Agriculture 2026: DAVID GUM

CEO | NATIONAL FRUIT PRODUCT CO. | WINCHESTER

National Fruit Product Co. sells apple products ranging from applesauce to juice to vinegar, mostly under the White House Foods label. White House Foods bills itself as having the nation’s No. 1 apple cider vinegar brand and the No. 1 white distilled vinegar brand in the nation.

In an October 2024 episode of the “Conversations on Leadership with Dr. Dave” podcast, Gum said much of the operation is now automated and that the company then had about 150 employees.

National Fruit Product has been family-owned since its 1908 start. Gum began working there in 1981 at age 20 and worked in virtually every department before purchasing it from its founding family in 2006. The Gum family also owns Winchester-based furniture manufacturer Henkel Harris, acquired in 2013.

America250, the nonpartisan organization charged by Congress to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, recently posted a video profile of Gum. In it, Gum explains his father died at the age of 41 — a fact that drove him professionally. “I didn’t want to waste any time,” he said.

Agriculture 2026: NEIL A. HOUFF

PRESIDENT | HOUFF CORP. | WEYERS CAVE

Starting as a liquid fertilizer business on a Shenandoah Valley family farm in 1975, Houff Corp. grew to provide a range of agricultural and industrial services, including agronomy, supply chain solutions, transloading and biosolids management.

Houff Corp. transloads more than 3,500 cars per year and handles 16 different materials. Additionally, the company offers more than 150,000 square feet of storage space and can stockpile 55,000 tons of dry goods and 800,000 gallons of liquid products.

Houff Corp. and its sister companies, IDM Trucking and Blue Ridge Petroleum, make up Railside Enterprises. In 1999, the companies began distributing stock to employees through an employee stock ownership plan and today, the company is 49% employee-owned.

Houff, who earned an agriculture education degree from Virginia Tech, has been the corporation’s president since the early 1990s. He sits on the board of F&M Bank, an independent community bank headquartered in Timberville. Houff enjoys traveling, hiking, hunting and farming.

Agriculture 2026: JOHN KING

PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER | VIRGINIA POULTRY GROWERS COOPERATIVE | HINTON

After multinational food company Pilgrim’s Pride announced it was closing a Hinton poultry processing plant in 2004 — constituting a major hit to the local economy — Shenandoah Valley turkey growers formed the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative.

On April 14, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced the VPGC’s plans to invest $113.9 million in its Rockingham County operation, adding 146 jobs and grower opportunities. The cooperative will have the East Coast’s largest feed mill after the completion of the project, according to the governor’s office, allowing the company to process 4.5 million more turkeys a year, up from 7 million annually to 11.5 million.

The co-op employs 565 people and has 165 member growers. All VPGC’s profits go back to its growers.

King was involved with the planning and creation of the co-op in 2004. He served as vice president of sales before being named general manager in 2014 and president in 2017. King earned a degree in business administration and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Radford University.

He serves as secretary-treasurer of the National Turkey Federation and is a vice chair of the GO Virginia state board.

Agriculture 2026: STEPHEN SHEPARD

CEO | FARMER FOCUS | HARRISONBURG

In 2023, Shepard took the helm at Farmer Focus as sixth-generation chicken farmer and business founder Corwin Heatwole transitioned to the role of chair of the humane, sustainable and traceable chicken company’s newly formed board of managers.

Launched in 2014 and originally named Shenandoah Valley Organic but rebranded as Farmer Focus in 2020, the company lets farmers own their flocks and make key decisions. Those farmers receive between 25% and 35% more than if farming for competitors, according to the company. Farmer Focus has more than 120 farming partners and a waiting list.

Shepard joined Farmer Focus in April 2022 as executive vice president of operations. By December of that year, he was promoted to president and chief operating officer and charged with focusing on increasing production capacity while reducing the company’s greenhouse gas footprint and championing environmental sustainability.

Earlier in his career, Shepard served as complex general manager at Pilgrim’s Pride.

Through high school and college, Shepard worked second-shift roles or internships at poultry companies to support himself. Shepard earned a degree in livestock and poultry management at North Carolina State University.

Economic Development 2026: CARRIE H. CHENERY

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND TRADE | COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA | RICHMOND

Chenery, principal of a Shenandoah Valley-based consulting firm, was tapped as Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s secretary of commerce and trade in January.

In 2018, Chenery founded Valley Pike Partners to assist companies with public affairs, business development and community engagement. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, the region’s economic development and marketing organization, for over three years. During her tenure, the region announced business projects representing more than $460 million in capital investment and 1,900 jobs.

