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Economic Development 2025: COONS, JULIE

Coons has led the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce since 2018, prioritizing efforts to support the region’s economic health and growth.

Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the chamber originated in 1925 as a Fairfax County- focused business advocacy organization. Today, it represents about 400 member businesses across a region that represents nearly 42% of the state’s gross domestic product. And it has a powerful influence on policy across greater Washington.

In June, in collaboration with Accenture, NVC launched its NOVA Roadmap, a multiyear proposal for reinventing the region’s economy in the face of federal layoffs and spending cuts. It’s a problem the chamber was already addressing in partnership with Northern Virginia Community College through the NOVAnext initiative, which assists displaced federal workers and contractors in transitioning to new careers. The chamber’s road map plan also calls for investing in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and more affordable housing.

Coons previously was chief operating officer of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in Arlington and president and CEO of the Electronic Retailing Association and Maryland Tech Council. She graduated from the University of the Pacific.

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Banking | Finance 2025: MONTGOMERY, JOSEPH W. ‘JOE’

Montgomery went to work at an investment firm in December 1975 — meaning he’s enjoying his 50th year in an industry for which he is ranked as Virginia’s top adviser on Forbes’ 2025 Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list, with $1.6 billion in assets under management by his team.

He credits the power of relationships and his alma mater, William & Mary, for his career success and staying power. “The trajectory of my life was determined, really, by lining up where I went to school,” Montgomery says.

A former captain of William & Mary’s football team, Montgomery was invited to the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp after graduating with a degree in business administration but did not make the NFL team’s final cut.

Instead, Montgomery went to work in Lynchburg for an investment advisory firm managed by a William & Mary alum. After a few years, Montgomery was sent to open a new branch in Williamsburg that became The Optimal Service Group of Advisors. Today, it has 13 associates. In 2019, Montgomery was inducted into Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame.

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Economic Development 2025: SEGURA, JUAN PABLO

In March, reports circulated that Gov. Glenn Youngkin had tried to shift then-Commerce and Trade Secretary Caren Merrick to secretary of natural resources so that Segura, then Merrick’s deputy secretary, could have her post. Merrick left the administration instead.

The son of billionaire ENSE Group Chairman Enrique Segura, Juan Pablo Segura ran as the GOP candidate in a close 2023 state Senate race in Loudoun County, losing by about five points. State Republicans think he has big potential. In his new job, Segura oversees 13 agencies with 1,300 team members and a $3 billion budget.

Earlier in his career, Segura co-founded Babyscripts, a startup that produced an app to improve care for expectant mothers. The company was named a finalist for the 2019 EY Entrepreneur of the Year mid-Atlantic award.

A certified public accountant, Segura has an accounting degree from the University of Notre Dame.

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Banking | Finance 2025: WILBANKS, WAYNE F.

Wilbanks developed an interest in stocks and bonds at the age of 14. As a 16-year-old, he formed an investment partnership with other students. “I was hooked,” Wilbanks has said of his career trajectory.

A Duke graduate, Wilbanks co-founded Norfolk’s Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management in 1990, serving as the firm’s managing principal and chief investment officer.

Last year, Clearstead Advisors, an Ohio-based financial advisory firm, acquired WST, which had more than $5 billion in assets under management at the time. The business was rebranded as Clearstead Advisory Solutions, a division of Clearstead Advisors. Wilbanks transitioned to his current role overseeing the division for the mid- Atlantic states.

A past rector of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Wilbanks serves on the boards of the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation, the Virginia Arts Festival and the Slover Library Foundation.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: My father was an academic physician, and he took the family to a medical meeting in Russia in 1973, which was fascinating. Our hotel rooms had listening devices, and we bartered with the locals, who were anxious to get U.S. goods.

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Economic Development 2025: STEPHENS, BRYAN K.

A 2025 Virginia C-Suite Awards winner, Stephens took the helm of the Hampton Roads Chamber in 2013. The organization advocates for business in the region, which is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval complex, as well as significant manufacturing and hospitality sectors.

With a five-star accreditation by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the organization ranks among the top 1% of all chambers in the nation. Its civic leadership development program, Lead757, has more than 1,700 graduates from various industries.

A retired U.S. Army colonel, Stephens is a graduate of West Virginia University, the U.S. Army War College and Golden Gate University. He is a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority and serves on boards for Lead Virginia and the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership.

FIRST JOB: Grocery bagger

STREAMING SHOW I’D RECOMMEND: “Yellowstone”

BOOK I’D RECOMMEND: “A Virginia Odyssey: Culture, Community, and Trust,” by John P. Thomas

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Banking | Finance 2025: HUTCHINS, MICHAEL T.

