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Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List

Who are Virginia’s most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education this year? Find out in the fifth annual edition of the Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List.

Read more about how we assembled the Virginia 500 from our editor. 

Executives are listed in alphabetical order by industry.

Below you will find links to each of the 21 categories featuring the state’s top leaders this year:

A BridgeTower to the future

On July 31, Virginia Business turned the page on a new chapter in our 38-year history as the magazine became part of the BridgeTower Media family of companies.

Headquartered in neighboring North Carolina, our new parent company is a portfolio company of Los Angeles private equity firm Transom Capital Group. BridgeTower owns 40-plus B2B media and research brands, including Virginia Lawyers Weekly and Best Companies Group, our partner for the annual Best Places to Work in Virginia awards program.

“It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” BridgeTower Media President and CEO Hal Cohen said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

Virginia Business’ former owner and publisher, Bernie Niemeier, sold the magazine to BridgeTower, taking a well-earned retirement following a business career that spanned six decades. Previously an executive for Media General, the now-defunct media company that founded Virginia Business in 1986 as the Old Dominion’s only statewide business publication, Bernie became the magazine’s publisher in 2007, purchased the business from Media General in 2009 and became its sole owner in 2017.

A 2018 Virginia Communications Hall of Fame inductee, Bernie was a well-known mainstay of the state’s business community and frequently could be seen representing the magazine at events across the commonwealth. During his 17-year tenure as Virginia Business’s publisher, the magazine introduced annual products like our Big Book issue and the Maritime Guide.

In a statement about the sale, Bernie said, “Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world. I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

As for what this all means for you, our readers, in the coming weeks you’ll see a revamped Virginia Business website and newly redesigned newsletters. Next year, we’ll begin launching new events and awards programs, while maintaining popular ones like Women in Leadership, Virginia’s Top Doctors and Best Places to Work. For our advertisers, we will be offering new opportunities to better help you reach your customers, and we’ll also be able to leverage BridgeTower’s national family of publications so you can put your message in front of far larger audiences.

And of course we will continue to deliver compelling, timely and informative coverage of Virginia’s business community to you through our daily news website, our monthly issues and annual special publications like the Virginia 500.

* * * *

Speaking of the Virginia 500, polybagged with this issue you’ll find the fifth annual edition of this annual special publication featuring our exclusive list of Virginia’s top 500 leaders in business, higher education, nonprofits, government and politics.

Divided into 21 categories, including a Living Legends section recognizing lifetime achievement, this year’s Virginia 500 features a new breakout section for the insurance industry, which has been separated from banking and finance.

Starting with the first edition in 2020, the Virginia 500 instantly became our most popular product with readers and advertisers in the magazine’s history.

With a word count roughly equal to four of our regular monthly issues, the Virginia 500 is a labor of love — emphasis on labor — for our editorial staff. We began work in earnest on the 500 in April, and five months later, through the hard work of a team of 16 writers and editors plus production staff, it’s now available on your device screens and in your mailbox.

Take your time to browse through our fascinating mini profiles of Virginia’s 500 most powerful and successful executives. We’re confident that you’ll come away not only with some useful business intelligence, but with a far better sense of the movers and shakers behind Virginia’s top industries.

Transom Capital-backed BridgeTower Media acquires Virginia Business to cover nation’s “Top State for Business”

LOS ANGELES and GREENSBORO, NC — BridgeTower Media, the authoritative source for business insights, data-driven marketing solutions and events across more than 40 media and research brands, is acquiring Virginia Business.

Virginia Business is the only publication dedicated to covering economic activity in every sector and every region of the state of Virginia. More than 47,000 executives rely on Virginia Business for news and insights about business in Virginia, which CNBC recently rated the best state in the nation for business for a record sixth time.

 “It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” said BridgeTower Media President and CEO Hal Cohen. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

On the heels of a significant digital transformation, BridgeTower Media, a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, has been actively increasing its appeal to business executives and marketers by strategically expanding its media footprint to encompass more growth markets and industries across the U.S.

“Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world,” said Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier. “I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

About BridgeTower Media

BridgeTower Media is a leading business intelligence, marketing and event platform providing authoritative content and expert analysis through its 40+ B2B media and research brands. More than 4.4 million business decision-makers rely on BridgeTower Media for timely information and expert insights to grow their businesses. These deep and trusted first-party customer relationships power tailored insights for business executives and precision audience targeting for omnichannel marketing solutions. BridgeTower Media also celebrates professional and organizational success through 200+ events and its Best Companies Group. BridgeTower Media is a Transom Capital portfolio company. For more information, please visit www.bridgetowermedia.com.

About Transom Capital Group

Transom Capital Group is an operations-focused private equity firm focused on investing in the middle market. The firm strives to create long-term value by partnering with established businesses and helping them navigate transformative growth. Transom’s functional pattern recognition, access to capital, and ARMORSM Value Creation Process combine with managements’ industry expertise to create improved operational efficiency, significant top-line growth, cultural transformation and overall distinctive outcomes. Transom is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.transomcap.com.

Virginia Business wins three national journalism awards

Virginia Business won three national journalism awards June 21, placing silver in three categories at The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2024 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The magazine took home a silver award in the Best Magazine Cover Category for the November 2023 cover, an AI-generated photorealistic illustration of a robot sitting at an office workstation that accompanied a cover story about how businesses are adopting generative artificial intelligence platforms in their work. Virginia Business Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster created the image with Adobe Firefly, and Art Director Joel Smith provided typography.

“The intense image is unsettling and immediately conveys the tone of concern for the future of local workplaces and the implementation of AI,” the judges wrote about the cover illustration. “The type and design choices are simple and subtle. The cover implores thought as well as an emotional reaction.”

Cavallo
Kristen Cavallo was 2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year

Associate Editor Katherine Schulte placed silver in the Best Personality Profile category for medium-size business publications for her December 2023 profile of Kristen Cavallo, the 2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year and then CEO of The Martin Agency and MullenLowe Global.

”This story starts with a hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, then takes readers along on a journey through the career of advertising CEO Kristen Cavallo. With robust reporting from the people around Cavallo and plenty of industry details, the writer builds a well-structured story about both the person and the business — two markers of a successful profile,’ the judges wrote about Schulte’s work.

Additionally, Virginia Business received a silver award in the Best Recurring Feature category among medium-size business publications for the magazine’s Virginia 500 Spotlight page, which highlights a single executive from the Virginia 500 Power List each month.

”A clever setup with offbeat questions gives these short features an unpredictable edge,” the judges wrote. “Asking about a first job, favorite vacation spot or ‘something they’d never do again’ enriches the interview and humanizes the subject. Even the photos are unexpected and thus, especially charming.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Each award category was judged by a panel of three judges. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing 54 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada, and Australia, with a combined readership of more than 2.4 million business professionals.

Tegna announces new president and CEO

Michael Steib will succeed Tegna President and CEO David Lougee, who is retiring Aug. 12, Tysons-based broadcasting giant Tegna announced Monday.

The 48-year-old Steib will also succeed Lougee as a member of the company’s board of directors. Lougee, age 65, will become a senior adviser. Lougee has been president and CEO and a director of Tegna, the nation’s largest owner of NBC-affiliate TV stations, since 2017.

Steib is currently CEO of Artsy, an online marketplace for art. He previously served as president and CEO of XO Group, which is now The Knot Worldwide. Before that, from 2011 to 2013, Steib was CEO for vente-privée USA, which was the U.S. arm of the French flash sale ecommerce company Veepee before Veepee shut it down in 2014.

Steib previously held executive positions at Google, including managing director of emerging platforms, and was at NBC Universal before that.

“I believe deeply in the power of local news to connect our communities and strengthen our democracy,” Steib said in a statement. “With strong operations in more than 50 key markets across America, a history of exceptional journalism, strong cash flow and a talented and passionate team, Tegna is incredibly well positioned to seize this moment and build a bright future for local news and community in our country,”

He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from the University of Pennsylvania. Steib authored “The Career Manifesto: Discover Your Calling and Create an Extraordinary Life,” published in 2018. He also hosted a podcast, “Office Hours with Mike Steib,” in which he interviewed CEOs.

