Led by Chairman and CEO Mark D. Ein and President and CFO L. Dyson Dryden, the company was formed for the purpose of a merger or purchase of another company, though a news release from the company notes that “the company’s efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region.”
Capitol priced its IPO of 30 million units at $10 per unit, with trading starting Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The offering is expected to close Friday, and each shareholder is entitled to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50. Underwriters have been granted a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 4.5 million units to cover over-allotments.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are joint book-running managers of the offering. Ein and Dryden have led five SPACs — also known as blank check companies — over the past 13 years.
Ein’s earlier SPACs merged with real estate investment trust Two Harbors Investment Corp., cruise company Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc., public relations software company Cision Ltd. and specialty equipment rental company Nesco Inc. Ein also is co-chairman of Kastle Holding Co. LLC, the majority owner of Kastle Systems, a Falls Church-based office security company.
Dryden is co-chairman of Nesco and previously served as a director of Cision, as well holding executive positions at BB& T Corp. and Citigroup.
Gov. Ralph Northam warned Virginians about growing numbers of COVID-19 cases, especially in Southwest Virginia, which has seen higher rates for more than a month, in part because the region’s neighboring states also have seen spikes. At his Wednesday news conference, Northam stopped short of enforcing new restrictions, but encouraged people to follow physical distancing guidelines and avoid unnecessary social gatherings.
Northam also noted there is good news regarding potential vaccinations, which he said could be available to every Virginian by early summer.
Pfizer’s vaccine, which is furthest along in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval process, may be approved this month. The vaccinations will be administered in phases, Northam said, and Virginia is expected to receive 70,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine in the first wave.
Frontline medical workers and people in long-term care and nursing homes will be prioritized and essential workers, people with health vulnerabilities and people over the age of 65 will be next in line, said State Epidemiologist Dr. Lilian Peake. Virginia will follow protocol from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Peake and Northam said, although the state government is awaiting more guidance regarding high-risk populations in addition to medical providers and long-term care facility residents.
If Moderna’s and AstraZeneca’s vaccines are approved by the FDA in coming weeks, he said, there will be more vaccines available. Northam added that he and his family “will not hesitate” to get the vaccine when it is available and emphasized that the vaccines will be safe, despite some public concerns that the process was rushed.
It will likely take months to get enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the whole state, he added.
With more than 13.7 million COVID-19 cases nationwide — including 242,480 cases and 4,113 deaths statewide as of Wednesday — many public health officials are asking residents to wear masks, wash their hands frequently and avoid unnecessary travel. Currently, more than 1,850 people in Virginia are hospitalized with the virus, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, and the state’s positivity rate is 8.3%. The Virginia Department of Health reports that 14,888 people in Virginia have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since March, and more than 100,000 virus patients were in hospitals across the nation Wednesday.
Northam gave incorrect hospitalization and death statistics at the news conference, but it was a case of misspeaking, a spokesperson said later.
Cases are surging in Southwest Virginia. Mount Rogers Health District, which includes Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties, as well as Bristol and Galax, has a positivity rate of 18.4%, and the Cumberland Plateau, covering Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties, has a rate of 17.5% as of Nov. 28, the most recent date available.
Social gatherings, family events and church services are particularly to blame in the spread in Southwest Virginia, the governor said, citing information from public health directors in the region, which also has fewer hospital beds than in other areas.
“Ballad Health is sounding the alarm bells and just announced today it will stop scheduling all elective surgeries,” Northam said. On Wednesday, the Tennessee-based health system, which serves Southwest Virginia, announced it would order a second refrigerator morgue truck for Kingsport, Tenn., in the Tri-Cities region, and that all elective surgeries will be suspended starting Dec. 7.
Northam put new restrictions in place Nov. 16, limiting gatherings to 25 people or fewer, requiring masks in public, indoor spaces for everyone ages 5 and up, and banning alcohol sales at restaurants and bars after 10 p.m. The state also began enforcing social distancing, mask wearing and cleaning at grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential retail businesses with possible Class 1 misdemeanor charges.
Former Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade Angela Navarro will be appointed to fill the State Corporation Commission‘s open commissioner slot, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday. An attorney, Navarro is expected to be appointed in early January, the governor said.
Although the governor can appoint commissioners, Navarro must be approved by the state Senate and the House of Delegates to remain in the judicial seat, one of three appointments for six-year terms.
Navarro will replace Mark Christie, the chairman of the SCC, who was confirmed as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week by the U.S. Senate. He is set to take the oath of office as a FERC member Jan. 4 but remains a member of the SCC until that time.
