Tanner Johnson, CEO of Pure Shenandoah LLC, says that his Elkton-based company is trying to bring hemp back to its Shenandoah Valley roots. After all, he explains, “back in the 1600s, this area was used heavily for hemp production and rope and clothing.”
Johnson is one of four brothers behind Pure Shenandoah, which seeks to create a market for hemp fiber, the pliable male variety of the cannabis plant. The family business already deals in the potent female CBD strain, selling recreational oils and applying to the state to become a medical marijuana grower.
“The fiber side has almost unlimited potential,” Johnson says. “It has 20,000-plus uses, from clothing and paper to packaging materials. You can even build a house with it.”
Sourcing nearly exclusively from area farmers, Pure Shenandoah expects to plant 1,400 acres of hemp fiber this year. By comparison, only 2,000 acres were grown in all of Virginia in 2020.
In August 2020, Pure Shenandoah opened a $3.3 million hemp processing facility in Elkton’s historic Casey Jones building. This year, it plans to retrofit part of an existing 200-acre farming operation into a full-fiber endeavor for $1 million, including the conversion of four poultry structures for hemp processing. It plans to lease 100 acres at the Elkton site this year, and eventually purchase the entire farm. It also aims to pick up an important client — Waynesboro’s Old Dominion Hemp Co., the country’s leading animal bedding distributor.
Samuel Morton, an associate professor of engineering at James Madison University and lead faculty member of JMU’s Industrial Hemp Research Program, says Pure Shenandoah may prove more successful than previous commercial attempts: “They are using all parts of the plant. On an economic basis, you have to do that.”
Glenn Rodes, a partner in the family-owned Riverhill Farms in Rockingham County, obtained Virginia’s first hemp fiber growing license and serves as unofficial adviser to Pure Shenandoah. “They are the only ones really pursuing [hemp fiber], and it’s a tough business right now. The regulatory side is still uncertain, and we are definitely going to need local markets to buy the product. Hemp fiber is bulky and would be difficult to ship long distances relative to its value.”
What isn’t a problem is growing the hemp, Johnson says. “The soil, the climate, it is ideal here in the valley. It really flourishes, and that’s a major competitive advantage.”
As we prepare to enter a fresh calendar year marked by our new normal of remote work, Zoom meetings, face masks and social distancing, our need for connectedness and socializing remains as strong as ever. But because it may still be a while before we return to rubber-chicken dinners, networking receptions and cocktail parties, let Virginia Business do the work for you and introduce you to 100 Virginians who make the commonwealth a more interesting and innovative place to live and work.
Some of the folks you’ll meet in the following pages are people who made significant impressions on us, like Richmond native Henry Coleman III, a freshman basketball player at Duke University who made a powerful speech during this summer’s racial justice protests. Others, like Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver, became regular presences, helping us navigate the thorny world of COVID-19.
Unlike our annual Virginia 500 issue, this list isn’t meant to reflect the most influential or powerful people in the state. Instead, it’s simply a list of people we’ve enjoyed meeting and/or hearing about during the past year and we think you will too.
So, fire up your webcam, bang out an email or ask for a face-mask-to-face-mask meeting to introduce yourself. As always, “I saw you in Virginia Business!” is a great conversation starter.
Whether saving lives, speaking truth to power or using their wealth for the greater good, these Virginians make the commonwealth a better place through their passion, dedication and sacrifice.
Head of research, enrollment services, EAB, Richmond
Richmonders can see the artistic legacy of philanthropist Pam Royall and her late husband, Bill, on prominent display in the form of “Rumors of War.” A striking 27-foot-tall monument of a modern-day Black warrior on horseback, it was installed in front of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Richmond’s Arthur Ashe Boulevard in December 2019. “We made a commitment to bring that sculpture to Richmond,” she says. The Royalls met the statue’s creator, celebrated visual artist Kehinde Wiley, about a decade ago, and Pam Royall owns several of Wiley’s paintings. She has been busy this year with work at EAB, formerly Royall & Co., a direct marketing and recruitment firm for higher education that Bill founded 31 years ago. Amid the pandemic, colleges’ demand for information on students’ enrollment plans has never been higher. “It’s almost a life-or-death scenario for small colleges,” Pam Royall says.
Dr. Danny Avula
Dr. Danny Avula
Director, Richmond and Henrico County health departments Richmond
Richmond-area residents got to know public health physician Danny Avula well in 2020. “Dr. Fauci played that role for the country,” explains Avula, the joint director of the Richmond and Henrico health departments since 2009. A University of Virginia and VCU School of Medicine alumnus, Avula has regularly updated Central Virginia on COVID-19 outbreaks and expects to focus on vaccination once it is available. From June through October, Avula’s health departments hired 120 people, some of whom have made inroads into Richmond’s Latino demographic, which has borne much of the virus’ brunt, along with Black residents. Aside from testing and providing protective gear, Avula says he and his colleagues often have to counter historical trauma and distrust in minority communities: “Public communication during a crisis is important.”
Lucy Beadnell
Lucy Beadnell
Director of advocacy, The Arc of Northern Virginia Falls Church
Lucy Beadnell advocates for Northern Virginia’s 39,000 people with developmental disabilities, and next year she plans to dive deeper into her passion project of providing resources for those people within the justice system. In 2021, she says, she’ll be working with first responder and legal offices in Arlington to set up Disability Response Teams, which will “reactively work to respond to cases when people with developmental disabilities are arrested to come up with solutions that really acknowledge and address the disability at hand.” Beadnell also remains focused on supported decision making (SDM), a best practice that moves away from the guardianship model for those with disabilities and closer to a model that allows for more independence and skill growth.
Henry Coleman III
Henry Coleman III
Freshman basketball player, Duke University Richmond
Trinity Episcopal School alum Henry Coleman III is a 6-foot-7 power forward on one of the nation’s elite NCAA men’s basketball teams. He’s also following in the footsteps of other athletes with racial justice ideals such as NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and NBA star LeBron James. This summer, a short yet powerful speech Coleman made during a protest at Duke was caught on video. “This country has had its knee on the neck of African Americans for too long. … I’m tired of it,” the 18-year-old said somberly. The video received thousands of views on Facebook. Speaking in October, Coleman says he wants people of other races to “just be open” to listening to Black people’s concerns.
Paul Manning
Paul Manning
Chairman and CEO, PBM Capital Group Charlottesville
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, businessman, investor and philanthropist Paul Manning donated $1 million to the University of Virginia to establish The Manning Fund for COVID-19 Research to support the university’s efforts to commercialize coronavirus-related research projects. With Manning’s fund, U.Va. will have the resources to complete research into testing, therapies, vaccines and reopening strategies amid the pandemic. The longtime university donor has also served on the U.Va. Strategic Planning Committee, the U.Va. Health Foundation, the U.Va. President’s Advisory Committee and the university’s Honor the Future campaign executive committee. He also founded Charlottesville-based PBM Capital, a health care-focused investment firm that invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences companies.
