Brock embraces the art of philanthropy, as well as philanthropy through art.
A longtime art collector and patron, the Norfolk native donated $34 million to the Chrysler Museum of Art in 2022. Her gift funded endowments for two curator posts and included 40 pieces from her private collection, including works by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Sally Michel Avery, William Merritt Chase and Debora Moore.
“I could not be happier to make this gift to the Chrysler and to the Hampton Roads region that has been my home for most of my life,” Brock said in a statement.
A Longwood University and Old Dominion University graduate, Brock supports numerous Virginia institutions, including Randolph-Macon College, Virginia Wesleyan University, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Sentara Brock Cancer Center, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and both her alma maters.
Brock amassed her art collection with her late husband, Dollar Tree co-founder Macon Brock Jr. She was the first woman to chair the Chrysler Museum board and also volunteered as a museum docent.
The Brocks were named outstanding philanthropists by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2015.
While Nyerges has been director of four museums — including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for the past 17 years — he’s also a photographer. When the VMFA received more than 2,000 books focusing on American and European photography last fall, Nyerges called the gift from Barry and Gretchen Singer “a transformative donation” that will support the photography galleries planned for the museum’s current expansion. The $190 million project, adding 173,000 square feet of space and renovating 45,000 square feet, will begin construction in 2024. The new wing will be named for longtime donors Jim and Frances McGlothlin of Bristol.
In October 2022, the museum established the Joan P. Brock Education Endowment to support educational programs, named for the Norfolk philanthropist.
A native of Rochester, New York, Nyerges received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from George Washington University, which presented him with its Monumental Alumni Award in 2021. He also serves on the board for the French American Museum Exchange.
HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: I first chose archaeology but realized I didn’t like dirt. So, I chose to work inside museums.
Virginia Business’ 2022 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners represent large and small businesses and large and small nonprofits.
Large nonprofit|Hossein Sadid, CFO and deputy director for finance and administration Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
After a couple of failed attempts, Hossein Sadid finally retired at the end of June from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where he had served as chief financial officer and deputy director for finance and administration since 2014.
“It’s been a fantastic journey in the last leg of my professional career,” Hossein says of the VMFA. “Frankly, I’m kind of past due for retirement.”
It wasn’t his intention to work until he was 70. He just kept getting pulled back in.
Sadid began his career as a certified public accountant for Ernst & Young, where he worked on an audit for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Case Western ended up hiring him as its director of internal audit, and he eventually rose to the position of chief financial and administrative officer, overseeing financial operations for multiple departments and acting as a liaison to four affiliated medical centers.
When Sadid left Case Western in 2008, he began seeking work options on the East or West coasts so he could “get out of the snow zone,” he says. Meanwhile, his consulting work took off. He worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wake Forest University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the National University of Singapore.
A headhunter contacted him about working full time at the University of Richmond, so Sadid and his wife decided to look at the opportunity. “We really fell in love with Richmond,” he says. “That was one of the reasons I accepted the offer.”
Sadid moved to Richmond in 2009 to become the university’s treasurer and vice president for business and finance. When he told his superiors he would commit to four years there, they thought that time frame sounded a little familiar. “I had learned to mimic the life of an undergraduate,” Sadid says with a laugh. True to his word, he stayed at UR until 2013.
“I thought, ‘I’m definitely retiring. I’ve had over 30 years of employment and consulting.’” He wanted more time for gardening, fishing and jogging.
That didn’t last long, though, after a friend talked him into doing some consulting for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. “He asked me to help him with a couple of things he was dealing with there … and I said, ‘I’ll commit a day — 8 to 10 hours — a week to help you.’” It sounded like a reasonable plan, but “that 10 hours turned into 50, 60 a week,” Sadid says.
Once he wrapped up his Smithsonian work, Sadid looked again at options to slow the work pace. He considered applying for a landscaping job because he enjoyed working outside. In his childhood, his family had a farm. “We grew our own food, we had our own animals,” Sadid says. “Once you’ve been a farmer, you’re always a farmer.”