Before serving as deputy commerce and trade secretary under Northam until October, Navarro was deputy secretary of natural resources under Northam and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe from 2015 to 2018. She also practiced law with the Southern Environmental Law Center, where she was the organization’s lead attorney on energy matters in Virginia.
Navarro would join Jehmal Hudson, who was appointed by Northam in June and took office July 7. He, too, must be approved by the General Assembly during its regular session next year. Judith Williams Jagdmann is serving her third term as commissioner and was the state’s attorney general from 2005 to 2006. Hudson was previously director of government affairs at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and was vice president of government affairs for the National Hydropower Association, and Jagdmann was deputy attorney general in the state’s civil litigation division.
The Virginia Energy Efficiency Council voiced its approval of Navarro’s appointment, crediting her with helping create the Virginia Clean Economy Act passed by the General Assembly this year. “The governor’s announcement today is welcome news for the energy efficiency industry in Virginia,” VAEEC Executive Director Chelsea Harnish said in a statement. “As one of the authors of this transformative legislation, having Ms. Navarro overseeing its successful implementation will be crucial in the coming years.”
Henrico County officials announced Tuesday plans for a $2.3 billion arena-anchored development, born out of the failed Navy Hill project proposal for downtown Richmond. But with private financing and no projected impact on county taxpayers, the GreenCity development may have a smoother path.
Proposed on the 204-acre former Best Products property owned by the county, GreenCity would be a mixed-use “ecodistrict” including a “green” 17,000-seat arena, 2.3 million square feet of office and retail space, 2,400 housing units and two hotels, with a sustainability focus.
The arena would be in operation in 2025, and the former Best headquarters would be adapted to commercial office space for multiple tenants, according to the proposed timeline for GreenCity. The buildout would be complete in 2033.
The project is being developed by Capital City Partners LLC, a partnership between Michael Hallmark of Los Angeles-based Future Cities LLC and Susan Eastridge of Fairfax-based Concord Eastridge Inc., who teamed up on the $1.5 billion Navy Hill proposal, which was rejected by Richmond City Council in February 2020.
Unlike the Navy Hill project, GreenCity would be privately funded with four sequences of development over 12 years, according to documents from the developers. The arena would be financed through Community Development Authority (CDA) bonds, “which direct incremental taxes from the Best Products site’s new development, along with revenues generated by the new arena to pay off the cost of the arena.”
Developers expect the bonds to close in 2023 with enough funds to build the arena, including $1.4 billion in arena revenues, $650 million in total gross debt service over a bond term of 30 years, and $750 million returning to Henrico County over the term. Once all bonds are repaid, all tax revenue would go to the county.
The first step of the process would take place in January, when the Henrico County Board of Supervisors must approve the site transfer to the county’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) for the project to go forward.
Navy Hill’s corporate backers are not involved in GreenCity, the developers said in their statement. Dominion Energy Executive Chair Thomas F. Farrell II was chairman of the nonprofit NH Foundation board formed in 2017 with NH District Corp., which was the only entity that responded to the city of Richmond’s request for downtown revitalization proposals later that year. Other board members included Martin J. Barrington, former chairman and CEO of Altria Group, and William H. Goodwin Jr., the retired chairman and president of Riverside Group who owns the Jefferson Hotel.
A council-appointed commission issued a report in January that the arena was not “a sound and reasonable public investment in the redevelopment of downtown,” and a consultant hired by City Council, while largely complimentary of the project, cited several weaknesses, including the lack of an appraisal of the property.
One of Richmonders’ chief objections to Navy Hill was the proposed Tax Increment Finance (TIF) area downtown that would have used tax revenue to pay for the arena; originally an 85-block area, the TIF district shrank to 11 blocks amid continuing controversy. Residents and city councilors still were concerned that the project could take money away from schools and other infrastructure, leading to a split City Council decision to kill the deal in February.
GreenCity, however, is “completely different,” according to developers, “as this development plan is based on green space versus infill,” and the CDA would encompass only the development area. They project that once the arena bonds are paid off, “GreenCity will become the largest single generator of tax revenue in the county.”
“We are thrilled to endorse this bold, visionary opportunity, as it is in sync with everything that Henrico County stands for and has been working hard to achieve — inclusion, resiliency, mobility, innovation and job growth,” Henrico County Manager John A. Vithoulkas said in a statement.