Lougee said in a statement: “I am confident that Mike is the right CEO to take Tegna into the future at a time of profound change in our industry, and I look forward to helping him in any way I can. I am very proud of all we have accomplished over the last seven years and have been fortunate to work with a terrific board, superb management team and dedicated employees.”

Lougee

Lougee became president and CEO of Tegna and joined its board in June 2017. Prior to that, he served as president of Tegna Media for 10 years. From 2005 to 2007, Lougee was executive vice president of media operations for Belo.

“Dave has had a great run at Tegna,” Howard Elias, chairman of Tegna’s board, said in a statement. “The board and I deeply appreciate all he has done to build the company into an industry leader with a strong financial position and a commitment to the communities in which we operate, but we understand his desire to retire as CEO at this juncture.”

Under Lougee’s more recent tenure, in May 2023, New York-based hedge fund Standard General’s $5.4 billion bid to acquire Tegna was terminated, after the acquisition’s deadline expired. At the time the deal was announced in February 2022, Standard General was planning to acquire Tegna through affiliate Standard Media.

Earlier this year, Tegna expanded its contract with Comscore, reaching a multiyear deal for the Reston-based media metrics and audience measurement services provider to cover all of Tegna’s markets nationwide, up from the 22 markets it had previously covered for Tegna. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Tegna has also appointed two new directors to its board. Catherine Dunleavy, the former president of Away, and Denmark West, who heads market intelligence and strategic engagements at X, The Moonshot Factory, which is a division of Alphabet, will join the board on July 1.

Formed in 2015 when Gannett Co. spun off its broadcasting and digital business, Tegna owns 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets and multicast networks True Crime Network and Quest.

Pivot points

Earlier this year, when I was invited to speak to a Henrico County Rotary chapter, I was asked several questions commonly heard these days by journalists.

Do sources pay us to appear in our magazine stories? No. As an independent media outlet, we are not pay-to-play; we decide who and what we write about and who we interview. Advertising does not impact our editorial decisions, and ad sales are handled by a separate department.

What happens if we print something wrong in one of our stories? We will immediately correct the online version of the story, and we will run a correction in the next issue of the print magazine. If it’s a significant error, we will also add an editor’s note online.

How do you decide on the angle of a story? This question is a bit more complex to answer. In an age of biased 24-hour cable news channels and social media, it’s understandable that some people might think we plan every story with an ulterior, politicized point of view. However, though it might seem surprising or even quaint, that’s not how we — and most local and regional news outlets — go about our business.

Our story planning typically starts with a combination of staff research and talking with sources. We often start out wanting to write about a particular industry, such as health care or real estate, so we look for information about that industry’s latest trends, or recent related studies or news stories.

For instance, in this issue, we have a story about Charlottesville (The retail experience) that was based on a January city study showing declining retail storefront vacancies. We asked freelance writer Stephenie Overman to talk with local retailers and look into it. What she found generally confirmed what the city said — retailers there are mostly enjoying a post-pandemic bump.

But what happens when the reality is different from what we hypothesized? What about when we uncover new information that may change a story’s direction?

The answer is simple: We report what’s there and follow wherever the story may take us.

A case in point is this issue’s story about the University of Virginia (Grounds for dissent?) by Deputy Editor Kate Andrews. We started out seeing a potential story in a confluence of reports that pointed to a larger battle over the meaning of free speech as well as the political soul and direction of Mr. Jefferson’s university, particularly regarding U.Va.’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This seemed particularly timely, given that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees are poised to make up a majority of U.Va.’s board of visitors as of July.

Youngkin and his board appointees have taken active stances at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University, where Youngkin’s administration asked to review syllabuses for diversity courses at the universities, and board members voted down efforts to make the courses required. A Youngkin U.Va. board appointee, Bert Ellis, co-founded a conservative alumni organization that has been critical of university diversity policies.

As Andrews undertook the reporting for the story, however, it became clear that, while those elements were present and are mentioned in her final story, an even more timely and pressing story was to be found in how U.Va. is dealing with student protesters of the Israeli war on Hamas in Gaza and accusations of on-campus antisemitism, so she pivoted to report on that. A debate that’s taking over campuses around the nations, it has resulted in the resignations of the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania and is shaping up to be a critical factor in this year’s presidential race.

