Kate Andrews Archives - Page 11 of 124

Youngkin: Va. Senate making ‘colossal mistake’ in rejecting arena

After news broke Wednesday that Virginia lawmakers had dropped all mention of the proposed Alexandria sports arena authority in their amended 2024-26 state budget, Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded Thursday by blasting the Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate’s leadership, which has killed every opportunity for a floor vote on the arena legislation. “I believe the Senate is about to make a colossal mistake,” Youngkin said in a news conference.

Although the Washington Wizards and Capitals NBA and NHL teams could still move from their Washington, D.C., base to Alexandria if Youngkin can make a deal with legislative budget negotiators before a special session next month to finalize the state budget, chances for the $2 billion public-private project’s success are considerably slimmer now.

Inclusion of language creating a state authority to own the arena and surrounding properties in the lawmakers’ compromise budget released Thursday was the governor’s best chance to keep the $2 billion arena project alive — after two versions of a bill creating an authority were quietly killed earlier in the 2024 General Assembly session.

Sen. Louise Lucas, the powerful chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, prevented committee votes on the House of Delegates and Senate versions of the legislation, halting its progress to a Senate floor vote. During the governor’s news conference, Lucas looked on from the state Capitol steps.

A major holdup for Lucas and some other Senate Democrats was Youngkin’s apparent unwillingness to make compromises on Democrats’ priorities, including setting a $15 per hour minimum wage in Virginia by 2026 and setting up a structure for recreational cannabis sales and taxation. Over the past months, the Republican Youngkin has expressed disinclination toward both plans, and Thursday, in response to a reporter, he reiterated that he didn’t “have any interest in the cannabis legislation. … Bluntly, you want to talk about putting a cannabis shop on every corner. I don’t quite get it.”

However, in recent days, the governor put forward a $322 million Hampton Roads toll relief proposal, a priority for Lucas, in exchange for support of the arena deal — but the overture appeared to be too little, too late to gain Lucas’ backing.

The Democratic-controlled House, unlike the Senate, passed the authority creation bill in a bipartisan vote, which Youngkin praised Thursday.

“The speaker and the House of Delegates took the time to learn about this project. They hired outside advisers to confirm its merits,” Youngkin said. “They debated those merits in public and understood the historic opportunity that this would be for all Virginians. On the other hand, the Senate refused to give the single-largest economic development deal in Virginia’s history any serious, meaningful consideration.

“This project has bipartisan support. Had it gotten to the [Senate] floor, it would have passed,” Youngkin added.

In December 2023, Youngkin and majority team owner Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, announced the 9 million-square-foot entertainment campus project as close to a done deal, saying it could create up to 30,000 jobs for Virginia over several decades. With a 2025 groundbreaking, the arena was expected to be completed by 2028 on an accelerated construction schedule, and an economic and fiscal impact report conducted for the city anticipated up to $7.96 billion in annual economic output for the state if the arena was open by 2028.

Also, a February report conducted by George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis found that the proposed development would create more than 5,400 workforce-affordable housing units, far exceeding the City of Alexandria’s goal of producing 2,250 residences that people making about 80% or 90% of the area median income could afford.

The $2 billion investment would be supported through bonds issued by the proposed state authority, which would be repaid through annual rent paid by Monumental and arena parking revenues, naming rights and incremental taxes generated by the arena and development of the first phase, Youngkin said in December. Monumental would put forward about $400 million for the project, and the City of Alexandria would contribute $56 million toward construction of the performing arts venue and $50 million toward underground parking development. The land and buildings would be owned by the authority, which would enter into a 40-year lease with the company.

While Alexandria’s mayor and many Virginia business groups, including the Northern Virginia Chamber and the Virginia Economic Developers Association, voiced their support for the proposal, some state lawmakers and Alexandria residents raised objections, chiefly over concerns about public financing of about $1.35 billion of the project’s cost, and traffic and infrastructure impacts. The AFL-CIO’s Virginia member unions announced in February that they opposed the plan over labor agreement disputes with developers.

Although the deal still has a slim chance to survive in the General Assembly’s special session next month, in which the next state budget is likely to be passed, Lucas triumphantly tweeted Wednesday night a photoshopped picture of herself crouching and posing in front of a tombstone with the inscription “Youngkin and [Ted] Leonsis’ $5 billion arena.”

Liberty University fined $14M for underreporting campus crime

The U.S. Department of Education has fined Liberty University a record penalty of $14 million for underreporting crime on campus, in a Clery Act settlement announced Tuesday. The amount far outstrips the department’s previous highest-ever fine, $4.5 million, assessed in 2019 against Michigan State University for the gymnastics sexual abuse scandal involving Dr. Larry Nassar.

According to the final report released by the DOE, Liberty either omitted or erred in reporting 93% of all criminal incidents that took place on university-owned property from 2016 to 2023 on daily crime logs that are required to be made public under federal law.

Of 3,672 reported criminal incidents reported to campus police during the reviewed period, 1,452 reported crimes ranging from aggravated assault and rape to stalking, fondling and motor vehicle theft were left off Liberty’s daily crime logs, which are supposed to provide the public with an accurate picture of criminal incidents. Over the same period, according to the DOE report, there were 1,949 crime log entries that either contained one or more errors or omitted information. The 3,401 omitted or incorrect crime log entries are all viewed as finable violations of the Clery Act, which requires any university — public or private — that participates in federal financial aid programs to track crime statistics and other information regarding campus safety.

“In calendar year 2022 alone, 571 incidents of crime that were required to be entered on the log were omitted in their entirety,” the report says, noting that Liberty’s Clery Act investigation started that year.

The Lynchburg-based private evangelical Christian university originally faced up to $75 million in fines, Liberty’s legal counsel, David Corry, said in an interview with Virginia Business earlier this week. The Department of Education, he said, “threatened to fine up to $75 million and offered to settle for half of that,” or $37.5 million, the amount Liberty officials publicly disclosed the university was facing in October 2023, after a DOE preliminary report was leaked to The Washington Post earlier that month.

In a statement released Tuesday in response to the fine, Liberty University asserted that “many of the Department [of Education]’s methodologies, findings and calculations were drastically different from their historic treatment of other universities. Liberty disagrees with this approach and maintains that we have repeatedly endured selective and unfair treatment by the department.”

The school also acknowledged “numerous deficiencies that existed in the past,” and said that “Liberty is fully committed to maintaining the safety and security of students and staff without exception. … We acknowledge and sincerely regret past program deficiencies and have since corrected these errors with great care and concern.”

In addition to the $14 million fine, the university agreed to spend $2 million on campus security improvements over the next two years as part of the settlement, and a third-party accounting firm will audit progress on this work. Also, the DOE will conduct post-review monitoring of Liberty through April 2026 to ensure it complies with the promised improvements.

“Any further lapses in Clery Act compliance could jeopardize the terms of the university’s participation in the federal student aid programs or result in other administrative sanctions against the institution,” the DOE statement said.

In Tuesday’s announcement, the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office, which conducted the lengthy investigation, said Liberty was found to have committed multiple violations in 11 areas of the federal Clery Act.

Lack of administrative capability — Liberty “substantially failed to develop and implement an adequate Clery Act compliance program between 2016–23, the years FSA reviewed, and did not meet its regulatory responsibilities in numerous and serious ways.”
Inaccurate and incomplete information disclosures regarding campus safety and criminal activity
Failure to comply with Violence Against Women Act requirements
Failure to identify and notify campus security authorities and to establish an adequate system for collecting crime statistics from all required sources
Failure to properly classify and disclose crime statistics
Failure to issue emergency notifications in accordance with federal regulations
Failure to maintain an accurate and complete daily crime log
Failure to define Clery Act geography in accordance with federal regulations
Failure to comply with Title IV record retention
Failure to publish and distribute an annual security report in accordance with federal regulations

“Students, faculty and staff deserve to know that they can be safe and secure in their school communities. We respond aggressively to complaints about campus safety and security,” Richard Cordray, chief operating officer of the DOE’s Federal Student Aid office, said in a statement Tuesday. “Through the Clery Act, schools are obligated to take action that creates safe and secure campus communities, investigate complaints and responsibly disclose information about crimes and other safety concerns. We will continue to hold schools accountable if they fail to do so.”

According to a senior FSA official, investigators conducted interviews of more than 100 current and former students, staff members and others connected to Liberty, some more than once.

In 2010, Liberty’s campus crime program was investigated by the Department of Education after an alleged victim of sexual violence in a 2005 incident at the university said that Liberty had violated “numerous provisions of the Clery Act as the law existed at that time,” before the Violence Against Women Act was enacted, according to Tuesday’s report. Under the legal standard 14 years ago, investigators in 2010 “identified serious violations related to the classification and counting of crimes, the compilation and disclosure of accurate and complete crime statistics, the issuance of timely warnings [and] the maintenance of a compliant crime log,” Tuesday’s report continues. In 2010, senior officials at the university said they would take “comprehensive remedial action,” according to the 2024 report, which concludes, “it is now clear that the efforts were not adequate or comprehensive.”

The Washington Post reported in Oct. 3, 2023, that the DOE’s preliminary, confidential report on the private Christian university “paints a picture of a university that discouraged people from reporting crimes, underreported the claims it received and, meanwhile, marketed its Virginia campus as one of the safest in the country.” According to the Post, which obtained a copy of the report, the DOE’s Federal Student Aid office was investigating Liberty’s adherence to the Clery Act from 2016 through 2022.

The investigation came after 12 anonymous former students and employees — known collectively as Jane Does — filed a Title IX lawsuit in July 2021 claiming that Liberty discouraged them from reporting sexual assaults or punished students who reported sexual abuse or rape if they violated the university’s code for students, known as the “Liberty Way,” which prohibits drinking alcohol or having premarital sex. Later, other plaintiffs joined the suit, which was partially settled in May 2022. At least two plaintiffs declined to settle with the university, according to media reports at the time.

Following the Post’s story, Fox News reported later in October 2023 that Liberty officials said the school could be fined $37.5 million for numerous violations of the Clery Act.

In the Post story, Liberty was accused in the DOE preliminary report of failing to warn the campus repeatedly about “gas leaks, bomb threats and people credibly accused of repeated acts of sexual violence — including a senior administrator and an athlete.” Those allegations and others remain in the final report released Tuesday, although the final report reversed an earlier finding that Liberty had failed to protect a whistleblower from retaliation.

In the preliminary report, the Department of Education investigation team made an initial finding that a former Liberty senior vice president of communications and public engagement who alleged that Liberty “had retaliated against him based in part on his attempts to address serious violations of the Clery Act,” constituted a violation of the anti-intimidation and retaliation provision of the Clery Act.

Although the DOE report does not name the former employee, the complaint echoes allegations made by former Liberty spokesperson Scott Lamb in his lawsuit against the university, which dismissed him in 2021. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in 2023.

Liberty responded to the DOE’s preliminary finding in favor of the former employee’s allegations with other reasons for terminating the employee, including “mismanagement of university funds, poor leadership of the Standing for Freedom Center and insubordination.”

In the DOE’s final report, investigators find “that on balance Liberty’s response to this finding is persuasive. Therefore, the department does not sustain the finding and considers it closed.”

Changes at Liberty

In response to the Post story, Liberty released a statement Oct. 3, 2023, saying that the university was cooperating with the DOE and had hired two consulting firms, Cozen O’Connor and The Healy+ Group to “help facilitate and administer a multi-year review of Clery Act compliance.”