GreenCity will be designed with environmental sustainability, civic engagement and inclusion in mind, according to the county, and will include parks, trails and open spaces.
“We’re talking about a new kind of community that is intricately planned, inclusive for all and thoughtfully designed to be not only livable but also to set new standards for environmental sustainability,” Vithoulkas said in a statement. “GreenCity will be a community that preserves, embraces and showcases open space, and it will drive economic development and tourism in new and exciting ways while remaining respectful to county taxpayers.
The arena will include flexible seating configurations for concerts, shows and sports teams, including ECHL Hockey and G-League Basketball, according to Henrico County.
“The arena will put this region back on the entertainment map,” Vithoulkas said in a statement. “It also will provide tremendous benefits to our county while creating no financial risk to our taxpayers.”
If the project receives approval from the Henrico County Board of Supervisors, the EDA anticipates it will enter into an agreement to convey the land to the developers pending rezoning approval. Developers anticipate a formal plan and rezoning application will be submitted to the county in early 2021. Officials will conduct a financial projection review as part of the proposal.
The Navy Hill project, which was championed by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, would have included a partly publicly funded $235 million, 17,500-seat arena — the state’s largest entertainment venue — and 260,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; a 541-room luxury hotel within walking distance of the Greater Richmond Convention Center; 1 million square feet of commercial and office space; more than 2,500 apartments; a $10 million renovation of the Blues Armory; and a GRTC Transit System bus transfer station. VCU’s Center for Urban and Regional Analysis estimated that the project, which would have taken four to five years to complete, would have created 9,300 permanent jobs and 12,500 construction jobs.
As we prepare to enter a fresh calendar year marked by our new normal of remote work, Zoom meetings, face masks and social distancing, our need for connectedness and socializing remains as strong as ever. But because it may still be a while before we return to rubber-chicken dinners, networking receptions and cocktail parties, let Virginia Business do the work for you and introduce you to 100 Virginians who make the commonwealth a more interesting and innovative place to live and work.
Some of the folks you’ll meet in the following pages are people who made significant impressions on us, like Richmond native Henry Coleman III, a freshman basketball player at Duke University who made a powerful speech during this summer’s racial justice protests. Others, like Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver, became regular presences, helping us navigate the thorny world of COVID-19.
Unlike our annual Virginia 500 issue, this list isn’t meant to reflect the most influential or powerful people in the state. Instead, it’s simply a list of people we’ve enjoyed meeting and/or hearing about during the past year and we think you will too.
So, fire up your webcam, bang out an email or ask for a face-mask-to-face-mask meeting to introduce yourself. As always, “I saw you in Virginia Business!” is a great conversation starter.
Funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration with $192,000 in CARES Act money, plus matching grant funds from regional sources, the center will provide COVID-19 assistance, business counseling, development workshops, challenge programs and digital resources. It will serve businesses in Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan counties, as well as the city of Richmond and the town of Ashland.
Local governments, as well as Atlantic Union Bank and Region 4 of GO Virginia, are supporting the center, which is seeking members for a regional advisory board.
The opening is a reboot of ChamberRVA’s Greater Richmond Small Business Development Center, which operated from 1998 to 2018, assisting more than 20,000 businesses and facilitating $334.1 million in capital investment, according to VCC, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with offices in Christiansburg, Norfolk and Richmond. The new center, unlike its previous incarnation, will be connected to the statewide SBDC network, which has 26 centers.
Ryann Lofchie, former CEO of Richmond-based consulting firm The Frontier Project, was recently named director of the Capital Region SBDC, which will be located in Henrico County.
“This is an exciting starting point,” she said in a statement. “Richmond is such a vibrant place to live, and we owe so much of our region’s growth and evolution to our local small businesses. During this time of economic uncertainty and disruption, many business owners are in need extra support and resources. The SBDC and its extensive network of partners are well-poised to be responsive to the needs of our entrepreneurial and small business community to ensure our region continues to thrive.”
COVID-19 rates continued to climb last week in Virginia, with an increase of 16,797 cases since Nov. 23, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Nov. 30 dashboard update. The state also reported 120 virus-related deaths in the past week, raising the total number of fatalities over 4,000.
As of Monday, the state has recorded 237,835 cases and 4,062 deaths. The seven-day positivity rate has hit 7.5% statewide as of Nov. 26, the most recent data available. Virginia averages about 2,400 new cases a day, or 28.2 cases per 100,000 people, according to VDH.
