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byline: Virginia Business

Hospitality | Tourism 2023: DOUG BRADBURN

Bradburn has been leading the most popular historic estate in the U.S. since 2018. The historic home of the first U.S. president and his wife, Martha Washington, welcomes an average of 1 million visitors each year.

An author and scholar of early American , Bradburn joined in 2013 as the founding director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Prior to that, Bradburn served as chair of the history department at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He received his doctorate in history from the University of Chicago and his bachelor’s degree in history and economics from the University of Virginia.

The private, nonprofit organization launched an ambitious $150 million campaign in 2021, Mount Vernon’s most significant fundraising effort since the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union’s original drive to purchase and restore the estate more than 160 years ago. The Ladies’ Association still owns and maintains the historic site.

Hospitality | Tourism 2023: CHRISTOPHER J. NASSETTA

Nassetta is the longtime president and CEO of one of the world’s largest companies. has a portfolio of 7,200 properties and 19 brands in 122 countries and territories, including high-end Waldorf Astoria and Conrad and mid-level chains such as Doubletree by Hilton.

Nassetta joined Hilton in 2007 after investment firm Blackstone acquired the company in a $26 billion deal. Hilton went public again in 2013. In the past 15 years, Nassetta has more than doubled the company’s footprint.

The company returned to the list this year following a two-year absence in the wake of the pandemic. Travel demand continues to grow as pent-up demand prompts the return of business and leisure travel, especially in Europe, Nassetta told The Wall Street Journal in December 2022.

A graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, Nassetta spent 10 years at Host Hotels & Resorts, serving first as chief operating officer and then as president and CEO before taking the helm at Hilton in 2007.

Nassetta was named chair of the U.S. Travel Association in February and sits on the board of CoStar Group.

Hospitality | Tourism 2023: CLYDE STACY

A former coal mining executive who headed Rapoca Energy, Stacy is a prominent and investor in his hometown of . He purchased the vacant Bristol Mall for $2.6 million in 2018 and partnered with longtime friend Jim McGlothlin, chairman of The United Co., to build Virginia’s first . The two friends were instrumental in changing state laws to allow casinos in economically challenged Virginia cities.

The Hotel & Casino Bristol, a $400 million , is slated to open next summer. Expected to generate as many as 1,500 jobs, the casino will also include a 3,200-seat performance venue and a 20,000-person outdoor entertainment space. A temporary casino opened in 2021.

Stacy was an investor in Dharma Pharmaceuticals, a licensed medical cannabis processor that was acquired in 2021 by Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries for $80 million. In October 2020, the company was the first in Virginia to dispense medical marijuana after the General Assembly loosened cannabis laws. Dharma Pharmaceuticals’ founders filed a lawsuit against Par Ventures, claiming Dharma is owed more than $7 million in relocation expenses for moving out of the Bristol Mall in 2021.

Manufacturing 2023: HOWARD BROADFOOT

Broadfoot has been CEO of Electro-Mechanical since 2021, when he was promoted from chief operating officer upon the retirement of founder Russell Leonard. It’s been a busy couple of years since then. He shepherded the equipment electric manufacturer through its November 2021 acquisition by private equity fund Graycliff Partners for an undisclosed amount. He has also led the and implementation of a multiyear strategic plan and has seen revenue and earnings grow by more than 100%. Broadfoot joined Electro-Mechanical in 2009.

Leonard founded the company in 1958 as Electric Motor Repair and Sales, and these days it primarily focuses on switchgears, transformers and custom systems that are critical components for utility and industrial power infrastructure, marketing products under the Federal Pacific and Line Power brands. 

Broadfoot earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial management and an MBA from the University of North Alabama. Prior to joining Electro-Mechanical, he was an executive at Thomas & Betts and Newell Rubbermaid and worked for Boeing and German car parts manufacturer ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Law 2023: MONICA T. MONDAY

On Jan. 1, Monday became chair of the Executive Board, which the firm formed this year. She previously served as the firm’s managing partner for 10 years, and K. Brett Marston succeeded her as the firm’s managing partner.

