Assistant business editor

Office phone: 757-446-2271

Email: chris.dinsmore@pilotonline.com

Chris Dinsmore arrived in Hampton Roads in December 1975, thanks to the Navy, just in time to smash his front teeth flying over the handlebars of his first bicycle with a front brake.

He’s still riding a bike – racing even – and he still flies over the handle bars on occasion. When he was not visiting local emergency rooms, he worked as a business reporter at The Virginian-Pilot, where he’s covered just about every business beat at the Pilot since returning to the region in 1993. In 2005, he was appointed assistant business editor.

After graduating from Kempsville High School in 1985, he went to the University of Virginia and managed to graduate in four years with a degree in anthropology. Putting the degree to good use, he waited tables at the Oceanfront for a year before going to Northwestern University to study journalism.

His first job was in Charlotte, covering banking for a weekly business newspaper before conning the folks at the Pilot to hire a young green reporter with local roots. They’ve been taking advantage of him ever since.

He’s covered retail, real estate, economic development, riverboat gambling, tourism, shipyards and defense contracting. Right now he’s responsible for the port, railroads, trucking, warehousing and whatever else gets thrown at him. And when the boss is away, he gets to play, editing the business section.

Chris got lucky 10 years ago and married another Navy brat with local roots and a house to boot. Together they have three bright and beautiful girls in the same cramped little house in Norfolk.

Keep the wheels down.