In 2014, then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed Chenery assistant secretary of agriculture and forestry. During her tenure, the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund contributed to the announcement of over $46 million in new private capital investment and over 400 jobs created.

A Virginia Tech graduate, Chenery served on the university’s board from 2020 to 2024 and on the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority Board from 2017 to 2024. Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences named her an Outstanding Alumna in 2018.

Economic Development 2026: JAY A. LANGSTON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | SHENANDOAH VALLEY PARTNERSHIP | HARRISONBURG

Langston has led the Shenandoah Valley’s regional economic development organization since 2018, after previously serving in multiple roles at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership for more than 13 years.
Not one to think inside the box, Langston promotes the region through a podcast and an occasional cooking show that can be viewed on YouTube.
In fiscal 2025, the partnership reported $3.2 billion in economic development investment in the region. Already this year, Langston enjoyed a big win. The Shenandoah Valley Partnership worked with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Rockingham County to secure the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative’s $113.9 million expansion in Rockingham.

A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Langston holds master’s and doctoral degrees in public policy from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Education 2026: TRACY FITZSIMMONS

PRESIDENT | SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY | WINCHESTER

A scholar of Latin American politics, Fitzsimmons joined the private Shenandoah University in 2001 as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and in 2008, she was tapped as its next president.

Under her leadership, SU has constructed the Pruitt Health & Life Sciences Building and the Wilkins Athletics & Events Center, which will soon be expanded.

In 2025, the university celebrated its 150th anniversary and had its largest-ever graduating class. To mark the university’s birthday, Fitzsimmons launched a sesquicentennial fundraising campaign to raise $100 million by June 30, 2027. As of July, SU had already raised $96 million in gifts and pledges, including a record-breaking $20 million donation from alumnus Wilbur Dove and his wife, Clare, in 2024 toward building a performing and visual arts center.

Fitzsimmons earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. Currently on the boards of Genedge and Opportunity Scholars, she retired after 21 years from Shentel’s board in April.

The Top of Virginia Regional Chamber named her its 2026 Citizen of the Year.

Education 2026: LT. GEN. DAVID FURNESS (USMC, RET.)

SUPERINTENDENT | VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE | LEXINGTON

In August 2025, Virginia Military Institute’s board appointed Furness as the military college’s 16th superintendent, succeeding retired Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, whose contract was not renewed by the board. A 1987 alumnus, Furness served in the Marines for 36 years and retired in 2023, having most recently held the role of deputy commandant for plans, policy and operations for the Corps in the Pentagon. After retiring, he was executive vice president of defense programs for J.A. Green & Co., a government relations firm.

Furness inherited VMI amid a period of leadership flux and controversy. Wins, who departed last June, called his ouster “a partisan choice” related to federal policy under President Donald Trump’s second term. Virginia Democrats targeted VMI’s funding as a public college in January, and a delegate attempted to place HBCU Virginia State University’s board in charge of VMI’s governance, but the measure failed. Meanwhile, Gov. Abigail Spanberger named five new members to VMI’s board this year, including former Gov. Ralph Northam, who ordered an investigation into VMI’s culture in 2020 following reports of racism and sexism.

Education 2026: JAMES C. SCHMIDT

PRESIDENT | JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY | HARRISONBURG

In July 2025, Schmidt became JMU’s seventh president, a position in which he says he is focused on “three or four bold ideas” that will guide JMU’s future as part of its new strategic plan. The goals include improving healthcare accessibility in rural Shenandoah Valley by producing more nursing graduates, as well as collaborating with community health systems. He also wants to see employers satisfied with JMU graduates’ performance at work, providing workforce training where applicable, and he’s set a goal of having JMU ranked among the top 50 public universities in the nation by 2040.

Before joining JMU, Schmidt was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he was recognized as a “stellar fundraiser” who landed one of the largest gifts in that university’s history: a $70 million athletics donation. He received his doctorate in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota and was vice president for university advancement at Winona State University in Minnesota.

Healthcare 2026: MARY N. MANNIX

PRESIDENT AND CEO | AUGUSTA HEALTH | FISHERSVILLE

Since 2008, Mannix has led Augusta Health, which has about 3,000 employees who work at the community-owned hospital that was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2026 list of 100 Great Community Hospitals, as well as at family practices and other outpatient facilities.

After beginning her career as a surgical intensive care nurse at the University of Rochester, Mannix pivoted to healthcare management. She spent nearly two decades working at the Pennsylvania-based Guthrie Clinic, leaving in 2007 as president and chief operating officer of Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital.

