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100 People to Meet in 2024: Public Faces
From the commander of the world’s largest naval base to a viral, small-town country music sensation, these people are highly visible representatives of their communities and industries. Oliver Anthony Singer and songwriter Farmville You would have had to be living under a big rock not to hear about the splash country-folk sing[...]
2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year: Kristen Cavallo
In 2017, Kristen Cavallo and her son, Matt, then a student on spring break from James Madison University, set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a seven-day window to summit. Statistics from Kilimanjaro National Park, last updated in the 2000s, show a correlation between a route’s duration and success rate: Climbers on seven-[...]
100 People to Meet in 2024: Rainmakers
These are the professionals who attract and grow businesses and funding, making the commonwealth wealthier. Deseria Creighton-Barney Fundraising campaign tri-chair, Virginia Tech Chesterfield County A 1986 communications graduate of Virginia Tech, Deseria Creighton-Barney aims to push 100,000 of her fellow Hokie alums into actio[...]
100 People to Meet in 2024: Innovators
These scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs are leading the way in tomorrow’s industries, from artificial intelligence and drone technologies to biotech research. Michael Beiro Founder and CEO, Linebird Ashland Michael Beiro’s bio on X (formerly Twitter) is to the point: “I make robots that can touch power lines for a li[...]
‘A world of opportunities’
From its founding as a two-year junior college designed to expand higher education opportunities in the Appalachian coal-mining country of Southwest Virginia, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise has expanded into a four-year liberal arts college with an influential impact on regional economic and workforce development[...]
Tourism gains steam with scenic train tour
Virginia Scenic Railway’s new Shenandoah Valley Limited proved just the ticket for seasonal leaf-peepers and train enthusiasts, drawing thousands of visitors to Goshen this fall. The iconic Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611, known as the “Queen of Steam,” is one of the last extant mainline passenger steam locomotives b[...]
Mining for talent
At the end of October, United Way of Southwest Virginia broke ground on its $25 million project to convert a former Kmart store in Abingdon into a regional workforce development and child care hub. It’s an attempt to address the region’s workforce shortage, one of the most pressing issues among area employers. “There’s a[...]
Pot of gold
Placing aside the morality of marijuana use, let’s consider how much money Virginia is currently leaving on the table without a regulated, taxed recreational cannabis market. In 2020, directed by the Virginia General Assembly, which was then under Democratic control, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission conducte[...]
FOR THE RECORD DECEMBER 2023
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Cedar Fair Entertainment, the parent company of Hanover County theme park Kings Dominion, is merging with Six Flags Entertainment in an all-stock deal valued at $2 billion, the companies announced Nov. 2. Cedar Fair unitholders will own 51.2% and Six Flags shareholders will own approximately 48.8%. The new combined company will have 27 […]
Legal Elite 2023 Real Estate/ Land Use
Ross C. Allen Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, Richmond John Altmiller Pesner Altmiller Melnick DeMers & Steele, Tysons Jennifer L. Banks Odin Feldman Pittleman, Reston David F. Bernhardt Florance Gordon Brown, Richmond Jo Anne Bitner Odin Feldman Pittleman, Reston Carl H. Bivens Troutman Pepper, Richmond David J. Bomgardner Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh, Prince William County […]
Nation’s first Goodwill-owned supermarket to open in NW Roanoke
Roanoke-based Goodwill Industries of the Valleys broke ground Nov. 14 on Melrose Plaza, a community hub that will be anchored by the nation’s first full-scale, full-service grocery store owned and operated by a Goodwill organization. Slated to open in December 2024 in a Northwest Roanoke food desert, the 25,000-square-foot Mar[...]
100 People to Meet in 2024: Educators
As leaders in our K-12 and higher education workforce, these teachers, professors, deans and university administrators are passing on their knowledge to the next generation of Virginians. William Kelly President, Christopher Newport University Newport News William Kelly has built his career on public service and leadership, incl[...]
