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Tag: Virginia Business

A BridgeTower to the future

On July 31, Virginia Business turned the page on a new chapter in our 38-year history as the magazine became part of the BridgeTower Media family of companies.

Headquartered in neighboring North Carolina, our new parent company is a portfolio company of Los Angeles private equity firm Transom Capital Group. BridgeTower owns 40-plus B2B media and research brands, including Virginia Lawyers Weekly and Best Companies Group, our partner for the annual Best Places to Work in Virginia awards program.

“It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” BridgeTower Media President and CEO Hal Cohen said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

Virginia Business’ former owner and publisher, Bernie Niemeier, sold the magazine to BridgeTower, taking a well-earned retirement following a business career that spanned six decades. Previously an executive for Media General, the now-defunct media company that founded Virginia Business in 1986 as the Old Dominion’s only statewide business publication, Bernie became the magazine’s publisher in 2007, purchased the business from Media General in 2009 and became its sole owner in 2017.

A 2018 Virginia Communications Hall of Fame inductee, Bernie was a well-known mainstay of the state’s business community and frequently could be seen representing the magazine at events across the commonwealth. During his 17-year tenure as Virginia Business’s publisher, the magazine introduced annual products like our Big Book issue and the Maritime Guide.

In a statement about the sale, Bernie said, “Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world. I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

As for what this all means for you, our readers, in the coming weeks you’ll see a revamped Virginia Business website and newly redesigned newsletters. Next year, we’ll begin launching new events and awards programs, while maintaining popular ones like Women in Leadership, Virginia’s Top Doctors and Best Places to Work. For our advertisers, we will be offering new opportunities to better help you reach your customers, and we’ll also be able to leverage BridgeTower’s national family of publications so you can put your message in front of far larger audiences.

And of course we will continue to deliver compelling, timely and informative coverage of Virginia’s business community to you through our daily news website, our monthly issues and annual special publications like the Virginia 500.

* * * *

Speaking of the Virginia 500, polybagged with this issue you’ll find the fifth annual edition of this annual special publication featuring our exclusive list of Virginia’s top 500 leaders in business, higher education, nonprofits, government and politics.

Divided into 21 categories, including a Living Legends section recognizing lifetime achievement, this year’s Virginia 500 features a new breakout section for the insurance industry, which has been separated from banking and finance.

Starting with the first edition in 2020, the Virginia 500 instantly became our most popular product with readers and advertisers in the magazine’s history.

With a word count roughly equal to four of our regular monthly issues, the Virginia 500 is a labor of love — emphasis on labor — for our editorial staff. We began work in earnest on the 500 in April, and five months later, through the hard work of a team of 16 writers and editors plus production staff, it’s now available on your device screens and in your mailbox.

Take your time to browse through our fascinating mini profiles of Virginia’s 500 most powerful and successful executives. We’re confident that you’ll come away not only with some useful business intelligence, but with a far better sense of the movers and shakers behind Virginia’s top industries.

Transom Capital-backed BridgeTower Media acquires Virginia Business to cover nation’s “Top State for Business”

LOS ANGELES and GREENSBORO, NC — BridgeTower Media, the authoritative source for business insights, data-driven marketing solutions and events across more than 40 media and research brands, is acquiring Virginia Business.

Virginia Business is the only publication dedicated to covering economic activity in every sector and every region of the state of Virginia. More than 47,000 executives rely on Virginia Business for news and insights about business in Virginia, which CNBC recently rated the best state in the nation for business for a record sixth time.

 “It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” said BridgeTower Media President and CEO Hal Cohen. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

On the heels of a significant digital transformation, BridgeTower Media, a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, has been actively increasing its appeal to business executives and marketers by strategically expanding its media footprint to encompass more growth markets and industries across the U.S.

“Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world,” said Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier. “I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

About BridgeTower Media

BridgeTower Media is a leading business intelligence, marketing and event platform providing authoritative content and expert analysis through its 40+ B2B media and research brands. More than 4.4 million business decision-makers rely on BridgeTower Media for timely information and expert insights to grow their businesses. These deep and trusted first-party customer relationships power tailored insights for business executives and precision audience targeting for omnichannel marketing solutions. BridgeTower Media also celebrates professional and organizational success through 200+ events and its Best Companies Group. BridgeTower Media is a Transom Capital portfolio company. For more information, please visit www.bridgetowermedia.com.

About Transom Capital Group

Transom Capital Group is an operations-focused private equity firm focused on investing in the middle market. The firm strives to create long-term value by partnering with established businesses and helping them navigate transformative growth. Transom’s functional pattern recognition, access to capital, and ARMORSM Value Creation Process combine with managements’ industry expertise to create improved operational efficiency, significant top-line growth, cultural transformation and overall distinctive outcomes. Transom is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.transomcap.com.

Virginia Business wins three national journalism awards

Virginia Business won three national journalism awards June 21, placing silver in three categories at The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2024 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The magazine took home a silver award in the Best Magazine Cover Category for the November 2023 cover, an AI-generated photorealistic illustration of a robot sitting at an office workstation that accompanied a cover story about how businesses are adopting generative artificial intelligence platforms in their work. Virginia Business Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster created the image with Adobe Firefly, and Art Director Joel Smith provided typography.

“The intense image is unsettling and immediately conveys the tone of concern for the future of local workplaces and the implementation of AI,” the judges wrote about the cover illustration. “The type and design choices are simple and subtle. The cover implores thought as well as an emotional reaction.”

Cavallo
Kristen Cavallo was 2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year

Associate Editor Katherine Schulte placed silver in the Best Personality Profile category for medium-size business publications for her December 2023 profile of Kristen Cavallo, the 2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year and then CEO of The Martin Agency and MullenLowe Global.

”This story starts with a hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, then takes readers along on a journey through the career of advertising CEO Kristen Cavallo. With robust reporting from the people around Cavallo and plenty of industry details, the writer builds a well-structured story about both the person and the business — two markers of a successful profile,’ the judges wrote about Schulte’s work.

Additionally, Virginia Business received a silver award in the Best Recurring Feature category among medium-size business publications for the magazine’s Virginia 500 Spotlight page, which highlights a single executive from the Virginia 500 Power List each month.

”A clever setup with offbeat questions gives these short features an unpredictable edge,” the judges wrote. “Asking about a first job, favorite vacation spot or ‘something they’d never do again’ enriches the interview and humanizes the subject. Even the photos are unexpected and thus, especially charming.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Each award category was judged by a panel of three judges. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing 54 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada, and Australia, with a combined readership of more than 2.4 million business professionals.

Virginia Business wins 16 Va. Press Association awards

Virginia Business won 16 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2023 News & Advertising Contest, the state organization announced Saturday.

The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. This year’s contest was judged by members of the Missouri Press Association. A banquet honoring the winners was held May 4 at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel.

Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith and former Associate Editor Courtney Mabeus-Brown took first-, second- and third-place prizes across multiple categories. Smith won five awards for advertising and was a co-winner of a design and presentation award recognizing the magazine’s cover art. Mabeus-Brown, now senior reporter for Arlington County-based Air Force Times, won three awards for news and feature writing.

Virginia Business won seven first-place awards in the following categories:

News Writing Portfolio — Courtney Mabeus-Brown won for a body of stories including “Federal shutdown could have deep impacts in Va.” “Va. could get $100M+ lithium-ion battery project,” and “Pittsylvania site is top contender for $100M battery project.” The latter two stories were consecutive daily scoops reporting that Tennessee-based Microporous was in discussions to located a major battery manufacturing plant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, a joint industrial park owned by Pittsylvania County and Danville. The state government has codenamed the economic development effort “Project Stellar.”

