About Us

Virginia Retail Federation is a statewide organization that protects members’ legislative interests, ensuring their voice is heard in the legislative process and keeps them informed on issues impacting their business on the local, state, and Federal levels. We take a pro-business approach to legislative issues to ensure there is representation for retailers that serve the Commonwealth.

Pro-Business Legislative Policy

VRF’s legislative policy guides our positions on issues at the General Assembly and is centered around a pro-business approach. You will see that the majority of the bills in this report are opposed by the VRF, which is typical for every year at the General Assembly.

View Legislative Policy

We Fight Against

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Additional Mandates on Business

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Opening Employers up to Private Cause of Action

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Additional Industry-Specific Taxes

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Additional Reporting Requirements for Business

Mission

WE PROACTIVELY PRESENT AND SUPPORT THE LEGISLATIVE INTERESTS OF VIRGINIA RETAILERS AT FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS.

Vision

BUILDING A COLLECTIVE VOICE OF, AND FOR, VIRGINIA RETAILERS.

Core Values

WE ARE APPROACHABLE AND TRANSPARENT.

WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY, FAIRNESS, AND PROFESSIONALISM.

WE ARE RESPECTFUL, COLLABORATIVE, AND NON-PARTISAN.

Our Lobbyists

In-House Lobbysits

Jodi Roth

Director, Government Affairs

Jodi has over 25 years experience in government affairs in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as on the federal level.

Jodi has represented a wide array of clients in front of the General Assembly and the Executive Branch during her career, including spending the last several years specifically on retail issues. During that time, Jodi worked to bridge a coalition of retail representatives throughout the state to ensure a unified voice on behalf of Virginia’s retail industry.

Jennifer Crittenden

CEO, Retail Alliance

Jennifer Crittenden (Jenny) was appointed as CEO of Retail Alliance in February 2023, having joined the organization as Senior Vice President in 2022. With a background of sixteen years in leading the nationally accredited Main Street Preservation Trust, she was recognized with the Main Street Forward Award for her recovery efforts and development of an E-Commerce Platform for Gloucester downtown businesses.

During the pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam appointed Crittenden to represent small brick and mortar retail on the Governor’s COVID-19 Business Task Force with the goal of assisting the developing reopening guidelines for businesses in Virginia. In 2021, Jenny was recognized as one of the top twenty women in business by Inside Business.

Nancy Thomas

President & CEO, InUnison

Nancy is the President/CEO of InUnison of Central Virginia. Prior to her current role, Nancy was involved in retail for 27 years and held multiple management positions with This End Up Furniture; as the owner of Arcade on Grove; and as a partner with Turn Key Interiors.

Nancy has four years of lobbying experience at the General Assembly and has testified before numerous committees on various retail industry legislation.

Nancy serves on several boards, including Richmond Region Tourism, Henrico Police Foundation, Valor RVA, the Governing Board of the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority, and CrossOver Healthcare Ministry.

Contract Lobbyists

David Hallock

President, Two Capitols Consulting

David Hallock serves as a contract lobbyist for Virginia Retail Federation and is President at Two Capitols Consulting. Read David’s full bio here.