People – July 2017

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Edward Brunot has been appointed chief operating officer of Virginia Beach tax preparation firm Liberty Tax Inc. Brunot was president of MDV and executive vice president of SpartanNash, a wholesale distributor and grocery retailer. MDV, a division of SpartanNash, distributes grocery products to military commissaries in the U.S. and Europe. Brunot also was a captain in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Jeffrey W. Farrar has been named executive vice president and CFO of Old Point National Bank and CFO and senior vice president of Old Point Financial Corp., based in Hampton. He was director of wealth management, mortgage and insurance for Richmond-based Union Bankshares Corp. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Ashley Godwin has been appointed director of federal policy for Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries. Before joining HII, Godwin was senior defense and government affairs adviser for the Shipbuilders Council of America. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Paul Julius has been named executive director and CFO of Vandeventer Black in Norfolk. Julius was director of finance for New York law firm Proskauer Rose LLP and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. (News release)

Timothy J. Mulvaney was appointed senior vice president and chief accounting officer of Lumber Liquidators in Toano. Mulvaney, a CPA, was Media General’s chief accounting officer. (Daily Press)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Carrie Hileman Chenery of Staunton, the executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, has been appointed to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership board of directors. (News release)

Chris Scott has been named executive director of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce. He was executive director of Help with Housing Inc. He also previously served as executive director of the American Red Cross Top of Virginia chapter in Winchester.  (News release)

Matthew Smith, a driver for Wal-Mart Transportation in Mount Crawford, received the 2017 Virginia State Truck Driver of the Year award from the Virginia Trucking Association. Smith has been with the company for more than 18 years and is approaching 2.5 million safe miles. (Shenandoah Valley Business Journal)

Shenandoah University will name its newest campus facility after James R. “Jimmy” Wilkins Jr., a member of the board of trustees. The James R. Wilkins Jr. Athletics & Events Center will be a 77,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility, which will serve the university’s 21 athletics teams, the entire university community and the local and regional communities. Wilkins is vice president of Silver Lake Properties and JRW Properties and Rentals Inc. (News release)

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY
Three new members have been named to the Radford University board of visitors:  Gregory A. Burton, of Charleston, W.Va.; James R. Kibler of Virginia Beach; and Karyn Moran of Midlothian. Burton is executive chairman of BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. and Motorists Insurance Group. Kibler is president of Virginia Natural Gas.  Moran is talent acquisition manager at HHHhunt Corp. in Richmond. (News release)   

Woody Crenshaw, a Floyd County entrepreneur, was named Citizen of the Valley for 2017 by the New River Valley Regional Commission. He was among three people recognized at an awards ceremony held in May. The others were Champion of the Valley, Chris McKlarney, Giles County administrator; and Friend of the Valley, Bill Shelton, director, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.(SWVAToday.com) 

Carlos Tapias has been appointed to the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. He is the USA CEO at Grupo Phoenix in Dublin.  (News release) 

Robert Wills has joined The Branch Group Inc. of Roanoke as chief financial officer. He was executive vice president and CFO of M&W Group’s America’s region. The company also promoted Melanie F. Wheeler to senior vice president and board member.  Wheeler has worked in a several company roles, including director of accounting, vice president of administration and treasurer. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) has developed an advisory group to select abandoned mine sites for redevelopment, thanks to a  $10 million grant from the Power Plus Pilot program, which was part of the federal omnibus funding bill. Group members include Duane Miller, executive director of the LENOWISCO Planning District;    Jim Baldwin   , executive director of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District;   Jonathan Belcher  , executive director for the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority;  Michelle Jenkins , district director for U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith’s office; John Warren, director   of DMME; and Butch Lambert, deputy director of DMME. (Bristol Herald Courier)  

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
K.C. Crosthwaite has been named president and CEO of Philip Morris USA, the cigarette-making subsidiary of Henrico County-based Altria Group. In addition to cigarettes, he will oversee John Middleton, a cigar subsidiary. Crosthwaite succeeds Clifford B. Fleet, who has left the company. Crosthwaite previously was vice president, strategy and business development. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Jacqueline K. Cunningham, Virginia’s insurance commissioner, will retire at the end of the year. She was appointed as Virginia’s 13th commissioner of insurance in 2011. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Greg Fairchild been named to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership board of directors. He is an associate professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he is academic director of public policy and entrepreneurship. (News release)

Dan Gaskell has been named chief executive officer of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Virginia in Richmond. He previously served as associate administrator at HealthSouth’s hospital in Fredericksburg and as interim CEO at HealthSouth’s hospital in North Charleston, S.C. (News release)

Stephanie P. Neal has been named chief human resources officer at Richmond-based public accounting firm Cherry Bekaert LLP. She was hospital system vice president, human resources, with HCA Virginia. (News release)

Lindsay P. Reames has been named assistant secretary of agriculture and forestry.  She previously worked for the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association. (News release)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
 Yohannes Abraham , of Alexandria, appointed to the State Board for Community Colleges. Abraham is a senior adviser at the Barack Obama Foundation. (News release) 

 Mirza Baig  and Barbara L. Johnson, named to  the College of William and Mary board of visitors. Baig, of Great Falls, is a partner at Bethesda, Md.-based Aldrich Capital Partners. Johnson is the founder of BLJohnsonLaw PLLC and counsel at Falls Church-based Potter & Murdock. (News release) 

