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TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2025: DESCH, MATTHEW J.

Desch joined Iridium as CEO in 2006, took the company public in 2009 and subsequently replaced its first-generation network with new satellites that are expected to last into the mid to late 2030s.

Last year, after the global communications company acquired Reston-based Satelles, Iridium unveiled the Iridium Satellite Time and Location service, which is expected to generate more than

$100 million in service revenue annually by 2030. Iridium posted revenues of $830.7 million in 2024.

In May, Iridium announced a $13 million relocation  of its Tysons headquarters to a 55,000-square-foot space at 1676 International Drive in McLean. The site is expected to add 117 jobs and be ready in March 2026. It also announced a partnership with Tampa, Florida- based Syniverse to bring direct-to-device satellite connectivity to mobile network operators worldwide.

Desch graduated from Ohio State University and has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has served on the President’s National Security

Advisory Committee since 2011 and on the board of directors for Unisys since 2019. In 2025, he was named to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list for the 11th consecutive year.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2025: FRENCH, CHRISTOPHER E.

In April 2024, Shentel completed its acquisition of Horizon Telcom, a commercial fiber provider, for $385 million. The combined company has approximately 15,400 fiber route miles across seven states. Shentel rebranded the Horizon commercial and residential fiber businesses to Glo Fiber.

Shentel’s 2024 revenue increased 21.9%, to $328.1 million, mostly due to $47.7 million of revenues earned in the newly acquired Horizon markets.

Glo Fiber provides services to approximately 363,000 homes and businesses. Shentel plans to expand the Glo Fiber line to approximately 600,000 homes and business passings by the end of 2026.

In March 2024, Shentel sold its tower portfolio to Vertical Bridge for $310.3 million in cash.

French has served as president of the company since 1988 and has been a member and chairman of its board since 1996. A double graduate of the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA, he serves on the board of directors for The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education.

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Transportation 2025: ANDERS, DEVON

Since Anders became president of InterChange in 2000, the and industrial land development company’s portfolio has grown to nearly 2 million square feet and over

500 acres of prime industrial and commercial land. That includes more than a dozen warehouses in the Shenandoah Valley and a cold storage facility in Mount Crawford.

The company’s 150,000-square-foot expansion of its Mount Crawford cold storage facility is expected to be completed in 2026.

InterChange Group ranked No. 20 on the Global Cold Chain Alliance’s 2024 North American Top 25 list of the largest refrigerated warehousing and logistics providers in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with its temperature-controlled capacity listed at more than 17.6 million cubic feet.

An Eastern Mennonite University alumnus, Anders leads more than 400 employees in the Shenandoah Valley and Portsmouth. Before joining InterChange, he was a controller at Packaging Services and an audit manager at PBMares (then PBGH).

Anders chairs the Virginia Association’s Valley Logistics Chapter and serves on the GCCA Warehouse’s board.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: In 2023, my wife and I did a weeklong self-guided bike tour in eastern Italy, Slovenia and northern Croatia.

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Transportation 2025: CLARKE, RANDY

Banas oversees the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge- Tunnel Expansion, the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history and one of the largest projects in the country.

In May, the tunnel boring machine, nicknamed Mary, saw its mining operations pass the halfway point with nearly 60% of the more than 7,900-foot second tunnel excavated. As of June, estimated substantial completion for the expansion project remains February 2027. Once complete, VDOT officials expect it to ease congestion.

A project manager with HNTB for more than 10 years, Banas also has worked on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge- Tunnel expansion, the Arlington National Cemetery Southern Expansion and the Elizabeth River Tunnels project. Prior to HNTB, he spent five years as assistant construction manager with Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP USA) working on projects including the Gilmerton Bridge replacement in Chesapeake and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria.

In November 2024, Banas received the Honorable Ray LaHood award from WTS International’s Hampton Roads chapter and the Icon Award from the Hampton Roads Chamber.

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Transportation 2025: BRICH, STEPHEN

With about 30 years in , Brich oversees VDOT’s more than 59,000 miles of road, 21,000 bridges and other structures, six tunnels and three ferry systems. Appointed in 2018, he manages more than 8,000 VDOT employees and an $8.9 billion annual budget for the nation’s third largest transportation agency.

The most notable VDOT project underway is the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion, which is expected to be completed in February 2027 — a year past its original schedule.

Also underway is the $756 million I-64 Gap Widening Project, which will widen 29 miles of roadway in New Kent and James City counties from two lanes to three lanes in each direction. The overall project, divided into three independent sections of I-64, has an expected completion date of summer 2029.

A Hampton Roads native and graduate of Old Dominion University and the University of Virginia, Brich serves on the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board. In May, the board approved almost $18.2 million in Smart Scale funding for a diverging diamond interchange and other improvements at Exit 211 on I-64, where Buc-ee’s is planning to open a second travel center in Virginia.

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Transportation 2025: COLEMAN, MICHAEL

As head of CV International and subsidiary Capes Agencies, a family-owned global 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 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.

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Transportation 2025: ESTES, WEBB

Estes follows in his great-grandfather’s footsteps leading Estes, North America’s largest privately owned 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 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.

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Transportation 2025: MILLER III, SHEPPARD ‘SHEP’

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 .

As chair of the Commonwealth 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.

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Transportation 2025: LAHTI, REAR ADM. CARL A.

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

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Transportation 2025: POTTER, JOHN

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 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.

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