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byline: Rich Griset

BAE to begin $184M full-rate production on Marines amphibious vehicle

Arlington-based defense contractor BAE Systems has received approval from the U.S. Marine Corps to begin full-rate production of amphibious combat vehicles (ACVS) and received a $184 million contract modification to procure an initial 36 full-rate production of the vehicles for the service branch’s ship-to-shore operations.

USMC will use fiscal 2021 procurement funds on the award and expects BAE’s land and armaments business to complete work in November 2022, the Department of Defense said Thursday. The full-rate production milestone and contract award came nearly two-and-a-half years after the military branch selected the team of BAE and Italy’s Iveco Defence Vehicles for a potential $1.2 billion contract to build as many as 204 vehicles.

BAE estimates that the number of lot 1 ACVs will increase to 72 in early 2021. The company has options to manufacture 80 more units annually over a five-year period. The ACVs are designed to transport Marines from naval ships to shore and achieved initial operational capability status in November 2020.

BAE will also develop command-and-control mission role and medium-caliber cannon variants of the vehicle under a $67M modification the service branch awarded in June 2019.

BAE Systems Inc. is an independent U.S. subsidiary of England-based BAE Systems plc, one of Europe’s top defense contractors. BAE Systems Inc. employs approximately 35,100 people across the U.S., U.K., Sweden and Israel. The company generated $11.4 billion in sales last year.

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ODU names vice president for student engagement and enrollment

Following a national search, Old Dominion University has named Don Stansberry as its vice president for student engagement and enrollment services.

Stansberry has held the position on an interim basis since July 2019; his permanent post will begin on Jan. 10.

After national trends predicted a steep decline in college enrollment because of the pandemic, Stansberry mobilized more than 350 staff members across its campus to call new and returning students and led divisional efforts to increase enrollment, the university said in a statement. As a result, ODU experienced enrollment growth in summer and fall.

“Old Dominion is fortunate to have a student-centered leader like Dr. Stansberry — a practitioner, scholar and administrator who has been instrumental in developing and implementing programs at ODU,” ODU President John R. Broderick said in a letter to faculty and staff.

Broderick also said that Stansberry had contributed to some of the highest retention and graduation rates in ODU history.

“Dr. Stansberry has contributed to our commitment to inclusive excellence by engaging partners in diversifying our student body and creating student success initiatives such as the Safe Space and ODU Cares and supporting Brother2Brother,” Broderick added.

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State announces new secretary of administration

At the end of a press conference about new public restrictions related to the pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that Virginia Secretary of Administration Keyanna Conner is leaving for a job in the private sector and will be replaced by Grindly Johnson, the current deputy secretary of administration.

The secretary oversees Virginia’s Compensation Board, Department of Elections, Department of General Services, Department of Human Resource Management, Virginia Information Technologies Agency and the Office of the Chief Data Officer.

Northam thanked Conner and called the announcement “bittersweet.”

“Keyanna has been an exceptional member of our cabinet,” Northam said. “She has overseen three elections in the midst of this pandemic, and she has done an excellent job. She led the effort to transition our state workforce — thousands of people — to work remotely in a matter of days, and oversaw the work to ensure that we had the technological infrastructure to make it happen.”

Conner led the Virginia Department of Elections through cybersecurity reviews and technology reviews to ensure the safety of the state’s election system, Northam said. She also hired Virginia’s first chief data officer and oversaw the effort to ensure all levels of government share data with each other. The governor praised Conner as “the greatest advocate for our workforce.”

Johnson, her successor “has deep roots in state service,”  Northam said, nothing that she served as “deputy secretary of transportation in the McAuliffe administration and previously served as chief of administration for the Virginia Department of Transportation.”

Johnson also had experience in the private sector working as an accountant, financial analyst and a community relations consultant.

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Williamsburg engineering company acquired by Kansas firm

Williamsburg-based TAM Consultants Inc. has been acquired by Kansas engineering firm Terracon Consultants Inc.

Founded in 2002, TAM is a 15-person professional services firm that provides building consulting and facilities engineering services for public- and private-sector clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region. TAM has offices in Richmond, Williamsburg and Newport News.

TAM’s employees are now part of Tarracon, and the firm will continue to operate locally as TAM Consultants Inc., A Terracon Company. TAM’s professional services include building enclosure consulting, structural engineering, property condition assessments, forensic and investigative engineering, roofing consulting, project management and a variety of building testing services.

“Becoming part of Terracon is a natural next step in TAM’s journey of outstanding client service,” said Timothy Mills, TAM founder and CEO, in a statement. “The merger allows us to bring an even broader range of consulting engineering services to our clients, drawing on Terracon’s national presence and resources, while our experienced team will continue to service existing clients and welcome new ones.”

The acquisition is supported by Terracon’s existing offices in Virginia, North Carolina, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, and others. TAM also joins two other recent mid-Atlantic acquisitions by Terracon: Skelly and Loy Inc. of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2020, and GeoConcepts Engineering Inc. of Ashburn in 2017.

Based in Olathe, Kansas, Terracon is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm with more than 5,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical and materials services from more than 150 offices with services available in 50 states.

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Virginia State Bar selects 2022 president-elect

The Virginia State Bar has chosen Richmond’s Stephanie Grana, a partner with the law firm of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, as its president-elect for 2022-23.

A personal injury litigator, Grana won nearly 55% of the vote over David Neumeyer of the Virginia Legal Aid Society in Lynchburg. Grana will take over presidency of the VSB from current president-elect, Jay Myerson, in 2022. When Grana begins her term as president she will be the seventh woman to head the 50,000 lawyers of the VSB in its 84-year history.