Then he saw the job posting for VMFA’s CFO position and became intrigued. It was one more chance to work in the background to support the mission of a nonprofit organization he admired. Today, the VMFA has nearly $42 million in annual revenue and employs more than 650 full- and part-time employees. It is one of the top 10 comprehensive museums in the nation.
“He brought to the museum a great deal of discipline and organization, which has helped us to grow,” says Alex Nyerges, the VMFA’s director and CEO.
A museum director for more than 40 years, Nyerges says Sadid is, “hands down, the best CFO I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.” The VMFA didn’t even have a CFO until 2010. Sadid was the second person to hold the title.
“Hossein brought to us an incredible array of expertise,” Nyerges says. Sadid had fresh ideas, good organizational skills and “an attitude that anything is possible.”
Being selected for the CFO of the Year award had special significance for Sadid in the final days before his retirement. “It’s a great going-away gift for me,” he says.
Read more about Virginia Business’ 2022 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners:
While 2020 represented a significant year for philanthropic shifts toward social and racial justice causes, 2021 and early 2022 have seen a return to traditional giving, with many of Virginia’s largest donations benefiting universities, medical research and the arts.
Donations to Virginia institutions — topped by a $104 million gift in February from Dr. Todd Stravitz to VCU Health to support a new liver research institute — continued to grow during the past year, and some universities marked record donations. An anonymous alumna gave $75 million to Hollins University in December 2021, a three-installment gift that will establish the Levavi Oculos Endowed Scholarship Fund to support undergraduate scholarships, reportedly the largest donation ever made to a women’s university and among the biggest gifts to any Virginia university.
In September 2021, Charlottesville philanthropist Tessa Ader gave $50 million to the University of Virginia toward building a performing arts center with a 1,100-seat concert hall. It will be sited near two other philanthropy-driven projects: U.Va.’s School of Data Science and the Karsh Institute of Democracy. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech received its largest single-donor alumnus gift in December 2021: a $35 million donation from Norris E. and Wendy Mitchell that will help replace Tech’s 60-year-old engineering college building on its Blacksburg campus.
Leaving an impression
In the art world, part-time Bristol, Virginia, residents Jim and Frances McGlothlin continued their significant support of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with a nearly $60 million donation that includes 15 works by American artists, including Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth. This gift follows two other donations by the couple to the Richmond museum, including 73 works of art worth more than $200 million and a $30 million gift in 2010 that made an addition possible. The March donation is also going toward an expansion of the museum that will include a new 170,000-square-foot wing named for the McGlothlins.
VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges says the McGlothlins’ gifts have enabled the museum to grow in size and prominence. Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown
In addition to their gifts to the VMFA, the McGlothlins are major donors to their alma mater, William & Mary, and Mountain Mission School in Grundy, where at-risk students from around the world live and attend school.
Fran McGlothlin, senior vice president of New York-based UC Fine Art Inc., recalls how, early in their marriage, she got her coal executive husband, Jim, interested in collecting art.
“I dragged him into an auction one day in New York, the first one he’d ever been to,” she says. “There was a picture that I had fallen in love with by Robert Henri called ‘Listening Boy.’ I said, ‘Oh, I would really love to have that picture.’ I think Jim wanted to get it for me but was a little unsure about how to pay, so he went to the men’s room. He was talking to some other guy who was in there. That guy said, ‘Yes, it’s a great picture. This is what it should go for.’”
Jim McGlothlin put in a winning bid for the painting, which Fran McGlothlin says is “just dear to my heart for so many reasons.” The couple’s main collecting focus was on American Impressionist works between 1890 to 1925.
“It was a first for me,” Jim says of the auction. “It was very interesting to think about the way you made the transactions there with art. Frances was so excited about it. Twenty-five years later, here we are.”
The couple’s connection to VMFA happened later, when Jim, chairman and owner of The United Co. and a backer of the Hard Rock Bristol casino, was a patient at the former Medical College of Virginia hospital in Richmond in the 1990s.