In September 2025, Augusta Medical Group announced plans to close an urgent care clinic and two primary care clinics. The health system said the decision was part of its ongoing response to Medicaid funding cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.

Mannix earned a master’s in nursing and an MBA from Binghamton University in New York. She’s chair-elect of the advisory board for the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Civic Leadership.

Healthcare 2026: MARK NANTZ

PRESIDENT AND CEO | VALLEY HEALTH | WINCHESTER

As head of Valley Health, Nantz oversees about 6,000 employees and six hospitals, as well as more than 70 medical practices and other facilities. The not-for-profit health system serves more than 500,000 people in the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia and Maryland.

In May, Becker’s Hospital Review recognized Valley Health’s Shenandoah Memorial Hospital in Woodstock, Page Memorial Hospital in Luray and two hospitals in West Virginia as “Critical Access Hospitals to Know.” Valley Health also made Modern Healthcare‘s 15 Top Health Systems of 2026 list.

Before joining Valley Health in 2020, Nantz held executive roles at Bon Secours Mercy Health, including as chief administrative officer and president of the Atlantic Group.

Nantz holds an accounting degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s in health administration from Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. He’s the immediate past chair of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association.

This spring, several news outlets reported that Valley Health plans to end contracts with a Virginia-based physician-led company to allow Georgia-based SCP Health, which is backed by private equity, to take over emergency coverage of the health system’s six emergency departments beginning Sept. 30.

Healthcare 2026: TODD STAMP

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT AND PLANT MANAGER | MERCK | ELKTON

Since 2023, Stamp has led Fortune 500 pharma manufacturer Merck’s facility in Rockingham County, which was founded in 1941 to produce vitamins and antibiotics for World War II soldiers. Today, Merck is investing $3 billion in the Center of

Excellence for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, a 400,000-square-foot facility under construction in Elkton that is expected to create 500 jobs. Announced in 2025, the center will be part of Merck’s $70 billion nationwide expansion of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and will support production of active ingredients and drugs. It’s expected to be completed in 2029.

An analytical chemist at the start of his career, Stamp joined Merck in 1997 as a project engineer and worked his way up. In 2022, Merck completed a major expansion of its Elkton facility to boost its human papillomavirus vaccine manufacturing capacity.

Manufacturing 2026: ADAM D. ZAMBANINI

PRESIDENT AND CEO | TREX CO. | WINCHESTER

Zambanini took the helm at Trex in April, following the retirement of Bryan H. Fairbanks, who had served as president and CEO of the publicly traded composite decking and railing manufacturer since 2020.

Lifestyle maven Martha Stewart picked Trex products to make over an outdoor space at her home in Bedford, New York, which developed into a brand partnership announced in June.

Zambanini’s journey at Trex began in 2005 as a senior product manager. He was president of residential products and, most recently, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Earlier in his career, Zambanini worked for Rubbermaid Commercial Products as a product engineer and manager.

Trex products are sold through more than 6,700 retail outlets across six continents. As of year-end 2025, the company had 1,839 full-time employees and reported about $1.2 billion in net sales, up 2% from the previous year.

Zambanini earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State and an MBA from Averett University.

Manufacturing 2026: ROB WERGE

PRESIDENT AND CEO | CADENCE | STAUNTON

In 2022, Werge became president and CEO of Cadence, a contract manufacturer of medical and drug-delivery devices founded in 1985. The company supports surgical end markets, including robotic-assisted and minimally invasive surgery.

Previously, he held leadership positions at Nypro (now Jabil Healthcare), where he led its consumer and electronics business for the Americas region and oversaw operations in India. He also served as vice president and general manager of Wisconsin-based Phillips-Medisize’s global commercial division.

Cadence employs about 800 people at eight facilities nationwide and in Costa Rica and is a subsidiary of New York-based private equity firm Kohlberg & Co.

In September 2024, Cadence announced plans to expand its cleanroom operations in Staunton to 5,000 square feet. In 2025, the company unveiled a brand refresh as part of its 40th anniversary celebration.

A native of Connecticut, Werge earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut and completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.

Professional Services 2026: THOMAS L. MILBURN

CEO | YOUNT, HYDE & BARBOUR | WINCHESTER

In 2023, Milburn was tapped for a five-year term as CEO of YHB, the accounting services firm where he began his career in 1997. Headquartered in Winchester, YHB has eight offices in Virginia and one in Maryland.

YHB credits Milburn with expanding its investment in AI and emerging technologies and strengthening its advisory capabilities across key industries throughout the mid-Atlantic. In 2026, YHB was ranked No. 100 on Accounting Today’s list of the nation’s top 100 firms and named a regional leader. With 302 employees, YHB reported $68.5 million in fiscal 2025 revenue, up from $63 million the previous year.