Public health officials across the nation prepared for worsening outbreaks due to Thanksgiving travel and gatherings; Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top public health expert, said Sunday that Americans should restrict their travels and visits during Christmas and New Year’s. More than 9 million people traveled through U.S. airports during Thanksgiving week, according to news reports. The U.S., which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, has passed 13 million cases and 260,000 deaths. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that more than 470,000 U.S. residents could die from COVID-related causes by March 1.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Ralph Northam put in place new restrictions across the state, including limiting gatherings to 25 people and requiring everyone above the age of 5 to don face masks in public, indoor spaces.
The following health districts reported positivity rates above 10% as of Nov. 26:
Cumberland Plateau(Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties) — 13.3%, down from 18.7% as of Nov. 19
Lenowisco(Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the city of Norton) — 14.3%, down from 19.5%
Mount Rogers (cities of Bristol and Galax and counties of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe) — 17.1%, up from 14.2%
Pittsylvania-Danville — 10.6%, up from 8.4%
Prince William — 10.9%, up from 10.7%
Rappahannock Rapidan (Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties) — 11.9%, up from 7.5%
Roanoke — 11.0%, up from 9.6%
West Piedmont (Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville) — 15.1%, up from 13.8%
Several Virginia universities report COVID-19 rates among students, faculty and staff members, although some universities use different reporting metrics and methods. Most closed for Thanksgiving break and will not resume classes in person until January. Virginia Business will share newly reported data as received, but some universities will not update dashboards regularly until next semester.
Here are the most current university stats:
James Madison University: 1,666 total cases since July 1, with six reported last week as of Nov. 30.
Virginia Tech: 1,726 positive tests since Aug. 3, with 11 new cases from Nov. 23-30.
University of Virginia: 1,281 positive cases among students and employees reported since Aug. 17. The university recorded 47 new cases from Nov. 18-27.
Old Dominion University: 217 positive cases out of 8,166 tests performed as of Nov. 28. From Nov. 22-28, there were nine new positive tests.
George Mason University: 218 positive cases among students and employees between Aug. 17 and Nov. 29, including 35 positive tests in the past two weeks.
Liberty University: 69 positive cases from Nov. 15-24 among students and staff, out of a total 963 cases between Aug. 16-Nov. 24.
These are the 10 Virginia localities that have seen the most cases in the state, as of Nov. 30:
Globally, there are 62.9 million reported COVID-19 cases and 1,463,349 confirmed deaths as of Nov. 30. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 13.4 million confirmed cases so far, with 267,080 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since February.
A 9,492-square-foot building in Richmond has sold for $2,125,000, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced Monday.
Across West Broad Street from the Scott’s Addition neighborhood, the office/retail property at 3013-3015 Cutshaw Ave., purchased by 3001 Cutshaw LLC from 3015 Cutshaw Ave LLC, will be converted to an event center by Mosaic.
Connie Jordan Nielsen of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the purchaser, and Alex T. Wotring and Nicki Jassy represented the seller.
Whether saving lives, speaking truth to power or using their wealth for the greater good, these Virginians make the commonwealth a better place through their passion, dedication and sacrifice.
Head of research, enrollment services, EAB, Richmond
Richmonders can see the artistic legacy of philanthropist Pam Royall and her late husband, Bill, on prominent display in the form of “Rumors of War.” A striking 27-foot-tall monument of a modern-day Black warrior on horseback, it was installed in front of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Richmond’s Arthur Ashe Boulevard in December 2019. “We made a commitment to bring that sculpture to Richmond,” she says. The Royalls met the statue’s creator, celebrated visual artist Kehinde Wiley, about a decade ago, and Pam Royall owns several of Wiley’s paintings. She has been busy this year with work at EAB, formerly Royall & Co., a direct marketing and recruitment firm for higher education that Bill founded 31 years ago. Amid the pandemic, colleges’ demand for information on students’ enrollment plans has never been higher. “It’s almost a life-or-death scenario for small colleges,” Pam Royall says.
Dr. Danny Avula
Dr. Danny Avula
Director, Richmond and Henrico County health departments Richmond
Richmond-area residents got to know public health physician Danny Avula well in 2020. “Dr. Fauci played that role for the country,” explains Avula, the joint director of the Richmond and Henrico health departments since 2009. A University of Virginia and VCU School of Medicine alumnus, Avula has regularly updated Central Virginia on COVID-19 outbreaks and expects to focus on vaccination once it is available. From June through October, Avula’s health departments hired 120 people, some of whom have made inroads into Richmond’s Latino demographic, which has borne much of the virus’ brunt, along with Black residents. Aside from testing and providing protective gear, Avula says he and his colleagues often have to counter historical trauma and distrust in minority communities: “Public communication during a crisis is important.”
