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Hampton Roads Business Guide 2020
Welcome to the 2020 Hampton Roads Business Guide. This issue includes: Overview of Hampton Roads: Demographics for the second most populated region in the state. Executive Insights: Local business leaders weigh in on region’s economic future. Arts & Tourism: Will Norfolk and Portsmouth go all in for casinos? Plus: Loca[...]
Festivals hit pause
The Hampton Roads region is known for its popular festivals, from Virginia Beach’s Pungo Strawberry Festival and Suffolk Peanut Fest to the Virginia Arts Festival and the star-studded Something in the Water. “We’ve got more festivals than Nero had,” says Kurt Krause, president and CEO of VisitNorfolk. For Norfolk alone, tourism means more than $887 […]
A look at November’s ballots
Besides considering candidates for president, U.S. Senate and 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 3, Virginians will also vote on two ballot measures to amend the state constitution. And four cities will hold local referendums to legalize gambling at proposed casinos within their boundaries. The statewide ballot measures include a proposal […]
The VirginiaBusiness.com Top Five
Falwell says resignation reports were false, then resigns: Facing scandals and board pressure, Liberty University’s president and chancellor denied he was resigning the day before the Christian school confirmed his departure. (Aug. 24-25) Virginia 500: Virginia Business magazine’s first annual special issue devoted to the commonwealth’s 500 most powerful leaders. (Aug. 31) Ex-associate claims sexual […][...]
Coal country sets its focus on absentee landowners
When farmers notice one of their cows has made a run for it, their first step will often be to alert the neighbors. That can be hard to do with an out-of-town owner, though. “If the farmer can knock on a door, that’s one thing,” explains Phil Meeks, Wise County’s agriculture and natural resources extension […]
Moving the needle
A few years ago, Nadine Marsh-Carter and the staff of the small adoption agency she runs decided that to better represent the children they worked with, they needed board leadership that better reflected their clients. Founded 120 years ago, the Children’s Home Society of Virginia began with a focus on finding families to adop[...]
Transportation
ED ALDRIDGE PRESIDENT, CMA CGM AMERICA LLP AND APL NORTH AMERICA, NORFOLK The CMA CGM Group serves 80% of the world’s commercial ports with a 502-vessel fleet and 110,000 employees. The American arm of its shipping and logistics company, based in Norfolk, has a workforce of more than 11,000 employees and serves 18 ports. In […]
Media
FRANK BATTEN JR. CHAIRMAN, DOMINION ENTERPRISES INC., CHAIRMAN, LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES INC., NORFOLK A storied Virginia media family, the Battens struck gold by selling The Weather Channel, co-founded by Frank Batten Jr.’s late father, for nearly $3.5 billion in 2008. Since 1998, Batten has served as chairman of Landmark, the private media company his family […]
The VirginiaBusiness.com Top Five
State Sen. Amanda Chase, the only announced GOP candidate for the 2021 gubernatorial race, appeared in two of the top trending stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from July 16 to Aug. 15. Chase refused to wear mask at Harrisonburg restaurant — After campaigning with rocker Ted Nugent, Chase got into a kerfuffle with the owners of Vito’s […]
Hail to the … what now?
Under pressure from FedEx and other big sponsors, the Washington Redskins management announced in July that the NFL team will retire its name and mascot and rebrand itself away from divisive Native American imagery. The $3.4 billion organization, the seventh-most valuable franchise in the NFL, is now known as the “Washington F[...]
Retail | Wholesale
ROBERT A. ‘BOB’ ARCHER CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BLUE RIDGE BEVERAGE CO., SALEM Robert Archer runs the wholesale beverage retailer his parents bought in 1959 after moving to Salem. When his father, James Archer, died in 1972, his mother, Regine Archer, became president and forged ahead on decades of growth and acquisitions. Blue Ridge distributes a […]
Finance | Insurance
JOHN ASBURY PRESIDENT AND CEO, ATLANTIC UNION BANKSHARES, RICHMOND A Radford native, Asbury transitioned from a career with large financial institutions to help build a regional bank. After successful mergers in 2018 and 2019, Atlantic Union expanded its footprint in Northern Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, making it the largest regional bank headquartered in Virginia. […]
