Retired Breeden Co. executive Barry Tomlin has rejoined the Virginia Beach real estate development and property management company as its vice president of customer service and marketing, The Breeden Co. announced Dec. 5.
Tomlin initially joined Breeden in 2007, working as vice president of property management at the time of his 2022 retirement.
In his new role, Tomlin will focus on customer satisfaction and engagement and will oversee marketing initiatives, including efforts to strengthen the company’s local branding.
“Barry’s unparalleled experience and deep understanding of our company’s values and goals make him the perfect leader in elevating our global and community-specific customer service and marketing efforts,” Bonnie Moore, president of property management at The Breeden Co. said in a statement.
Ramon W. Breeden Jr. founded the real estate development company in 1961. The company includes commercial real estate, multifamily property management and general contracting divisions. Its portfolio boasts over 20,000 apartments.
Dominion Energy Chief Operating Officer Diane Leopold plans to retire from the Fortune 500 utility this summer after working for nearly four decades in the industry.
Leopold, who will remain as COO and executive vice president until she steps down on June 1, 2025, oversees major construction projects such as Dominion’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and Charybdis, the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel.
In the coming months, Leopold will transfer utility and contracted energy duties to Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia, and Eric Carr, Dominon Energy’s chief nuclear officer.
Leopold, who earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University, got her start with Dominion as a power station engineer in 1995. Previously, she led Dominion’s gas infrastructure group, was vice president of financial management and business planning, and served as senior vice president of Dominion Transmission. Prior to joining Dominion, she held engineering positions at Potomac Electric Power.
Leopold sits on the boards of Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, a mutual insurance company with headquarters in Delaware, and of Markel Group, the Fortune 500 insurance company based in Glen Allen. She is also a board member of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the World Pediatric Project.
“Diane is one of the brightest, most dedicated, and most capable people in our company and in our industry,” Dominion Energy Chair, CEO and President Bob Blue stated in a news release. “Over her 36 years in the utility industry, she’s demonstrated best-in-class performance in nearly all areas of operations, business development, financial planning [and] corporate strategy, as well as the construction of several multibillion-dollar energy infrastructure projects. … When she retires in June, she’ll leave behind a deep and capable bench of talented leaders, including Ed and Eric, due to her deliberate focus on developing her team members.”
Baine’s new title will be president of utility operations and Dominion Energy Virginia. He will continue overseeing operations of
an electric utility serving 2.8 million accounts in the commonwealth and northeast North Carolina. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Baine will assume additional responsibilities for Dominion Energy South Carolina, which serves 800,000 electric utility accounts and 500,000 gas utility accounts. Keller Kissam, president of Dominion Energy South Carolina, will report to Baine.
Baine joined Dominion in 1995 as an associate engineer after graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech. He has held numerous leadership positions at the company, including senior vice president of distribution, power delivery group and senior vice president of power delivery for Dominion Energy Virginia.
As chief nuclear officer and now president of nuclear operations, Carr will continue to be responsible for the company’s nuclear operations at four stations in three states. On Jan. 1, 2025, Carr will take responsibility for the utility’s contracted energy business segment, which includes Millstone Power Station, a nuclear power plant in Connecticut, long-term contracted solar generation assets and a renewable natural gas portfolio.
Eric Carris is president of nuclear operations and chief nuclear officer. Photo courtesy Dominion Energy.
In March, Gov. Glenn Younkin appointed Carr, who has an engineering degree from the University of Delaware and an MBA from Widener University in Pennsylvania, to the board of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority.
Carr joined Dominion Energy in 2023. Previously, he was president and chief nuclear officer for PSEG Nuclear in New Jersey. There, he oversaw 1,600 employees and operations at the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear generating stations.
Dominion Energy provides regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina. The company also develops and operates regulated offshore wind and solar power. Dominon Energy, which boasts 17,000 employees, reported $14.4 billion in revenue for 2023.
The days of decades-high interest rates are over, as the Federal Reserve is ushering in a new era for financial markets — and, in turn, shaking up some of the advice money managers are offering their clients.
