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Manufacturing 2025: DAVID LEDESMA

Ledesma became the plant manager of DuPont’s Spruance site in 2021 after serving in the same role at its facility in Buffalo, New York.

Built in 1929 to manufacture rayon, DuPont’s Spruance site sits along the James River and is the largest of the company’s facilities worldwide. Ledesma manages more than 2,000 employees, some of whom had parents and grandparents who worked at the plant. Materials produced there include Nomex, which is used in automotive hoses, electrical insulation and aircraft, and Kevlar, which is used in body armor.

In 2024, DuPont de Nemours announced it would split into three publicly traded companies, separating its electronics and water units. However, in January, the company announced it had decided to keep the water business within its portfolio.

Previously, Ledesma worked at Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), a Texas oil producer, as production manager in Michigan and Texas.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of South Florida and an MBA from DeVry University.

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Manufacturing 2025: WILLIAM F. ‘BILLY’ GIFFORD JR.

Joining the company at its subsidiary Philip Morris USA in 1994, Gifford became CEO of the Fortune 500 tobacco products manufacturer in 2020. Altria’s operating companies, in addition to Philip Morris USA, are U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, John Middleton, Helix Innovations and NJOY, as well as Horizon Innovations, its majority-owned joint venture with JT Group.

In January, the U.S. International Trade Commission finalized a ruling that NJOY Ace, a pod-based e-vapor product authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, infringes on four patents held by Juul Labs. Altria halted all domestic sales in the spring, but Gifford said in April that the company intends to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, a potential sale of Altira’s downtown research building to Virginia Commonwealth University was indefinitely paused after the governor cut state funding for the purchase this spring.

Altria reported $24 billion in revenue for 2024, down nearly 2% from 2023. Gifford’s $26 million compensation package makes him the highest-paid public company executive in the Richmond area. He joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Richmond Council board at the start of this year, and he previously served as a board member of Anheuser-Busch InBev.

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Manufacturing 2025: KAI FRIEDRICH

Friedrich joined Liebherr’s U.S. operations in 2021 as its managing director. In February, the Swiss equipment manufacturer announced Hirohito Imakoji has also been named a managing director of Liebherr USA and that he will work jointly with Friedrich, who is also the company’s managing director and divisional director of earthmoving and material handling technology.

Out of a worldwide workforce of nearly 55,000 employees, Liebherr employs more than 2,500 people in North America.

In Newport News, Liebherr has had a presence since 1970, when it built two production facilities and an office building there. A $60 million expansion of its Newport News facilities was completed in 2020. During the summer of 2024, Liebherr Mining Equipment announced plans to invest $72.3 million to expand a plant at the border of Newport News and Hampton, creating 175 jobs and increasing production capabilities.

Friedrich has worked for Liebherr for more than two decades, previously serving in management roles in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Switzerland. He is a graduate of the Fontys Venlo University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

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Manufacturing 2025: 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 the past four decades, he has grown the company from 35 employees to more than 2,700 across six plants.

Jain started as a machine shop foreman in 1965 at Hindustan Motors in India and worked as a product engineer for Robinson-Halpern, later becoming division manager. There, Jain secured a patent for a high-temp accelerometer. He earned his master’s in material science at Villanova University and an MBA at University of Lynchburg.

In January, Bloomberg reported that Virginia Transformer is exploring a sale that could value the company at more than $6 billion.

Roanoke Area Ministries is working to relocate from its longtime home on Campbell Avenue to a renovated building on Elm Avenue in 2026. The facility will be named the Jain Care Center after Jain’s family, who donated an undisclosed amount.

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Power Reading: How to get on the Virginia 500

Welcome to the sixth annual edition of the — Virginia Business’ 2025-26 list of the commonwealth’s most powerful and impactful leaders in business, nonprofits, government and higher education. It is essential reading for any businessperson who wants to know who the state’s top movers and shakers are across industries.

