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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: MIYARES, JASON

Miyares, the son of a Cuban refugee, became the first Hispanic person elected to statewide office in Virginia after voters backed his attorney general bid in 2021. This year, the Republican seeks a second term in office, facing former Del. Jay Jones as the Democratic nominee.

Miyares has touted successes in reducing crime through Operation Ceasefire, an initiative targeting 13 cities with high gun violence rates that his office said resulted in a 30% decline in homicides in 2024. Along with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, he’s also devoted significant attention to the opioid epidemic.

In January, Miyares announced that Virginia stands to receive up to $107.4 million in a multistate settlement proposed by OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. The attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit also collaborated with U.S. attorneys to investigate McKinsey & Co.’s role in advising Purdue.

The former Virginia Beach state delegate has launched multiple investigations into Northern Virginia schools, including two civil rights probes at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. After he called for the Trump administration to investigate the school’s admissions, the feds agreed to intervene in May.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: STOTTLEMYER, TODD

With nearly eight years leading Acentra Health, Stottlemyer oversees a health care solutions company that employs approximately 3,000 people across the United States and India. Founded in 1994 as Client Network Services, the company was acquired by Carlyle Group in 2021, then merged with Nashville, Tennessee-based health care management and quality oversight company Kepro.

Following the merger, the company rebranded as Acentra Health in 2023. Today, it processes medical claims, billing and health benefits for Medicaid and Medicare, serving more than 140 million people. In 2024, Acentra Health announced it had renewed its $298 million contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Stottlemyer is a venture partner at Blue Delta Capital Partners and a Serco board member. He is also vice chairman of state economic development initiative GO Virginia’s powerful and influential state board and serves on the executive committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board of directors. He is a graduate of William & Mary and Georgetown University Law Center.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: CASWELL, BRUCE L.

Caswell joined contractor Maximus in 2004 and has served as president since 2014; he became CEO in 2018. He started his career at what’s now PricewaterhouseCoopers before moving on to IBM.

Headquartered in Tysons, Maximus reached the half-century mark in 2025. It provides administrative support for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, welfare-to-work, health care reform and student loan servicing. Maximus reported $5.3 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024, up from $4.9 billion in 2023.

Caswell holds a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and a master’s in from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has chaired the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board since 2022.

In January, WashingtonExec named Caswell a top executive to watch after the company was re-awarded several Veterans Benefits Administration contracts to provide medical disability exams. In 2024, the company won a $20 million Office of Personnel Management contract to provide contact services for the Postal Service Benefits Program.

In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services backed off rebidding the company’s $6.6 billion contract to operate a call center for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: WATSON, TOM

Watson became CEO of federal contractor Serco in 2022, after four years as senior vice president of business at the North American subsidiary of British parent company Serco Group. He previously worked for Science Applications International Corp. for 22 years, including as senior vice president of SAIC’s Navy and Marine Corps customer group. He also served six years in the Navy.

Serco provides professional, technology and management services to the U.S. military, U.S. federal civilian agencies and other clients.

In May, Serco completed its $327 million purchase of Northrop Grumman’s mission training and satellite ground network communications software business. Last October, Serco won a spot on a Department of Defense Information Analysis Center contract valued up to $33 billion to provide research and development services across the Department of Defense.

Watson started as an engineering technician for Resource Consultants Inc. (RCI), which was acquired by Serco in 2005. He earned his MBA from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in information technology from National University. Earlier this year, Watson received his second Wash100 Award from Executive Mosaic, recognizing top contracting executives.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: WINTER, LINDSAY BERRY

A Hampton Roads native, Winter oversees the e-commerce giant’s economic and community investments in Virginia, where has its East Coast HQ2 headquarters in Arlington County. Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $135 billion in Virginia through infrastructure and compensation for its 42,000 employees in the state.

Before joining Amazon in 2021, Winter worked for Anthem, Amerigroup and law firm Kaufman & Canoles. A James Madison University alumna, she serves on the boards of multiple influential organizations, including the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority, and the Hampton Roads Alliance.

In recent months, Amazon announced a Goochland County robotics fulfillment center and launched new delivery stations in Virginia Beach, Hampton and . However, in July, Amazon canceled plans for a third data center in Louisa County, following local backlash.

MUST-LISTEN PODCASTS: I start every day listening to a whole host of podcasts, from Politico’s “The Playbook” and “NPR ” to “Politico Tech.” “The Virginia Press Room” and “Freakonomics Radio” remain two of my favorites.

PERSONAL MOTTO: Persistence paralyzes resistance.

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Education 2025: WILLIAMS, LT. GEN. DARRELL K. (U.S. ARMY, RET.)

Williams served more than 37 years in the U.S. military and in 2022 became president of Hampton University, a private, historically Black university founded in 1868 — and Williams’ alma mater.

A retired Army lieutenant general, Williams was the first Black director of the Department of ‘s Defense Logistics Agency, where he oversaw nine supply chains supporting the military and more than 25,000 military and civilian employees. After his retirement from the military in 2020, he served as vice president for contractor Leidos’ U.K. operations. In December, Leidos announced a $750,000 donation to Hampton.

