17 | JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 26, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org
BUSINESS Dear Readers,
My father followed his father-in-law’s path by opening a women’s clothing store in Downtown Suffolk in the 1950s. When I was a teen, knowing my dad had a degree LEGAL
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from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, I asked if he liked spending his time, earning his living in such a way. Dad’s response stuck with me. It was an enthusiastic “YES!” he said he loved being involved with so many aspects of business. “I get to work on advertising, go on buying trips, arrange the windows, talk to customers. . .” He went on and on. The interview with Joel Feldman of Kitchen Barn fame reflects a similar energy and passion for his business. Haley Bartel’s article on Feldman and the staying-power of his store, is on page 22. When making succession plans for a family business, Rob Goodman offers a few suggestions in an article on the next page, including the importance of creating
Tax strategy and coordination Long-term care and life transition planning Asset protection
opportunities for children to shine on their own.
Ongoing financial planning and investment guidance
Among the other articles in this section is one on Virginia Beach’s Jack Gross who
Business and succession planning
is embarking on a new venture he’s created with a college classmate. Still in school,
Our advice is guided by one thing— what’s right for you and your family.
he’s launching his business to assist athletes when they have moved on from playing. The piece is on page 21. Whether a business sells clothing, rolling pins, homes, advertising space in a newspaper, or fences, making it personal (sorry Godfather fans), is often what makes it successful, or at least fulfilling and exciting. Just ask Joel Feldman. Thanks for reading,
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18 | JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 26, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org
Terri Denison Editor
BUSINESS
Passing the torch: Succession in family businesses Robert Goodman.
Haley Bartel In Prime Video’s hidden-camera comedy Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, which began streaming in March, the founder of a family-owned hot sauce company, Doug, announces his retirement and subsequent handing over of the business to his astonishingly unprepared son, Dougie. It’s played for laughs – most of the employees have been with the company for years and lovingly acknowledge that Dougie is in no way fit to run a company. The alternative, however – being purchased by an outside group with unclear motives – poses a real-world question: when a transition of power occurs within a business, what happens to everyone else who depends on the company? The goal for most business owners is to keep their company in the family – a desire shared by 72% of business owners, according to PWC’s family business research. But hoping and planning are two different things, says Robert Goodman, an attorney at Kaufman & Canoles who advises families on succession. The transition of a family company to the next generation might appear like the clearest path forward, especially from the outside, but the reality is always far more complex. The conversation about these transitions should focus “primarily on the ability and willingness of the next generation to run the family business,” Goodman says. “It works best when the next generation wants to be part of it, takes pride in the values and culture, and gains experience with mentoring from the older generation.” Each generation, he adds, should leave its own mark on the business. Yet even willing heirs can create tension when there’s more than one child on the receiving end. In these cases, the conflict is not only over what is right for the business, but what is right for each child given their skills, their careers, and the lives they want. “In many cases only one of the children is involved in the business,” Goodman says. “At the same time, the parents want all children to be treated fairly.” When it comes to succession planning, equal and fair can be opposing ideals. If one child is more involved in the business to help it grow, the ownership, or at least the increase in its value, often goes to
that child. The other heirs generally receive other assets, which may not add up to the same amount. Ultimately, there are decision-making factors that extend beyond family dynamics. Most family businesses, to varying degrees, have employees outside of their family structure whose livelihoods they take into consideration. “Parents often want to look out for loyal, longtime employees,” Goodman says, a reality that he believes is true to Jewish values. He says some of his happiest clients took his advice to provide for those employees. Goodman encourages families to carry that level of generosity. He also points families toward giving. A donor advised fund created in the name of the parents or the family can honor the work they have done, while giving the next generation a push towards a role in charitable work and community service. Naomi Limor Sedek, president and CEO of Tidewater Jewish Foundation, describes a donor advised fund as “a charitable checking account.” Donors get a tax deduction when they add money, and they recommend grants to charities. For families with a business and several million dollars in assets, she says, a supporting organization may be a better fit, with the foundation acting as “a family office” that convenes the generations to discuss their mission and run a grants process together. Russ Cronin, TJF’s vice president and COO, says families name successor advisors, typically children or grandchildren, in the fund agreement, and those successors must be living during the original donors’ lifetime. They may also be limited to granting the income the fund produces rather than the principal. But Sedek says the next generation can extend a fund’s reach: if they contribute their own resources to the fund, they can name successor advisors in a modified fund agreement with the Foundation. That opportunity for the next generation to contribute something of their own echoes Goodman’s biggest piece of advice: for parents not to deprive children of the pleasure of their own success. “If one or more of your children are involved in the family business, look for ways for them to add new value so that they may take pride in what they are accomplishing,” he says.