Dr. Norman Oliver
Dr. Norman Oliver
State health commissioner, Virginia Department of Health Richmond
A reluctant COVID-19 celebrity, Dr. Norman Oliver has been Virginia’s voice of calm advice during the pandemic. Speaking in October, eight months into the pandemic, Oliver says that he’s learned “the most important thing … is to tell people as honestly as you can what it is you know and what it is you don’t know, and what your plans are to close that gap.” He’s made special efforts to emphasize the toll of the virus on Black, Latino, elderly and disabled Virginians, and Oliver and his colleagues have started an advisory council to assist a vaccination campaign once a COVID vaccine is approved. He predicts that vaccines will be available to the larger population by summer 2021.
Dr. Vikas Pathak
Dr. Vikas Pathak
Pulmonologist, clinical protocol committee chairman, Riverside Medical Group Newport News
One of Virginia’s front-line medical workers, Dr. Vikas Pathak worked 14-hour days at the start of the pandemic, checking on patients, determining how fast Riverside’s hospitals were going through personal protective equipment and deciding where overflow patients could go. At home, he had to quarantine himself from his family. A native of Nepal, Pathak completed his internal medicine residency at a hospital in the Bronx. He recognizes that Virginia was relatively fortunate in that doctors here were able to learn from their counterparts in Washington state, Oregon and New York, which were hit harder and earlier. “We learned from other people’s experiences,” he said this summer. “We were blessed to get a late start.”
Dr. Lilian Peake
Dr. Lilian Peake
State epidemiologist, Virginia Department of Health Richmond
Dr. Norman Oliver is the public face of Virginia’s coronavirus fight, but Dr. Lilian Peake is the data scientist gathering information. She’s worked in public health for 20 years but notes, “The magnitude of this pandemic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” If there’s been one bright spot from the pandemic, it’s that people in charge of the state’s budget now recognize how underfunded Virginia’s public health sector is, says Peake. “There’s a lot of demand for public information” about the pandemic, and that was especially true in the early days. Peake worked up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week without a break until June. In 2021, her hope is to spend more time improving quality and analyzing data collected this year.
Dr. Sandy Simons. Photo by Cade Martin
Dr. Sandy Simons
Emergency medicine specialist, Bon Secours-Richmond Community Hospital Richmond
In March 2020, Dr. Sandy Simons found herself thrust into the national debate over the pandemic after she wrote a moving first-person essay for Politico about her coronavirus worries as an emergency room doctor. Simons has remained busy, especially since regular patient volume picked up without a corresponding staffing increase this summer. She’s often the only ER doctor on night duty, and her hospital is frequently the closest place for homeless people with special needs to seek help. An outspoken presence on Twitter and a columnist for Emergency Medicine News magazine, Simons says that a COVID-19 vaccine — when approved and available — will “make life so much easier.” Taking surgical masks, gowns and other protective gear on and off is time-consuming, and it’s been hard limiting family members who want to visit. In 2021, Simons says, “I’ll need to start writing my book.”
Pete Snyder
Pete Snyder
CEO, Disruptor Capital; co-founder, Virginia 30 Day Fund Charlottesville
A serial entrepreneur turned angel investor, Pete Snyder has also become a lifeline for small businesses drowning in unexpected debt from the pandemic. Snyder, the former Republican Party of Virginia finance chairman, and his wife, Burson, launched the Virginia 30 Day Fund, which makes forgivable $3,000 loans to small businesses. “Like the [coronavirus], the economic disease that has hit our Main Street knows no bounds,” Snyder told Virginia Business this spring. Snyder is also the CEO of Charlottesville-based angel capital investment company Disruptor Capital. In 2013, Snyder lost a Republican primary convention bid to become the GOP’s nominee for lieutenant governor — but he’s said to be eyeing a potential 2021 run for governor.
As the Las Vegas-born son of Liberace’s music arranger, Justin Ayars got a fabulous start in life. However, he chose law over showbiz, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from William & Mary and a law degree from George Mason University. As the former chair of the Virginia Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, he’s been an advocate for the state’s LGBTQ citizens, and founded Q Media, the publisher of a “nonpartisan, family-friendly” gay magazine with a targeted upscale audience. His latest company, Equality Rewards, has launched a pioneering telehealth portal that helps LGBTQ patients find inclusive doctors. “There’s a mistrust of the medical community. Many LGBTQ people don’t get checkups,” he says. “In the time of COVID, that’s concerning.”
Melissa Baker
Melissa Baker
Director, Virginia State Parks Richmond
Can the state’s main custodian of public land do her work from home? “For the most part, yes, but one perk of the job is going outdoors,” says Melissa Baker, who became Virginia’s first female director of its system of 38 state parks in January. “We’ve been busy,” she adds. “The parks have had increased visitation ince we reopened.” Previously North Dakota’s parks director, Baker also helped to run Montana State Parks and Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, earning her master’s in outdoor recreation management from Southern Illinois University and a doctorate in forestry, recreation management and protected area planning from the University of Montana. Everywhere she’s served, Baker has been a trailblazer. “There are other female directors,” she says, “but it is a male-dominated field.”
Robert Gray
Robert Gray
Chief, Pamunkey Indian Tribe King William
Pamunkey Indian Tribe chief since 2015, Robert Gray thinks that his tribe’s planned 13.4-acre, $500 million Norfolk resort casino will be a jackpot for everyone. “I truly believe that we will help the city and they will help us,” he told Virginia Business last year. Norfolk is projected to receive $50 million annually for public school construction through the project, as well as $30 million a year in gaming and sales taxes. Gray, a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant and former Philadelphian, says that, with casino revenue, he will bring more Pamunkey Indians back to their Virginia homeland and institute much-needed upgrades for reservation infrastructure, including broadband. He’s also rolling the dice on another potential casino project, this time a $350 million project planned for Richmond and slated for consideration in 2021.
Brian Huseman
Brian Huseman
Vice president of public policy, Amazon.com Inc. Arlington
In a widely circulated May blog post, Brian Huseman called on Congress to pass a federal price-gouging law to combat unfair pricing of face masks and other medical equipment during the pandemic. A former Department of Justice attorney and a Federal Trade Commission general counsel before joining Amazon eight years ago, Huseman says the company is still lobbying Congress for a national law, as well as working closely with attorneys general across the country, including Virginia’s Mark Herring. The Oklahoma native also has his hands full overseeing public policy issues connected to Amazon’s $2.5 billion HQ2 project, now in its second phase of development. So far, hiring, permits and construction are still on target, Huseman says, with the $14 million renovation of Metropolitan Park approved and set to be finished in 2023, and interviews for 500 Arlington-based positions taking place this fall.
