byline: Virginia Business

A former defense contracting executive and Norfolk native, Miller was appointed secretary by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022. He is responsible for Virginia’s rail, roads, transit and ports. As chair of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, Miller has a great deal of say on the state’s transportation funding of major road expansion and improvement projects, as well as state funding of the Washington Metro system. In 2024, the state, along with contributions from Maryland and Washington, D.C., came through with additional funding to assist Metro with its $750 million budget gap.

Among Miller’s biggest responsibilities are the Port of Virginia’s $1.4 billion project to expand overall capacity and cargo handling, and the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, as well as ongoing improvements on interstates 64, 81 and 95 to ease congestion.

An alumnus of Hampden-Sydney College and William & Mary, Miller retired in 2017 upon his sale of KITCO Fiber Optics, twice named by the Virginia Chamber as one of Virginia’s 50 fastest-growing companies.

Miller is a member of the boards of Maryland’s Washington College and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. He also serves on TowneBank’s Norfolk board.

Potter oversees two of the busiest airports in the country — Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International — as well as the Dulles Toll Road.

In 2023, 50.6 million passengers came through the two Northern Virginia airports, setting a new travel record. Meanwhile, Reagan National was at the center of controversy when the U.S. Senate approved a bill to allow 10 additional flights at the busy airport. U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine blasted the move, saying it would cause more ‘chaos’ on the tarmac. In April, two planes almost collided at the airport, and the two Virginia senators filed an amendment to halt expansion.

Meanwhile, Potter and the MWAA board reached a 15-year agreement with airlines that will take effect in January 2025 and includes a $9 billion capital construction program. The largest project is nearly $7 billion in expansion and improvements at Dulles, including a new concourse and a fifth runway, and at Reagan, $2.39 billion to replace its main concourse.

A New York native, Potter served as U.S. postmaster general for 10 years. He earned degrees from Fordham University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ruddy, who has served two terms as COO, from 2011 to 2014, and since 2021, oversees information technology, safety, security, expansion projects and maintenance for the Virginia Port Authority affiliate that runs the Port of Virginia.

That’s always a big job, but the past year has added some extra challenges. This spring, the Port of Virginia’s marine terminals took on significantly more cargo this spring following the Dali freighter’s collision with the Key Bridge that temporarily shut down the Port of Baltimore. Additionally, the Biden administration proposed a 25% tariff on Chinese-manufactured ship-to-shore cranes, which the president has said may pose espionage and cybersecurity risks. If the tariff goes forward, the Port of Virginia would face a $40 million addition to the $161.5 million price tag for 12 new Chinese-made cranes the port ordered, according to the American Association of Port Authorities.

On the positive side, in March, the port completed the widening of its shipping channel, a significant part of the $450 million dredging project to make the port the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast. The project’s deepening component is expected to be finished by fall 2025.

Since its launch last year, Regional Internet Service Expansion has connected hundreds of Virginians to broadband internet. The $288 million project is a partnership between Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Firefly Fiber Broadband and Virginia localities that aims to bring high-speed internet to more than 36,000 businesses and residences.

In June, Greene County became the second locality to connect 400 Rappahannock customers to broadband. Hewa, Rappahannock’s president and CEO since 2020, said the milestone was a “shining example of co-ops working collaboratively together and the positive impact it has on the businesses and communities we serve.”

A registered professional engineer who holds a doctorate in engineering from George Washington University, Hewa joined Rappahannock in 2017 as vice president and chief operating officer after previously holding positions at cooperatives in Florida and Texas.

He serves on several regional boards, including those of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Hewa also serves as co-chairman of the Coalition for the Advancement of Reliable Electric Systems.

In March, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of REC members’ efforts to increase voting rights and transparency at the co-op, including salary disclosures.

Nearly four decades have passed since Granger went to work at Hunton & Williams in 1985 as a fresh-faced graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.

While Granger has remained at the same firm, some things have changed. In 2018, Hunton & Williams merged with Andrews Kurth Kenyon, a Texas-based practice well known in the oil and gas industry, which created Hunton Andrews Kurth. Today, the firm has more than 900 lawyers, located in 13 domestic offices and six overseas locations.

Granger has served as managing partner of Hunton’s Richmond office for almost seven years. As an attorney, Granger’s practice centers around business transactions with a specific focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He’s particularly experienced in handling multinational acquisitions.

