Real Estate 2023: BRETT HITT
Hitt’s grandparents started the family business in 1930, now one of Virginia’s biggest general contracting firms, earning $5.41 billion in 2022 construction revenue and landing in the top 20 of Engineering News-Record’s 2023 Top Contractors list. Hitt joined his family’s company as an assistant project manager in 1984. He rose through the ranks to become […]
Manufacturing 2023: CHRIS KEFFER
Keffer took over leadership of U.S. operations for German chainsaw and power tools manufacturer Stihl in early August, after joining the company in 2022 as vice president for sales and marketing. He previously spent about two decades with Stanley Black and Decker. He replaced Terry Horan, who led the division for a little more than […]
Manufacturing 2023: ROB COLLIER
Collier has worked for ChemTreat, an industrial water treatment company owned by Danaher, two different times. His first stint was from 2012 to 2018, when he was in the marketing department. He left to become president of Danaher subsidiary McCrometer, a California-based flow meter manufacturer, and returned to ChemTreat in 2020 as senior vice president […]
Professional Services 2023: GLORIA BOHAN
In May, Bohan received the 2023 Hall of Fame Cruise Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cruise Lines International Association, the latest of many honors recognizing her work leading one of the largest woman-owned businesses in the Washington, D.C., region. Bohan, who also received a lifetime achievement award from Travel Weekly magazine in 2021, started […]
Health Care 2023: MAUREEN H. McBRIDE
In April, after serving as interim CEO for seven months, McBride became the first woman to lead UNOS, the beleaguered nonprofit that operates the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Following years of criticism over problems such as discarded or damaged organs, long waiting lists and technological issues, Congress voted in late July to […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: JASON PROVIDAKES
With a doctorate from Cornell University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Providakes is accustomed to addressing complex problems. A strong believer that “in times of uncertainty, there is opportunity,” the president and CEO of not-for-profit Mitre is at the forefront of some of today’s most pressing challenge[...]
Real Estate 2023: C. LEE WARFIELD
Warfield has led Thalhimer, one of the state’s oldest and largest commercial real estate firms, since 2016. Thalhimer Realty Partners, one of the company’s subsidiaries, is part of the team developing Richmond’s $2.44 billion Diamond District, a mixed-use project that will include a replacement baseball stadium for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball team. Richmond [&[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: JOHN USTICA
In his new role leading federal contractor Siemens Government Technologies, Ustica oversees a company focused on securing and modernizing technology infrastructure. Ustica was named president and CEO in October 2022 for SGT, the U.S. contracting arm of German tech conglomerate Siemens. He joined SGT in 2018 as chief financial officer and had served as interim […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: JERRY MURRELL
Five Guys founder Murrell’s mother always told him, “If you can give a good haircut, or if you can serve a good drink at a bar, or if you can serve a good hamburger, you can always make money in America.” His mom was right. Husband and wife Jerry and Janie Murrell opened a carryout […]
Government | Politics 2023: LARRY J. SABATO
A Norfolk native and University of Virginia stalwart with a national profile as a political commentator, Sabato founded and leads the 25-year-old U.Va. Center for Politics. His Crystal Ball newsletter, which handicaps political races, had a 99% accuracy rate in 2004 and was up in the high 90s at other times, although Sabato had to […]
Manufacturing 2023: CHARLES ‘CHARLIE’ LUCK IV
The third generation of Lucks to lead the crushed stone company and its real estate subsidiary, Charlie Luck is currently celebrating the company’s 100th anniversary. Over the years, Luck Cos. has established a footprint that extends throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, with about 950 employees. In February, the company applied to build […]
Government | Politics 2023: GLENN YOUNGKIN
Oft rumored to be considering a presidential run, Youngkin led a CNN education town hall in March. But he’s said he’s focused on state legislative races this fall, with control of the General Assembly at stake. Youngkin voiced frustration this summer as state legislators wouldn’t compromise on an amended state budget that would have included […]