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Recent Articles from Virginia Business
Manufacturing 2025: LUCK IV, CHARLES ‘CHARLIE’
Representing the third generation of the Luck family at the helm, Charlie Luck IV became president of the 102-year-old crushed stone company in 1995 and additionally CEO in 1999. While studying at Virginia Military Institute, he officially joined the family business as a summer trainee. After graduating with a degree in civil engineering in 1983, […]
Banking | Finance 2025: BRANCH, VICTOR K.
With more than 40 years of service at Bank of America, Branch has been president of the bank’s Richmond market since 2015. Bank of America reported $27.1 billion in net income in 2024 and employs 213,000 people globally. The immediate past chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association board and a William & Mary alum, Branch […]
Manufacturing 2025: MINKKINEN, MARCUS
In September 2024, Minkkinen succeeded Koen Knippenberg, who managed the plant for more than two years before being promoted to senior vice president of group truck operations for Volvo’s North America branch. A native of Sweden whose father and grandfather worked for Volvo, Minkkinen joined the company in 2004 as a trainee after receiving a […]
Manufacturing 2025: WERGE, ROB
In 2022, Werge became president and CEO of Cadence, a contract manufacturer of medical and drug delivery devices founded in 1985. He previously held leadership positions at Nypro (now Jabil Healthcare), where he led its consumer and electronics business for the Americas region and oversaw operations in India. He also was vice president and general […]
Manufacturing 2025: SMITH, ASHLEY B.
Smith, the third generation of his family to lead the precast concrete company, became CEO in 2018 and board chairman in 2022. His grandfather, David G. Smith, founded the company in 1960 as Smith-Cattleguard, a nod to the company’s concrete cattleguard innovation. The publicly traded company now has manufacturing facilities in North and South Carolina. […]
Banking | Finance 2025: BARKIN, THOMAS I.
Barkin has served as head of one of 12 regional Fed banks since 2018. Previously a voting member on the Fed’s powerful interest- setting Federal Open Market Committee in 2024, he rotated off in 2025. In May, Barkin told attendees at the Investing in Rural America Conference in Roanoke that the key to population and […]
Banking | Finance 2025: FAW, GWEN
Faw, who has worked at Wells Fargo for three decades, was named regional executive for the bank’s greater Virginia market, a territory that spans from Virginia Beach to Bristol, in 2024. A Bedford County resident, she is responsible for 93 branches and oversees more than 700 employees. Starting out as a bank teller in Bedford, Faw became […]
Manufacturing 2025: BEAUCHAMP, BRADFORD ‘BRAD’
In 1950, E. Rhodes Carpenter launched his namesake company as a distributor of Goodyear latex products. A few years later, Carpenter pivoted to pouring flexible polyurethane foam. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Carpenter now has a product portfolio that includes bonded, molded and technical foams, chemicals and chemical systems, expanded polystyrene systems, consumer products, [&helli[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: FOSTER III, WILLIAM I. ‘BILLY’
At TowneBank’s helm since 2023, Foster is steering the regional community bank through a financial growth period. On April 3, TowneBank announced plans to acquire Old Point Financial, parent company of Old Point National Bank of Phoebus, in a deal valued at $203 million. The merger is expected to enhance TowneBank’s position as the bank with […]
Manufacturing 2025: HOFF, JEREMY R.
Hoff joined Hooker in 2017, serving as president of the upholstery, case goods and legacy brands divisions before being named its first nonfamily CEO in 2021. The 101-year-old company employs more than 1,000 people and has corporate offices and upholstery manufacturing facilities in Virginia, North Carolina and California, with showrooms in High Point, North Carolina; […]