And speaking of pivoting, polybagged with this issue readers will find the second edition of StartVirginia, an annual publication devoted to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This year’s issue, shepherded by Associate Editor Robyn Sidersky, is bigger and better than its predecessor, with new charts and lists and more stories than last year. If you’re an entrepreneur or thinking of starting a business, it’s a must-read. 

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 Press Association. A banquet honoring the winners was held May 4 at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel.

Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith and former Associate Editor Courtney Mabeus-Brown took first-, second- and third-place prizes across multiple categories. Smith won five awards for advertising and was a co-winner of a design and presentation award recognizing the magazine’s cover art. Mabeus-Brown, now senior reporter for Arlington County-based Air Force Times, won three awards for news and feature writing.

Virginia Business won seven first-place awards in the following categories:

News Writing Portfolio — Courtney Mabeus-Brown won for a body of stories including “Federal shutdown could have deep impacts in Va.” “Va. could get $100M+ lithium-ion battery project,” and “Pittsylvania site is top contender for $100M battery project.” The latter two stories were consecutive daily scoops reporting that Tennessee-based Microporous was in discussions to located a major battery manufacturing plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, a joint industrial park owned by Pittsylvania County and Danville. The state government has codenamed the economic development effort “Project Stellar.”

Column or Commentary Writing — Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier took top honors in this opinion writing category for his “OurView” column. Niemeier’s winning columns included “Reimagining the corporation” — examining motivating factors for business beyond profit — and “Is ESG another CRT?,” which focused on conservative opposition to corporate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives. “Such an easy read,” judges said of Niemeier’s columns. “It flowed like honey. Interesting and relates to everyone.”

Feature Photo — Freelance photographer James Lee won for his sophisticated photo spread accompanying Virginia Business’ 2023 Black Business Leaders Awards, the magazine’s February 2023 cover story, with judges calling his work “stately … yet light-hearted.”

Pictorial Photo — “Incredible shot of a loving dad and son. You feel this emotion in the action caught clearly, ” contest judges said in applauding freelance photographer Jeneene Chatowsky’s moving portrait of Luminoah founder and CEO Neal Piper and his young son Noah, whose battle with childhood cancer inspired Piper’s health care technology business.

Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Art Director Joel Smith won for his design of a magazine ad for Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Judges singled out his “good use of white space and use of color palette.”

Professional Services advertising (excluding health care) — Smith won for a striking full-page magazine ad for Martinair.

Real Estate advertising — The judges praised Smith’s ad designed for The Franklin Johnston Group, saying, “Great layout, perfect subject photo, excellent color palette. This ad is balanced, informative, and elicits feelings of success.”

2023 Maritime Guide cover
2023 Maritime Guide cover

Virginia Business also took five second-place awards:

  • Feature Writing Portfolio — Mabeus-Brown won for a package of feature stories focusing on higher education and remote work, which judges lauded for “thorough reporting with great research, stats [and] well-used sources.” The portfolio of work included her August 2023 cover story, which scrutinized return on investment from college tuition at Virginia institutions of higher learning, and a September 2023 cover story reporting that remote and hybrid work would be permanent fixtures in the post-pandemic work world.
  • Business and Financial Writing — Freelance writer Katherine Hamilton won for her November 2023 story, “On the basis of race,” investigating how a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-based affirmative action policies at universities could result in an increase in reverse-discrimination lawsuits against businesses.
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Virginia Business staff won for the magazine’s 2023 Maritime Guide special issue, which the judges called “a great piece, front to back.” A team effort, the guide was coordinated by Deputy Editor Kate Andrews, with presentation and design overseen by Art Director Joel Smith. Virginia Business Associate Editors Beth JoJack, Katherine Schulte and Robyn Sidersky also contributed to the issue.
  • Illustrations — Freelancer Tom Edwards contributed the winning illustration, depicting a businessman consulting a crystal ball, for the Hampton Roads Business guide story, “Gazing into the future.”
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith also took second place in this category for his design of a magazine ad for the Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA).

