byline: Virginia Business

With more than 25 years of experience directing commercial real estate operations, Thomas is the executive managing director and market leader for Colliers Virginia.

At Colliers Virginia, he oversees all brokerage operations, recruitment, retention and business development in Richmond, Hampton Roads and Charlottesville, which includes about 60 brokers across the three markets. Thomas joined Colliers from Henrico County’s Commonwealth Commercial Partners, where he led a team of 18 employees. Previously Thomas was managing partner for GVA Advantis, overseeing its regional brokerage operations.

In January 2023, the same month Thomas joined the real estate brokerage, Colliers became the leasing and management company for City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News, a high-density, mixed-use development with 600,000 square feet of buildings on 52 acres.

Thomas is a Richmond native and a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University. He was president of the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE) in 2023.

Since 2012, Bassett has served as president of Vaughan-Bassett, the fourth generation of his family to lead the company. Vaughan-Bassett has been crafting furniture for 105 years now, since 1919. Its brands include Vaughan-Bassett Furniture, Artisan & Post and Laurel Mercantile Co. Home by Ben & Erin Napier.

The company, which employs about 500 craftsmen, recently returned dining furniture to its product lines after a three-year suspension. It continues with other case goods, as well. Vaughan-Bassett also bills itself as the nation’s largest manufacturer of wood bedroom furniture.

In April, Vaughan-Bassett opened its new Furniture First showroom and offices in High Point, North Carolina, relocating its anchor showroom from the 10th floor of the International Home Furnishings Center, where it had spent roughly the past 25 years. The showroom is located on the penthouse floor of the new four-story, 40,000-square-foot building. Its new footprint occupies approximately 17,000 square feet in Furniture First. The company’s factory facilities remain in Galax, with a distribution center in Elkin, North Carolina.

Bassett serves on the executive committee of the High Point Market Authority’s board of directors.

In January, Red Light and Live Nation broke ground on Riverfront Amphitheater, a new 7,500-capacity music venue in downtown Richmond that is expected to open in summer 2025. The $30 million amphitheater will host about 30 events per year and is expected to become a premier outdoor destination, bringing top-name artists to the greater Richmond region. Additionally, it will serve as a space for graduation ceremonies, city festivals and local events.

Headed up by music and real estate mogul Capshaw, Red Light manages dozens of major acts, including Dave Matthews Band, Chris Stapleton, Lionel Richie, Sabrina Carpenter, Brandi Carlile and Phish.

Capshaw’s journey in the music world began in the late ’80s when he began managing Dave Matthews Band, and in 1991, he founded artist management company Red Light Management.

The company has since expanded into other ventures, including music festivals, branding, event production and sports management.

Capshaw also founded Starr Hill Presents and Musictoday and was instrumental in the success of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee. He developed the Ting Pavilion on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall and co-founded independent record label ATO Records with Dave Matthews.

O’Shaughnessy was named president and CEO of Graham Holdings in November 2015, taking over from his father-in-law. He had been elected to the board a year before, joining Graham Holdings to guide the company in a new direction following its 2013 sale of The Washington Post.

Co-founding LivingSocial in 2007, O’Shaughnessy served as its CEO before coming to Graham Holdings. During his time as CEO, the e-commerce and marketing company grew sales to nearly $2 billion.

Graduating from Georgetown University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, operations and information management, O’Shaughnessy now serves as a board vice president for the nonprofit Federal City Council.

Graham Holdings owns a mix of education, home health and hospice care, broadcasting, news, car dealerships, manufacturing and hospitality companies. Among its recognizable brands: Kaplan, Slate magazine, Society6, Roanoke’s WSLS TV and Clyde’s Restaurant Group. Revenue for the first half of 2024 was $2.337 billion, up 9% from the same period in 2023, the company reported in July. Education, health care and automotive sectors saw increases, but TV broadcasting and manufacturing revenues declined.

In April, Graham Holdings signed a five-year lease with Monday Properties at 1812 N. Moore St. in Rosslyn. Graham Holdings will  occupy the entire 21st floor at its new location.

Following a long and distinguished diplomatic and national security career that included leadership roles in the public and private sectors, Crouch became the USO’s 23rd president and CEO in 2014.