According to Liberty’s statement, the university received a report of the DOE’s preliminary findings in May 2023, to which Liberty responded on June 30, 2023, “including the results of a comprehensive file review conducted by Healy+, and a supplemental response on Sept. 21, 2023. detailing significant errors, misstatements, and unsupported conclusions in the Department [of Education’s] preliminary findings.

“Based on the extensive information and documentation it provided to the department, Liberty has every expectation that the department will carefully evaluate the information and documents and correct the errors in the preliminary program review report.”

Corry said this week that Liberty has spent more than $10 million on campus safety initiatives since the federal Clery Act investigation began, including installing improved lighting and more closed-circuit cameras on campus, as well as changes to Title IX personnel and overall staff training.

Also, the university has implemented recommendations from a Title IX task force created by Liberty’s board of trustees, Corry said.

“There was a kind of a sense that even if Liberty was technically complying with [Title IX and Clery Act requirements], it needed to not reluctantly do so but it needed to enthusiastically do so,” said Corry, who has been the university’s general counsel since 2011. “The numbers were just demonstrating that even though people are coming to the Title IX office and asking questions and starting the process [of reporting an incident], somewhere along the line, they got scared and they discontinued the process or they chose not to go through with it and so we tried to find all the barriers — psychological, procedural, image, whatever — all these barriers that might have caused people to either be misinformed or misunderstand or just think this is too much trouble.”

As of Jan. 25, the maximum fine per Clery Act violation is $69,733. The amount is adjusted annually for inflation, and higher education institutions can accrue multiple maximum fines based on the number of confirmed violations.

Liberty’s full statement in response to the DOE fine is below:

“Liberty University and the U.S. Department of Education (‘department’) have finalized the Clery Act Program Review and entered into a settlement agreement.

“This comes after the university has made more than $10 million in significant advancements since 2022, in areas including corrective measures, educational programming, new leadership and staffing, infrastructure, and facilities in order to focus on compliance and ensure strong and sustainable Title IX and Clery Act programs. Liberty is fully committed to maintaining the safety and security of students and staff without exception.

“In the report, many of the department’s methodologies, findings and calculations were drastically different from their historic treatment of other universities. Liberty disagrees with this approach and maintains that we have repeatedly endured selective and unfair treatment by the department. The university concurs there were numerous deficiencies that existed in the past. Examples include incorrect statistical reports as well as necessary timely warnings and emergency notifications that were not sent. We acknowledge and sincerely regret past program deficiencies and have since corrected these errors with great care and concern.

“We will continue to work in cooperation with the department to prioritize safety in our Liberty University community and to advocate for a fair, consistent, and principled standard of Clery compliance that is applied equally to all universities without prejudice.”

Widening of Port of Virginia shipping channel is complete

The Port of Virginia’s shipping channel is now wide enough for two ultra-large container vessels to pass at the same time, concluding a significant part of the $450 million dredging project to make the port the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast. According to the Friday announcement, the port expects to finish the deepening segment of the project in fall 2025, a delay from its previously announced deadline of late 2024.

The dredging project began in 2019, and in 2022, the Port of Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a cost-sharing agreement on the dredging project. As of Friday, the shipping channels are up to 1,400 feet wide in some areas, and the commercial shipping channel and the Norfolk Harbor will be 55 feet deep, while the ocean approach is set to be 59 feet deep.

In previous announcements, the whole dredging project was expected to be finished by the end of 2024, but Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris said Friday that federal permits allowing beach replenishment in Virginia Beach had to be renewed, causing a delay of a few months in the deepening segment of the project. Dredge material, a byproduct of the dig, will be used to build up regional beaches, port officials have said.

Harris said it’s possible that dredging will be finished before fall 2025, and noted that the widening is important to ship pilots who travel in and out of the port’s terminals in Norfolk. He added that the port is ahead of schedule on deepening the Thimble Shoal channel, and work is ongoing in the Norfolk Harbor.

The widening of the Thimble Shoal West Reach Channel will allow two ships to pass through the shipping channel at the same time, instead of just one at a time, Harris said in an interview with Virginia Business. “It’s basically making a one-way street a two-way street.” The port expects the expansion to reduce the amount of time an ultra-large container vessel spends on berth by 15%, which will improve efficiency and speed.

Capt. Jenn Stockwell, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Virginia sector, issued a business rules memo for the wider channel Friday, removing the one-way restrictions.

“This is a true advantage for anyone delivering to or from America,” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, which runs the Port of Virginia. “Our wider channel sets the Port of Virginia apart by allowing for consistent vessel flow, increasing berth and container yard efficiencies, and further improving harbor safety.

“Ocean carriers are putting larger vessels into their East Coast port rotations with additional ULCVs on order, and our partners know their vessels will not outgrow our capabilities. In Virginia, there is no concern for channel width, overhead draft restrictions, capacity or cargo handling infrastructure.”

Included in the funding of the project is $72 million in federal money allocated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The federal government and the port agreed to a 50-50 cost share in 2015, when the Army Corps began evaluating the economic value of a deeper and wider harbor and commercial shipping channel.

“The completion of this project is a testament to the collaboration of all port stakeholders in Virginia,” Capt. Whiting Chisman, president of the Virginia Pilot Association, said in a statement Friday. “It is a momentous achievement. The focus of the project more than a decade ago was on creating a channel wide enough and deep enough to safely accommodate a class of [ultra-large] container vessels that were not expected to call the U.S. East Coast for years to come. This port is ready for the future.”

The Power 50

Power can be measured by metrics such as wealth and how many people you lead, as well as what one does with that power. Is your company undertaking bold growth strategies? Are you the visionary executive leading huge initiatives? Are you bringing massive infrastructure projects to fruition or making seismically impactful philanthropic contributions?

In previous years, this annual list focused on the dual aspects of how powerful and/or influential a person was, but for the 2024 list, Virginia Business is solely focused on power, which is arguably a less subjective exercise.

While it’s still a matter of opinion, it’s not too difficult a decision to include leaders such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin or Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, who leads a global workforce of 733,000, on this list.

That said, you’ll notice some changes this year. The people on this list are the top 10% of our annual Virginia 500 list of the state’s most powerful people across 20 sectors, ranging from real estate and manufacturing to higher education and government. They also include some people from our Virginia 500 Living Legends list, such as billionaire heiress Jacqueline Mars, the 19th richest American.

As with the Virginia 500, to report an accurate picture of who holds the most power in Virginia, we have not attempted to adjust this list for diversity or geography. As such, it skews largely white and male, reflecting the larger demographics of American business and political leadership.

Read on to learn who made the cut this year and how they’re making a lasting impact on Virginia’s bottom line.

Craig P. Abod

PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, CARAHSOFT TECHNOLOGY, RESTON

As president of Carahsoft, the privately owned IT and cybersecurity solutions provider, Abod prefers staying out of the media spotlight. It’s enough that everyone in the government contracting industry knows him.

A University of Maryland alumnus who founded Carahsoft in 2004, Abod previously worked for DLT Solutions and Falcon Systems.

Carahsoft landed at No. 45 on Forbes’ 2023 list of the nation’s largest private companies, with $11 billion in revenue and 2,470 employees.

The company is one of two firms modernizing federal payroll services under a U.S. General Services Administration contract, and in July 2023, Carahsoft announced it would market Palantir Technologies’ software management platform, Apollo, to the public sector through its GSA and NASA contract vehicles.

About 1,300 of Carahsoft’s employees are based in Virginia. In 2023, Abod was named for the ninth time to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 List of the top government contracting executives.

Nancy Howell Agee

CEO, CARILION CLINIC, ROANOKE

In addition to overseeing Carilion, a $2 billion-plus health system serving more than 1 million people in western Virginia and West Virginia, Agee chairs one of the state’s most powerful boards: GO Virginia, a state-funded initiative to boost job creation and economic growth.

Carilion employs about 14,000 people across its seven hospitals and 250 clinics and has a physician group with more than 1,000 doctors, plus outpatient clinics, home health services, freestanding surgical clinics and pharmacies. In fiscal 2022 and 2023, the hospital system ran negative operating margins — attributed to a tight health care labor market — but Agee said in September 2023 she expects Carilion to return to a positive operating margin in FY 2024.

Before becoming president and CEO in 2011, Agee served as executive vice president and chief operating officer, helping lead Carilion’s reorganization from a collection of hospitals to a fully integrated health system. The reorganization resulted in a partnership with Virginia Tech to create the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute based in Roanoke.

John C. Asbury

CEO, ATLANTIC UNION BANKSHARES, RICHMOND

Discovering an affinity for banking while still in college, Asbury began his 30-year-plus career as a commercial credit officer at Wachovia Bank & Trust and joined Atlantic Union in 2016.

Asbury had a big 2023: He was tapped as chair-elect of the American Bankers Association for the 2023-24 year, and Atlantic Union announced in July its pending purchase of Danville-based American National Bankshares, the holding company for American National Bank and Trust. The merger, which was approved by the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in late February, is expected to close on April 1, creating a combined bank with total assets of $23.7 billion as of June 30, 2023. With 109 branches, Atlantic Union Bank reported $20.6 billion in assets and $15.7 billion in deposits last year.

However, in December 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Atlantic Union for illegally enrolling thousands of customers in checking account overdraft programs. The federal bureau ordered the bank to refund at least $5 million in illegal overdraft fees and pay a $1.2 million penalty to the CFPB’s victims relief fund. The bank did not admit wrongdoing under the settlement.

G. Robert Aston Jr.

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, TOWNEBANK, SUFFOLK

When he founded TowneBank in 1999, Aston had a vision of creating a Main Street bank that would be focused exclusively on serving the people and businesses in its hometown. Today, TowneBank has
50 locations in Virginia and North Carolina, with assets of more than $17 billion and 1,200 employees.

Aston served as board chairman and CEO from the founding of the bank until 2018, when he transitioned to executive chairman. Prior to starting TowneBank, Aston served as president and CEO of Virginia Beach-based Commerce Bank from 1985 until BB&T acquired it in 1995. He then served as president and CEO of BB&T of Virginia from 1995 to 1998. In 2022, Aston was named to Eastern Virginia Medical School’s board of visitors.

In January 2023, TowneBank completed its $53 million acquisition of Windsor-based Farmers Bankshares and its subsidiary, Farmers Bank. The bank also has received six consecutive “outstanding” ratings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance, evaluating the bank’s performance on meeting credit needs of its service areas, including low- and middle-income clients.

Thomas I. Barkin

PRESIDENT AND CEO, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF RICHMOND, RICHMOND

Barkin became head of the Richmond Fed in 2018, overseeing the Central Bank’s Fifth District, including Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, North and South Carolina and most of West Virginia. He also serves as a voting member of the Fed’s interest-setting Federal Open Market Committee for 2024. Barkin is also a board member for the nonprofit Community Foundation for a greater Richmond.

Formerly chief financial officer and chief risk officer for global consultancy McKinsey & Co., Barkin also served on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, chairing the board for a year. In January, Barkin delivered a relatively positive economic outlook, noting that the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.7% was “historically low,” and the inflation rate had fallen to 2.6% in November 2023, from a high of 8% in 2022. However, he added, rate hikes are still possible if inflation rises again.

