REAL ESTATE
JOHN R. LAWSON II EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, W.M. JORDAN CO., NEWPORT NEWS
Lawson came to the Newport News-based construction com- pany in 1975 as a field engineer. Over the years, he went on to work as an estimator, project engineer, superintendent and project manager before being named in 1986 as W.M. Jordan Co.’s president and CEO.
Lawson, who transitioned to executive chairman in 2018, funnels his energy into advancing innovation and fostering the company’s unique corporate culture. W.M. “Bill” Jordan and Bob Lawson, John Lawson’s father, launched the company in 1958, and today it has about 300 employees and earned more than $649 million in 2020 revenue. In 2017, Virginia Tech awarded Lawson, who graduated Tech with a bachelor’s degree in geophysics, the William H. Ruffner Medal, the university’s highest honor. Lawson lent his name to Virginia Tech’s Myers-Lawson School
of
Construction and served on the universi- ty’s board of visitors from 2002 to 2010.
BEST ADVICE FOR OTHERS: There are great opportunities everywhere. Keep your eyes open and antennas up. But the most important factor is execution.
WHAT I WAS LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Not a great student, but I was curious and liked to be organized … and I dressed well!
MILES LEON PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, S.L. NUSBAUM REALTY CO., NORFOLK
Leon joined the Norfolk-based real estate com- pany in the early 1990s aſter First Commercial Real Estate Services, an office and warehouse brokerage firm Leon co-founded, was folded
into S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. As president, Leon oversees company operations and business
development at the 115-year-old company, which manages, develops and provides sales and leasing services for shopping centers, apartment communities and office, industrial and investment properties through- out the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. The company has more than 1,000 employees, about 820 of whom are in Virginia. Leon serves on numerous boards, including the Downtown Norfolk Council, The King’s Daughters Health System Children’s Health System and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. He’s also a trustee for Old Dominion University Real Estate Foundation.
PERSON I ADMIRE: My father, Arnold Leon, who didn’t start out with much, but his hard work as an attorney and businessman inspired me.
FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: University of Georgia Bulldogs
WHAT I’VE LEARNED: I’m definitely not the smartest guy in the room and enjoy learning from others every day.
MATT MALONE CEO AND OWNER, GROUNDWORKS COS., VIRGINIA BEACH
T. RICHARD LITTON JR. PRESIDENT, HARBOR GROUP INTERNATIONAL, NORFOLK
In addition to overseeing day-to-day operations at the Norfolk-based real estate investment and management firm Harbor Group International, which has more than 1,200 employees world-
wide, Litton chairs the HGI Investment Committee, manages HGI’s transactions group and is involved in institutional capital-raising efforts. With $13.5 billion in real estate investment properties, HGI invests in and manages diversified property portfolios, including office, retail and multifamily properties. In May 2021, HGI announced it had closed a $558 million com- mercial real estate collateralized loan obligation, a security backed by commercial real estate loans.
Prior to joining HGI in 2004, Litton worked as a corporate law partner
at Hampton Roads law firm Kaufman & Canoles. Litton earned his bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and his law degree from the University of Virginia. He’s a founding director of Tidewater Friends of Foster Care and serves as its current secretary and treasurer, as well as a foster parent for the city of Norfolk. Litton also serves on the board of the ACCESS College Foundation, which has awarded scholarships for postsecondary education to more than 73,000 low-income students.
RYAN T. McLAUGHLIN
CEO, NORTHERN VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, FAIRFAX
McLaughlin, who took the helm at NVAR in 2015, oversees a 32-person staff, as well as a Realtor school and store. NVAR represents about 13,000 real estate professionals from the Washington, D.C., metro area, making it one of the largest regional Realtors associations in the United States. Previously, McLaughlin was CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania. He served on the Lower Macungie Township (Pennsylvania) Board of Commissioners from 2009 to 2015, and he holds a bachelor's degree from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and a master's degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany. McLaughlin also serves as vice chair on the National Association of Realtors 2021 Association Executives Committee Roster and is a member of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce board.
FIRST JOB: I worked at a local Italian cafe making cappuccinos and espresso drinks before Starbucks was a thing.
164 VIRGINIA 500
ONE THING I WOULD CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: The traffic in Northern Virginia.
FAVORITE SONG: “Seek and Destroy,” by Metallica
Groundworks has acquired 19 other foundation- services firms since 2016, when Malone formed the Virginia Beach-based holding company for businesses that conduct foundation repair, basement waterproofing, crawl space repair, water management systems and concrete liſting. Today, Groundworks operates more than 40 offices in 27 states, with more than 3,200 employees. It appeared on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing privately held companies. In January 2020, Groundworks announced a partnership with the Cortec Group, a multibillion-dollar private equity firm. “They grind just like the men and women of Groundworks, and, most importantly, they value people,” Malone said in a statement. “We did diligence on numer- ous potential growth capital partners, but, aſter speaking with the CEO of the Cortec portfolio company, YETI, I was sold.” In 2009, Malone founded Succession Capital Partners, the only professional buyout firm headquartered in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area. Prior to that, he spent several years working in finance. A Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellow, Malone earned a bache- lor’s degree from Hampden-Sydney College and holds a master's degree in international finance from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
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