Since 2018, Haymore has led the global economic development consultancy within Hunton Andrews Kurth, one of the nation’s largest law firms. He previously served as Virginia’s secretary of commerce and trade under Gov. Terry McAuliffe and secretary of agriculture and forestry for Gov. Bob McDonnell.
A Danville native, Haymore earned business experience as an executive for tobacco companies Universal Leaf Tobacco and Dimon (now Pyxus International).
He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he is serving a second term as rector. Haymore also is chairman of GO Virginia’s Region 4 Council, which spans from Hanover County to Emporia.
IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE, I’D MEET: Abraham Lincoln. The former president’s leadership and actions at a time of significant political divide profoundly changed our country for the better. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss all this and much more with the former president.
ADVICE FOR NEW COLLEGE GRADUATES:Bottom line: Remember to work hard, be accountable and have fun along the way.
Twenty-one years after joining not-for-profit federal contractor Noblis as a computer scientist, software architect and manager, Corrigan was named president and CEO in 2022. Her promotion began a round of C-suite changes at the company, including the promotion of Mark Lay to chief information officer in March.
Holding a bachelor’s in management science and information technology from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Georgetown, Corrigan previously served as Noblis’ executive vice president and before that as senior vice president of its Federal Civilian Solutions division.
According to ProPublica, Noblis earned $536 million in revenue in fiscal 2023. In June, Noblis announced it had been selected to take part in an $8 billion information technology contract with the FBI and a 10-year, $4 billion contract as the prime contractor for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction program.
Corrigan serves on the executive committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and the board of Women in Aerospace. She was named one of the top 35 executives to watch by WashingtonExec last year.
After becoming ASGN’s CEO in May 2019, Hanson moved the Fortune 1000 IT and professional staffing services firm’s headquarters from California to Henrico County in 2020. Hanson previously worked for Apex Systems, one of ASGN’s subsidiaries, serving as its chief financial officer for 15 years. After Apex was purchased by ASGN in 2012, Hanson became executive vice president of the parent company, then president in 2016.
In fiscal 2023, ASGN earned $4.45 billion in revenue, down 2.8% from the previous year. In June, ASGN’s federal government segment, ECS, announced that it had inked a potential $8 billion contract to continue providing the FBI with IT services and support and technology solutions. The deal is the largest contract vehicle ever awarded by the FBI.
A graduate of Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University, Hanson serves on the advisory council of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. He also co-founded and serves as an emeritus board member of the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs at Virginia Tech. Hanson was inducted into the Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame in 2023.
Since joining IBM in 2002, Wedge has taken on roles of increasing responsibility. In 2022, she was tapped to lead IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market, a portfolio worth more than $2.2 billion that supports more than 4,000 U.S.-based consultants.
She also has served as IBM’s head of federal operational transformation practice, senior partner of the health and civilian portion of federal market business, and senior consultant and program manager supporting an intelligence community customer. Before IBM, Wedge worked at American Management Systems, serving as a consultant, senior principal and leader of initiatives for public sector clients.
In August 2023, IBM announced that its IBM Federal HR Cloud platform to support federal agencies had secured its Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program certification. In March, it debuted its new IBM X-Force Cyber Range in Washington, D.C. The training facility is specifically designed to help federal agencies, their suppliers and critical infrastructure organizations respond to threats posed by cyberattacks and AI.
Earlier this year, Wedge was named for the first time to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list of the most impactful government contracting executives. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Sklaire says sharing the duties of running the Northern Virginia office with Laura Foote Reiff don’t involve the kind of constant tussles for power you see on television law shows. “When two people have [a] similar vision of how the office should be, it’s seamless,” he says.
The job hasn’t changed much, Sklaire says, in the eight years he’s had it. “As we grow, we have a bigger presence in the Northern Virginia community, so recruiting gets a little easier, hiring gets a little easier, our name gets out there more.”
In April, Sklaire attended an event for first-year law students at his alma mater, American University, and talked to them about working at Greenberg Traurig, which is among the state’s 20 largest law firms. He describes recruiting attorneys from his former law school as “tremendously satisfying.”
A litigator, Sklaire focuses on government investigations, business crimes, and financial litigation and regulation at Greenberg Traurig. Previously, Sklaire worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney, a special assistant U.S. attorney and an assistant U.S. attorney, with experience handling securities and procurement fraud.
Founded in 1987, CoStar Group, a real estate marketplace and analytics company, runs industry-leading businesses like Homes.com, Apartments.com, LoopNet and STR. In February, it announced its plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Arlington County, a $20 million investment on top of its $339 million purchase of the 560,000-square-foot tower on Wilson Boulevard. About 500 corporate employees are planning to relocate to Arlington by the end of the year, and CoStar said it plans to add 150 jobs at the new headquarters.
CoStar reported $2.46 billion in revenue last year and employs more than 6,200 people in 14 countries. The company has already made significant inroads in Richmond, where it is building a
$460 million expansion of its downtown campus that is expected to house approximately 3,000 employees upon completion in 2026.
