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byline: Robyn Sidersky

Sentara takes sole ownership of Velocity Urgent Care

Sentara Health is now the sole owner of Velocity Urgent Care, the Norfolk-based health system announced Monday.

In 2017, Sentara partnered with Velocity and transferred the operations of seven Sentara Urgent Care facilities to its joint venture with Velocity and a third party. Now Sentara, which declined to name the third party, is taking over all of Velocity. Sentara declined to share financial details.

Velocity has 17 urgent care locations in Virginia with nearly 200 employees and has plans to expand to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, early next year.

“This is an exciting opportunity for both Sentara and Velocity Urgent Care to expand and improve access to quality same-day services by offering a more holistic approach for the communities we serve,” Kurt T. Hofelich, Sentara vice president of ambulatory services, said in a statement.

Sentara has about 30,000 employees and 12 hospitals across Virginia and North Carolina. The organization’s health plans division has more than 1.2 million members in Virginia and Florida.

Hampton Roads hotel revenues outpace Va., country

Hotel revenues in Hampton Roads outpaced Virginia and the nation through October, according to a report from Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, citing data from STR, a division of CoStar Group that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. 

Through October, hotel revenues were 22.8% higher in Hampton Roads, compared with the same period in 2019. But hotel revenues for the whole state lag behind that, just 12.6% higher compared with 2019. 

Within Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach saw hotel revenues increase the most, 29% compared with 2019, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth at 27.6% and Chesapeake/Suffolk 26.7%. The slowest growth for this area of the state was the Williamsburg market, which increased by 8.9% compared with the same period in 2019.

Hotel revenues for Northern Virginia was 2.7% lower this year, compared with the same period in 2019. It’s the only market that has not fully recovered from the pandemic, according to the report.

The number of rooms sold through October, compared with the same period in 2019, dropped by 10.6% in Northern Virginia, by 8.2% in Roanoke and by 5.3% in the Virginia portion of the Bristol/Kingsport market.

Within Hampton Roads, in the submarkets of Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake/Norfolk, the number of rooms sold increased by 7%, 3.9% and 2.4% respectively. In the Williamsburg and Newport News/Hampton submarkets, the number of rooms were down 3.9% and 2.6% respectively. 

The number of rooms sold in Virginia was 1.7% lower, compared with the same period in 2019, but the average daily rate for hotel rooms sold through October was at $131, a 14.5% increase compared with 2019.

That’s due to the federal per diem reimbursement rate in Virginia increasing on Oct. 1, says Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association. The per diem, which increases every year, went up $9 this year, from $98 to $107, which Terry says is significant. From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2023, it increased $2. 

“That increase for us in Virginia is a huge impact because of the amount of per diem business we have,” he said.

Brightpoint promotes Fiege to president

William “Bill” Fiege will be the eighth president of Brightpoint Community College, the Virginia Community College System announced Monday.

Fiege will begin his new role on Jan. 2, 2024.  Van Wilson has led Brightpoint as interim president since February 2023, after former President Ted Raspiller stepped down from the role to take a job with Virginia529.

Fiege is currently Brightpoint’s vice president of learning and student success at Brightpoint, the college’s chief academic officer, a position he has held since 2012. Before that, he was at Germanna Community College, where he was dean of professional and technical studies. He has also worked for Longwood University, his alma mater, from which he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science. Fiege also has a master’s in speech communication from Bloomsburg University and a doctorate in community college leadership from Old Dominion University.

“I’m excited about Bill’s appointment,”  David Doré, chancellor of VCCS, said in a statement. “I am confident he will build on the college’s outstanding history of serving its communities and its diverse student populations and will lead Brightpoint into a new era as Virginia’s Community Colleges embark on a systemwide transformation to serve more learners in new ways. Our monthslong search yielded exceptional candidates and we are grateful to all of the talented educators who expressed interest in the Brightpoint presidency.”

Brightpoint attracted 74 candidates in its national search for a new president.

“The Brightpoint Community College Board is elated with the selection of Bill Fiege as the institution’s eighth president,” Kenneth Pritchett, chair of Brightpoint Community College’s Local Advisory Board, said in a statement. “I would like to thank our college board members for their time and energy throughout the rigorous selection process. We truly believe that Dr. Fiege will move our college forward. Under his leadership, Brightpoint will continue to be a place that changes lives, focuses on student success and supports the needs of its communities.”

Brightpoint serves Amelia, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Surry and Sussex counties as well as Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg. It has campuses in Chester and Midlothian.

