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Recent Articles from Kira Jenkins
Virginia’s Fortune 500 companies
This year, 24 Virginia companies made Fortune magazine’s 70th annual Fortune 500 list, which ranks the nation’s largest corporations by total revenue. Several companies’ fortunes rose, with top-ranked Virginia company Freddie Mac moving up nine spots to No. 36 on the overall Fortune 500, posting $108.05 billion in revenue last year. Meanwhile, Virginia’s second-ranked compa[...]
It’s alive — with possibilities
Just a word of friendly warning: Our November cover story is one of the strangest tales ever told. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So, if any of you feel you do not wish to subject your nerves to such a strain, now’s your chance to […]
2023 Virginia 500: RETAIL | WHOLESALE | FOOD | BEVERAGE
Robert A. “Bob” Archer, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BLUE RIDGE BEVERAGE, SALEM Elizabeth “Liza” Myers Borches PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARTER MYERS AUTOMOTIVE, CHARLOTTESVILLE Reid A. Brown PRESIDENT, BROWN DISTRIBUTING, RICHMOND William G. “Bill” Crutchfield Jr. FOUNDER AND CEO, CRUTCHFIELD CORP., CHARLOTTESVILLE Rick Dreiling CEO, DOLLAR TREE, CHESAPEAKE Dennis Ellmer CEO, PRIORITY AUTO GROUP, C[...]
How we assemble the Virginia 500
When I give my elevator speech about the Virginia 500, it usually starts this way: It’s like the Fortune 500, but instead of companies, it’s about people. Unlike the Fortune 500, which ranks companies by gross revenues, this is a more subjective list. Compiled via staff research, we catalog Virginia’s 500 most powerful leaders across […]
Va. edges up to No. 2 in CNBC poll
Cited once more for its educational prowess, Virginia moved from third place last year to second place this year in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business rankings. Our neighbor to the south, North Carolina, won the top spot for a second year in a row. “Virginia is our most decorated state, a five-time winner,” the […]
Crying wolf?
It’s “the most predicted potential recession in memory,” Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin quipped in January, but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe. During the first half of 2022, surveys of consumers and CEOs showed they were worried about a recession coming on the heels of a 40-year peak in inflation […]
On the move
Megan Baker, economic development director, Roanoke County In October 2022, Baker was hired to step into the big shoes of Jill Loope, the county’s longtime economic development director who is set to retire in July. A North Carolina State and Indiana University graduate, Baker came to the Roanoke Valley from the Atlanta area, where she […]
Business climate change
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a revolution in how workers and businesses think about where, when and how we work. And that change is fully reflected in the survey responses we received from the 100 companies selected for this year’s Virginia Best Places to Work cohort. Seventy-one of those 100 businesses […]
Gloves off
Although many political observers doubt there will be much legislation of major significance passed by the split legislature this year, Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Petersburg, is gambling on a productive 2023. As one of a slight Democratic majority in the Virginia Senate, the only state body currently under the party’s control, Morrissey is in an enviable […]
