People – July 2018

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Elizabeth Grimes has been named director of marketing at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg. Grimes joins Kingsmill Resort from Pebble Beach Resorts in California where she was responsible for web development and email marketing for the past five years.  (News release) 

Richard E. Groover, CPA, of Wall Einhorn & Chernitzer in Norfolk, is the new board chair of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.  VSCPA has 13,000 members who work in public accounting, industry, government and education. (Virginia-Business.com)

Rick Weddle of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance plans to retire as the agency’s CEO, effective Dec. 31. C. Grigsby Scifres, HREDA’s board chairman, said that Weddle will continue to fulfill his duties and responsibilities through the end of the year to ensure a smooth and effective management transition. (Daily Press)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Shenandoah University in Winchester has named Kyle W. Feldman, J. Randall “Randy” Minchew and Cecil Pruitt Jr., to its board of trustees. Feldman is a physical therapist at Physical Therapy Specialists in Winchester. Minchew is an attorney and managing shareholder for the Loudoun County office of Walsh Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh PC. He also is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Pruitt is founder of the Pruitt Corp. in Chantilly, which owns more than 10 million square feet of commercial real estate in Northern Virginia. (News release)

Dean “Mac” Nichols has joined the Lenhart Pettit law firm as a shareholder in the Harrisonburg office. Nichols has more than 32 years of law practice. He concentrates on business transactions, tax law, estate planning and administration and real estate law, including many Section 1031 exchanges.  He has undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting, in addition to a law degree. (News release)

J. Knox Singleton, retired CEO of Inova Health System, has joined the Shenandoah University’s Harry F. Byrd Jr. School of Business as health-care executive-in-residence. Singleton joined Inova in 1983, taking it from a three-hospital, $500 million organization to a $3.5 billion health-care system with five hospitals and more than 100 ambulatory service locations. Inova is considered a leader in genomics and personalized health, which uses an individual’s genetic makeup to predict and prevent disease. (News release)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Visit Loudoun, Loudoun County’s convention and visitor association, presented longtime Middleburg Mayor Betsy Davis the Judy Patterson award for lifetime achievement in promoting tourism. Davis, who is retiring, has been mayor since 2006 and has served on Town Council since 1998. (Loudoun Times-Mirror) 

Stafford County has named John P. Holden as its economic development director after a nationwide search. He had been vice president of business development for Combined Management Inc. Holden succeeds Bruce Register, who left last year to accept a similar position in Citrus County, Fla. Rick Cobert has been serving as the interim director. (Fredricksburg.com) 

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Glenn Millican has been named county planner for Lunenburg County. He is a retired certified public accountant with the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch)

After 44 years, George W. Lester II is retiring as CEO of The Lester Group. He will remain chair of the Martinsville-based company’s board of directors. James O’Brien succeeds Lester as president and CEO. He joined The Lester Group in 2010, becoming its president in 2014 and president of its sister company, Lester Development Corp., last year. (Martinsville Bulletin)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Becky C. Barefoot has been named first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She was senior vice president of administrative services. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

James W. Duling has been named president of the Nuclear Operations Group subsidiary of Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. He was president of the company’s Nuclear Fuel Services subsidiary in Erwin, Tenn. (News release) 

Dean Ferrell has been named president and CEO of The Winebow Group, a national importer and distributor of fine wine and craft spirits based in Henrico County. Ferrell, who previously served as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, succeeds David Townsend. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Kelly Mirt has been named publisher of The News & Advance in Lynchburg. He was president and publisher of The Wichita Eagle in Kansas. (The News & Advance)

Paula P. Pando has been named J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s fourth president. Pando was senior vice president for student and educational services at Hudson Community College in New Jersey. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Danny Robinson has been promoted to the newly created post of chief client officer at The Martin Agency in Richmond. He was group creative director at the agency. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Howard Willard has been promoted to chairman and CEO of Henrico County-based Altria Group. He had been chief operating officer of the company. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Richard Wintsch has been named executive director of the Startup Virginia business incubator in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, succeeding interim executive director Bryan Bostic. Wintsch had been chief programming officer at Startup Virginia since August. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Lynchburg City Manager Bonnie Svrcek has appointed Reid Wodicka as deputy city manager. Wodicka has served as the Bedford County deputy county manager since August 2016. (News & Advance)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Mike DeWilde, a Wythe dairy farmer who worked for the United Federation of Dairy Herd Improvement Association, has retired. For more than four decades he has visited dairy farms in a five-county area, drawing milk samples and sending them to the United Federation of Dairy Herd Improvement Association in Radford for testing. (SWVA Today) 

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY
Dwayne Pinkney starts work as the new senior vice president for operations and administration at Virginia Tech on Aug. 1. Pinkney will oversee the university’s financial and operational enterprises. He comes to Tech from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was senior associate vice chancellor for finance and administration. (News release) 

Lynne Doughtie, chairman and CEO of KPMG LLP, is this year’s recipient of Virginia Tech’s University Distinguished Achievement Award. In 2015 Doughtie became the first female top executive at KPMG, one of the world’s leading professional service firms. She began working at KPMG soon after graduating from Virginia Tech in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. (News release) 

The Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council presented seven awards during its recent 2018 TechNite awards banquet. The recipients were:  STEM-H Educator: Rick Weaver, Montgomery County Public School System; and John Warf, Burton Center for the Arts and Technology; Regional Go-To-Geek: Darrell Little, Noke Codes | Carilion Clinic; Regional Connector: Jeff Smith, Voltage Leadership Consulting; Rising Star: Securitec Screening Solutions; Entrepreneur of the Year: Steve Critchfield, MOVA; Innovator of the Year: Deb Kelly, VTCRI; Regional Leadership: Kevin Bloomfield, Bloomfield Partners; Company of the Year: TORC Robotics; Ruby Award: Victor Iannello, Radiant Physics. (News release)