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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 business .

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.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: KATE MORA

Kroger tapped Mora to lead its mid-Atlantic division in 2024. She joined Kroger in 2022 as vice president on special assignment supporting End-to-End Fresh, an initiative designed to get the freshest food to shoppers, and became vice president for merchandising in its Michigan division.

Before joining Kroger, Mora worked for more than 26 years at Walmart, leaving in 2021 as a vice president. Mora holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

Kroger’s mid-Atlantic division operates more than 100 stores in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, staffed by about 18,000 associates. It has 68 stores in Virginia, but two stores in Charlottesville and Abingdon are closing in August and September, part of a larger plan to shutter 60 stores nationally. In 2024, unionized Kroger employees in the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions ratified a new three-year contract.

In 2022, Kroger and Albertsons Cos. announced plans for a $24.6 billion merger agreement, but it was blocked in court late last year. Now the two grocers are locked in dueling lawsuits in Delaware Chancery Court.

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Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: ARIE KOTLER

An Israeli native, Kotler has led Arko, the nation’s sixth largest convenience store chain and parent company of GPM Investments, since 2020, when it merged with Haymaker Acquisition Corp. II to become a U.S.-listed public company. He founded GPM in 2003, sold the business in 2006 and reacquired it in 2011.

The company has been on an M&A journey in recent years, expanding from 200 convenience store sites in 2013 to approximately 3,600 company-operated stores as of March. It ranked No. 488 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list and has more than 11,000 employees. Arko brought in $20.8 million in net income in fiscal 2024, down from the nearly $35 million reported the previous year.

In September 2024, Reuters reported Arko was planning to divest its convenience store operations in a potentially $2 billion deal,

a reversal from its M&A growth strategy. However, in a March earnings call, Kotler denied the company is planning to sell its convenience stores.

This year, Arko is building new food- focused convenience stores, with a rollout of eight pilot stores in the Richmond area. The first opened in Ashland in late June.

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Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2025: EUNHONG ‘EDWARD’ MIN

In February, StarKist announced Min had been appointed president and CEO of the food company that produces the iconic single-serve tuna pouches as well as other salmon-, chicken-, and beef-based products. StarKist is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Dongwon Industries Co.

Min succeeded Young Choi, who was announced as the company’s new leader in December 2023. With decades of roles in sales, marketing and business strategy, Min had previously served as CEO of Dongwon Industries since December 2022. He also previously held leadership roles as executive vice president at both Dongwon Industries and Dongwon Systems.

Prior to that, Min spent nearly 30 years at Procter & Gamble, where he held leadership positions in Asia, including senior sales director and commercial leader for core Asian markets in Singapore.

Min earned his business degree from Yonsei University in South Korea and completed the Advanced Management Program at Seoul National University.

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