Money machine
In 2009, Donald Hart found himself in an enviable position. Leading up to his graduation from Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, Hart had been accepted to a slew of the state’s public, four-year universities: Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, George Mason University and James Madis[...]
Wonder women
At an early June networking reception to celebrate this year’s Virginia Business Women in Leadership Awards winners, many in attendance pointed out how unusual it was for dozens of women executives from across various industries to join together in the same room. Held at law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP’[...]
Great expectations
In the mid-1990s, Diane and Paul Manning were thinking about moving from New Jersey with their three children. Like many families, they took many factors into consideration. “One of the kids was really big-time into swimming, so we needed a place that had a good swim team,” Diane says. Also, “I always prefer a college [&he[...]
On cloud nine
In 2007 — the same year that Apple unveiled the iPhone and Netflix introduced the idea of “streaming” movies — Buddy Rizer started aggressively targeting an industry that many of the people he worked for in Loudoun County didn’t yet fully comprehend. “It was not an easy story to tell at first,” Rizer recalls of[...]
Westward ho!
Southwest Virginia’s leaders feel confident their region will be home to the state’s next inland port. “The planets are aligning for us right now,” says state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County. “Our localities are excited about it. The state seems to be excited about it.” During the Virginia General Asse[...]
Falling short
In the accounting field, the books are out of balance. Demand for the profession’s services is rising, which is one for the assets column, but on the debit side of the ledger, the number of people willing and able to provide those services is dropping so alarmingly that some firms are being forced to turn […]
It’s complicated
Going by media coverage alone, you’d be forgiven for thinking that 2021’s Great Resignation turned into “quiet quitting” in 2022, but as always, the national mood is more complicated than any two-word phrase could convey. There are still significant labor shortages in certain sectors — notably health care, edu[...]
Making strides
Black History Month traces its origins to an annual weeklong observance started in 1926 by historian and scholar Carter G. Woodson, a Virginia native. And since then, the February celebration of Black history makers and events has been intertwined with commemorating successful business icons like fellow Virginia-born greats Magg[...]
Crowded out
Election years are not the time to make waves in Virginia’s legislature, says Greg Habeeb, a former Roanoke delegate who now advises clients pursuing legislation in the General Assembly. Big changes — the kind the state saw during the Democrats’ two years of full legislative control in 2020 and 2021 — are expecte[...]
2022 Virginia Business Person of the Year: Jim McGlothlin
Jim McGlothlin had never really thought much about paintings. He was more of a music guy, a fan of Elvis, whom he saw in concert six months before the King’s 1977 death. But the art of the deal — in this case, winning a valuable artwork at an auction — was a familiar feeling. “That’s […]
The 23rd edition of the Virginia Business Legal Elite
Launched in cooperation with the Virginia Bar Association in 2000, Virginia Business’ Legal Elite polls lawyers licensed to practice in Virginia each year, asking them to identify which of their peers are the top attorneys across 20 categories of legal specialties. In compiling the Legal Elite, Virginia Business contacted [...]
Everything is not awesome
When Lego Group representatives toured Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park on a winter day early this year, they didn’t speak. As with most industrial site visits, the county economic development authority staffers conducting the tour didn’t yet know which company they were working with, although [...]