Through their outreach, expertise, marketing and incentives, these are the professionals who attract and grow businesses, adding to the commonwealth’s wealth.
Defense affairs program manager, Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Charlottesville
When you think of the Charlottesville area, military-related business may not spring to mind. If so, Lettie Bien says, “You’re not alone.” But Albemarle County’s fifth-largest employer is the U.S. Department of Defense. There’s also Rivanna Station, home to the U.S. Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center. Additionally, the University of Virginia has ROTC, defense contracts and the U.S. Army’s JAG Legal Center and School, she notes. That’s not to mention area military retirees. To support and leverage those connections, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber partnered with local economic development interests to hire Bien in July. “What they saw was this was a huge economic engine that they could not afford to ignore,” Bien says. A combat veteran and lawyer, Bien holds a master’s degree in public policy and serves as an Army Reserve Ambassador.
Corrie Bobe. Photo by Mark Rhodes
Corrie Bobe
Director, Danville Office of Economic Development Danville
A national search led Danville back to one of its own. The city tapped native Corrie Bobe to lead its office of economic development in July. A Virginia Tech graduate, Bobe has worked for the office since November 2009 and served as interim director since January. The pandemic forced her team to focus on existing business support, she says — offering grant programs, marketing materials, PPE access, e-commerce support and a retail consultant who advised businesses on adjusting spaces to meet new pandemic safety guidelines. Despite the downturn, prospect activity remains strong, she says: “I feel our region will see new corporate partners added over the coming year.” She also plans to hire a tourism manager by the end of the year to bring that industry into focus for 2021.
Jared Chalk
Jared Chalk
Director of economic development, Norfolk; executive director, Norfolk Economic Development Authority Norfolk
Jared Chalk was named Norfolk’s economic development director less than six months ago, but he isn’t a new face in Hampton Roads. Chalk has been with Norfolk since 2005, and he has served as interim director of economic development and executive director of the Norfolk Economic Development Authority since November 2018. A Bridgewater College graduate, Chalk also earned a certificate in real estate finance and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Projects on his plate for 2021, he says, include the Norfolk hotel and casino resort and turning the former Military Circle Mall into a commercial district, “one of the largest commercial redevelopment projects in this area.”
Nancy L. Grden
Nancy L. Grden
Executive director, Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation; Special assistant to the president for maritime initiatives, associate vice president, Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Old Dominion University Norfolk
Preparing to launch in 2021, the Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation aims to bolster the region’s maritime industry. This is the moment in time for such an effort, says Nancy Grden, the umbrella organization’s first executive director. “We have an amazing set of opportunities and assets that are right in front of our face,” she says, “and we tend to shy away from them.” She cites shipbuilding, the military, offshore wind, transatlantic cables and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion. A Pittsburgh native and former bank executive, Grden says the collaborative will be “action-oriented,” working to coordinate diverse initiatives and seeking to inject more innovation and entrepreneurship into the region’s maritime sector. “The cool thing is really bringing all that together,” she says.
JB Holston
JB Holston
CEO, Greater Washington Partnership Washington, D.C.
To become the fastest-growing, most successful region in the country, JB Holston says, the Capital Region, stretching from Baltimore to Richmond, needs to have the most inclusive economy. That leads him to an area of work he intends to explore in the next year: “Inclusive growth.” Holston, whose career includes senior executive positions at GE and NBC, moved to D.C. from Colorado, where he was dean of the University of Denver’s school of computer science and engineering. He took the helm of the partnership in September, leading the alliance that represents businesses employing more than 250,000 people in the region.
Kathryn “Kate” E. Keller
Kathryn “Kate” E. Keller
President, The Harvest Foundation Martinsville/Henry County
Kate Keller was named president of The Harvest Foundation in July, after more than 20 years working for Interact for Health, a foundation in Greater Cincinnati. It was a fortuitous background to have in the midst of a pandemic. About 65,000 people live in the Martinsville and Henry County region, which saw a downturn in its furniture and textile industries in the ’90s. “They sort of lost their sense of who they were when that happened,” says Keller. But efforts to restore that energy in the last 10 years have paid off. A recent win was landing Poland-based Press Glass as the first tenant of a key industrial park. Up next is more funding for affordable housing, Keller says, and a campaign to become more accessible and inclusive for the whole community.
Ross Koenig
Ross Koenig
Program manager, Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program Richmond
In late October, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program surpassed its goal of hiring 65,000 Virginia military veterans by the end of his administration. Ross Koenig played a major role in the success of the initiative administered by the state Department of Veterans Services. Its goal is to connect Virginia veterans to the workforce by assisting with recruiting, hiring, training and retaining military veterans in civilian jobs. In other milestones, V3 in February certified its 1,000th employer committed to hiring veterans. Koenig has been working with the V3 team since the program’s 2012 inception, starting as its regional manager for Central and Southwest Virginia until his promotion to program manager in 2017.
Kristie Helmick Proctor
Kristie Helmick Proctor
Executive director, Virginia Rural Center Richmond
Like other events forced to adjust to the pandemic, the annual Governor’s Summit on Rural Prosperity went virtual in October. It’s fitting that the summit’s host, the Virginia Rural Center, advocates for broadband access across the state. Half a million Virginians have no access to it — and they don’t necessarily live in the middle of nowhere. Kristie Proctor, for one, lives in Hanover County, where her family’s house has a well, a septic system and no broadband. In addition to connectivity, the organization works to promote economic prosperity in rural areas. In 2021, Proctor will oversee the launch of the Virginia Rural Leaders Institute. Its goal is to attract, develop and retain leaders in the state’s rural communities, where they’ll create tangible results via community impact projects.
Beth D. Rhinehart
Beth D. Rhinehart
President and CEO, Bristol Chamber of Commerce Bristol
A literal line down State Street in downtown Bristol divides Tennessee and Virginia. It’s a unique challenge for a chamber serving a community with two governments, two school systems, “two everything,” Beth Rhinehart says. A Bristol native, she sees opportunity in working as a united front, such as with the chamber’s tourism initiative, Discover Bristol. The recently approved $400 million Hard Rock casino will boost that effort. But another key will be diversifying the economy, she says, along with developing the workforce and making it an attractive location for the area’s young people. She also promotes Bristol as a magnet for remote workers. A GO Virginia Region 1 council member, Rhinehart was selected this year for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Business Leads Fellowship Program.