Lucy Beadnell
Lucy Beadnell
Director of advocacy, The Arc of Northern Virginia Falls Church
Lucy Beadnell advocates for Northern Virginia’s 39,000 people with developmental disabilities, and next year she plans to dive deeper into her passion project of providing resources for those people within the justice system. In 2021, she says, she’ll be working with first responder and legal offices in Arlington to set up Disability Response Teams, which will “reactively work to respond to cases when people with developmental disabilities are arrested to come up with solutions that really acknowledge and address the disability at hand.” Beadnell also remains focused on supported decision making (SDM), a best practice that moves away from the guardianship model for those with disabilities and closer to a model that allows for more independence and skill growth.
Henry Coleman III
Henry Coleman III
Freshman basketball player, Duke University Richmond
Trinity Episcopal School alum Henry Coleman III is a 6-foot-7 power forward on one of the nation’s elite NCAA men’s basketball teams. He’s also following in the footsteps of other athletes with racial justice ideals such as NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and NBA star LeBron James. This summer, a short yet powerful speech Coleman made during a protest at Duke was caught on video. “This country has had its knee on the neck of African Americans for too long. … I’m tired of it,” the 18-year-old said somberly. The video received thousands of views on Facebook. Speaking in October, Coleman says he wants people of other races to “just be open” to listening to Black people’s concerns.
Paul Manning
Paul Manning
Chairman and CEO, PBM Capital Group Charlottesville
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, businessman, investor and philanthropist Paul Manning donated $1 million to the University of Virginia to establish The Manning Fund for COVID-19 Research to support the university’s efforts to commercialize coronavirus-related research projects. With Manning’s fund, U.Va. will have the resources to complete research into testing, therapies, vaccines and reopening strategies amid the pandemic. The longtime university donor has also served on the U.Va. Strategic Planning Committee, the U.Va. Health Foundation, the U.Va. President’s Advisory Committee and the university’s Honor the Future campaign executive committee. He also founded Charlottesville-based PBM Capital, a health care-focused investment firm that invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences companies.
Dr. Norman Oliver
Dr. Norman Oliver
State health commissioner, Virginia Department of Health Richmond
A reluctant COVID-19 celebrity, Dr. Norman Oliver has been Virginia’s voice of calm advice during the pandemic. Speaking in October, eight months into the pandemic, Oliver says that he’s learned “the most important thing … is to tell people as honestly as you can what it is you know and what it is you don’t know, and what your plans are to close that gap.” He’s made special efforts to emphasize the toll of the virus on Black, Latino, elderly and disabled Virginians, and Oliver and his colleagues have started an advisory council to assist a vaccination campaign once a COVID vaccine is approved. He predicts that vaccines will be available to the larger population by summer 2021.
Dr. Vikas Pathak
Dr. Vikas Pathak
Pulmonologist, clinical protocol committee chairman, Riverside Medical Group Newport News
One of Virginia’s front-line medical workers, Dr. Vikas Pathak worked 14-hour days at the start of the pandemic, checking on patients, determining how fast Riverside’s hospitals were going through personal protective equipment and deciding where overflow patients could go. At home, he had to quarantine himself from his family. A native of Nepal, Pathak completed his internal medicine residency at a hospital in the Bronx. He recognizes that Virginia was relatively fortunate in that doctors here were able to learn from their counterparts in Washington state, Oregon and New York, which were hit harder and earlier. “We learned from other people’s experiences,” he said this summer. “We were blessed to get a late start.”
Dr. Lilian Peake
Dr. Lilian Peake
State epidemiologist, Virginia Department of Health Richmond
Dr. Norman Oliver is the public face of Virginia’s coronavirus fight, but Dr. Lilian Peake is the data scientist gathering information. She’s worked in public health for 20 years but notes, “The magnitude of this pandemic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” If there’s been one bright spot from the pandemic, it’s that people in charge of the state’s budget now recognize how underfunded Virginia’s public health sector is, says Peake. “There’s a lot of demand for public information” about the pandemic, and that was especially true in the early days. Peake worked up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week without a break until June. In 2021, her hope is to spend more time improving quality and analyzing data collected this year.
