Wilkin was named Optical Cable’s chairman and CEO in 2003, two years after joining the company as its chief financial officer.
Optical Cable, which manufactures fiber optic and copper communication cables and connectivity products, reported a profit of $18.2 million for fiscal 2024, down 18.3% from the previous year.

In July, Optical Cable announced it had entered into a collaboration agreement with Georgia-based optical fiber company Lightera to expand their product offerings in the data center and enterprise sectors. Lightera now holds 7.24% of Optical Cable’s outstanding shares, according to the announcement.

Previously, Wilkin was CFO of a real estate brokerage and an attorney at McGuireWoods and Kirkland & Ellis. He also was a CPA at a predecessor to PricewaterhouseCoopers in Richmond.

Wilkin earned bachelor’s, law and MBA degrees from the University of Virginia, and he serves on Carilion Clinic’s board of directors. ■

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Keffer took over leadership of U.S. operations in 2023 for German outdoor power equipment manufacturer Stihl. He has been leading the company’s transition toward battery-powered equipment, a

$60 million-plus investment that included converting warehouse space to make room for battery tool manufacturing.

Keffer joined the company in 2022 as vice president for sales and marketing and previously spent more than two decades with Stanley Black & Decker.

The U.S. division has more than 3,300 employees, about 2,700 of whom are in Virginia Beach. The United States is Stihl’s largest market and the U.S. division’s products are exported to 80 countries. In 2024, the company reported about $6.2 billion in global revenue, an increase of 1.1% over 2023.
In 2024, Keffer was named to the board of Winchester’s Trex Co. He also serves on the boards for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute and the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: The Exumas and Abacos, super cool island chains that are part of the Bahamas

MOST VALUED POSSESSION: Babe Ruth autographed baseball given to me by my grandmother

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Founded in Bristol in 1958, Electro-Mechanical is an electrical equipment manufacturer that sells its products under the Line Power, Federal Pacific, Mafesa and Mirus International brands.

In 2024, the company announced plans to invest $16.55 million to add a 200,000-square-foot facility in Washington County that is expected to create 109 jobs. Electro-Mechanical also has three manufacturing facilities in Bristol, one in Canada and another in Mexico. By creating more space and resources for production, Electro-Mechanical hopes to fulfill orders faster.

“We have experienced tremendous growth in our business over the past several years, and this additional manufacturing capacity will allow us to better serve our customers for years to come,” Broadfoot said in a statement.
Broadfoot has been with Electro-Mechanical since 2009. He was promoted from chief operating officer to CEO when founder Russell Leonard retired in 2021.

Prior to joining Electro-Mechanical, Broadfoot was an executive at Thomas & Betts and Newell Rubbermaid and worked for Boeing and German car parts manufacturer ZF Friedrichshafen. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial management and an MBA from the University of North Alabama.

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Codina started in her current position with Swedish company Alfa Laval in 2022 after serving as senior vice president of its U.S. service and marine divisions. Founded in 1883, the company is a global manufacturer of heat transfer, separation and fluid-handling products, mainly for the energy, environment, food and marine industries.

In October 2024, Alfa Laval broke ground on a 324,000-square-foot U.S. operations facility in Indianapolis, where it will move from its current location in Greenwood, Indiana.

Previously, Codina worked for Sandvik Coromant, a Swedish maker of manufacturing tools and machining solutions, holding positions that took her to Sweden, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the United States.

Codina has undergraduate degrees in political communication and business administration, as well as a master’s degree in marketing. She also completed a postgraduate program in sales and marketing at the London Business School.

A native Spaniard, Codina sits on the board of the Women in Manufacturing Association.

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Jenkins became president of Culpeper Wood Preservers in 2016. Started from a single location in Culpeper in 1976, the company now has 19 locations on the East Coast and in Indiana and Tennessee. It is a leading manufacturer of pressure-treated lumber products for the residential, commercial, industrial and marine markets. Its name-brand products are sold through lumber dealers in the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest and South.

In the last quarter of 2024, Culpeper Wood Preservers announced it had acquired Fortress Wood Products, a North Carolina-based wood supplier and pressure treater, and Long Life Treated Wood, a Maryland-based supplier and manufacturer that specializes in marine-grade lumber. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Before building his career in lumber, Jenkins, an East Carolina University graduate, was recruited by the Chicago White Sox. He pitched for Minor League Baseball teams for six years, also working as a coach and scout, before joining Culpeper Wood Preservers in the 2000s.

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Spilman has led Bassett Furniture as its CEO since 2000, also becoming the company’s board chairman in 2016. He has been with the home furniture retailer, manufacturer and marketer for four decades and succeeded his father, Robert H. Spilman Sr., as its chief executive.

A network of 87 company- and licensee-owned Bassett Home Furnishings stores accounts for approximately 60% of its wholesale business. For the first quarter of 2025, Bassett Furniture reported consolidated sales of $82.2 million, a drop of 5.1% from the same quarter in 2024. Part of the decline is continued low demand for home furnishings, Spilman said in July, but tariffs have been less disruptive to the company than in the retail sector.

The company has 1,228 employees and factories in Martinsville, Alabama and North Carolina. It plans to open facilities in Cincinnati and Orlando, Florida, by early 2026.

A Vanderbilt University alumnus, Spilman serves on the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges’ board, and he has been a member of Dominion Energy’s board of directors since 2009.

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In 2023, tobacco giant and Altria Group competitor Philip Morris International obtained full ownership of Swedish Match AB. The company develops, manufactures and distributes products including chew bags, moist snuff, tobacco-free nicotine pouches, matches and lighters.
Hayes began working for the Swedish tobacco products manufacturer in 2006, serving as chief financial officer and senior vice president before becoming president of Swedish Match’s U.S. division in 2020. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Hayes worked for nearly two decades at PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier in his career.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Swedish Match’s Zyn nicotine pouches, making them the first and only authorized nicotine pouch sold in the United States.

A federal class-action lawsuit was filed in November 2024 against Swedish Match and Philip Morris International, alleging that by restraining competition in the oral nicotine pouches market, the companies violated federal and state antitrust laws.

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Paliotti has been president of Afton Chemical since 2023, after having joined the company in 2008 as operations finance director and working for its parent company, NewMarket, as senior finance director. Afton develops and manufactures lubricant and fuel additive packages and markets and sells the products globally.

Afton maintains operations in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The company has about 450 employees in research, development and testing. In 2024, the company began developing new engine-oil products for passenger cars and commercial trucks.

Paliotti later became the company’s vice president and chief financial officer before being tapped for the top spot. Before joining Afton, he worked
for Lenel Systems International and Eastman Kodak in finance.

NewMarket reported about $2.63 billion in sales for petroleum additives in 2024, compared with
$2.69 billion in 2023.

Paliotti completed his bachelor’s degree in business from Duquesne University’s Palumbo-Donahue School of Business in 1998. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s general management program and holds an MBA from Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.

He will sit on the board of directors for the American Chemistry Council through 2027.

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