Recent Articles from Kira
Government | Politics 2024: CHARNIELE HERRING
When Democrats took control of the House of Delegates in 2020, Herring became the first woman and first African American to serve as majority leader. After Republicans retook the chamber following the 2021 elections, she became caucus chair but returned to her majority leader role when her party narrowly reassumed power this year. Early experience […]
Retail 2024: KATE MORA
Kroger tapped Mora to lead its mid-Atlantic division in August. She replaced Lori Raya, who retired after holding the role since 2021. Mora joined Kroger in 2022 as vice president on special assignment supporting End-to-End Fresh, an initiative designed to get the freshest food to shoppers. She went on to serve as vice president for […]
Health Care 2024: MARK NANTZ
As the head of Valley Health, Nantz oversees more than 6,000 employees and six hospitals, including two in West Virginia, as well as more than 70 medical practices and other facilities. The health system serves a population of more than 500,000 in the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia and Maryland. It reported $77.8 million in revenue […]
Economic Development 2024: BUDDY RIZER
Loudoun County has landed approximately $8 billion in new commercial investment for fiscal year 2024, according to the county’s economic development department. This year, construction began on the $3 billion Rivana at Innovation Station project, a 6.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development. Rizer has headed Loudoun’s economic development for 17 years and is best known for helping […[...]
Retail 2024: ROBERT S. ‘BOBBY’ UKROP
Ukrop’s family started a Virginia grocery chain in 1937, which became Richmond’s dominant supermarket brand before it was purchased in 2009 by Dutch retail conglomerate Ahold. The family retained its beloved prepared foods and bakery operations under the Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods brand. Its baked goods and ready-to-eat meals were initially exclusively sold at Martin’s, but […]
Insurance 2024: ALBERTO SCHIAVON
After earning an MBA at the University of Manchester in England, Schiavon started work at the U.K.’s Admiral Group as an international pricing manager. The Italian executive has led Elephant Insurance, the Admiral Group’s U.S. care insurance segment, since 2017. In a 2023 financial report for the Admiral Group, Schiavon noted that substantial rate increases […]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2024: ELIZABETH A. McCLANAHAN
A Buchanan County native, McClanahan has led the Virginia Tech Foundation since 2021. She was previously a state Supreme Court justice and president and dean of the Appalachian School of Law. McClanahan, who fondly recalls attending 4-H Congress on the Virginia Tech campus as a teenager, also serves as a senior adviser to the dean […]
Retail 2024: JACK WOODFIN
For Woodfin, heating and cooling is a family affair: His parents, John and Anne, started Woodfin Heating in 1977 to sell heating oil, growing it into one of the largest privately held HVAC-related businesses in Virginia. A Virginia Military Institute and University of Virginia Darden School of Business alum, Woodfin began working with his parents […]
Transportation 2024: RYAN BANAS
Banas oversees the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion, the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history and one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. Milestones this year included one on April 17 when the tunnel boring machine, nicknamed Mary, completed its much-anticipated journey to North Island, broke through the headwall and created […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: DAVID LEVY
In October 2023, Levy was tapped to lead Amazon Web Service’s worldwide public sector business, overseeing government contracting activities for Amazon.com’s cloud computing subsidiary, as well as business for educational, nonprofit and health care organizations. In 2023, AWS recorded $90 billion in net sales, up from $80 billion in 2022. Last year, AWS announced it […]
Banking | Finance 2024: JOHN C. ASBURY
In April, Atlantic Union Bankshares, the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank, completed its acquisition of Danville-based American National Bankshares, parent company of American National Bank and Trust — a transaction valued at about $507 million. The combined bank has $24.3 billion in total assets, $19.4 billion in deposits and $17.9 billion in total loans, […]
Agriculture 2024: CORWIN HEATWOLE
Sixth-generation chicken farmer Heatwole started his 100% organic and humane-certified chicken company in 2014. Originally named Shenandoah Valley Organic but rebranded as Farmer Focus in 2020, the company lets farmers own their flocks, receive fair compensation and make key decisions. In August 2023, Farmer Focus announced that Stephen J. Shepard, the company’s president and chief […]