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Recent Articles from Virginia Business
Economic Development 2023: CAREN MERRICK
After 25 years as a Virginia business founder and leader, Merrick was appointed the commonwealth’s secretary of trade and commerce in early 2022, her first role in state government. She helped encourage Amazon Web Services to invest $35 billion to build multiple data center campuses across the state, an initiative announced in January. She also […]
Education 2023: MICHAEL RAO
In his 14th year at VCU, Rao has had a year of ups and downs. VCU opened its $125 million STEM building in April, and in May it announced an $18 million donation from Washington, D.C.-based real estate analytics company CoStar Group to build an academic building for arts and innovation. However, VCU Health made […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: MEHUL P. SANGHANI
A Virginia Tech graduate, Sanghani runs one of the fastest growing federal contractors in Virginia’s tech sector. In December 2022, IBM announced it would purchase Octo from Arlington Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, and Octo is now a part of IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market arm. Born in India, Sanghani was raised […]
Health Care 2023: LT. GEN. TELITA CROSLAND
Previously deputy surgeon general for the U.S. Army, Crosland became director of the Defense Health Agency in January, following her confirmation last year by the U.S. Senate. With a staff of nearly 140,000 civilians and military personnel and a budget of more than $54 billion, the decade-old Defense Health Agency is responsible for providing medical […]
Manufacturing 2023: ASHLEY B. SMITH
Smith, the third generation of his family to lead the precast concrete company, became CEO in 2018 and board chairman in 2022. The Fauquier County business was started by his grandfather, David G. Smith, in 1960 as Smith-Cattleguard, named for its concrete cattleguard innovation. By 1995, Smith-Midland was a publicly traded company. Today, the company […]
Manufacturing 2023: JOHN M. STEITZ
A global manufacturer of plastic films and aluminum extrusions, Tredegar is a 1989 spinoff of Richmond fuel additives company Ethyl. Steitz was named president and CEO in 2019 following the retirement of John D. Gottwald, who had served in the role for 30 years. Steitz had served on Tredegar’s board of directors since 2017 while […]
Education 2023: JAVAUNE ADAMS-GASTON
Rising in prominence since Adams-Gaston became its leader in 2019, Norfolk State now ranks regularly in the top 20 historically Black colleges and universities, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. In 2021, Norfolk State received its largest single-donor gift, $40 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: JENNIFER BOYKIN
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a master’s in engineering management from George Washington University, Boykin began her career at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1987 in the nuclear engineering division, moving up the ranks, before becoming president in 2017. She’s the first woman to lead the […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: WILLIAM W. ‘BILL’ LOVETTE
Lovette was Sauer Brands’ executive chairman and interim CEO in 2019, when Charlotte, North Carolina-based Falfurrias Capital Group purchased Richmond-based family-owned spice company C.F. Sauer. He then made way for Martin Kelly, who became president and CEO of the renamed Sauer Brands later that year. However, as of January, Lovette is back as CEO at […]
Finance | Insurance 2023: VIKRAM ‘VIK’ ATAL
Atal was appointed PRA’s president and CEO in March, after serving as a board member since 2015. He previously spent 27 years in leadership positions with Citigroup Inc. and was president and founder of Atal Advisers LLC, a business and strategy consulting firm. PRA Group, a global player in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, earned […]