During one of its regularly scheduled meetings in September, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate — the interest rate banks charge each other to borrow money — by half a percentage point. That marked the first time policymakers cut interest rates after embarking on an aggressive strategy to raise the federal funds rate from near zero to as high as 5.5% between 2022 and 2023 in an effort to combat inflation that swelled to levels last seen in the early 1980s.
The U.S. economy is “very strong,” says Dalal Salomon with Salomon & Ludwin. “I don’t believe a recession is really in the cards at this point.” Photo courtesy Salomon & Ludwin
And in early November, the Fed cut its key interest rate again, that time by a quarter-point. Meanwhile, the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, was 2.6%. That was down from 3.1% for the same period in 2023, a year when the CPI started out at 6.4%.
Of more significance than the rate cuts was the message they telegraphed to investors: With inflation sufficiently contained, Federal Reserve policymakers will refocus their efforts on achieving maximum employment. The Fed’s goal going forward is to gradually “normalize” interest rates so they’re not so restrictive to economic activity, explains Aashish Matani, a managing director and wealth management advisor with The AHM Wealth Management Group in Norfolk, a division of Merrill Private Wealth Management.
“The rate cuts are precautionary rather than reactionary,” Matani says. “The current economic environment is a point of strength; we’re not running from a recession, and inflation has come down.”
Understanding that context is importantparticularly because many people may associate periods of falling interest rates with economic turmoil. The last time policymakers slashed interest rates was during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when they took swift action to stabilize the economy.
The Fed’s motivation this time around is different, particularly because the U.S. economy is “very strong,” says Dalal Salomon, founding partner and chief financial officer at Salomon & Ludwin in Richmond. “I don’t believe a recession is really in the cards at this point,” she says.
While unforeseen shocks to the economy could always cause the Fed to change course, policymakers are currently charting a course of steady rate cuts. The federal funds rate is projected to fall to about 3.4% by the end of 2025 and to 2.9% by the end of 2026, according to the median of year-end forecasts from central bankers.
Given the likelihood that interest rates are headed lower, what should you do with your money now? Matani, Salomon, and other Virginia-based financial advisers say it’s a prime time to reassess investment strategies and holdings.
Control what you can control
This new era of falling interest rates isn’t a reason to overhaul your saving and investing strategies, but it may serve as a good excuse to do a financial checkup.
“We have no control over how much the Fed will likely cut rates,” says Susan Kim, a private wealth adviser and managing partner of Kim, Hopkins & Associates, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services based in Vienna. “That’s why I tell my clients [to] focus on what you do have control over.”
Just as you prioritize family relationships and physical and mental health, it’s similarly important to think about your financial well-being, Kim says. Things you can easily control include your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses, along with the amount of money you save each pay period. She pushes clients to achieve a personal savings rate of 15% to 20%.
Another way to save money? By looking for opportunities to refinance debt. While central bankers directly control the fed funds rate, other interest rates tend to move directionally in sync — and you may stand to benefit.
Rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages have fallen “significantly” since peaking last year and are likely to come down further as the Fed continues cutting rates, Matani says. That means you should actively monitor how much you’re currently paying on your mortgage or other fixed-rate loans and be ready to refinance at lower rates, he adds: “Make sure you’re taking advantage of areas that you can.”
As the Fed ratcheted up interest rates, savers were benefiting by taking advantage of a variety of low-risk ways to earn 5% (or higher) returns on cash. These once-attractive options have already lost some of their luster.
If you were padding a high-yield savings or money market account with extra cash to earn easy returns, you may want to reconsider that decision now — while, of course, keeping in mind your specific financial goals and cash flow needs. “People are going to have to find a place to put that money, and the obvious place would be equities for long-term investments,” says Ryan Torguson, a wealth adviser, portfolio manager and partner with VWG Wealth Management in Vienna, a division of Hightower Associates.
Equities, including stocks, historically earn higher returns, albeit with more risk than fixed-income investments like bonds. People pouring money into the stock market could serve as a catalyst, while lower interest rates will reduce borrowing costs for Wall Street companies, which could further boost profits and returns, Torguson notes.
Because a lower interest rate environment will be a major theme for financial markets ahead, investors should consider tweaking their strategies. “This could be a good time to look at your portfolio and reevaluate your tolerance for risk,” Salomon advises.
