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Truist subsidiary plans to buy title insurance agency

The insurance subsidiary of Truist Financial Corp. said Tuesday it has signed an agreement to buy Kensington Vanguard National Land Services.

Kensington is one of the country's largest independent full-service national title insurance agencies. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is projected to close in the first quarter.

Truist Insurance Holdings Inc. is the sixth-largest U.S. insurance brokerage. Truist's existing title operation, BridgeTrust Title, will be integrated into the Kensington platform.

John Howard, chairman and chief executive of Truist Insurance, said in a statement that Kensington's expertise in the commercial and residential title sectors "will enable us to offer title and real estate services across the full market spectrum."

"The combined business will be one of the largest full-service real estate service agencies in the U.S."

Insurance is by far the largest fee revenue producer for Truist. It generated $666 million in the fourth quarter, up 3.2% from the third quarter and up 24.2% year over year.

Richard Craver

Sherman-Williams plans Statesville manufacturing expansion

The Sherwin-Williams Co. said Tuesday it will create 183 jobs in Statesville as part of a $324 million manufacturing expansion at its site.

The project will include a 36,000-square-foot extension of its existing 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, the addition of four new rail spurs, and the construction of a new 800,000-square-foot distribution and fleet transportation center.

The company said that the upgrades will add millions of gallons of annual manufacturing capacity "to help the company meet increasing demand for its architectural paint and coatings products."

The company has been made eligible for up to $2.73 million in performance-based incentives over 12 years from the state's Job Development Investment Grant. Local incentives are required to match the grant.

Richard Craver

Qorvo biotech subsidiary gains another federal contract

Qorvo, the Greensboro-based chipmaker, said Tuesday that a subsidiary has been awarded a $4.1 million follow-on contract with the National Institutes of Health through the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.

The contract will aid Qorvo Biotechnologies to advance the clinical trials and market launch of both a SARS-CoV-2/ Flu Combo Assay and SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Pooling on the Qorvo Omni diagnostic test platform.

It is the second NIH contract awarded to the Qorvo subsidiary. In April, the subsidiary received a $24.4 million contract.

Qorvo Biotechnologies' COVID-19 antigen test was granted emergency use authorization in 2021 by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Omnia platform uses high frequency Bulk Acoustic Wave sensors to achieve rapid COVID-19 antigen testing. BAW sensor technology enables low Limit of Detection levels that are similar to molecular testing capability.

The SARS-CoV-2/Flu Combo Assay will simultaneously detect and differentiate between SARS-CoV-2, Flu A and Flu B in an all-in-one test using a single swab sample in 20 minutes. The antigen pooling application will allow up to six samples to be processed together and tested at the same time.

Richard Craver

Kontoor Brands board appoints new member

The board of directors for Kontoor Brands Inc. said Tuesday it has named Ashley Goldsmith, chief people officer of Workday Inc., as a member, effective immediately.

Goldsmith, 49, has served as Workday's chief people officer since 2013. She also served as chief human resources officer for Polycom Inc.

Richard Craver