Column or Commentary Writing — Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier took top honors in this opinion writing category for his “OurView” column. Niemeier’s winning columns included “Reimagining the corporation” — examining motivating factors for business beyond profit — and “Is ESG another CRT?,” which focused on conservative opposition to corporate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives. “Such an easy read,” judges said of Niemeier’s columns. “It flowed like honey. Interesting and relates to everyone.”

Feature Photo — Freelance photographer James Lee won for his sophisticated photo spread accompanying Virginia Business’ 2023 Black Business Leaders Awards, the magazine’s February 2023 cover story, with judges calling his work “stately … yet light-hearted.”

Pictorial Photo — “Incredible shot of a loving dad and son. You feel this emotion in the action caught clearly, ” contest judges said in applauding freelance photographer Jeneene Chatowsky’s moving portrait of Luminoah founder and CEO Neal Piper and his young son Noah, whose battle with childhood cancer inspired Piper’s health care technology business.

Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Art Director Joel Smith won for his design of a magazine ad for Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Judges singled out his “good use of white space and use of color palette.”

Professional Services advertising (excluding health care) — Smith won for a striking full-page magazine ad for Martinair.

Real Estate advertising — The judges praised Smith’s ad designed for The Franklin Johnston Group, saying, “Great layout, perfect subject photo, excellent color palette. This ad is balanced, informative, and elicits feelings of success.”

2023 Maritime Guide cover
2023 Maritime Guide cover

Virginia Business also took five second-place awards:

  • Feature Writing Portfolio — Mabeus-Brown won for a package of feature stories focusing on higher education and remote work, which judges lauded for “thorough reporting with great research, stats [and] well-used sources.” The portfolio of work included her August 2023 cover story, which scrutinized return on investment from college tuition at Virginia institutions of higher learning, and a September 2023 cover story reporting that remote and hybrid work would be permanent fixtures in the post-pandemic work world.
  • Business and Financial Writing — Freelance writer Katherine Hamilton won for her November 2023 story, “On the basis of race,” investigating how a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-based affirmative action policies at universities could result in an increase in reverse-discrimination lawsuits against businesses.
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Virginia Business staff won for the magazine’s 2023 Maritime Guide special issue, which the judges called “a great piece, front to back.” A team effort, the guide was coordinated by Deputy Editor Kate Andrews, with presentation and design overseen by Art Director Joel Smith. Virginia Business Associate Editors Beth JoJack, Katherine Schulte and Robyn Sidersky also contributed to the issue.
  • Illustrations — Freelancer Tom Edwards contributed the winning illustration, depicting a businessman consulting a crystal ball, for the Hampton Roads Business guide story, “Gazing into the future.”
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith also took second place in this category for his design of a magazine ad for the Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA).

Finally, the magazine won four third-place awards in these categories:

  • Feature Writing Portfolio — Judges cited Associate Editor Katherine Schulte’s “great, thorough reporting with plenty of details, research and useful sources that bring the topics home for readers. All of the stories were great.” Her winning portfolio of stories included “A severe case,” about Virginia’s shortage of primary care practitioners; “Wizards of National Landing,” focusing on the opening of Amazon.com’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters; and “The next frontier,” a look at how Virginia companies are responding to the advent of generative artificial intelligence tools.
  • General News Writing — Mabeus-Brown rounded out her 2023 trio of awards, taking third place for her back-to-back daily scoops about a major lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant potentially coming to Pittsylvania County.
  • Headline Writing — Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster placed for entries such as “On cloud nine,” for a feature story about Virginia data centers and cloud computing; “Love at first site,” for a story about corporate headquarters site selection; and “It’s alive — with possibilities,” accompanying a story about the “Frankenstein”-like ethical quandaries posed by generative AI.
  • Front Page/Front Cover — Smith led this team category, which also recognized Virginia Business editors Foster and Andrews and freelancer illustrator Mark Jeffries and photographer James Lee for their work on Virginia Business’ January, July and November 2023 covers.