Thomas A. Bell

CEO, LEIDOS, RESTON

In 2023, Bell became CEO of Leidos, a Fortune 500 defense, aerospace and information technology company, replacing Roger Krone, who retired that month as CEO and board chairman after nine years.

The IT and government contractor reported $14.4 billion in fiscal year 2022 and employs 47,000 people worldwide. During Leidos’ third-quarter earnings call, Bell announced plans to realign five business units into five new divisions, as well as adding a new chief growth officer and chief performance officer to the C-suite. The company also expects a boost in revenue after winning a 10-year, $7.9 billion Army contract last fall. That win came after Leidos reported an income loss of $396 million, reflecting $699 million in impairment and restructuring charges in its Security Enterprise Solutions unit.

Bell came to Leidos from Rolls-Royce North America, where he had been chairman and CEO since 2018, as well as head of the British company’s global defense contracting division. He previously was Boeing’s senior vice president of global sales and marketing for defense, space and security.

Bell earned his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. He serves on the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee.

Brendan Bechtel

CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BECHTEL CORP., RESTON

Serving as CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2017, Bechtel is the fifth generation to lead his family-owned global engineering, construction and project management company, which turned 125 in 2023. Ranked the nation’s second largest construction company by Engineering News-Record, Bechtel Corp. has completed more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries since its 1898 founding in San Francisco.

The firm’s portfolio includes massive infrastructure and industrial projects across the world, and also is involved in defense and space projects. Among Bechtel’s largest projects is a $3 billion Waste Isolation Pilot Plant management and operation contract awarded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in 2022.

A graduate of Middlebury College and Stanford University, Brendan Bechtel managed the building of the Washington Metro Silver Line in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and was part of former President Donald Trump’s advisory panel on economic recovery from the pandemic.

Bechtel sits on the board for the Business Roundtable and is also a trustee for the National Geographic Society and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Robert M. ‘Bob’ Blue

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT and CEO, DOMINION ENERGY, RICHMOND

Dominion’s CEO since 2020, Blue leads the Fortune 500 utility’s approximately 17,000 employees, serving 7 million customers in 15 states. A University of Virginia and Yale Law School graduate, Blue joined the utility in 2005 as managing director of state affairs and corporate policy.

Right now, Dominion is focused on renewable energy, including its $9.8 billion, 176-turbine offshore wind farm under construction off the coast of Virginia Beach. The utility also is selling off some of its holdings, including three natural gas distribution companies sold for $14 billion to Canadian pipeline and energy company Enbridge in September 2023. Also, Dominion completed the $3.5 billion sale of its stake in the Cove Point natural gas liquefaction plant in Maryland to Berkshire Hathaway Energy in September, after canceling its plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

In November 2023, Dominion Energy Virginia reached an agreement with state agencies and corporations, including Google and Walmart, in which customers will see no increase in base rates for electric service over the next two years.

Blue serves as vice chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute board and is a member of the University of Virginia’s board of visitors.

Eugene J. Bredow

PRESIDENT AND CEO, NVR, RESTON

In 2022, Bredow was appointed president and CEO of NVR, one of the country’s largest homebuilding and mortgage banking companies, which operates under the Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Heartland Homes brands. He joined the company in 2004 and held several executive positions before rising to president of NVR’s mortgage arm in 2019.

Founded in 1980, NVR reported $9.79 billion in revenue for the year ending Sept. 30, 2023, a 2.46% decline year- over-year. Nonetheless, the Oracle of Omaha sees something worthwhile in NVR, as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased more than 11,000 shares of NVR stock in August 2023.

Bredow is a graduate of the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business and serves as a member of its board of advisers.

David Calhoun

PRESIDENT AND CEO, BOEING, ARLINGTON COUNTY

In January, a 4-foot wall panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet cabin, exposing terrified Alaska Airlines passengers to open air at 16,000 feet. Reports followed that the panel was missing bolts and Alaska Airlines found loose bolts on other Boeing aircraft. Amid questions about whether Boeing cut corners on quality control, the incident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA halted expanded production of the 737 Max, and customer United Airlines has approached competitor Airbus. Boeing reported that it had net-zero orders for new commercial aircraft during January.

Now Calhoun’s position leading the embattled defense giant is precarious, with one industry veteran telling Reuters in February, “I can’t see how the CEO can survive and how he should survive.”

A Virginia Tech alumnus, Calhoun has steered Boeing through strong headwinds since becoming its CEO in 2020, including the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes. He has said Boeing will “cooperate fully and transparently” with federal investigators in the most recent probe.

Calhoun previously held C-suite positions at Blackstone, Nielsen Holdings and General Electric. Boeing, which moved its headquarters to Arlington from Chicago in 2022, has about 140,000 employees worldwide, including 400 workers in Arlington.

Kristen Cavallo

CEO, MULLENLOWE GLOBAL, RICHMOND

Named CEO of MullenLowe Global ad agency in November 2022, Cavallo is responsible for 4,500 employees, with offices in 55 markets worldwide. With clients including Google, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch InBev and UPS, it’s been recognized as one of the world’s top ad agencies.

In February, Cavallo stepped down from her dual role as CEO of Richmond’s The Martin Agency, a role she had held since 2017, when she took over in the aftermath of a #MeToo crisis at the ad agency. During her tenure, Martin was also recognized multiple times as U.S. agency of the year by Adweek and Ad Age. Last year, Fast Company named Martin as one of the most innovative companies in advertising.

Danny Robinson, the agency’s chief creative officer, succeeded her as Martin’s CEO. Martin and MullenLowe are both owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG).

A graduate of James Madison University and George Mason University, Cavallo was Virginia Business’ 2023 Person of the Year.

William E. Conway Jr.

CO-CHAIRMAN, CO-FOUNDER, THE CARLYLE GROUP, McLEAN

Conway is one of the Carlyle Group’s three founders, as well as a former co-CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm that manages more than $380 billion in assets. With a net worth of $3.5 billion, Conway is one of Virginia’s wealthiest people. In October 2023, he and co-founder David Rubenstein invested in Alterra Capital Partners’ fund supporting African industries.

Before co-founding Carlyle, Conway, a graduate of Dartmouth College, was chief financial officer of MCI Communications. According to Forbes, he sold Jackie Onassis’ childhood home, Merrywood, in McLean to former AOL CEO Steve Case for $24.5 million in 2005. Conway and his late wife, Joanne Conway, started the Bedford Falls Foundation, which has given more than $400 million to mid-Atlantic charities. In 2022, the foundation gave $13 million to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing, the school’s largest gift, and in 2020, the Conways donated $20 million to the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

Rick Dreiling

CEO, DOLLAR TREE, CHESAPEAKE

The former CEO of Dollar Tree rival Dollar General, Dreiling became Dollar Tree’s executive chairman in March 2022 and its CEO in January 2023, replacing Mike Witynski. Revenue at the discount retailer is rebounding under Dreiling; its revenue for the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 2023, was $29.68 billion, up 7.64% from 2022.

Dreiling serves as lead independent director on Lowe’s board and has also served as president and CEO of pharmacy and convenience store chain Duane Reade.

Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores and employs more than 200,000 people. It ranked No. 144 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list. According to CoStar, Dollar Tree is considering closing some of its underperforming Family Dollar stores, a project that will take months to complete.

Stephen A. Edwards

CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA PORT AUTHORITY, NORFOLK

With oversight of the entire Port of Virginia system, Edwards is responsible for its marine terminal facilities in Hampton Roads as well as the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal.

Formerly CEO of TraPac, Global Container Terminals and Ports America, Edwards joined the port authority in January 2021 during the pandemic, a challenging time for the maritime industry. However, the Port of Virginia fared well, processing record cargo.

In 2022, the port processed more than 3.7 million 20-foot-equivalent units at its terminals, and cargo tonnage was up 11% from 2021. For fiscal 2022, the port generated $124.1 billion in output sales, $41.4 billion in Virginia labor income and $5.8 billion in state and local taxes and fees.

Like other ports, Virginia has seen shipping delays in recent months due to Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Suez Canal and a drought impacting the Panama Canal.

A graduate of England’s Aston University, Edwards also serves on the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s board as an ex officio member.

Jason El Koubi

PRESIDENT AND CEO, VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP, RICHMOND

El Koubi has headed up Virginia’s top economic development organization since March 2022, following a five-year stint as VEDP’s executive vice president. Part of the team that helped land Amazon.com’s $2.5 billion-plus HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington County, El Koubi continues to rack up big economic wins for the commonwealth, such as 2022’s announcement that Lego Group would establish a $1 billion factory in Chesterfield County.

A graduate of Louisiana State University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, El Koubi previously led One Acadiana, the former Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce in Louisiana, where he started a five-year, $15 million regional economic development program to expand businesses in the region.

He serves on the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation board and is an ex officio member of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Richard Fairbank

CO-FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL, McLean

Capital One and Fairbank made global headlines on Feb. 19 as news broke of the credit card banking behemoth’s bold proposal to acquire Discover Financial Services in a $35.3 billion, all-stock deal. It remains uncertain if the transaction will receive a green light from federal regulators, but if approved, it would reportedly create the the nation’s biggest credit card lender. Capital One has said it plans to close the deal by early 2025.

Fairbank is listed as having a net worth of $1.1 billion, but he receives a base salary of $0 from Capital One, which he co-founded in 1994 and now has $455 billion in assets. Nevertheless, he was the state’s top-compensated CEO in 2022, receiving $27.6 million, a 35% increase from 2021.

As an employee of Virginia’s Signet Bank, Fairbank co-founded a credit card spinoff business that became Capital One, now one of the country’s 10 largest banks. Fairbank became CEO in 1994 during Capital One’s initial public offering. Under his leadership, Capital One is moving strongly into digital banking. The bank’s net revenue increased 13% to $34.3 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, in July 2023, Capital One announced net income of $1.4 billion for the year’s second quarter, up from $960 million in the first quarter.

Known for its star-studded commercials featuring luminaries like Samuel L. Jackson and Taylor Swift, Capital One moved to permanent hybrid work schedules in 2021, and in May 2023 the company required employees to be in offices three days a week.

Raul Fernandez

PRESIDENT AND CEO, DXC TECHNOLOGY, ASHBURN

In February, Fernandez was named president and CEO of the Fortune 500 IT company after having served in an interim capacity for less than two months.

Fernandez, who succeeds former DXC CEO Mike Salvino, joined DXC’s board in 2020, following a long career in tech. He founded Proxicom, an e-commerce company, in 1991, and was later CEO of Dimension Data North America and then CEO of ObjectVideo, which Alarm.com acquired in 2017.

Fernandez also is a vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and a co-owner of the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics teams, as well as an alternative governor for the NBA Board of Governors and a director on Broadcom’s board. Monumental is currently pursuing a $2 billion deal supported by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to move the Capitals and Wizards to Alexandria.

DXC has more than 131,000 employees and reported $14.4 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023.

Julian G. Francis

PRESIDENT AND CEO, BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY, HERNDON

Francis joined Beacon Roofing Supply, a Fortune 500 distributor of roofing material and complementary building products, in 2019. Beacon has 7,400 employees and operates in all 50 U.S. states and in Canada.

The United Kingdom native and two-time Swansea University graduate previously served as president of the insulation business at Owens Corning, a provider of insulation, roofing and fiberglass composite materials. He was also vice president and general manager for Owens Corning’s residential insulation business and vice president and managing director of the company’s glass reinforcements business in the Americas. Francis has also worked for Reed Business Information and USG.

