Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: DENNIS ELLMER
Ellmer launched Priority Auto in 1999 with the acquisition of two dealerships in Chesapeake. By 2023. he grew the business to No. 55 on Automotive News’ list of the top 150 dealer groups in the U.S., based on the 14,447 new vehicles the dealership sold in 2022. In June, auto retail giant Lithia Motors announced […]
Finance | Insurance 2023: MARY McDUFFIE
This year marks the 90th birthday of Navy Federal, the world’s largest credit union. As a leader focused on helping others thrive, McDuffie sees this milestone as an occasion to celebrate the credit union’s dedication to its members, writing on LinkedIn, “I’m thankful every day to be part of an organization that puts its[...]
Manufacturing 2023: WILLIAM ‘BILLY’ GIFFORD JR.
Gifford became Fortune 500 tobacco product manufacturer Altria’s CEO in 2020, after having served as president and CEO of subsidiary Philip Morris USA and holding other executive posts at Altria for the past 25 years. After four challenging years, during which Altria saw the value of its 35% stake in Juul Labs’ e-cigarette c[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: ALBERTO SCHIAVON
Schiavon, who joined Elephant Auto Insurance in 2017 as its head of marketing and pricing, became CEO just eight months later. The Italian executive (who shares a name with an Italian Olympic snowboarder) earned his MBA from the University of Manchester in England and his undergraduate engineering degree at the University of Pad[...]
Law 2023: CHIDI I. JAMES
A partner with Blankingship & Keith, James is a personal injury attorney who handles wrongful death, products liability and inadequate security cases. He began his one-year term as Virginia State Bar president in June. Prior to joining the firm as an associate in 2003, James was a judicial law clerk to the Arlington County C[...]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2023: TRAVIS STATON
In his nearly two decades as head of United Way of Southwest Virginia, Staton has continued to expand the organization’s reach and mission of creating a community impact model to improve the region’s health, education and financial stability. In May, UWSWVA announced a merger with the United Way of the New River Valley. In a[...]
2023 Virginia 500: Manufacturing
Bradford “Brad” Beauchamp PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARPENTER, RICHMOND Manmeet S. Bhatia PRESIDENT AND CEO, TMEIC AMERICAS, ROANOKE Howard Broadfoot PRESIDENT AND CEO, ELECTRO-MECHANICAL, BRISTOL Ester Codina CLUSTER PRESIDENT NORTH AMERICA AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, ALFA LAVAL US SALES, RICHMOND Rob Collier PRESIDENT, CHEMTREAT, GLEN ALLEN […][...]
Real Estate 2023: ROBERT J. ‘BOB’ CLARK
Clark joined Baskervill, one of the state’s most prominent design firms, more than 25 years ago and was named president in 2004. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute who has an MBA from William & Mary, Clark started his career as a mechanical engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding and served as an Air Force officer [&h[...]
Law 2023: JOHN ‘JACK’ LAVOIE
Lavoie began his career in real estate, locating sites and negotiating leases for clients across the mid-Atlantic region as a senior associate for global real estate advisory firm Staubach, now part of Jones Lang LaSalle. Lavoie now heads Cooley’s real estate practice group. His clients include landlords and tenants involved i[...]
Real Estate 2023: ROBERT M. ‘BOB’ KING
King was named chairman of the commercial real estate company’s board in May after his adoptive father, Harvey L. Lindsay Jr., died on April 19 at age 93. Lindsay adopted King and his brother, Billy, after he married their mother, Frances. Their father, naval pilot Robert M. King Jr., died in a training flight accident [&helli[...]
Transportation 2023: CHARLES ‘CHUCK’ KUHN
Kuhn was just a teenager when he started JK Moving, which has grown into North America’s largest independently owned and operated moving company. Employing more than 1,000 workers, it was ranked best moving company for 2023 by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to his business successes, Kuhn is also known for his land [...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: MARK P. MARRON
With more than three decades in the tech industry, Marron has been with ePlus since 2005, becoming its president and CEO in 2016 and a member of the company’s board two years later. In May, ePlus acquired assets of Network Solutions Group, a Michigan-based networking services company in the broadband service provider end-marke[...]