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Real Estate: LAURA DILLARD LAFAYETTE
Lafayette has been with the Richmond Association of Realtors for nearly 16 years, representing more than 6,800 Realtors in Central Virginia. She also serves as CEO of the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service. An advocate for affordable housing, Lafayette previously was executive director of regional nonprofit The P[...]
Transportation: DAVID C. WHITE
White’s best advice is to follow the Golden Rule, a lesson handed down to him by his parents. He joined the VMA in 2003 and advocates for its 500 member companies before state and federal leaders. The association’s priorities include encouraging investment in education and training, increasing the inventory of shovel-ready s[...]
Law: COURTNEY MOATES PAULK
Paulk is a construction lawyer who has led Hirschler’s 90 attorneys since 2018 as the firm’s first woman president. Her focus has been on growing the firm, known for its real estate and construction law practices. In addition to leading the firm, Paulk also heads Hirschler’s litigation section. The University of Mary Washi[...]
Arts/Entertainment/Sports: PHARRELL WILLIAMS
Virginia Beach’s city manager and mayor were unable to persuade Grammy-winning star Williams to keep his Something in the Water Festival in the city where it debuted in 2019, with $24 million in economic impact. In June, Williams moved the three-day music festival to Washington, D.C., citing his dissatisfaction with how Virgin[...]
Government/Politics: L. LOUISE LUCAS
If you didn’t recognize Democratic Party stalwart Lucas for her bright wardrobe and the fact that she’s been in the Virginia State Senate for 30 years, you may recognize her as one of the biggest online critics of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other Virginia Republicans. The first woman and Black person to serve as the […[...]
Law: JOHN ‘JACK’ LAVOIE
Lavoie leads the Reston office of an international law firm that employs 1,500 attorneys in 17 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe. The location puts this office in the “technology hotbed in Northern Virginia,” says Lavoie, who heads the firm’s real estate practice group. Lavoie’s clients include institutional [...]
Manufacturing: BRADFORD ‘BRAD’ BEAUCHAMP
Beauchamp, who joined Carpenter Co. in 2008, was promoted to CEO in late 2020. Founded in 1948, Carpenter makes flexible foam, fiber, air filtration media and other products, employing about 4,200 people — 450 of them in Virginia — at 50+ locations worldwide. In October 2021, Carpenter, one of the world’s largest producer[...]
Manufacturing: ROBERT H. ‘ROB’ SPILMAN JR.
Publicly traded furniture manufacturer and retailer Bassett Furniture Industries was founded in 1902 and continues to be headquartered in Henry County’s Bassett area, part of greater Martinsville. The company sells home furnishings in about 100 retail locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Spilman, who has been with B[...]
Education: JAMES E. RYAN
A first-generation college student who graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and graduated first in his University of Virginia law class, Ryan previously served as dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Ryan came to Mr. Jefferson�[...]
Health Care: PAT DAVIS-HAGENS
In October 2021, Davis-Hagens joined Bon Secours as president of its Hampton Roads hospital system. A veteran of health care administration, Davis-Hagens came to Virginia after serving as president of Cincinnati’s The Jewish Hospital — Mercy Health, part of the national Bon Secours Mercy Health system. She oversees 3,400 emp[...]
Real Estate: EUGENE BREDOW
In March, Bredow was appointed president and CEO of NVR, one of the nation’s largest homebuilding and mortgage banking companies, replacing Paul C. Saville, who has transitioned to executive chairman. A graduate of the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and a member of its board of advisers, Bredow has worked [...]
Retail/Wholesale: VINCE SHEEHY IV
A graduate of Dickinson College with an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Sheehy initially resisted joining the family’s auto business. Instead, he spent several years in marketing and sales for Prudential and General Mills. By the late 1980s, Sheehy changed his mind and went to work as a salesman [...]