Finally, the magazine won four third-place awards in these categories:

  • Feature Writing Portfolio — Judges cited Associate Editor Katherine Schulte’s “great, thorough reporting with plenty of details, research and useful sources that bring the topics home for readers. All of the stories were great.” Her winning portfolio of stories included “A severe case,” about Virginia’s shortage of primary care practitioners; “Wizards of National Landing,” focusing on the opening of Amazon.com’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters; and “The next frontier,” a look at how Virginia companies are responding to the advent of generative artificial intelligence tools.
  • General News Writing — Mabeus-Brown rounded out her 2023 trio of awards, taking third place for her back-to-back daily scoops about a major lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant potentially coming to Pittsylvania County.
  • Headline Writing — Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster placed for entries such as “On cloud nine,” for a feature story about Virginia data centers and cloud computing; “Love at first site,” for a story about corporate headquarters site selection; and “It’s alive — with possibilities,” accompanying a story about the “Frankenstein”-like ethical quandaries posed by generative AI.
  • Front Page/Front Cover — Smith led this team category, which also recognized Virginia Business editors Foster and Andrews and freelancer illustrator Mark Jeffries and photographer James Lee for their work on Virginia Business’ January, July and November 2023 covers.

Virginia Business competed in the specialty publications category, which also included Ashburn Magazine, Richmond magazine and the Washington Business Journal. Ashburn Magazine won the VPA’s grand sweepstakes award for the specialty publications category.

Tegna expands contract with Comscore

Tysons-based Tegna, the nation’s largest owner of NBC-affiliate TV stations, has reached a multiyear deal with Reston-based Comscore, which will continue providing media metrics and audience measurement services across the broadcaster’s local TV, major affiliate and digital businesses, the companies announced Friday.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

With this expansion, Comscore will cover all 51 of Tegna’s markets nationwide, up from the 22 markets it was previously serving for Tegna. Tegna and Comscore previously renewed the deal in 2020, when Comscore had been providing media metrics for Tegna in 18 markets.

“Expanding our partnership with Comscore will offer us deeper insights through digital and qualitative data, enriching cross-platform solutions for our valued advertising partners,” Lynn Beall, Tegna’s executive vice president and chief operating officer of media operations, said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with our clients to deliver their targeted audiences across any platform with precision and effectiveness to grow their business.”

“Comscore is proud to be a valued partner to Tegna, which is known for its trustworthy and impactful local journalism and strong connections to the communities they serve,” Comscore CEO Jon Carpenter said in a statement. The combination of our local linear TV data and our groundbreaking cross-platform solutions will help Tegna measure the value of their content and deliver outsized value for their advertisers across linear and digital. We’re excited to begin this latest phase of our partnership.”

 

Got news?

If you’ve been missing out on some local news events lately, it’s likely because local news is increasingly underreported. A report from the University of North Carolina found that between 2005 and 2020, the U.S. lost 2,100 — or roughly one-quarter — of its local community newspapers. Four years later, this trend toward “news deserts” continues unabated. In Virginia, many local papers have reduced both their number of print editions and full-time journalists. Having spent more than 30 years in the newspaper industry, I saw the beginnings of this firsthand, but never thought the downfall would come this hard or this fast.

The consequences of this unraveling of local newspapers are increasingly obvious in an age of misinformation.

As then-”Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd interjected during an interview with Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway in 2017, “Alternative facts are not facts — they’re falsehoods.”

Similarly, last year, Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought against the network by Dominion Voting Systems for airing false claims that the companies’ voting machines had rigged results in the 2020 election. Fox acknowledged the claims to be false without granting an apology, seeming to indicate that some media news outlets may not have the best interests of their audience or American democracy in mind.

While it’s unimaginable that our nation’s Founding Fathers would have been so naive as to think that lies couldn’t come from the lips of politicians or be promulgated by newspapers, they did envision our free press as a primary and essential check on the integrity of our democracy. There is a reason why the First Amendment comes first. As the saying goes, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

Behind our founders’ reliance on robust news reporting was the assumption that those efforts would be supported by equally robust advertising. This too has changed. Tech titans like Google, Meta and X (formerly Twitter) are arguably today’s biggest publishers. Make no mistake: Big tech is in the business of content and advertising, with artificial intelligence-powered algorithms making content curation decisions about what viewers do — and don’t — see. The growth of news deserts demonstrates what happens when local talent is scraped away by tech companies. Local news becomes the proverbial baby thrown out with the bath water.