In April, Beacon acquired Al’s Roofing Supply in California and Prince Building Systems in Wisconsin. Beacon reported $8.43 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2022, and its net sales for 2023 are expected to be about $9.1 billion.

Thomas S. Gayner

CEO, MARKEL GROUP, GLEN ALLEN

In 2023, Gayner became Markel’s sole CEO after serving more than six years in an unusual co-CEO arrangement with Richard Whitt III, who retired after more than two decades at the Fortune 500 insurer and holding company. Gayner, also chief investment officer, joined Markel in 1990.

As CEO, Gayner oversees three divisions: insurance, investments and Markel Ventures, which owns and operates a family of independent subsidiaries ranging from luxury purse maker Brahmin to Eagle homebuilders.

Markel reported operating revenue of $11.7 billion in 2022 and has more than 20,000 employees worldwide, including 2,700 in Virginia. In May, the company changed its name from Markel Corp. to Markel Group to better reflect its diverse holdings.

A University of Virginia graduate, Gayner previously served as a vice president at Davenport and was a CPA for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is also chairman of the board for Davis Series Mutual Funds and a board director for Graham Holdings. In July 2023, he was elected to Coca-Cola’s board of directors.

In April, he and his wife, Susan, started the Gayner Family Sustainable Investment Fund and Scholarship Program, supporting students at U.Va.’s McIntire School of Commerce.

William ‘Billy’ Gifford Jr.

CEO, ALTRIA GROUP, HENRICO COUNTY

Gifford became Fortune 500 tobacco products manufacturer Altria’s CEO in 2020, after having served as president and CEO of subsidiary Philip Morris USA and holding other executive posts at Altria for the past 25 years.

After four challenging years, during which Altria saw the value of its 35% stake in Juul Labs’ e-cigarette company plummet from $12.8 billion to $250 million by the end of 2022, the tobacco manufacturer exchanged its minority stake in Juul in 2023 for a nonexclusive license to some of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property. Also in March, Altria agreed to acquire e-vapor maker NJOY Holdings for $2.75 billion in cash, and in May, the company settled at least 6,000 state and federal lawsuits related to Juul for $235 million. Shortly after Altria invested in Juul, the vaping company was sued by numerous states and individuals over accusations its products were being marketed to minors.

In October 2023, NJOY filed a federal lawsuit against nearly three dozen e-vapor manufacturers, distributors and retailers, claiming that they are violating California’s flavored vape ban, and Altria said it may add other businesses to the complaint.

Andrés Gluski

PRESIDENT AND CEO, AES, ARLINGTON COUNTY

A Venezuelan native, Gluski was a leader in renewable energy production and carbon emissions reduction even before 2011, when he became head of AES, a Fortune 500 global electric utility that provides power to 2.6 million customers in 14 countries. In fiscal year 2022, AES reported $12.6 billion in revenue, up from $11.1 billion in 2021, and had $38 billion in total assets.

Gluski joined the company in 2000 and has served in several executive roles, including president of its Latin American arm and CEO of Chile-based AES Andes. In 2021, Gluski announced AES’ plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions from electricity sales by 2040, using power storage as a major component. He also has pushed solar farms and in 2018 established a jointly owned solar power storage company, Fluence Energy, with Siemens Energy. In June 2023, AES acquired one of the nation’s largest solar storage facilities, located in California, from Avantus.

Gluski earned his master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Virginia. He chairs the boards of the Council of the Americas, which promotes free trade and open markets in the Americas, and the Americas Society, which works to build dialogue and awareness of political, social and economic issues in the two continents.

William H. ‘Bill’ Goodwin Jr.

RETIRED CHAIRMAN, CCA INDUSTRIES AND THE RIVERSTONE GROUP, RICHMOND

Goodwin may be officially retired, but he’s still very active in medical philanthropy and economic development.

He has donated generously to various cancer research organizations, and in 2021, the estate of his late son, Hunter, started a national cancer research foundation with a $250 million donation. The Red Gates Foundation went on to make a $50 million gift to support cancer and neuroscience research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in September 2023.

Goodwin also has been active in Richmond-region land sales, having sold 110 acres in Henrico County to the county’s economic development authority in September 2023 for $35.1 million for the GreenCity eco-district, as well as a 3.6-acre plot in Chesterfield County sold to Costco last fall.

CCA is a diversified holding company that oversees The Riverstone Group and its properties, which include The Jefferson Hotel, Sea Pines Resort, Kiawah Island Golf Resort and Charlottesville’s Keswick Hall and Golf Club. A graduate of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Goodwin has served on multiple powerful boards, including as U.Va.’s rector and president of the Medical College of Virginia Foundation.

Jonathan P. Harmon

CHAIRMAN, McGUIREWOODS, RICHMOND

In 2017, Harmon became the leader of Virginia’s oldest law firm, which had 300 lawyers in Virginia as of November 2023. A nationally recognized trial lawyer, he brings in millions of dollars representing Fortune 500 companies in bet-the-company
litigation actions and has represented giants like DuPont, CSX Transportation and UPS Ground Freight.

In 2023, Harmon told Bloomfield Law that the firm — the nation’s 50th largest by number of attorneys — has been eyeing expansions in Atlanta, California, Chicago, New York and Texas. McGuireWoods had about 1,000 attorneys nationwide as of later 2023, and it reported $977.4 million in 2022 revenue, up from $715.4 million in 2017. The firm has also expanded its areas of expertise, building a DEI practice team and hiring a chief innovation and artificial intelligence officer.

A West Point graduate, Harmon earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and served in the Gulf War. Outside of work, the father of four serves on the Pro Bono Institute’s board of trustees and does volunteer and ministry work in prisons.

George L. Holm

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PERFORMANCE FOOD GROUP, GOOCHLAND COUNTY

Performance Food Group’s leader since 2008, Holm has worked for more than 40 years in the food service distribution industry. The Goochland-based corporation was ranked No. 91 on the 2023 Fortune 500, reporting $47.19 billion in revenue for fiscal 2022, up from $30.39 billion in 2021.

After holding leadership roles with Sysco, US Foods and Alliant Foodservice, Holm was president and CEO of Vistar, a multichannel food, snack and beverage distributor. In 2008, the Blackstone Group and Wellspring Capital Management purchased PFG and merged it with a subsidiary of Vistar, creating a $10 billion corporation still carrying the PFG name. Holm became the new company’s president and CEO as part of the $1.4 billion deal.

PFG, which employs 35,000 people, went public in 2015, and Holm became its board chairman in 2019. PFG delivers food products to more than 300,000 locations in the United States and Canada, including restaurants, businesses, schools, theaters and retailers. In 2023, PFG purchased OLM Food Solutions, an Idaho-based pizza producer, for an undisclosed amount.

Brian Huseman

VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC POLICY, AMAZON.COM, ARLINGTON COUNTY

Huseman is Amazon.com’s most prominent executive in Arlington, where the e-tailer held a grand opening for the first phase of its HQ2 East Coast headquarters campus in June 2023. A few months earlier, Amazon said it would pause construction on the project’s second phase, although it still plans to ultimately employ 25,000 people at HQ2, where it has hired about 8,000 workers so far. Statewide, Amazon has more than 36,000 employees.

A former U.S. Department of Justice attorney and associate general counsel for the Federal Trade Commission, Huseman leads Amazon’s federal lobbying work and its community engagement efforts in the Western Hemisphere, including a project to make ocean shipping environmentally cleaner.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law and the University of Nebraska, Huseman serves on numerous professional and community boards, including the Signature Theatre and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, for which he is board president.

Sheila Johnson

CEO, SALAMANDER COLLECTION, THE PLAINS

The nation’s first Black woman billionaire, Johnson made her fortune co-founding the cable channel Black Entertainment Television (BET) with her then-husband, Robert “Bob” Johnson, in 1980. The couple sold BET to Viacom in 2000, and within the next decade, Bob Johnson fired his wife, and their three-decade marriage ended.

Sheila Johnson’s 2023 memoir, “Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph,” published by Simon & Schuster, tells her side of the story.

Today, Johnson is CEO of Salamander Collection, which owns seven resorts, including the flagship Salamander Middleburg Resort & Spa in Middleburg. She’s also a vice president for Monumental Sports & Entertainment and a minority owner of three professional sports teams: the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics. Monumental has been in the headlines lately due to its proposed $2 billion deal to move the Capitals and Wizards from Washington, D.C., to Alexandria.

Additionally, Johnson co-founded WE Capital, a venture capital consortium to support women-led enterprises that focus on social change, and she helped launch the popular Middleburg Film Festival.

Dr. J. Stephen Jones

PRESIDENT AND CEO, INOVA HEALTH SYSTEM, FALLS CHURCH

Named among the top 1% of cancer specialists and urologists in the nation by Castle Connolly, Jones has led Inova Health System since 2018. The regional health system employs more than 20,000 people across its five hospitals and numerous other facilities, including Northern Virginia’s only state and nationally verified Level 1 trauma center.

In 2023, the health system received a $75 million gift from longtime supporters Dwight and Martha Schar to boost its heart and vascular programs. And construction is expected to begin next year on the $1 billion Inova Alexandria Hospital campus, slated to open in 2028 on the former Landmark Mall site.

Before joining Inova, Jones led Cleveland Clinic’s regional hospitals and family health centers. He also is a professor of urology for the University of Virginia and is editor-in-chief of Urology Practice, a journal published by the American Urological Association. He is chair of the American Medical Group Association’s board.

Tim Kaine

SENATOR, UNITED STATES SENATE, RICHMOND

A Democratic leader who has served as Richmond mayor and Virginia’s lieutenant governor and governor, Kaine has been the state’s junior U.S. senator since 2013 and is seeking a third term this year. He came to national prominence in 2016 as Hillary Clinton’s running mate during her unsuccessful presidential campaign.

Kaine grew up in Kansas City and graduated from the University of Missouri. He moved to Richmond after meeting his future wife, Anne Holton, at Harvard Law School in the 1980s. He started his political career in 1994 with a Richmond City Council run.

As governor, Kaine dealt with the aftermath of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that claimed 32 lives, as well as the 2008 Great Recession, which saw a 7.4% unemployment peak.

As a U.S. senator, Kaine started the bipartisan Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus in 2014, and he is assigned to the Senate’s Budget, Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. In the past year, Kaine has voiced opposition to the Biden administration’s unilateral decisions to bomb Yemen and transfer arms to Israel without seeking congressional approval.

Christopher D. Kastner

PRESIDENT AND CEO, HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES, NEWPORT NEWS

Kastner has now completed his second year as head of the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries, parent company to Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia’s largest industrial employer. He was tapped as HII’s president and CEO after previously serving as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. In fiscal 2022, the company reported revenue of $10.7 billion, a 12.1% increase from 2021.

HII had a successful 2023, with record third-quarter revenues of $2.8 billion, up 7.2% compared with third-quarter 2022, and a total backlog of about $49 billion at the end of 2023.

