FACES OF 2008: Business

Our experts: Faces of 2008 in Business were compiled by staff writers Emily C. Dooley, Carol Hazard, Will Jones, Louis Llovio and Melodie N. Martin.

WEST BROAD STREET
Short Pump's boulevard
WHY YOU KNOW IT: The Short Pump area in western Henrico County shows what happens when city folks go country: the country becomes a city.

A new city skyline has emerged along West Broad Street with the construction of urban-style residential and commercial developments on what was once rolling farmland and forests.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at the site of West Broad Village, a soaring, sprawling development on 115 acres across the street from big-box retailers Best Buy, Target and Home Depot. Plans call for about 890 attached single-family homes and apartments, 420,000 square feet of retail space, hotels and office towers. A Whole Foods Market opened there in September.

Next door, Short Pump Station this year began filling its 86,000 square feet of retail space with tenants such as Petco, Trader Joe's and LongHorn Steakhouse.

WHAT'S NEW: An eight-story Hilton Hotel is in the works for Town Center West, a mixed-use development that will include 111,600 square feet of retail space with 300 apartments and condominiums.

Another hotel, 110 feet and eight stories tall, is planned for the WestMark Office Park, plans for which also call for a bank branch and two restaurants.

More shopping centers are planned or under construction in the area, buttressed by some of the county's newest and largest residential communities and home to the 1.2 million square foot Short Pump Town Center, which opened in 2003.

PHILIP J. SCHOONOVER
Top man at Circuit City
WHY YOU KNOW HIM: Philip J. Schoonover was chairman, president and chief executive office of Henrico County-based Circuit City Stores Inc. before he was forced out in September.

Schoonover joined Circuit City in October 2004 after leaving Best Buy Co. In 2005, he was named president of the chain. He became chairman of the board of directors and CEO in 2006.

He started 2008 in the midst of a turnaround and with the stock price trading at $4.09. He left the company Sept. 22 with shares trading at $1.70.

He spent most of the year fighting off a disgruntled shareholder who wanted him fired and an attempted purchase by Blockbuster he originally fought.

In the end, after nearly two years of constant losses, he stepped down. Since his departure, the chain has filed for bankruptcy and closed 155 stores.

WHAT'S NEW: Schoonover has moved to Osterville, Mass., a town on Cape Cod.

On Monday, a bankruptcy judge ruled that Circuit City did not have to honor the contract that called for him to be paid $1.8 million plus benefits.

DANIEL HENNIG
The Capri Sun kid
WHY YOU KNOW HIM: Capri Sun purses were more than just a passing fancy for Daniel Hennig.

The Henrico County 10-year-old was one of 869 students from around the region who were asked to come up with a product, make it, market it and then sell it to other classmates who had been given fake money to shop with.

He chose purses and wallets, recycling the metallic-looking pouches that hold Capri Sun fruit drinks.

The Mini-Economy Market Day in April was sponsored by the Center for Economic Education at Virginia Commonwealth University's school of business.

Daniel and a business partner started with 24 purses and wallets. They sold out within 15 minutes. Their initial price doubled from $25 to $50 in a matter of time.

He left with orders for more.

WHAT'S NEW: Eight months after his bags and wallets debuted at the Mini-Economy Market Day, Daniel continues to fill orders.

"I still make them," said Daniel, now 11 and a fifth-grader at Jackson Davis Elementary School in Henrico County. "Everyone around the neighborhood wanted some for themselves."

He's even taught a cousin how to make the fashionable bags. He planned to give a teacher one for Christmas.

For those wondering how a drink container can be fashionable, take note. Daniel cleans Capri Sun juice pouches, cuts them up and uses duct tape to piece them together. A little ribbon threaded through holes punched at the top makes it a purse.

BROAD STREET IN DOWNTOWN RICHMOND
The city's signature boulevard
WHY YOU KNOW IT: Broad Street hit bottom in the early 1990s after years of disinvestment, blight and the failed attempt at revival in the now-demolished Sixth Street Marketplace. But the street's fortunes are rising, with more than $1 billion in investment in art galleries, shops, restaurants, condominiums, arts venues, government buildings and other projects.

WHAT'S NEW: This year saw the continuation of the First Fridays art walk, as well as Broad Appétit festival in May to celebrate food and the arts.

A $102 million federal courthouse (at left) opened in September. It is named after federal judges Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige Jr. An expansion of Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus is ongoing.

The city gave revitalization efforts a nudge by taking steps to forcefully acquire several vacant buildings at Second and Broad streets under its "spot blight" ordinance. The owner eventually sold the properties to a developer, which has stabilized the structures and is preparing them for reoccupancy as retail, offices and residences.

In February, the former Miller & Rhoads department store space is set to reopen as a 250-room Hilton Garden hotel and 133 condominiums. A portion of the block formerly occupied by the Thalhimers department store will reopen in September as the $75 million Richmond CenterStage performing arts center.

The University of Richmond also is working to open a law clinic and pro bono legal center at Sixth and Broad.

SHAWN BOYER
SnagAJob.com
WHY YOU KNOW HIM: Shawn Boyer started SnagAJob.com in 2000 with a handful of employees when a friend couldn't find the resources to get a job online. In April, the Small Business Administration named Boyer Small Business Person of the Year, earning him a trip to the White House for a tour, dinner and meeting with President George W. Bush.

WHAT'S NEW: Despite the economy, or because of it, SnagAJob is doing better than ever. Boyer has watched the number of ads and visits to the Henrico County-based job-search Web site increase dramatically.

In January, the site had 68,000 advertisements for hourly jobs. In November, the number was 120,000.

In all of 2007, the company's Web site was viewed 31 million times. So far this year, the site has had more than 58 million page views.

The company hired 51 employees this year, bringing the total to 140. Boyer plans to hire an additional 40 people next year as the company adds new products and expands into offering medical and staffing listings.

"For us, we've actually been able to do really well," Boyer said. "It's one of those things you don't want to talk about so much because other people aren't."

The SBA award was not the only honor bestowed upon the SnagAJob founder or his company.

This month, SnagAJob won the Young Professional Workplace Award from the Greater Richmond Chamber. The company also won third place in the Great Place to Work contest sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Boyer's hoping for No. 1 next year.

WINDEMERE
5501 Cary Street Road
WHY YOU KNOW IT: The Windemere mansion on Cary Street Road is a Richmond landmark: three stories with 18 rooms, seven bedrooms, eight full baths and two half baths.

In 1999, then-Gov. Jim Gilmore stayed in the nearly 11,000-square-foot house on 3.1 acres while the Executive Mansion was renovated.

Nearly a year ago in January, the estate was sold at auction.

WHAT'S NEW: One would think the new owners would be long settled into Windemere. But the sale still hasn't closed.

It became tied up in court as part of a divorce settlement between beverage distributor Larry E. Brown and Betty G. Brown.

"It ended up in the Virginia Supreme Court," said Linda Staples, the auctioneer with Tranzon Fox.

Staples said the sale should close soon, but it won't be by year's end.

The property was auctioned because it failed to sell on the open market. It was listed in 2004 for $4.9 million before the price was dropped to $3.7 million, its assessed value.

Don and Pia Steinbrugge, the winning bidders, planned to move in March 1. They put their house up for sale in nearby Windsor Farms but pulled it off the market when the sale didn't go through.

Their deposit of more than $300,000 has been tied up ever since the auction.

The Steinbrugges say they still want the house.

"But there are a lot of issues," Don Steinbrugge said. "The house was sold to us without clear title."