The William & Mary undergraduate and school alumna also heads the firm’s appellate practice. Before joining Gentry Locke, Monday clerked for Virginia Supreme Court Senior Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr. when he was chief judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Monday is a member of the Virginia Poverty Law Center’s advisory council and secretary of the Virginia Bar Association’s Boyd-Graves Conference.

As of March, Gentry Locke had 81 attorneys in Virginia. The firm opened an office in this year, its fourth in the commonwealth.

HOW I UNWIND FROM WORK: Cooking and spending time with family

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Listening is hard, but it’s the key to effective communications.

Real Estate 2023: BRENDAN BECHTEL

Serving as CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2017, is the fifth generation to lead his family-owned global , and project management company. 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. In November 2022, Bechtel Corp. was selected to and build the first phase of Intel’s $20 billion semiconductor facility near Columbus, Ohio. Other notable projects include the Ankara-Gerede highway in Turkey and Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line railway in England.

Brendan Bechtel, a Middlebury College and Stanford University graduate with business and engineering degrees, previously served as the company’s president and chief operating officer and was elected chairman at age 36. He sits on the board for the Business Roundtable and chairs its infrastructure committee. He is also a trustee for the National Geographic Society and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Real Estate 2023: GERALD S. DIVARIS

co-founded Divaris Group in South Africa in 1974. Since 1981, the firm has been headquartered in Virginia. Divaris , one of the companies under the Divaris Group umbrella, opened its first office in the United States in 1982 in Virginia. Along with its headquarters, Divaris has offices in Newport News, , Richmond and , as well as in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Beverly Hills, California; and Washington, D.C.

The firm currently manages or leases more than 39.3 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space in the U.S. It represents more than 75 retailers, including Kohl’s, Best Buy, Trader Joe’s, Banana Republic, Staples and P.F. Chang’s.

In May, Divaris Group restructured its top leadership. Tony Divaris, Gerald Divaris’ cousin, was promoted to chief operating officer after previously serving as the company’s internal controller and CFO. David Sutliff, who had served as a company adviser for 12 years, was named chief financial officer.

The restructuring followed a string of acquisitions and a partnership with KLNB that added more than 200 employees to the company.

Divaris earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Real Estate 2023: FRANK ‘BUDDY’ GADAMS

Gadams and his firm are known for their commercial and residential projects, but he has also led community-based projects like the restoration of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts.

Gadams founded Marathon in 2000. He is also one of the founders of the YPO (formerly Young Presidents’ Organization) Virginia Chapter.

A Downtown Council member, Marathon focuses on the historic restoration of landmark buildings. Notable projects the firm has repurposed into apartments in Norfolk include The Rockefeller (formerly the Union Mission building), Icon Norfolk (formerly the Bank of America building) and Savoy Apartments (formerly the Hotel Savoy).

An investor and member of the board of directors for ReAlta Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biotech company, Gadams also serves on boards for the Benedictine Schools of Richmond and the Slover Library Foundation. He volunteers for Saint Patrick Catholic School.

Gadams is a marathon runner who has competed in more than 25 races, including a 150-mile ultramarathon through the Sahara Desert. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from James Madison University.

Real Estate 2023: TIMOTHY HELMIG

After joining Monday Properties in 2005, Helmig has led the company to capital investments of more than $16 billion, an expanded multifamily portfolio of 5,300 units, and executed transactions totaling more than 35 million square feet.

Helmig’s brother-in-, Anthony Westreich, founded Monday Properties and acquired a 2.5 million-square-foot Rosslyn portfolio of buildings in 2007, two years after Westreich’s father, the late Stanley Westreich, sold them to Beacon Capital Partners for $960 million. In June, news outlets reported that Monday Properties defaulted on a $150 million mezzanine loan on a seven-building Northern Virginia office portfolio, and Eastdil Secured was hired to seek a loan buyer.

