Retail 2024: DALE FARINO

A former board vice chair, Farino was named CEO of Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority in April, succeeding Travis Hill, who led the agency for nearly a decade. Farino was executive vice president of Sandston-based Breakthru Beverage Virginia, a wine and spirits wholesaler and brokerage company, and previously worked at Tidewater Wholesalers and Coca-Cola Bottling. He also was president of the Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association from 2019 to 2023.

Virginia ABC, which reported $1.5 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2023, transformed from a state department to a semi-independent authority in 2018, a move that gave it more autonomy.

In 2022, the Virginia ABC found itself mired in scandal when employees were found to have embezzled money from seven ABC stores. In December 2023, Director of Retail Operation Jennifer Burke filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was put on administrative leave as a result of reporting the embezzlement. In June, the agency reached settlements with Burke and another former employee who filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

Following Hill’s departure in August 2023, Tom Kirby, chief of the ABC’s law enforcement bureau, served as interim CEO of the authority. Farino is a graduate of the University of Richmond and was an artillery officer in the Marine Corps.