HII was formed in 2011, when parent company Northrop Grumman spun out its entire shipbuilding portfolio, including Newport News Shipbuilding and Pascagoula, Mississippi-based Ingalls Shipbuilding. The companies have remained together, keeping their original corporate identities intact. Prior to becoming an HII exec in 2013, Kastner was vice president and CFO for Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Dr. K. Craig Kent

CEO, UVA HEALTH; EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE

A vascular surgeon, Kent joined UVA Health in February 2020, having served previously as dean of the Ohio State University College of Medicine. In December 2023, his contract was extended through Jan. 31, 2030, as the health system prepares to expand significantly.

Kent is responsible for a health system that employs about 16,000 people and includes U.Va. Medical Center, a children’s hospital and schools of nursing and medicine, as well as a network of outpatient clinics across Northern Virginia.

In July 2023, UVA Health announced a strategic partnership with Riverside Health System, acquiring a 5% stake in the Eastern Virginia system. Also, UVA Health will be a major partner in the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology under construction in Charlottesville.

This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked U.Va. Medical Center the No. 3 hospital in Virginia and rated U.Va. Children’s the state’s top children’s hospital.

Kent earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He was also vascular surgery chief at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Arie Kotler

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ARKO, HENRICO COUNTY

The Henrico-based convenience store chain, the nation’s sixth largest, is now firmly planted in the Fortune 500, having debuted at No. 498 in 2022 and rising to No. 460 in 2023. Kotler has grown the company significantly over the past decade, and it now owns smaller convenience store chains in more than 30 states.

An Israeli native who relocated to the United States in 1997, Kotler founded GPM Investments in 2003, sold the business and reacquired it in 2011. Arko, GPM’s parent, went public in 2020. Today, it operates more than 1,540 stores and gas stations in 30 states, employing 13,000 workers, including 1,800 in Virginia.

Although Arko has been largely successful in its growth, it failed in an attempt to acquire TravelCenters of America last year for $1.4 billion. In 2023, however, Arko closed its 25th acquisition and reported available liquidity of more than $2 billion for future purchases as of the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

In January, Arko hired a new chief financial officer and executive vice president, Robert E. Giammatteo, who succeeded retiring CFO Don Bassell. Arko brought in $72 million in profits in 2022, up 21% from 2021, and held $3.25 billion in assets.

Paul B. Manning

CHAIRMAN AND CEO, PBM CAPITAL GROUP, CHARLOTTESVILLE

Known for their medical philanthropy, Manning and his wife, Diane, donated $100 million in 2023 to create the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia, which will focus on research into new medical treatments like cellular and gene therapies, nanotechnology and immunotherapy. Manning has said he hopes the institute will lead to cures for at least “five or six diseases,” including diabetes and genetic blindness. The couple also donated $1 million to U.Va. in 2020 to launch a COVID-19 research program.

Manning started his private equity firm after selling his infant formula company PBM Holdings to Perrigo Co. in 2010 for $808 million. PBM Capital invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences companies developing innovative solutions such as gene therapy, targeted therapeutics and genome engineering.

Manning, who enjoys deep-sea fishing and spending time with his children and grandchildren, earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was appointed in 2023 to U.Va.’s board of visitors for a four-year term.

Jacqueline Mars

CO-OWNER, MARS, THE PLAINS

As of February, with a net worth of $39.2 billion, Mars is Virginia’s wealthiest person and the 19th richest person in the United States, according to Forbes. She owns a third of the Mars candy, food and pet care company started by her grandfather, Frank C. Mars. It’s now the largest private company in Virginia and the fourth largest in the country. Known for its Snickers and M&M’s candy offerings, Mars has also seen major success in its pet care sector, including the Pedigree and Royal Canin brands.

In November 2023, the company’s Bidco subsidiary purchased Britain’s largest chocolate maker, Hotel Chocolat, for $662 million.

In 2023, Mars reported $50 billion in sales and 140,000 employees in 80 countries.

Jacqueline Mars’ son, Stephen Badger, has been chairman of the Mars board since 2011. At age 84, Mars keeps a low profile, after having worked for the company for more than 20 years and later serving on its board. A Bryn Mawr College alumna, she serves on the boards for the Washington National Opera and the National Sporting Library & Museum based in Middleburg and is an honorary life trustee of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation.

Dennis Matheis

PRESIDENT AND CEO, SENTARA HEALTH, NORFOLK

In 2022, Matheis became CEO of Sentara, an $11 billion not-for-profit health system with 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, employing 30,000 workers, including 1,375 physicians.

Matheis was previously the head of Sentara’s insurance branch and was president of Anthem’s central region and exchanges before joining Sentara, where he more than doubled the number of health insurance members. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Matheis also held executive roles at The Cigna Group and Humana, and he serves on the America’s Health Insurance Plans board.

In December 2023, Sentara became the sole owner of Velocity Urgent Care, which has 17 locations in Virginia and nearly 200 employees. Last summer, Sentara opened a medical office building at its $200 million regional campus in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where it’s building a new hospital expected to open by early 2025.

In 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Matheis to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Revenue Estimates, which reviews the state’s economic climate.

Jim McGlothlin

CHAIRMAN, THE UNITED CO., BRISTOL

Virginia Business’ 2022 Person of the Year, McGlothlin built a fortune from coal mines and pivoted to hospitality as the coal business began to recede.

A William & Mary alumnus, McGlothlin started out as a lawyer in Grundy before co-founding United Coal in 1970, going on to acquire dozens of smaller coal companies and mines in Appalachia. United Coal grew into a billion-dollar business by the time it was sold in 2009.

McGlothlin continued as chairman, CEO and sole owner of The United Co., which diversified into a hospitality and wealth management company, with activities including real estate development and coal, oil and gas exploration services and holdings including golf courses, RV parks and a stake in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, which opened in a temporary location in 2022. Its permanent, $520 billion location is expected to open in July.

Now in his 80s, McGlothlin owns The Olde Farm Golf Club in Bristol, a Bobby Weed-designed course that is ranked among the nation’s top golf courses. He and his wife, Frances, are among the state’s top art philanthropists and collectors.

Thomas J. McInerney

PRESIDENT AND CEO, GENWORTH FINANCIAL, HENRICO COUNTY

McInerney has been CEO of the Fortune 500 insurance corporation since 2013. Genworth, which provides life, mortgage and long-term care insurance, reported $7.47 billion in revenue for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2023, up 1.47% year-over-year.

Overall, 2023 was a tough year for Genworth, which disclosed that up to 2.5 million customers and insurance agents’ personal information had been exposed in a data breach by a Russian cybercrime gang. In March 2023, Genworth settled a lawsuit with policyholders who claimed that the company didn’t inform them that it planned to raise premium rates in the future, after starting to raise rates in 2013. Genworth admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

Before joining Genworth, McInerney held executive roles with the ING Group, a Dutch financial services company. A graduate of Colgate University and Dartmouth College’s business school, McInerney donated $1.5 million in 2023 to the William & Mary Global Research Institute, funding a postdoctoral fellowship. He also chairs the board of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s nonprofit workforce training initiative, Virginia Ready.

William D. ‘Bill’ Nash

PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARMAX, GOOCHLAND COUNTY

Nash started his career at CarMax in 1997 as an auction manager, working his way up to president and CEO in 2016. Founded in 1993 as a subsidiary of electronics retailer Circuit City Corp., the Fortune 500 company is the country’s largest retailer of used cars, reporting $31.9 billion in 2022 revenue and employing more than 30,000 people.

Profits jumped in the third quarter of 2023 to $82 million, compared with $37.6 million in the third quarter of 2022, after the used vehicle seller cut costs in response to lower demand. In October 2023, Nash rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, celebrating CarMax’s 30th anniversary. Since 1993, the company has sold more than 11 million vehicles at retail and 7 million at auction.

In CarMax’s 2023 Responsibility Report, Nash, a James Madison University alumnus, expounded on his goals of making the company the leading retailer of used electric vehicles and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Christopher J. Nassetta

PRESIDENT AND CEO, HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS, McLEAN

Since 2007, Nassetta has been the head of Hilton, one of the world’s largest hoteliers, with more than 7,500 properties worldwide and new hotels opening this year in Nashville and Atlanta, among other locations around the globe.

In the third quarter of 2023, Hilton reported $2.67 billion in revenue, up 12.8% from a year earlier. Nassetta said during the company’s earnings call that group business, leisure and business travel were performing better too, exceeding 2019 levels for the first full quarter since the pandemic.

Hilton, which opened more than 100 hotels in the second half of 2023, returned to the Fortune 500 list last year following a two-year absence amid the industry’s pandemic downturn. “People are out traveling for business again. They’ve got a lot more mobility,” Nassetta told CBS News.

A graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, Nassetta previously served as president and CEO at Host Hotels & Resorts. He chairs the U.S. Travel Association board and sits on the board of CoStar Group.

Phebe N. Novakovic

CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GENERAL DYNAMICS, RESTON

Since 2013, Novakovic has led the world’s sixth largest aerospace and defense company, with 105,000 employees worldwide and revenue of $42.3 billion in fiscal 2023, up 7.3% from 2022.

Ranked No. 29 on Forbes’ 2023 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list, Novakovic is a Smith College and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School graduate and was Virginia’s fifth highest-paid executive in 2022, receiving $21.4 million in total compensation.

Novakovic previously worked for the CIA, the federal Office of Management and Budget, and two deputy defense secretaries during the Clinton administration. In 2001, she joined General Dynamics, and under her leadership, the corporation won the Navy’s largest-ever contract, $24.2 billion, to build nuclear submarines. In 2023, General Dynamics’ work backlog reached a company record $91.4 billion.

She serves on the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ board and chairs the Association of the United States Army.

Edward A. Pesicka

PRESIDENT AND CEO, OWENS & MINOR, MECHANICSVILLE

In December 2023, Pesicka announced a new five-year strategic plan for Owens & Minor after the Fortune 500 health care logistics and supplies company saw a rocky first half of the year.

Amid a post-pandemic drop in demand for personal protective equipment and other medical supplies, Owens & Minor lost $52.7 million in the first half of 2023. Nevertheless, the company recorded $7.67 billion in revenue for the first three quarters of 2023, up from $7.4 billion during the same period in 2022, with Pesicka estimating that the year’s revenue would be in a range of $10.3 billion to $10.4 billion, up from $9.95 billion in 2022.

Unveiling the new strategic plan, Pesicka said it would target 20% compounded earnings growth between 2024 and 2028, building on the momentum of its success in the home health care market with its Patient Direct segment, which brought in $1.24 billion in revenue for the first half of 2023.

CEO since 2019, Pesicka previously served as chief commercial officer and senior vice president at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Muskingum University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Horacio D. Rozanski

PRESIDENT AND CEO, BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON, McLEAN

Rozanski joined Fortune 500 global management, technology, engineering and consulting firm Booz Allen as an intern in Buenos Aires in 1991, ultimately rising to CEO in 2015.

Booz Allen employs 31,925 workers worldwide, including 10,707 in Virginia, and reported fiscal 2023 earnings of $9.3 billion as well as a $31.2 billion backlog.

Rozanski is credited with the formation of Booz Allen’s $100 million venture capital arm in 2022. In May 2023, the Defense Department awarded Booz Allen a five-year contract valued at $919 million for Army combat support. In August 2023, the company launched a new business services delivery hub in Norfolk, expected to create 120 jobs.

Last July, the company agreed to pay the U.S. government $377.4 million to settle allegations of improperly billing commercial and international costs to its government contracts, according to the Justice Department. Booz Allen did not admit liability in the agreement.

