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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: BRIAN K. REVERE

Under Revere’s leadership, Breeden Construction has nearly doubled its revenue and exceeded project output while navigating years marked by inventory shortages, virtual inspections and other operational disruptions. Revere joined the company in 2005 after eight years with Archstone Residential and has championed innovations in preconstruction planning and cost management, helping the organization remain resilient in fluctuating market conditions while taking on increasingly complex multifamily, mixed-use and commercial projects.

A Virginia Tech graduate with a degree in building construction, he has spent his entire career in the industry. His leadership approach emphasizes workforce development and internal advancement, guided by what he describes as a “raising the elevator” philosophy.

The company has expanded its third-party portfolio during his tenure, and Revere has led efforts to embrace digital transformation and modern communication practices to streamline coordination and decision-making. Revere has also addressed workforce issues publicly, including advocating for increased participation of women in construction in a 2025 Virginia Business op-ed.

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Manufacturer Jabil to open plant in Prince George, creating 352 jobs

SUMMARY:

  • Jabil opening plant in , creating 352 jobs, governor’s office announces
  • Florida manufacturer is making equipment for Siemens at $30 million plant
  • Production set to begin by this fall

Electronic circuit board manufacturer and supply chain service provider Jabil plans to establish a new plant at in Prince George County, creating an expected 352 jobs, announced Wednesday.

The facility, scheduled to open this fall, will produce critical power distribution systems for Siemens, the Germany-based technology and giant specializing in , industrial systems, rail transportation and healthcare technology.

According to a statement from Siemens, the companies plan to invest $30 million to open a 300,000-square-foot facility. The funds will go toward scaling up equipment, tooling, production readiness and operations.

“Virginia is a world-class leader in advanced manufacturing and energy infrastructure, and Jabil’s decision to establish a new manufacturing facility in Prince George County reflects our strength,” Spanberger said in a statement. “This investment will bring hundreds of high-quality jobs to the commonwealth while strengthening our domestic supply chain to support next-generation energy technology. We are proud to welcome Jabil to Virginia.”

Founded in 1966, Jabil has grown over the decades from a small circuit board manufacturer to a global manufacturing company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities in over 25 countries, including more than 30 in the United States. It employs more than 140,000 people worldwide.

“Demand for reliable, U.S.-manufactured power and energy solutions from companies such as Siemens is only accelerating to keep up with the pace of technology,” said Brent Tompkins, Jabil’s senior vice president of global business units, renewables and energy infrastructure. “With this new factory in Prince George County, we’re excited to scale our capabilities, continue growing our domestic manufacturing footprint and help create new jobs in collaboration with Siemens.”

In a statement, Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA President of Electrification and Automation Brian Dula said that as the company adds capacity to meet accelerating demand for critical power infrastructure, it is working with strategic partners to bolster its domestic supply chain in the U.S.

worked with the county and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia, and Spanberger approved a $700,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist with Jabil’s $6.1 million investment.

The will support Jabil’s job creation at no cost to the company.

In January, Jabil acquired Hanley Energy Group, an Irish engineering company with its U.S. headquarters in Ashburn, for $725 million. Hanley designs and manages power systems for data centers, and Jabil executives said that the acquisition was aimed at meeting growing demand for AI-related data center capacity and energy infrastructure.

2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards : SHANNON O. PIERCE

A Surry County native, Pierce earned her law degree from the University of Virginia. After spending a few years as an energy and utilities attorney at McGuireWoods in Richmond, she headed to Georgia in 2004 to serve as counsel at AGL Resources, which was purchased in 2016 by Southern Company Gas.
Pierce returned to Virginia in 2023 to join subsidiary Virginia Natural Gas as vice president of strategy and chief administrative officer. She brought experience spanning legal, regulatory, external affairs and utility operations. In 2024, Pierce was named president; she earned the title of CEO a year later.

As leader of a utility that serves more than 310,000 customers across southeastern Virginia, Pierce champions workforce development as a strategy for building stronger communities and is known for expanding job-readiness programs and deepening education partnerships. Last year, VNG broke ground for its new $50 million headquarters in Chesapeake.

Pierce also sits on numerous boards, including the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Elizabeth River Project and RVA757 Connects. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed her to Christopher Newport University’s board of visitors in 2025.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: HARVEY L. JOHNSON  

Since its founding in 1963, PBMares has had two chief executives. Johnson became the second when he succeeded longtime CEO and co-founder Alan S. Witt in 2021, following a year spent working closely with Witt to ensure a seamless transition.

Under his leadership, PBMares has enjoyed substantial growth. The firm’s merger with Fairfax-based BSB CPAs and Advisors, announced in 2024, added five partners and 36 employees. The 2026 Accounting Today Top 100 list placed PBMares 77th nationally after a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.72%. Among firms with revenue of up to $100 million, PBMares ranked second in the Leader in Tax category and fourth as a Pacesetter in growth.

Johnson has spent his whole career at the Newport News-based accounting, tax and consulting firm, which he joined in 2003. Prior to becoming CEO, he was a partner in the firm’s cybersecurity practice, which he helped establish in 2016.

After earning a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Johnson completed a master’s degree in accounting from Old Dominion University in Norfolk. PBMares has 13 offices in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: CRAIG HALLIDAY*

Early on, Halliday understood that AI is a paradigm-shifting technology worth integrating into Unanet’s solutions for customers and into the company’s day-to-day workflows. Transforming a software company midflight is no small feat, but that is precisely what Halliday accomplished in 2025, steering Unanet from an SaaS provider to an AI-native solutions company without disrupting customers or employees.