19 | JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 26, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org
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BUSINESS David Ellison slots Israeli Ynon Kreiz into executive role at merged Paramount-Warner studios Andrew Lapin (JTA) —Jewish entertainment mogul David Ellison has appointed an Israeli businessman to help lead operations at the new company being created by his controversial merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. The move came days after a settlement cleared the way for the combined mega-studio’s formation. Ynon Kreiz, the Israeli-American former CEO of Mattel, is joining the company as Ellison’s co-CEO. The merged entity will be known simply as Skydance – the name of Ellison’s production company – which previously merged with Paramount, Ellison announced Friday, Oct. 2. “We have big goals for Skydance, and we intend to pursue them with passion, imagination, and a willingness to take smart risks,” Ellison announced Oct. 2 in his inaugural post on the social network X. The mogul’s entertainment and media ambitions have attracted considerable negative attention over the
last few years — attention that, in some instances, has been directed at his pro-Israel beliefs and connections as the entertainment industry writ large has also weathered growing accusations of anti-Jewish bias. Most recently, the actor Mark Ruffalo has drawn accusations of antisemitism – and some support – for suggesting that Ellison’s planned $110 billion merger would be a boon to Israel’s “apartheid system of oppression” via Oracle, the tech surveillance company owned by Ellison’s father Larry that does business in Israel. Paramount under Ellison’s leadership has long shown signs of pro-Israel leanings. Last year the company was the only major American studio to issue a public rebuke of a petition to boycott Israeli film institutions, circulated by many big-name actors, while distributing multiple documentaries about Israelis in the shadow of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Ellison also attracted scrutiny for appointing Bari Weiss, the Jewish and
pro-Israel media innovator and pundit, as editor in chief of CBS News. Weiss’s tenure at CBS has been marked by controversy, with mass walkouts of top talent and a ratings nosedive. Initial industry speculation that Ellison would ask her to also take the reins at Warner-owned CNN has been tamped down in recent days, with the Wall Street Journal and other outlets now reporting that Ellison has asked the news network’s CEO Mark Thompson to stay put for at least the next year. Kreiz, the former Mattel CEO behind the smashhit Barbie movie, has been known to support pro-Israel causes as well. In 2023, he attended a screening of footage of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks organized by Israeli actress Gal Gadot at Los Angeles’s Museum of Tolerance. Outside, brawls broke out between pro- and anti-Israel demonstrators.
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BUSINESS
Norfolk Academy grad is building network for athletes to transition to careers post playing days Haley Bartel Every athlete eventually plays a last game, and Jack Gross, a Norfolk Academy graduate and senior at Tulane University, wants to make sure there’s a plan for what comes next. Gross is a founder and the chief operating officer of Second Half Network, a free mentorship platform that connects college student-athletes with professionals who can help them move into careers. Gross leads business development, Jack Gross. including partnerships, mentor recruitment, and corporate relationships. The idea grew out of his own experience. He played baseball at Norfolk Academy, started college at Sewanee, then transferred to Tulane, where he now works as a bullpen catcher for the baseball program. “When my own college baseball path changed, I started asking what comes next,” he says, and soon realized thousands of other athletes were asking the same question. Gross met Scott Venancio, Second Half Network founder and chief executive officer, in an entrepreneurship class at Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, where Gross is studying legal studies in business with a minor in entrepreneurship. “Looking back, it’s pretty cool that a classroom conversation has turned into a real company with a team, mentors, athletes, a corporate partner, and conversations with universities,” Gross says. The platform is currently in beta.
Athletes build profiles around their interests and career goals, then apply to mentors, who hold an introductory call before deciding whether to work together. Athletes pay nothing for the service – the company plans to rely on partnerships with universities and organizations to fund the platform. Gross says the network has more than 125 mentors from industries including finance and sports administration, and its first cohort of studentathletes began working with mentors this fall. In September, CK1 LLC, an executive advisory and sports technology firm designed to help collegiate athletic departments and professional sports franchises navigate modern operational challenges, became the first participant in the Corporate Mentorship Program, which lets employees volunteer as mentors. Two of the network’s mentors are from Virginia Beach, and Gross hopes to bring in more from the area. “Virginia Beach shaped how I build,” he says. “It’s a community where relationships matter, and I’ve seen how willing people are to help when you ask.” Gross strongly encourages interested mentors, companies, former athletes, coaches, and universities to contact him. “You don’t need five hours a week,” he says. “A 20-minute conversation with the right person can change the direction of a young person’s career.” Gross may be contacted at SecondHalfNetwork.com.
