Telecommunications: CHRISTOPHER FRENCH
French, who’s been with Shentel since 1988, oversaw the $1.94 billion sale last year of Shentel’s wireless business to T-Mobile — which provided shareholders a special cash dividend of $18.75 per share. Now, French is focused on the company’s growth strategy around its regional fiber optic network. Its home and business[...]
Economic Development: JARED CHALK
In September, Chalk started his new position as the Hampton Roads Alliance’s chief rainmaker. It’s a good fit, considering he had been serving as executive director of the Norfolk Economic Development Authority, as well as the city’s economic development director, since 2020. (He held the positions on an interim basis begi[...]
Retail/Wholesale: ARIE KOTLER
Arko Corp., a holding company for the nation’s sixth largest convenience store chain, Richmond-based GPM Investments LLC, made the Fortune 500 for the first time in 2022, ranking No. 498. That’s an especially significant achievement considering the company began trading on the Nasdaq at the end of 2020. Kotler, a native of I[...]
Federal Contractors/Technology: DeETTE GRAY
Gray’s first job out of college was teaching math and science to middle schoolers in the 1990s. She integrated computers into the science curriculum to make learning more interactive and discovered a talent for writing code, leading her to become a software developer. Those experiences led her to CACI, where she works to moder[...]
Law: STEPHANIE GRANA
A personal injury litigator, Grana leads the Virginia State Bar for the 2022-23 term. She is the first Hispanic person and seventh woman to head the 84-year-old organization that comprises 50,000 attorneys. Her goals for her term include increasing diversity among the board’s leadership, recognizing bias and working with judge[...]
2022 Virginia 500: Transportation
ED ALDRIDGE PRESIDENT, CMA CGM AMERICA LLP AND APL NORTH AMERICA, NORFOLK DEVON ANDERS PRESIDENT, INTERCHANGE GROUP INC., MOUNT CRAWFORD JENNIFER AUMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE, GLOBAL TRANSPORTATION, AECOM, ARLINGTON COUNTY P. DALE BENNETT PRESIDENT AND CEO, VIRGINIA TRUCKING ASSOCIATION, HENRICO COUNTY STEPHEN C. BRICH COMMISSIONER, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, RICHMOND &nb[...]
Arts/Entertainment/Sports: TONY BENNETT
One of only four former NBA players who have been head coach for NCAA men’s basketball championship teams, Bennett was a former backup point guard with the Charlotte Hornets from 1992 to 1995. Thirteen years after he arrived at the University of Virginia, he’s a valued university asset: popular, respected and winning. Bennet[...]
Media: JOSH EASTRIGHT
Eastright began his nearly 25-year career at Bloomberg as a college intern studying political science at Amherst College and then worked for Bloomberg LP, focusing on energy and commodities markets. He later moved to Bloomberg New Energy Finance before shifting to Bloomberg Government. In 2018, Eastright was named CEO of Bloombe[...]
Transportation: JOSEPH P. RUDDY
As an executive of the Virginia Port Authority’s nonprofit affiliate that operates the Port of Virginia, Ruddy oversees operations, information technology, safety, security and capacity expansion projects and maintenance at the state’s marine terminals in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Richmond and Front Royal, as well a[...]
Federal Contractors/Technology: PHEBE NOVAKOVIC
Novakovic attributes Reston-based General Dynamics’ fiscal 2021 revenue of $38.5 billion to the company’s focus on operating performance while protecting the health and safety of the contractor’s 101,600 employees worldwide. A former employee of the CIA and the federal Office of Management and Budget, Novakovic has led the[...]
Federal Contractors/Technology: JOHN HENEGHAN
Heneghan’s early career as an English teacher instructing students to use desktop publishing software during the late 1990s took a dramatic shift. In the past two decades, he has served as vice president of CGI Federal and led corporate development at Stanley Associates before joining ECS in 2017. In 2021, he became chief oper[...]
Real Estate: MARK C. LOWHAM
Lowham’s office has been involved in several record-setting transactions in Northern Virginia, where the company has almost 350 associates in brokerage offices spanning the commonwealth’s horse and wine country, as well as Old Town Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. Among their sales were the $45 million McLean estate forme[...]