Robert S. „Bobby“ Ukrop – MKRF2026 speaker
Robert S. „Bobby“ Ukrop
Chairman of the Board & CEO of Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, former CEO of Ukrop’s Super Markets, and second-generation representative of a family business with Slovak roots (USA)
The Perspective He Brings to the Congress
The Ukrop family is one of the rare examples of a family that successfully sold part of its business while preserving the continuity, identity and values of the part that remained. Bobby’s story is an inspiration for every family considering a reconfiguration of ownership — and wanting both the business and the family to emerge stronger from it.
Keynote
Leading with Heart Across Four Generations
How do you build a company that maintains the trust of customers and community for decades? Bobby, whose family roots trace back to Slovakia, will share the story of how an immigrant family built a strong and respected business in the United States. He will show how the principle of the “Golden Rule” — treating people the way you would want to be treated — shapes both company culture and decision-making. He will share how the family successfully transformed a traditional family business into a modern manufacturing company without losing its identity, and why values such as respect, gratitude, and service are what truly determine long-term sustainability across generations.
About the Speaker
Bobby Ukrop is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, a producer of premium-quality, chilled prepared foods and baked goods for food retailers in Virginia and adjacent states. This business, now employing 550 teammates, began in 2010 as an outgrowth of the Ukrop’s fresh food manufacturing division when the family sold its retail food business (25 Ukrop’s Super Markets employing 5,000 teammates) and Bobby’s side of the family kept the manufacturing part of the business. In 2019, UHF turned a vacant church sanctuary into Ukrop’s Market Hall, a retail outlet offering the “best of” its products. Also, Bobby serves as Co-Chair of the family’s Threads Uniform Agency, which provides uniforms and corporate apparel to large food retailers, theme parks, quick-serve restaurants, and convenience stores across the nation.
Bobby began his business career in 1962 as a courtesy clerk at Ukrop’s Super Markets, Inc., while attending George Wythe High School, from which he graduated in 1965. A 1969 graduate of the University of Richmond (where he played varsity basketball and golf) and 1972 MBA graduate of the Darden School at the University of Virginia, Bobby had a 41-year career at Ukrop’s, the last twelve as CEO. For four consecutive years beginning in 2000, Ukrop’s made the Fortune Magazine list of “100 Best Employers to Work For.” Bobby served in the Virginia Air National Guard from 1969 to 1975.
Bobby is active in the community serving as Chair of SwimRVA (an organization committed to “drownproofing Richmond” by making aquatics accessible to all with free swimming lessons for all second graders), serving on the boards of Lansing Building Products, the Greater Richmond Partnership (the region’s public-private economic development organization), the Salvation Army Advisory Board as a life trustee, and a commissioner for the Capital Region Airport Commission which operates Richmond International Airport. He previously served as chair of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Richmond Partnership (four times), and the Retail Merchants Association. For 26 years, Bobby served as a co-founder and board member for the Richmond Sports Backers (an organization striving to build a better community through sports and promotion of active lifestyles). He served on the University of Richmond Board of Trustees for 20 years and 23 years on the Board of Trustees of the Collegiate School. For 18 years, he served on the board of the First Tee of Greater Richmond and six years on the board of the Greater Richmond Fit4Kids Foundation.
In 1990, Bobby and his older brother Jim were inducted into the Richmond Business Hall of Fame, and in 2016, both were honored by the Virginia Press Association’s award for their community service and longtime support of regional economic development.
Bobby received the first Community Champion Award at the RVA Sports Awards in 2022, and in 2026, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame as a “Distinguished Virginian.”
Since the late 1990’s, Bobby has been involved in the Lead Like Jesus movement, whose global mission is to “Glorify God by inspiring and equipping people to lead like Jesus using our heart, our head, our hands, and our habits.”
Bobby enjoys golf and swimming. He has taught a fifth-grade Sunday School class for 43 years, including 26 years at First Baptist Church and the last 17 years at Second Baptist Church.
Married to his high school sweetheart, Jayne, for 56 years, Bobby and Jayne have four children and eleven grandchildren.
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