Jay Neely, vice president for law and public affairs at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. in Savannah, leads a 14-member legal department, which, he said, oversees "legal and business issues for more than two-dozen Gulfstream locations in the U.S. and multiple international locations."

Neely, who serves on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce's board of directors and chairs the Georgia Department of Economic Development board, used those positions to focus on workforce development last year to "help maintain Georgia's status as one of the best states in which to do business," according to his nominator essay.