Ken Biberaj has been named managing director of Savills Studley’s Tysons office. Biberaj joins Savills Studley after 12 years as executive vice president at Morgan Barrington Associates of NY Inc. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

The following people have been appointed to the George Mason University board of visitors: Horace L. Blackman, senior vice president, Leidos, Reston; Anjan Chimaladinne, vice president, Anshul-Tech; and Nancy Gibson Prowitt, president and chief operating officer, Alcalde & Fay, Arlington. Tom Davis, former Virginia congressman and managing director at Deloitte LLC, was reappointed to the board. (News release) 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce has hired John Boylan, an Air Force veteran with a background in defense and technology industries, as its president and CEO. He succeeds Eileen Curtis, who retired after leading the organization for 23 years. Boylan was principal with Bridget Partners, a business consultancy based in Centreville. (Washington Business Journal) 

Byron L. Cherry Sr., reappointed to the Norfolk State University board of visitors. He is a retired U.S. Army colonel and CEO of Dumfries-based Succeed to Lead LLC. (News release) 

Carlos Del Toro, renamed to the University of Mary Washington board of visitors. He is CEO of Alexandria-based SBG Technology Solutions Inc. (News release) 

Jaime Lynn Dernar, of The Siegfried Group in Vienna, and Mike L. Wagner, of Kearney & Co. CPAs PC in Alexandria, have been named vice chairs of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants board of directors for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Krystal R. McCants, of CST Group CPAs PC in Reston, has been named at-large board member. (News release)  

Leesburg Economic Development Director Marantha Edwards will retire in January 2018 after 17 years working for the town. Leesburg will begin the recruitment process for a new director in July 2017. (Loudoun Times-Mirror) 

Grant Thornton has added Satish Gattadahalli as director of its public sector. Gattadahalli, who is based in the accounting firm’s Alexandria office, was a manager and principal strategist for Whitney, Bradley & Brown (WBB) Consulting. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

W. Bruce Jennings, managing partner at Fairfax City Self Storage, has been reappointed to the board of visitors of Christopher Newport University. (News release) 

Nazzic S. Keene has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). The move expands Keene’s executive roles to include both COO and president of the Global Markets & Missions Sector. (BusinessWire)

Letitia A. Long, of Arlington, named to the Virginia Tech board of visitors. Long is the former director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. (News release) 

Stamford, Conn.-based United Rentals Inc. announced that Gracia Martore has joined its board of directors. Martore recently retired as president and CEO of  McLean-based Tegna Inc., formerly known as Gannett Co. Inc., a role she had held since 2011. (News release) 

Access National Bank announced that Arch A. Moore III will rejoin Middleburg Bank, now an Access division, as executive vice president – Middleburg market executive, overseeing commercial banking in that area. Moore previously worked for Middleburg Bank from 1995 to 2011. (News release)

Arlington-based government IT firm CACI International Inc. is making some changes among its executive ranks. Chief Operating Officer John Mengucci will see his role expand to include managing the firm’s business development, mergers and acquisitions, human resources and contracts, as well as helping position the company for accelerated growth. He will drop his secondary role as president of U.S. operations, which will instead fall to a new hire, DeEtte Gray. Gray had served as president of BAE System Inc.’s services division since 2012. (Washington Business Journal) 

Xavier R. Richardson, named to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership board of directors. He is executive vice president, corporate development and community affairs of Fredericksburg-based Mary Washington Healthcare, and president of the Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital foundations. (News release)

John Marshall Bank announced the promotion of five executive bank officers:   Bill Ridenour  , president and chief banking officer;  Carl Dodson , president and chief risk officer; Kent Carstater, executive vice president and chief fi  nancial officer; Linda Fourney, executive vice president-human resources; and Jennifer Manning, senior vice president and chief accounting officer. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Ricshawn Adkins Roane, chief of staff at the Lansdowne-based Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, appointed to the Longwood University board of visitors. (News release) 

Steve Schorer has been named president and CEO of McLean-based Alion Science and Technology. Bahman Atefi, the company’s former president and CEO, will become vice chairman of the board. Schorer was president of DynCorp from 2011 until 2013 and recently returned to DynCorp to serve as president of DynAviation from 2015 to 2016. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has promoted Kevin Wood to vice president in the firm’s Fairfax office. A water and wastewater engineer with more than 33 years of experience, Wood is responsible for overall project delivery for water services projects throughout the mid-Atlantic region. He leads a team of water professionals and manages various contracts for water, wastewater, and water reuse projects.  (News release)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Martinsville-based Hooker Furniture Corp. has promoted four executives.  Steve Lush  has been named president and Matt Cowan is vice president of sales at Hooker Casegoods in Martinsville; Craig Young is pres ident of leather upholstery brand Bradington-Young in Hickory, N.C.; and Frank Richardson has been promoted to president of fashion upholstery brand Sam Moore in Bedford. (News release)

Dan M. Pleasant, chief operating officer of Dewberry Cos. in Danville, has been named to the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.  (News release)

Amy Zirkle has joined Virginia International Raceway in Alton as creative manager. She has 14 years of sports industry experience with the Baltimore Orioles, Bowie Baysox, Pac-12 Conference and the San Francisco Giants. She has also freelanced for the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford University football. David Baltazar has joined VIR as marketing coordinator. He previously worked on the International Motor Sports Association communications team, primarily running IMSA’s social media accounts. Before that, he worked for NASCAR. (News release)