In May, Hampton University launched a new degree in aviation management and was recognized as an “Opportunity College” by Carnegie Classifications for successfully enrolling students who reflect the communities they serve and whose alumni go on to earn competitive wages compared to their peers.

Williams received master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the National War College. The recipient of a Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit, Williams also led the Fort Lee Army post and the Army Combined Arms Support Command.

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Education 2025: HENRY, DONNA PRICE

Henry is the college’s first female chancellor since its founding in 1954 as a junior college with two buildings. She presides over a four-year liberal arts college encompassing 396 acres with 26 main buildings, attended by more than 1,900 students.

Chancellor since 2013, Henry previously spent 16 years in a variety of positions at Florida Gulf Coast University, including as dean of its College of Arts and Sciences.

Her accomplishments since joining U.Va. Wise include improving the college’s first-year retention rate and securing better salaries for faculty. The college’s enrollment is also growing, Henry reported in June, thanks to its “Year at Wise” program through which waitlisted University of Virginia students can be guaranteed admission if they first study at U.Va. Wise for a year, earning a minimum of 30 credits and maintaining at least a “B” average.

Henry is a trustee for the Southwest Virginia Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Play with my goldendoodles, Shark and Honey. They are the U.Va. Wise pups and share their stories on Instagram.

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Nostalgia-fueled Colony House reopens

Thanks to $10 million in 21st-century improvements, ‘s Colony House Motor Lodge will once again welcome guests who are into time travel.

The iconic , which opened in 1959 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, closed in 2018 as it awaited an extensive makeover that includes redecorated rooms and modern-day enhancements.

With the updates nearly complete this summer, the Colony House remains unmistakably mid-century modern with its A-frame, folding-plate roofline and its original neon “No Vacancy” sign. The National Register application calls the motor lodge a “well-preserved and rare … example of Googie architecture in Roanoke.” Popular in the 1940s and ’50s, the futuristic architecture style was influenced by the Atomic Age and the Space Age.

“It’s Instagram-able,” says Kimberly Christner, founder, president and CEO of , the Williamsburg-based boutique firm that will operate Colony House. Christner’s company has been involved with several historic hotel projects in Virginia, including the Western Front Hotel in St. Paul and The Sessions Hotel in Bristol.

In its heyday, the Colony House welcomed pre-interstate highway vacationers and even celebrities such as singer Lou Rawls, 1960s British Invasion rockers Herman’s Hermits and “Hee Haw” star Lulu Roman.

“Nostalgia tourism” will be a big draw for the 67-room motel, says Brooke Farrell, whose family bought the property in 2018. “People want to see these restored to their original glory with modern amenities.”

The Farrells, long-time owners of Roanoke-based Berglund Automotive car dealerships, bought the Colony House from the heirs of the motel’s founders. The motel, which was open for 59 years, sits next door to a Berglund used-car center in South Roanoke.

When all’s said and done, the Farrell family expects to spend about $7 million on construction, with much of the work performed by Roanoke’s Lionberger Construction, and another $3 million on other improvements, including retro-style furniture made by Roanoke custom-furniture company Txtur.

Following a grand opening scheduled for late August, the Colony House expects to sponsor community events, such as outdoor movie nights. Local residents will also be able to purchase day passes to the swimming pool, which will feature a food and beverage bar housed in a Shasta camping trailer. Room rates will start at around $149 per night.

“We want to have a family-type atmosphere,” says Joy Barlow, the motel’s general manager.

Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: SUROVELL, SEN. SCOTT A.

Surovell is part of the new Democratic leadership in the Virginia General Assembly after the 2023 retirement of several longtime leaders, including former majority leader Sen. Dick Saslaw, whom Surovell succeeded in 2024. In his leadership post, Surovell often acts as the voice of Senate Democrats in criticizing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s priorities.

In 2025, he carried a bill to add Fairfax County to the list of localities allowed to host a casino, a measure that failed in the House but passed in the Senate. It’s likely to return in 2026, Democratic leaders have said.

A trial lawyer, Surovell first won election to the House of Delegates in 2009 before winning his Senate seat in 2015, representing parts of Fairfax County, and before redistricting, parts of Prince William and Stafford counties.

Surovell is especially active in the areas of criminal justice reform and environmental issues and was a chief sponsor of 2021 legislation that abolished the death penalty in Virginia. He currently chairs the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and serves on the Commerce and Labor, Finance and Appropriations, Rehabilitation and Social Services, and Rules committees.

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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: WITTMAN, U.S. REP. ROB

Representing parts of the Richmond and Hampton Roads suburbs, as well as the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, Republican Wittman is serving his ninth term in Congress.

A former environmental health specialist and field director for the Virginia Department of Health’s shellfish sanitation division, Wittman has worked his way up the political ladder from the Montross Town Council to the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, the Virginia House of Delegates and Congress. He earned a doctorate in and administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

He was briefly a holdout on the Trump-driven “Big Beautiful Bill” budget reconciliation measure this spring, citing concerns about cuts to Medicaid, but he ultimately voted to support it, as did fellow Virginia Republican U.S. Rep. Jennifer Kiggans.

Wittman co-chairs both the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus and the House Rural Broadband Caucus, and last year helped launch a new Modernization Caucus. He also is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairs the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.

 

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