In July 2024, Lahti succeeded Navy Rear Adm. Wesley McCall as commander of the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, a group of 13 installations from Illinois to North Carolina, including Naval Station Norfolk.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate who previously was commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan/Navy Region Japan, Lahti has studied alternative energy strategies for the Navy. He was director of the military branch’s Energy and Environmental Readiness Division.

Lahti’s assignments have included commanding a submarine squadron and serving as commanding officer of Naval Submarine Base New London. He also was commander of the USS Nebraska.

Lahti earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College. He’s a member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

Awards Lahti has received include the Defense Superior Service Medal and Legion of Merit, as well as the Japanese government’s Order of the Rising Sun (Gold and Silver Star).

WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Off-road Jeep driving, camping, amateur radio

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “The Splendid and the Vile,” by Erik Larson

FAVORITE TEAMS: Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres

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Potter oversees two of the busiest airports in the country— Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International — as well as the Dulles Toll Road.

In 2024, more than 53.54 million passengers came through the two Northern Virginia airports, setting a new travel record.

This year, Reagan National has been at the center of controversy due to numerous safety incidents, including a Jan. 29 midair collision of an airliner and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near the airport that killed 67 people. The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report in March revealing more than 15,000 near-misses between commercial airplanes and helicopters between October 2021 and December 2024.

Potter and the MWAA board last year reached a 15-year agreement with airlines that took effect in January 2025 and includes a $9 billion capital construction program. It includes nearly $7 billion in expansion and improvements at Dulles. Reagan’s $2.39 billion program will include replacing its main concourse.

A New York native, Potter served as U.S. postmaster general for 10 years. He earned degrees from Fordham University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Ruddy, who has served two stints as COO from 2011 to 2014, and since 2021, oversees information technology, safety, security, expansion projects and maintenance for the Virginia Port Authority affiliate that runs the Port of Virginia.

Last year, the port completed the widening of its shipping channel, a significant part of the $450 million dredging project to make the port the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast. The project’s deepening component is expected to be finished by fall this year.

Additionally, the port expects to complete the first phase of a $650 million modernization expansion of Norfolk International Terminals’ north terminal in October. The project will create capacity for an additional 1.4 million

20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) with the installation of four new electric ship-to-shore cranes.

Ruddy received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Wesleyan University and his master’s degree from the College of New Jersey. He serves on Virginia Wesleyan’s board of trustees.

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Schlarmann became commanding officer of the world’s largest naval station in August 2024. Naval Station Norfolk supports the operational readiness of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and employs 89,000 military personnel and 52,000 civilians.

Schlarmann came to Naval Station Norfolk as executive officer in 2023. He took over the commanding role from Capt. Janet H. Days, who in February became director of Suffolk’s economic development department.

A Defense Meritorious Service Medal recipient, Schlarmann has accumulated more than 3,000 hours in the EA-6B Prowler and the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. He became a naval flight officer in 2002 and has served operationally and held command positions. Schlarmann also was principal deputy legislative assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Schlarmann is a native of Dubuque, Iowa, and a 2000 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received a bachelor’s degree in history. He also has a master’s degree in adult and continuing education from Kansas State University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College.

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A William & Mary alum, White has been at the helm of the Virginia Maritime Association since 2018. He began working with the advocacy organization in 2003, representing the interests of the state’s maritime, logistics and transportation companies.

The VMA has a membership of over 450 companies and has promoted and encouraged domestic and international trade through Virginia’s ports since 1920.

In January, the association announced its new Supply Chain Technology & Innovation Committee to help shape industry standards, influence policy and drive investments into technology that benefit the state’s maritime and supply chain industries. Also this year, the association launched a fifth regional chapter in Northern Virginia.

In the spring, White told Virginia Business that a White House proposal to charge for every Chinese-built vessel that calls at a U.S. port could mean ocean carriers would reduce the number of calls and number of ports they call on and could make the Port of Virginia less attractive. In April, the White House instituted a fee to be charged once per voyage rather than per port.

White serves as secretary and treasurer for the National Association of Maritime Organizations.

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Since joining the Norfolk Airport Authority as its leader in May 2022, Perryman has seen growth in passenger numbers and the Norfolk International Airport, in size and scope.

The airport is in the middle of a nearly $1 billion, multiyear capital project. Major projects slated to be finished by the end of the year or early next year include an expansion to Concourse A and a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility.

The airport recorded more than 4.8 million passengers in 2024 — its third consecutive year of record passenger traffic.

In April, JetBlue became the latest commercial airline to start operating out of the airport, offering seasonal daily nonstop service between Norfolk and Boston.

An Arizona State University graduate, Perryman previously was a base architect and planner in the U.S. Air Force and worked in master planning for the Norfolk airport while employed at Landrum & Brown.

Perryman serves on the GO Virginia Region 5 Council and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization’s Regional Transit Advisory Panel. In November 2024, he received the Hampton Road Chamber’s Visionary Award.

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Miller started with Richmond International Airport’s commission in 2019. The airport marked record-breaking passenger traffic and cargo volume in 2024: 4.88 million passengers (up 2.7% from 2023) and 222.78 million pounds in cargo (up 7.84%).

Last year, the airport renovated its Federal Inspection Services facility, which has the capacity to support international travel. Design work is currently underway on two other major projects — a new aircraft rescue and firefighting station and a consolidated security screening checkpoint.

In June, RIC hit a record 456,000 monthly passengers and launched nonstop service to Bermuda — the airport’s first international route in over a decade. This summer, it was eyeing adding direct service to London’s Heathrow Airport.

Miller worked for more than 25 years in management positions in the Houston Airport System. He is the second past chair of the American Association of Airport Executives and serves on numerous other boards, including for the Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority and ChamberRVA.

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: While working at the Houston Airport System, I received mandatory CPR/first-aid training and all the annual refreshers. … I [have performed] the Heimlich maneuver on children on three separate occasions.

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This year, the NVTA released a draft action plan for a regionally connected Bus Rapid Transit system, identifying up to 28 potential routes in Northern Virginia. The authority has already committed more than $880 million toward five BRT segments.

Backmon was named the authority’s CEO in 2021, after having served as its executive director in 2014. Established by the state, the authority has invested more than $3.8 billion in 140 regional projects.

Backmon was one of 10 honorees for the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials’ Women Who Move the Nation recognition in 2024. In 2022, she received the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) D.C. chapter’s Woman of the Year Award and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Ronald F. Kirby Award for Collaborative Leadership.

The two-time graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign serves as a member-at-large on the WTS board of directors.

FIRST JOB: Church’s Chicken — I started as a cashier and later [became] a fry cook.

MOST VALUED POSSESSION: Time. It’s the most precious resource we have — once spent, it can’t be reclaimed.

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