The USO, which receives about $200 million in contributions annually, works in more than 250 locations throughout the world and serves 4.5 million service members and their families. In addition to its well-known entertainment tours, the USO provides care packages to troops, transition assistance to service members and spouses, and airport travel assistance. In 2023 the USO opened its first ship-based center aboard the USS George H.W. Bush.

Crouch formerly served as CEO of defense contractor QinetiQ North America. He was a deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, U.S. ambassador to Romania in 2004 and 2005, and assistant secretary of defense in international security policy from 2001 to 2003.

Crouch also serves in the pro bono role of senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in international relations from the University of Southern California.

Holm became Performance Food Group’s leader in 2008 after more than four decades in the food service-distribution industry, with leadership roles at Sysco, US Foods, Alliant Foodservice and Vistar. He became president and CEO of PFG when the Blackstone Group and Wellspring Capital Management purchased PFG and merged it with a subsidiary of Vistar, where Holm was president and CEO. The $1.4 billion deal led to a new chapter in Holm’s venerable career.

Goochland-based PFG is ranked No. 84 on the Fortune 500 and No. 272 on the Fortune Global 500, with $57.35 billion in revenue reported in fiscal year 2023, an increase from $47.19 billion in 2022.

The company, which employs more than 30,000 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.

PFG is dedicated to shrinking its carbon footprint. In April, it held an open house at its Gilroy, California, facility to showcase how it has collaborated with partner companies to create a more sustainable distribution center model.

Lidl, a German discount retail grocery chain, entered the U.S. market in 2017. But it struggled to compete with its chief rival, Aldi, and other discount retailers, and Lidl has changed its U.S. CEO three times since 2018. In August 2023, Rampoldt took the reins as the first American to lead Lidl’s U.S. division.

His roots in the retail and grocery industry run deep: His first job was as a bagger at his local Kroger at age 15. After earning an MBA from Yale, he spent two decades advising leaders of U.S. and European grocery companies as a consultant at Oliver Wyman, KPMG and AlixPartners. 

Lidl has followed the appointment of Rampoldt by hiring four new executives and conducting layoffs in March, about a year after laying off 200 employees. In stores, Lidl has relaunched its fresh meat and produce divisions, and Rampoldt said in a March interview with Progressive Grocer that the chain would tailor its nonfood products to appeal to U.S. customers.

In January, Rampoldt joined the board of directors of the Food Industry Association for a three-year term.

Barrett, who grew up in Hampton Roads and scored her first job working at the candy counter at Irwin’s Pharmacy, has accumulated more than 30 years of experience in banking and finance. She has been with TowneBank for over 16 years.

She is the second woman president in the Virginia Maritime Association’s 104-year history. Barrett is a graduate of the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia. She serves as chair of Norfolk Festevents and is a board member for Nauticus, the downtown Norfolk maritime museum.

She also is a former longtime board member and officer of the Propeller Club, Port of Norfolk. In 2019, the maritime booster group established the Propeller Club Norfolk Judy Barrett Fund in support of the Nauticus Foundation’s Sail Nauticus program, which teaches underprivileged children sailing skills and introduces them to maritime career options.

IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE, I’D MEET: Mary Ann Brown Patten, the first female commander of an American merchant vessel in the 1800s.

FAVORITE TEAM: I grew up watching the Washington Commanders with my dad and hope to see a turnaround this year with this team!

As head of CV International and Capes Shipping Agencies, a family-owned global logistics and vessel agency service company, Coleman is responsible for the overall management, direction and growth of the company.

He serves as chairman of the Virginia Maritime Association (VMA) and is a board member of the Hampton Roads Shipping Association. He previously served as president of the Hampton Roads Global Commerce Council.

Coleman worked his way up through CV International, which his father started in 1984, becoming president in 2006 and CEO in 2018. The logistics business has about 100 employees throughout the mid-Atlantic, including 55 in Virginia.

Coleman also is president of the state Board for Branch Pilots, which oversees the licensing and regulation of harbor pilots in Virginia, and is a commissioner for the Virginia Port Authority, providing oversight of the Port of Virginia. His term ends in June 2027.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and a law degree from Louisiana State University.