21 | JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 26, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org
Looking back, it’s pretty cool that a classroom conversation has turned into a real company with a team, mentors, athletes, a corporate partner, and conversations with universities. Employment Oppor tunity
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BUSINESS
Pots, pans and people: Joel Feldman celebrates 50 years of Kitchen Barn Haley Bartel It doesn’t take much to keep Joel Feldman motivated to go into work every day. His store is his sanctuary, a culmination of half a century of hard work. “When my car pulls in the parking lot, I’m excited,” he says. “Sometimes I get chills. I’ve also broken down in tears.” Feldman, founder of Kitchen Barn, has been selling cookware in Hampton Roads for more than 50 years. He considers his business, lifestyle, and the people it has brought into his life to be nothing short of a blessing. Feldman grew up in Norfolk, around grandparents who spoke only Yiddish and kept kosher. His parents spoke it too, and he picked up “every expression you could think of,” even if he never learned the language itself. His father, [Louis] Feldman, was “an amazing salesman” who taught him “how to talk to customers, how to be a mensch.” His first jobs were cutting grass, shoveling snow and delivering the afternoon Ledger-Star, collecting payment door to door. Those gigs taught him the value of “a regimen, something you had to follow,” he says. He then went on to work at Esquire Naval Tailor, where he worked for Jake Friedberg, a “master businessman.” Eventually, he began cooking meals for people in their homes, with his wife, Phyllis, handling cleanup. He found that the pans folks kept in their homes, Club Aluminum, were “maybe a little bit of a poison,” noting that they “discolored and flavored food.” Then, in 1972, when a friend introduced him to stainless steel cookware, he realized he had work to do beyond just cooking. Feldman wanted to spread the knowledge he’d uncovered, so he started selling the pans at cooking parties. “People would invite friends over, and I’d cook a dinner with these amazing pans,” he says. Eventually, he decided he wanted to open a store. “My main objective was to have better quality cookware.” Before opening his store, a tip sent him to Washington to see Kitchen Bazaar on Connecticut Avenue. He walked in with a pen and paper and started taking notes. When the owner, Sherman Shapiro, arrived, Feldman introduced himself and explained his plan. Shapiro let him look around, took him to lunch, and told him exactly where to go in New York to find vendors.
Joel Feldman.
“I was there the following week,” Feldman recalls. “That’s how it started.” His first store opened in Pembroke Meadows on Independence Boulevard, and at the start, he had dreams of expansion. In 1976, developer John Ray Potter walked him through a staked-out lot at Hilltop and offered a 2,000-square-foot space. By the time the 80s rolled around, he had three stores, including one in Coliseum Mall in Hampton, and had plans to open stores in Charlottesville and Washington, DC. Then, in 1983, interest rates hit 26 percent. “All I could do was pay the interest, forget paying on the principal,” he recalls. He closed Hampton and Independence Boulevard, designating his Hilltop store as the pièce de resistance. He called every vendor he owed and asked to buy merchandise COD while paying down his debt monthly. With his wife’s agreement, he took a second mortgage. “Everyone said, ‘We’ll do anything we can.’” The remaining store thrived, and he paid everyone back, though he quickly realized 2,0000 square feet wasn’t enough for his extensive inventory. After 35 years in his original Hilltop North location, he moved to a larger spot just across the parking lot.
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His setbacks taught him much about the keys to success. “Never give up. Work smarter. Learn from your mistakes. Listen to people, and always want to be better,” he says. Feldman also attributes Kitchen Barn’s success to his staff, who spend six months learning before they talk to customers about cookware or knives. “I could never have done it without the wonderful people who work for me,” he says. “They all love what they do. They’re knowledgeable. Our idea of helping somebody with an item is to teach them the importance of the item.” Kitchen Barn, Feldman says, offers an in-person shopping experience Amazon can’t match. “I’m a little mom-and-pop shop paying a fair amount of rent, and I pay my employees very handsomely,” he says. “I might be a few dollars more expensive, but when you buy from someone local, the money stays in town.” He attends trade shows in Atlanta and Chicago each year, “always looking for a better mousetrap.” He offers cooking classes and always contributes to local schools’ raffles. His focus on maintaining a high-caliber inventory and remaining involved in the community easily sets him apart from other options. “We have things that have been tested and been
BUSINESS
America the Beautiful
around for years, and we get better all the time,” Feldman says. “We’re good to our customers. We strive to have the best that we can have. And we always make sure we have good quality merchandise on the shelf.” Such dedication has put Feldman in a place where he has served generations of families, a feeling he can only describe as heartwarming. One woman returned 15 years after he gifted her a child’s apron her mother couldn’t afford. “I’ve never forgotten you,” she told him, a memory he recalls with tears in his eyes. That kindness and generosity plays a big part in Kitchen Barn’s staying power. With half a century under his belt, Feldman is over the moon about the future of Kitchen Barn. “We do a little better every year. Our figures are positive,” he says. His granddaughter, Lauren, is expected to take over someday. During the 50th September sale, she noted that she would be 80 years old at the 100th September sale. “How sweet is that?” he asks rhetorically, beaming. No response needed. Feldman’s advice for business owners starting out is simple: “Listen to that inner thing inside of you when you’re doing something. If it doesn’t make you feel good, don’t do it. It needs to be something that comes from your heart.”