Michelle Rogers
Michelle Rogers
Director of workforce development, Virginia’s Gateway Region/Community College Workforce Alliance Colonial Heights
In her newly created dual position, Michelle Rogers is charged with finding better ways of connecting businesses with the worlds of workforce development and higher education. Rogers was an Air Force brat before landing in York County for high school. She worked in state economic development for almost 15 years before starting her new role in July. It’s the first position of its kind in Virginia, she says, a partnership between Virginia’s Gateway Region and the Community College Workforce Alliance. She’ll work as a liaison, helping to identify the region’s business needs and develop the educational programs and support to meet those needs.
They might be new to the Old Dominion or just new to their positions, but all of them bring decades of expertise and new vantage points. Here’s a sampling of people — some fresh faces, others familiar — who have recently taken on significant new leadership roles.
Growing up in Northern Mexico, Devaki Baker supported herself through college at the University of Texas El Paso, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. In 2015, she founded Team Verso, where she developed software-as-a-service offerings, working with toll road operator Transurban. In June, she brought this knowledge to her new position as CEO for VeriToll, which markets a software-as-a-service platform that allows users to report problems with tolling systems that cause state transportation departments to lose revenue and drivers to be erroneously billed — and also offers an alternative, touchless option for users to pay tolls. “There couldn’t be a better time for a solution like VeriToll,” Baker says. “VeriToll, along with our network of strategic partnerships, want to utilize technology to create a tolling industry that works for all.” This November, VeriToll moved its California headquarters to Ashburn.
Curtis Brown
Curtis Brown
State coordinator of emergency management, Virginia Department of Emergency Management Richmond
Curtis Brown took over the state’s head emergency management position during one of the largest public health crises in living memory — the COVID-19 pandemic. After four years as the chief deputy state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, he was promoted in June and is the first Black person to hold the post. “A critical priority … has been to focus on the disproportionate impact of the disaster on people of color … and others in at-risk populations,” he said in a speech at his alma mater, Radford University, in September. Hailing from Prince George’s County, Maryland, which has a highly educated, majority Black population, Brown also founded the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, a global nonprofit focused on empowering marginalized communities during the disaster management cycle. “I grew up in a place where Black excellence and the influence of public leadership were ubiquitous,” Brown told Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, where he earned his master’s degree.
When Abingdon’s Barter Theatre — the nation’s oldest Actors’ Equity Association theater — closed the curtain on its spring season in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Katy Brown was there to make sure the show goes on. In October 2019, after 13 years serving as associate artistic director, she became the first woman to run the theater and the fourth artistic director since its founding during the Great Depression. She likes to note that the theater was established during hard times, and it will survive the coronavirus. This year, Brown oversaw the transition of traditional theater performances to drive-in and online streaming options. “It’s been an incredible way for our audience to have an experience together, but safely distanced,” she says.
Fabricio Drummond
Fabricio Drummond
Chief revenue officer, Axios Arlington
Without a media background, Fabricio Drummond became the first chief revenue officer of the burgeoning media company in November 2019. Since its 2016 inception, Axios has raised $30 million in venture capital and at the end of 2019 it was poised to raise an additional $20 million in venture capital, raising its valuation to $200 million. Its website attracts 7 to 10 million unique visitors per month, generating $25 million in 2018 revenue. Drummond is no stranger to high-growth companies. Before joining Axios, he spent more than 15 years leading business development within startup companies. He previously served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer at SuperBAC, an international biotechnology solutions company.
Earl T. Granger III
Earl T. Granger III
Chief development officer, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Williamsburg
Earl Granger is a Williamsburg champion through and through. The William & Mary graduate was most recently the associate vice president for development at his alma mater. He joined the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in August at the height of the pandemic while the hospitality and tourism industries plummeted — particularly in Colonial Williamsburg, where more than 700 employees were furloughed or placed on administrative leave during the spring. He has his work cut out for him this year but has hope for the world’s largest living-history museum — largely bolstered by a switch to outdoor programming and bringing back furloughed employees. “Colonial Williamsburg has cause for cautious optimism as we head into 2021,” he says.
Marc Gruzenski
Head of security and senior managing director, The McLean Group LLC McLean
Marc Gruzenski left the Magic Kingdom this spring to become the head of security for The McLean Group, a middle-market investment bank. Gruzenski served for seven years as The Walt Disney Co.’s director of global security technology and director of information protection. He has also worked as the chief of intelligence and analysis and global asset protection for Accenture. While investment banking professionals and consumers increase their online business during the pandemic, Gruzenski has his focus on cybersecurity, physical security and security risk management at The McLean Group, which provides financial advice on mergers and acquisitions and business valuations.
D. Jermaine Johnson
D. Jermaine Johnson
Greater Washington and Virginia regional president, PNC Bank Vienna
After 15 years with the ninth-largest bank in the nation by assets, D. Jermaine Johnson was tapped to fill the gap left by the promotion of Richard Bynum, a prominent D.C.-area business leader who is taking on a larger corporate role at the bank. Although Johnson is new to his role, he isn’t new to the banking industry. He started his career 25 years ago with Bank of America as a management trainee. He was most recently the corporate banking market manager for the Greater Washington and Greater Maryland markets with PNC Bank before his promotion. The James Madison University graduate serves as treasurer of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and on the audit committee for the Arlington-based March of Dimes.
Dr. Arthur L. Kellermann. Photo courtesy VCU
Dr. Arthur Kellermann
CEO, VCU Health System; senior vice president, VCU Health Sciences Richmond
Steering one of Virginia’s top health systems is no small feat — especially during a pandemic. Dr. Arthur Kellermann, who was appointed CEO of VCU Health Systems in October, has COVID-19 prevention, treatment and vaccine deployment at the top of his 2021 to-do list. “If the life of someone you love is on the line, it’s where you want to go,” Kellermann says of VCU Health. The former dean of the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, Kellerman’s other priorities include securing VCU Massey Cancer Center’s designation as a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center and ensuring construction of the Children’s Hospital of Richmond stays on schedule for a 2022 opening.
Brent Lewis
Brent Lewis
Associate vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, James Madison University Harrisonburg
Following nationwide protests for racial equity, organizations have made space for executives such as Brent Lewis, the new associate vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at James Madison University. In late September, Lewis, who wrote his dissertation about the social and cultural experience of gay and lesbian students attending historically Black colleges or universities, became the first person to hold the position overseeing JMU’s Division of Student Affairs and leading the Office of Disability Services; Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression; and the Center for Multicultural Student services. “The higher education landscape is being required to do more and create more meaningful and intentional opportunities for students to gain a sense of belonging,” Lewis says. During the next two years, he and other JMU leaders will convene a racial equity task force to “tackle difficult conversations” and make action recommendations, he says.