Congress introduced a bipartisan bill in July 2023 addressing the issue somewhat. The Community News and Small Business Support Act would provide local newsrooms with funding over five years to support hiring and retaining reporters. Additionally, small businesses could receive tax credits of up to $10,000 over five years for advertising in local news outlets. However, that bill is still making its way through Congress, and legislators haven’t taken action to regulate how big tech firms can use local news content. Meanwhile, Canada and Australia have grappled with forcing social media companies to pay for republishing local news, with mixed results.

If all of this sounds pretty dark, that’s because it is. On the other hand, dark clouds can have silver linings. At Virginia Business, our audience is the commonwealth’s business community. As others have pulled back from business reporting, we’ve leaned in and added to the magazine’s staff and coverage over the past few years. Both subscribers and advertisers are heading in our direction.

After a couple of decades of going down digital and social media rabbit holes, advertisers are tiring of measuring bots instead of people. The tech titans have frequently proven to be unstable in both measurement methods and leadership temperament. The quality of the context in which brand messages appear really does matter. Quality is defined by truthful, factual, timely and careful reporting.

As we enter 2024, Virginia Business remains strong. We thank you for your loyal readership and your unflagging advertising support. As always, we are committed to our mission of being Virginia’s source for business intelligence. Our hope is that the rest of the local news will also find its way to you. It is essential to our democracy.

John ‘Dubby’ Wynne dies at 78

John O. “Dubby” Wynne only had one setting: giving 110%.

He didn’t know how to do any less than that, even after years as a successful media executive who helped launch The Weather Channel, the 24-hour cable weather news channel. Instead of slowing down after his retirement as president and CEO after 27 years working for Landmark Communications, he continued to make waves in Hampton Roads and the commonwealth, co-founding statewide economic development initiative GO Virginia.

Wynne died Wednesday at 78 following an illness. His survivors include his wife of 50 years, Susan, as well as two children and six grandchildren.

Frank Batten Jr., whose family owned Landmark Communications, credits Wynne with The Weather Channel’s success. Landmark, which had interests in newspapers such as The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times, and broadcasting, cable programming and digital publishing. Wynne joined Landmark in 1974 and served on its board for years after his 2001 retirement. In an interview with the Syndeo Institute at the Cable Center, he talked about the ways Frank Batten Sr., his late mentor, built the media corporation by finding new opportunities each decade, including as an early cable television pioneer and investing in community newspapers, The Weather Channel and digital publishing. 

“The biggest thing is that [Wynne] was the true founder of The Weather Channel,” said Frank Batten Jr., chairman of Dominion Enterprises and president of the Landmark Foundation. “Dubby Wynne was the person who really made it happen. The Weather Channel would not have been successful without his ideas and drive and determination and conviction that it would be successful.” 

The Weather Channel was started by Landmark Communications in 1982, and Wynne led the sale of it to NBC Universal for $3.5 billion in 2008. Wynne received the NCTA Vanguard Award for Programmers and the Governor’s Award from the National Academy of Cable Programming in 1997 for “his leadership and insight in making The Weather Channel the preeminent provider of weather information, and one of the most innovative and popular networks on television.” He was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2016.

“When we launched our service, most people were just laughing at [the 24-hour weather concept],” Wynne said in an interview for his Cable Hall of Fame induction. “Although in some areas like New York City, people already carried an umbrella all the time. In California, they said, ‘I don’t care, it never rains here.’ But we knew from our television and radio experience that weather in most communities was a subject of high interest.”

When Wynne and Landmark executives became aware that the ad-supported broadcasting wasn’t sufficient to support The Weather Channel, he pivoted to charging fees to cable operators to put the channel in the black. “We needed subscriber fees. We showed our finances to the cable operators. It was just a few pennies per subscriber, but getting that done was what made The Weather Channel successful,” he said.

