The Big Book: Most Influential Virginians
Gilbert T. Bland, chairman, The GilJoy Group, Virginia Beach Why he is influential: Bland has owned a portfolio of more than 70 Burger King and Pizza Hut franchises for 35 years. He also serves on a variety of boards, including the Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts, Randolph-Macon College, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Sentara Healthcare. For the last year and a half, he’s been president and CEO of the Urban League of Hampton Roads Inc. Recent developments: In the wake of Gov. Ralph Northam’s blackface controversy last year, Bland served on a community advisory group to inves- tigate the matter for Eastern Virginia Medical School. Since then, Northam tapped Bland for a new Virginia Afri- can American Advisory Board. In that role, he is one of 21 citizen members advising the governor on strengthen- ing “economic, professional, cultural, educational and governmental links” between state government and the African American community.
Jennifer Boykin, president, New- port News Shipbuilding, and execu- tive vice president, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Why she is influen- tial: A marine engi- neer, Boykin is the first woman to serve as president of Newport News Shipbuilding, the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The division of
Huntington Ingalls Industries grew to $4.72 billion in annual revenue in 2018. Boykin also maintains a strong pres- ence in the business community and works to empower women and girls. Recent developments: Newport News Shipbuilding landed a huge piece of business from General Dynamics when the defense contrac- tor won a $22.2 billion contract from the Navy — the largest-ever awarded — in late 2019. Under the contract, Boykin will continue to ramp up the shipyard’s workforce to help build five high-tech, fast-attack subma- rines. Also in the last year, Boykin has stepped in to serve as chair of the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula’s annual drive.
Teresa Carlson, vice president, worldwide public sector, Amazon Web Services, Herndon Why she is influential: The ever- expanding Amazon has shored up its presence in Northern Virginia with
its HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington. But Carlson, who spoke at For- tune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in October, has been a formidable presence
for a decade. She founded the public- sector unit of Amazon Cloud Services. Its customer count, she said in an October interview with Computer Weekly, includes more than 5,000 government agencies, 10,000 educa- tional institutions and 28,000 nonprofits. Recent developments: While it grows across the globe, AWS is helping shepherd a state workforce develop- ment program in cloud computing announced by the governor in Septem- ber. It offers educational programs for some K-12 school divisions, the Virginia Community College System and six four-year universities. That includes the launch of a cloud computing degree at Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.
Steve Case, chairman and CEO, Revolution LLC, Washington, D.C. Why he is influential: Case is why everyone over a certain age knows “You’ve got mail!” The co-founder of America Online, Case now helms Revolution, an investment firm that
Barry DuVal, president and CEO, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Richmond
Why he is influential: Marking his 10th year as president and CEO of the state chamber, DuVal has raised the chamber’s membership from 847 members in 2010 to more than 26,000. A former state secretary of commerce and trade, he also served as mayor of Newport News and was president and CEO of Kaufman & Canoles Consulting LLC.
Recent developments: As a voice for the state’s businesses, DuVal has been a staunch defender of Virginia’s right-to-work laws, which prohibit required union membership as a condition of employment. Economic devel- opment officials cite right-to-work as a key advantage for Virginia in attracting new and expanding business. Earlier this year, DuVal launched “Virginians for Employee Free Choice,” a coalition to support right-to-work. Despite a Democratic majority in both General Assembly houses, an effort to repeal right-to-work failed during the 2020 session, dying in the House Appropria- tions Committee. In 2017, the chamber began work on Blueprint Virginia 2025, a plan to regain Virginia’s No. 1 ranking on CNBC’s annual Top States for Business list after seeing the commonwealth drop several spots in recent years. Last July, Virginia was No. 1 again.
50 | MARCH 2020 Photo by Caroline Martin
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