Milburn leads YHB’s strategic initiatives and executive team and is a former Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants board member. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Forbes recognized Milburn as a 2026 best-in-state CPA. He frequently speaks to financial industry groups.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2026: ARTHUR ‘BO’ FISHER III

CEO | FISHER AUTO PARTS | STAUNTON

Fisher Auto Parts, one of the nation’s largest automotive-parts retailers with about 500 locations, is a family affair. Blair Coiner, Bo Fisher’s grandfather, founded the company in 1929, selling auto parts to car dealers, service stations and garages.

The business grew under the leadership of Fisher’s father, Art, who died in 2004.

A James Madison University graduate, the younger Fisher joined the company in 1992 and was serving as president at the time of his father’s death. He was unanimously elected CEO and chairman of the board and has led the company, which changed its name to Fisher Auto Parts in 1983, to tenfold, debt-free growth in the past two decades.

Since 1998, Fisher has also served as board chairman of Federated Auto Parts, an auto parts distribution network founded in 1985 by Art Fisher. Today there are more than 4,000 Federated Auto Parts locations nationwide.

In January, Fisher Auto Parts announced the acquisition of Ohio-based Smyth Auto Parts, which has 25 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The Smyth family will continue to be involved in the business as part of the deal.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2026: MICHAEL SEVER

PLANT MANAGER | HERSHEY | STUARTS DRAFT

A longtime Hershey employee, Sever was named plant manager of the candymaker’s Stuarts Draft manufacturing facility in 2022. He had previously been site operations leader at the facility, which produces nut-based candies like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy.

The plant, which opened in 1982, is the second largest of Hershey’s seven manufacturing sites.

More than two decades with the Fortune 500 company have taken Sever to China and included time as a plant manager for Hershey’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania, facility. In 2018, Sever became vice president of U.S. operations for educational travel company WorldStrides and started a small-batch confection company, Wild Blue Chocolate, with his wife, Jessie. He then held management roles at food and beverage companies Danone and Kerry before returning to Hershey.

Earlier this year, Hershey donated $40,000 to the Waynesboro Family YMCA to fund childcare scholarships.

In 2025, former Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner became the Pennsylvania candy company’s president and CEO. Hershey reported about $11.7 billion in net sales last year, a 4.4% increase year-over-year.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2026: EDWARD McKAY

PRESIDENT AND CEO | SHENANDOAH TELECOMMUNICATIONS (SHENTEL) | EDINBURG

After racking up about three decades of experience in telecommunications, McKay succeeded Christopher French as Shentel’s president and CEO in September 2025, while French became the company’s executive chairman.

McKay joined Shentel in 2004 after holding management positions at UUNET and Verizon. Named Shentel’s executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2021, McKay holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia. He serves on the board of America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects).

Shentel provides broadband services to residential and commercial customers across eight states through its fiber optic and cable networks. The company owns a regional network with over 19,400 route miles of fiber and continues to expand its Glo Fiber business, which is available to about 450,000 homes and businesses and is expected to reach approximately 600,000 homes by the end of the year.

Shentel in February announced plans to reduce its workforce by about 10% as major Glo Fiber construction projects neared completion. The company expects the restructuring to generate annual savings of $12.3 million beginning in 2027. Shentel reported $357.9 million in 2025 revenue, up 9.1% from the previous year.

Transportation 2026: DEVON ANDERS

PRESIDENT | INTERCHANGE GROUP | MOUNT CRAWFORD

Anders has led InterChange since 2000, and during that time, the third-party logistics, warehousing and industrial land development firm has grown to include approximately 400 employees as well as nearly 2 million square feet and 500 acres of industrial and commercial land.

InterChange now operates 20 warehouses, most of which are concentrated in the Shenandoah Valley, including a cold storage facility along Interstate 81 in Mount Crawford. The company is in the process of adding over 150,000 square feet to the facility, which will reach 600,000 square feet, in support of serving the region’s expanding food and beverage industries. That expansion is tentatively expected to be complete in 2026. InterChange also operates a 200,000-square-foot logistics center at the Port of Virginia.

An alumnus of Eastern Mennonite University, Anders previously served as a controller at Packaging Services and an audit manager at PBMares (then PBGH). He chairs the Virginia Maritime Association’s Valley Logistics Chapter and serves on the Global Cold Chain Alliance board. In the past, he has served on GO Virginia’s Region 8 Council.