Rozanski chairs the Children’s National Hospital’s board and is a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience.

James E. Ryan

PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE

Ryan, who became the University of Virginia’s ninth president in 2018, has spearheaded several growth initiatives at the state’s flagship university, including the School of Data Science, a new performing arts center and the Karsh Institute of Democracy — all projects funded by donors, including a record 2019 gift of $120 million from alumni couple Jaffray and Merrill Woodriff to launch the data science school.

In 2023, U.Va. announced a $100 million donation from Charlottesville philanthropists Paul and Diane Manning toward establishing the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. U.Va. will contribute $150 million to the center, and the state has allocated $50 million in initial investments.

Ryan also has dealt with significant challenges during his presidency, including the November 2022 mass shooting that claimed the lives of three football players and injured two other students.

Ryan, who previously served as dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, was a first-generation college student who graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and was first in his U.Va. law class. He was elected in June 2023 as chair of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s board of directors, a two-year term.

Timothy Sands

PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA TECH, BLACKSBURG

A scientist whose research focused on light-emitting diodes, Sands joined Virginia Tech in 2014 after serving as interim president at Purdue University.

During his tenure, Sands, who renewed his contract through 2027, has been leading development of Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus in Alexandria for graduate computer science and engineering programs.

Virginia Tech has also received notable donations in recent years, including $50 million from Fortune 500 aerospace and defense company Boeing to foster diversity at the Innovation Campus. Also, the school received $50 million for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke from Virginia philanthropist Heywood Fralin, and last September, $50 million more from the Red Gates Foundation.

In July 2023, Sands announced that Virginia Tech would end legacy preferences in admissions, as well as the option of early decision, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to end affirmative action.

Stu Shea

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT and CEO, PERATON, RESTON

A fixture in the national security industry, Shea has led the expansion of the private company into a major defense contractor through a series of acquisitions, including the 2021 purchase of Northrop Grumman’s federal IT and mission support services business.

In 2023, Peraton moved its headquarters from Herndon to Reston, which serves as a hub for 5,000 of the company’s 19,000 employees. In February 2023, Peraton won one of eight Navy contracts that is expected to be worth $4 billion over the next 10 years, and this January, the Army Cyber Command awarded a $889 million contract to provide support to the Cyber Command headquarters. In December, the company hired a new chief financial officer, Ken Sharp, who will report to Shea.

As a young software engineer, Shea tapped his expertise in geography and geology to design some of the earliest computer mapping systems for the CIA, the National Security Agency and the U.S. Air Force.

Shea founded the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and is a board member for the National Intelligence University Foundation and Riverside Research.

Julie Sweet

CEO AND CHAIR, ACCENTURE, ARLINGTON COUNTY

One of the world’s most powerful women, Sweet has been global CEO of IT services and consulting company Accenture since 2019 and became its chair in 2021. She joined the Fortune Global 500 company in 2010 and previously held roles including CEO of Accenture’s business in North America from 2015 to 2019. Accenture has no formal geographic headquarters, but Sweet has an office in Arlington, from which she leads the company’s 733,000 employees worldwide.

Sweet spoke in January about artificial intelligence at the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Last year, Accenture announced a three-year, $3 billion investment in artificial intelligence, and the same month, the company partnered with Immersive Labs to fill approximately 1 million entry-level cybersecurity jobs. In March 2023, though, Accenture cut 19,000 jobs worldwide, about 2.5% of its workforce. Accenture’s fiscal 2023 revenue was $64.1 billion, up 8% from the previous year.

Sweet ranked second place on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list in 2023, and No. 11 on Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women, two slots above MacKenzie Scott and six places below Taylor Swift.

Toni Townes-Whitley

CEO, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP., RESTON

In October 2023, Townes-Whitley succeeded Nazzic S. Keene as SAIC’s CEO and replaced Keene on the Fortune 500 federal contractor’s board in February.

Townes-Whitley came to the $7.7 billion, 24,000-employee SAIC from Microsoft, where she served as president of U.S. Regulated Industries. She previously led CGI Federal and held management roles at Unisys. At Microsoft, she helped build the company’s ethics framework for artificial intelligence and sponsored a Microsoft group for Black and African employees.

In December, SAIC announced a reorganization, with its defense and civilian sector and national security and space sector replaced by five new business groups: Army, Navy, Air Force and combatant commands; space and intelligence; and civilian, including health, state and local businesses. Four senior vice presidents received promotions, while two sector presidents departed.

A graduate of Princeton University and a former Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon, Townes-Whitley serves on Nasdaq’s board and is one of two Black women Fortune 500 CEOs.

Kathy Warden

CHAIRMAN, CEO AND PRESIDENT, NORTHROP GRUMMAN, FALLS CHURCH

Warden was named CEO of the world’s third largest aerospace and defense company in 2019 after serving as its president and chief operating officer. In 2023, Northrop Grumman reported $39.3 billion in sales, a record $84.2 billion backlog and projected growth through 2026.

Ranked No. 38 on Forbes’ 2023 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list, Warden previously worked for General Dynamics and Veridian before joining Northrop Grumman in 2008.

In February, NG broke ground on the $200 million advanced electronics manufacturing and testing facility it’s building in Waynesboro, which is expected to create 300 jobs.

Warden and her husband, Eric, both James Madison University alumni, established a $1.5 million scholarship match program for Pell Grant-eligible JMU students in 2022.

She serves on the boards of Merck and Catalyst, an organization that focuses on making workplaces more women-friendly. She also chairs the Greater Washington Partnership board.

Mark Warner

SENATOR, UNITED STATES SENATE, ALEXANDRIA

Like his junior colleague, Tim Kaine, Warner served as governor of Virginia before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He’s now in his third term as Virginia’s senior senator.

A moderate Democrat, Warner chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and is vice chair of the Senate Democratic caucus. He also serves on Finance subcommittees that govern energy, natural resources, infrastructure and international trade.

Warner grew up in Illinois and Connecticut, and he earned his law degree at Harvard University in 1980. After starting two unsuccessful businesses in the 1980s, he struck gold in cell phones, co-founding Nextel Communications and Capital Cellular. His net worth reportedly exceeds $200 million, and Warner has been active in promoting the manufacturing of semiconductors, sponsoring the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which includes $280 billion to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors.

In November 2023, Warner blasted a decision to place the new FBI headquarters in Maryland instead of Springfield as “corrupt,” and later that month, the General Services Administration launched an investigation into the decision.

Poul Weihrauch

PRESIDENT AND CEO, MARS, McLEAN

Since taking the reins of the family-owned candy and pet food giant in 2022, Weihrauch has set a goal of doubling the company’s sales by 2033. With $50 billion in sales in 2023, Mars is the largest privately held company in Virginia and the fourth largest in the nation. It has approximately 140,000 employees in 80 countries.

In November 2023, Mars’ Bidco subsidiary purchased Britain’s largest chocolate maker, Hotel Chocolat, for $662 million.

Weihrauch joined Mars in 2000 as European brand leader for Snickers candy bars and worked his way up the corporate ladder, becoming president of food and multisales and then president of Mars’ global pet care brand. He previously worked for Nestlé in sales and marketing and started his career at Stimorol Chewing Gum in his home country, Denmark.

Mars has committed to invest $1 billion over the next three years to address greenhouse gases, including the use of more recycled materials in its packaging.

Glenn Youngkin

GOVERNOR, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND

Now more than halfway through his term as Virginia’s 74th governor, Youngkin gave it his best effort but his party lost control of the General Assembly in the November 2023 state elections, leaving him with a split government for the rest of his tenure.

Nonetheless, the governor is pushing forward with several agenda items, including more funding for industrial site preparation. The governor also has proposed allocating $90 million to create “Virginia’s Research Triangle,” a network including the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech to boost biotech and pharmaceutical research and development, and a new $2 billion entertainment district in Alexandria, in which the Washington Capitals and the Wizards would move from Washington, D.C., to Virginia.

After growing up in Richmond and Virginia Beach, Youngkin attended Rice University on a basketball scholarship and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, later becoming co-CEO of The Carlyle Group. With a reported net worth exceeding $250 million, he is the wealthiest governor in state history and donates his state salary to charity.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the version published in the March 2024 issue to reflect events that occurred after the print magazine went to press, including Capital One’s announcement of its intended acquisition of Discover Financial Services.

Health Care: A new horizon

Virginians could look back at 2024 a few years from now and see a turning point for health care in the commonwealth — the dawn of a “Virginia Research Triangle” in biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing and medical research.

In December 2023, the University of Virginia broke ground on the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, slated to open in late 2026. Meanwhile, Richmond and Petersburg’s regional pharmaceutical industry hub is growing swiftly, and Hampton Roads is expanding health care access through the merger this year of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University as well as the ONE School of Public Health, the two schools’ collaboration with Norfolk State University and Sentara Health.

In proposing $90 million to build a research triangle and network between U.Va., Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in December 2023 that the state’s investment would “expand Virginia’s university research capacity … [to] enhance life-saving research development for generations to come.”

As important as a research triangle would be to Virginia’s economy, it could prove invaluable to the state’s patients, especially those diagnosed with rare diseases. The Mannings say they hope the biotechnology institute will transform the future of medicine, making headway in the areas of cellular and gene therapies, nanotechnology and drug delivery.

In other health care developments, consolidation and mergers continue to abound across the state. For independent medical practice owners, the load of patients, billing, insurance and other work has become too heavy — leading many physicians to retire or join larger health systems. Dr. Sandy Chung, CEO of Fairfax’s Trusted Doctors practice, says that there are pluses and minuses for patients: Large practices lack “some of that personal touch,” although some patients prefer the “sameness” of visits at a large health system. The shortage of primary care physicians also is widening, especially in rural areas.

However, work is underway on several new hospitals, including Bon Secours’ Harbour View Medical Center in Suffolk, Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston, and Inova Health System’s Springfield and Alexandria hospitals. In April 2023, the $400 million Children’s Tower opened at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, months after the 2022 opening of Children’s Pavilion in Norfolk, a 14-story inpatient and outpatient facility owned by Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters.

Additionally, Carilion Clinic opened its $11.5 million, 37,000-square-foot mental health outpatient clinic at Roanoke County’s Tanglewood Mall in October 2023. It’s estimated that the facility will serve about 800 patients weekly.

In the health insurance industry, a new option is now available for small business owners and employees: multiple employer welfare associations. Businesses with two to 50 employees can join other small businesses to form consortiums through local business chamber organizations and provide health care plans at a lower cost. In January, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce announced it’s partnering with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to start the WiseChoice Healthcare Alliance, which allows any member employer of a local chamber or other trade association to join the program and purchase Anthem insurance.

As health care professionals and patients survey the future of Virginia’s medical landscape, most hope for increased access to affordable, quality care, as well as new and improved treatments for common and rare diseases and conditions.

As UVA Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent noted last spring, “Health care is evolving incredibly rapidly now … and treatment has changed a lot over the past 10 years. In the end, it’s about the research and the people.”

Professional Services: Making it legal

Continuing a trend of the past several years, mergers and growth continue to be in fashion among law firms.

McGuireWoods, the largest firm headquartered in Virginia, has its eye out for new partners, firm Chairman Jon Harmon said in 2023. “I believe the legal industry is consolidating, and that, over time, there’s going to be haves and have nots,” he noted.