Before the end of the year, investors also may want to consider selling assets that have outperformed the market, either to invest in areas of the market that have underperformed or to have extra cash on hand, Salomon notes. The stock market has notched one record high after another this year, and an eventual selloff is inevitable, though she urges investors to avoid trying to predict when that could happen and instead react once it has. “If markets are falling, we know that’s a great buying opportunity.”
In fact, the rate-cutting cycle, along with a new president, could result in more market volatility, Matani notes. But that’s no reason to stay on the sidelines. “Long-term investors don’t want to be out of this market,” he says.
Staying invested is also important for retirees or people preparing for retirement. A backdrop of lower interest rates once again makes one area of the stock market more attractive: companies that pay steady or growing dividends. “People who need to have predictable, growing income should invest in dividend-yielding stocks,” Kim says.
Building and maintaining a well-diversified portfolio is a good practice no matter what’s happening in the broader economy, but it’s especially important when a broader market shake-up is underway.
Matani and his colleagues have been recommending that clients increase their allocations to high-quality stocks that provide reliable cash flow and better growth potential amid lower interest rates and potentially slower economic growth ahead. Likewise, he says, it’s important to include “defensive” investments in your portfolio, such as shares of companies in the utilities, consumer staples and financial services sectors that could provide more resilience and help to cushion portfolios against uncertainty.
Even though there are no indications a recession is imminent, some investors who prefer a tactical approach to managing their portfolios may want to monitor consumer spending to watch for any signs of a slowdown. A more cautious investment strategy may be warranted, particularly as behaviors evolve, because consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic growth, Matani says: “The resilience of consumers is going to be important.”
Diversify beyond stocks
In addition to reevaluating your stock holdings, now is a good time to assess your broader portfolio diversification. Many investors have become less enamored with a traditional 60/40 portfolio — 60% invested in stocks and 40% in bonds — in favor of investing in a wider array of assets that includes cryptocurrencies and commodities.
There are opportunities to capitalize on lower interest rates beyond the stock market, including investments in commodities, Salomon notes. And lower mortgage rates don’t just benefit homeowners but will also make real estate investments more attractive once again, she adds.
Likewise, Matani has been recommending that clients adjust their portfolios in anticipation of lower interest rates, including allocating to sectors like real assets, including real estate, commodities and precious metals. “We’ve been telling clients: Make sure you’re diversified.”
But just because interest rates are coming down, that doesn’t mean you need to pile into financial markets in a more aggressive way than in the past. Advisers recommend that clients should have an emergency savings fund with three to six months’ worth of living expenses that’s readily available, and your financial situation may warrant having extra cash on hand right now.
For the past six months, Torguson and his colleagues have been advising clients to prepare for falling rates by opting for safe assets with longer duration maturities. That advice still stands — though the sooner you act, the higher rates you’ll secure.
For cash you don’t need in the immediate future, you may want to lock up money for several months — or, potentially, several years. The shortest-duration U.S. Treasury bonds or certificates of deposit (CDs), those that mature as soon as one month out, may offer the highest yields, but investors are better off opting for slightly lower rates in exchange for a longer-term guarantee.
“People who got into long-term bonds over the summer, with interest rates falling now, are going to appreciate that decision,” Salomon says.
Finally, don’t get so swept up by what the Fed is doing that you neglect some long-standing end-of-year money advice. The clock is ticking on several tasks that must be completed by year-end.
Now is a good opportunity to look at your charitable giving for the year and make any additional contributions, Torguson says. It’s also a popular time of year for tax-loss harvesting or selling any assets that are unprofitable to offset or reduce your capital gains tax burdens. “We’re talking to clients quite a bit about that and how to take advantage of any volatility that comes around the end of the year.”
On the flip side, Salomon says, selling profitable long-term investments may be a good idea if you believe capital gains tax rates are headed higher in the future. What’s more, some provisions of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025, so she’s been working with some clients who are doing “pretty significant” estate planning ahead of that.
If it feels like there’s a lot going on, that’s because there is. As Matani notes, the end of year, coupled with the Fed cutting rates, the presidential election and sunsetting tax provisions is making for a “dynamic environment” in the four pillars of wealth management: financial strategy, investment strategy, tax minimization, and legacy planning. “This is a really important time,” he says, “to sit down and talk with your adviser.”