Stan Little
Stan Little
Chief experience officer, United Way Worldwide Alexandria
Now more than ever, the United Way is being sought to provide support for community efforts to aid those affected by the global pandemic. Former SunTrust Foundation President Stan Little, who has a background in systems engineering, took his new role in February during a wave of companies and organizations hiring CXOs to improve interactions between customers and employees. The nonprofit United Way Worldwide helps coordinate a network of 1,800 autonomous community-based United Way chapters worldwide, 25 of which are located in Virginia. Little leads all donor-facing functions for United Way Worldwide, which annually has nearly 3 million volunteers and raises nearly $5 billion from than 8 million donors. The former Georgia State University business professor has also been an adviser to the Federal Communications Commission and The College Board.
Brett Malone
Brett Malone
President and CEO, Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center Blacksburg
Brett Malone is a prime product of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, where he started his first software company, Blacksburg-based Phoenix Integration, in 1996. And now he serves as the research center’s president and CEO. The “triple Hokie,” who earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Virginia Tech, has plans to expand the CRC, a space for research and development for tech companies, through investments in more lab space, biotech building construction and industry partnerships, he says. A Northern Virginia expansion (where Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus is being built) is another top priority for 2021. “The entrepreneurial researcher … we really cater to that phenotype,” he says. “We think there’s opportunity to expand that model.”
Peter Phillips
Peter Phillips
Director of customer and regulatory relations for Virginia, Exacta Systems Richmond
2020 has been about as predictable as a game of blackjack, but that hasn’t stopped the Virginia Lottery and other gaming organizations from posting significant profits this year. In October, Peter Phillips, a disabled veteran with 25 years of service as a naval special warfare officer, became the Virginia director of customer and regulatory relations for Boynton Beach, Florida-based Exacta Systems (which also has a Henrico County office). The company sells historic horse race software and machines to businesses including Colonial Downs Group and its four Rosie’s Gaming Emporium locations statewide. Colonial Downs is poised to generate more than $26 million in state tax revenue and nearly $18 million in local tax revenue this year, according to the company, and annually generates $25 million for the horse racing industry. As the legal gaming industry continues to grow in Virginia, Exacta Systems announced plans in October to increase hiring.
Mark Nantz. Photo courtesy Valley Health
Mark Nantz
President and CEO, Valley Health System Winchester
For Mark Nantz, getting to know his 6,500-member team of caregivers following his June appointment as president and CEO of Valley Health System was a little different — but the welcome was just as warm (think masks, elbow bumps and Zoom meetings). After all, Nantz says, “the COVID pandemic has changed much about the way we provide care, how our community views health care workers … and even the way we live.” At the Winchester-based health care system, Nantz oversees six hospitals and 50 medical practices that collectively serve more than 500,000 people in the Shenandoah Valley. Despite the pandemic, the former Atlantic group president for Bon Secours Mercy Health anticipates that services will continue to grow during 2021, he says.
Liz Porter
Liz Porter
Health group president, Leidos Reston
Reston-based federal contractor Leidos in August promoted Liz Porter to president of the company’s $2 billion health group business, which employs 7,500 people. Leidos’ health group provides technology and life sciences services for patient care, providers and payer operations, all of which Porter oversees. At its core, the group works to improve care and reduce costs for health care organizations, which has emerged as a challenge during the pandemic. “Look for Leidos to expand our operational services and platform capabilities in the health space,” Porter says. “It is all about supporting a holistic view of the patient.“ Porter, a military spouse, also serves on the industrial advisory board to the engineering department at Villanova University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Lawrence Roberts
Lawrence Roberts
Director, U.Va. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership Charlottesville
During a time of laser-sharp focus on politics, Larry Roberts was hired as the fifth director of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership in January. A graduate of U.Va. and the Georgetown University Law Center, the veteran Virginia political and legal adviser brings decades of experience to the nonpartisan institute, which provides leadership training for high school and college students as well as first-time political candidates and community and business leaders. The institute in 2021 will focus on partisan and regional balance to grow the number of leaders in rural Virginia, Roberts says. “I’ve had success in elections, I’ve had success in government, but what I feel I can do most effectively at this point is to work outside of [that] to train people who are going to be the future leaders in politics,” he says.
Jennifer Taylor
Jennifer Taylor
President and CEO, Northern Virginia Technology Council McLean
In September, Jennifer Taylor took the baton from the highly influential Bobbie Kilberg, who led the Northern Virginia Technology Council for 22 years, building the regional membership and trade association into one of the nation’s largest technology councils. As the former vice president of industry affairs with the Consumer Technology Association, Taylor brings business relationships with Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. In 2021, Taylor will outline her three- to five-year strategic plan for NVTC. “We are in the midst of facing the next wave of technology evolution, with more commercial tech companies moving to the area such as Amazon … and NVTC will be prepared to help create a tech hub … anchored with tech companies of all sizes, service providers, academia and policy makers,” she says.
Grady Tripp
Grady Tripp
Vice president and chief diversity officer, Tegna Tysons
Once part of McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc. (the nation’s largest newspaper publisher), Tegna in September named Grady Tripp its inaugural chief diversity officer, following months of racial equity protests across the nation. The broadcast media and marketing services company tasked Tripp with attracting, retaining and growing a diverse talent pool, as well as developing training programs and a company diversity and inclusion working group. He’ll leverage his three years of experience as part of Tegna’s talent acquisition team to inform his new role. The Florida A&M University grad previously worked for Fortune Global 500 company Accenture plc. This fall, Tripp played an integral role in Tegna’s expansion of parental paid leave to six weeks. “We truly aspire to serve the greater good of our communities and our employees a little better each day,” he said.
Whether writing bestselling books, fighting high-profile court battles, helping to build racial equity, fighting for institutional reforms or leading coalitions, these Virginians are making a difference.
A Bedford County native and University of Richmond School of Law alum, Rita Davis is the first woman to serve as legal counsel to a Virginia governor, a job she accepted in 2018. Much of her job involves handling clemency petitions, executive orders and FOIA requests — but also, this year, leading the state’s legal battle to remove the monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond. Proudly wearing her gold necklace that spells out “Boss,” a gift she rarely removes, Davis cut a striking figure this summer as she described the statue as a Jim Crow-era attempt to “recast Virginia’s history … to fit a narrative that minimizes a devastating evil.” Davis, who says she hopes the statue will be removed by spring, calls its now-graffiti-covered pedestal “absolutely beautiful.”
Director of corporate affairs, Universal Leaf Tobacco Co. Inc. Richmond
Benjamin Dessart is a real fan of Henrico County, his home since he was 3. With a background in Republican politics, including as political director for former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Dessart is a member of the board of Virginia FREE, a nonpartisan, pro-business group formed by former Del. Chris Saxman, and he oversees global regulatory affairs and sustainability for Universal Leaf Tobacco Co. Inc., a merchant and processor with operations in close to 30 countries.
