As head of CV International and subsidiary Capes Shipping Agencies, a family-owned global logistics and vessel agency service company, Coleman is responsible for the overall management, direction and growth of the company, which has 117 employees worldwide.

Coleman worked his way up through CV International, which his father started in 1984, becoming president in 2006 and CEO in 2018.

Capes has continued to expand its Gulf Coast presence, and this summer opened a new office in Corpus Christi, Texas. This follows recent expansions into Houston and Mobile, Alabama.

Coleman serves on the Virginia Maritime Association’s board, which he previously chaired. He also previously served as president of the Hampton Roads Global Commerce Council.

He also is president of the state Board for Branch Pilots, which oversees the licensing and regulation of harbor pilots in Virginia, and is a commissioner for the Virginia Port Authority, providing oversight of the Port of Virginia. His term ends in June 2027.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and a law degree from Louisiana State University.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

Estes follows in his great-grandfather’s footsteps leading Estes, North America’s largest privately owned freight carrier. In 2023, he was promoted to president and COO, succeeding his father, Rob Estes, who is now board chairman and CEO.

The 94-year-old Estes Express has more than 24,000 employees. Its fiscal 2024 revenue totaled $5.8 billion.

Estes has acquired 37 terminals from the former transportation provider, Yellow, after the Tennessee-based company’s bankruptcy. In 2024, it added nearly 7,000 trailers and over 700 doors through six new terminals and the relocation of 14 others

to larger facilities. Estes has more than 300 North American terminals and over 10,500 tractors.

In March, Estes Express announced it’s partnering with nonprofit Smart Freight Centre on efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. The company was one of two to win an inaugural Sustainability Pathfinder award from industry outlet Transport Topics in 2024.

A William & Mary alum, Estes joined the company full time in 2007.

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: I’m a graduate of the Estes Driving School. I still keep my CDL and have a great appreciation for what our professional drivers do each day.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

A former defense contracting executive and Norfolk native, Miller was appointed secretary by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022. He is responsible for Virginia’s rail, roads, transit and ports.

As chair of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, Miller has a great deal of say on the state’s transportation funding for major road expansion and improvement projects, as well as state funding of the Washington Metro system. Earlier this year,

the CTB allocated $983.6 million to 53 transportation improvement projects as part of the Smart Scale process.

Among Miller’s biggest responsibilities are the Port of Virginia’s $1.4 billion program to expand overall capacity and cargo handling and the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, as well as ongoing improvements on interstates 64 and 81 to ease congestion.

An alumnus of Hampden-Sydney College and William & Mary, Miller retired in 2017 upon his sale of Kitco Fiber Optics, twice named by the Virginia Chamber as one of Virginia’s 50 fastest-growing companies.

Miller is a member of the boards of Maryland’s Washington College and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. He also serves on TowneBank’s Norfolk board.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

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.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.