempsville Road) and VA Beach (2135 General Booth Blvd.)
• Anna’s in Hampton (2845 N. Armistead Avenue); will make for Newport News too
• Chicho’s in Virginia Beach (2820 Pacific Avenue)
• Amicis & Baron’s in Suffolk (157 East Washington St.)
• Amicis & Baron’s in Portsmouth (611 Airline Blvd.)

News media can meet the fire engines at a restaurant and follow to nursing homes or just at nursing homes where staff will receive the food and take it into the buildings. No one else is allowed into the facilities.

** The nursing homes/hospital ER are:

• Province Place, Province Place – 6403 Granby St. in Norfolk
• DePaul Hospital Emergency Room, adjacent to Province Place in Norfolk
• Autumn Care – 715 Argyll St. in Chesapeake
• Sentara Rehab – 776 Oak Grove Rd. in Chesapeake
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help – 4560 Princess Anne Road –  (11 am) in Virginia Beach
• Beth Sholom Village – 6401 Auburn Dr. (11:30) in Virginia Beach
• Coliseum Convalescent – 305 Marcella Rd. in Hampton
• Northampton Convalescent – 1028 Topping Lane in Hampton
• Autumn Care – 3610 Winchester Dr. in Portsmouth
• Portsmouth Health and Rehab – 900 London Blvd. in Portsmouth
• Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center – 4775 Bridge Road in Suffolk
• Autumn Care – 2580 Pruden Blvd. in Suffolk
• The Newport – 11141 Warwick Blvd. in Newport News
• Francis – 4 Ridgewood Parkway in Newport News

“Queen of Virginia owes a great deal to the restaurants, bars and convenience stores that have hosted our games,” says Randy Wright, a former Norfolk City Councilman and consultant to the skill gaming company. “We want to help them while also assisting some very hard working employees in senior care facilities who have been on the frontlines of the pandemic crisis.”

On April 22, the General Assembly voted to delay for a year a ban on skill games and instead tax the terminals to generate revenue for a special COVID19 Relief Fund to be administered by Governor Ralph Northam. In announcing the fund, the Governor said one beneficiary would be nursing homes. “A number of nursing homes have become ‘hot spots’ for coronavirus cases and in some cases deaths,” says Joel Rubin, Public Relations Manager for Queen of Virginia and a past president of a Virginia Beach non-profit nursing home. “That has put an extra burden on their employees to protect residents, many of whom are very vulnerable because of their weakened conditions, as well as themselves. They are true heroes, and this situation is far from over.”

“Once Virginians can return safely and in numbers to their favorite bars and restaurants,” says Randy Wright, “we hope they will have a meal and play our games, knowing that 84% of the tax collected on the terminals will benefit the COVID-19 Relief Fund with an additional 12% going to the city or county where the bars and restaurants are located.”

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March 24, 2020 (Norfolk, Va.) – Most Hampton Roads residents will return to their normal lives and careers when the COVID-19 pandemic passes.

But not the thousands of high school seniors in the area who will be in college next fall, some far from home. The months between now and then are critical, particularly regarding where they are accepted, choose to attend, and how they will pay for their higher education. (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Virginia’s 95 counties have a new target to raise revenue: the restaurants, attractions and hotels that entertain and host locals and visitors alike. That has prompted the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association (VRLTA) that represents those venues, to oppose two bills now under consideration in the General Assembly that would give counties the authority to raise potentially job-killing taxes to finance non-tourism related functions. (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TowneBank is inviting civic and business leaders in the Triad to an official grand opening of its first office in the region. A brief ceremony and reception will take place on January 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the branch located at 802 Green Valley Road in Greensboro. News media is invited to attend. At the event, Towne will announce recipients of monetary grants to two local non-profits.

“We chose the Triad because we believe it is a growing area with active businesses and engaged residents who are looking for a local bank that serves others and enriches lives,” says G. Robert Aston, Jr., Executive Chairman and CEO of the 20-year old financial institution. Towne now has 42 offices from Hampton Roads to Richmond, Virginia and from Charlotte to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. “We have assembled a great team in the Triad,” says Aston, “and expect to expand our presence into High Point and Winston Salem over the next several years. I know that the community appreciates seeing a new company come to the market that is upbeat about its economic potential and eager to make a positive impact in the community.” (more…)

Norfolk, VA – Richmond Ballet, The State Ballet of Virginia, and its beloved holiday tradition, The Nutcracker, returns to Chrysler Hall December 6-8 with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra playing for all four performances.

The Nutcracker will feature not only the company’s full roster of professional dancers and trainees, but also more than 100 accomplished local dance students from across Hampton Roads and North Carolina. These students rehearse weekly for three months for the unique opportunity to perform in a professional ballet production. (more…)