Recent Articles from Virginia Business
Real Estate 2024: KIM ROY
In 2017, Roy was appointed the first nonfamily member to lead the then-80-year-old company. Interested in building from a young age, she graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in construction. Roy joined Hitt in 1999 as an assistant project manager. Founded in 1937, Hitt has more than 1,600 employees in 14 U.S. office […]
Education 2024: DONNA PRICE HENRY
Henry is the college’s first female chancellor since its founding in 1954 as a junior college with two buildings. She presides over a four-year liberal arts college encompassing 396 acres with 26 main buildings, attended by more than 1,900 students. Chancellor since 2013, Henry previously spent 16 years in a variety of positions at Florida […]
Manufacturing 2024: KAI FRIEDRICH
Friedrich joined Liebherr’s U.S. operations in 2021 as its managing director and director of the global company’s earthmoving and material- handling technology. He also serves as a divisional director for construction equipment. Friedrich has worked for the Swiss equipment manufacturer for two decades, previously serving in management roles in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Switzerland. [&hell[...]
Manufacturing 2024: ANDY GIRVIN
Girvin manages the largest factory for chemical manufacturer AdvanSix, which boasts approximately 750 workers. In 1994, he joined Honeywell as a project engineer, working as global asset manager for its resin and chemicals division, which was spun off into AdvanSix in 2016. In spring 2023, Girvin faced challenges, including nearly half of the AdvanSix Hopewell […]
Manufacturing 2024: THOMAS E. ‘TEDDY’ GOTTWALD
Gottwald joined NewMarket, parent company of Afton Chemical and Ethyl, in 1984 and worked in its petroleum additives and former plastics businesses before succeeding his father, Bruce, as chairman of the board two decades later. NewMarket traces its roots to Ethyl Gasoline Corp., a company acquired in 1962 by Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Co., which was […]
Manufacturing 2024: KOEN KNIPPENBERG
In June, Knippenberg began his new role as Volvo’s senior vice president in North America for Group Truck Operations (GTO), a position in which he oversees four vehicle assembly plants: Volvo’s New River Valley plant in Dublin; two Mack Trucks factories in Roanoke County and Pennsylvania; and a heavy-duty truck plant under construction in Mexico. […]
Banking | Finance 2024: VIKRAM ‘VIK’ ATAL
PRA Group, a global business that acquires and collects on nonperforming loans, reported a net loss of $83.5 million in fiscal 2023, after reporting a net income of $117.1 million in 2022. In a letter to shareholders about 2023 numbers, Atal, explained that when he was named CEO in March 2023, his goal was to […]
Professional Services 2024: JEREMY BLANK
With nearly three decades under his belt at Deloitte, Blank was promoted in January from head of the Big Four global accounting firm’s Greater Washington market to a national role as U.S. tax chief strategy officer. In his new job, Blank oversees services for national and global tax clients, including specializations such as tax planning, […]
Telecommunications 2024: MATTHEW J. DESCH
Desch joined Iridium as CEO in 2006, took the company public in 2009 and subsequently replaced its first-generation network with new satellites that are expected to last into the mid-to-late 2030s. Iridium has been inventing new services and finding new partners since. In April, the global satellite communications company acquired Reston-based Satelles, a provider of […]
Retail 2024: MICHAEL SEVER
Sever, a longtime Hershey employee, was named plant manager of the candymaker’s Stuarts Draft manufacturing facility in 2022. He had previously been site operations leader at the facility, which produces nut-based candies like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy. The plant, which opened in 1982, is the second largest of Hershey’s seven manufacturing sites. […]