New faces and changing perceptions

by Robert C. Powell III
Virginia Business
August 2006

Virginia is witnessing the changing of the guard. Over the last year and a half, 11 of the commonwealth's 18 Fortune 500 companies have announced new CEOs. Charlottesville-based writer Jack Milligan talks with several new top executives to find out what challenges they face in a rapidly changing economy. Milligan also catches up with Walfrido “Wally” Martinez , the constantly traveling new managing partner of Hunton & Williams. The venerated law firm is based in Richmond, but Martinez lives in Connecticut.

New CEOs aren't the only sign of change in the Old Dominion. Managing Editor Paula Squires reports that a relatively high percentage of the state’s university and college presidents are women. Her story explores why many women have made it to the top in academia while so few have become top executives at major companies.

Women, nonetheless, are making headway in one formerly male preserve, financial services. Author R. J. Shook has compiled his second list of the best financial advisers in the state, and this year six women are on the list.

Veterinary medicine is another field where women are making a difference. They make up 80 percent of the students in many vet schools. The changing demographics of veterinarians represent just one sign of the shifts taking place in the industry, with many practices being purchased by large corporations.

Another major shift involves our perception of the commonwealth’s metropolitan areas. Virginia typically is seen as having four large metro areas: Washington, D.C. (Northern Virginia); Richmond-Petersburg; Hampton Roads and Roanoke. But demographers say that the Washington and Richmond areas will soon grow together, creating a huge metro region that will create new opportunities and exacerbate old problems.

Change, after all, is always a combination of gain and pain.