Manufacturing 2024: NEIL D. WILKIN JR.

Wilkin was named Optical Cable’s chairman and CEO in September 2003. Those titles joined his other roles as Optical Cable’s president and board member. Wilkin joined Optical Cable in 2001 as senior vice president, chief financial officer and director. He became acting president in December 2001, in addition to his role as CFO, and was named president in April 2002.

Optical Cable manufactures fiber optic cable for telecommunications uses and military-grade cable for the U.S. military and allies. Its gross profit increased 8.7% to $22.3 million in fiscal 2023, compared with gross profit of $20.5 million in fiscal 2022.

Before joining Optical Cable, Wilkin served as CFO of an online real estate brokerage. Prior to that, he was an attorney at McGuireWoods and Kirkland & Ellis. Wilkin also worked as a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand, a predecessor to PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Richmond.

Wilkin is a three-time graduate of the University of Virginia, with undergraduate, MBA and law degrees. He serves on Carilion Clinic’s 2024 board of directors and is a member at-large on Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation’s board of directors.