The Virginia 500 is based on staff research, not nominations, and we do not rank . We categorize leaders across 20 major sectors, including banking, government contracting, , law and real estate. An additional Virginia 500 section — — recognizes .

Much of this is determined by position — if you’re the top leader of a Virginia-based Fortune 1000 corporation, you’ll likely find yourself on the Virginia 500. Other factors we consider include career achievements; company revenue; number of employees; scope of responsibilities; personal wealth; community and industry impact; and philanthropy.

A not insignificant number of executives on this list run organizations with anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of employees, particularly in government contracting. These leaders’ companies generate annual gross revenues that can range from $100 million to more than $100 billion (in the case of Freddie Mac).

Of course, there are many leaders on the Virginia 500 who don’t fit that bill but are still recognized as the state’s most impactful leaders in their respective industries — people who make major contributions to Virginia’s economy and their regions.

Virtually every leader on this list either has a primary workplace in Virginia or leads a company headquartered here. Because business along Virginia’s borders is fluid, we do include some leaders with responsibility for Northern Virginia who work in Washington, D.C.

And while many important federal officials live in Northern Virginia, we don’t include those whose focus is mostly on national matters. We also don’t include local government officials, aside from economic development directors.

Another important point: The Virginia 500 is journalism, not public relations or advertising. Our editors choose which organizations and leaders make the list and what we say about them. The Virginia 500 is not an award or an endorsement; it’s simply a recognition that a person holds a position of power. Though most executives appreciate being named to the Virginia 500, a small number ask not to be included. There isn’t an opt-out process, however.

Finally, we do not adjust the list for diversity or geography. Our aim with the Virginia 500 is to report an accurate picture of Virginia’s most powerful leaders. As such, this list skews white and male, reflecting the demographic realities of America’s .

Nationally, nine Black CEOs, including Toni Townes-Whitley of Reston’s SAIC, lead Fortune 500 companies this year, making up 1.8% of Fortune 500 CEOs. By comparison, the 2025-26 Virginia 500 has 42 Black leaders, comprising 8.4% of the list. All people of color make up 11.4% of this year’s Virginia 500.

As for gender, there are 92 women leaders on the Virginia 500, accounting for 18.4% of the list. That’s down from 105 last year. Comparatively, women CEOs head up 55 Fortune 500 companies nationally, including three of Virginia’s 25 Fortune 500 companies.

It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that economic power in the Old Dominion is mostly clustered within the “Golden Crescent” of Northern Virginia (representing 40.4% of Virginia 500 leaders), Central Virginia (30%) and Hampton Roads (18.2%).

This year’s Virginia 500 had a 17.4% turnover rate, featuring 87 newcomers, many of whom replaced retiring or exiting executives.

It’s always inspirational to see so much success among Virginia’s top executives chronicled in one place. And we hope their stories provide a spark that will encourage others to ascend to these same heights, keeping the commonwealth wealthy for years to come.

Health Care 2025: JACKSON, REESE

Since 2016, Jackson has led Chesapeake Regional , which includes the Chesapeake Regional Center and more than 40 practice locations, as well as about 600 physicians serving Hampton Roads.

In early April, the hospital opened a psychiatric emergency room, the first on Hampton Roads’ south side, and at the end of the month, the hospital had its first open-heart surgery after a five-year fight for the state’s permission.

In January, a federal grand jury indicted Chesapeake Regional Medical Center for fraud and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and interference with government functions. A lawyer for the hospital entered a not guilty plea to the charges, which are related to alleged reimbursements from health care benefit programs for alleged unnecessary surgical procedures by a doctor who was convicted of health care fraud and false statements in health care matters in 2020. An evidentiary hearing was scheduled in August.

Previously, Jackson led Forbes Regional Hospital in Pennsylvania. He holds degrees from Texas Tech University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond’s law school.

FAVORITE TEAMS: Texas Tech Red Raiders. Guns up! Wreck ’em! Kansas City Chiefs (as long as Mahomes is the QB) and Coco Gauff (bringing joy to U.S. tennis).

