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Living Legends
GIUSEPPE CECCHI CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, THE IDI GROUP COS., MCLEAN The Washington Post once dubbed Cecchi “the condo king.” He is perhaps most famous for his role in the creation of the iconic Watergate complex, but he also has left his mark on Northern Virginia, where his family-owned company is headquartered in an office […]
Professional Services
MAHFUZ AHMED CHAIRMAN AND CEO, DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS LLC (DISYS), MCLEAN After earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering from George Mason University, Ahmed worked with Northrop Grumman Corp. and Mobil Oil Corp. before founding information technology staffing and consulting services company DISYS in 1998. Today, as CEO and chairman of the board of directors, Ahmed […]
Hospitality | Tourism
NEIL P. AMIN CEO, SHAMIN HOTELS, RICHMOND Like other hoteliers, Shamin Hotels has been hit by the near evaporation of business travel. Amin is CEO of the company, which owns some five dozen properties and is the largest hotel operator in the Richmond region. Amin graduated The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where […]
Education
MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PETERSBURG One of the state’s two land-grant universities, Virginia State was originally chartered in 1882 as the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. From an initial class of 126, the Petersburg campus now has 4,385 undergraduate and graduate students. Since arriving in 2016 from his role as provost and […]
Economic Development
TAYLOR ADAMS DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA BEACH DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VIRGINIA BEACH Under Adams’ leadership, Virginia Beach has seen several company expansions and relocations over the last year, even in the current economic crisis. In June and July alone, nine companies announced they would either locate facilities or expand in the city. Ranging from manufacturing and […]
Agriculture
CHAD BALLARD PRESIDENT, BALLARD FISH & OYSTER CO. INC., CHERITON Ballard represents the fifth generation of the 120-year-old-plus Cheriton-based Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. Before dedicating his time to the family business, Ballard worked in investment banking with BB&T Capital Markets. Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. is the parent company of Cherrystone Aqua-Farms and Chincoteague [&helli[...]
Real Estate
J. SCOTT ADAMS PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL LLC, NORFOLK A nearly 30-year veteran in the real estate industry, Adams, who joined Colliers in January 2019, oversees the company’s Central and Southeast Virginia teams and, starting this fall, the Raleigh market. Last year, Colliers Virginia, which employs more than 350 people, reported $54.5 million in revenue. […]
Manufacturing
R. MARCUS ‘MARC’ AMMEN CEO, UNIVERSAL FIBER SYSTEMS LLC, BRISTOL Ammen, who has served as CEO of Universal Fiber since 2009, joined the company in 2000 as chief financial officer and previously was president of Universal Fibers Inc., one of the corporation’s affiliates. Founded in 1969 in Bristol, Tennessee, the company has two units: Bristol, […]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy
SHERRIE ARMSTRONG PRESIDENT AND CEO, COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR A GREATER RICHMOND, RICHMOND Founded in 1968, the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond is a venerable force for regional philanthropy, managing 1,200 charitable funds with more than $1 billion in assets. Consequently, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Community Foundation was one of the first organizations […]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports
TONY BENNETT MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE In 2019 Bennett achieved what no team had never done before — coaching his team to become NCAA men’s basketball champions in his 10th year with the program, a year after the Cavaliers fell during the first round of the tournament. Cementing his reputation as […]
Telecommunications
TAD DERISO PRESIDENT AND CEO, MID-ATLANTIC BROADBAND COMMUNITIES CORP., SOUTH BOSTON Deriso is the proverbial big fish in the small pond of South Boston, where MBC has made significant headway in connecting Southern Virginia to broadband internet service, working with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Virginia Tech, among others. Founded in 2004, MBC owns and […]