In normal non-pandemic times, Dessart spends about a quarter of the year in the field — literal fields, he says, in Zimbabwe and other far-flung locations. “Working with our farmers — you’re in the middle of the bush,” seeing places few tourists ever get to go, he says.
Vice president, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Richmond
Renee Haltom, who has been with the Richmond Fed for 16 years, bridges the gap between hard-numbers economics and human communications. This year, her business and community outreach efforts throughout Virginia took on greater urgency as data models lagged in reporting the current state of the economy during the early days of the pandemic. “I really enjoy connecting with other people about the issues that are important to them,” Haltom says, and her outreach efforts allowed the bank to fine-tune its approach to monetary policy. “It’s a matter of getting people of all different backgrounds plugged in,” she adds, while noting that the pandemic has highlighted existing issues of inequity and lack of access, especially in rural areas.
Tiffany Jana has become a much-in-demand diversity and inclusion consultant as businesses confront structural racism and company cultures that limit the potential of their Black and brown employees. A member of the Virginia 2020 Census Complete Count Commission, Jana founded TMI in 2010 and transitioned the company into a certified benefit corporation. Jana, who uses the pronouns they and their, also co-wrote four bestselling books — “Erasing Institutional Bias, “Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences,” “The B Corp Handbook” and “Subtle Acts of Exclusion” — and they were named one of Inc.com’s top 100 leadership speakers in 2018. “Cultural fluency definitely increases our capacity to communicate and work well across differences,” Jana tweeted in November. “The more you know, the less egregious your stumbles will be.”
Regional president, Greater Washington, D.C., and Virginia, M&T Bank Vienna
In 2018, Cecilia Hodges was named M&T’s Virginia and Washington, D.C., regional president, and in January the Rocky Mount native and Virginia Tech alumna will mark her 25th anniversary with the bank. Aside from her duties overseeing more than 60 bank branches, Hodges has dedicated significant time to volunteer work as chair of M&T’s charitable foundation committees in the Washington and Richmond regions, and she recently joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Baltimore board of directors. Hodges also volunteers with the March of Dimes and Easterseals, specifically to help empower women and girls. “As busy as I am, if I take the time to give back, I walk away feeling that I’ve gained more than I’ve given.”
President and state director, HR Virginia; senior director, HR Strategic Initiatives, University of Virginia Charlottesville
Like the rest of us, Michael Latsko saw a big change in his lifestyle this year — moving from in-person to virtual events as president of HR Virginia, which hosts an annual conference for 650 human resources professionals, and working overtime to make sure the University of Virginia was safe for students, faculty, staff and visitors. “We’re all learning more about remote work, keeping employees engaged, not allowing a degeneration of service, effectiveness or productivity — all while stress, anxiety, frustration and fear are on the rise,” he says. Although Latsko is optimistic about 2021, he notes that the “paradigm shift” will continue to affect people and workplaces into the new year.
Sophomore at Hampden-Sydney College; member of Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission Virginia Beach
Ian Lichacz got called a nerd by his frat brothers for constantly checking Virginia Beach local results on election night — but since age 16, the ambitious, 21-year-old Hampden-Sydney history major has known he was meant for politics. Lichacz knew former Mayor Will Sessoms Jr.’s family through horse-riding circles, and he became an intern in Sessoms’ office, a job that didn’t previously exist. Now, he’s got fundraising and constituent services experience under his belt, having worked for state Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, and serves on the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. A self-described moderate Republican who tries to find the “human angle to every issue,” Lichacz is considering running for office one day — possibly after law school. The son of former FBI agents, he says, “I was taught to never lie or try to lie.”
Chairman, Republican Party of Charlottesville Charlottesville
A retired Air Force colonel who led a coalition of U.S. soldiers, American civilians and Afghan recruits on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in 2008-09, Dan Moy has taken on another challenging role, leading the GOP in the city of Charlottesville. Sometimes jokingly called the “People’s Republic of Charlottesville,” the university town is more than a little liberal. But Moy wants to focus on “fundamental values and principles: clean water, education for kids … family, faith, freedom of expression.” A graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, Moy says his party’s appeal shouldn’t come down to “one candidate,” i.e., President Donald Trump. He’s also, by the way, writing a book about what American Revolution patriots and British loyalists shared in common.
Michael Pirron made a somewhat surprising return to the data analytics consulting firm Impact Makers in September after leaving two years earlier as its CEO — and settling a lawsuit with its board last year. Founded in 2006, Impact Makers was the state’s first certified B corporation, a business that has a charitable mission, and it has supported Virginia Community Capital and the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond. A former senior consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture plc), Pirron says Impact Makers has recruited a new board of directors focused on social enterprise work and business growth. Also, he says, “we’re committed to becoming a more racially aware and equitable organization. We are wholeheartedly devoted to improvement in 2021 and, ultimately, that requires change.”
Dustin Wahl graduated from Liberty University in 2018, and although he still has great fondness for his alma mater, the bloom fell off the rose in 2016 when then-President and Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president, a decision Wahl and others protested. In August, Wahl and fellow Liberty alum Calum Best launched Save71, an alumni organization advocating for reforms at Liberty. The group’s website presents an unflattering timeline of incidents involving Falwell and the university. The scandal-plagued Falwell resigned in August, but Wahl says that he and many alumni, current students and faculty feel the board of trustees also needs to be overhauled: “We think that Liberty needs to take a more humble approach: a focus on a well-rounded, Christian education.”
In a tough year for restaurants, hotels and amusement parks, these professionals rose to the occasion to provide nourishment for our bodies, minds and souls through dining, lodging, spirits, tourism and entertainment.
In 2011, Shoham Amin founded Excel Group, a real estate company that has purchased more than $700 million in hotels and debt instruments, including properties in Springfield, Fredericksburg and Herndon. Amin’s firm placed in Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest-growing real estate firms for three years — topping the category in 2015 — and the company now owns 35 midsize hotels on the East Coast valued between $15 million and $60 million apiece. While 2020 has been extraordinarily difficult for the hotel and hospitality industries, Amin says his company is in the process of raising $150 million in equity to purchase about $500 million in hotel real estate around the nation by 2023.
Bridgette Bywater
Bridgette Bywater
Incoming general manager and vice president, Kings Dominion and Soak City Doswell
As everyone knows, the coronavirus has been hard on theme parks — including Kings Dominion, which did not open this summer for the first time in its 45-year history. Bridgette Bywater was named general manager of the Hanover County amusement park in October after a two-decade career with park owner Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., including, most recently, as corporate director of operations for the company. She also served in various leadership roles at Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, where she started out as a seasonal staffer in 1992. Bywater starts her new job in January, which reopened for limited-attendance Christmas holidays events starting in November.
