ManTech International Corp. on Tuesday signed an agreement to acquire Arlington County-based Definitive Logic in a deal that will add 330 employees to the Herndon-based federal contractor‘s workforce.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Definitive Logic provides digital transformation consulting services and technology to defense, Homeland Security and federal civilian agencies. In a news release Tuesday, ManTech said the addition of Definitive Logic’s employees will expand the federal contractor’s suite of cloud, cyber, DevSecOps (development, security and operations) data engineering and artificial learning/machine learning capabilities as well as technology partnerships.
“With mission expansion and technology cycles accelerating at speed, our government customers rely on ManTech to bring our mission knowledge with our mastery of high-tech, high-end engineering, cyber and data solutions to solve their toughest security challenges,” ManTech CEO and President Matt Tait said in a statement. “Definitive Logic’s differentiated consulting and tailored technology solutions will further advance ManTech’s mission-focused strategy — ‘Bringing Digital to the Mission.’ We are very pleased to welcome their highly talented team, sophisticated capabilities and valued government customers.”
Definitive Logic will maintain its Arlington office, company spokesperson Sheila S. Blackwell told Virginia Business in an email. Co-founder and CEO Paul Burke will lead the team and be part of ManTech’s growth and innovation organization, Blackwell said.
“For more than 20 years, Definitive Logic has earned its reputation as a trusted partner of government change agents,” Burke said in a statement. “We are proud of the transformation outcomes we have consistently delivered for the warfighter and taxpayer and are thrilled to double down on innovation and expand our capabilities as part of ManTech. … We look forward to capitalizing on the significant growth that both our company and employees will enjoy as part of a combined platform with enhanced scale, breadth, resources and career opportunities.”
Bon Secours has named John Emery to lead Memorial Regional Medical Center in Mechanicsville and Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock, effective Monday.
Emery previously served as president of the hospital system’s Southside Medical Center in Petersburg and Southern Virginia Medical Center in Emporia. In his new role, Emery will be responsible for the operational success of the two hospitals while focusing on patient care. Bon Secours is also seeking to build a new standalone $17 million emergency room near Ashland in Hanover County, a proposal that the Virginia Department of Health has supported over a competing proposal from rival health system HCA Healthcare.
“It’s an honor to continue my service to this ministry in a new capacity and work with our physicians, associates and community partners to serve the distinct needs of our patients both in and around Hanover County and the Northern Neck,” Emery said in a statement. “I am delighted to lead the effort of meeting the changing needs of these communities we serve.”
Emery joined the health system in 2020 when Bon Secours acquired Southside Medical Center and Southern Virginia Medical Center from Tennessee-based Community Health Systems. While there, he led expansions in teleneurology, swing beds and behavioral health as well as adding a women’s center and imaging centers.
Prior to his time at Bon Secours, Emery worked in Florida and oversaw a hospital evacuation during Hurricane Irma. He is a member of the 2023 Lead Virginia class, which seeks to bring leaders from across various industries to contribute toward meeting the needs of communities across the state.
Dr. John Yosay will serve as interim president of the Southside Medical Center and Southern Virginia Medical Center during the search for a permanent president. Yosay joined the Southside Medical Center administrative team in April 2020 as vice president of medical affairs and has served the community since 2017 as a primary care practitioner.
Appomattox: In November 2022, Virginia MetalFab, a precision sheet metal fabricator, moved from Nelson County’s Gladstone area to nearby Appomattox, where it’s leasing the former Thomasville Furniture plant, which shuttered in 2011. Founded in 2002, Virginia MetalFab manufactures metal parts and assemblies for industries ranging from utilities to transportation and technology. The company invested $9 million on the move, which is expected to create 130 jobs over the next
three years.
Chesterfield County: Germany-based Weidmüller Group announced plans in April to invest $16.4 million to increase its footprint in Chesterfield County where the family-owned company has operated for more than five decades. Weidmüller produces smart industrial connectivity products and solutions that connect and automate electrical power and signaling for components, machines and installations. The expansion, which will create more than 100 full-time jobs, is expected to be complete in summer 2024.