Lawson Cos., the Norfolk-based residential real estate development and construction company, announced Thursday its president and CEO, Carl Hardee, will retire at the end of 2025.
Aaron Phipps, Lawson’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, is expected to succeed Hardee, who was named president and CEO in 2016, according to the company’s announcement. Hardee joined Lawson in 1991 as a regional property manager at Lawson Realty Corp., one of the company’s subsidiaries, and became its president in 1996. He then was promoted to vice president and chief operating officer of the parent company in 1999.
“It has been an incredible journey growing alongside Lawson. I am immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together as a team, and I have the utmost confidence in Aaron to lead Lawson into the next phase of its growth,” Hardee said in a statement. “Aaron’s leadership and financial acumen have already strengthened our position, and I know he will continue to drive the company forward.”
Aaron Phipps
Lawson, which has 190 employees, was started in Hampton Roads and is still based there, but it’s expanded into Richmond, Lynchburg, Roanoke and Woodbridge. During Hardee’s tenure, the company grew from 2,500 units under management to a development, construction and property management business with 5,100 units in its portfolio. It specializes in multifamily properties and has more than 30 new Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) communities with 3,200 affordable apartments, according to Lawson.
Phipps joined Lawson in 2013 in his current position, and he previously worked for private and publicly traded investment real estate companies, specializing in accounting and financial reporting. He is a graduate of Purdue University, while Hardee, a Gulf War veteran, is an alumnus of Virginia Military Institute.
Shannon O. Pierce will succeed Robert Duvall as CEO of Virginia Natural Gas when Duvall retires in April, according to an announcement by Southern Company Gas, parent company of the Virginia Beach utility.
A native of Surry, Pierce stepped into the roles of VNG president and senior vice president of Southern Company Gas, VNG’s parent company, on Sept. 28. A year ago, Pierce was named vice president of strategy and chief administrative officer for VNG, which delivers natural gas service to more than 310,000 customers in southeastern Virginia.
Robert Duvall will retire as CEO of Virginia Natural Gas in April.
“We are incredibly grateful for Robert’s leadership and significant contributions to our company, customers and communities over decades of service,” Southern Company Gas Chairman, President and CEO Jim Kerr stated in a release. “Shannon brings extensive and unique leadership experiences into her new roles, which align with the company’s values and will help to build on Robert’s legacy of success.”
Duvall has led VNG twice. He served as the utility’s president from 2014 to 2016 before returning to Virginia Beach in 2020 to lead the utility through the pandemic. In between, Duvall worked as senior vice president of customer operations, safety and technical training for Southern Company Gas.
Duvall began his career in 1984 as a distribution engineer at Atlanta Gas Light, also a subsidiary of Southern Company Gas.
Pierce started out as a lawyer for McGuireWoods in Richmond and joined Southern Gas in 2004. Previously, she served as vice president of growth and chief external affairs officer at SouthStar Energy Services, another Southern Company Gas subsidiary. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
Virginia Realtors CEO Terrie L. Suit is retiring after 11 years heading the state’s largest trade association, according to a Sept. 14 announcement.
Glen Allen-based Virginia Realtors, which represents 36,000 Realtors, has appointed Martin K. Johnson as interim CEO. He has held varying roles with the association, including senior vice president of advocacy, chief lobbyist and, most recently, chief external affairs officer.
A former state delegate and state secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security, Suit became CEO of Virginia Realtors on Sept. 13, 2013. She entered the real estate industry as a Realtor in 1985 before transitioning into mortgage lending, an industry she worked in for 20 years.
“Throughout Terrie’s tenure with our association, we have achieved significant progress on behalf of the real estate industry — both in Virginia and beyond,” Virginia Realtors 2024 President Tom Campbell said in a statement. “Under her leadership and vision, we have been able to advocate for homeowners across Virginia and pass meaningful legislation to help protect our industry. Virginia Realtors thanks Terrie Suit for her steadfast dedication and wishes her the very best in her retirement.”
In 1996, then-Gov. George Allen appointed Suit to the Virginia Real Estate Board. A Republican, she also served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, from 2000 to 2008, chairing the House of Delegates’ General Laws committee and the Virginia Housing Commission.
In April 2011, then-Gov. Bob McDonnell appointed Suit as Virginia’s first secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security.