Grana attended the University of Richmond both for her undergraduate and law degrees, and has devoted her career to litigation and service to the bar. She currently serves on the VSB Executive Committee, Council for the 14th Circuit, the Budget & Finance Committee, and the Nominating Committee. She is also a member of the Boyd Graves Conference, the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee, and the working group to study expansion of the Court of Appeals.

She has served as a past president for the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates-Virginia Chapter, the Lewis F. Powell Jr. American Inns of Court, and the Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association.

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Carly Fiorina elected chair of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation board

Former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has been selected as chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s board of trustees.

The former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company and made an unsuccessful bid for the 2016 GOP nomination for president.

Fiorina has served on the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s board of trustees since 2017. According to a statement from the foundation, Fiorina will “guide the museum’s continued evolution into a destination that celebrates diverse and inclusive viewpoints through programming that explores the social and political complexities negotiated by America’s founding generation.”

The foundation is planning its centennial in 2026, coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, and Fiorina will counsel the foundation through its “renewed commitment to tell the country’s complete story and embrace freedom.” The foundation also expects Fiorina to shepherd “its digital presence and continuing to deliver inclusive programming that confronts sensitive topics through thoughtful and engaging discussion.”

“I’m truly honored to assume the role of chair of the board for Colonial Williamsburg and will embrace the continued collaboration with my fellow trustees and our executive team, our skilled and dedicated employees, and generous and committed donors,” Fiorina said in a statement. “In this moment, there is tremendous anticipation around building a better future by learning from our ancestors’ stories and struggles, seeking inspiration from their aspirations and ingenuity, and reflecting upon the nation they built. This historic destination is uniquely suited to play a pivotal role in helping Americans understand the complexities and contradictions of our past and how they inform our future.”

Fiorina also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2010, and oversaw HP’s acquisition of Compaq in 2002 in what was the largest technology sector merger in history at that time.

She has also served as chairman of Good360, an Alexandria-based global nonprofit that galvanized the U.S. business community to provide supplies to West Africa during the 2014 Ebola crisis. She has also been chairman of Opportunity International, a micro-finance organization that has lifted millions out of poverty. Presently, Fiorina is founder and chairman of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, which counsels companies on building high-performance teams, developing leaders at every level, and creating equitable and inclusive workplace cultures.

“Carly has an innate ability to help others reach their highest potential, and we are fortunate to have such a forward-thinking, approachable leader serving as chair. Under her leadership, we will advance our educational mission in exciting new ways as we approach our centennial, and the nation’s 250th anniversary, in 2026,” said Cliff Fleet, president and CEO of Colonial Williamsburg.

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Salesforce to acquire McLean-based Acumen Solutions

On Dec. 1, the same day it announced that it was acquiring workplace communication service company Slack for $27.7 billion in cash and stock, cloud-services company Salesforce.com Inc. revealed that it’s also acquiring McLean-based professional services firm Acumen Solutions.

San Francisco-based Salesforce has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acumen Solutions. In a statement that didn’t disclose the financial terms of the acquisition, Salesforce said that Acumen would become part of Salesforce Professional Services. The statement called Acumen “a leading professional services firm with deep Salesforce knowledge and extensive industry expertise across public sector, manufacturing, financial services and more.”

In June, Salesforce closed on its deal to acquire San Francisco cloud and mobile software provider Vlocity for $1.3 billion. In the Acumen statement, Salesforce said that the acquisitions meant that “customers can go digital faster and transform their industry.”

 

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New president and CEO starts at Reston-based federal contractor

On Dec. 2, William Schaefer took the helm as the new CEO and president of Reston-based federal contractor Amyx Inc.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience in the technology sector, Schaefer succeeds Satya Akula, who announced his retirement in November.

Schaefer joined Amyx more than a decade ago and has spent the past four years serving as Amyx’s chief operating officer and a member of the company’s board of directors. During that time, Schaefer helped build out new capabilities in cybersecurity and software development. He also received industry awards, including being named one of the 2017 Rising Stars of Federal Technology by DCA Live.

As COO, Schaefer managed the execution of more than 30 contracts supported by more than 700 employees. He has also played a major role in attaining more than $560 million in new business since 2017.

“From the technology we develop to improving warfighter readiness, to the analytics support that helps sustain the integrity of our capital markets, each day we’re making real contributions that positively affect our country,” said Schaefer in a statement. “I’m excited to continue our customer and employee-first culture that has been paramount to Amyx’s success.”

 

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TCC names vice president of institutional advancement

Tidewater Community College in Norfolk has named Stan Turbeville as its vice president of institutional advancement.

Turbeville brings 25 years of leadership experience to the post, including serving as vice president for college advancement for James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville, North Carolina, and working as director of marketing and public information for Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina, where he served on the crisis communications team.

A first-generation college graduate, Turbeville grew up with few resources on his family’s farm in North Carolina.

“Education changed my life,” said Turbeville in a statement. “I’m passionate about education and community college and want to be sure that students in need have the same opportunities as others.”

Turbeville holds a doctorate in leadership studies from North Carolina A&T State University; an MBA from High Point University; a master’s degree in English; and a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from East Carolina University. He also has certifications in crisis management from Harvard University and is a Professional Certified Marketer with the American Marketing Association.

 

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General Dynamics books $241M CMS cloud implementation support order

Reston-based General Dynamics Corp.’s information technology business has secured a potential four-year, $241 million task order to help the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implement a multicloud computing environment.

The cloud products and tool award, which has a one-year base period plus three one-year options, covers the procurement of instances from multiple service providers, said the company on Nov. 30. CMS plans to adopt Microsoft Azure Government and Amazon Web Services’ GovCloud platforms in efforts to modernize care delivery processes via the Healthcare.gov and Medicare.gov sites.

Amy Gilliland, president of General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), said the award continues the company’s four-decade partnership with the agency.

 

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