Caroline County: In November 2022, World Class Distribution Inc. said it will build a
$275 million, 1.2 million-square-foot spec distribution center in the Caroline 95 Logistics Park in Ruther Glen, creating 745 jobs. A subsidiary of California-based TACT Holding Inc. (parent company of the Trader Joe’s grocery chain), WCD is a distribution, warehousing and cold storage company.
Hanover County: SanMar Corp., a supplier of wholesale accessories and apparel, said in March that it is investing at least $50 million to move into a 1.1 million-square-foot spec distribution center in the East Coast Commerce Center in Hanover just north of Ashland. The company’s ninth distribution center in the United States, it will serve as the flagship facility for the company’s East Coast distribution network. Executives plan to ultimately hire 1,000 workers when the facility reaches full capacity.
Lynchburg: Delta Star Inc., a manufacturer of industrial electrical products like mobile power transformers and substations, announced plans in May to expand its manufacturing operation and headquarters in the Hill City, a move expected to create about 150 jobs. The company is investing $30.2 million in the facility, which was established in Lynchburg in 1962.
EASTERN VIRGINIA
Norfolk: Princo LLC, a manufacturer of adult incontinence pads and puppy training pads, officially opened its new 80,000-square-foot Norfolk manufacturing facility in April. A joint venture between health care companies Premier Inc., Vario Labs LLC and Caretrust LLC, Princo invested $23.8 million in the facility, which is expected to create 284 jobs. Workers there make incontinence pads to support more than 4,400 hospitals in Premier’s customer portfolio.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Arlington County:In November 2022, Technomics Inc. leased an additional 10,000 square feet of space in the company’s building at 1225 South Clark St. and was planning to add an additional 10,000 square feet elsewhere in Arlington. An employee-owned government consulting firm specializing in cost analysis, data management and data analytics, Technomics invested $1.7 million in the expansion, which was expected to generate 150 jobs. Created in 1984, Technomics opened its Arlington office in 2000.
Fairfax County: SmartRoof, a solar energy and roofing contractor, announced plans in November 2022 to invest $350,000 to relocate from McLean to Reston. Founded in 2016, the company plans to add more than 400 jobs during the next five years.
Fairfax County: In February, aerospace defense contractor Amentum Services Inc. said it would consolidate its operations and move its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to 4800 Westfields Blvd. in Chantilly. The company is investing $495 million to make the move, which will add 157 jobs. Amentum, which has more than 44,000 employees globally, completed a $1.9 billion all-cash purchase of Falls Church-based government contractor
PAE Inc. in 2022.
SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Harrisonburg: Farmer Focus, an organic poultry producer, plans to almost double processing capacity at its Harrisonburg facility over the next two years. A $3.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program will help pay for the $17.8 million expansion, which is expected to create more than 300 jobs.
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Halifax County: Switzerland-based Hitachi Energy Ltd. said in October 2022 that it was adding 26,000 square feet to its existing Halifax County facility to allow for a new production line of large power transformers. The company is investing $37 million in the expansion, creating 165 jobs.
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Botetourt County: Birmingham, Alabama-based Altec Industries Inc. is expanding its footprint at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield. In May, the company announced plans to invest $1.4 million to expand production on its construction equipment products line, expected to create 150 jobs. A global manufacturer, Altec makes products like boom truck cranes and digger derricks for industrial customers like electric utilities, telecommunications companies and tree care businesses.
Salem: In March, German auto parts manufacturer STS Group AG said it would invest $32 million to establish its North American headquarters at the former General Electric Co. facility in Salem, creating 119 full-time positions. The move was a switch from plans to build the headquarters in Wythe County, as announced in 2021. STS Group develops, manufactures and supplies vehicle interior and exterior parts made from plastic or composite materials.
Virginia Business’ 2023 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners represent large and small businesses and large and small nonprofits.
