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Arlington, Chesterfield named top digital counties in U.S.
Chesterfield and Arlington counties (along with three California localities) tied for the top spot on the Center for Digital Government (CDG) and the National Association of Counties (NACo)’s 18th annual Digital Counties Survey, which was released Tuesday. The survey identifies the best technology practices among U.S. county governments by evaluating initiatives that streamline delivery of [[...]
Transportation
ED ALDRIDGE PRESIDENT, CMA CGM AMERICA LLP AND APL NORTH AMERICA, NORFOLK The CMA CGM Group serves 80% of the world’s commercial ports with a 502-vessel fleet and 110,000 employees. The American arm of its shipping and logistics company, based in Norfolk, has a workforce of more than 11,000 employees and serves 18 ports. In […]
Media
FRANK BATTEN JR. CHAIRMAN, DOMINION ENTERPRISES INC., CHAIRMAN, LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES INC., NORFOLK A storied Virginia media family, the Battens struck gold by selling The Weather Channel, co-founded by Frank Batten Jr.’s late father, for nearly $3.5 billion in 2008. Since 1998, Batten has served as chairman of Landmark, the private media company his family […]
Retail | Wholesale
ROBERT A. ‘BOB’ ARCHER CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BLUE RIDGE BEVERAGE CO., SALEM Robert Archer runs the wholesale beverage retailer his parents bought in 1959 after moving to Salem. When his father, James Archer, died in 1972, his mother, Regine Archer, became president and forged ahead on decades of growth and acquisitions. Blue Ridge distributes a […]
Finance | Insurance
JOHN ASBURY PRESIDENT AND CEO, ATLANTIC UNION BANKSHARES, RICHMOND A Radford native, Asbury transitioned from a career with large financial institutions to help build a regional bank. After successful mergers in 2018 and 2019, Atlantic Union expanded its footprint in Northern Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, making it the largest regional bank headquartered in Virginia. […]
Health Care
NANCY HOWELL AGEE PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARILION CLINIC, ROANOKE With 13,000-plus health care employees, Carilion Clinic is the largest Roanoke Valley employer, and Agee was born to lead the health system. The Emory University and University of Virginia graduate was delivered at Roanoke Memorial, now one of Carilion’s seven hospitals. She also was a surgical […]
Professional Services
MAHFUZ AHMED CHAIRMAN AND CEO, DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS LLC (DISYS), MCLEAN After earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering from George Mason University, Ahmed worked with Northrop Grumman Corp. and Mobil Oil Corp. before founding information technology staffing and consulting services company DISYS in 1998. Today, as CEO and chairman of the board of directors, Ahmed […]
Hospitality | Tourism
NEIL P. AMIN CEO, SHAMIN HOTELS, RICHMOND Like other hoteliers, Shamin Hotels has been hit by the near evaporation of business travel. Amin is CEO of the company, which owns some five dozen properties and is the largest hotel operator in the Richmond region. Amin graduated The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where […]
Education
MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PETERSBURG One of the state’s two land-grant universities, Virginia State was originally chartered in 1882 as the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. From an initial class of 126, the Petersburg campus now has 4,385 undergraduate and graduate students. Since arriving in 2016 from his role as provost and […]
Law
FARHAD AGHDAMI MANAGING PARTNER, RICHMOND OFFICE; WILLIAMS MULLEN, RICHMOND In 1999, Aghdami joined Williams Mullen and became managing partner at the firm’s Richmond office in 2015. Focusing on wealth transfer tax, business succession and income tax planning, he counsels high net-worth individuals and families, middle-market business owners, institutional fiduciaries, family offices and cha[...]
Economic Development
TAYLOR ADAMS DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA BEACH DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VIRGINIA BEACH Under Adams’ leadership, Virginia Beach has seen several company expansions and relocations over the last year, even in the current economic crisis. In June and July alone, nine companies announced they would either locate facilities or expand in the city. Ranging from manufacturing and […]
Agriculture
CHAD BALLARD PRESIDENT, BALLARD FISH & OYSTER CO. INC., CHERITON Ballard represents the fifth generation of the 120-year-old-plus Cheriton-based Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. Before dedicating his time to the family business, Ballard worked in investment banking with BB&T Capital Markets. Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. is the parent company of Cherrystone Aqua-Farms and Chincoteague [&helli[...]