Reared in a military family and born in Orléans, France, Suit graduated from Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She completed her MBA at the University of Mary Washington. In 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Suit to Mary Washington’s board of visitors; her first term ends next year.
“I want to thank the many talented leaders I’ve been fortunate to work alongside during my time as Virginia Realtors CEO,” Suit said in a statement. “I believe in the power of this organization and the importance of its mission. I believe in the power of owning property, and I know that this organization’s tireless efforts will continue helping more and more Virginians to realize that dream.”
Virginia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Barry DuVal plans to retire in early 2025, the chamber announced Thursday.
DuVal became head of the chamber in April 2010. During his 14-year tenure, the business advocacy organization has grown from around 1,000 members to more than 32,000.
“During his tenure with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Barry DuVal has transformed the state chamber into the most influential business advocacy organization in the state,” Virginia Chamber 2024 Chairman Robert Duvall said in a statement. “I want to express the appreciation of the board of directors for DuVal’s outstanding leadership. … He has raised the profile of the chamber, and its programs have greatly enhanced the business climate of Virginia.”
Before joining the Virginia Chamber, DuVal spent eight years at Kaufman & Canoles Consulting. From 1998 to 2002, he served as state secretary of commerce and trade. Prior to that, the Newport News native was mayor of that city for six years.
DuVal led the development of Blueprint Virginia, a long-term economic development plan for the state, in 2013, 2017 and 2021. The process included more than 100 business organizations and more than 7,000 business leaders collaborating to present policy recommendations to each new governor, with the goal of strengthening Virginia’s reputation as one of the top states for business, particularly in CNBC’s Top State for Business ranking, which Virginia topped for a record sixth time this year.
The chamber presented Blueprint Virginia 2030 in December 2021. Its objectives include improving broadband access, encouraging investment in transportation infrastructure and bolstering the number of health care professionals.
Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi said in a statement: “As the leader of the Virginia Chamber and architect of Blueprint Virginia, Barry DuVal has been an essential partner to me and so many others in strengthening Virginia’s economic development and business climate. I am tremendously grateful for his guidance, collaboration and impact — and believe the foundation he helped establish will support even greater progress across every region of the commonwealth for many years to come.”
DuVal also oversaw the launch in January of the WiseChoice Healthcare Alliance, creating a consortium for small business owners to purchase affordable health insurance for their employees. Virginia Chamber partnered with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for the alliance.
The chamber will immediately begin its search for DuVal’s successor and is working with the McCammon Group for the search. The chairman of the executive search committee is former PBMares CEO Alan Witt, also a past chair of the chamber and currently dean of Christopher Newport University’s Luter School of Business.
“It has been an honor to lead the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and I am proud of the accomplishments of the chamber during my tenure,” DuVal said in a statement. “It has all been made possible by the support of the board of directors, chamber investors and members of the Chamber of Commerce that represent the very best of the business community in the commonwealth. The state chamber staff and team members are dedicated professionals who have executed the mission that has allowed the chamber to succeed, and I wish to thank them for their dedication.”
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.
After more than a decade at the helm of Carilion Clinic, Nancy Howell Agee plans to retire at the end of September, the health system announced Wednesday. Steve Arner, who was promoted to president in May 2023, will replace her as Carilion’s top executive, effective Oct. 1.
Agee was born at Roanoke Memorial and later lived there while attending nursing school. As the leader of the Roanoke-based health system, she helped transform Carilion into a fully integrated, physician-led clinic that includes a medical school and research institute with Virginia Tech.
“To do the work I love with the people I love at the place I love has been a privilege beyond measure,” Agee said in a video produced about her retirement.
Agee will serve as CEO emeritus through September 2025. In that role, she’ll focus on philanthropy. Last week, Agee celebrated the announcement that former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman and his wife, Jenny, have given $25 million toward a new building and expanded cancer program at Carilion Clinic.
Agee and her husband U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee gave $1 million to launch fundraising for the cancer center in 2019.
“Steve and I are taking this step now to enhance care in our region, building upon the dedicated work of those who have come before us,” Nancy Howell Agee said in a statement at the time.
