The computer chip maker’s $3 billion-dollar expansion in Manassas City has brought more business to area hotels, located just outside the city limits.

A Hampton Inn on Williamson Boulevard, near Interstate 66, is seeing a lot of it.

• General Manager Jennifer Decker said the hotel has seen an increase in both long-term and short-term stays since the Micron expansion broke ground a year ago.
• They have been averaging at least five to 10 Micron related reservations a week.
• Decker said in an e-mail to Potomac Local that she has had guests that have been there longer than 30 days and one guest who has been there non-stop since the beginning of the year.
• “It is very rare for us to see that many 30-plus-day stays in a year,” Decker said. “We are hitting record numbers month after month.”

There has also been an increase in leisure travel to the area due to increased concerts at Jiffy Lube Live.

• A recent Tough Mudder race held at Silver Lake Park in near Haymarket on June 1 and 2 also meant a boom in business.

Despite the influx of people, area residents protested Tough Mudder’s possible return to the park.

• The park was gifted to Prince Wiliam County for use as a passive park, not meant for events, they argued.
• Prince Wiliam County Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland vowed the event would not return to Silver Lake Park.

Compared to January 1 – August 30, 2018, Micron had booked 202 total nights at the Hampton Inn.

• This year during the same time period, Micron had booked 1,129 room nights.
• “That’s a huge increase for us,” Decker said.

The Prince William County Office of Tourism labels the area where the Hampton Inn is located as the I-66 corridor.

• “According to our most recent report received today, the I-66 Corridor has realized a 4.5% increase in occupancy, and an increase of 5.2% in revenue per available room (based on a rolling 12-month cycle),” said Dan Cook, Prince William County’s tourism marketing manager.

The Micron expansion is expected to be complete next year.

Afterward, one out of every two cars in the U.S. are likely to have their memory chips manufactured at the Manassas Micron plant.

George Mason University estimates that Micron contributes $273.5 million to Virginia’s economy.

• $162.2 million to Northern Virginia.
• $22.5 million to Manassas’ economy.
• $76.8 million to Prince William County’s economy.

MANASSAS -- Prince William County's "Democratic Immigrant Caucus" hosted a rally and vigil against immigrant children’s prisons as part of a collaboration with the nationwide event known as Lights for Liberty.

The event on July 12 coincided with other events across the U.S. held, where vigils here held as part of "Lights for Liberty."

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MANASSAS -- Manassas residents packed the Boys and Girls Club, eager to learn about the city’s Comprehensive Plan and offer their input on sticky notes that were provided for their feedback. 

“It’s hard to get people out on a weeknight – except in Manassas, where we’re actually quite good at it,” planning commissioner Russell Harrison. 

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WOODBRIDGE — German discount grocery stores Aldi and Lidl are expanding in the U.S., and now have a solid market share in Prince William and Stafford counties. 

The stores are aggressive in their low price strategy. Retail behemoth Walmart CEO Greg Foran views Aldi as a viable competitor. 

As the larger grocery chains and Amazon duke it out for the top spot, there’s a successful local grocer in Woodbridge who, for years, has worked to carve out a bit of the marketplace for itself and for its customers.

Carlos Castro founded and president of grocer Todos Supermarket, with locations in Dumfries and Woodbridge. 

“It’s not just Lidl and Aldi- it’s everyone. The whole industry is under evolution.” Castro said. 

Castro and his wife founded Todos in 1990. The name “Todos” means “everybody” in Spanish. 

“We resisted the idea of going cheap,” Castro said. He tried to create a model that serves the different customer needs – such as reducing the number of products they carry so that they didn’t have duplicate products. 

Castro said they want to put the emphasis on the products that people look for the most.

Castro said that they also modified the store’s floor plan, and raised their staff’s salaries to stay competitive. But the store has also reduced their advertising budget and instead put that to use in community outreach projects – things that “actually cater to the community,” Castro explained.

The company has increased involvement with non-profit organization HOLA (Hispanic Organization for Leadership & Action) and donates to local schools. 