Frances Lewis, co-founder of Best Products Co. Inc. with her husband, Sydney Lewis, who also was a patient at the hospital then, met the McGlothlins in the hallway and talked with Fran McGlothlin about the art museum. Sydney Lewis, who died in 1999, and Frances Lewis were also significant VMFA donors, providing $6 million for the museum’s West Wing and donating 1,500 pieces from their personal collection.
“[Frances Lewis] said, ‘I’d love for you to come over and see it,’” Fran McGlothlin recalls. “She arranged so that the museum was closed. She and I walked through it. I really was impressed and taken by it, talked to Jim and essentially we were off and running.”
VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges, who has led the museum since 2006, says that the McGlothlins’ gifts are “a key reason that VMFA has grown in size and prominence. These added works have bolstered VMFA’s American art holdings and provided important access to American art for present and future generations of Virginians.”
Hollins University President Mary Dana Hinton says a recent $75 million anonymous gift underscores the importance of women’s education. Hinton photo courtesy Hollins University
After building their collection, the couple decided to give virtually all their paintings — most of which were displayed in their home — to the museum in 2015.
Fran and Jim McGlothlin visited the museum recently and saw a mother and son talking about one of their paintings. “It was so interesting to get someone else’s take on it and the pleasure that they were getting out of looking at it all,” she recalls.
Impactful giving
This is typical of many major philanthropists, who are often driven in part by personal passions and experiences to make donations in the public interest.
“It’s not just about heartstrings but about what people care about,” says Mark Luellen, U.Va.’s vice president for advancement, who is in charge of directing the university’s $5 billion Honor the Future capital campaign, which launched in 2019.
As of April, the university has fulfilled 80% of its capital fundraising goal, surpassing $4 billion three years before deadline.
Private philanthropy, Luellen says, “is extremely important. It’s really thinking critically about where all those external stakeholders and internal stakeholders connect and how they all link together.” State funding has declined at U.Va. and other Virginia public universities over the decades, and tuition rates were frozen during the past two academic years, although U.Va. and other schools have agreed to increase tuition during the 2022-23 year. That leaves a heavy reliance on private funding at most universities.
One area in which he’s seen greater donor interest recently is in need-based scholarships, a trend that’s reflected at other schools, including Hollins University.
Hollins President Mary Dana Hinton hopes that the anonymous alumna’s
$75 million donation will hopefully drive more prospective students to “take the time to research Hollins. Don’t self-select out, but lean into.”
As universities receive less state funding, private donors are more important than ever, notes University of Virginia Vice President for Advancement Mark Luellen. Luellen photo courtesy Dan Addison/U.Va. University Communications
While all types of higher education institutions generally saw lower enrollment amid the pandemic, private, liberal arts institutions have had the most difficult time keeping enrollment levels up. And though interest has increased in single-gender education in recent years, that tends to fluctuate. Just down the road from Hollins, the all-women Sweet Briar College nearly closed a few years ago.
“The higher education landscape is incredibly complex right now, and it has been challenging for quite some time,” Hinton says. “But my hope is that other donors are inspired by this gift. I would celebrate any of our sister colleges getting this gift. I hope similar gifts to other institutions will allow us to really reclaim the power and importance of the liberal arts, the importance of women’s education, and the importance of investing in the missions of those institutions that you care about deeply.”
Noting that billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s donations to higher education — notably at traditionally underfunded historically Black colleges and universities— have made a significant impact in the world of philanthropy, Luellen sees another new trend. “I think [Scott’s] team does tremendous research, and I think that will be a growing trend. It’s setting a tone more quantitative and qualitatively driven than, ‘I went to school here and met my spouse here.’”
Scott’s donations, which included record-breaking gifts to Hampton, Norfolk State and Virginia State universities, are good for all schools, Luellen says, helping “all ships rise.”
Nonetheless, a lot of charity does start at home, as in the case of Norris Mitchell, a 1958 Virginia Tech alum who, with his wife, Wendy, has been a reliable university donor. Last fall, the couple pledged $35 million to replace the aging Randolph Hall, home of Tech’s College of Engineering. Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, now under construction in Alexandria, also is a gleaming target for philanthropy and has already benefited from major individual and corporate gifts, but Engineering Dean Julia Ross says that there’s plenty of motivation to give to the home campus.
