Gregory J. Gilligan
Vice President of Operations
Gregory J. Gilligan was named vice president of operations at RVA757 Connects in October 2023. He joined RVA757 Connects as communications director in March 2022 after working in a variety of roles at the Richmond Times-Dispatch for 35 years, including the last 11½ years as the newspaper’s business editor.
Much of his career at the newspaper was spent writing about the retail industry from 1993 until January 2008. Gilligan wrote a weekly column, called Biz Buzz, that has appeared in Monday's Metro Business section every week, except for once or twice, from mid-1993 until June 2008. He continued writing the Biz Buzz column and reporting on the retail and commercial real estate industries again in recent years while also serving as the business editor.
During his tenure as a reporter, he wrote about every major development relating to the retail industry in Virginia, from the demise of catalog showroom retailer Best Products and home furnishings retailer Heilig-Meyers to the ups and downs at consumer electronics retailer Circuit City and automotive retailer CarMax. He spent a considerable amount of time in 2003 writing about the two new malls that opened in the Richmond area. In late 2008 and early 2009, he assisted in the newspaper’s coverage of the demise of Circuit City, including writing an in-depth story about how the retailer went from good to great to gone.
For a decade until December 2009, Gilligan worked one day as a clerk during the holidays at a different retailer and then wrote a story based on that experience to give readers an idea of what the job entailed. His stints included working as a clerk at Walmart, Bath & Body Works, Circuit City, Costco, Saks Fifth Avenue, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Hecht’s, Toys ‘R’ Us and Crate & Barrel.
He has been honored with awards over the years from the Virginia Press Association, including first place in the business writing category in 2021 and second place in 2022.
In addition to his job at The Times-Dispatch, Gilligan taught journalism classes at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2003 to 2008.
He graduated from The Ohio State University in December 1986 and started at The Times-Dispatch a month later.