An example is its partnership with Fred M. Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge, nearby its Woodbridge location in Marumsco Plaza. 

Since Lidl opened its first store in the Washington area on Sudley Manor Drive near Manassas in 2017, and other locations in Lake Ridge and Dumfries, business at Todos has “has increased” about 20% in the last year. 

“Our changes have paid off,” Castro said.

Has Todos slashed prices to keep up with Aldi? 

“In very few cases,” Castro said. “We are buying smarter,” he explained. Castro said that means taking advantage of promotions from suppliers and planning his pre-orders to have larger quantities in order to lower the price. 

This has caused their payroll to go up by at least 20 percent, “… but we have to do whatever we have to do to stay ahead of the game.” Castro added, “We are all feeling the pinch.” That means he’s been cross-training his employees so that they can man the registers as well as run the post office and do money wires. 

Todos has been carrying new items to respond to the competition as well, like its variety of produce, incorporating popular items such as arugula and baby kale leaves. 

And unlike its price-slashing competitors, Todos also offers services like a post office, as well as independent businesses inside the store such as a barbershop, eyebrow threading salon, a specialty clothing shop, and a cell phone repair service. The independent businesses complement Todos’ business model.

MANASSAS -- Officials want feedback from residents on the future of development in Manassas.

City residents have the opportunity to weigh in on revisions to the Comprehensive Plan on June 26 for a Vision Summit Community Meeting at 7 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, at 9501 Dean Park Lane.

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MANASSAS -- Now they can dress the part.

Thanks to an enterprising group of students and a Manassas based non-profit “Hire Ground,” Osbourn High School in Manassas has a closet full of professional clothing that students can wear for job interviews, speeches, or trips to visit colleges.

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MANASSAS -- Homeowners in Manassas will pay more in taxes next year.

The city council hiked the tax rate by two cents to $1.48 per $100 of assessed property value.  It’s a 5% percent increase that will generate an average tax bill of 4,295 for city residents in fiscal 2020, starting July 1.

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MANASSAS -- Young adults in the area who want to give back to their community now have a new way to do so, thanks to a few enterprising young people in Manassas.

Laura Coates, Creative Director for Rotaract, as well as Program Coordinator for CenterFuse

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LAKE RIDGE — During a standing-room-only event Monday night, Democrats running for political office in Prince William County discussed the environment during a candidate forum sponsored by the Greater Prince William Climate Action Network.

Topics ranged from coal ash ponds outside a Dominion Power Plant near Dumfries, whether the candidates would accept donations from Dominion Power, and extending Metro to Prince William County.

The questions, submitted online by residents prior to the forum, were all tailored in some way around climate change

Evelyn BruMar moderated the event, a Democratic activist who grabbed headlines in 2017 when she accused Prince William County Supervisor Jeanine Lawson of devaluing her daughter after she said Lawson told her daughter that children deserve a mother and a father. BruMar and her wife, both of Gainesville, are raising the child.

On the familiar campaign year topic of bringing Metro to Prince William,  newly elected Neabsco District Supervisor Victor Angry, said he supports the idea, and that the county “definitely” needs it. Angry says the Metro will “cost us a lot,” but it will cost even more if the county waits. Angry said that if the county had put a Metro stop in “ten years ago,” it would have been even cheaper.

Angry was sworn-in to the seat following a Special Election to fill the seat vacated by the late John D. Jenkins and to complete his term which ends December 31. Angry must campaign again in the fall in an effort to keep the seat.

Aracely Panameno, a Democrat running this fall to unseat Angry, said “ideally, yes,” to a Metro extension. She said that the county has been discussing this for at least 12 years, and there are competitors such as Amtrak that the county needs to maximize.

“It’s not just about Metro, it’s about a comprehensive approach,” Panameno said.

Danny Funderburk, a Democrat running to unseat Republican Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, said that everyone wants more transportation options, but no one wants the Metro running through their neighborhood.

When asked about the biggest environmental issue facing the county, some candidates continued to talk about transit, land development, and density.

