Followups – September 2019

Organizers drop plans for new Virginia bank
Two executives who were trying to create a new Northern Virginia bank instead have joined Tysons-based Old Dominion National Bank.

Old Dominion announced in early August that Melinda McClure has been named its executive vice president and chief strategy officer while Richard D. Horn will become executive vice president and general counsel.

McClure was chairman and CEO and Horn was chief operating officer and general counsel of McLean-based VisionBank, a financial institution that was in organization.

VisionBank has withdrawn previously submitted applications to bank regulators to become a Virginia-chartered commercial bank. Industry observers had expected it to become the first new bank formed in Virginia in a decade.

VisionBank’s organization plans were mentioned in a February story exploring the lack of new banks in Virginia.

Veterans program exceeds hiring goal
More than 50,000 military veterans have been hired through the commonwealth’s Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program since its inception seven years ago, the governor’s office announced in August.

Begun as a pilot program in 2012 and made a permanent project the next year, V3 encourages the employment of veterans by helping employers develop best practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining former members of the military.

More than 900 businesses, federal agencies, educational institutions and government agencies in Virginia are V3-certified employers.

Virginia Business has tracked the development of V3 and other veterans employment programs in its July issue during the past four years.

CORRECTION: The August 2019 article “Back to the future?” misstated the net worth of Michael Bills, who is a multimillionaire and the founder and chief investment officer of Charlottesville-based Bluestem Asset Management LLC.