Rainmakers

Through their outreach, marketing and incentives, these are people who attract and grow businesses, making the commonwealth wealthier.

Keith Boswell, President and CEO, Virginia’s Gateway Region, Colonial Heights

When Keith Boswell started in May 2018, there was no need to rebrand the Gateway Region. He found a region comfortable with its identity. It knew what it was, where it wanted to go and em­braced its strengths in manu­­­­­facturing, logistics and dis­tribution, and food and bev­erage. “We really are authentic down here,” says Boswell, who spent 21 years at the Virginia Economic Development Part­nership. His team works to strengthen and expand business in the Tri-Cities of Petersburg, Hope­­well and Colonial Heights, and the counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Surry and Sussex. Plus, there’s the secret sauce, he says: “We’ve got Fort Lee.” •

Eva Doss, President and CEO, The Launch Place, Danville

Eva Doss heads an entrepreneurial development organization that is working toward a technology-based transformation of the Dan River Region economy. The Launch Place grew out of Southside Business Technology Center, which Doss, who has international business consulting experience, helped to establish. With funding from the Danville Regional Foundation, the organization provides support services to startup companies as well as investment capital. This year it held pitch competitions that awarded $30,000 to five companies. Doss and her team also are investing in an “idea-based entrepreneurship ecosystem” with new pre-seed and seed funds totaling $11 million.  •

Alexis Ehrhardt, President and CEO, Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce, Blairs

Alexis Ehrhardt was leading the community engagement and career center at Averett University when she was tapped nearly two years ago to head the chamber. It’s been a far different experience. She went from the large and complex world of higher education to a regional leadership organization with only three employees serving 600 members. “My experience at the chamber has been similar to an entrepreneurial venture,” she says. It’s required being “highly focused on our mission of energizing the region with an innovative, profitable business community.” Her organization champions Danville and Pittsylvania County at the state level, while remaining hyper-focused on the needs of members to build a stronger Dan River Region. •

Lara Fritts, President and CEO, Greater Richmond Partnership, Richmond

Lara Fritts arrived in August to lead the Greater Richmond Partnership. So far, the Wisconsin native has announced new businesses coming to the region from Germany, Ireland and India. With experience in Fairfax County, Salt Lake City and Annapolis, Maryland, Fritts has her eye on recruiting new companies, using technology in economic development and providing more office space, creating a strong business culture and building reliable transportation. “If we don’t have the right culture in which talent wants to locate, we won’t win those projects of tomorrow,” she says. •

Donna Gambrell, President and CEO, Appalachian Community Capital, Christiansburg

Finding capital can be difficult for businesses in Appalachia. But the organization that Donna Gambrell leads is filling that void by bringing affordable credit and capital to low-wealth communities — including minority- and women-owned businesses. A regional community development lender, ACC makes loans to support the growth of small businesses, such as a solar-powered hospital project in Virginia and a brewery in Southeast Georg

ia. Next year ACC will work with local leaders in Southwest Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio to identify investable real estate and business projects eligible for tax incentives as federally designated Opportunity Zones.  •

Mike Grundmann, Senior vice president of workplace solutions,  Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Richmond

For years, Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Stephen Moret has raved about a quick-launch workforce development program in Georgia. He used it as a model for  program in Louisiana and now is launching a similar initiative in Virginia. To make it happen, he’s tapped Mike Grundmann. The partnership’s new senior vice president of workforce solutions needs no catching up on the concept. He was with the Georgia program for 20 years. It’s all about speed, he says, delivering customized workforce solutions to companies — for free. If you’re bringing the jobs, Grundmann will make sure you get recruitment and training services. •

Victor Hoskins, President and CEO, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Tysons

He could have gone out on top after helping land one of the nation’s most-sought-after deals — Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion East Coast headquarters in Crystal City. That’s a big boom. But for Victor Hoskins, there are more deals ahead. He left Arlington Economic Development to become chief of the Fairfax EDA in August. He told The Washington Post that a focus will be to attract younger workers and create destination developments near Metro stations in Fairfax: “You have to think about how they’re designed, how people interact with them, how they differentiate themselves from other markets.”  •

Jay A. Langston, Executive director, Shenandoah Valley Partnership, Harrisonburg

“We’ve certainly had a banner calendar year in terms of investment: $1.25 billion and still counting,” says Jay Langston of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership. “And Colliers International named [the Valley] as one of the top emerging markets in the U.S.” Named executive director last fall, Langston works with public and private interests to develop a favorable economic climate for business in 12 localities. The job includes “working with tourism, community development and workforce partners as part of our economic development strategy.” It seems to be working. •

Lauren Mathena, Director of economic development and community engagement, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corp., South Boston

MBC has built a fiber-optic network of more than 1,900 miles in Southern Virginia and works with public-private partnerships to operate area networks. Last year, Microsoft agreed to partner with MBC to build South Boston’s new SOVA Innovation Hub. Mathena’s role is to oversee community programs at the new venture. She also is also directly involved with the overhaul of the Danville Science Center through its “ReImagine” campaign that will bring new educational programs, exhibits and partnerships. In addition, Mathena is working with Longwood University on an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Strategy report. “I want to lead and participate in collaborative efforts that improve the wealth and health of Southern Virginia,” she says. •

Douglas Parsons, Executive director, Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority, Front Royal

