Friendship retirement community acquires Richfield Living
Friendship, a Roanoke-area retirement community, announced Monday that it has acquired Richfield Living, a former competitor in the region, for $62 million. Friendship announced the acquisition Monday. The combined not-for-profit retirement communities will operate under the name Friendship, but will keep Richfield Living’s name and identity, and will have 1,000 employees serving 1,500 resid[...]
VTCSOM seeks to create neurosurgery department
Administrators at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are working toward establishing a department of neurosurgery, a step up from its smaller program. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) received the school’s proposal for creating the new department in early August and could vote on it as soon as Oct. 24, […]
Wells Fargo to launch $87M expansion in Roanoke County
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will spend $87 million to modernize and expand its Roanoke County customer support center, adding 1,100 jobs in a deal that will make the bank the county’s largest employer. The deal is also the largest project employment announcement in the county’s history, as well as its largest commercial office investment, Gov. […]
Virginia Tech research institute receives $50M gift
A foundation established by the estate of Richmond philanthropist Bill Goodwin‘s late son, Hunter, has made a $50 million commitment to support cancer and neuroscience research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech announced Tuesday. The gift is one of three record $50 million donations Virginia Tech has received, including the 2018 […]
Finance | Insurance 2023: FRANK LUCIA
Since 2017, Lucia has led Delta Dental of Virginia, one of the state’s largest dental benefits carriers, with about 350 employees and $766 million in revenue, and its holding company, Corvesta. Previously, he was president and CEO of Dean Health Plan and worked in finance for Cigna and WR Grace. Lucia has been involved with […]
Manufacturing 2023: MANMEET S. BHATIA
Bhatia joined Japanese-owned Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp. (TMEIC) in 2003 as general manager of operations for Toshiba and Mitsubishi’s U.S.-based joint venture with General Electric that ultimately became TMEIC Americas, a regional subsidiary that designs and develops advanced automation systems, large AC and DC motors and photovoltaic inverters. During his career at[...]
Law 2023: JOHN P. FISHWICK JR.
As founder of Fishwick & Associates, a trial law firm with a focus on personal injury, civil rights and federal criminal law, Fishwick stays busy. He also has a significant profile as a legal expert for the national media, appearing on CNN, MSNBC and Fox Business Network, as well as being quoted by The New […]
Manufacturing 2023: PRABHAT JAIN
Jain has been CEO of Virginia Transformer, the continent’s largest U.S.-owned power transformer manufacturer, since 1982, 14 years after he arrived from India, mechanical engineering degree in hand. Over the past 40 years, Jain grew the company from 35 employees to more than 2,700 across five plants. Last fall, it opened an additional manufacturing facility […]
Law 2023: MONICA T. MONDAY
On Jan. 1, Monday became chair of the Gentry Locke Executive Board, which the firm formed this year. She previously served as the firm’s managing partner for 10 years, and K. Brett Marston succeeded her as the firm’s managing partner. The William & Mary undergraduate and law school alumna also heads the firm’s appellate practice. […]
Law 2023: VICTOR O. CARDWELL
Cardwell grew up in a family that highly valued education, and after his sister went to law school, so did he. A University of Virginia and Washington and Lee law graduate, Cardwell now is one of the leaders at the state’s fifth largest law firm, which formed in 2022 with the merger of Vandeventer Black […]
Law 2023: DANIEL C. SUMMERLIN III
A Roanoke native, Summerlin practices law in areas ranging from administrative and regulatory — with an emphasis on environmental law — to labor and employment and litigation, as well as leading the direction of Virginia’s fifth largest law firm. Additionally, he counsels clients on government investigations and white-collar criminal defense. Before Roanoke law firm Woods […]
Real Estate 2023: DONALD D. GRAUL
With nearly 40 years of industry experience, Graul joined Branch in 2020 from Centreville-based Parsons Corp., where he was president of construction and a senior executive for alternative project delivery. He also worked previously for AECOM. Founded in 1963, Branch has 1,100 employees and reported $509 million in revenue for fiscal 2022. In August 2022, […]



