Rachel Bitecofer
Rachel Bitecofer
Scientist; podcaster; editor, The Cycle Newport News
The self-styled “Election Whisperer,” Rachel Bitecofer has been a person to follow on Twitter since her 2018 electoral model predicted the congressional blue wave. In 2020, she left Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy, where she was assistant director and a political science lecturer, because she was denied tenure. She then founded The Cycle, an election forecasting site that heavily favored Joe Biden. She also serves as an unpaid senior adviser for anti-Trump Republican political action committee The Lincoln Project. A staunch progressive, Bitecofer has written that trying to persuade right-leaning voters to change their minds is nearly impossible and that Democrats should focus instead on mobilizing voters. “Everything is being driven by polarization and hyperpartisanship,” she tweeted Nov. 5.
Ethan McSweeny
Ethan McSweeny
Artistic director, American Shakespeare Center Staunton
A director with credits on his résumé from Broadway and Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ethan McSweeny was named artistic director at Blackfriars Playhouse in 2018, making his Staunton directorial debut with Shakespeare’s tragedy “Julius Caesar.” This year has been a major challenge for all theaters and live performance venues, and the playhouse was no different, shutting down between March and June. However, following medical protocols, the American Shakespeare Center returned in September with innovative live performances of “Othello” — featuring a woman, Jessika D. Williams, in the title role — performed outside, inside a half-filled theater and with streamed performances. “I guess our solution was to surf the wave and hopefully stay afloat,” McSweeny said in an October interview with PBS.
Enjoli Moon
Enjoli Moon
Chair, BLK RVA; founder, Afrikana Film Festival; assistant curator of film and special programs, VCU Institute for Contemporary Art Richmond
Last year, Richmond Region Tourism started its BLK RVA initiative to promote African American tourism in the state’s capital, led by Enjoli Moon, one of Richmond’s film and arts leaders. When the pandemic hit, though, “we did have to pivot and get creative,” she says. BLK RVA started selling merchandise to raise funds for Black-owned restaurants and offered advice and resources for Black business owners — many of whom were starting at a financial disadvantage, she notes. In September, Moon’s fifth annual Afrikana Film Festival, focused on both up-and-coming and established Black filmmakers, successfully went virtual, and Moon is considering mounting a mixture of outdoor and virtual film events at the ICA. The Richmond native is optimistic about the city’s creative scene: “You will not say there’s nothing to do [in Richmond]. That’s really great.”
Brian Prewitt
Brian Prewitt
Master distiller, A. Smith Bowman Distillery Fredericksburg
Although it hasn’t quite reached Kentucky levels, Virginia’s spirits industry has grown prodigiously in recent years, and in 2020 the state created the Virginia Spirits Board. One member is Brian Prewitt, who oversees production at Virginia’s oldest distillery, which has won international awards for its bourbons and other offerings — including “World’s Best Bourbon” at the World Whiskies Awards in 2016 and 2017. Before joining the Sazerac-owned Bowman Distillery in 2013, Prewitt held positions at New Belgium and Great Divide beer brewers, as well as E&J Distillers. He switched from studying pre-med to food science at Colorado State University, telling a whiskey podcaster earlier this year that in the midst of dissecting a cadaver, “I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’”
Katie and Ted Ukrop
Katie and Ted Ukrop
Co-owners, Quirk Hotel Charlottesville, Richmond
In early March, Katie and Ted Ukrop opened their second Quirk hotel — in Charlottesville — with a grand gala. The world changed days later — but the Richmond couple did reopen the Quirk flagship hotel in Richmond and the new boutique hotel in late June, with multiple COVID-19 precautions. Quirk hotels offer high-caliber dining, rooftop bars, original artwork and a color palette with punches of pink (the couple’s favorite color). Katie was director of Quirk Gallery, which preceded the hotels and now exists as an artspace adjacent to the Richmond hotel. Richmonders know the Ukrop name from the former grocery chain started by Ted’s family, as well as their civic work. Ted currently serves as chairman of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation Board of Directors.
Over Halloween weekend, Martinsville Speedway welcomed fans back to NASCAR Cup Series races for the first time since the pandemic began. However, occupancy was limited to 1,000 people for a race series that normally attracts more than 40,000 fans.
And for some area businesses that depend on race fan dollars, the limited-attendance event was a nonstarter.
“If I didn’t work at the hotel and wasn’t talking about it already, I wouldn’t have known it was race weekend,” says Carlee Lewis, who was then the front desk clerk at the 55-room Baymont by Wyndham hotel about seven miles from the track. “We only had 15 to 20 people each night.”
In normal years, the Baymont is sold out a year in advance during Martinsville’s twice-a-year NASCAR Cup series competitions.
At the Travel Inn, a half mile from the track, manager Jay Patel also reported low occupancy during the races, as well as no revenue from selling race-day parking. “We are normally sold out and have people that come here every year, sometimes wanting the same room,” he says. “Not this time.” The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 race in June was televised with no fans in attendance due to state COVID-19 restrictions.
Information is hard to come by on how much revenue Martinsville has lost this year due to restrictions for race attendance, in part because its owner, NASCAR, as a private company, is not required to report earnings and attendance. The speedway has about 44,000 seats.
According to Clay Campbell, the speedway’s president, a 2009 economic impact study — the most recently conducted — showed the races have an annual regional impact of $170 million.
Will Pearson, the owner of Sportlanes bowling alley, reports that business was “pretty decent. We had quite a few racing fans. I guess there’s less to do in Martinsville right now because of COVID, but we’ve been here since the ’50s, and people tend to come back to the icons.”
Before Sunday’s race, won by 24-year-old driver Chase Elliott, Pearson waited about an hour to get lunch from the packed Peoples Save Station, a gas and grill near the speedway.
“I don’t think it was everywhere, but the businesses known to race fans are the ones who profited,” offers Pearson. “During the pandemic, customers seem more appreciative of the local businesses, the mom-and-pops who have hung on and survived.”
From real estate to global construction projects to major business expansions, these are the professionals who are building Virginia’s future and constructing legacies.
President and chief operating officer, Bechtel Corp. Reston
In September, Craig Albert stepped up to fill the gap left by former COO Jack Futcher, who retired from the nation’s largest construction company (which reported more than $25 billion in 2018 revenue) after a 40-year career. Albert, the company’s previous infrastructure business president, oversees the company’s four global business units as well as business strategy and development, diversity and inclusion, regions and corporate affairs. Because Bechtel operates in 160 countries on all seven continents, Albert, who has 22 years of experience with the company, spends time focusing on infrastructure, energy and mining projects at the company.