The circumstances were dire when Douglas Parsons decided to leave the Virginia Economic Development Authority to pick up the pieces in Front Royal and Warren County. The locality has been shaken by a $21 million embezzlement scandal centered around predecessor Jennifer McDonald, who is facing felony embezzlement charges. Parsons is out to restore the community’s faith in the EDA and its business practices. He started in May, working to build a new board and create committees focused on asset management, communication and finance, as well as re-establishing relationships. “Right now, our entire board of directors is very engaged and focused on turning the organization around,” he says. More than half the area’s workforce commutes out of the county, he says. His goal is to get the EDA back to creating new opportunities for them.  •

Will Payne, Managing partner, Coalfield Strategies LLC, Bristol

Will Payne is spearheading a new initiative called InvestSWVA that will seek to pair energy generation with industrial development projects for Southwest Virginia. The public-private regional mark­eting effort also will work with the Northern Virginia tech community to market remote employment opportunities. InvestSWVA’s team has reached out to Amazon executives to promote the region as a prime location for data centers. The project is the latest venture for Payne, who also runs Coalfield Strategies, an economic development consulting firm, and who recently served as the chief deputy of the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. Payne grew up in Richmond but moved in July to Southwest Virginia. “I saw so much opportunity in this marketing initiative that I committed to packing up my life, moving to Bristol and running the operation from SWVA,” he says. “Turns out that its been absolutely necessary and frankly the only way we can be successful.” •

Chuck Rigney, Director of economic development, City of Hampton, Hampton

After Leonard Sledge (see next entry) left Hampton’s economic develop­ment office, Chuck Rigney took over in October 2018. He came from Norfolk, where he helped land Ikea’s 50th U.S. store. In his first year in Hampton, Rigney’s team helped secure the Virginia Tech Foundation’s plans to build a new Virginia Seafood Agriculture Research and Extension Center. He calls it a catalyst for the waterfront’s planned improvements. Downtown has a Hilton Tapestry hotel coming and a mixed-use project from the developers of Richmond’s Rocketts Landing. He’s also focused on land around the Hampton Coliseum, where there is potential for a 60-plus-acre mixed-use development, and a former school site that could be repositioned as an industrial park. •

Leonard Sledge, Director, Richmond Department of Economic Development, Richmond

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney appointed Leonard Sledge to his position in June, assigning him to help push the proposed $1.5 billion Navy Hill downtown redevelopment project closer to approval. Sledge says the massive project will be a key focus through the next year, along with getting to know Richmond and working on its strategic plan. Sledge served as executive director of the Henry County Development Authority in Georgia and before that was Hampton’s director of economic development. Richmond faces unique challenges as a landlocked capital city where chunks of state and federal development take property off the tax rolls. The aim is prioritizing areas that need work, Sledge says, “and aggressively working to see redevelopment occur on them.” •

Douglas Smith, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Norfolk

Norfolk may have lost a city manager, but it gained a strong connection to the region’s economic development alliance. The former city manager, Douglas Smith, was tapped in June for the new position and started in September. It puts him at the helm of an organization designed to help companies expand and relocate in 11 localities, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Newport News. The Portsmouth native held executive positions with Virginia Beach and his hometown, and served a stint on Portsmouth City Council. “Attracting investment from outside the region is important,” he says, “but it’s only a piece of what needs to happen.” •

Ryan Touhill, Chief of staff, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Alexandria

His diplomas were still fresh — an undergraduate degree from George Mason University and a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University — when Ryan Touhill landed a job with the city of Alexandria. After seven years, he left to become chief of staff at the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership. There, he found himself on the team that helped land the $5 billion Amazon HQ2 for the region. He’s active in a number of Northern Virginia organizations, recently becoming board chairman for Rebuilding Together DC/Alexandria, a nonprofit supporting low-income homeowners. •

Christina Winn, Director of economic development, Prince William County, Gainesville

Another alum of the Amazon win in Northern Virginia, Christina Winn started as executive director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development in June. In her previous role as director of business development for Arlington County Economic Development, Winn served as Arlington’s lead negotiator on the HQ2 deal, helping finalize the details and millions of dollars in incentives for the company. One of her first moves for Prince William has been to join 10 other areas in September to form the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance.  •

Linwood Wright, Public and governmental affairs consultant, City of Danville

After working as a research chemist at the Dan River Inc. textile company for 52 years and serving as Danville’s mayor in the 1990s, Linwood Wright wasn’t ready to retire. “I hated retirement,” he says. “I hated sitting down with nothing to do.” At the time, he even felt suicidal, he says, and confided in then-City manager Lyle Lacy about his predicament. That’s how Wright became the city economic development office’s public and governmental affairs consultant. The most fun part of his job is “trying to make a deal come together,” Wright says. With plans for a mixed-use development on the river in the White Mill building and more than 700 new manufacturing jobs on their way next year, Wright seems to be on a roll.  •

W. Russell Young II, Director of economic development, The Port of Virginia, Norfolk

The Port of Virginia is one of the few enterprises that legit­­imately can claim a founding date of 1607. More than 2.85 million shipping containers came through the port in 2018, setting a record. Expansion on one terminal is completed, another is underway, and road and rail improvements are being made. Work begins next year on a dredging project to create channels that will be 55 feet deep and wider. The project, which will be complete in 2024, will “make Virginia home to the deepest port on the U.S. East Coast,” says Young, a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College. The selling point is that it creates a sense of “comfort and confidence” with prospects as they decide to locate and expand in Virginia. •