People – June 2018

EASTERN VIRGINIA
Chris Stuart won the Hampton Roads Chamber’s Small Business of the Year Leadership Award. In 1996, he and his wife created Top Guard Security in Hampton and have run it ever since. They started with 120 employees. They moved their headquarters to Norfolk in 2014 and now they have 850 employees. (Inside Business)

Shepelle Watkins-White has been named the director of government and community relations for Virginia Beach-based Virginia Natural Gas. Since 2010, she managed her own law firm with areas of expertise in real estate, land use, general business and employment law. (Virginia Natural Gas)

Doug Wilson has been named CEO of Elizabeth River Crossings in Portsmouth. He is the former head of Broadrock Renewables, a Rhode Island-based company that captures methane gas produced at landfills to produce electricity. (The Virginian-Pilot)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Mark H. Merrill was elected chairman of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. Merrill is president and CEO of Valley Health System. (News release)

Bank of Clarke County has promoted Bobby Herndon to vice president/business banking officer. Herndon was previously vice president/financial services officer at the bank’s Old Town Center in Winchester. He joined the bank in 2015. Chris Holthaus has been named assistant vice president/financial services officer at the Old Town Center. Holthaus was previously the Old Town Center’s financial services manager. He joined the bank in 2016. (The Winchester Star)

Beth Staples has been named editor of Shenandoah, the Washington and Lee University review. Staples comes to W&L from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she edited Ecotone and directed Lookout Books. She replaces R.T. Smith, who has edited Shenandoah since 1995. (The Columns) 

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Virginia Bank & Trust has promoted Jerry Oakes to executive vice president. Oakes has worked in the Danville area for more than 30 years in business and commercial lending. (Danville Register & Bee)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Olivia Hall McDonald, executive director of the Marion Downtown Revitalization Association, has stepped down from the position to focus on her family and other professional opportunities. Ken Heath, Marion’s director of community and economic development and McDonald’s supervisor, plans to re-evaluate the need for the position later this year. (SWVAToday.com) 

Bristol-based Electro-Mechanical Corp. has named Mike Price vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Price worked for more than 20 years with the W.S. Badcock Corp., a fifth-generation family-owned company, where he held both CFO and CEO positions. Before Badcock, he served as Food Lion’s corporate treasurer and as senior auditor for Arthur Anderson and Touche Ross. (Washington County News) 

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Christopher “Chris” W. Bergstrom has been named president and CEO of Reston-based John Marshall Bank. He was president of United Bank. John R. Maxwell, who was John Marshall Bank’s chairman and CEO, now will be executive chairman of the board. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Brian Hedge has joined Middleburg, a Vienna-based real estate investment firm, as director of marketing. Hedge previously worked for AvalonBay Communities as the manager of digital marketing. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

Arlington-based Privia Health LLC, a health management and technology company, has named Shawn Morris as its new CEO. He was president and CEO of Tennessee-based Cigna-HealthSpring. (Washington Business Journal) 

The Prince William Chamber of Commerce has hired Ross Snare as its director of government relations. Snare was legislative aide to Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

Maribel Perez Wadsworth has been named publisher at McLean-based USA Today. Wadsworth will continue to lead the USA Today Network’s $1 billion consumer division, overseeing content strategy and operations, following the retirement of John Zidich. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

Reston’s comScore Inc. has tapped board member Bryan Wiener as its new CEO. The current chairman of New York-based media agency 360i will be tasked with getting the audience measurement company on track after years of accounting irregularities and turmoil. (Washington Business Journal) 

ROANOKE/NEW RIVER VALLEY
Donna Elliott has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a senior vice president and mortgage adviser. She is based at Pinnacle’s Roanoke office at 36 Church Ave., SW. Another new hire at that office is Jonathan Richardson, a financial adviser, who will serve commercial banking clients. (News release)

The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) honored Nathaniel L. Bishop, president of the Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, with its Meritorious Service Award at the association’s 2018 annual conference. The award honors people other than CEOs who have a history of making significant contributions to the health-care field on both a state and local level. Nominees must be recognized as leaders in health-care management and be involved in health care from the perspective of management or providing support for delivering health-care services. (News release)

Hospital Marketing International recently recognized Michael Dame, vice president of marketing and communications for Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, as a Top Hospital Marketer of the Year. Honorees were selected based on industry reputation, accomplishments and innovations. (News release)

CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Rob Norfleet has been named director and investment adviser in the foundations and endowments specialty practice at SunTrust Bank. Norfleet will be responsible for advising tax-exempt organizations on the development and implementation of investment strategies. (News release)

John G. Stallings Jr., who was named president of Richmond-based Union Bank & Trust last fall, stepped down from that position to focus on his health. Stallings now is senior executive vice president. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Michelle L. Thompson, CPA, has assumed the roles of firm managing partner and CEO at Richmond-based Cherry Bekaert LLP. In addition, Kurt Taves, CPA, has become chief operating officer; Christine W. Pierce, CPA, is managing partner of tax services; and Collin G. Hill, CPA, CFE, is managing partner of the firm’s assurance services practices. (News release)