After his retirement, Wynne stayed involved in the business community as a civic leader. In 2006, the National Governor’s Association gave him the First Citizen Award for Distinguished Service to State Government for his role in establishing the Council on Virginia’s Future, an organization that was focused on strategic planning and performance leadership in state government. Later, the CIVIC Leadership Institute in Norfolk presented Wynne its Darden Award for Regional Leadership in 2014.

“He was a visionary, he was an implementer and he could motivate elected officials with his passion for Virginia,” said Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. “His vision for cities and counties working along economic boundaries became a passion for his community involvement, and many organizations benefited from his leadership.”

Along with co-founding GO Virginia, a state economic development initiative started in 2014 by business leaders and state officials, he chaired multiple boards promoting regional cooperation, such as Reinvent Hampton Roads and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. He also served on boards for organizations such as Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Junior Achievement of Tidewater, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the United Way of South Hampton Roads and many others. He was also a founding member of Reinvent Hampton Roads, which was launched in 2016 by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to administer GO Virginia grants for local economic development projects.

DuVal said Wynne was the “driving force behind Virginia building regional economic strategies with private sector leadership.”

Calling Wynne a friend and mentor of the past 10 years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement that “Dubby Wynne has left a forever mark on the commonwealth. He dedicated his immense experience and his life to improving economic opportunity and prosperity across Virginia. His heart for philanthropy and his giving spirit truly made a difference in people’s lives.”

And, for Hampton Roads, “Dubby Wynne was a giant in our region,” Bryan K. Stephens, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber, said in a statement. “He was a man of action, a true impact player who knew how to get things done.  His contributions to the citizens and economy of Hampton Roads are too many to enumerate [in a statement]. Suffice to say ‘Dubby’ will always be synonymous with regional collaboration. His leadership in this region will be sorely missed.”

Nancy Grden, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, said Wynne “had a personal passion for the region and felt the region had so many assets and opportunities it needed to leverage.”

Batten said what made Wynne a great leader was that he was demanding, but people knew he was motivated by working for the betterment of others. 

“Dubby was a visionary leader and passionate advocate for the people and businesses in the Hampton Roads area,” Sentara Health President and CEO Dennis Matheis, co-chair of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, said in a statement. “As a founding member of GO Virginia and Reinvent Hampton Roads, Dubby paved the way for business leaders to come together to think creatively about unlocking the power of the region and all of its collective resources.”

Wynne earned his bachelor’s degree in 1967 from Princeton University, where he later served as a charter trustee for 14 years and as a member of the executive committee of Princeton’s board of trustees. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1971 and later served on U.Va.’s board for eight years, including a term as rector. After law school, he was an attorney for Willcox & Savage before he went to work for Landmark in 1974, where he served as the company’s general counsel and was general manager of KNTV in San Jose, California. By 1980, he was head of the company’s broadcasting and video division and was responsible for new business development. He eventually worked his way up to president and CEO. Landmark Communications later spun off Landmark Media Enterprises, which formerly owned The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times newspapers.

Wynne was often consulted as a regional leader. 

“He could work at a strategic level and a very personal level to encourage all of us to lean into it,” Grden said, adding that Wynne supported young talent and cultivating a new generation of leaders in Hampton Roads. “It’s hard to replicate someone who can do that, someone who has vision but knows it takes people at the ground level to make this stuff happen. He was very interested in incorporating more innovation in our region.”

Wynne’s work, Matheis said, “ultimately led to the creation of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, passing the baton to the next generation of business leaders in the community. Our regional growth can be directly connected to his work, and it is up to all of us to continue his legacy.”

Wynne was incoming board chairman for the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in 2012, when Debbie DiCroce became the foundation’s president and CEO. “He’s that rare visionary leader who understood the importance of strategic execution,” she said. “There’s not much that matters that he hasn’t touched in some fashion or another in advancing the vision of the thriving community with opportunity for everyone.” 

Hampton Roads — and by extension, the commonwealth — is stronger region because of his leadership, she said.

“Of course, the challenge for all of us is to pick up the baton and carry on.”

Virginia Business Editor Richard Foster contributed to this story.