Recent Articles from Virginia Business
Federal Contractors/Technology: JENNIFER FELIX
The path to CEO was a little quicker than Felix expected, she said in an alumni profile by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. She was promoted to her current job in 2020, just six months after joining ASRC Federal, which has co-headquarters in Reston and Beltsville, Maryland. ASRC Federal employs […]
Retail/Wholesale: MARC KATZ
After fighting to stay in business amid the height of the pandemic, Custom Ink is growing again. In January, the Fairfax-based online custom apparel company acquired Printfection, a “swag management” platform that allows companies and organizations to easily create and manage custom promotional items like tote bags. The acquisition fits nicely with another company Custom […]
Retail/Wholesale: MICHAEL SEVER
Dennis Winnett, plant manager of Hershey’s Stuarts Draft manufacturing facility, retired late last year, not long after workers at the plant began efforts to form a union. Sever, who reports to the company’s vice president of North American manufacturing, filled the plant manager position in February, a few weeks before 79% of the plant’s workers […]
Professional Services: JEREMY BLANK
A former tax practice partner at Deloitte, Blank took over as Washington, D.C., market leader for the Big Four accounting firm in January, succeeding Tamika Tremaglio, who left to become executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. Blank has extensive experience in tax research and analysis, tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, tax technology and […]
Real Estate: DONALD D. GRAUL
With more than 38 years of industry experience, Graul joined Branch in 2020 from Centreville-based Parsons Corp., where he was president of construction and a senior executive for alternative project delivery. He also worked previously for AECOM. Branch has 853 employees, all in Virginia, and reported $452 million in revenue for fiscal year 2021. The […]
Real Estate: BRETT HITT
Hitt leads one of Virginia’s biggest general contractors, a family business started by his grandparents in 1930. The company finished 1,400 projects in 2021, reporting $3.38 billion in revenue — a 34% growth rate. Hitt, who’s been with the company nearly 40 years, earned his bachelor’s degree in construction from Georgia Tech in 1984. While […]
Real Estate: WILLIAM ‘BILL’ PAULETTE
With $1,000 in seed money, Paulette founded KBS as a one-person construction company in 1975. Over four decades, it’s become one of the top-rated construction firms in the mid-Atlantic, delivering high-profile, multimillion-dollar projects such as remaking the old Putney Shoe Factory into the CarMax Midtown Innovation Center in Richmond, and The Current, a full-block, mixed-use […]
Real Estate: MAGGIE REED
A 2005 Penn State University graduate who holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and has worked for Gilbane for 19 years, Reed was promoted to head up the construction firm’s Richmond office in April. With 2,800 employees worldwide (125 in Virginia) and $6 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2021, Gilbane is responsible for some […]
Living Legends: W. HEYWOOD FRALIN
A lawyer, healthcare executive and philanthropist, Roanoke native Fralin has been working since age 13, when he started out as a paperboy. Fralin is chairman of Retirement Unlimited, which owns and operates 19 senior independent living, assisted living and memory care communities in Virginia and Florida. He previously chaired Roanoke-based Medical Facilities of America, a […]
Federal Contractors/Technology: TERRY RYAN
Ryan’s best advice for others is “to never stop being a student of your industry,” he told WashingtonExec in April. Ryan has led the private, global risk management firm since early 2021, after serving as its lead director. It was established as a holding company for a portfolio of contracting firms that provide security, construction, […]