“Investing in Blacksburg, investing in something like this — that is also supporting the Innovation Campus because it’s allowing us to teach the [undergraduate] students who would then go on to the Innovation Campus as graduate students,” Ross says. “You have to support all parts of the pipeline. You can’t think about them independently. You have to think about them as part of the whole system.”
Editor’s note:This article has been amended to reflect that Best Products Co. co-founder Frances Lewis is still alive. The print version of this story incorrectly reported her death. Virginia Business sincerely apologizes for the error.
The top trending major business stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from March 15 to April 14 were led by news of the death of Fairfax County developer John “Til” Hazel Jr.
The gift to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from Bristol-area philanthropists James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin included 15 paintings, featuring works by Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth. (March 15)
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced Tuesday that Bristol-area philanthropists James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin have donated nearly $60 million toward the Richmond museum’s expansion campaign, including 15 paintings.
Alex Nyerges, the VMFA’s director and CEO, said that a 170,000-square-foot wing will be named for the McGlothlins, who previously made a $30 million gift in 2010 that made possible a 165,000-square-foot addition also named for the couple. In 2015, the McGlothlins donated 73 paintings and other artwork to the museum’s permanent collection, a gift worth more than $200 million that included the works of American artists such as James Whistler, Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent.
James McGlothlin, chairman and CEO of The United Co., a former coal mining company, is co-developer of the $400 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol. He and his wife have been major donors to their alma mater, William & Mary, as well as the museum.
According to Nyerges, the contribution includes 15 paintings by prominent American artists. In June 2021, the museum announced a $190 million expansion and renovation project that will begin in 2023, with completion scheduled for 2025. The project includes the new wing and a 40,000-square-foot collections center, renovation of the former library and a special events space. SmithGroup, a Detroit-based architecture firm, is planning and designing the project.
DEAN AND MARKEL FAMILIES MEN’S HEAD BASKETBALL COACH, VIRGINIA CAVALIERS MEN’S BASKETBALL, CHARLOTTESVILLE
The University of Virginia men’s basketball team fell victim to a positive COVID-19 test in March, forcing it to withdraw from the ACC Tournament — a “gut punch,” Bennett called it.
The team was cleared in time to play in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, where in 2019, Bennett had led the Cavaliers to the championship. In the unusual pandemic-era season, though, U.Va. earned a fourth seed but lost to Ohio University.
Bennett, a former backup point guard with the Charlotte Hornets, is one of only four former NBA players who have been the head coach for NCAA championship teams. He arrived at U.Va. in 2009, and he’s become a valued university asset, popular, respected and winning, with a record of 295-103 over his 12 seasons. He’s been named NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year three times, twice with the Cavaliers, and nine of his players have been selected in the NBA draft.
In 2019, Bennett turned down a raise, asking university officials to instead focus on more pay for staff and program improvements, the university reported. At the same time, he and his wife, Laurel, pledged $500,000 toward a career development program for current and former U.Va. men’s basketball players.
Bickmeier
DENNIS J. BICKMEIER
PRESIDENT, RICHMOND RACEWAY, RICHMOND
Bickmeier is entering his 10th year as president of Richmond Raceway, where roaring engines were replaced with idling ones earlier this year, when the complex’s acres of parking and exhibition space became a COVID-19 vaccination site. But Richmond Raceway will be back to full capacity for NASCAR Playoff Race Weekend Sept. 10-11, during the track’s 75th anniversary season.
The NASCAR-owned raceway is a key tourism draw, and Bickmeier is treasurer for Richmond Region Tourism. He also serves on the Henrico Police Athletic League board and teaches sports marketing as an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University.
BEST ADVICE:Never stop asking questions. The desire to learn and keep learning every day will continue to pay dividends personally and professionally.
WHAT A COMPETITOR WOULD SAY ABOUT ME:He’s a tactician. He studies things like a coach and then prepares and executes against a plan.
