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Recent Articles from Virginia Business
ALICE P. FRAZIER
In 2017, when Alice Frazier became president and CEO of Charles Town, West Virginia-based Bank of Charles Town and its parent company, she was among a select group of only 47 women nationwide who lead banks, and the first woman to run BCT. The bank has four offices in Loudoun County, including two in Leesburg; […]
TIFFANY RAY
Commencement season is Tiffany Ray’s favorite time of year. That’s when students walk across the stage to get their degrees, and she can see “live and in color” how her work is reshaping lives. In 2017, the year before Ray arrived at Germanna as its chief diversity officer, the Fredericksburg community college graduated just four […]
LORI COLLIER WARAN
As the first woman to lead NASCAR’s Richmond Raceway, Lori Collier Waran races circles around everyone — literally. In July 2022, Waran grabbed the steering wheel and took over as the raceway’s president. It marked a big career switch for Waran, who previously served as publisher of Richmond-based Style Weekly magazine and associate publisher and […]
REBECCA GELLER
Thirteen years ago, Rebecca Geller was a corporate lawyer who wanted more flexibility to work remotely so she could balance her work and family life. That aspiration led her in 2011 to found The Geller Law Group, a law firm dedicated to helping women like her balance parenting and their careers. Today, the firm employs […]
LAURA KOTTKAMP
As the executive director of three foundations at Virginia Commonwealth University, Laura Kottkamp considers herself to be a steward of both the city of Richmond and the commonwealth. Her work encompasses the university’s foundation, as well as those for the engineering college and the business school — managing and investing $250 million in assets, plus fundraising […]
FOR THE RECORD JULY 2023
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. completed its acquisition of e-vapor maker NJOY Holdings Inc. for approximately $2.75 billion, the tobacco giant announced June 1. NJOY is now a fully owned subsidiary; its new president and CEO is Shannon Leistra, who previously served as senior vice president and consumer experience officer at Altria Client […]
AUTUMN R. VISSER
It’s relatively uncommon for an in-house corporate counsel to move to private practice, but Autumn Visser made this transition and has steadily ascended to leadership at Roanoke law firm Woods Rogers, which merged with Vandeventer Black last year. She joined Woods Rogers in 2014 as an associate attorney and is now a principal, focusing on […]
SUSAN R. RALSTON
Susan R. Ralston inspires people to do more than they think they are capable of. With more than 38 years of experience as a bank executive, she also holds an associate coaching certification from the International Coach Federation, which she uses as a work and life coach at the bank, helping employees set healthy boundaries […]
GRETA J. HARRIS
Greta J. Harris, a passionate affordable housing advocate, is the first Black woman to lead the Richmond region’s largest nonprofit community development corporation. Originally an architect, Harris shifted her focus to nonprofit community development after being laid off from her career as an architect in 1988. “That initial disappointment changed the whole trajectory of my […]
StartVirginia: Heard around Virginia
Activation Capital, a Richmond-based innovation incubator, will redevelop a 102,000-square-foot innovation center in the Bio+Tech Park in downtown Richmond. The 34-acre Bio+Tech Park is a commercial life sciences hub adjacent to VCU Medical Center and has more than 70 companies, research institutes and state/federal laboratories on its campus. Announced June 2, the $53 million center […]