Arner joined Carilion in 1996 as a financial analyst, according to Carilion. He’s also served as budget manager, human resources compensation and analytics director, president and CEO at Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital and senior vice president of cardiothoracic and vascular Services. In 2003, Arner earned an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Arner continued to work as Carilion’s chief operating officer after being named president in 2023. Arner has led more than $500 million in facilities investments, including the Crystal Spring Tower addition at Roanoke Memorial Hospital that’s on schedule to be completed in 2025.
“Steve is a strong and capable leader whose commitment to our mission and deep knowledge of our entire organization make him well-suited for the CEO role,” James Hartley, chairman of Carilion Clinic’s board of directors, said in a news release.
In April, the American Hospital Association presented Agee with the Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor, recognizing her “significant lifetime contributions and service to health care.”
AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack noted that when Agee chaired the nonprofit organization’s board of trustees in 2018, her “visionary leadership” pushed the organization to “tackle value, affordability and disruptive innovation.”
Launching her career as a nurse, Agee went on to become the lead administrative director for a National Institutes of Health oncology grant in Roanoke. She was later promoted to a series of leadership roles at Carilion, becoming chief operating officer in 2001, a post she held for a decade before being named president and CEO in 2011.
In a video made by the AHA for the Distinguished Service Award, Jeanne Armentrout, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Carilion, noted Agee is passionate about supporting other women working in health care: “She reaches out and mentors leaders regionally and even nationally and many times those leaders are women,” Armentrout said. “She really cares about mentoring women.”
Although women make up about 70% of health workers globally, they only hold 25% of leadership roles in health care, according to a 2023 report by Women in Global Health.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Sean T. Connaughton, president and CEO of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, said that Agee “personifies health care servant leadership. Her journey has been a quintessential self-made American success story from her days as a candy striper following a teenage injury and hospitalization, as the first person in her family to graduate from high school, to her work as a hospice and surgery nurse, her civic engagement on behalf of the commonwealth and its people, her accomplished tenure leading Carilion Clinic, and her service as past Chair of the [AHA Board] and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association’s board of directors,” he said in the statement. “She leaves Carilion in the capable hands of … Arner, a talented leader guiding Carilion to continued success.”
In Wednesday’s news release, Hartley added that he was grateful to Agee for her continued service. “Carilion and our community have been the fortunate beneficiaries of Nancy’s talents for more than 50 years,” he stated.
Earlier this month, Carilion announced plans to outsource dozens of functions including pre-registration and billing to Ohio company Ensemble Health Partners. All 780 Carilion employees who work in revenue cycle operations will be offered comparable positions with Ensemble, according to a Carilion news release.
In U.S. News and World Report’s annual list of the best hospitals in the nation, released Tuesday, Carilion’s flagship hospital, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, tied for third overall in Virginia.
Gen Xers are next in line for retirement, and most are far from being prepared financially for their golden years. They face a substantial shortfall of funds needed for retirement and the largest savings gap of any generation.
“As the first generation to head into retirement largely without the safety net of a defined benefit pension plan, the stakes are higher for Generation X and the margin for error is lower,” according to global asset management company Schroders’ 2023
U.S. Retirement Survey.
Born between 1965 and 1980 (ages 44 to 59), Gen Xers represent 64 million Americans and make up nearly 20% of the population. Their financial fears and challenges are greater in general than the generations immediately preceding (baby boomers) and following (millennials) them, according to the report.
“You are speaking my language,” says Jeff Kelley, principal of Kelley and Co., a Richmond-based public relations and communications firm. Born in 1981, he’s technically a millennial, just outside the Gen X definition, but considers himself on the cusp of both generations.
“I love my job, but I don’t want to be 70 and still having to work,” Kelley says. “My wife and I think we are on track, but there’s a lot to consider. There’s no way to save for everything. We have three kids, ages 10, 8 and 5, and we are putting away whatever
we can for college.”
Gen Xers estimate they will need $1.1 million-plus for a comfortable retirement, but most expect to have about $660,000, a gap of more than $440,000, according to the Schroders report.
More than 60% of Gen Xers are not confident in their abilities to achieve a comfortable retirement. More than 8 in 10 are concerned about the prospect of not receiving regular paychecks.
An average 45% haven’t done any retirement planning. And 66% worry that their workplace retirement plan won’t grow as much as they will need. “The result: The Gen X dream retirement may be slipping away,” the report says.
