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Recent Articles from Virginia Business
Education
MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, ETTRICK While many college presidents enjoy basketball, few have Abdullah’s moves. In March, a video of him tying up an opponent went viral, receiving millions of views and appearing on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Abdullah has overseen dramatic turnarounds at Virginia State University since he became its 14th president in […]
Energy
EDWARD H. ‘ED’ BAINE PRESIDENT, DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA, RICHMOND Baine is an example of the American dream made real. He grew up poor, working on his family’s tobacco farm in Lunenburg County, where, he says, he learned the value of hard work, dedication and responsibility. He subsequently applied that lesson during his more than […]
Retail | Wholesale
MICHAEL AKROP CEO, LEESA SLEEP LLC, VIRGINIA BEACH Akrop, who was Leesa Sleep’s president and chief operating officer, earned a promotion in January, becoming the online mattress retailer’s CEO. He has an extensive background in digital startups, having logged nearly a decade at Zappos, the online shoe retailer, and then two years at Vroom, a […]
Health care
NANCY HOWELL AGEE PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARILION CLINIC, ROANOKE Agee leads Carilion Clinic, a nonprofit integrated health system that serves more than 1 million people in Virginia and West Virginia and is the Roanoke Valley’s largest employer. Agee began her career in health care as a nurse, then moved into leadership roles at Carilion. As […]
Law
FARHAD AGHDAMI MANAGING PARTNER, RICHMOND OFFICE, WILLIAMS MULLEN, RICHMOND In his 22-year career with Williams Mullen, the state’s third-largest law firm, Aghdami has focused on high-net-worth individuals and families, middle-market business owners, institutional fiduciaries and charitable entities. An expert in wealth transfer tax and business succession, he has published numerous articles on [...]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports
TONY BENNETT DEAN AND MARKEL FAMILIES MEN’S HEAD BASKETBALL COACH, VIRGINIA CAVALIERS MEN’S BASKETBALL, CHARLOTTESVILLE The University of Virginia men’s basketball team fell victim to a positive COVID-19 test in March, forcing it to withdraw from the ACC Tournament — a “gut punch,” Bennett called it. The team was cleared in time to play in […]
Manufacturing
R. MARCUS ‘MARC’ AMMEN CEO, UNIVERSAL FIBER SYSTEMS LLC, BRISTOL Ammen has led the Bristol-based fiber manufacturer for 12 years, overseeing its two business units — Universal Fiber, which makes solution-dyed, synthetic filament-based fibers, and Premiere Fibers Inc., based in North Carolina, which produces manmade fibers. Founded in 1969, the company also has manufacturing facilities [&hell[...]
Living Legends
FRANK BATTEN JR. CHAIRMAN, DOMINION ENTERPRISES, NORFOLK Batten’s 13-year quest to sell his family’s newspaper holdings was accomplished in May 2021, when Paxton Media Group announced it was purchasing the Landmark Community Newspaper group of 47 daily and weekly newspapers. Landmark had previously sold off The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times, where Batten once worked […]
Virginia 500
Who are Virginia’s most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education this year? Find out in the second annual edition of the Virginia 500: The 2021 Power List. Read more about the power list from our publisher and how we assembled the Virginia 500 from our editor. Executives are listed in alphabetical order by […]
2021 Virginia CFO Awards: The winners
Large business CFO: John C. Zeheb, Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods LLC, Richmond Large nonprofit CFO: Clifford Yee, Northern Virginia Family Service, Oakton Small business CFO: J. Robert Mooney, Phlow Corp., Richmond Small nonprofit CFO: Kim L. D’Errico, Special Olympics Virginia, Richmond Plus: The 2021 nominees list Amid pandemic, CFOs positioned businesses for recovery