It’s musical chairs at , Virginia’s top-ranked company on Fortune’s U.S. and Global 500 lists.

In March, Hutchins became the government-sponsored home mortgage company’s interim CEO for the second time in a year after the Trump administration fired Diana Reid, who’d served as CEO just over six months. It’s a pivotal time for Freddie Mac as President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to take it and Fannie Mae public with an IPO. In August, The Wall Street Journal reported those plans involve raising about $30 billion from selling 5% to 15% of the companies’ stock. Combined, the companies would be valued at about $500 billion.

With more than three decades of experience, Hutchins joined Freddie Mac in 2013 and was named president in 2020. Previously, he was CEO of The PrinceRidge Group, a financial services firm he co-founded. And prior to that, he worked from 1996 to 2007 at UBS, serving in several roles, including as the global head of the investment bank and financial services firm’s fixed income, rates and currencies group.

Freddie Mac reported a net revenue of $23.9 billion in 2024, up from $21.2 billion in 2023. It was ranked No. 38 on the 2025 .

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Banking | Finance 2025: MCLAUGHLIN, SHANE

In 2024, McLaughlin quietly stepped into the role of regional bank president for Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and much of Maryland, following the exit of John Allen, who had been the region bank president for D.C. and Maryland. Allen is now executive vice president and chief  officer of City First Bank.

A Virginia Tech alumnus, McLaughlin joined Wachovia in 2004, working as a licensed financial specialist in Richmond. He quickly climbed the ranks, first becoming a financial specialist sales leader, then West End district manager.

Following ‘s acquisition of Wachovia, McLaughlin in 2011 was named area president in Washington, D.C. He later took over the Northern Virginia market. In 2017, Wells Fargo named McLaughlin region bank president for northern Virginia.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo reported about $1.92 trillion in assets at the end of 2024. It is the nation’s fourth largest bank. Over the years, the company’s workforce has dropped. It had about 272,000 workers in 2019 and reported 218,000 employees as of the end of 2024.

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Economic Development 2025: BENEVENTO, JOE

Benevento was named ‘s permanent leader in April 2024. He’d served as interim leader since September 2023, succeeding Bob Stolle.

The nonprofit arm of a state entity established by the General Assembly, VIPC provides strategic commercialization and funding support for Virginia- based tech startups. VIPC’s Virginia Invests initiative is expected to catalyze and attract $250 million in investments for more than 100 high-growth Virginia startups during the next three to five years.

In 2024, VIPC announced that more than 10,000 high-growth startups were created in Virginia since Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office in 2022.

Before VIPC, Benevento served as a state deputy secretary of commerce and trade. Prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs, private equity firm THL Partners and was managing director of an investment firm. He graduated with a degree in applied economics and management from Cornell University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Banking | Finance 2025: GOETZMAN, NEIL

Goetzman’s father worked for Merrill Lynch for nearly four decades before retiring in 2000, according to AdvisorHub. At first, it seemed the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. Goetzman started with Merrill Lynch in 1987. But, in 2020, he took a different path.

That year, Goetzman, along with partner Jeffrey A. Nau, left Merrill’s Alexandria office — where they managed about $900 million in client assets — to go independent, with a firm affiliated with Raymond James.

In 2025, Goetzman was included on Barron’s list of the Top 1,200 U.S. Financial Advisors and ranked No. 5 on Forbes’ list of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors from Northern Virginia. That ranking noted Goetzman Nau Financial Partners manages about $1.3 billion in assets.

Goetzman earned an economics degree from the University of Richmond in 1985. A father of three daughters, he enjoys sailing and golf.

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Banking | Finance 2025: SCHOOLS, BRIAN

Over the decade that Schools has led the Virginia Beach-based credit union, Chartway has grown to nearly $3.1 billion in assets and 260,000 member-owners.

With locations in Utah, Texas and Virginia, the credit union has more than 600 employees. Among new developments: Chartway opened a new East Beach branch in Norfolk in December 2024 and a new location on Pacific Avenue in Virginia Beach a month later.

In June, The League of & Affiliates, which represents credit unions across Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Virginia, named Chartway the 2024 Credit Union of the Year, praising the institution for “returning $40 million in dividends to members and significantly expanding their services, including new branches and advanced teller technology.”

Schools is immediate past chair of America’s Credit Unions, the trade organization born at the beginning of 2024 through a merger between the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions and the Credit Union National Association.

ON INTEGRATING AI: Organizations that don’t integrate AI into their business models may not be around to answer this question in five years … or less.

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