Sign In
Free Newsletter
Coming into focus
In 2016, amid concerns over how the Virginia Economic Development Partnership was being run, the General Assembly directed Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to examine VEDP’s organizational management and performance. “There was a perception, at least publicly, that [VEDP] was a fairly good organization that was successful in bringing in business,” says Hal [[...]
McGuireWoods Consulting taps education team lead
Richmond-based McGuireWoods Consulting has named former Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Novey to lead its national education team, the firm announced Tuesday. Novey joined the consulting firm affiliated with the state’s largest law firm in 2017 as senior vice president, after serving as executive assistant to the president for state governmental affairs at the University of Virginia.[...]
Travis Hill to step down as Va. ABC’s CEO
Travis Hill, CEO of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, announced Thursday he plans to step down from his post at the ABC, where he’s worked since 2014. Hired nine years ago as the Virginia ABC’s chief operating officer, Hill became CEO in 2018 after managing the former state department’s transition to a semi-independent authority […]
Youngkin signs executive directive on AI
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed an executive directive around artificial intelligence, instructing the state government to establish use standards and identify opportunities for the government to use AI technologies. Executive Directive No. 5, announced by the governor‘s office late Wednesday, directs the Office of Regulatory Management to work with the state’s chief information officer[...]
Va. trade office opens in Taiwan
Virginia has opened its trade office in Taiwan. Announced in April, the office is Virginia’s fourth international trade office and follows Youngkin‘s meeting with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, during the governor‘s first international trade mission. Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick was joined by Liang-yu Wang, director general of Taiwan’s Dep[...]
Transportation 2023: SHEPPARD ‘SHEP’ MILLER III
A Norfolk native, Miller takes pride in the state’s transportation accomplishments, including the start this year of the Interstate 64 Gap Project, which will widen a 29-mile corridor between Richmond and Williamsburg, as well as the August opening of a 10-mile stretch of express lanes in Stafford County and Fredericksburg. As state transportation secretary, Miller […]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports 2023: ANDY EDMUNDS
When Hollywood productions like “Dopesick,” “Cold Mountain,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and others want to film in Virginia, they come to Edmunds to get the ball rolling. As director of the Virginia Film Office since 2011 — and the office’s locations manager for 14 years before that — Edmunds helps productions access economic incentives and works […]
Education 2023: PETER BLAKE
Blake will leave quite a legacy when he steps down from his role as director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia at the end of the year. SCHEV is establishing a search committee for his replacement and will work with the state education secretary’s office and others. During Blake’s 11 years at […]
Agriculture 2023: MATTHEW J. LOHR
Lohr has worked in agriculture and public service for his entire career. As Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry since January 2022, he manages an 810-employee department that oversees Virginia’s largest private sector, which has an annual economic impact of over $105 billion. A three-term state delegate and former commissioner of the Virginia Department of […]
Economic Development 2023: CAREN MERRICK
After 25 years as a Virginia business founder and leader, Merrick was appointed the commonwealth’s secretary of trade and commerce in early 2022, her first role in state government. She helped encourage Amazon Web Services to invest $35 billion to build multiple data center campuses across the state, an initiative announced in January. She also […]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: RITA D. McCLENNY
As head of the state’s tourism agency since 2012, McClenny has seen the industry through ups and downs. In the wake of the pandemic, she helped secure federal dollars to assist statewide tourism rebound. In 2021, 102 million visitors spent $25.2 billion in Virginia, according to a study released by the agency last fall, still […]
Education 2023: AIMEE ROGSTAD GUIDERA
A proponent of charter schools who ran an education consultancy and a nonprofit organization that compiles national education data, Guidera was the first secretary appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who campaigned on parental rights in public education. Guidera is responsible for leading the state’s public schools and has significant influence on its postsecondary institutions, including [&he[...]