FIRST JOB:In high school, I worked for our town’s parks and recreation department in Bellaire, Ohio. We did everything from cutting grass at the parks to lining fields for games to operating sports leagues for the citizens. That helped spark my interest in sports management.
MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “Alexander Hamilton,” by Ron Chernow
Bywater
BRIDGETTE BYWATER
VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, KINGS DOMINION/CEDAR FAIR LP, DOSWELL
You could say that theme parks are in Bywater’s blood. After all, her parents met in 1973 while working as ride operators at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri.
In January, Bywater took over as Kings Dominion’s vice president and general manager from Tony Johnson, who began his career there in 1974.
Bywater comes to the amusement park at a pivotal time. Due to the pandemic, Kings Dominion was closed last year for the first summer in its 45-plus-year history. In May, she reopened the amusement park, raising the minimum pay for seasonal employees from $9.25 to $13 per hour. Bywater announced in August that the park will debut a new jungle-themed, 112-foot-high spinning roller coaster, Tumbili, in 2022.
A native of Kansas City, Bywater received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Truman State University. Since beginning her amusement park career at Worlds of Fun in 1992, she’s held numerous leadership positions for Ohio-based Cedar Fair LP, which purchased Kings Dominion in 2006. She sits on the board of Richmond Region Tourism.
Capshaw
CORAN CAPSHAW
OWNER, RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT, MUSICTODAY, RIVERBEND DEVELOPMENT, CHARLOTTESVILLE
Capshaw has come a long way since owning the now-defunct Charlottesville bar Trax. In 1992, Capshaw gave the Dave Matthews Band its first weekly gig at the bar and then became the band’s manager, seeing it rise to international fame.
As the founder and owner of Red Light Management, he now provides management services for more than 300 touring and recording artists via a roster of more than 70 managers. Red Light’s client list includes Dave Matthews Band, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, Dierks Bentley, Odesza, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, Alabama Shakes and Phish.
The music mogul also founded entertainment marketing company Musictoday and has been involved with Bonnaroo, South by Southwest, Outside Lands, ATO Records, TBD Records and Starr Hill Presents. These efforts have landed Capshaw on Billboard magazine’s “Power 100” list.
He also has been heavily involved in real estate development in Charlottesville, including the building of the Downtown Pavilion, now the Ting Pavilion, and renovating The Jefferson Theater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. He also owns many area restaurants.
Edmunds
ANDY EDMUNDS
DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA FILM OFFICE, RICHMOND
An accomplished musician and songwriter, Edmunds broke into the film industry through an unlikely method: by producing a music video for one of his songs that was broadcast on MTV.
That experience introduced the Virginia native to the film production industry. He worked as a film location scout before arriving at the Virginia Film Office in 1997. Since then, Edmunds has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Ridley Scott and Terrence Malick.
Even amid the pandemic, Virginia served as a shooting location for movies and TV shows. Recent projects have included the indie flick “Tapawingo,” the Lifetime film “Dirty Little Deeds,” the Hulu limited series “Dopesick,” the AMC series “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” and the Apple TV+ sports drama series “Swagger.” According to a media release from Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball, the latter three projects generated $120 million for Virginia’s economy over a nine-month period.
Edmunds serves on the board of the Virginia Film Festival and has five children, including two adopted sons from Ghana.
JUSTIN FUENTE
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, VIRGINIA TECH, BLACKSBURG
Taking over the Hokies football program from the legendary Frank Beamer – Virginia Tech’s head coach for nearly 30 years – would be a daunting task for anybody, but Oklahoma native Fuente seemed up to the challenge.
Taking the reins in 2016, Fuente, a former Murray State University quarterback and Walter Payton Award finalist, started strong, bringing the Hokies to three consecutive bowl game wins for the first time in the program’s history and being named 2016 ACC Coach of the Year.
Though Fuente and Tech agreed in 2017 to a contract extension through 2023, recent events led some to question whether his tenure would last that long. Last season, the Hokies went 5-6; in the five seasons Fuente has been coach, Virginia Tech holds a 43-32 record. Following a four-game losing streak last fall, some speculated that Fuente might be let go, according to ESPN. Last December, however, athletic director Whit Babcock said Fuente would return for a sixth season.
