The Lynchburg Regional Business Hall of Fame

 

Alfred Clifton (Buzzy) Coleman, Jr.

Coleman-Adams Construction, Inc.

Buzzy is a graduate of E. C. Glass High School. He founded Coleman-Adams Construction in 1971 with Vincen L. Adams and became a Butler pre-engineered building franchisee in 1974.  Coleman-Adams Construction, Inc. originated from a fourth generation commercial and industrial construction family and is continuing the fine service brought forth in previous years by the original Coleman Construction Company, thus maintaining one of the earliest Virginia state registration numbers, “541“.

Additionally, Buzzy and his company have received many recognitions to include numerous awards from Butler over the years. He received the F. M. “Dink” Cloyd Memorial Award in 1991 from the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.  In addition, Buzzy received the Virginia Governor’s Award for Volunteering Excellence in 1991, the Honorary Associate in Humane Letters degree from Central Virginia Community College in the late 80’s, and an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Liberty University in 2011.

He is married to Martha Anne and they celebrated their 58th anniversary earlier this year. They have three grown sons and one daughter.

 

Hal C. Craddock & his great grandfather John W. Craddock

Managing Member of Bluffwalk Center LP Founder & President Craddock Terry Shoe Corporation

Hal Craddock was founder and partner of Craddock Cunningham Architectural Partners in Lynchburg, Virginia where he served as principal, partner and president for over 30 years. The firm (now called “Architectural Partners”) has created a wide body of successful and award-winning design work focused on the adaptive use of older and historic buildings and the master planning and architectural expansion of Virginia’s private independent colleges and secondary schools. He helped plan and develop Lynchburg’s highly successful Downtown/Riverfront, including: the Sasaki Master Plan; the DPO building; The Anheuser Busch building; and the Riverviews Artspace. In addition, Hal is a principal owner/developer of the Bluffwalk Center in Lynchburg, which adaptively converted an 1896 tobacco warehouse and a 1905 shoe factory into an award winning hospitality complex. “Bluffwalk” includes the forty-four guestroom Craddock Terry Hotel and Event Center, Shoemakers American Grille, and Waterstone Pizza Restaurant and Brewpub.

Today, Hal is a partner in Creative Boutique Hotels LLC, a Roanoke based Hospitality Company which recently opened the Western Front Hotel and Milton’s Restaurant in St. Paul, Virginia, and is constructing the Sessions Hotel,  with two restaurants, and the “Fillin” Station Outdoor Music Venue in Bristol, VA. He is also helping develop the John Randolph Hotel in South Boston and the Petersburg Hotel, both Virginia historic landmarks.

After growing up in Lynchburg and attending public school, Hal received his Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech in 1972 and Masters in Urban Design in 1973.

He strongly believes in “story telling”, vision and creative design as a means for
struggling areas to convert their economies from traditional manufacturing, extraction, and agriculture, to destination tourism and experiential hospitality.

Hal is married to his childhood sweetheart Doris. Together they have five grown children.

 

Dr. Charlie W. Pryor, Jr.

BWX Technologies Inc.

Charlie W. Pryor is currently the lead independent director for BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT). He is the former chairman of Urenco USA Inc. based in Arlington, Virginia. Urenco USA Inc. is the North American division of Urenco Ltd., a global supplier of uranium enrichment services based in Stoke Poges, England.

Dr. Pryor is a member of the board of directors of DTE Energy Company and previously served as a director of Progress Energy.

He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Westinghouse Electric Company. While at Westinghouse, he led the company’s growth to over $2 billion in annual revenue worth employment of over 10,000 people.

Dr. Pryor spent 25 years with The Babcock & Wilcox Company (now known as BWXT) and was president of the B&W Nudear Power Division. He served as CEO of B&W Nuclear Technologies until retiring and starting his own management consulting business before joining Westinghouse.

In 1993, Dr. Pryor was named the State of Virginia’s “Outstanding Industrialist.” Additionally, French President Francois Mitterrand presented Pryor with the distinguished Chevalier de ‘Ordre National du Merit developing business relationships between the United States and France in 1991. He was also elected to the National Academy of Engineering list.

Locally, Dr. Pryor served on the boards of University of Lynchburg, Randolph College, Central Virginia Community College and Centra Health. He also served as president of the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce.

He holds an MBA from Northwestern University and earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Virginia Tech.

 

Marc A. Schewel and his grandfather Ben Schewel and his great uncle Abe Schewel

Schewel Furniture Company, Inc.

Marc Schewel, Ben’s grandson and the company’s current president, is a native of Lynchburg and a graduate of E. C. Glass High School and Washington and Lee University. He went to work for the company in 1970 after teaching English one year at Appomattox County High School. With the blessing of his father Bert, who was running the business at the time, he quickly became immersed in its various aspects: store operations, merchandising, advertising, and inventory management.

Nineteen eighty-six was a watershed year for the company. In order to supply product to its stores and customers more efficiently, it opened a 100,000 square foot distribution center on John Capron Road. It began construction of its first suburban store on Timberlake Road. And, after a period of contentious negotiations, Bert Schewel and his three children (Marc, Donna, and Jack) bought the fifty per cent ownership of Elliot Schewel and his two siblings.

The company prospered in the wake of a burgeoning economy. Revenues tripled; thirty new storefronts popped up; nine old ones were relocated to new construction.

In spite of severe competition from the internet and a lack of growth in many of its rural markets, which have resulted in stagnant sales in recent years, the company still looks to the future with optimism. An experienced, well-trained management team, a strong balance sheet, a legacy of superior customer service, the resources and commitment to invest in improvement and enhancement, and a fifth generation of family involvement make it well-positioned to meet the challenges of its second century.

 

Shaun Spencer-Hester and her grandmother Anne Bethel Spencer

Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum

Shaun Spencer-Hester is an Artisan, Historian, Fashion Designer, Interior Designer, Museum Curator, Playwright, and Social and Community Supporter.  She currently serves as the Executive Director and Curator at the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum, Inc., located in Lynchburg, VA. She is the granddaughter of Anne Spencer, an American Poet mostly associated with the Harlem Renaissance.  Shaun is the daughter of Chauncey E. Spencer, Sr., a famed aviator and Tuskegee Airman whose papers are held at the Bentley Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Her restoration and curation work during the past ten years at the Anne Spencer Museum has been nationally and internationally recognized and documented throughout the years and include most recently in The World of Interior Magazine, Harlem Renaissance poet’s haven in Virginia, London, July 2018; Book C-SPAN2, Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum; Lynchburg City Tour, February 18, 2018.

Shaun provides personal tours at the museum and has hosted hundreds of visitors and guests to include Miss United States of America. Shaun meets regularly with scholars and academia from around the world and university and college interns.

Shaun is currently writing a non-fiction book (untitled) which is inspired by her research at the Anne Spencer Museum. “The Book” is Shaun’s perspective as a Spencer family member. “The Book” reveals her discoveries, unfathomable family history, and family roots unearthed and intertwined in American history with branches to Aristocratic lineage within the U.S. and abroad. Based on true events “The Book” takes place in the present time and connects the Spencer families past history to the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War I, World War II, American Slavery, and the Harlem Renaissance or New Negro Movement.

She is the mother of one son and resides in Lynchburg, Virginia.