In 2023, Granger helped lead a Hunton Andrews Kurth team representing Indiana-based Paragon Medical, a provider of highly engineered medical components and instruments, when Pennsylvania-based Ametek, a global provider of industrial technology solutions, purchased the company from equity firm American Securities for $1.9 billion. Granger sits on the board of directors of Venture Richmond.

In January, Junaideen took over as Greater Washington market leader for Big Four global accounting firm Deloitte.

He also serves as managing partner of Deloitte’s Northern Virginia offices in Rosslyn and McLean. Immediately prior to taking on these executive roles, Junaideen was principal at the Deloitte & Touche subsidiary.

Junaideen has more than 32 years of experience, including 29 with Deloitte, where he started as a senior consultant with the firm’s Australian office. He also previously served as U.S. life sciences and health care leader for Deloitte’s advisory business, spent three years in India, where he was responsible for Deloitte’s risk advisory services, and was market leader for the firm’s U.S. federal contracting business.

Junaideen holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Cloud State University and is a certified information systems security professional, a certified information systems auditor and is a certified practicing accountant in Australia. He has served on boards for the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the American Heart Association, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland.

Bredow has worked for NVR since 2004 and, after holding several executive positions in accounting and administration, became president of NVR Mortgage in April 2019. In 2022, he was appointed president and CEO of NVR, which operates in two business segments that include homebuilding and mortgage banking.

Founded in 1980, the company is one of the nation’s largest homebuilding and mortgage banking companies. NVR reported $9.5 billion in 2023 revenue, down from the $10.5 billion reported in 2022. Its homebuilding segment is the nation’s fourth largest builder, operating under the Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Heartland Homes brands in 35 metro areas across 15 states as well as Washington, D.C. Its mortgage and settlement subsidiaries provide an array of financing, settlement and title services to complement its homebuilding business.

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

As Venture Realty Group’s in-house attorney and managing partner, Culpepper coordinates deal formation, land-use entitlement, and predevelopment services. Previously, he was an associate with law firm Williams Mullen’s real estate and land use team and a principal with Fee Simple Legal, focusing on real estate transactions.

At Venture Realty, Culpepper works closely with Virginia Beach native and music and fashion superstar Pharrell Williams, collaborating with him and the City of Virginia Beach on the $350 million Atlantic Park surf park and entertainment venue set to open in spring 2025. In January, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reported that the 10-foot hole for the surf lagoon was partly filled with contaminated water. In March, Venture began working on removing the contaminants, and the project has remained on schedule.

Culpepper earned his bachelor’s degree from William & Mary and a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law as a John Marshall Scholar. Since 2016, Venture Realty Group has developed 6 million square feet of projects worth more than $600 million throughout Hampton Roads while providing development, leasing, brokerage, property management, asset management, consulting and tenant representation services.

Jenkins became president of Culpeper Wood Preservers in 2016. Started from a single location in Culpeper in 1976, the company today has 18 facilities on the East Coast and in Indiana and Tennessee. It is a leading manufacturer of pressure-treated lumber products for the residential, commercial, industrial and marine markets. Its name products are sold through lumber dealers in the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest and Southeast.

In May, Culpeper announced its acquisition of Pleasant Garden Dry Kiln, based in North Carolina, expanding its drying capacity for hardwoods and softwoods.

In August 2023, the company became the newest member of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s Manufacturers and Services Council, composed of lumber and building material manufacturers and service providers who supply independent dealers.

Before building his career in lumber, Jenkins, an East Carolina University graduate, was recruited by the Chicago White Sox. He pitched for Minor League Baseball teams for six years, also working as a coach and scout, before joining Culpeper Wood Preservers.

In June, Rockingham-based Soli Organic made headlines when it opened what may be the world’s largest indoor organic farm in San Antonio, Texas, nurturing 200,000 herb plants a week in its 140,000-square-foot facility. It’s all in a day’s work for the high-tech, soil-based indoor vertical farming company that previously was known as Shenandoah Growers before a 2021 rebranding.

The Harvard-educated Ryan, Soli’s CEO since 2021, told Virginia Business in fall 2023 that his company holds a 50% market share nationally in potted herbs, selling organic herbs and greens in more than 20,000 grocery stores nationally. The company, which has about 300 of its 750 workers in Virginia, has been expanding its national footprint with the help of $125 million in venture funding that it secured in 2022.

Before Soli, Ryan served as head of brand management for Walt Disney and chief marketing officer and chief strategy officer for Starbucks. Ryan has served on the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals’ board of directors since January 2020. In February, he joined the board of Dine Brands Global, a publicly traded food and beverage company that owns restaurant brands Applebee’s and International House of Pancakes.