Lembke
KEVIN LEMBKE
PRESIDENT, BUSCH GARDENS WILLIAMSBURG AND WATER COUNTRY USA, WILLIAMSBURG
Lembke’s career in theme parks began in 2000 at SeaWorld Orlando. After spending 2004 through 2013 at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment’s corporate offices, where he focused on retail product development and retail operations, Lembke came to Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2013 as its vice president of merchandise.
Lembke transferred to Busch Gardens Tampa in 2016, then returned in 2018 to serve as president of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA. He left Busch Gardens briefly in 2019 to pursue other career opportunities but came back the same year.
During the pandemic, Lembke was one of the most vocal opponents of the state government’s 1,000-person mandated attendance limit on theme parks, saying it wasn’t financially feasible. Alongside other major venue operators, Lembke served on a task force that worked with state officials to develop COVID-19 protocols for large venues. A graduate of the University at Buffalo, Lembke oversees more than
4,000 full- and part-time employees during peak tourism season and serves on the board of the Williamsburg Tourism Council.
FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: Buffalo Bills
FAVORITE SONG: “No Hard Feelings,” by The Avett Brothers
ONE THING I’D CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: Add a pro sports franchise.
Neil
ERIK H. NEIL
DIRECTOR AND CEO, CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART, NORFOLK
Having previously served as the director of the Academy Art Museum in Maryland and executive director of The Heckscher Museum of Art in New York, Neil came to the Chrysler in 2014 with an eye toward leading it into the digital age.
Neil was an active curator earlier in his career, working with artists including James Turrell, Carrie Mae Weems and Tony Oursler. He’s published books and essays on contemporary art and the histories of architecture and photography. Currently, he serves on the boards of VisitNorfolk, the Military Aviation Museum and the Norfolk Innovation Corridor, and he’s a member of the Southeastern Art Museum Directors Consortium and the Association of Art Museum Directors. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard.
In 2018, the Chrysler opened the Wonder Studio, an interactive gallery that provides children with hands-on art experiences and encourages them to use digital tools to create. During the pandemic, the 140-employee art museum tightened its belt but still developed new exhibitions and programs that speak to its community.
Nyerges
ALEX NYERGES
DIRECTOR AND CEO, VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, RICHMOND
In June, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced it would embark on a $190 million expansion, the largest in its history. The project will add a 100,000-square-foot wing, see 45,000 square feet of the current museum renovated and erect a standalone 40,000-square-foot collections center.
This major project will be the second such initiative since Nyerges took the helm of the VMFA in 2006. Under Nyerges, the VMFA has seen several blockbuster exhibitions, including works by Pablo Picasso and Edward Hopper; Kehinde Wiley unveiled his sculpture “Rumors of War” on the lawn of the VMFA in 2019.
A Rochester, New York, native, Nyerges is an affiliate graduate faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. This summer, he presented “Fleeting Light,” an exhibition of his own photography at Richmond’s Reynolds Gallery.
Nyerges previously served as director and CEO of Ohio’s Dayton Art Institute and as executive director of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Florida’s Museum of Art – DeLand.
FAVORITE APP: My running app — to see how far I have gone and how fast, although that is a declining number each year!
Parnell
TODD ‘PARNEY’ PARNELL
CEO, RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS, RICHMOND
Following positions with other minor league teams in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, Parnell — who’s better known around Richmond as “Parney” — came to Richmond in 2010 to serve as vice president and chief operating officer for the Squirrels.
In July 2020, Parnell replaced the retiring Chuck Domino as the Squirrels’ CEO, overseeing all aspects of the team’s day-to-day operations. Under Parnell, the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants led the Eastern League in average attendance in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019 and in overall attendance in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. He is a three-time Eastern League Executive of the Year winner and has received Baseball America’s Minor League Executive of the Year award.