McGuireWoods is looking to add attorneys in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and other strategic locations across the country, but smaller firms also are looking to boost their numbers closer to home.

In January, Lynchburg’s Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards and Southern Virginia Legal in Danville tied the knot, combining to serve clients across Central and Southern Virginia as PLDR Law. The merged firm has 16 attorneys, retaining offices in Lynchburg and Danville.

That deal followed 2022’s Woods Rogers/Vandeventer Black merger and 2020’s Troutman Sanders combination with Pepper Hamilton, creating Troutman Pepper. And in August 2023, Richmond-based KVCF was absorbed into Williams Mullen, which added 10 attorneys from that deal. The third largest law firm headquartered in Virginia, Williams Mullen also added six lawyers from Pierce McCoy, which rebranded as Pierce Jewett, last year. Williams Mullen has about 250 attorneys across Virginia and the Carolinas.

Nationwide, 48 law firm mergers closed during 2023, remaining constant from 2022, which saw 46 closed deals, according to Fairfax Associates, a legal consulting firm.

Law firms are still competing to hire attorneys, especially those with desirable specialties, which makes mergers more attractive — and it appears this trend will power through 2024 and onward, experts say.

For attorneys, the hiring market is still on their side for the most part, although specialties make a difference. Cybersecurity and technology, mergers and acquisitions, and environmental, social and corporate governance are all hot practice areas. Six-figure signing bonuses are mostly past, but associate attorneys’ compensation was still rising as of late 2023, according to a survey by consultancy Withum Smith+Brown. And anecdotally, work-life balance is still key, especially as younger attorneys enter the profession with different priorities from their elders.

“The practice of law has changed a lot for guys like me and Jon [Harmon] who’ve been at it for decades,” says Mike Herring, McGuireWoods’ Richmond managing partner. “I think we are continuing to be really attentive to the preferences and needs of our younger lawyers.”

While money matters — especially as law school debt averages $160,000, according to the American Bar Association — many attorneys also want to pursue pro bono work and have schedules that don’t interfere with their personal lives.

Briana Stevens, a partner at Harrisonburg-based Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver, says her family law practice is personally meaningful because it’s a “client-centered practice area. I consider it a privilege to guide my clients through an emotional, stressful time in their life.”

Meanwhile, Virginia’s accounting firms are in a similar position, with large numbers of accountants having reached retirement age and not enough young accountants joining the industry. Unlike lawyers, entry-level accountants are finding salaries too low. According to the CPA Accounting Institute for Success, the average salary for CPAs nationwide is $62,410, despite student loan debt and long work hours. Many firms are responding with bonuses, higher salaries and shorter workweeks for new CPAs, who sometimes work up to 100 hours per week during high-volume periods.

Also, firms are prioritizing communication with prospective accountants. “We have to show that accounting is a dynamic profession, not just sitting behind your desk doing grunt work,” says Stephanie Peters, CEO and president of the Virginia Society of CPAs.

Financial Services: Signs of health

What’s that we hear? Is the economy growing healthier?

It’s getting stronger for sure, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin said in January during the 2024 Financial Forecast event co-hosted in Richmond by the Virginia Bankers Association and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
Inflation was 3.4% in December 2023, inching closer to the central bank’s goal of 2%. As always, the Fed’s leaders are cautious in their wording, but in February, Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve expects to cut interest rates three times in 2024, starting in May.

Barkin, who serves this year on the powerful Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates and monetary policy, noted in January, “Contrary to most predictions, the economy remains healthy.”

That represents a shift from the previous two years, when Fortune 500 companies’ executives took cover and prepared for a widely predicted recession that didn’t materialize — launching massive layoffs in many cases.

That’s not to say that businesses haven’t encountered several challenges in the past year — including high interest rates, high inflation, continuing supply chain challenges and wars in Gaza and Ukraine. In Virginia, home prices and demand continued to rise amid a tight market, making it difficult for Virginia millennials and Gen Zers to buy or rent. And that, in turn, has kept some businesses from finding employees, Barkin and the state commerce and trade secretary, Caren Merrick, noted during the November 2023 Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference in Hampton.

“We all know housing availability is limiting communities,” Barkin said, urging communities, employers and universities to work together to create more affordable housing.

Meanwhile, in a state where defense funding is crucial to financial outlooks for ports, the military and federal contracting, Congress neared the brink of a federal shutdown twice last year, something that hasn’t happened since 2018. In January, the U.S. House and Senate passed a third stopgap resolution to keep the government operating through March.

If a shutdown does occur, the impact would be harsh on Virginia, where more than 144,000 federal employees work, second only to California. In 2022, the Department of Defense spent $62.7 billion in Virginia — and based on the 2018-19 shutdown, it can take months for contractors to get paid.

Bob McNab, an Old Dominion University economist, notes that $4 out of every $10 generated in Hampton Roads comes from the federal government. If a shutdown occurs, “it is this perfect storm that would really undermine economic activity in Hampton Roads if it continued for a long period of time,” he says.

That said, right now, Virginia looks strong. Employment regionally has grown moderately, and the tight market has
raised wages, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released in late January.

In fiscal 2023, 2,520 people lost jobs in layoffs and closures reported by the Virginia Employment Commission, up slightly from the previous year, when 2,182 people were laid off, but a big improvement from fiscal 2021, when 12,281 people lost their jobs.

Factors like inflation, gas prices, job shortages in some fields and overall cost of living expenses have affected consumer sentiment negatively, however. According to McNab and fellow ODU economist Vinod Agarwal, recent consumer sentiment has been at the lowest point since the Great Recession of 2008, but they are hopeful that Virginians’ perceptions will align closer to the data. In February, the ODU economists’ 2024 state economic forecast predicted a third consecutive year of growth.

And with interest rates expected to decrease, it’s hoped moods will brighten in the commonwealth.

Education: Getting their money’s worth

The past year brought more big donations to Virginia’s universities, as well as the installation of a few new presidents, while students and families remained focused on finances and return on investment.

In Virginia Business’ August 2023 cover story, “Money machine,” the magazine examined the soaring costs of a four-year degree over the past decades, as well as the expected career earnings of alumni from school to school. These factors and others are weighing heavily on the minds of many students and their families — whether they’re traditional college students arriving straight from high school or older students pursuing degrees to qualify for new jobs.

According to a 2021 report commissioned by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, a bachelor’s degree from a public, four-year university can add from $765,000 to more than $1 million to a person’s lifetime earnings in the United States. However, two-year associate degrees provide better short-term return on investment, according to a 2022 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Associate degree and certificate holders brought in a median $141,000 in 10-year adjusted net earnings, compared with $107,000 for all college graduates.

Bachelor’s degrees are still important in many professional fields to get an entry-level job, but some employers — including the state government — have eliminated degree requirements for many jobs. In Virginia, 90% of all state jobs do not require a four-year degree now.

Additionally, the costs of a four-year university education can be steep; in Virginia, just over 1.1 million residents owed $43.8 billion in federal student loan debt last year, an average of $39,561, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Although the White House has made moves to forgive large swaths of student loan debt, legal challenges have stymied expansion, so just 21,500 Virginians and far have received loan forgiveness.

All of this adds up to more students and families considering alternatives to the traditional high school-to-college pipeline, which is more expensive than ever, running from an average of $27,940 to $57,570 a year for four-year colleges and universities when including room and board, according to the College Board.

“If you’re looking at affordability, you’re also looking at ROI,” explains Juan Espinoza, director of admissions and associate vice president for enrollment and degree management at Virginia Tech. “You can’t disconnect the two.”

Another major consideration on campuses is how colleges provide equitable opportunities for students while not running afoul of the Supreme Court’s ruling that race may not be taken into consideration in admissions. The June 2023 decision affects all four-year schools, with the exception of U.S. military service academies.

Furthermore, the University of Virginia said it would remove a “checkbox” for legacy admissions candidates on its applications, while Virginia Tech eliminated legacy admissions and early decision. The General Assembly passed bills this session to ban legacy admissions statewide, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said he supports merit-based admissions.

Among other developments in higher education over the past year, George Mason University’s business school received a
$50 million bequest in May 2023 from the late Loudoun County businessman Donald G. Costello, the largest individual gift in Mason’s 50-year history. Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute also received a $50 million gift last year from a foundation established by the estate of Richmond philanthropist Bill Goodwin’s late son, Hunter. And in Charlottesville, U.Va. received two $50 million donations last year — one from Ramon W. Breeden Jr. for business education and athletics, and the other from David and Kathleen LaCross, whose gift will go toward the Darden School of Business.

Also, Gordon Robertson succeeded his famous late father, Pat Robertson, as chancellor of Virginia Beach-based Regent University in July 2023, and Peter Blake, SCHEV’s longtime director, stepped down at the end of 2023. Alan Edwards became SCHEV’s interim director in January, while the state council’s board continues its search for a permanent replacement. In Lynchburg, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dondi E. Costin became Liberty University’s new president, and pastor Jonathan Falwell, one of the sons of Liberty’s late founder, Jerry Falwell Sr., was tapped as chancellor.

Leadership: On the move

Patrick Bain, president and CEO, The Long & Foster Cos., Chantilly

In March 2023, Bain was promoted to lead the real estate giant after joining Long & Foster in 2010 as president of its insurance and home warranty businesses. Along the way, he took the reins of the property management and rental service center branches, and in 2022, he oversaw the launch of subsidiary Insight Home Inspections.

Billy Beale, CEO, Blue Ridge Bank, Charlottesville

In May 2023, Beale was named Blue Ridge Bank’s new leader. He formerly served as CEO and president of Chesterfield County-based Community Bankers’ Bank and CEO of Union Bank & Trust. Blue Ridge has 26 locations in Virginia and more than $3 billion in assets.

Isham “Jay” Bennett, chief human resources officer, Smithfield Foods, Smithfield

Bennett became Smithfield’s inaugural chief human resources officer in March 2023. He was previously vice president of human resources for Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems business as well as Lockheed aviation subsidiary Sikorsky.

Jeremy Bridges, president, Hampton Roads Shipping Association, Norfolk

Bridges joined HRSA in May 2023 as its head, following the departure of Roger Giesinger, who led the nonprofit trade association for 28 years. Bridges was previously vice president of labor relations for CMA CGM America, and area managing director for Pacific Maritime Association’s Southern California region.

Katie Cristol, CEO, Tysons Community Alliance, Tysons

Previously an Arlington County supervisor, Cristol stepped down in July 2023 to become the first permanent CEO of the Tysons Community Alliance, a community development nonprofit that replaced the Tysons Partnership in 2022. Cristol has served on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, among other regional boards.

Amy Davis, chief security officer, Leidos, Reston

Formerly deputy chief of the National Security Agency’s Office of Security and Counterintelligence, Davis joined Leidos as its security head in June 2023, leading its corporate security and overseeing compliance with U.S. and foreign security standards. In two decades with the federal government, Davis worked in the areas of insider risk, emerging threats, physical security and crisis management.

Capt. Janet H. Days, commander, Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk

In February 2023, Days became the first Black commanding officer of the world’s largest naval base, after a career in the Navy as a surface warfare officer. Norfolk’s base employs 89,000 active military personnel and 52,000 civilians. Days also served in Afghanistan as the Joint Staff-J7 liaison officer to the International Security Assistance Force headquarters.

