Photo of Greg Feldmann

Greg Feldmann grew up in Roanoke and started his career in finance with Dominion Bankshares in 1979, where he stayed for 12 years, ending his time there as president of Dominion Capital Markets Corporation. Beginning in 1991, he held a variety of roles focused on investment banking, private equity, and corporate advisory work, serving as vice president and treasurer for Ferguson Andrews & Associates, senior consultant for ESOP Services, and managing director of Gryphon Capital Partners. In 2004, he joined FNB Corporation and later became president & CEO of First National Bank, which merged to form StellarOne Bank, for which he also served as president, CEO, and a board director. In 2011, he co-founded Skyline Capital Strategies with Roanoke based law firm Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, where he serves as president. He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with a bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies. He has been happily married to his wife Betsy for 41 years. Their daughter, Anne Tyler Howell, a community planner and development professional, resides in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, Drew. Son Ned Feldmann is a data scientist with EY and recently relocated from Chicago back to Roanoke with his wife Haley.

1. What is your favorite part of your job as president of Skyline Capital Strategies?

I love working with a wide variety of people and companies. Some are early stage companies focused on technology, and some are mature companies engaged in mergers and acquisitions. It is very rewarding to help management teams and boards build their companies and achieve their business goals.

2. What made you interested in a career in finance?

When I graduated from college, Dominion Bankshares was offering a management training program. I went through that program, thinking it would be a good foundation that might lead either to a career in banking or give me some ideas for what I wanted to do in the business world. It turned out to be a good marriage between my interests and also allowed me to work in my home region. Community banking is about helping local individuals and businesses succeed financially. It’s a way of giving back to your local economy, which has always been a big motivator for me.

3. What are some similarities between your role at Skyline Capital and your work on the Region 2 Council?

I have done a lot of work over the course of my professional life with entrepreneurial companies. For example, I currently work with startup founders that are trying to figure out how to fund their businesses. GO Virginia also works to improve the entrepreneurial environment in the region. Further, the grants GO Virginia funds to enhance workforce, sites, and other economic development infrastructure in the region where I've lived and worked my entire life very much align with my interest to see this area prosper.

4. What are you looking forward to learning or doing as a Region 2 council member?

All of us want to see the grants we fund translate into having big economic impact. But that's going to take time because a lot of what we're working on does not have a short-term return. I'm going to enjoy watching the evolution of the grant work and the manifestation of tangible results that will improve economic circumstances of our region. Over the last 40 years of my time working here, I’ve seen this economy change in many ways no one could envision. For example, when I first came back to the Roanoke area, Norfolk and Western railroad was the dominant corporate entity and employer in the valley. Now, while the railroad still has an important presence, it has greatly diminished as a local employer. The whole fabric of our local economy has changed in the last few decades, and it will continue to change as technology and markets evolve. Daunting perhaps, but also exciting! As a region, we’re in a sweet spot. We have an abundance of colleges and universities and a major research university presence in the form of Virginia Tech. If we parlay these educational assets, along with our business, government and workforce correctly, we're going to be successful because we are creating the kind of knowledge workforce the future economy demands. And if we capture bright young people to stay here in the region, that's going to be a good thing long-term.

5. What was the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?

I usually read about 8 to 10 books at a time in episodic fashion. In the past month, I've finished a history of the U.S. involvement in Europe during World War II and a book on the history of central European kingdoms. Currently, I’m reading a book on the history of Europe and another book on the history of Greece and its impact on western civilization.

6. What activities do you like to do in your spare time?

I live on top of a mountain, and we do a fair amount of hiking and walking on nearby trails. I also play and teach pickleball. And I enjoy lecturing at local colleges and mentoring company founders on a volunteer basis.

7. What is the best advice you've ever received?

Don't be afraid to fail. I have been willing to step out and take some risks in my career. And it's worked out. I haven't always been successful, but I've always learned. The adage of ‘learning to live and living to learn’ is a driver for me. So many of the opportunities I’ve had in life allowed me broaden my experiences and skills sets, which has been truly rewarding.