With the pandemic canceling the 2020 season, Parnell walked the bases 125 times in April 2020 to raise money for local COVID-19 relief efforts through an event called “500 Bases of Love.” He also serves as president of the Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
A graduate of Messiah University, Parnell volunteers with Metropolitan Junior Baseball League Inc. and serves on the boards of ChamberRVA, one Richmond Region Tourism and Flying Squirrels Charities.
Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder
DAN SNYDER
CO-OWNER, CO-CEO, WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM, ASHBURN
This July, Snyder announced that he would be stepping away from day-to-day operations of the Washington Football Team following accusations last year from 15 female former employees who told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed and verbally abused at work by other executives during Snyder’s tenure, although Snyder was not accused of misconduct.
In June, Snyder’s wife, Tanya, was named as the team’s co-CEO, responsible for team operations and representing the club at all league activities. Days later, the NFL fined the team $10 million, citing its “highly unprofessional” workplace environment.
Snyder purchased the team in 1999 from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, back when it was known as the Washington Redskins, a name criticized for decades as racist. The name and logo were retired in 2020 following pressure from corporate sponsors.
A lifelong entrepreneur from Maryland, Snyder co-founded a wallboard advertising company in 1989 with his sister, Michele Snyder, that became Snyder Communications LP. In 2000, Snyder sold the business, which employed 12,000 people, for more than $2 billion.
This year, Forbes valued the Washington Football Team at $3.5 billion, making it the world’s 19th most valuable sports franchise.
Williams
PHARRELL WILLIAMS
MUSICIAN, PRODUCER AND DEVELOPER, LOS ANGELES/VIRGINIA BEACH
Is there anything Williams can’t do? The internationally renowned music superstar behind hits like “Happy” and “Blurred Lines” has garnered 13 Grammys, but he’s also increasingly gaining admiration for his business activities in Virginia, his home state.
In 2019, Williams launched Something in the Water, a three-day music festival in his native Virginia Beach that featured the likes of Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Migos and Dave Matthews Band, among others. The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but sponsors hope it will return in 2022.
Williams also is co-developing the $325 million Atlantic Park mixed-use project and surf park at Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, and he put forward a proposal to redevelop Norfolk’s former Military Circle mall.
In June 2020, Williams spoke at Gov. Ralph Northam’s news conference announcing that Juneteenth would become a state holiday. Last year, he also launched Black Ambition, a nonprofit initiative to provide support for minority entrepreneurs launching startups.
And this fall, Williams’ nonprofit, Yellow, will open an independent “micro” elementary school in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood, focusing on STEM and workforce preparation.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has hired the Detroit-based firm SmithGroup to design a new wing of the Richmond museum in a $190 million expansion and renovation project announced Tuesday.
The new wing will provide space for African art, photography and 21st-century works, according to the museum. Construction is expected to begin in 2023, with completion scheduled for 2025. This is the museum’s fifth expansion since its 1936 opening and the first since its largest expansion, which ended in 2010 following five years of construction, resulting in the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing, named for the Southwest Virginia coal magnate and his wife.
According to the VMFA, the new wing will add 100,000 square feet to the current 650,000-square-foot facility, in addition to a new, 40,000-square-foot Collections Center building that will house the museum’s conservation program and art storage. The project also will include renovations to about 45,000 square feet of the current building, including changes to the former library, which will become a photography, prints and drawing study center known as the Frank Raysor Center. There also will be a special events space with dining facilities and room for up to 500 guests, and the existing museum will have updates to its theater and the original entrance facing Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
“We are thrilled to have SmithGroup on board and excited to collaborate with their visionary team on this exciting building project,” VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges said in a statement. “The firm has demonstrated expertise in planning and designing dynamic, engaging museum environments. SmithGroup’s spirit of collaboration; their profound commitment to the same values that guide VMFA — diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; their firsthand knowledge of Richmond and Virginia; and their drive for innovation make them an exceptional choice for VMFA’s ambitious expansion and renovation project.”
SmithGroup has 15 offices in the U.S. and China, and it has designed numerous museums, including the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The firm also designed the concept for the city of Richmond’s National Slavery Museum at the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail site, a project announced last summer.
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JUSTIN FUENTE
