Transportation 2023: CHARLES ‘CHUCK’ KUHN
Kuhn was just a teenager when he started JK Moving, which has grown into North America’s largest independently owned and operated moving company. Employing more than 1,000 workers, it was ranked best moving company for 2023 by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to his business successes, Kuhn is also known for his land [...]
Law 2023: JOHN ‘JACK’ LAVOIE
Lavoie began his career in real estate, locating sites and negotiating leases for clients across the mid-Atlantic region as a senior associate for global real estate advisory firm Staubach, now part of Jones Lang LaSalle. Lavoie now heads Cooley’s real estate practice group. His clients include landlords and tenants involved i[...]
Real Estate 2023: ROBERT J. ‘BOB’ CLARK
Clark joined Baskervill, one of the state’s most prominent design firms, more than 25 years ago and was named president in 2004. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute who has an MBA from William & Mary, Clark started his career as a mechanical engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding and served as an Air Force officer [&h[...]
Education 2023: LT. GEN. DARRELL K. WILLIAMS (U.S. ARMY, RET.)
When Williams was a freshman at Hampton University in 1979, the school’s president was William R. Harvey — who retired last year after 44 years leading the private historically Black university. That’s a tough act to follow, but Williams, who became HU’s 13th president in July 2022, has an impressive résumé of his own.[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: MARK P. MARRON
With more than three decades in the tech industry, Marron has been with ePlus since 2005, becoming its president and CEO in 2016 and a member of the company’s board two years later. In May, ePlus acquired assets of Network Solutions Group, a Michigan-based networking services company in the broadband service provider end-marke[...]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2023: TRAVIS STATON
In his nearly two decades as head of United Way of Southwest Virginia, Staton has continued to expand the organization’s reach and mission of creating a community impact model to improve the region’s health, education and financial stability. In May, UWSWVA announced a merger with the United Way of the New River Valley. In a[...]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: NEEL DESAI
Desai joined LTD Hospitality Group in 1998 as the second generation of the family-owned hotel development and management company co-founded by Desai’s father in 1983. Perhaps entrepreneurism is in his DNA because Desai and longtime friend Bijal Patel founded S2K Hospitality in 2021 to manage and develop fast-casual restaurants[...]
2023 Virginia 500: Manufacturing
Bradford “Brad” Beauchamp PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARPENTER, RICHMOND Manmeet S. Bhatia PRESIDENT AND CEO, TMEIC AMERICAS, ROANOKE Howard Broadfoot PRESIDENT AND CEO, ELECTRO-MECHANICAL, BRISTOL Ester Codina CLUSTER PRESIDENT NORTH AMERICA AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, ALFA LAVAL US SALES, RICHMOND Rob Collier PRESIDENT, CHEMTREAT, GLEN ALLEN […][...]
Professional Services 2023: WILLIAM ‘DANNY’ ROBINSON
The Martin Agency’s chief creative officer since 2020, Robinson oversees ad campaigns for big-name clients like Geico, UPS and Old Navy and was named Ad Age’s 2022 Chief Creative Officer of the Year. It’s no coincidence that during his tenure, Adweek named Martin its Agency of the Year for three consecutive years, from 202[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: WILLIAM H. ‘BILL’ DEAN
Founded by Dean’s grandfather in 1949 as an electrical construction company, M.C. Dean was still a relatively small business, with just 150 employees, when Dean became CEO in 1997. Today, M.C. Dean has more than 5,200 employees worldwide, including 2,000 in Virginia, and the privately owned design-build systems integration com[...]
Economic Development 2023: DOUG SMITH
After serving as Norfolk’s city manager and Virginia Beach’s deputy city manager, Smith now leads the Hampton Roads Alliance, the regional economic development organization representing 14 municipalities and numerous private-sector investors. For the past four years, Smith and his team have helped establish Hampton Roads as [...]
Real Estate 2023: DAN NOVACK
Novack was named president of the Dallas-based contracting and construction management company’s mid-Atlantic operation in January, but his career with Balfour started more than two decades ago. As mid-Atlantic president, he provides strategic oversight for Balfour Beatty’s construction projects in Washington, D.C., Maryland[...]