Today, Monday Properties owns 1812 N. Moore in , home to Nestlé’s U.S. headquarters, as well as residential and commercial buildings along the East Coast.

Prior to joining Monday Properties, Helmig was a partner at Westfield Realty, co-founded by Stanley Westreich, where he oversaw approximately $5 billion in transactions. He is a graduate of American University and is vice chairman of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District board.

September 2023 Out and About

1.  Virginia Western Community College Associate Professor Jenifer Kurtz helped situate bee colonies into a new home on campus this spring. In July, VWCC announced it had become an affiliate of conservation program Bee Campus USA. Photo by Amy White.  2.  L to R: Frankie Holland, Bob Wilkin, Frank Garrett, Benita Jordan, Ginny Coleman, Ralph Thompson, Lou-Jane Basham, Peggy Pearcy, Jan Green, Linda Cronise, Judy Bower and Lee Spicer from Friendship Retirement Community volunteered at Rescue Mission of on June 27. Photo by Pat Walters. 3.  Patice L. Holland, a principal with Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, attended the Virginia Bar Association’s summer meeting July 20-22 at The Omni Homestead . Photo courtesy VBA. (Editor’s note: Virginia Business Publisher Bernie Niemeier serves on the VBA Committee on Special Issues of National and State Importance.)  4. L to R: On Aug. 8, Caroline County Supervisor Jeff Sili, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, M.C. Dean CEO Bill Dean, Caroline County Board of Supervisors Chairman Floyd Thomas, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and state Sen. Richard Stuart cut the ribbon on a new 168,000-square-foot building on M.C. Dean’s Caroline County campus. Photo courtesy M.C. Dean.  5. L to R: Roshan Roeder, Northrop Grumman’s defense systems sector president and corporate vice president, moderated a conversation with Northrop Grumman President, CEO and Chair Kathy Warden and Virginia Tech President Tim Sands during the CHIPS for Virginia Summit on July 18. Photo courtesy Northrop Grumman.  6. L to R: Martinsville Mayor LC Jones, Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Adams, The Harvest Foundation President Kate Keller, Henry County Industrial Authority Chairman Len Dillon and Henry County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Joe Bryant celebrate the foundation’s $6 million investment in Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre, announced July 11. Photo courtesy The Harvest Foundation. 7.  L to R: Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr, Plenty CEO Arama Kukutai, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick and Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Chair Kevin Carroll at the July 31 groundbreaking for Plenty’s Chesterfield County indoor vertical farm. Photo courtesy Chesterfield County. 8. L to R: Mark Johnson, Truist Financial community development manager; Truist Virginia Regional President Thomas Ransom; Urban Strategies Inc. (USI) President Esther Shin; and Julian Wyatt, USI CDFI loan fund manager, attended a July 25 event in announcing Truist Foundation’s $1.5 million grant to USI. Photo courtesy Truist.  9. L to R: Cynthia Boone, Charles City County’s economic development and manager; Surry County Supervisor Judy Lyttle; James City County Supervisor Ruth Larson; Virginia Tourism Corp. President and CEO Rita McClenny; Hopewell City Councilor Rita Joyner; and Yoti Jabri, Prince George County’s economic development director, cut the ribbon on the 5 & Dime scenic driving trail on Aug. 3. Photo by Veda McMullen.  10. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney spoke at the July 17 announcement of the city and Venture Richmond’s expansion of the Downtown Service District to include Manchester. Photo courtesy Venture Richmond. 11. L to R: W. Craig Harley Jr., executive director of the Commission on Accreditation for Enforcement Agencies (CALEA); Jackie Crotts, Richmond Department of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response’s (DECPR) deputy director of technology; Tory Maye, DECPR’s deputy director of operations; Kenya Washington, DECPR’s professional standards and development manager; DECPR Director Stephen Willoughby; and CALEA Commissioner Marlon Lynch display the accreditation for Richmond’s 911 emergency communications center on July 27. Photo courtesy CALEA.