Rate and Review: China Delight

Give five stars to your favorite Fredericksburg businesses.

Celestar is Hiring and More Local Jobs

Mary Washington Healthcare, Lowe's and Healogics also looking for employees.

Quantico contractor Celestar has posted several openings for its local operations, with a variety of technical backgrounds. Graphic designers are needed to "create designs, concepts, and sample layouts based on knowledge of layout principles and aesthetic design concepts," along with developing graphics for product illustrations, logos and websites. There are several openings in information technology and audio/visual operations, including a senior studio manager and mid-level studio manager, as well as a position for a senior speciallist. Other positions include a psychometrician, technical writer, librarian and instructional specialists. Three more jobs in Fredericksburg: See who else is hiring at the Patch jobs page! 

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Rate and Review: Bar Ben Kennels

Do you love the breeding and boarding facility? Give it five stars on Patch!

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Views of Black Friday from a Patch Reader

A Fredericksburg Patch reader ventured out with his camera in the wee hours of Black Friday.

My thermometer read 38 degrees.  Freezing, to my mind. I wondered if the weather would keep people home on "the" shopping day of the year. I drove to Best Buy first, and the parking lot was packed with cars looking for an empty spot. Traffic was slow. Every driver was hoping and wishing that maybe, just maybe, someone would leave and they would be the lucky ones to get that coveted parking spot. Lucky for me, I had my "chauffeur" drive my car in circles as I ran about taking pictures. Paying for children on my auto insurance policy has its benefits. The line ran the front of the store and stretched along the entire side of the building.  Everyone in line was wide awake and wired, ready to capture their moment and create a memory for …

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Rappaport Rebrands Uptown Central Park

The company also announced a retail brokerage specialist for the Fredericksburg area.

Uptown Central Park was rebranded Tuesday evening as the Central Park Corporate Center.  A who’s-who of the Fredericksburg business and government community attended a reception hosted by The Rappaport Companies, the retail real estate company which now owns the property. Located on Central Park Boulevard, the property had previously been owned by Silver Companies, which focused it on retail, including restaurants, night clubs and an ice skating rink. Rappaport has dedicated the property as a business park. New tenants include Germanna Community College, Fredericksburg Oral Surgery and the General Services Administration (GSA). "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a train; things are looking much more positive,” said…

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Eagle Village Hotel Renderings Released

New hotel is next step in redevelopment of Route 1 retail area into mixed use.

Earlier this week, the University of Mary Washington Foundation unveiled preliminary renderings for a new $14 million hotel at Eagle Village. The UMW Foundation is planning a five story, 93-room hotel on a two acre site between the existing Phase I of Eagle Village and the Giant Supermarket. The hotel would be located along a planned connector road to Sam Perry Boulevard. It is expected that the hotel will mostly serve the University and hospital communities as well as business travelers and other visitors. The hotel would be owned by the UMW Foundation but day-to-day operations of the hotel would be contracted out to a third-party management company. The foundation announced that the new hotel will also include an indoor pool and fitness …

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Tech, Tourism Biz Incentives Overhaul Tabled

City Council delays vote citing confusion and criticism over how Fredericksburg uses incentives to lure businesses to city.

The Fredericksburg City Council tabled two measures expanding two downtown business incentive programs, saying more discussion was needed before incentive programs are overhauled. The two measures would have made big changes to the city's tourism and technology zone incentive programs, which give business license tax breaks to certain businesses which expand or relocate in Fredericksburg. "We need to look more strategically  at incentives, period, technology or tourism regardless," said Ward 1 Councilor Brad Ellis, who supports the idea of expanding the programs. "We did not have time to really get into the weeds about how we want to utilize incentive programs." The City Council held a public hearing to expand the technology zone to …

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Matthew Kelly

9:21 am on Wednesday, December 14, 2011

We should welcome business that comes to the city. But we should be particular before providing incentives. Is it needed to get them to locate here and will the business help meet city goals? Those goals are to diversify the city tax base, encouraging better paying jobs, attract more visitors from outside the area, and maintain our unique character. Meeting these goals will also help support …   more ›

Police, City Biz's Talk Homelessness

Poverty, homelessness and their impacts on crime and business were the central focus of a forum between city police and downtown retailers last night.

The topic of homelessness dominated a meeting last night between downtown business representatives and officials with the Fredericksburg Police Department. While the meeting was intended to review strategies for dealing with a wide variety of nuisance crimes downtown, business owners focused much of their concerns on the operations of Micah Ecumenical Ministries, a multi-denominational charity which provides resources to area homeless residents. Businesses were particularly critical of the downtown location of Micah's homeless resource center on Princess Anne Street, complaining of loitering and other disturbances from its clientele affecting sales at their stores. "Most of us came here for this homeless issue downtown, because we see more…

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Howe Cool on Food Trucks, Praises Police Work

City Councilor Fred Howe takes reserved interest in food truck regulations, praises police for arrests of robbery suspects.

Howe has sympathy for, concerns about, food trucks in city. Fredericksburg Ward 3 City Councilor Fred Howe confirmed that he has been contacted by Kim Crosslin, co-owner of the embattled Got Beach Fries rolling restaurant, in regards to revising zoning regulations to allow food trucks to operate in the city. Howe expressed a reserved interest in the issue, admitting that there were several concerns which doted on his mind.  "I support what the vendors are doing with these parks and rec festivals that we have," said Howe. "The school is out as with these being an ongoing business setting up in the city. My concern is that it's not the type of operations we want running around a historic city on street corners,"  In previous interviews, city…

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Mobile Vending Owner

4:47 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012

Thats the same question I have Dan, WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!?!?   more ›

Main Street Meeting Set

City and business leaders meet this morning to discuss proposed economic revitalization program.

Fredericksburg officials and business leaders will be meeting later this morning to discuss a proposed Main Street program for the downtown area. On hand will be Julie Markowitz, executive director of the Staunton Downtown Development Association. Dating back to 1996, Staunton has one of the longest histories in the Virginia Main Street program. The Virginia Main Street Program, first implemented in 1985, is an economic and cultural initiative sponsored by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Fredericksburg enjoys vibrant retail, arts and tourism initiatives within our historic downtown," reads an EDA brochure promoting the meeting. "A Main Street program would …

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