Virginia Business competed in the specialty publications category, which also included Ashburn Magazine, Richmond magazine and the Washington Business Journal. Ashburn Magazine won the VPA’s grand sweepstakes award for the specialty publications category.

Virginia Business wins three national journalism awards

Virginia Business won three national journalism awards Monday during The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2023 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Detroit.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews placed gold in the Best Coverage of Local Breaking News category for medium-size business publications for her coverage of the Nov. 22, 2022, workplace shooting that took the lives of six people at a Chesapeake Walmart store.

“It’s hard enough to cover a mass shooting as it happens, with the information about who and why and how changing minute to minute,” the judges said in their remarks for Andrews’ gold award. “With skilled dexterity, [Andrews] managed to cover the essential details and most relevant information while also providing larger contextual information about similar situations, bringing in expert sources to enhance the coverage and information service provided by the story.”

Virginia Business Assistant Editor Katherine Schulte also received a silver award for Best Feature, Single Story, for her November 2022 cover story about why Virginia lags behind other Southern states in landing big economic development deals. Judges said, “The story of how Virginia captured Lego is a cautionary tale about the importance of volume in the economic development business. Told with wonderful detail, the story reveals the massive effort to land Lego. But it also details the reasons behind the failure to capture any other significant employers in the past seven years. The story offers important context behind the headlines.”

Virginia Business Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster also took home a silver award, placing in the Best Bylined Commentary category for his columns “Breaking rank,” about the state’s latest ranking in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business list; “A ‘quiet’ place?” about the quiet quitting phenomenon; and “Getting meta,” about tech companies’ efforts to build the online metaverse.

Judges said, “In the spirit of seeking accountability and advocating for civic progress, the columns issue a forceful calling out of the governor on his positions and priorities. They include useful context of the state of affairs to ground the columns.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Each award category was judged by a panel of three judges. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing about 65 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada and Australia, with a combined circulation of more than 1.8 million business professionals.

Virginia Business announces 2023 Va. CFO Awards winners

Virginia Business presented its 2023 Virginia CFO Awards Thursday during the magazine’s annual awards banquet honoring chief financial officers from nonprofits and businesses from across the commonwealth.

This year’s Virginia CFO Awards banquet — the largest annual gathering of CFOs in Virginia — was held at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.

“Being nominated for these awards is no small achievement,” Virginia Business President and Publisher Bernie Niemeier said during the awards ceremony. “All nominees are winners in their own right, helping to lead their companies to excellence around the commonwealth and in some cases the nation and globally.”

Thirty-four CFOs from around the commonwealth were nominated in four award categories, representing a variety of nonprofits, government agencies and for-profit businesses, both public and private. Organizations represented ranged from state universities to arts organizations, construction firms, health care providers, banks and more.

Winners and finalists for the magazine’s 18th annual Virginia CFO Awards were:

  • 2023 SMALL NONPROFIT/GOVERNMENT VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Clyde Cornett, Virginia Community Capital Inc.; Finalists: Bill Davis, Virginia War Memorial Foundation Inc.; Lisa Olverson, Virginia Peninsula Foodbank
  • 2023 LARGE NONPROFIT/GOVERNMENT VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Jim Barker, Delta Dental of Virginia; Finalists: Karol Gray, Virginia Commonwealth University; Don Halliwill, Carilion Clinic; Rodger Jacobson, Charities Aid Foundation America (CAF America); Lisa Lambrecht, HopeTree Family Services; Jarred Roenker, Norfolk Airport Authority; John Zabrowski III, VHC Health
  • 2023 SMALL COMPANY VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Jason Chesky, Logenix International LLC; Finalists: Anna Amirsoltani, Cassaday & Company Inc.;Joel Flax, Cohen Investment Management
  • 2023 LARGE COMPANY VIRGINIA CFO OF THE YEAR: Winner: Cindy Yao, Markel Food Group; Finalists: Ali Azima, Thompson Hospitality Corp.;  Robert Gorman, Atlantic Union Bank; Pete Graham, PRA Group Inc.; Bill Littreal, TowneBank; Bob Wills, The Branch Group Inc.