Small nonprofit|Clyde Cornett, Executive vice president and CFO Virginia Community Capital Inc., Richmond
Richmond-based Virginia Community Capital Inc. was a $15 million organization when Clyde Cornett joined as chief financial officer in 2008. Now, it’s grown into a community development financial institution with $559 million in total assets under management.
A CDFI can include regulated institutions such as banks and credit unions or nonregulated ones like private equity funds. Founded in 2006 and seeded with $15 million in seed capital from the state government, VCC provides credit and financial services for underserved populations, and it finances projects aimed at benefiting the community ranging from solar energy, food access to affordable housing.
Since its inception, VCC has helped to finance projects that have created or retained more than 14,000 jobs and established more than 12,000 affordable housing units. In 2022, Cornett helped secure more than $36 million in equity from the U.S. Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program for VCC’s mission-focused community development bank.
“We operate with the idea that we want to balance the social impact with financial sustainability,” Cornett explains. “Some folks will go on that journey with us, but some people immediately [focus on the] financial return conversation because they think of banks as being purely profit-driven financial organizations. Having the opportunity to secure that capital was a pretty big deal for us.”
Nevertheless, raising deposits for the bank is still top of mind for Cornett so the bank can continue making loans for affordable housing projects or to underserved small businesses, he says.
“They can’t afford these rate increases. With funding costs being what they are, some projects are just getting stalled as a result,” he explains. “So, one of my biggest priorities is to really help figure out ways to raise deposits less expensively and figure out how to fund all these projects that really need it.”
With a passion for community development work, Cornett, who is based in Christiansburg, also dedicates his time to causes in Southwest Virginia, where he grew up in the Appalachian former coal town of St. Paul. He is a founding director of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC) and has served on its board for a decade, supporting CDFIs in the ACC’s service region, which extends from New York to Mississippi.
Also under the umbrella of community development work, VCC in 2017 launched LOCUS Impact Investing, an investment advisory services group that helps philanthropic organizations invest in their communities. Cornett also helped to develop the nation’s first community investment guarantee pool, another financing tool for affordable housing projects, small businesses and climate-related lending.
Starting out as an accountant, Cornett would once have described his leadership style as directive — solely focused on deadlines and deliverables. As a business administration and accounting graduate from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Cornett previously served as a senior manager with Greenville, South Carolina-based accounting and consulting firm Elliott Davis.
But his work in community development has led him to appreciate partnerships, teamwork and collaboration, he says. In fact, some of the team members he brought on a decade ago when he started with VCC still work with him today.
“I built the team from scratch — they’re awesome,” he says. “I’m trying to support them in clearing hurdles in the organization and really trying to encourage them to step into their own leadership.”
Read more about Virginia Business’ 2023 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners:
Virginia Business’ 2023 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners represent large and small businesses and large and small nonprofits.
Large Nonprofit|Jim Barker, chief financial officer Delta Dental of Virginia, Roanoke
Some might call Jim Barker’s journey to becoming chief financial officer of Roanoke County-based Delta Dental of Virginia kismet.
Barker grew up the youngest of seven children in Bristol, Virginia. His father died unexpectedly when Barker was 2, and Barker’s mother took a janitorial job with the local school system to provide for her family.
To ensure he was cared for in the afternoons, his mother enrolled Barker at the local Boys & Girls Clubs, a nonprofit organization that provides homework assistance and after-school activities for kids ages 5 to 18. Growing up “not in the best of neighborhoods,” he says, “it was good to have a good place to go.”
He couldn’t know he was forging a connection that would lead him to the executive position he’s held for the past 20 years.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from Virginia Tech, Barker worked as a senior manager with Big Four accounting firm KPMG in Roanoke. When he moved there, he found out it was the largest city east of the Mississippi River not to have a Boys & Girls Clubs chapter. Delta Dental of Virginia’s then-CFO, Michael Wise, invited Barker to join a board that was in the process of starting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia, which now has 11 locations from Roanoke to Christiansburg.
