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Health Care: PAT DAVIS-HAGENS
In October 2021, Davis-Hagens joined Bon Secours as president of its Hampton Roads hospital system. A veteran of health care administration, Davis-Hagens came to Virginia after serving as president of Cincinnati’s The Jewish Hospital — Mercy Health, part of the national Bon Secours Mercy Health system. She oversees 3,400[...]
Retail/Wholesale: VINCE SHEEHY IV
A graduate of Dickinson College with an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Sheehy initially resisted joining the family’s auto business. Instead, he spent several years in marketing and sales for Prudential and General Mills. By the late 1980s, Sheehy changed his mind and went to work as a sales[...]
Retail/Wholesale: STEVEN C. ‘STEVE’ SMITH
In April, Food City announced plans to launch a line of Ace Hardware stores called Curt’s Ace Hardware in honor of Smith’s grandfather. The first store is scheduled to open this summer in Bristol, Virginia, according to the Kingsport Times News. The stores will fill a need in several communities where Food City store[...]
Law: J. BENJAMIN ROTTENBORN
Rottenborn made national headlines this year for representing “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard in the defamation trial brought by her world-famous ex-husband, Johnny Depp. During the widely viewed trial argued in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Rottenborn received intense public backlash from Depp fans. “I suspect that nobody a[...]
Real Estate: EUGENE BREDOW
In March, Bredow was appointed president and CEO of NVR, one of the nation’s largest homebuilding and mortgage banking companies, replacing Paul C. Saville, who has transitioned to executive chairman. A graduate of the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and a member of its board of advisers, Bredow has[...]
Manufacturing: BRADFORD ‘BRAD’ BEAUCHAMP
Beauchamp, who joined Carpenter Co. in 2008, was promoted to CEO in late 2020. Founded in 1948, Carpenter makes flexible foam, fiber, air filtration media and other products, employing about 4,200 people — 450 of them in Virginia — at 50+ locations worldwide. In October 2021, Carpenter, one of the world’s largest prod[...]
Manufacturing: ROBERT H. ‘ROB’ SPILMAN JR.
Publicly traded furniture manufacturer and retailer Bassett Furniture Industries was founded in 1902 and continues to be headquartered in Henry County’s Bassett area, part of greater Martinsville. The company sells home furnishings in about 100 retail locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Spilman, who has been wi[...]
Education: MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH
Since becoming Virginia State University’s president in 2016, Abdullah has led the public HBCU to national prominence, as well as a budget surplus after the university was in debt before his tenure. U.S. News & World Report ranked VSU in the top 30 of its Best Overall HBCUs for 2022 and it was also named […]
Education: MICHAEL RAO
Already one of the highest-paid officials in state higher education, Rao recently received an 8% raise. In June, VCU’s board of visitors approved raising his salary to $708,000, citing his fundraising abilities and stewardship of the university and its medical facilities since the pandemic. Since his 2009 appointment as pr[...]
Health Care: RONY THOMAS
During its 40 years, nonprofit LifeNet has assisted with 8 million organ, tissue and cell transplants. It employs more than 1,400 people globally, including 991 in Virginia. Known as an organ procurement organization (OPO), LifeNet connects patients with newly available organs — often kidneys, which are needed by about 80% of [...]
Telecommunications: ERNIE ORTEGA
Ortega has spent his career in the telecom business since the days when a mobile phone couldn’t fit in your pocket. If you saw the movie “Wall Street,” Ortega says, you might recall the Motorola 8000 brick phone — it’s a model he used to sell. Ortega now serves as CEO of GTT Communications, which runs [&hellip[...]
Real Estate: T. RICHARD LITTON JR.
Litton serves as president of HGI, a real estate investment and management firm that reported a gross asset value of more than $19 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The company focuses on office, retail, multifamily and alternative investments throughout the country and the United Kingdom. One of its most famous properties i[...]