The four winners will be profiled in the August issue of Virginia Business.

Virginia Business wins 18 Va. Press Association awards

Virginia Business won 18 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News & Advertising Contest, taking a Best in Show prize for illustration and sweeping the News Writing Portfolio category, the state organization announced Saturday.

The annual contest recognizes excellence in design, writing, photography, illustrations and advertising in participating publications across Virginia for the previous calendar year. This year’s contest was judged by the Tennessee Press Association. A banquet honoring the winners was held at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa/Short Pump in Henrico County, marking the first time the event was held in person since 2019, before the pandemic.

Freelance illustrator Doug Fuchs was awarded a Best in Show plaque for his illustration of the Port of Virginia’s statewide infrastructure for the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide, while Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews, Assistant Editor Katherine Schulte and Associate Editor Robyn Sidersky took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes, respectively, in the News Writing Portfolio category. Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith won six awards for advertising design, and was a co-winner of two other awards.

The magazine won five first-place awards in the following categories:

  • Column or Commentary Writing — Editor and Chief Content Officer Richard Foster won for his columns “Breaking Rank,” about the state’s latest ranking in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business list; “A ‘quiet’ place?” about the quiet quitting phenomenon; and “Getting meta,” about tech companies’ efforts to build the online metaverse.
  • News Writing Portfolio — Judges lauded Andrews, saying she “does an excellent job of offering context, humanity and accessible narrative to the variety of stories in her portfolio from restaurants refusing patrons to [a] mass shooting to a complex credit [unions] story.”
  • Illustration — Fuchs won for his Port of Virginia illustration from the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide.
  • Digital Advertising — Art Director Joel Smith won for a digital ad for Letts Consult’s State of the Woman 2022 Executive Women’s Conference.
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith won for his design of a full-page magazine ad for Letts Consult’s State of the Woman 2022 conference.
July 2022 cover

Virginia Business also took seven second-place awards:

  • Business and Financial Writing — Schulte won for her November 2022 cover story about why Virginia lags behind other Southern states in landing big economic development deals. Judges said, “This story does a great job of acknowledging a win for Virginia manufacturing but putting it in a regional perspective. And rather than just focusing on what Virginia lacks, the story offers reasons for ‘why’ and solutions in the form of examining how other states have been successful. Local news too often ignores what’s happening outside its coverage area, even if what’s happening elsewhere can help tell a more relevant story to readers. This story balances data, local sources, anecdotes and expert voices to tell a full story that pushes this business storyline forward.”
  • News Writing Portfolio — Schulte won for a package of stories, including coverage of staffing problems at nursing homes; state efforts to lure more semiconductor manufacturers; and health care professionals struggling with stress and burnout.
  • Front Cover — Smith, Andrews, freelance photographer James Lee and the late freelance illustrator Kevin McFadin won for their work on Virginia Business’ May, July and October 2022 covers.
  • Special Sections or Special Editions — Andrews, Foster and Smith won for the 2022 Virginia Maritime Guide, an annual standalone issue devoted to Virginia’s maritime ecosystem, including ports, shipping and logistics. Judges praised its “great writing and a solid design that leaves the reader feeling informed and aware. Solid entry points and guidance lets it provide the professional, business feel it is aiming for in concept.”
  • Digital Advertising — Smith won for an ad for Venture Richmond.
  • Lifestyles Advertising — Smith won for an advertising spread promoting downtown Richmond products and businesses.
  • Professional Services Advertising — Smith’s ad for the Virginia Economic Developers Association took second place, with judges saying “Good job! Love the design.”
May 2022 cover

The magazine also won six third-place awards in these categories:

  • General News Writing — Sidersky won third place for her June 2022 story about Virginia companies aiding Ukrainian relief efforts.
  • Headline Writing — Andrews took third place, with entries such as “Glove affair,” about a medical glove manufacturing factory breaking ground in Southwest Virginia, and “Big bird,” about a $300 million Tysons Foods chicken food products manufacturing plant in Pittsylvania County.
  • News Writing Portfolio — Sidersky took third place for work including her August 2022 cover story about placemaking and a March 2022 real estate story about companies delaying decisions about office space in light of post-pandemic remote and hybrid work.
  • Illustrations — “Catchy. Clean.” That’s how judges described freelance illustrator Sammy Newman’s Lego-themed spread illustrating the magazine’s November 2022 cover story.
  • Informational Graphics — Newman also won for a Lego-themed chart from the November 2022 issue, with judges saying, “This graphic using a Legos theme is just fun.”
  • Education, Churches and Organizations advertising — Smith won for a magazine ad promoting Virginia Business’ annual Political Roundtable event.

Virginia Business competed in the specialty publications category, which also included Richmond magazine, Ashburn Magazine and the Washington Business Journal. Richmond magazine won the VPA’s grand sweepstakes award for the specialty publications category.

A library of business intelligence

Admittedly, many of my personal business memories start from more than just a short while ago — pre-internet days to say the least. Now that everything is online, we don’t hear much about libraries anymore, except maybe in the case of public schools. Politics aside, I’m delighted people are still interested in reading words on a page, regardless of topic or platform.

When it comes to business libraries, I spent many of my early career days as a graduate student and business researcher gleaning information from reference books.

When media companies were still flush with money, they had in-house research departments replete with voluminous business libraries. Ours had dark wood shelves arranged around a large reading table. Stocking the shelves were decades of annual publications on pertinent topics like nationwide newspaper circulation, ad rates for newspapers, television and radio markets, and ZIP code demographics for the entire U.S. Even more obscure were reverse telephone directories, where you could look up a phone number and find a corresponding name and street address for each listing.

In the days before everything became searchable, downloadable, sliceable and diceable, corporate libraries such as these were where business information was warehoused, waiting to be turned into business intelligence.

After the internet became ubiquitous, however, these company libraries were superseded by desktop computers in every office, laptops in every briefcase and smartphones in every pocket.

Looking at the immediate horizon, artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT are predicted to provide all life’s answers. Think of it as big data and technology replacing big libraries and thoughtful research.

Looking back, there was something especially nice about cozying up in a physical library with all that data in one place, copying numbers down on a yellow pad and using a calculator. This is a discipline that’s perhaps lost in the eternal now of today’s copy-and-paste world. The ability to instantly recalculate until an acceptable answer appears doesn’t really replace the innate talent of defining the right research questions at the outset. There is absolutely a difference between data and intelligence.

For me, all of this comes to mind each year when Virginia Business publishes our March issue, The Big Book.

Back during the halcyon days of physical business libraries in the 1980s and 1990s, our March issue served up the State of the State, reporting on the commonwealth’s economy across several industries. (Suffice it to say that we’ve long served as a source for business intelligence.)

In 2013, though, we replaced that annual State of the State report with The Big Book, expanding the issue to include roughly 50 different lists and charts with vital business statistics all in one place — creating an annual reference library of sorts for Virginia businesses.

And while Virginia Business has not yet moved into the realm of artificial intelligence, we have moved into e-commerce. Some of the key lists in this issue are available for purchase at virginiabusiness.com as downloadable spreadsheets in expanded formats beyond what’s included in the print version.

Whether digitized and downloaded or delivered as a paper magazine to your mailbox, think of us as your personal corporate library. Regardless of the platform, context is important, and that’s why we are especially proud to still be bringing you words on a page after 37 years. Enjoy!  

Reimagining the corporation

Welcome to the New Year! 2023 is a new one indeed. Business as usual isn’t so usual anymore. Tech companies are downsizing faster than local daily newspapers. Starbucks baristas are the new trend in organized labor. Amazon’s growth is slowing. Global consumption and supply chains can no longer be taken for granted. Twitter is, well, whatever. Travel, hotels and restaurants — the things we do in person — seem to be making a comeback. And yes, the kids are back in school, although colds and flu have been going around.