“I’d rather see us do more mass transit options than build more roads,” said Ann Wheeler, a Democrat running for Prince William County Chairman At-large.

Donald Scoggins, an Independent candidate also running for Prince William At-large chairman, added that he rarely sees more than two to three people on OmniRide commuter buses that ferry passengers from the county to and from Washington, D.C. He recommended getting smaller buses that hold 10 or 15 people instead.

On development, Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi touted his record of opposing every new residential development in his district during his time in office. He pointed out that fought the newly approved Rays Regarde Development for the last three years. The project will be built at the end of Horner Road near Kilby Elementary School and will bring 325 new homes to Woodbridge and will be constructed partially on the site of an old landfill.  

Opposing new developments doesn’t make him popular in the business community, he added.

The county continues to wrangle with cleaning up the coal ash ponds near Dumfries, which are full of a toxic ash byproduct left over from 55 years of burning coal to generate electricity. During a question about the county’s coal ash disposal plan, LT Pridgen, Democrat candidate for Coles District Supervisor, said, “We don’t have a plan.” She said that county residents feel like no one is listening to them.

Raheel Sheikh, Democrat candidate running for Coles District Supervisor, suggested utilizing “one of the world’s largest research institutions” in our area, Virginia Tech, to help solve the problem.

Andrea Bailey, Democrat candidate running for Potomac District Supervisor, said she was very concerned about the coal ash. “I think that toxic is toxic. It kills people.” Bailey said.

She advocated for the coal ash to be removed and not recycled and made into other products, as some has suggested.  

“Toxic is toxic,” said Bailey. The coal ash should be removed carefully, and not trucked out on the two-lane Possum Point Road leading to the coal ash ponds.

Margaret Franklin, a Democrat running for Principi’s seat in Woodbridge, said that the county should make Dominion pay for coal ash “in more ways than one” by suggesting Dominion build a science center to educate the community about caring for the environment.

Another question asked whether the candidates would accept campaign money from power companies or developers.

Principi said, “Yes I’ve taken a few dollars from developers” over the years, and that he will continue to do so. He pointed out that developers are people who have children in Prince William County and can produce great environmentally friendly products. He also said that to his knowledge, Dominion Power Company doesn’t donate to local races, but if they did, he wouldn’t accept it.

Franklin said that because of the coal ash problem which she said affects people of color, “I won’t take money from Dominion.”

Maggie Hansford, a Democrat running for Brentsville District Supervisor, was represented by a proxy, Barbara Larrimore. Larrimore answered no on her behalf.

Angry said, “No, only because I was told never to take money from power companies.” He added, “I’m new to this.”

Angry also pointed out that not all developers are bad guys, and that candidates need money to run elections.

Ann Wheeler, who was on the NOVEC Board of Directors, said “No one’s offered me any money.”

Scoggins said no, and added “I’m running the kind of campaign that I can sleep at night.”

Kenny Boddye, Democrat candidate running to unseat Occoquan District Supervisor Ruth Anderson, said, “No I will not, never have, and never will.”

A former candidate for a House of Delegates seat, Boddye said he had previously raised $46,000 in campaign funds during that race and that you don’t need big corporation donations to run a race.

Aaron Cedric Edmond, a Democrat also running for Occoquan District Supervisor, said no as well and said this his campaign is people-driven, which isn’t easy but it’s “necessary.” He added that because of this, he gets a lot of smaller dollar donations.

Bailey admitted that she is “being courted,” because “that’s business”, but because of the coal ash problem in the community she would say no to Dominion.

“I’m no cream puff,” Bailey said.

Danny Funderburk asked the room to raise their hand if they live, do shopping, or send their kids to school in the county. He then pointed out that all those places are brought to you by developers. He added that he doesn’t want the money from community developers to go to his opponents.

No Republican candidates were present during the forum. Alice Crowe of Plastic Free PWC said all candidates had been invited.

The forum was held at the Chinn Park Regional Library in Lake Ridge.