Seven local companies make Fortune 500

In what Fortune magazine called the worst year ever for companies on its Fortune 500 list, the Richmond area held its own, though with some major footnotes.

Seven companies with local headquarters are on this year's Fortune 500, down from eight in 2008.

Three local companies moved higher in the annual rankings of the top 500 publicly traded U.S. companies by revenue, but none placed in the top 100, and one company on the magazine's list almost has disappeared from the local corporate landscape.

"We still have a large corporate headquarters presence here -- not as great as it was a year ago, but on a per-capita basis, still pretty strong," said Gregory H. Wingfield, president of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic-development group that has recruited corporate headquarters.

Wingfield noted that two of the region's Fortune 500 companies -- Altria Group Inc. and MeadWestvaco Corp. -- have relocated to the region in recent years.

Because this year's Fortune 500 is based on fiscal 2008 revenues, the list includes Circuit City Stores Inc., which came in at No. 228, down from No. 215 in 2008. However, the electronics retailer started liquidating its business this year after seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, so it won't make the Fortune 500 next year.

With the economy in a severe recession, Fortune said overall earnings for the companies on the list plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500.

Another Richmond-area company that was on the Fortune 500 in 2008, Goochland County-based food distributor Performance Food Group Co., is not on this year's list because it now is privately held after being acquired by two private-equity firms last year.

Yet three of the six other Richmond-area Fortune 500 companies advanced in the rankings, led by Goochland-based automobile retailer CarMax Inc., which rose 22 spots to No. 311 as its revenue jumped 9 percent in the fiscal year ended Feb. 29, 2008, the magazine reported.

Owens & Minor Inc., a Hanover County-based distributor of medical supplies, rose 21 spots to No. 339 as revenue rose almost 8 percent.

"We are very pleased that we moved up in the Fortune 500 rankings to No. 339 this year," said Craig R. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Owens & Minor. "This higher ranking salutes our success in growing our business while also creating value for our shareholders."

The Richmond area's largest Fortune 500 company this year is energy company Dominion Resources Inc., which rose four spots to No. 157. .

Dominion supplanted the nation's top tobacco company, Altria Group, as the biggest local Fortune 500 company this year. Altria moved down the rankings, from No. 61 to No. 160, because it shrank in size and revenue after the company spun off its international cigarette subsidiary into a separate, publicly traded company.

Henrico County-based packaging and paper-products company MeadWestvaco Corp. ranked No. 365, down from No. 356 last year, while Henrico-based insurer Genworth Financial Inc. was No. 271, down from No. 233 in 2008.

Five other Richmond-area companies are on the Fortune 1000 list, bringing the region's total showing to 12 companies.

The Richmond area lost a Fortune 1000 spot when Albemarle Corp. moved its headquarters to Baton Rouge, La., last year. Another company that made this year's Fortune 1000, LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has put its business units up for sale.

Virginia has 18 companies on this year's Fortune 500, compared with 19 in 2008. Only one made the top 100: Defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. ranked No. 83, up from No. 87 last year. McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp., among the Richmond area's top employers, ranks No. 145 this year, down from No. 130 in 2008.

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or .