Social Security? Nevermind
“My focus has been on growing the family business,” says Matt Dozier, 47, vice president of Dozier Tank & Welding, a tank and trailer repair shop with offices in Chesapeake, Richmond and Selma, North Carolina.
Dozier says he never gave any thought about retirement until he reached his 40s, but even now saving money for later in life is not a high priority. He doesn’t have children, so that’s not a factor. He might want to slow down eventually, he says, but as a blue-collar worker, the prospect of not working is not part of his DNA. “I don’t know how not to work.”
His late grandfather, who started the business in 1966, and his father, now president, never took vacations. Dozier broke that tradition. He enjoys sports car racing and recently spent a week camping in his RV next to a racetrack in Florida.
He and his peers are not as worried about retirement as perhaps they should be, he says. “If we have money, we might as well enjoy it now. We see plenty of people who die five years after they retire.”
Dozier admits he has better financial prospects than many of his friends, since he could become an owner in the family business. But he has no guarantees, nor is he relying on Social Security benefits to supplement his income. “It would be great if Social Security is there, but we’ve been told for 20 years that we won’t see it.”
A more likely scenario for him, he says, would be to pool funds with a few buddies and buy property where they would build tiny houses to live in, sharing a large garage.
“Yeah, I might need $1.1 million, but it’s not going to happen,” Dozier says bluntly.
He’s not alone in his thinking. The Schroders survey shows that 47% of Gen Xers believe Social Security will run out of money by the time they reach the full retirement age of 67, compared with 38% of not-yet-retired baby boomers. Only 10% of those who do believe in Social Security’s viability plan to wait until age 70 to receive the maximum benefit payment.
An average 32% of Gen Xers’ retirement plan assets are in cash; 63% fear losing their money, according to the Schroders report, and 24% are not sure how to invest their savings.
Dozier can relate. His maternal grandfather invested poorly, he says, and lost everything before he retired in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Reckoning
Typically, people don’t get serious about saving for retirement until they get into their 40s or early 50s, experts say. That means Gen Xers still can close the retirement wealth gap, but it won’t be easy.
“Fortunately, even the oldest Gen Xers have some time before reaching their full retirement age,” says Deb Boyden, an author of the Schroders study and head of the company’s U.S. defined contribution division. “Using this time to develop a retirement plan, increase their savings rate and invest more appropriately is crucial to improving their retirement readiness before it’s too late.”
Schroders’ findings are supported by a fall 2023 Bank of America Workplace Benefits Report, which stated that only 17% of Gen Xers feel confident that they’re financially ready for retirement.
“On a more positive note, looking within the 401(k) plans that Bank of America administers for its corporate clients nationwide, 16% of Gen Xers increased their 401(k) contribution rate in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to just 3% who decreased their contribution rate,” says Matt Card, a Northern Virginia-based media relations executive for Bank of America.
Generation X is the first modern generation to experience the full effect of a societal shift in retirement planning from defined company pension plans to defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s, transferring financial responsibility from employers to individuals.
Defined contribution plans offer tax benefits. Employees choose how much to contribute, subject to annual limits, and some employers match their contributions.
“Corporate-defined pension plans started to decline in the 1980s with the advent of 401(k) plans and are now rare and have been for the past 15 to 20 years,” says Michael Joyce, president of Agili, a financial planning firm in Richmond.
Most government employees still have pension plans, Joyce notes, some with cost-of-living increases but most without. However, only 14% of working Gen Xers have defined benefit pension plans, according to a 2023 report from the National Institute on Retirement Security.
The way that Gen Xers, the original latchkey kids, deal with self-reliance for retirement planning will set the precedent for generations to follow, experts say.
“Clients in the [Gen X] age group are approaching their peak earnings years,” Joyce says. “It is very important to save at least 10% of their earnings and take advantage of company retirement plans — 401(k), 403(b), 457 — as well as maximizing other potential corporate perks, including nonqualified deferred compensations plans [tax-deferred payments made at a future date to allow for certain events], Health Savings Accounts and restricted stock awards.” He recommends they also take advantage of 529 plans for college savings.
