Virginia Business Magazine: Agents of Change, Pt. 2

Editor’s Note: In looking back over the past 20 years, Virginia Business tried to select 20 individuals (or business partners) who have had a transforming effect on their industry or their regional economy. We looked for visionaries who built their companies into industry leaders or whose creativity led to innovative startups. The field was limited to Virginians involved in business, not politics or education. This list, however, is not intended to be the last word. We invite you to make your own nominations, which will be posted to our Web site.

Vinton Cerf, McLean
Vice president, Google

Robert Kahn, Reston (right)
chairman/CEO, Corporation for National Research
Unless you’re a serious tech junkie, you’ve probably never heard of researchers Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn. After all, Al Gore stole their thunder years ago when he claimed he invented the Internet.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton recognized Cerf and Kahn as the “fathers of the Internet,” presenting them with the National Medal of Technology team award. The award recognized their efforts over many years in developing TCP/IP, a standard language that allows computers to network and communicate.

Cerf and Kahn were recognized again in November when President Bush presented them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Cerf, who worked for MCI for several years, recently joined Google as its vice president and “chief Internet evangelist.” He is responsible for overseeing new technologies and applications for the nation’s most popular search engine.

Kahn is chairman and CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a nonprofit organization that he founded to promote technology research.

Ben J. Davenport Jr., Chatham
Chairman, First Piedmont Corp. and Davenport Energy
After tobacco dried up and textiles headed south, Ben J. Davenport Jr. and other Southside Virginia business leaders couldn’t ignore the fact that the Dan River region’s future would not be built on its past. To survive in a technology-driven, global economy, the region needed an image overhaul.

In 2004, that overhaul began in earnest with the opening of the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research. This research and education center brings top-notch faculty from Virginia Tech to the region.
Eventually, the institute’s academic partners, including Tech, Averett University and Danville Community College, will develop academic programs in a variety of areas.

The institute was the brainchild of the Future of the Piedmont Foundation, a group of private business owners dedicated to transforming the region. The Piedmont Foundation was co-founded by Davenport.

Additionally, Davenport is credited with helping to start the Southern Piedmont Technology Council and the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative, a 700-mile fiber-optic network in rural Virginia.

He is rector of Virginia Tech, chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of two companies: First Piedmont Corp., a waste disposal company, and Davenport Energy, a regional petroleum supplier.

Richard Fairbank, McLean
Chairman and CEO, Capital One Financial Corp.
While working for Strategic Planning Associates, Fairbank and Nigel Morris developed an information-based strategy (IBS) for marketing credit cards. Using huge databases, IBS combines information and technology to develop customized customer products.

After having their idea rejected at dozens of banks, Fairbank and Morris implemented their strategy at the credit-card division of Richmond-based Signet Bank. There they pioneered the idea of low introductory offers and balance transfers.

In 1994 Signet spun off the division, which became Capital One. The two executives showed their confidence in the company by taking their compensation in stock options instead of salary.
Under Fairbank, Capital One has become one of the country’s largest consumer companies with 50 million customers worldwide. Now a Fortune 500 company, it acquired New Orleans-based Hibernia Corp. in a $4.9 billion deal last year.

While Capital One has overtaken Philip Morris as the Richmond area’s biggest employer, it has laid off many workers and outsourced some services in recent years. The Science Museum of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia named Fairbank Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist of the Year for 2005.

David R. Goode, Norfolk
Former chairman and CEO, Norfolk Southern Corp.
As chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern Corp., David R. Goode helped negotiate the largest merger in railroad history when his company divided Conrail’s operations with CSX Corp. in 1998.
Between the two companies, the $10 billion deal added more than 11,000 miles of track, thousands of employees and created single-line service for the first time throughout the Eastern seaboard.

Although Goode is probably best known for his role in a complicated, problematic merger, he also led Norfolk Southern to adopt new operating and information systems that ultimately changed the railroad industry. By embracing emerging technologies and software, Norfolk Southern streamlined operations, improved transit times and is credited with diverting freight traffic from busy highways onto rails.

Goode was named Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist of the Year in 2003.

William H. Goodwin Jr., Richmond
Chairman, CCA Industries
Bill Goodwin is an investor with a Midas touch. In 1983, he formed MLB Corp., which owned 22 bowling centers in six states. Three years later, he bought the struggling bowling operations of AMF and moved its headquarters from New York to Hanover County, restoring the company as an industry leader. When he sold the company in 1996 to an investment group led by Goldman Sachs for an eye-popping $1.37 billion, he shared some of the profit, giving $50 million to loyal AMF employees.

Goodwin’s CCA Industries has also invested in hotels and resorts. Its properties include the five-star Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, S.C., and Sea Pines Co. of Hilton Head, S.C.

His frequent partner in investment ventures is Beverley “Booty” Armstrong, a former classmate at the University of Virginia’s Darden School.

But Goodwin and wife Alice also are known for their contributions. The Goodwins have given $75 million to Virginia Commonwealth University over the past 15 years. They also have been major contributors to the University of Virginia’s Health System and the Darden School. Although the Goodwins shy away from publicity, the University of Virginia recently named the campus’ new pedestrian bridge for the couple.

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