Hospitality | Tourism 2024: MOLLY HARDIE; ROBERT HARDIE
H7 Holdings is a private family investment company that owns and manages Keswick Hall and Golf Club in Albemarle County and the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Level One Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in the health care and life sciences sectors. The couple also runs the H7 Foundation, supporting educat[...]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2024: SHERRIE ARMSTRONG
Armstrong is only the second president and CEO of the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, established in 1968. She has held that position since 2015 after 26 years of leadership roles with United Way at local and national levels, including working as executive vice president of investor relations at United Way Worldwide[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: PHONG LE
If there’s one company making a big bet on bitcoin, it’s MicroStrategy. As of July 10, MicroStrategy owned more than $13 billion worth of the cryptocurrency after acquiring an additional $1 billion in bitcoin over the previous year. Le took the lead at MicroStrategy in August 2022 after Michael Saylor, the company’s high-p[...]
Manufacturing 2024: WILLIAM F. ‘BILLY’ GIFFORD JR.
Joining the company at its subsidiary Philip Morris USA in 1994, Gifford became CEO of Fortune 500 tobacco products manufacturer Altria Group in 2020. He has held various executive posts at Altria for nearly three decades. Among Altria’s operating companies, in addition to Philip Morris USA, are U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, John Mi[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: STU SHEA
EDITOR’S NOTE: Shortly after the 2024-25 Virginia 500 was released, Shea announced he would step down as of Sept. 9. He is being succeeded by Steve Schorer, former CEO of Alion Science and Technology. Shea has been a fixture in the national security industry for decades. Since taking the helm when it was formed in […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: SCOTT McINTYRE
McIntyre was retained as chairman and CEO after Guidehouse, a federal contractor and global provider of technology and consulting services, was acquired by a Bain Capital Private Equity affiliate for $5.3 billion in December 2023. Guidehouse had been owned by Veritas Capital since 2018. Employing more than 17,000 people in 55 lo[...]
Banking | Finance 2024: SHANE McLAUGHLIN
In his role, McLaughlin oversees 88 branch locations and more than 750 employees. A Virginia Tech alumnus, McLaughlin joined Wachovia in 2004, working as a licensed financial specialist in Richmond. He quickly climbed the ranks, first taking a position as a financial specialist sales leader and, later, becoming West End distri[...]
Education 2024: MICHAEL RAO
It’s been a bumpy year for Rao and VCU, first with an ongoing dispute over VCU Health paying $73 million to exit a redevelopment project, followed in the spring by demands from some students for Rao’s removal following a violent clash between VCU police and pro-Palestinian protesters. Former Gov. Doug Wilder called for Rao, [...]
Banking | Finance 2024: WAYNE F. WILBANKS
Wilbanks developed an interest in stocks and bonds at the age of 14. As a 16-year-old, he formed an investment partnership with other students. “I was hooked,” Wilbanks wrote on a Virginia Business survey. A graduate of Duke, Wilbanks co-founded Norfolk’s Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management in 1990, serving as the[...]
Real Estate 2024: DONALD E. STONE JR.
Bringing more than 25 years of engineering and architecture industry experience, including 10 years of corporate operational leadership, Stone joined Dewberry in 2008 as the company’s chief operating officer. In 2010, he became CEO. Stone came to Dewberry from O’Brien & Gere, where he held several corporate leadership po[...]
Transportation 2024: JERROLD ‘JERRY’ MILLER
Founder of The Miller Group, the developer for Fairwinds Landing, Miller is guiding the development of the 111-acre project at Norfolk Southern’s Lambert’s Point Docks in Norfolk. The $500 million development will transform the former docks into a marine logistics center supporting the growth of offshore wind, shipbuilding a[...]
Real Estate 2024: CHRIS MOLIVADAS
Molivadas has been in commercial real estate for more than 30 years. He previously was senior vice president at Spaulding & Slye Colliers, which was acquired by JLL in 2005, and he became JLL’s mid-Atlantic market director in 2018. Before that, he was a project manager for Clark Construction and a project director for Quad[...]