Dr. Sandy Simons. Photo by Cade Martin
Dr. Sandy Simons
Emergency medicine specialist, Bon Secours-Richmond Community Hospital Richmond
In March 2020, Dr. Sandy Simons found herself thrust into the national debate over the pandemic after she wrote a moving first-person essay for Politico about her coronavirus worries as an emergency room doctor. Simons has remained busy, especially since regular patient volume picked up without a corresponding staffing increase this summer. She’s often the only ER doctor on night duty, and her hospital is frequently the closest place for homeless people with special needs to seek help. An outspoken presence on Twitter and a columnist for Emergency Medicine News magazine, Simons says that a COVID-19 vaccine — when approved and available — will “make life so much easier.” Taking surgical masks, gowns and other protective gear on and off is time-consuming, and it’s been hard limiting family members who want to visit. In 2021, Simons says, “I’ll need to start writing my book.”
Pete Snyder
Pete Snyder
CEO, Disruptor Capital; co-founder, Virginia 30 Day Fund Charlottesville
A serial entrepreneur turned angel investor, Pete Snyder has also become a lifeline for small businesses drowning in unexpected debt from the pandemic. Snyder, the former Republican Party of Virginia finance chairman, and his wife, Burson, launched the Virginia 30 Day Fund, which makes forgivable $3,000 loans to small businesses. “Like the [coronavirus], the economic disease that has hit our Main Street knows no bounds,” Snyder told Virginia Business this spring. Snyder is also the CEO of Charlottesville-based angel capital investment company Disruptor Capital. In 2013, Snyder lost a Republican primary convention bid to become the GOP’s nominee for lieutenant governor — but he’s said to be eyeing a potential 2021 run for governor.
As the Las Vegas-born son of Liberace’s music arranger, Justin Ayars got a fabulous start in life. However, he chose law over showbiz, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from William & Mary and a law degree from George Mason University. As the former chair of the Virginia Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, he’s been an advocate for the state’s LGBTQ citizens, and founded Q Media, the publisher of a “nonpartisan, family-friendly” gay magazine with a targeted upscale audience. His latest company, Equality Rewards, has launched a pioneering telehealth portal that helps LGBTQ patients find inclusive doctors. “There’s a mistrust of the medical community. Many LGBTQ people don’t get checkups,” he says. “In the time of COVID, that’s concerning.”
Melissa Baker
Melissa Baker
Director, Virginia State Parks Richmond
Can the state’s main custodian of public land do her work from home? “For the most part, yes, but one perk of the job is going outdoors,” says Melissa Baker, who became Virginia’s first female director of its system of 38 state parks in January. “We’ve been busy,” she adds. “The parks have had increased visitation ince we reopened.” Previously North Dakota’s parks director, Baker also helped to run Montana State Parks and Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, earning her master’s in outdoor recreation management from Southern Illinois University and a doctorate in forestry, recreation management and protected area planning from the University of Montana. Everywhere she’s served, Baker has been a trailblazer. “There are other female directors,” she says, “but it is a male-dominated field.”
Robert Gray
Robert Gray
Chief, Pamunkey Indian Tribe King William
Pamunkey Indian Tribe chief since 2015, Robert Gray thinks that his tribe’s planned 13.4-acre, $500 million Norfolk resort casino will be a jackpot for everyone. “I truly believe that we will help the city and they will help us,” he told Virginia Business last year. Norfolk is projected to receive $50 million annually for public school construction through the project, as well as $30 million a year in gaming and sales taxes. Gray, a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant and former Philadelphian, says that, with casino revenue, he will bring more Pamunkey Indians back to their Virginia homeland and institute much-needed upgrades for reservation infrastructure, including broadband. He’s also rolling the dice on another potential casino project, this time a $350 million project planned for Richmond and slated for consideration in 2021.
Brian Huseman
Brian Huseman
Vice president of public policy, Amazon.com Inc. Arlington
In a widely circulated May blog post, Brian Huseman called on Congress to pass a federal price-gouging law to combat unfair pricing of face masks and other medical equipment during the pandemic. A former Department of Justice attorney and a Federal Trade Commission general counsel before joining Amazon eight years ago, Huseman says the company is still lobbying Congress for a national law, as well as working closely with attorneys general across the country, including Virginia’s Mark Herring. The Oklahoma native also has his hands full overseeing public policy issues connected to Amazon’s $2.5 billion HQ2 project, now in its second phase of development. So far, hiring, permits and construction are still on target, Huseman says, with the $14 million renovation of Metropolitan Park approved and set to be finished in 2023, and interviews for 500 Arlington-based positions taking place this fall.
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