Evan Antonides
Evan Antonides
Senior vice president of technology, HITT Contracting Inc. Falls Church
As more and more people rely on technology to adjust to the new normal brought on by the pandemic, a pressing need for more data centers and broadband infrastructure has come out of the woodwork. Evan Antonides, the senior vice president of technology for HITT Contracting, one of Virginia’s largest general contractors, says the data center market is seeing an unprecedented surge in demand that will result in record growth in 2021. As such, his focus during 2021 will be working with global cloud and digital infrastructure providers. “Data center providers and design and construction stakeholders will need to drive innovation and adapt to meet the rising demand, while ensuring socially and environmentally conscious development,” he says.
Mike Culpepper
Mike Culpepper
Managing partner, Venture Realty Group Virginia Beach
Mike Culpepper is making waves in Virginia. His company is behind the $325 million Atlantic Park project, a surf park and entertainment center planned for the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and backed by Grammy-winning musician and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams. Venture Realty Group — which since 2016 has developed 6 million square feet of projects worth more than $600 million in the Hampton Roads market — partnered with Williams to plan the destination. “We want to be associated with a project that is transformational not only for the oceanfront but for the entire city,” Culpepper told Virginia Business in December 2019. The project is expected to be operational in the next four to five years. As Venture Realty’s managing partner, Culpepper coordinates construction and property management as well as new development and lease coordination.
Matthew Fine
Matthew Fine
President, The Runnymede Corp. Virginia Beach
Carrying on a family legacy, Matthew Fine this spring was promoted to president of The Runnymede Corp., the third-generation, family-owned commercial real estate development company founded by his grandfather, Louis Fine. A Runnymede board member for 30 years, Fine is a founding director of Suffolk-based TowneBank and has owned and managed his own Safe Place storage facilities for 20 years. A glass and granite sculptor, he also owns the Okay Spark Gallery in Norfolk. He and his brother, Jeffrey, have co-written and co-directed independent feature films, including “Art Show Bingo.”
Ted Hanson
Ted Hanson
President and CEO, ASGN Inc. Glen Allen
Ted Hanson made Virginia one Fortune 1000 company stronger. In October, he finished moving the headquarters of ASGN, his California-based technology consulting company, to Henrico County. Hanson joined ASGN in 2012 as chief financial officer when the company acquired Glen Allen-based staffing agency Apex Systems. The company’s $12.4 million investment to bring ASGN cross-country is expected to create 700 jobs across the Richmond, Virginia Beach and Roanoke regions. Hanson credits Virginia’s “strong pipeline of information technology talent for both the commercial and government sectors,” for encouraging the move and plans to grow. Since its June headquarters move announcement, ASGN has also acquired Fredericksburg-based remote sensing and data science provider Skyris LLC and Boston-based consultancy LeapFrog Systems LLC.
Matt Huff
Matt Huff
President, Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group Roanoke
Matt Huff, who became president of Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group in January 2020, takes pride in his Roanoke roots — so much so that he’s made it his mission to encourage development in the region. Having been with Poe & Cronk since 2008, he’s seen growth this year both internally within the company and externally in the Roanoke community. “Roanoke has just had a lot of opportunity and I think that we’ve been the beneficiary of … a [pandemic-driven] migration back to rural communities,” he says. “We’ve definitely seen more people moving back to Roanoke because they have the opportunity to do so.” This year, Poe & Cronk expanded its sales team and in 2021 plans to focus on renovating and expanding its office.
Mark Motley
Mark Motley
President and CEO, Motleys Asset Disposition Group Richmond
Motleys Asset Disposition Group encompasses a large scope of businesses, including commercial real estate, foreclosure and logistics, and property auction services — but has been singularly focused on growth. Mark Motley, who earned his auctioneer’s license at the age of 16, expanded Motleys in late 2019 through the acquisition of Chesterfield County-based River City Auction & Realty LLC. The Motleys industrial division also opened an office in Houston to service the oil and gas industry and held the first auction at its new Roanoke office on Nov. 17. In commercial developments, the company broke ground on Wigwam Crossing, a 22,000-square-foot shopping center in Hanover County. Motleys also expanded its Richmond operations with more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space.
Nick Ron
Nick Ron
CEO, House Buyers of America Chantilly
In today’s sellers’ market, residential real estate is going fast as buyers rush to purchase homes while interest rates remain attractively low. House Buyers of America offers another option for those who don’t want to go through the trouble of flipping and selling their homes amid the hectic market. Through custom software and a dedication to tech improvements for users, Nick Ron’s company buys, renovates and resells homes in large volumes. The company’s services are initiated through an online web portal that provides sale price estimates to potential sellers in minutes. “The market is going to continue to be strong,” Ron says. “What’s driving the market is limited supply and high demand. That dynamic is not going to change any time soon.”
Matt Smith
Matt Smith
Director of offshore wind business development, Hampton Roads Alliance Norfolk
Winds of change are coming for the energy industry — and Matt Smith is at the forefront of these developments. The Hampton Roads Alliance in July announced a new initiative to develop a comprehensive supply chain to serve the burgeoning East Coast offshore wind industry through a $529,788 grant from GO Virginia. “During 2021, we’ll be working hard to bring offshore wind companies to Hampton Roads and Virginia,” Smith says. Also coming in 2021 is an initiative with Dominion Energy Inc. to educate Hampton Roads and other Virginia businesses about how they can participate in the offshore wind industry. Offshore wind development is already underway off the Virginia Beach coastline, where Dominion has plans to erect the nation’s largest offshore wind farm by 2026.
Terry Spitzer
Terry Spitzer
CEO, Global Technical Systems Virginia Beach
This year, Navy veteran Terry Spitzer’s company landed a $782 million contract to manufacture equipment for his former U.S. Armed Forces branch’s combat system network. Under the contract awarded to Global Technical Systems (founded by Spitzer and his wife, Yusun, in 1997), GTS will manufacture high-tech equipment, including servers, processors, encrypted devices and cybersecurity hardware. They have other big plans in store for 2021, as well. GTS is building a $70 million headquarters and manufacturing facility on the site of the former Owl Creek Golf Course on Birdneck Road. The defense contractor could add as many as 1,100 employees to its existing 100-person workforce after the 630,000-square-foot facility is fully operational in fall 2021.
Jim Utterback
James S. Utterback
Project Director of Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion, Virginia Department of Transportation Norfolk
The big dig finally commenced in late October. The Virginia Department of Transportation’s largest-ever project — the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) expansion — will increase tunnel and interstate capacity along 9.9 miles of Interstate 64 between Hampton and Norfolk in order to reduce congestion and improve access to the Port of Virginia. And James S. Utterback is overseeing it all. Although the project won’t be finished until 2025, Utterback says that in late 2021 Virginians can expect to see the arrival from Germany of a 46-foot-diameter, custom-built underwater tunnel-boring machine, which is as tall as a four-story building and weighs as much as 10 fully loaded 747 airliners. It will dig through soil and construct tunnel segments, a major step in the construction process. It will begin boring in 2022.
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