Sign In
Free Newsletter
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: POHANKA, GEOFFREY
Pohanka’s family has been selling cars since Frank Pohanka opened a Washington, D.C., dealership in 1919. Today, headed by Frank’s grandson Geoffrey, the company has more than 20 locations in Virginia, Maryland and Texas, and is one of the largest Virginia-based auto dealerships. It had revenue of roughly $2 billion as of 2024 and more […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: PARKER, DREW
Carter Machinery has deep roots in Virginia, tracing back to 1928, when Robert Hill Carter founded Virginia Tractor in Richmond. The company was the state’s first Caterpillar dealership, and it is still going today as an independent dealer with more than 30 locations. It has more than 2,300 employees in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: MURRELL, JERRY
As a young student in Michigan, Murrell’s academic struggles prompted a warning from a nun at his Catholic school: He would end up flipping burgers. It took a few years, during which he earned an economics degree from the University of Michigan, worked in life insurance, got married twice and had five sons. But eventually […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: MURPHY, KEVIN
Murphy got his start in the plumbing industry working summers at his father’s business, Midwest Pipe and Supply, which was purchased by Ferguson in 1999. A plumbing and heating products distributor with about 35,000 employees, Ferguson reported $29.6 billion in net sales in 2024. The company made its Fortune 500 debut this year at No. […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: WOODFIN, JACK
Woodfin’s parents, John and Anne, started Woodfin Heating in 1977 to sell heating oil, growing it into one of the largest privately held HVAC-related businesses in Virginia. A Virginia Military Institute and University of Virginia Darden School of Business alum, Jack Woodfin began working with his parents in 1995 as a retail manager. He took […]
Mars to pump $2B into U.S. manufacturing
Mars announced on Tuesday that it plans to invest $2 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations throughout the country by the end of 2026.
High times in Virginia: legal THC seltzers emerge statewide
Mountain High Seltzer announced earlier this month it is the first legal THC seltzer to be distributed statewide by major companies.
Nightingale ice cream expansion to add 166 jobs
Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches is investing $5.8 million to move to a new facility in Richmond and expects to create 166 jobs.
Ben & Jerry’s alleges parent company Unilever removed its CEO over social activism
Ben & Jerry’s says its CEO was unlawfully removed by its parent company, Unilever, in retaliation for the ice cream maker’s social and political activism. In a federal court filing late Tuesday, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever informed its board on March 3 that it was removing and replacing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever. Ben […]
Speyside Bourbon Cooperage in Smyth lays off 75 workers
Speyside Bourbon Cooperage in Atkins will lay off 75 employees at the end of April due to slowdowns in the bourbon industry, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter dated Feb. 28. Speyside plans to end second-shift production and third-shift maintenance at the Smyth County facility. Laid-off workers may be recalled “as […]
Blackstone completes Jersey Mike’s Subs acquisition
A spokesperson for Manasquan, New Jersey-based sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s Subs told NJBIZ that Blackstone completed its acquisition of a majority stake in the company Jan. 16. They added the terms of the deal remain unchanged from the private equity behemoth’s November 2024 announcement. Blackstone did not immediately respond to a request for more information. […]
Sauer Brands acquired by Boston firm; new CEO named
A Boston private equity company completed its purchase of Richmond-based Sauer Brands, which produces Duke’s Mayo, Sauer spices and other food products, the companies announced Wednesday. With the change in ownership comes a new CEO for Sauer. E. Yuri Hermida, most recently executive vice president and chief growth and strategy officer for alcoholic beverage company […]