Stop making sense
Donte Smith, a Richmond-based vice president and financial adviser with Merrill Wealth Management, calls Gen Xers “the sandwich generation,” taking care of children (either in college or with college on the near horizon) while caring for one or two aging parents. “They have significant demands on both sides,” he says, “and barely have time to take care of themselves.”
This generation also weathered three major market corrections — the 2000 dotcom tech bubble, the 2007-2009 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. “All of that has impacted their investments and their confidence and ability to save at the level they should,” Smith says.
Throw in rising health care costs, soaring inflation over the past couple of years, along with high interest rates and lagging wages — and saving money becomes even more difficult.
Gen Xers with access to matching defined contribution plans should at minimum invest the percentage matched by their employers, Smith advises.
A 5% match is common, he says. For example, an employee makes $100,000 a year and puts $5,000 annually into a 401(k). A 100% company match would turn that into a $10,000 investment. Those over age 50 should, if possible, also take advantage of any catch-up provisions, allowing them to sock away even more.
Gen Xers, Smith says, tend to fit into three main groups:
One bunch hasn’t thought much about retiring because they’re too busy rearing their families and paying down debt or saving to buy their first homes.
Others have saved some money but haven’t created retirement plans and don’t know where or how much to invest, he says.
The third group theoretically has done the right thing by saving and investing for retirement since early adulthood. They feel in control of their retirements but don’t have customized plans.
Everyone needs a plan to make sure they’re making the right investment decisions, Smith says. Tactics, whether saving or investing for retirement, should never come before the plan. “You start with a plan,” he says, “and everything you do has to line up with the plan.”
Say, for example, you want to save $1 million and retire in 20 years, Smith notes. How much money should you save each week or month, and how should it be divvied among stocks, bonds and saving accounts? How much risk is the investor willing to take?
“In [your] 40s, all of a sudden you see the end of the track and know you have to get serious about retirement planning,” Smith says, adding that most people in this age group have enough time to realize the benefits of compound interest growth in their investments.
Smith suggests Gen Xers modify their spending habits — cutting back on streaming subscription services or dining out — to increase their retirement savings.
My so-called life savings
The typical Generation X household (with half saving more and half less) has only $40,000 in retirement savings, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security report.
More than half of Gen Xers (55%) participate in employer-sponsored retirement savings plans, according to the 2023 NIRS report, which analyzed 2020 data from the federal Survey of Income and Program Participation and found large discrepancies between average and median amounts of retirement savings.
Everyone needs to “start with a plan” for retirement savings, says Donte Smith, a vice president and financial adviser with Merrill Wealth Management. Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown
The average account balance in private retirement accounts (individual retirement accounts, Keogh plans for the self-employed, defined contribution plans) among working Gen Xers was $129,994. However, the median account balance, with half saving more and half less, was only $10,000. Also, 40% had accounts with zero balances.
“Most Gen Xers, regardless of race, gender, marital status or income, are failing to meet retirement savings targets,” according to the NRIS report.
“Shoring up the Social Security trust fund is critical for assuring Generation X of its retirement security,” the report adds, noting that policy actions such as increasing plan access for part-time workers and reforming a saver’s credit (a federal income tax credit) also would help.
Unlike many of his peers, Kelley has mapped out a savings plan. He and his wife, Cristin, rolled over their 401(k) accounts from previous employers into IRAs, preserving their tax-deferred status with no early withdrawal penalties.
They have a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, which allows contributions up to 25% of compensation. And they have Virginia 529 college savings plans for their three children.
Their cash savings is invested in a high-yield bank account. Plus, they have a taxable brokerage account or “robo-adviser,” an online platform that automatically manages and allocates investments based on risk tolerance and targeted returns. “This could be retirement someday but is really a place to park accessible funds if ever needed,” Kelley says. “I try not to touch it.”
Social Security doesn’t figure into their strategy at all.
“We try to save as much as we can, but we also want to live our lives,” Kelley says. “My goal is A) Be with my kids as much as possible, and B) Make as much money as possible.”
The family likes to go on a vacation once a year. They go out to eat but only occasionally. They don’t go to Starbucks. Nor does Kelley go out to lunch during workdays.
“Our cars are paid off. Our house is within our means,” Kelley says. “Am I rich? No. Smart with money? Hopefully.”
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