“After serving Brightpoint as the chief academic officer for the last 11 ½ years, I am honored and humbled to have been selected from an outstanding pool of candidates to lead the college as its next president,” Fiege said in a statement. “Already embedded in the community, I fully comprehend the positive impact of Brightpoint and our workforce arm, the Community College Workforce Alliance, within our region. I appreciate the confidence bestowed upon me by Chancellor Doré and look forward to working with him and Brightpoint’s boards, faculty, staff, students and partners to continue the college’s positive momentum. We are and will continue to be trailblazers for the great communities we serve.”

Interim VP of Carilion Mental Health becomes permanent

Carilion Clinic has named Lisa Sprinkel its permanent vice president of Carilion Mental Health, adding to her duties as vice president of Carilion Clinic Home Health and Hospice department.

With Dr. Robert Trestman, Carilion’s mental health chair, Sprinkel will lead the mental health team, which has a new location at Tanglewood Center in Roanoke County. She has served as interim vice president since May 1.

For the past 17 years, Sprinkel has led the Home Health and Hospice department. She has held a variety of clinical and leadership positions as well. She also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Long Term Care.

Sprinkel graduated from Roanoke Memorial Hospital’s School of Professional Nursing and earned her bachelor’s degree in business from Mary Baldwin University. She also has a master’s degree in nursing administration from the Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

Hampton Roads real estate firm promotes facilities director

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty has promoted Jimmy Gillerlain to director of facilities, the Chesapeake-based real estate firm announced Tuesday.

Gillerlain will lead the operations team and oversee facilities management for all company-owned and managed assets.

He was with Rose & Womble Realty for 17 years as a Realtor, then broker of the Suffolk and Franklin office. He is also on the RW Towne Foundation board.

In March, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Rose & Womble Realty announced their merger. The combined agency has more than 750 agents and represents over 16% of the region’s market share, according to its chairman, J. Van Rose Jr.

“With the merger of two companies, we doubled our offices and needed a dedicated team to supervise the growing portfolio. Jimmy’s experience in real estate, construction and previous facilities management knowledge is invaluable and a perfect fit for the expanded team,” Dianne S. Gordonn, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty’s chief operations officer, said in a statement. “His first order of business is navigating the complexities of maintaining space while remodeling the Suffolk office and building out our new office location in Virginia Beach.”

Chesterfield shopping center sells for $4.8M

The Corner Shops at Chesterfield Towne Center has a new owner.

Midlothian Pike Investments sold the 8,120-square-foot retail center for $4.8 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group announced Nov. 22.

1834 East 4 Street LLC purchased the shopping center, located at 11530 Midlothian Turnpike, as an investment as part of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

Tenants at the shopping center, located at 11530 Midlothian Turnpike, include Xfinity, Sleep Number, CPR Cell Phone Repair and Compete Dental Care of Richmond.

1834 East 4 Street LLC purchased the center as an investment as part of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Clark Simpson and Erik Conradi of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Capital Markets Group, as well as Ted Levin, also with Thalhimer, handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

One South Commercial to split from One South Realty

Richmond-based One South Commercial will become a standalone firm, splitting from its 15-year partnership with One South Realty Group, the firm announced Wednesday. 

The transition will be complete by early 2024. 

Tom Rosman, director of commercial brokerage, has headed up the commercial division of One South Realty Group since 2008 and will lead the new company.

One of the goals of the new company, he told Virginia Business, is “to create an opportunity to offer ownership stakes to some of the commercial team members.” The firm has 10 brokers and two administrative employees, but it hopes to grow in the next year or so, Rosman said.

The company will still be based in Richmond, but it brokers transactions all over the commonwealth. Rosman said they are searching for a new office space to suit their needs and future goals.

Sweet Briar College names alumna 14th president

Sweet Briar College will keep Mary Pope Maybank Hutson as its president permanently after serving as interim president since July, the private women’s college announced Thursday.

Hutson is the 14th president of Sweet Briar and the Amherst County school’s first alumna president. A 1983 graduate with a degree in international affairs, Hutson served as Sweet Briar’s senior vice president for alumnae relations since 2016. She has a background in public service and policy and served as executive vice president of the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2015. She has also been executive director of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust in South Carolina, and director of educational programs for the Historic Charleston Foundation.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Hutson worked for former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and later joined the Department of the Interior, where she served as Guam desk officer and as a liaison to the island of St. Thomas. In 1990, the George H.W. Bush White House appointed her special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Kenya.

