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Real Estate 2023: ALBERT G. ‘BEAU’ VAN METRE JR.
Van Metre’s late father founded his family real estate development company in 1955, partnering with B.B. Wills to build the first Van Metre Homes in Burke, a Fairfax County suburb. Like Northern Virginia, Van Metre Cos. has grown exponentially in the decades since. Beau Van Metre joined the company in 1963. In 2002, he was […]
Real Estate 2023: JON JENNINGS
The third generation to lead the general contracting firm started as a masonry firm in 1952 by his grandfather, bricklayer Lawrence Floyd Jennings, Jon Jennings oversees about 350 employees and a large portfolio of projects in the Richmond and Washington, D.C., regions. Larry Jennings, L.F.’s son and Jon’s father, joined the company in 1965 and […]
Education 2023: JAMES E. RYAN
Ryan, who became the University of Virginia’s ninth president in 2018, has spearheaded several growth initiatives at the state’s flagship university, including the School of Data Science, a new performing arts center and the Karsh Institute of Democracy — all projects funded by donors, including a record 2019 gift of $120 million from alumni couple […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: GEOFFREY POHANKA
Pohanka’s family has been selling cars since Frank Pohanka opened a Washington, D.C., dealership in 1919. Today, the family’s business, run by Frank’s grandson Geoffrey, has 18 locations in Virginia, Maryland and Texas, and is the third largest Virginia-based auto dealership. Geoffrey’s children now work in the business, too — marking the dealership’s fourth generat[...]
Government | Politics 2023: MARK WARNER
Like his junior colleague, Tim Kaine, Warner served as governor of Virginia before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He is now in his third term as Virginia’s senior senator. A moderate Democrat, Warner chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and is vice chair of the Senate Democratic caucus. He also serves on Finance subcommittees that […]
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[...]
Professional Services 2023: JENNIFER WOLD
Wold comes to Virginia from Wichita, Kansas. Wold, who became Forvis’ top executive in the commonwealth on June 1, oversees the top 10 accounting firm’s offices in Richmond and Norfolk. Coincidentally, June also marked the one-year anniversary of the merger between Missouri-based BKD CPAs & Advisors and North Carolina-based Dixon Hughes Goodman that created Forvis. […]
Professional Services 2023: STEPHANIE R. PETERS
Peters has led the state’s professional association for CPAs since 1997, representing more than 13,000 members who work in private and public sectors, including educational institutions. In April, the VSCPA announced its investment in the Center for Audit Quality’s Accounting+ program, a national campaign to attract a new generation of diverse students into the industry’s [&helli[...]
Manufacturing 2023: THOMAS E. ‘TEDDY’ GOTTWALD
Gottwald is a third-generation leader of NewMarket, parent company of Afton Chemical and Ethyl. A VMI alumnus, he joined NewMarket in 1984 and worked in its petroleum additives and former plastics businesses before succeeding his father, Bruce, as chairman of the board two decades later. NewMarket traces its roots to Ethyl Gasoline Corp., a company […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: JOHN GOODMAN
Formerly an associate professor at Harvard Business School and deputy undersecretary for industrial affairs and installations at the Department of Defense, Goodman now leads Accenture subsidiary AFS, a federal contractor offering IT services. He previously held several leadership roles at Accenture before becoming CEO of AFS in 2017. In May, AFS received a place on […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: CANDICE LING
Ling took over leadership of Microsoft’s federal arm in July after Rick Wagner, the sector’s president since 2020, stepped down to pursue new opportunities. Ling previously served as civilian federal sector vice president for Microsoft, a position she held since October 2021, and she also spent 19 years with Canadian consulting firm CGI, most recently […]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports 2023: DAVID BALDACCI
Bestselling crime and thriller novelist Baldacci, a lifelong Virginian, has made it a mission to give back to the institutions that shaped him. A Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus and former board of visitors member, Baldacci — with his wife, Michelle — established two scholarships at VCU. One supports students in political science (Baldacci’s major), and […]
