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Another
year of big changes
Our
list reflects a weak economy and global uncertainties
Virginia Business readers like lists.
For good reason, too. Lists can give lots of information
very quickly and not just revenue figures. They show,
in a very empirical way, who's up and who's down. Scanning
them can tell about what's happened in the past year.
One of our premier lists is our annual
"List of Leaders" which follows for the next
29 pages and tracks the largest companies by sector.
The world remains a precarious place, and Virginia companies
are still reeling from the horrible terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001. One victim is Arlington-based US
Airways Group. By way of comparison, in 1999, the then-healthy
carrier ranked No. 6 among public companies. Now it
has slid to 10th place and is in bankruptcy, in part
because it relied heavily on Reagan National Airport,
which had to be closed for weeks after the attacks on
the Pentagon.
Another major trend is the continuing
shakeout in the telecommunications field, which has
seen $1 trillion in wealth vanish as stocks have tanked.
Consider the list of the biggest telephone companies
back in 1999. Not many exist in their current forms
anymore, including list leaders Bell Atlantic and GTE.
Now the top phone firm is Verizon. Sprint has retained
its same No. 3 spot.
Or, consider health care. Back in 1999,
the leading insurer was Richmond-based Trigon Blue Cross
and Blue Shield. No longer. Following Trigon's takeover
by an Indiana company, the leader is now Anthem Health
Plans of Virginia. Back in 1999, the largest public
company was Mobil Corp., based in Fairfax. But Mobil
has since vanished in the alphabet soup of oil firm
mergers. Ditto architectural and engineering companies.
In 1999, the leader was Fairfax's ICF Kaiser International.
Today, it is French-owned Framatome ANP of Lynchburg,
which is finding a lucrative market renovating aging
commercial nuclear reactors.
If you're looking for stability, you
might feel safe perusing our list of top law firms.
With one exception. Mays & Valentine of Richmond,
which was No. 3 in 1999, has merged and is now part
of Atlanta-based Troutman Sanders.
As a bonus, this year we are offering
Executive insights from corporate officers or association
leaders in various sectors. We asked several to comment
on the challenges and opportunities they and their competitors
are facing. We hope you find their comments, and the
lists, useful.
- The Editors
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