Henrico EDA head to leave in 2026

Anthony Romanello, the Henrico Economic Development Authority‘s executive director, plans to step down from the role early next year.

Romanello submitted his resignation letter to the EDA’s board on Aug. 21, stating his last day will be Jan. 16, 2026, although he said he told the board he would be willing to stay longer if at that point he has not accepted a different job and the EDA has not identified a successor.

“I’ve got almost 34 years in public service,” Romanello said. “I started full-time local government when I was 21, and [I’m] excited to think about doing something different, maybe outside of government.”

The EDA’s board has formed an executive search committee to identify Romanello’s successor. The committee is set to meet with Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas Tuesday to discuss next steps.

Romanello became executive director of the Henrico EDA in 2019, after joining the county in 2016 as deputy county manager. Under his tenure, Henrico has landed giant corporate headquarters relocations, including Fortune 1000 IT company ASGN in 2020 and Fortune 500 health care solutions company Owens & Minor’s 2024 move from Hanover County.

Earlier this year, the county launched a global business gateway program for internationally headquartered companies seeking to establish a presence in the U.S.

For fiscal 2025, Henrico saw more than $8 billion in private investment, expected to create 1,445 jobs. That includes Iron Mountain’s planned $1 billion data center complex in Henrico’s White Oak Technology Park, where QTS Data Centers and Meta also have data centers.

Currently, Henrico is working toward the redevelopment of the former Best Products corporate headquarters on a 93-acre site after the GreenCity development failed. Announced in late 2020, GreenCity was supposed to be an environmentally friendly development anchored by an arena and including two hotels, approximately 2.2 million square feet of office space, 280,000 square feet of retail space and 2,100 residential units.

The would-be arena operator, ASM Global, sued the developers. The Henrico EDA sued two LLCs linked to the developers after they failed to make more than $5 million in overdue payments to the county by a March deadline, but the mid-August settlement agreement between the developers and ASM cleared the way for the county to reacquire the land. The transaction is expected to close Sept. 5.

Along with working “hand in glove” with the county government, Romanello said, “I believe the EDA has become an indispensable contributor to quality of life in Henrico. That is what I’m most proud of.”

Beyond bringing jobs and private investment to the county, the EDA has contributed to quality of life for Henrico residents through assisting with county projects, including providing tax-exempt financing for affordable housing projects and being the fiscal agent for the Henrico County Detox & Residential Treatment Center under construction.

Before joining Henrico County government, Romanello was deputy county administrator and then county administrator for Stafford County. Previously, he worked for West Point and for Richmond city government. His first full-time government job was as a food stamp worker for the City of Richmond, which he worked while pursuing his master’s degree in public administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“It’s been a phenomenal opportunity, and hopefully I’ve made an impact in the communities I’ve served,” Romanello said about his career in public service.

Regarding next steps, Romanello said he “had been privileged to do some teaching for Virginia Tech and George Mason, and I’d love to do more of that. I’ve published a couple of books, and I love writing … and that’s another passion of mine that I’d like to explore a little further.”

Romanello has written two books: “Random Thoughts: Reflections on Public Service, Fatherhood and Middle Age,” a collection of monthly reflections he sent to his team in Stafford County (a tradition he continues today), and “The Girl Who Lived on the Third Floor,” a children’s book about his fifth and youngest child, whom Romanello and his wife took in as an 11-day-old foster child before the couple adopted her.

Romanello teaches virtual classes for Virginia Tech’s certificate of local government program, designed for people transitioning to the Master of Public Administration program. While in Stafford, he taught three classes at George Mason University.

Besides time in class, “the other aspect of it that’s so much fun is staying in contact with students over the years,” Romanello said. “The ongoing relationship with the students has been really fun,”