Economic Development 2024: WILL PAYNE
Payne and his team helped secure a 65,000-acre development deal in Southwest Virginia, announced in November 2023, with Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer as part of the Energy DELTA Lab initiative. His team is leading a 10-year strategy, developing the land with projects that could generate 1 gigawatt of power. The deal[...]
Living Legends 2024: PAUL B. MANNING
In January 2023, Manning and his wife, Diane, donated $100 million to the University of Virginia to create the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which will advance research into new medical treatments, such as cellular and gene therapies, nanotechnology and immunotherapy. U.Va. broke ground on the institute in D[...]
Law 2024: DAVID C. BURTON
Burton, who specializes in labor and employment law, has defended employers in federal court cases involving disability, the Family and Medical Leave Act and age discrimination. He’s also defended clients in claims brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and has represented management in labor contract negotiati[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: JOHN S. MENGUCCI
A 1980 McDonald’s All-American High School Band drummer, Mengucci aspired to have a career in music, but his father suggested he explore the more practical emerging field of computers. So, Mengucci earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Clarkson University and an MBA from Syracuse University. Previously CACI’s[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: JOHN WASSON
Since joining ICF International in 1987, Wasson has risen to become the global consulting and technology services provider’s chairman and CEO. During the past two decades, ICF has doubled in size every five years on average. It reported fiscal 2023 revenue of $1.96 billion, up 10% from the previous year. Wasson, who holds a ba[...]
Professional Services 2024: BILL MARX JR.
Marx became Grant Thornton’s D.C. market managing principal in July, leading the Arlington regional office for the Chicago-based U.S. arm of the global accounting firm network. He succeeds Greg Wallig, who left in June. With more than 25 years of experience, Marx has been a tax principal at Grant Thornton for 13-plus years. [...]
Manufacturing 2024: PRABHAT JAIN
Jain has been CEO of Virginia Transformer, the continent’s largest U.S.-owned power transformer manufacturer, since 1982 — 14 years after he arrived from India, mechanical engineering degree in hand. Over 42 years, he has grown the company from 35 employees to more than 2,700 across six plants. Jain started as a machine sh[...]
Manufacturing 2024: M. SCOTT CULBRETH
Culbreth joined American Woodmark in 2014 as its senior vice president and chief financial officer. He was promoted to president and CEO and joined its board of directors in 2020. American Woodmark’s cabinet brands include its namesake, as well as Shenandoah Cabinetry, Timberlake Cabinetry and Waypoint Living Spaces. It has mo[...]
Real Estate 2024: BENJAMIN SCHALL
Before becoming CEO in 2022, Schall joined AvalonBay as president in 2021. He’s also a member of the publicly traded real estate investment trust’s board of directors. AvalonBay acquires, develops and manages multifamily communities around the country, primarily focusing on metropolitan areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic[...]
Real Estate 2024: DONALD D. GRAUL
In 2020, Graul joined Branch Group, an employee-owned heavy-highway and building contractor. He had nearly 40 years of industry experience, most recently with Centreville-based Parsons Corp., where he was president of construction and a senior executive for alternative project delivery. Founded in 1963, Branch has more than 1,00[...]
Real Estate 2024: BRENDAN BECHTEL
Serving as CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2017, Bechtel is the fifth generation to lead his family-owned global engineering, construction and project management company. Ranked the nation’s second largest construction company by Engineering News-Record, Bechtel Corp. has completed more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries [...]
Energy 2024: EDWARD ‘ED’ H. BAINE
Raised on a Lunenburg County tobacco farm, Baine attended Virginia Tech, earning an electrical engineering degree. Starting out as an associate engineer, Baine has worked for Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy for nearly 30 years. Baine became president of Dominion Energy Virginia in 2020, responsible for all facets of a vertic[...]