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BUSINESS Israeli flags of Route 168: Inside the proIsrael legacy at Powell’s Roadside Market Hannah Yasemsky A produce farm grabs the attention of many drivers traveling from Tidewater to the Outer Banks – and not because of its beautiful tomatoes or peppers. Lining the approach to the property, a striking row of Israeli flags wave proudly in the wind, catching the eye of thousands of passersby. The roadside market was founded 47 years ago by William Powell. Today, he runs the farm alongside his wife of 35 years, Eddie-Jo Powell, a devout Christian who, like her late mother, is a proud supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. Eddie-Jo, whose professional background is education, views the flags more than a personal statement, but as an opportunity to educate the public. Whenever curious drivers pull over to ask, “Why do
you fly the Israeli flag?” or “What does that by their mother, her daughters developed overwhelmed by the hostility and hate that flag mean?”, she embraces the conversation, their own spiritual connection to Israel. For some drivers bring to the farm in response using every encounter Eddie-Jo, this meant to the Israeli flags display. Yet Eddie-Jo as a teachable moment frequent travels to anchors their family business in love, prayer, to share Israel’s history visit her mother and and scripture, turning potential conflict into and defend the nation’s explore the country. a bridge for understanding. right to exist. Meanwhile, her Following the atrocities of October Eddie Jo’s mother, sister, Patty Morris, 7, Eddie-Jo transformed Powell’s Market Betty Dudley St. Pierre, spent two years into a space for education and dialogue, also a devout Christian, living in Jerusalem. taking time to teach customers and student fell in love with the St. Pierre’s workers about the 250 hostages. As an land during her first devotion extended educator, Eddie-Jo actively encourages trip to Israel in 1978. far beyond spiritual conversations that challenge perpetual, Driven by a special admiration; she one-sided narratives. She teaches her staff connection to the birthharbored a fierce and patrons that it is possible to hold place of her Christian love for the Israel space and sadness for both Israelis and Eddie Jo Powell at Powell’s Market. faith, she made Aliyah Defense Forces Palestinians, refusing to view human sufin the late 1980s, moving into an apartment (IDF). “My mom had a heart for the fering as an either-or dynamic. By offering overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Inspired soldiers,” Eddie-Jo says. At 50 years old, scripture to counter hatred, sharing her and she volunteered for the IDF, with one of her her family’s personal experiences in Israel, fondest memories being the time she spent and greeting travelers with open arms and delivering candy and sweets to soldiers shared prayers, Eddie-Jo models how curistationed in the Golan Heights. Even as osity, empathy, and deep-seated values can she lived through the volatile years of the foster true understanding in unexpected Intifadas, St. Pierre was not afraid. When places. Ultimately, through her unwavertensions flared, she ing dedication as a would sit and pray Christian Zionist, she with Israeli soldiers has transformed her inside bomb shelters. roadside stand into Facing danger with a sanctuary of hope unwavering resolve, and faith—proving she would tell her that when rooted daughters, “Where in prayer, light will is my faith if I am always break through afraid?” It is an ideology the darkness. Karate helps children build routines, of courage that her Next door to improve focus, and gain the confidence daughters carry in their Powell’s is Blue 42’s they need to succeed in school and life. hearts. Brewing Barn, a café William and Eddie Jo Powell. Upon St. Pierre’s operated by Paxtin. Build strong routines passing, her family honored her wishes The café serves as a living tribute to St. Improve focus & self-discipline by scattering her ashes across her favorite Pierre’s memory. The blue and white decor is waters in the Sea of Galilee. In a touching a reflection of Eddie-Jo’s love for Israel, while Boost confidence moment of poetic alignment, Eddie-Jo the centerpiece of the café—their coffee Develop respect & perseverance noticed that the boat they had chartered for maker—is affectionately named “Bubbie” in Ages 6+ Help your child remain strong her memorial was named Faith—the very honor of the family matriarch. in school virtue her mother had carried in her heart A stop at Powell’s Roadside Market and throughout her life. Blue 42’s Brewing Barn is a heartwarming https://spiritfightingarts.com/ Today, Eddie-Jo is passing that same reminder of how community, culture, and 5000 Corporate Woods Dr, lesson of unshakeable faith to her 27-yeardeep-rooted Zionist values can bloom in the Virginia Beach, VA 23462 old-son, Paxtin, who sometimes feels most unexpected places. BUILDING STRONG MINDS. STRONG BODIES. STRONG FUTURES
24 | JEWISH NEWS OCTOBER 26, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org