Her commitment to Sweet Briar goes back to her days as a student when she was a student leader and nationally ranked tennis payer. Hutson earned a spot in the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

When Sweet Briar was threatened with closure in 2015, she was among the alumnae who thwarted the administration’s effort to close the college. She joined the Board of Directors, then became part of the college’s administration as senior vice president for alumnae relations in January 2016. In July, Hutson replaced former President Meredith Woo on an interim basis. Woo, who became president in 2017 and announced in January that she would be stepping down, is a political science professor at Arizona State University.

In a statement, Hutson said: “The gifts of my Sweet Briar education to my life have been pivotal in my career and in my ability to give back to my community and my college, and I know we all need to be part of educating and mentoring young people while ensuring the sustainability of Sweet Briar for the next century.”

“After a meticulous and thorough process, led by a committed group of stakeholder representatives and under the expert guidance of our search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, I am delighted with the board’s overwhelming and unanimous support of Mary Pope as Sweet Briar’s next president,” Mason Rummel, Sweet Briar’s board chair, said in a statement. “Not only does she embody the spirit and ethos of our beloved college, but she is also resolute in her determination to lead Sweet Briar to new heights as the leader in women’s higher education.”

JPMorgan Chase gives $5.3M to DMV career pathways program

JPMorgan Chase has donated $5.3 million to TalentReady, a student career pathways program in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., the bank announced Thursday.

The program, which is organized by the Greater Washington Partnership and Education Strategy Group, has a focus on ensuring students get work-based learning experiences, such as capstone projects and internships.

TalentReady has already supported 25,000 high school students from Fairfax County; Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and Baltimore in Maryland; and Washington, D.C. The program aims to connect students in K-12 and colleges in the greater Washington region with high-growth, high-demand jobs. It also increases accessibility for underrepresented populations to secure entry-level STEM jobs in fields such as technology and health care.

GWP cited a McKinsey analysis that found 70,000 jobs in the region went unfilled last year, and TalentReady hopes to fill more vacancies by training and retaining local talent.

“The path to powering our communities and unlocking economic opportunity for everyone starts at the local level,” Tim Berry, global head of corporate responsibility and chairman of the mid-Atlantic region for JPMorgan Chase, said in a statement. “Through our investment in the TalentReady initiative, we are expanding our efforts to better prepare students for in-demand, skills-based jobs in the greater Washington region. Working alongside local partners in the nonprofit, education and business communities, and with engagement from regional leaders like Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, we can create a system that helps students advance their career pathways and support a thriving economy.”

GWP uses a tool called the Employer Signaling System, which helps educators prepare students to fill some of the most in-demand tech jobs, according to a news release.

“Through our TalentReady work, we’re continuing to strengthen the Employer Signaling System, our innovative process and tool that combines labor market data with feedback from employers and educators to paint a comprehensive picture of the region’s workforce landscape,” Kathy Hollinger, CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership, said in a statement. “We know conversations about talent pipelines can occur in silos, with various stakeholder groups in discussions amongst themselves, but not always to one another. The ESS serves as the connector between these groups — educators, employers and more — allowing them all to speak in common language about talent needs and skills gaps.”

The expanded initiative builds on the first phase of TalentReady, which launched in 2018. This gift expands on JPMorgan’s $75 million global career readiness initiative.

“Thanks to the private sector leadership of JPMorgan Chase and their investment in TalentReady, we are expanding workforce opportunities for students in Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement. “My administration is committed to fostering pathways to the most in-demand careers, providing technical training and investing in results-oriented programs that boost our workforce readiness. By fostering partnerships between our top-ranked education institutions and Virginia’s most critical employers, we are preparing our young people to graduate workforce and college ready.”

100 People to Meet in 2024

Virginia is full of interesting people, and when it comes to this year’s batch of 100 people to meet for 2024, the commonwealth continues to deliver a bevy of fascinating newsmakers, professionals and go-getters worthy of your valuable networking time.

In Virginia Business’ fifth annual list of people to meet in the new year, you’ll find up-and-coming entrepreneurs, influential attorneys, nonprofit leaders, educators and health care executives. And in addition to people you’d expect to see in the pages of a business magazine, you’ll also find some extraordinary folks to get to know: two best-selling novelists, a popular Minor League Baseball announcer, a Netflix-famous true crime podcaster, a viral country music sensation and a TikToker famous for imitating German film director Werner Herzog.

You’ll definitely find some people here you’ll want to introduce yourself to in 2024. As always, you can break the ice by saying you read about them in Virginia Business.

Find their profiles in the below categories:

Angels

Builders

Educators

Go-Getters

Hosts

Impact Makers

Innovators

New Folks

Public Faces

Rainmakers

Storytellers