People – January 2019

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Jayme Swain has been named CEO of the newly created Virginia Foundation for Public Media, the parent company of the nonprofit corporation owning WCVE public television and radio stations in Richmond. She was vice president of strategy and operations at the Public Broadcasting Service. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Virginia Beach appointed Taylor Adams as interim director of the Economic Development Department, which lost its leader of 11 years when Warren Harris abruptly resigned last month in the middle of an audit into his credit-card spending. Another former employee recently was indicted on felony embezzlement charges. Adams joined Virginia Beach in 2015 as its purchasing agent. He was promoted to finance operations administrator in early 2017. (The Virginian-Pilot)

TowneBank recently announced the promotions of three new presidents. Buffy J. Barefoot was named president of TowneBank Virginia Beach. She was senior loan administrator for TowneBank.  John P. Baiocco has been named president, TowneBank Norfolk. He was senior executive vice president, commercial lender in Norfolk.  Herbert H. Bateman Jr. is now market president for TowneBank Williamsburg. He was executive vice president, commercial lender in Newport News.  (News release)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Elizabeth McNeal, named strategic marketing director, Park View Federal Credit Union in Harrisonburg. (News release)

Abram J. (Abe) Shearer has been promoted to partner of Strategent Financial LLC in Harrisonburg. He joined the firm in 2015 as an associate. (News release)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Jason Albanese, formerly vice president of business development for operations and logistics solutions at Reston-based Leidos, has been appointed senior vice president of business development in the company’s health group. (GovCon Wire)

Matt Mathias is the new CEO of StoneSprings Hospital Center in Dulles. He was chief operating officer at HCA’s Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, a 531-bed hospital in Houston. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Vienna-based Navy Federal Credit Union has a new CEO. Chief Operating Officer Mary McDuffie, who has worked at Navy Federal since 1999, replaces Cutler Dawson, who is retiring after 14 years. She officially takes the helm of the country’s largest credit union Jan. 18. She will be the first woman to serve as CEO at Navy Federal. (Washington Business Journal)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Wythe County Supervisor Timothy A. Reeves Sr. has been elected president of the Virginia Association of Counties for 2018-19. Reeves succeeds King and Queen County Supervisor Sherrin C. Alsop. He is the second VACo president from Wythe County. Reeves, a Grayson County native, was first elected to the Wythe Board of Supervisors in 2011. He has served as board chairman since 2014. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Casey Taylor is on his way as an entrepreneur. The 2016 Robert E. Lee High School graduate won the U.Va.-Wise Entrepreneurship Cup Concept Competition in November, which landed him $1,000. Taylor, a mathematics major at U.Va.-Wise, won for the concept of a personalized 3-D water bottle cap that will allow parents to track their child’s water consumption through a built-in sensor. The purpose of the competition is to seed ideas from all parts of the university at every stage of development. Students are encouraged to come up with out-of-the-box ideas that could be translated into compelling projects. (Staunton News Leader)

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY
Sue Ranson, co-founder of Good Samaritan Hospice, the first stand-alone hospice agency in Roanoke, is retiring after 26 years. She plans to retire Dec. 31. Good Sam’s board has named Aaron Housh as her successor. Housh has worked in hospice in Tennessee, North Carolina and West Virginia. (The Roanoke Times)

The Roanoke Higher Education Authority announced the following appointments to its board of trustees: Mary Baldwin University has appointed James McCoy and Virginia Commonwealth University has appointed Kevin Harris. (The Roanoke Times)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Danville and Pittsylvania County are getting help from the Danville Regional Foundation to pay for a consultant who’s played a major role in attracting several economic development projects to the Dan River Region. The foundation, which funds projects to improve the local community, is providing $120,000 to pay Tom Loehr, retired executive vice president of Rolls Royce Aerospace, to continue to help recruit new industries to the region. (Danville Register & Bee)

Val-Rae Christensen won the second round of VISION Quest, a community project pitch competition. Her project, The Hope and Peace Initiative (H.A.P.I), earned a $5,000 sponsorship, as well as assistance in marketing, project development and partner resources through Middle Border Forward, a nonprofit community development organization. (Danville Register & Bee)

The Henry County School Board has named Sandy Strayer the school district’s superintendent. Strayer had served as interim superintendent since the May departure of Jared Cotton, who left to take over Chesapeake Public Schools. (Martinsville Bulletin)