Florance started CoStar in 1986 in his Princeton University dorm room, and it went public in 1998. He serves on Virginia Commonwealth University’s board, and in 2023, CoStar made an $18 million donation to VCU, which will establish the CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation in Richmond. The building is expected to open in early 2027.
Chairman of his family’s real estate company since 2016, Lawson is focused on the strategic direction, mission and long-term goals of the 52-year-old firm.
A third-generation builder and developer, Lawson has long been a passionate advocate for equitable and affordable housing, testifying before Congress and using his leadership positions with the National Association of Home Builders to raise awareness. This passion is also reflected in the firm’s work.
In the past year, Lawson Cos. purchased a 6.5-acre tract in Richmond, where it plans to build a $20 million, 144-unit apartment complex that will be affordable for people making at or below 60% of the area median income. The developer also announced plans to build 180 income-restricted apartments in the city’s South Side
in June.
Previously, Lawson served as president for 17 years, during which time the multifamily division acquired or developed more than 20 apartment communities valued at more than $160 million. The single-family home division closed on 340 homes totaling approximately $100 million.
Lawson earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Duke University.
Welcome to our fifth annual edition of the Virginia 500!
For those who aren’t familiar with the Virginia 500, we like to say that it’s like the Fortune 500 but instead of companies, it’s about people — specifically, the most powerful Virginia executives and officials in business, nonprofits, higher education, government and politics.
The list is based on our staff research, not nominations, and we do not rank executives. We categorize leaders across 20 major sectors, including banking, federal contracting, health care, law and real estate. For the sake of expediency and organization, we condense related industries into these overarching categories. One example is the real estate section, which also includes architecture and engineering, construction, and development. An additional Virginia 500 section, Living Legends, recognizes lifetime achievement.
Much of the list is determined by position — if you’re the 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 involvement; and philanthropy.
Richard Foster. Photo by James Lee
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 and influence. Though most executives appreciate being named to the Virginia 500, a small number sometimes wish not to be included. There isn’t an opt-out process, however.
Because business along Virginia’s borders is fluid, we include some executives who have direct responsibility for Northern Virginia but who work in Washington, D.C. And while a host of federal officials call Northern Virginia home, we don’t include those whose focus is solely on national business and don’t play a role directly in Virginia’s interests.
Finally, we do not adjust the list for diversity or geography. Our aim with the Virginia 500 is to report an accurate picture of the most powerful leaders in Virginia. As such, this list skews white and male, reflecting the larger demographics of American business leadership.
Nationally, eight Black CEOs, including Toni Townes-Whitley of Reston’s SAIC, head up Fortune 500 companies this year, making up 1.6% of Fortune 500 leaders. By comparison, the Virginia 500 has 46 Black leaders, comprising 9.2% of the list. (Black or African people account for 13.6% of the U.S. population, according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data.) People of color make up 14.6% of the 2024 Virginia 500.
As for gender, there are 105 women leaders on the Virginia 500, accounting for 21% of the list. Comparatively, women CEOs head up 52 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 40.2% of Virginia 500 leaders), Central Virginia (29.2%) and Hampton Roads (18.4%).
This year’s Virginia 500 had a 15.6% turnover rate, featuring 78 newcomers, most of whom succeeded retiring or exiting executives.
For those of us who haven’t ascended to the lofty heights of those represented here, there is an aspirational joy to reading about the career journeys of the leaders in these pages.
A 34-year U.S. Army veteran and 1985 VMI alumnus, Wins became the first Black superintendent to lead “the West Point of the South,” the nation’s oldest state military college, following his predecessor’s resignation. With master’s degrees from the Florida Institute of Technology and the National War College, he served as interim superintendent from November 2020 until his permanent appointment in April 2021.
When Wins joined, VMI was the subject of a state-ordered investigation that found instances of racism against Black cadets, as well as reports of sexual assaults and harassment of women cadets. Following demands for reform from alumni and Democratic state leaders, Wins oversaw the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson and hired VMI’s first chief diversity officer, Jamica Love, who resigned in June 2023 amid backlash to Wins’ changes.
In September 2023, VMI’s board of visitors voted to accept a Confederate memorial being removed from Arlington National Cemetery and house it at a Civil War site that VMI owns.
In June, a group of VMI alumni sued the institute’s alumni association, alleging their civil rights were violated and claiming that VMI now essentially controls the alumni association.
Miller started with the Richmond International Airport’s commission in 2019, just a few months before the pandemic upended air travel. This summer, he concluded his one-year term as chair of the American Association of Airport Executives.
Meanwhile, the airport marked record-breaking passenger traffic and cargo volume in 2023 — 4.75 million passengers and 206.6 million pounds in cargo — and aircraft operations increased 7.3% from the previous year.
Three major airport projects are in development: a fully renovated Federal Inspection Services facility with the capacity to support international travel, a new aircraft rescue and firefighting station, and consolidated security checkpoints.
In June, the airport announced that Southwest Airlines has expanded summer service by adding twice-daily service to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and daily service to Nashville International Airport. In October 2023, the airport received a $1 million federal grant to help develop nonstop flights to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Miller worked for more than 25 years in management positions with William P. Hobby Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Ellington Airport,
all part of the Houston Airport System.
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