Virginia Business wins 16 Va. Press Association awards
Virginia Business won 16 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2023 News & Advertising Contest, the state organization announced Saturday. The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. This year’s contest was judged by members of the Missouri [...]
Best Places to Work 2024
This is the 14th year that Virginia Business has compiled the Best Places to Work in Virginia list in collaboration with Pennsylvania-based Best Companies Group. More than 200 companies applied for inclusion in the 2024 Best Places to Work in Virginia cohort. A hundred companies were chosen, divided into three categories: small (15-99 U.S. employees); […]
The 2024 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards
This February, during Black History Month, Virginia Business is pleased to honor 17 distinguished leaders from across the commonwealth in our second annual Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards. This year’s cohort of honorees represent industries ranging from advertising, architecture, defense contracting, finance and health care to higher education and nonprofits. Our editors chose this [...]
16 Va. companies receive LGBTQ inclusivity awards
Sixteen Virginia companies received the top score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index, released in November. Nationally, more than 1,384 companies, including 378 Fortune 500 companies, participated in the organization’s 21st Corporate Equality Index (CEI) survey. Companies that do not participate in the survey but are listed in the CEI are [&hel[...]
August 2023 Top Five stories
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from June 15 to July 14 were led by CNBC’s announcement that Virginia placed second this year in the cable business news network’s annual Top States for Business rankings. 1 | Virginia rises to No. 2 in CNBC’s Top States for Business Rated America’s best […]
MELINA DAVIS
Throughout her 35-year career, Melina Davis says that her favorite — and greatest — challenge has been learning to understand people’s motivations and goals. “Whether we are in a family room or a boardroom, women have to command a leadership position to make sure progress continues,” she says. “Creative solutioning is a superpower for most […]
MAGGIE REED
Maggie Reed is a registered architect, but she found fulfillment in construction. “I’m not great at sitting,” she says, and working for Gilbane Building Co., as she has done for her entire 19-year career, not only suited what she describes as her “ability to run around,” but was “the right mix of cerebral and problem […]
KELLY TILL
In its nearly 175-year history, the Richmond Times-Dispatch had never had a female publisher until Kelly Till arrived in Richmond in June 2022. Till also serves as regional vice president of sales for the newspaper’s parent company, Lee Enterprises Inc., coming off of a 24-year career as an advertising executive with Tribune Publishing Co.’s The […]
TERRIE L. SUIT
During the past decade, Suit has served as CEO of the largest trade association in Virginia, advocating on behalf of more than 38,000 Realtors across the state. In addition to lobbying and advocacy work, the association produces economic research and offers continuing education opportunities. A Republican state delegate from 2000 to 2008, Suit was also […]
LIZA WILSON DURANT
Liza Wilson Durant is determined to help Arlington be counted among the nation’s top technology innovation hubs. She has played a pivotal role in the development and ongoing expansion of George Mason University’s Arlington campus and the vision for FUSE at Mason Square, a building scheduled to open by summer 2024 that will support research, […]
DR. MELINA R. KIBBE
Since the start of Dr. Melina Kibbe’s five-year appointment as dean of University of Virginia School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer of UVA Health, both organizations have seen tremendous growth and new funding. In January, U.Va. announced the launch of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, seeded by $350 million in […]
RITA McCLENNY
Rita McClenny, who grew up on a Southampton County farm, has always been an advocate for nature and a believer in the state’s famed 54-year-old tourism motto, “Virginia is for Lovers.” As head of the Virginia Tourism Corp., she proudly represents the state and all of its tourism offerings. “I grew up always wanting to […]



