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Hospitality | Tourism 2025: CHRIS ALBRECHT

In 2022, Albrecht assumed his current post overseeing the Danville casino, which opened in December 2024. The $800 million Caesars Virginia resort, with 1,200 employees, is the third permanent casino to open in the state, although a temporary venue was previously in operation.

The property includes more than 90,000 square feet of space, with 1,500 slot machines, 79 live-action table games, 48 electronic table games, a poker room and Caesars Sportsbook. The casino resort also has a 320-room hotel, a spa, a pool and hot tub, and 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space that doubles as a 2,500-seat live entertainment venue. It reported $240.1 million in 2024 revenue.

Albrecht has been with Caesars Entertainment for 20 years and was general manager at Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack, a Caesars property, for six years. He has also worked at in Indiana, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

Albrecht earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

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Health Care 2025: JEVSEVAR, DR. DAVID S.

In 2022, Jevsevar became CEO of OrthoVirginia, the largest independent orthopedic practice in the state, with 155-plus orthopedic specialist physicians across more than 35 locations in Lynchburg, Northern Virginia, Richmond, Southwest Virginia and Hampton Roads. The practice, which is the official orthopedic and sports provider of the Washington Commanders, turns 10 this year.

An orthopedic surgeon with more than three decades of experience, Jevsevar specializes in hip and knee replacements. He holds an undergraduate degree from Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania, a degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Auburn University.

In September 2024, OrthoVirginia opened a $50 million, 77,000-square-foot location in Chesterfield County’s Watkins Centre. The building has physician clinics, a pain management procedure suite and an on-site operatory center, plus physical therapy, hand therapy and MRI capabilities.

Jevsevar, who served in the U.S. Air Force, was previously chair and regional vice president of orthopedics for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Clinics in New Hampshire and associate professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. He also worked as medical director of the orthopedic clinical program for Intermountain in Utah.

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Hospitality | Tourism 2025: DOUG BRADBURN

One of the most visited historic estates in the nation, Mount Vernon receives about 1 million visitors annually.

Bradburn is overseeing a privately funded preservation project to ensure the structural integrity of George Washington’s mansion for decades to come. The $40 million project, which started in 2023 and will stretch to 2026, includes designing and installing a new HVAC system and improving drainage in and around the mansion’s cellar.

In June, Mount Vernon unveiled a new permanent exhibit focused on the lives of the 317 enslaved people who lived on the estate.

Bradburn has been with Mount Vernon since 2013, when he joined as the founding director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. He became president and CEO of the estate owned and maintained by The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association in 2018.

Bradburn, who has a doctorate in history from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, is an author and a scholar of early American history. He chaired the history department at the State University of New York at Binghamton before joining Mount Vernon.

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2025 Living Legends: HOLTZMAN, WILLIAM B. ‘BILL’

Holtzman started his oil distribution business in 1972, purchasing Nelson Oil Co. According to the company’s history, Holtzman borrowed $37,000 from First Virginia Bank by using his Ford Thunderbird as collateral. He continued working at Turkey Knob Orchards, the Byrd family’s apple production business in Mount Jackson, while spending nights and weekends building the oil company. Holtzman Oil now provides oil and propane to more than 150 gas stations and is part of the larger Holtzman Corp., which includes propane, heating oil, ice and other divisions.

Today, Holtzman is equally known for his civic engagement, and in July 2024, the town of Mount Jackson declared July 9 “Bill Holtzman Day.” Holtzman sits on the powerful statewide Virginia Growth & Opportunity Board, the 24-person body that oversees the state’s GO Virginia regional councils and allocates grants for economic development projects. He also served on the Shenandoah County School Board, the Shenandoah University board and Mount Jackson Town Council.

A 1959 graduate of Virginia Tech, where the Holtzman Alumni Center is named for him, Holtzman was appointed to Tech’s board of visitors in 2023. He chaired Tech’s $1.11 billion fundraising campaign that concluded in 2011.