In 2024, Halliday oversaw the acquisition of Washington, D.C.-based GovPro AI, which provides AI-powered proposal-writing platforms for government contractors. The next year, Unanet acquired Arlington-based Contraqer, a provider of market intelligence and procurement software, and also invested in Wyatt, a GPT-enabled copilot. Unanet unveiled ChampAI, a natural-language copilot for

GovCon and architecture, engineering and construction firms. Today, Halliday maintains that Unanet is in a strong position to maximize its AI investments moving forward.

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Halliday has led Unanet since 2019. Previously, he served as CEO of Denver-based EMS Software, a maker of meeting and room-scheduling software. He also spent more than three years as executive general manager of Australia-based RPMGlobal, where he led the repositioning of the firm from mining services to an enterprise software company.

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* Two-time C-Suite Awards recipient

2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: WATT R. FOSTER JR.

When major storms and disasters disrupt fuel supplies, Foster Fuels is often part of the response. Under Foster’s leadership, the Brookneal-based company has expanded beyond its regional roots to support emergency operations across the country.

A third-generation leader, Foster purchased the family business in 1989 and has guided its growth into a diversified fuel and services company. Today, Foster Fuels holds a federal contract for emergency fuel delivery — awarded in 2024 in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Defense Logistics Agency Energy — valued at up to $442 million over five years. Through its Mission Critical division, the company has supported relief efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Ian, the Haiti earthquake and Texas ice storms.

Beyond the business, Foster founded the Foster Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children, scholarships and local charities. He has also placed more than 2,000 acres under conservation easements and serves on the board of Bank of the James Financial Group.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: WALTER D. BAYNE

Bayne rose through the ranks at Cary Street Partners after coming aboard in 2007, serving as branch manager and chief operating officer before being named president in 2022. He says that this experience shaped how he approaches leadership and firmwide decision-making. “Leadership, to me, is not abstract; it is personal,” Bayne notes. He cites the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic as tests of Cary Street Partners’ organizational culture and financial strategy.

During his tenure, the firm reported revenue growth of approximately 77%, including a 20.3% increase from 2023 to 2024. Adjusted EBITDA increased more than 37% year-over-year during that same period. Bayne has also overseen more than 30 adviser transitions, focusing on recruiting experienced professionals and teams.

Technology represents the firm’s second-largest expense, and Bayne has said the firm operates with the mindset of a technology company within a service business. The firm has emphasized integrated systems and infrastructure to support adviser efficiency and client service.

Bayne earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Tech. He previously worked as a financial adviser at Wachovia Securities and Legg Mason and began his career at Southern States Cooperative.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: XAVIER MEERS

A Brussels-born, French-trained chef who came to Virginia to open a restaurant, Meers is well acquainted with the freezer. He and his wife, Hannah Pollack, co-founded Nightingale Ice Cream in 2016, making about 100 handcrafted ice cream sandwiches a week out of a Richmond restaurant kitchen at first. Today, the company produces up to 100,000 sandwiches a day and is sold in more than 5,200 stores nationwide.

As chief brand ambassador, Meers bridges culinary innovation with brand storytelling, helping position Nightingale as a chef-driven premium brand in the crowded frozen dessert market. His industry relationships have also come in handy. A longstanding connection with Performance Food Group helped win Nightingale’s first distribution deal.

In October 2025, Nightingale announced that Target shoppers would find Nightingale products in the Northeast U.S. and Denver. And in April, the company celebrated an expansion into Whole Foods Market stores in key markets including California, Texas and Virginia.
The company ranked No. 2,108 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: CHARLES D. HATLEY

Revenue growth of more than 7,000% over four years is the kind of number that demands an explanation. At Melone Hatley, a Virginia Beach-headquartered family law and estate planning firm, Hatley is responsible for much of this growth. He joined the firm as a litigation partner in 2020 and became its CEO in 2024, and in that time, he helped scale the practice from $200,000 in annual revenue to more than $15 million a year, as well as growing from a single attorney to more than 100 associates in five states.

In 2023 and 2024, Melone Hatley made the Inc. 5000 annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The company ranked third on the 2025 Law Firm 500 list of the fastest-growing U.S. firms.

A University of Toledo College of Law graduate, Hatley credits the firm’s success to building scalable systems for everything from manager training to metrics dashboards, while taking care to maintain a culture of care and accountability. He also helped implement AI-powered tools to streamline intake and enhance search engine optimization through online content.

Hatley also co-founded and co-hosts “The Business Blueprint” podcast for entrepreneurs.

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2026 Virginia C-Suite Awards: ANDREW J. CARPENTER

With more than two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, Carpenter joined Richmond-based manufacturer Phlow in 2020. Four years later, he was named chief scientific officer of the company, which makes active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished products. As chief scientific officer, Carpenter guides programs from early-stage development through commercial-scale while advancing partnerships that support U.S. pharmaceutical sovereignty and supply chain resilience.

Over his career, Carpenter has led projects in multiple therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, and across modalities such as small molecules and peptides. A candidate molecule he identified is on track to become a treatment for Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting children. He later transitioned into the contract manufacturing sector.

For more than 15 years, Carpenter was a medicinal chemist at GlaxoSmithKline, and from 2015 to 2020, he served as a project manager for California-based Ampac Fine Chemicals, an active pharmaceutical ingredients processor. Carpenter earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of South Carolina.

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