People – December 2016

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Five employees from Martinsville-based Patrick Henry Community College received awards during the 2016 Virginia Community College Association conference at the Wintergreen Resort. Associate Professor of Welding   Dwight Bowers   received the Excellence in Education Award; Welding Instructor  Randy Smith  and Executive Assistant Letitia Pulliam, were honored with a Faculty and Staff Showcase Award. (Work It, SoVa)  

George W. Lester II, chair and CEO of The Lester Group in Martinsville, is the new chair of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA). (News release)

Martinsville-based Hooker Furniture Corp. has named Steve Lush to a new position, executive vice president – Hooker Casegoods sales and merchandising. Lush is a 33-year veteran of the furniture retail, manufacturing and interior design industries. Lush most recently served as president of Fort Myers, Fla.-based retailer Robb & Stucky. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Danville-based American National Bank and Trust Co., the bank subsidiary of American National Bankshares Inc., has named John H. Settle Jr. executive vice president and president of trust and investment services. Settle was senior vice president and senior fiduciary adviser at Wells Fargo. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Charlottesville-based Virginia National Bank has named Samuel T. Ashworth market president and commercial lender for the Shenandoah Valley. Ashworth joins the bank with 42 years of industry experience, including 19 years working in Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley. His territory will extend from Lexington to Winchester. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Dr. A. Jerry Benson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Harrisonburg-based James Madison University, will retire from the university’s senior leadership team June 30. Benson joined the university in 1980. A successor has not been named. (News release)

Jason Burch, manager of system engineering for the Shenandoah Electric Cooperative, will serve as one of two co-op industry representatives in a “major Department of Energy research project” over the next three years, the co-op has announced. Burch will be consulting for the Los Alamos National Laboratory Committee in New Mexico, which will work to develop software to create a resilient electric grid that can withstand extreme weather events. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
   Brian Baumgardner    has been tapped to lead Lewis Gale Regional Health System, overseeing LewisGale Medical Center in Salem and its community hospitals in Montgomery, Alleghany and Pulaski counties. He was president and CEO of HCA’s West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. (The Roanoke Times)

Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia inducted four people into its Business Hall of Fame in November. The 2016 laureates were    Kent Greenawalt   , president and CEO of Foot Levelers, and   Ronald Willard  , the CEO of the Willard Cos.  Robert Kul p and Mike Whiteside of Black Dog Salvage  also were hono red as entrepreneurs of the year. (The Roanoke Ti mes)

After 22 years on the bench, Roanoke Valley General District Judge Vincent Lilley announced he’s retiring, effective Dec. 31. (The Roanoke Times)

Danville-based American National Bank & Trust Co. announced the hiring of the following as the bank enters the Roanoke market:      Kevin Meade     , executive vice president and regional president;     Edward Martin    , executive vice president and senior credit officer;    Andy Agee   ,   Gray Goldsmith  ,  Allen Clark , Steven Smith a  nd Alan Miller, sen  ior vice pr esident and relationship manager. (The Roanoke Times)

B. Randolph Roller has been named senior vice president and trust officer for the trust and wealth management division of Abingdon-based First Bank and Trust Co. Before joining the bank, he was first vice president and trust officer for City National Bank.  (News release)

Paula Brown, senior vice president of mortgage for Roanoke-based Freedom First Credit Union, received the 2016 Individual Affiliate of the Year Award from the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors. (The Roanoke Times)
 

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Newport News-based construction firm W.M. Jordan Co. promoted four senior project managers to the role of vice president and project executive.    John Angle    and   Ronald Lauster   were promoted in the Newport News  headquarters, while  Brooks Ballance  and Mark Reilly wer  e promoted in the Richmond office. (Daily Press)  

Jamie Jackson has been named director of transit development at Hampton Roads Transit. She previously was deputy executive director of the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority. (Inside Business)

Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries named Susan Jacobs vice president of human resources and administration at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. On. Dec. 2, she will assume her new role, succeeding Bill Bell, who is retiring after 34 years. (News release)

Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries will open an office in Canberra, Australia, and has hired Jeff McCray as vice president, business development, HII Australia. Before joining HII, McGray was the vice president for sales for Symetrica Inc. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

John M. Presley has resigned as CEO of Toano-based Lumber Liquidators, and the board of directors has appointed Dennis R. Knowles, the company’s chief operating officer, to succeed him as CEO. Presley also is resigning from the company’s board of directors effective Dec. 15, and Knowles has been elected to the board, effective the same date. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

William “Bill” E. Franczek, a partner at Norfolk-based business law firm Vandeventer Black LLP, was recently selected as a fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators. (Daily Press)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Jim Abrahamson has been named chairman of Arlington-based Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ board of directors. Abrahamson currently is Interstate’s CEO but plans to step down once the company finds his replacement. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Paul Dillahay is taking over as president and CEO, NCI Inc. in Reston. He is replacing Brian Clark. Dillahay was executive vice president of CACI International Inc.’s health and litigation solutions group. (Washington Business Journal)

John Marshall Bank named Tom Nida senior vice president and regional executive of its Washington, D.C., market. He was executive vice president and managing director for community development and nonprofit banking at United Bank. (News release)

Hirschler Fleischer, a Richmond-based law firm, is expanding its Tysons office with the addition of Justine Fitzgerald as a partner in the firm’s real estate practice. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Bill Freehling has been named Fredericksburg’s director of economic development and tourism. Freehling joined the city’s economic development team as assistant director of economic development in 2014 after a 10-year career with the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. (News release)

Charles Mathis has been named chief financial officer, Science Applications International Corp. in McLean. Mathis, the former CFO of South Carolina-based ScanSource Inc., succeeds John Hartley. (Washington Business Journal)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Joining the board of directors of Portsmouth-based Towne Bank are  Neil Amin , chief executive officer of Chester-based Shamin Hotels; Michael Rao, president of Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Heal th System; and Dr. Isaac Wornom III, a Richmond-based plastic surgeon. (RichmondBizSense.com)

Richmond-based Capital Square 1031 LLC has named  Andrew Baird , CPA, as the company’s controller. Baird brings more than a decade of accounting experience with real estate and financial services companies. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Unmanned Systems Association of Virginia elected officers and a board of directors at its first meeting. The directors include  Sean Cushing  of Hazon Solutions, chairman; Guy Sanitate, Science Applications International Corp., secretary; and Joel Campbell, Avineon, treasurer. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

The Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has named Sarah Francisco the new director of the Virginia office. Francisco for the past seven years has been the leader of SELC’s National Forest and Parks program. (News release)

James Hatcher has been named regional CEO for the Virginia region of the American Red Cross.  Hatcher was president of Richmond-based Pleasants Hardware for 16 years. (News release)

Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace, chief executive officer of the Charlottesville-based University of Virginia Medical Center, has been named to the board of directors for America’s Essential Hospitals. (News release)