CAROLYN RAINEY
A 40-year veteran with Bank of America, Carolyn Rainey became president of all the bank’s banking and investment operations in the Charlottesville area last year after serving as the bank’s Charlottesville market executive since 2018. Under Rainey’s leadership, Bank of America’s market share in Charlottesville has grown,[...]
Unfinished business
The tone of the 2023 General Assembly can be encapsulated in its approach to electricity rates. With dozens of lawmakers poised to retire, the General Assembly passed a major energy law, giving the State Corporation Commission added leeway over adjusting customer rates for utilities Dominion Energy Inc. and Appalachian Power. Ye[...]
ELAINE BEEMAN
Elaine Beeman recalls often being the only woman in the room when she started her career with Accenture in the 2000s. But she’s now an exemplar for leadership, with a title to match. “It’s very rewarding for me to be in a position now where I can help enrich the experience of the next generation,” […]
Luxury RV park sets sights on Danville
Danville visitors could soon be setting up camp at the area’s first luxury RV park if City Council approves a special use permit for The Palace Resort, a project that could generate $1.3 million in annual city tax revenue. The matter was set to go before Danville City Council on June 20, following the planning […]
ALICE P. FRAZIER
In 2017, when Alice Frazier became president and CEO of Charles Town, West Virginia-based Bank of Charles Town and its parent company, she was among a select group of only 47 women nationwide who lead banks, and the first woman to run BCT. The bank has four offices in Loudoun County, including two in Leesburg; […]
FloydFest cancelation causes economic ripples
FloydFest, a five-day celebration showcasing more than 100 performers, has had an annual regional economic impact of about $4 million since its 2002 founding, according to festival organizers. Even so, county officials and local business owners seem to be taking a “c’est la vie” attitude to the cancelation in April of this[...]
LORI COLLIER WARAN
As the first woman to lead NASCAR’s Richmond Raceway, Lori Collier Waran races circles around everyone — literally. In July 2022, Waran grabbed the steering wheel and took over as the raceway’s president. It marked a big career switch for Waran, who previously served as publisher of Richmond-based Style Weekly magazine and[...]
TIFFANY RAY
Commencement season is Tiffany Ray’s favorite time of year. That’s when students walk across the stage to get their degrees, and she can see “live and in color” how her work is reshaping lives. In 2017, the year before Ray arrived at Germanna as its chief diversity officer, the Fredericksburg community college grad[...]
Arlington residents sue over ‘missing middle’ zoning
Ten Arlington County residents filed a lawsuit against the county in April that claims Arlington’s new “missing middle” zoning ordinance was passed in March without proper notice and violates Virginia law. “Missing middle” refers to the range of options that fall between affordable housing and single-family homes, incl[...]
REBECCA GELLER
Thirteen years ago, Rebecca Geller was a corporate lawyer who wanted more flexibility to work remotely so she could balance her work and family life. That aspiration led her in 2011 to found The Geller Law Group, a law firm dedicated to helping women like her balance parenting and their careers. Today, the firm employs […[...]
LAURA KOTTKAMP
As the executive director of three foundations at Virginia Commonwealth University, Laura Kottkamp considers herself to be a steward of both the city of Richmond and the commonwealth. Her work encompasses the university’s foundation, as well as those for the engineering college and the business school — managing and investi[...]
U.Va. Wise launches master’s degree in education
Like the rest of the country, Virginia’s public schools are suffering from a teacher shortage. In the 2022-23 academic year, there were 3,573 vacancies statewide, and more teachers are working with only provisional licenses, which don’t require teacher preparation courses. In Southwest Virginia, though, educators are signing[...]