Transportation: P. DALE BENNETT

Bennett, whose father was a trucker for two decades, started working at VTA as an assistant to the executive vice president in 1984. He’s led the nonprofit organization since 1989.

VTA advocates for the state’s trucking fleets and industry vendors, which have been hard hit amid the pandemic by driver shortages, supply-chain woes and high diesel prices. Earlier this year, the VTA partnered with the Virginia Ready Initiative to reskill workers through the state’s community colleges; so far more than 188 candidates have enrolled in its commercial driver’s license program.

Bennett has been involved with numerous boards and committees, including the American Trucking Associations, the Virginia Freight Advisory Committee and the Virginia Society of Association Executives. A University of Richmond graduate, Bennett worked for the Virginia State Crime Commission from 1982 to 1984. As a teen, he drove a tractor on his uncle’s tobacco fields.

BEST ADVICE FOR OTHERS: From my father: “Be aware of how you treat the people you meet as you climb the ladder of life, because you may have to see them again on your way back down.”

FAVORITE SONG: “No Hard Feelings,” by The Avett Brothers