After a few tough few years, it’s worthwhile to rethink past assumptions. Many of our best guesses about the future have been dislodged or disproven by unforeseen events and circumstances.

When I first started working, getting hired by a large corporation was the gold standard. IBM was “Big Blue.” Does anyone remember mainframe computers now? In the ’80s and ’90s, McKinsey and Goldman Sachs were prime destinations for Wall Street’s wannabe rich and famous — that’s less the case today. Back then, all MBA schools waltzed to Milton Friedman’s mantra that the “social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”

Looking back, I can’t help but think of an old Bonnie Raitt lyric: “I’ve had bad dreams too many times to think that they don’t mean much anymore.” The dream of a business world that was both fair and money-centric just hasn’t held up. I remember a well-respected boss who said, “I’ve tried fair, but life isn’t fair, and being fair just doesn’t work.” There may be some element of truth in that statement, but is that really a dream of how the world should be?

Among political and economic systems, capitalism is far and away the most successful driver of wealth creation. At the same time, in its purest form, capitalism derives significant motivational power from scarcity and inequality — it’s a world of winners and losers. As powerful as this is in its simplicity, a zero-sum game vastly understates the collective social problems faced by the world as we know it today. Think about pollution, energy, food scarcity, affordable housing or access to health care. In the long run, such social problems create significant new costs that are ultimately borne by the business world. Capitalism might do well to be a little less self-centered.

Today’s business environment is considerably different from past decades. Business is no longer just about profit. There is a growing recognition of the importance of a double or triple bottom line. Employees, customers and the community are gaining greater recognition for their indispensable value as inputs to financial success. Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) efforts are shaping investment decisions at a level not seen in the past.

Fortunately, capitalism has evolved to be more nuanced, more customer- and employee-centric. The best leaders realize that better results come when great people do good things in the best interest of customers and the community. This is a less self-interested and vastly more sustainable approach.

Reimagining the corporation means thinking differently about people. Companies are more complex than just an amalgam of labor and capital. Organizational structures are more complex than just divisions between management and employees. Today’s most successful companies think in terms of teams, teambuilding and placemaking. There is a much greater recognition that we are all in this together.

Most problems cannot be solved by a profit-only mindset. Going into the New Year, let’s strive to make work fun, respectful and profitable. Isn’t that a better approach?

Virginia Business wins national awards for writing, design

Virginia Business won two national journalism awards Saturday during The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2022 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Columbus, Ohio.

Former Virginia Business Deputy Editor Rich Griset placed silver in the Best Body of Work, Single Writer category for feature articles including his May 2021 cover story profile of MicroStrategy Inc. CEO and bitcoin whale Michael Saylor, who declined to be interviewed for Griset’s story, and his December 2021 profile of Bruce Thompson, the Virginia Business Person of the Year.

“Adding a creative spark to the dogged reporting seems to be Rich Griset’s hallmark,” the judges said in their remarks for Griset’s silver award. “His profile of a rising crypto chief also shows an ability to ferret out stories and other details after the executive refused to cooperate. A profile of an influential hotel developer showed a deft touch for getting the most of a cooperative subject. His writing ability was on full display in a piece on the renovation of aging shopping malls, including one that was used to shoot a pivotal scene in ‘Wonder Woman 1984.’”

Virginia Business also received a bronze award for Best Overall Design — Magazine for issues produced during 2021. The judges singled out Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith’s use of “humorous illustrations, consistent portraits and real people [to] provide a wonderful representation of real business in Virginia. The photography and artwork are consistent and relevant to the content. The department pages are simple and professional, the features provide a pop of visual fun, and the overall page designs exemplify a great sense of hierarchy.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing about 65 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada and Australia, with a combined circulation of more than 1.8 million business professionals.