The study of economics has been a human activity for many centuries, and can help prepare for hard times in the future. What about hard times in the present? How would we know? A major goal of Charlottesville Community Engagement is to try to keep as many people aware of things happening in local, state, and federal government in order to better understand the context in which upcoming decisions will be made. I’m Sean Tubbs, and glad you are here to help me and the rest of us try to figure it all out.
In today’s newsletter:
Albemarle Police identify the victim of a homicide Tuesday
A first look at economic activity in the third quarter shows a return to growth after a decline in the second
A Canadian company has purchased WillowTree of Charlottesville for $1.23 billion
Charlottesville has selected a tree for holidays events to close out the year
The state’s transportation body takes a look at major macroeconomic conditions
First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners class on reducing chemical use
In today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: Want to learn how to reduce the amount of chemicals used to treat your lawn and garden? The Piedmont Master Gardeners are teaming up with the Virginia Cooperative Extension to offer a class on Saturday, November 19 at 2 p.m at Trinity Episcopal Church on Preston Avenue.
The class will introduce an approach known as Integrated Pest Management as a practical alternative to chemicals in the landscape. It will also look at the basic issues with commonly used insecticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers and will cover best practices for lawns, edible gardens and ornamental gardens. Space is limited. To reserve a place in the class, register at https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/events/. Registration closes at 5 p.m. November 18.
Albemarle police identify murder victim
Albemarle County Police have identified 53-year-old Matthew Sean Farrell of Stony Point Road as the victim of a homicide Tuesday. Second degree murder charges have been filed against 38-year-old Shawna Marie Natalie Murphy.
Police were called to the property Tuesday after a report of a domestic disturbance.
Farrell was an author and editor who was a prominent figure in the Downtown Mall social scene in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. He once penned a letter to the Hook and C-Ville Weekly asking to be declared as “Downtown Charlottesville’s Leading Public Intellectual.”
For more on Farrell and his contributions to Charlottesville’s art scene, read Hawes Spencer’s account of his life in the Daily Progress or the following tweet thread.
U.S. economy grew 2.6 percent in third quarter of 2022
The gross domestic product grew by 2.6 percent July through September, according to new data published yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s a change from the previous quarter, when GDP went down 0.6 percent.
“The upturn primarily reflected a smaller decrease in private inventory investment, an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, and an upturn in federal government spending that were partly offset by a larger decrease in residential fixed investment and a deceleration in consumer spending. Imports turned down,” reads a press release for the announcement.
The Gross Domestic Product is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in the United States. This is used as an indicator of macroeconomic activity.
This data is the first “advance” look at economic activity for the third quarter with a second look to be released on November 30. Breakdowns by state will be available at a later date.
WillowTree acquired by Canadian firm
Charlottesville-based WillowTree started operations in 2008 and has since grown to have over a dozen studios across the world. Today, the TELUS Corporation of Vancouver in Canada announced it is buying WillowTree for $1.225 billion, buying out the shares held by the Insignia Capital Group, who have held the majority stake.
“The acquisition of WillowTree brings key tech talent and diversity to TELUS International’s portfolio of next-generation solutions, and further augments its digital consulting and innovative client-centric software development capabilities,” said Darren Entwistle, Chair of the Board of TELUS International and President and CEO of TELUS in a release.
TELUS describes itself as a “leading digital customer experience innovator” and WillowTree as “a premier, full-service digital product provider focused on end user experiences.” The release states that WillowTree had $140 million in revenue in 2021 and has over 1,000 employees.
For more on the acquisition, take a look at the slide presentation from this morning’s investor call.
Downtown Mall Christmas Tree to be installed on Halloween
A tree from Fishersville has been selected to stand on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall as the official holiday tree. According to a news release, the pine tree will be installed on Monday, which is Halloween. The city’s urban forester worked to locate the tree and arrange the donation.
“The City asks any who are interested to consider names for this year's tree,” reads the release. “A poll will be posted on Charlottesville's official Facebook and Twitter in the near future.”
The Grand Illumination of the tree will be on December 2 at the Ting Pavilion and will include a holiday concert. For more information, visit cvillegrand.com.
If you’re more interested right now in celebrating a holiday closer to home, this Friday will feature the annual Doggie Howl-O-Ween on the Downtown Mall with canine trick-or-treating beginning at 5 p.m. with a parade and costume contest beginning at 6:45 p.m. Visit the Facebook page for more information.
If Human Halloween is what you’re interested in, there’s also the Downtown Halloween Festival from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“This fun, family-friendly event features performances by Brushwood’s School of Dance, AirRaid Juggling, The Magic of Brian Bence, a costume contest, inflatables, pumpkin bowling, DJ, make & take crafts, games, and much more,” reads the calendar item for the occasion.
Second shout-out for the Home Services for the Holidays Food Drive
In today’s second shout-out, the organizers of an upcoming holiday drive want you to know about an upcoming kick-off event for an effort to support the Blue Ridge Food Bank. Beck Cohen is part of the “Home Services for the Holidays Food Drive” which will launch Tuesday, November 1 at Three Notch’d Brewery in Charlottesville.
