On January 9, 570 bankers and members of the business community joined us for the VBA/VA Chamber Financial Forecast. Due to water supply issues in the city of Richmond, the event that was originally scheduled to be held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center was held virtually. For the fourteenth year, the VBA and VA Chamber of Commerce partnered to bring together hundreds of members of the business community to learn what lies ahead for the state and national economy.

Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors

2025 Speakers

Economic Update
Thomas I. Barkin
President & CEO | Federal Reserve Bank

Tom Barkin is the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He has held this position since 2018.

Tom serves on the Fed’s chief monetary policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee, and is also responsible for bank supervision and the Federal Reserve’s technology organization. He is “on the ground” continually in the Fed’s Fifth District, which covers South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, D.C., West Virginia and Maryland. His engagement in the region has brought real attention to areas facing economic challenges.

Prior to joining the Richmond Fed, Tom was a senior partner and CFO at McKinsey & Company, a worldwide management consulting firm, where he also oversaw McKinsey’s offices in the southern United States.

Virginia Commercial Real Estate 2025 Outlook
Melina Duggal, AICP, Senior Director of Market Analytics
CoStar Group

Melina Duggal, AICP, is the Senior Director of Market Analytics for the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore regions. She teaches real estate market analytics at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She has over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry. She most recently ran Duggal Real Estate Advisors, a real estate advisory firm, and taught real estate classes at the University of Maryland and George Mason University. Before that, she worked with RCLCO, a real estate consulting firm.

Melina has presented at numerous industry events, including for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), and the American Planning Association (APA). She has published numerous articles and is a contributing author for real estate books. She has been quoted in The New York Times, Urban Land, The Wall Street Journal, and the Orlando Sentinel, among other media outlets. Melina earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and Spanish and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

View Pictures from the 2025 Event