Ken Fridley, vice president for research, Old Dominion University, Norfolk

A former University of Alabama administrator, Fridley became ODU’s vice president for research in January after serving on an interim basis since last August. He became dean of ODU’s Batten College of Engineering and Technology in 2022, a position he’s also holding until a successor is hired. Trained in engineered wood construction, performance and hazard mitigation, Fridley is a civil engineer.

Rick Fulk, president, Primis Bank, Henrico County

Fulk was promoted in October 2023 to president of Primis Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of McLean-based Primis Financial. He’s worked for the institution since 1998, most recently as Primis’ Richmond and Hampton Roads regional executive. Primis has $3.85 billion in assets and 32 branches in Virginia and the rest of the United States.

John Hagy, executive director, Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, Roanoke

Hagy started off 2024 as RAMP’s new executive director after previously managing the Carolina Angel Network at the University of North Carolina. Before that, he was an intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a development director at a geospatial intelligence startup and as a Deloitte strategy consultant.

Cassie Hartogs, managing partner of tax people operations, BDO USA, McLean

Previously manager of BDO’s Atlantic region, Hartogs was promoted in May 2023 to manage more than 3,800 tax professionals nationally at the U.S. member firm of BDO Global, the world’s fifth largest accounting network. Hartogs started her career at Argy Wiltse & Robinson, which was acquired by BDO in 2012. She won the firm’s Seidman Neuhausen award in 2019, which recognizes staffers for their client service, curiosity and rigor.

Debbie Irwin, managing director, Lighthouse Labs, Richmond

Irwin started in late February as the startup accelerator’s new director after serving as executive director of Shenandoah Community Capital since 2018. She replaces interim Managing Director Art Espey. A James Madison University alumna, she co-founded The Manufactory Collective, a manufacturing-focused coworking and support space in Harrisonburg.

Dr. John Jane Jr., chair and professor of neurosurgery, Carilion Clinic and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke

An alumnus of the University of Virginia and nearly lifelong Charlottesville resident, Jane became Carilion’s first head of neurosurgery in June 2023 as well as the first head of the medical school’s neurosurgery department. He works closely with researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute too, as the university aims to increase the number of trained neurosurgeons in Virginia.

Leslie Kendrick, dean, University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville

In July, Kendrick will become the second woman to lead U.Va.’s law school, succeeding Risa Goluboff, who announced late last year she would step down. A 2006 graduate, Kendrick became a faculty member at the law school two years later, becoming a professor of law and director of the school’s Center for the First Amendment. She also serves as a special adviser on free expression and inquiry to U.Va.’s provost.

Wendy Lewis, Richmond managing partner, KPMG, Richmond

In August 2023, Lewis was promoted to managing partner of the professional services firm’s Richmond office. Also chair of the Virginia Board of Accountancy, Lewis joined KPMG in 1997 as an associate and became a partner in 2010. After a three-year rotation in KPMG’s New York office, she’s worked in its Washington, D.C., and Tysons offices.

Jay Moore, senior advisor and partner, Brown Advisory, Richmond

In January, Moore joined the global investment management and advisory firm after founding his own firm,
T.J. Moore PLC, and serving as a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth, interim general counsel at Kaléo and senior vice president of strategy and business development for Altria Group. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Law and Darden School of Business, Moore is a longtime Richmonder.

U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, U.S. House of Representatives, Richmond

Well known as a Virginia state senator and previously a delegate, McClellan took office on Capitol Hill in March 2023 as the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia. A Democrat representing Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District, McClellan was regulatory counsel for Verizon and previously practiced law at Hunton & Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth). McClellan succeeds the late Donald McEachin.

Tyrone Noel, Hampton Roads market president, Bank of America, Williamsburg

Noel took over the Hampton Roads region for Bank of America in September 2023, adding the role to his job as Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s greater Virginia market executive. An avid volunteer for food banks and the Boys & Girls Clubs, Noel joined Merrill in 2011 as a financial adviser.

Paul Nolde, executive director, 757 Angels; managing director, 757 Collab, Norfolk

Nolde joined the innovation network 757 Collab (which includes 757 Angels) in May 2023 after having served as managing director of Richmond’s Lighthouse Labs. A University of Virginia graduate, Nolde has extensive experience in wealth management banking as well as entrepreneurship.

Chris Piper, executive director, Virginia Public Access Project, Richmond

Operating one of the state’s most visible political websites, nonprofit VPAP provides information on campaign finances, statewide races and more. Piper came to the job last June after having served as state elections commissioner under former Gov. Ralph Northam. This year, Piper says, VPAP could expand beyond the state’s borders.

Adam Riddle, chairman and CEO, Rolls-Royce North America, Reston

An executive of Rolls-Royce for more than a decade, Riddle was named chairman and CEO of its North America branch and president of its defense division in April 2023. Riddle, who graduated from West Point, is also a retired U.S. Army officer and former Boeing executive.

Danny Robinson, CEO, The Martin Agency, Richmond

After serving as The Martin Agency’s chief creative officer and chief client officer, Robinson was named CEO in January, succeeding Kristen Cavallo, who remains CEO of MullenLowe Global. Robinson has gathered many accolades, including Ad Age’s 2022 Chief Creative Officer of the Year, and Martin has been celebrated as ad agency of the year by Ad Age and Adweek over the past three years. At Martin, Robinson has overseen campaigns for UPS, Old Navy and Geico. His previous firm, Vigilante, was behind Oprah Winfrey’s famous 2004 car giveaway.

Monica Schmude, Virginia president, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Richmond

A former Cigna Healthcare mid-Atlantic president, Schmude joined Anthem in April 2023, overseeing about 9,000 employees and more than 3 million customers. After about 30 years in the health insurance industry, Schmude was named one of the region’s most influential women by Washingtonian magazine last fall. Before joining Cigna, she was manager of sales and business services for Aetna.

Jackie Thiel, president, Long & Foster Real Estate, Chantilly

When Patrick Bain was promoted to lead Long & Foster’s parent company in March 2023, Thiel was appointed to lead Long & Foster’s real estate branch. She’s been with the company since 1998 and was most recently executive vice president of its brokerage arm. Thiel is now responsible for more than 9,000 agents in eight states and Washington, D.C., and started her career in Richmond at Bowers, Nelms & Fonville, which was purchased by Long & Foster in 1998.

Shawn Tibbets, president, Armada Hoffler, Virginia Beach

In February, Armada Hoffler Chief Operating Officer Tibbetts was promoted to president of the real estate giant behind Virginia Beach Town Center, and he’s slated to succeed CEO Louis Haddad, who expects to retire in spring 2025. The Port of Virginia’s president and COO until he joined Armada Hoffler in 2019, Tibbetts is a graduate of James Madison University and William & Mary.

Sean Washington, economic development department executive director, City of Norfolk, Norfolk

Formerly interim director of development, Washington was named Norfolk’s permanent executive director of economic development in November 2023. He’s been in Hampton Roads for a while, serving as secretary-treasurer and assistant director of Norfolk’s economic development authority and as an assistant vice president for BB&T. Washington is a Hampton University alumnus.

LeAnn White, executive director, Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce, Tysons

In December 2023, White became the new head of the Northern Virginia Black Chamber after previously working as assistant vice president and business development officer at FVCbank. She also served on the chamber’s board and chaired its events committee and was a past secretary of the Fauquier County chapter of the NAACP.

Katherine Williams, CEO, Framatome Inc., Lynchburg

Williams succeeded Mike Mignogna as CEO of the U.S. arm of the French nuclear reactor and fuel company in July 2023. Also the company’s chief financial officer, Williams has worked for Framatome for more than 20 years and previously held financial management positions at DuPont, Westinghouse and Duke Energy. She also serves on the Framatome Inc., Framatome Canada and Isogen boards.

Jennifer Wold, Virginia market managing partner, Forvis, Richmond

A former Kansan, Wold moved to Richmond after being named Forvis’ top Virginia executive in June 2023. The top 10 accounting firm was formed in 2022 by the merger of BKD CPAs & Advisors and Dixon Hughes Goodman. Wold joined BKD in 2018 as an audit partner and was previously with Grant Thornton, Accenture and Ritchie Cos. Forvis has about 300 employees in Virginia.

Economic Development: Keep on keeping on

In 2023, Virginia racked up another year of economic development wins in the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, Gov. Glenn Youngkin continued his push toward producing more shovel-ready industrial sites in the state, one of his key priorities since taking office in January 2022.

In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County was in contention for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility topping $1 billion in investments and bringing as many as 1,500 jobs, according to Microporous CEO John Reeves. Meanwhile, in Waynesboro, Northrop Grumman broke ground Feb. 2 on its $200 million advanced electronics facility with plans to create 300 area jobs, and in Prince George County, PGT Innovations, a Florida-based manufacturer and supplier of windows and doors, announced in November 2023 it would invest more than $54 million to revamp a former Rolls-Royce plant, creating 659 jobs.

One of the state’s splashiest announcements last year was the $900 million Kalahari Resorts & Conventions water park resort currently under construction in Spotsylvania County’s Thornburg area, a project expected to create 1,400 jobs.

Other companies are planning expansions, including Press Glass, a Polish glass fabricator set to spend more than $155 million to expand its operation in Henry County and add 335 jobs (see related story), and in Roanoke County, Wells Fargo plans to expand its operation with an $87 million investment, adding about 1,100 customer service jobs. In Newport News, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is set to lead the High Performance Data Facility Hub, a $300 million to $500 million data science computing hub, with aims to create 150 jobs.

Not everything came up roses, though. In November 2023, the U.S. General Services Administration announced that the FBI’s new headquarters would be relocated from Washington, D.C., to Greenbelt, Maryland, instead of Springfield, a site pushed by Virginia officials and recommended by one FBI representative and two GSA representatives. The day after the announcement, FBI director Christopher Wray wrote an email to the FBI’s full workforce, saying that a former political appointee to the GSA had overridden a three-person panel’s recommendation to build in Springfield. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, responding to Wray’s letter, called for a reversal of the decision, and the inspector general for the GSA launched an investigation.

In December 2023, Youngkin and local officials announced plans to build a $2 billion entertainment complex in Alexandria on the Potomac River centered around a new arena for the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards pro teams, as well as a new headquarters for team owner Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Though it was framed as a done deal, the project requires General Assembly and gubernatorial approval of a new Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority, which would own the land and buildings within the entertainment district. During the session, the project stalled amid opposition in the Senate, though a House bill was still alive as of mid-February.

Meanwhile, the governor has also proposed moving $179.5 million from the state’s general fund to the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund in fiscal 2024 and $200 million for 2025 and 2026. Even so, Virginia has a long way to catch up to its peer Southeastern states, which have invested billions in site development, while the commonwealth spent only about $1 million a year before 2021. Between 2015 and 2022, neighboring states won 120 industrial megaprojects totaling $1 billion or greater in investments apiece, while Virginia landed just one — the Lego Group’s $1 billion toymaking plant in Chesterfield County.

In other news, Amazon.com’s East Coast headquarters, HQ2, opened its first two buildings in Arlington County in June 2023, and the Potomac Yard–VT Metro station opened in May near the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Also, Framatome announced it plans to expand its U.S. headquarters in Lynchburg, investing $49.4 million and creating an estimated 515 jobs. The French nuclear power company has more than 1,300 employees in Lynchburg, where it’s been located since 1989.

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