Participating companies will collect non-perishable food items on their service calls and these also include Albemarle Heating & Air, Jones Heating & Air, Monticello Air, Restoration 1, and W.E. Brown.
Want to join the food drive and help the Blue Ridge Food Bank? Attend the Home Services to the Holidays Days kick-off November 1 for registration forms so you and your company can join in. Learn more on the Home Services for the Holidays Food Drive page on Facebook.
Commonwealth Transportation Board briefed on why construction estimates are increasing
This is a newsletter that tries to keep up with how much it costs to build things, a major factor in the provision of infrastructure. The Virginia Department of Transportation also keeps an eye on changing trends as part of an effort to deliver services more efficiently. This comes out of a 2020 study by the firm of Ernst and Young who took a lot at the methodology VDOT uses to estimate the cost of projects and the way it bids them.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board got a briefing at their meeting on Tuesday, October 25.
“Ernst and Young made several recommendations to the Department and one of those recommendations was to constantly keep up with the economic items including inflation and commodities in our bidding process throughout the year, which is historically something VDOT has not done,” said Bart Thrasher, VDOT’s chief engineer.
This led to the creation of a Strategic Resource Evaluation Study conducted by The Balmoral Group, which takes a look at the economic future and what that might do to VDOT’s construction budget.
“The department was experiencing large price increases beginning in spring of last year as were many other transportation agencies,” said Valerie Seidel is the President and principal economist at the Balmoral Group. “We were seeing the rapidly changing market conditions coming out of COVID and just as some of those things were occurring, Russia invaded Ukraine, and we saw things triple even further this year.”
Seidel said the work took a look at the supply chains upon which contractors depend for materials as well as the labor market for people to build those materials. She said construction workers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“Exacerbating the situation is that its estimated within the next five years, a third of your workers in concrete, asphalt, and aggregate are going to retire, so the situation is not going to go away,” Seidel said. “You’re going to continue to have this constraint on your labor pool.”
Seidel said market conditions are worse than they have been for many years and are unprecedented in recent history. That’s in part because the crisis disrupted business as Chinese factories closed to stop the spread of COVID.
“The U.S. economy and the global economy had operated on a just in time system for several decades,” Seidel said. “When the pandemic hit and no one could spend money on restaurants and gyms and hotels, they just started buying stuff and no one was set up to deliver that stuff in time so you had a huge shipping backlog.”
The war in Ukraine has also meant many skilled freighter captains are currently fighting on land.
“Russia and Ukraine produced about one out of every seven ship captains globally,” said.
Seidel said these factors are why bid prices are increasing. Asphalt prices, for instance, are expected to increase another ten percent this year.
One member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board suggested that VDOT consider using the funding for fifth round of Smart Scale to cover the cost of project overruns.
“You’re going to have all this catch up and if Americans start killing Russians you’re going to have a real big problem out of our control,” said Bert Dodson. “That’s a pretty drastic approach I know but what happens we’ll always feel uncomfortable about thinking like that but I’m just saying that it’s not going to get any better and you plan for the worst.”
Will other members of the CTB agree with Dodson? Find out in a future installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement.
Other accounts of things occurring:
About 800 individuals experience disruptions in parking after Emmet/Ivy permit holders are required to relocate to JPJ, Avery Donmoyer and Ella Hurlbert, Cavalier Daily, October 25, 2022
CPD searching for Downtown Mall shooter, Isabel Cleary, NBC29, October 25
Shots fired - Shootings on, near Downtown Mall increase community concern, Brielle Enztminger, C-Ville Weekly October 26, 2022
Charlottesville woman pushes for honorary sign for Vinegar Hill Boulevard, Dominga Murray, NBC29, October 26, 2022,
Housekeeping notes for #450
So when do episodes of Charlottesville Community Engagement come out? When they are finished! It seems the rhythm of the program wants to do the final dance of production in the afternoon. Perhaps this will eventually take place each morning, but it makes to just send it out when it’s produced.
This is the 450th edition and work will soon begin on the 451st. Paid subscribers of this newsletter and Patreon supporters of Town Crier Productions are helping to fuel a continued search for information as well as presentations of these stories as often as possible.
If you would like to join them, you will help keep this going and may assist in the eventual goal of getting this out each morning. This will likely happen when and if there is the ability to hire more staff. That is the desired direction.
Ting supports this direction with their support of the program. They will match the initial payment for all new paid subscribers, and this provides a little extra beat. And even if you opt not to pay for a subscription, Ting would still like your business for high-speed internet service and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.
If you have any comments or questions about the program, or if you would like to suggest a replacement for the phrase “School Board Member” please drop me a line.
October 27, 2022: WillowTree sold to Canadian company for $1.225 billion; Virginia transportation officials briefed on reasons for higher construction estimates