As he got to know Wise, Barker learned more about Delta Dental of Virginia and its philanthropic efforts like Smart Smiles, a program providing dental care to children from low-income families.
Barker joined Delta Dental of Virginia as corporate controller in 2003, working his way up to vice president of accounting before being named CFO in 2015. Delta Dental of Virginia is a member company of the Delta Dental Plans Association, which provides dental coverage to more than 83 million people nationwide. Employing about 330 people, Delta Dental of Virginia reported $765 million in 2022 revenue.
As one of the longest serving board members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia, Barker has also helped maintain deep ties between Delta Dental of Virginia and Boys & Girls Clubs. For example, he helps fundraise for the annual Delta Dental Pro-Am for Kids charity golf tournament, which has raised more than $2.1 million for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia. Wise, who died last year, helped Barker establish a college scholarship fund for local Boys & Girls Clubs teens. Named for Barker, the scholarship fund has so far raised about $350,000 of its $1 million goal.
Since the very beginning, Barker has found Delta Dental to be like a “big family,” he says. “If you know somebody and you know they care about you — and you care back — you’ll work a lot harder for them.”
While it could be a challenge to move from a major accounting firm to a smaller nonprofit, Barker brings the same mentality of focusing on efficiency and competitiveness. “We have the adage, ‘No margin, no mission,’” he says. “If we don’t make a margin, we don’t support our mission of foundational oral health. But at the same time, I think that our biggest asset … [is our] people.”
One of Barker’s main focuses has been on diversifying Delta Dental of Virginia’s offerings. It used to sell only dental insurance, but the organization expanded into vision coverage in 2020, and in 2021 began licensing proprietary software to other Delta Dental member companies.
“We were a one-trick pony, so to speak,” Barker says. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have some wonderful leadership and mentors ahead of me, and I want to leave this organization on a strong footing as well. That’s with certainly adequate financial reserves and stability, but also already being on a glide path to long-term diversification.”
Virginia Business’ 2023 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners represent large and small businesses and large and small nonprofits.
Large business|Cindy Yao, CFO and executive vice president Markel Food Group, Richmond
A while back, Cindy Yao and the other executives at Richmond-based Markel Food Group underwent a 360-degree feedback exercise. Yao, the company’s chief financial officer and executive vice president for the past decade, found that she was viewed as the company’s heart.
“People come to me to solve problems and when they feel they need help, and when someone … needs a caring person there to help them grow,” says Yao, who’s known for putting together gift baskets for employees and their family members who are going through tough times.
An independent subsidiary of Henrico County Fortune 500 insurance holding company Markel Group Inc., Markel Food Group is a $350 million company with about 1,000 employees worldwide. It provides automated industrial equipment and consulting services to food processing companies.
Markel Food Group, Yao explains, is the parent of three “pretty much autonomous companies” — AMF Bakery Systems, Reading Bakery Systems, and Solbern. In addition to being the parent company’s CFO, Yao serves as CEO for Reading, Solbern and AMF Bakery Systems’ AMF China division. “I bring them structure and I helped them to be more organized [in] thinking about strategy,” Yao says.
Born in Shanghai, China, and fluent in the Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghai dialects, Yao has overseen over the past two years a doubling of revenue and profits of the company’s business in China, where it’s aiming to become the leading supplier of industrial bakery equipment.
Yao earned her MBA from the William E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester, her master’s degree in accountancy from Virginia Tech and her bachelor’s degree in English literature from East China Normal University.
Before joining Markel, Yao served for almost a decade in executive finance positions with eye care company Bausch + Lomb.
In 2019, she received the Corporate Leadership Award from NaisA Global, a nonprofit organization that connects and provides mentorship to future Asian business leaders.
At Markel Food Group, Yao has implemented structural changes, including designing its governance structure. She also oversees Markel Business System, the framework that governs the company’s strategies for operations, staff and growth.
“Rolling out the system, you change the culture, you create a collaboration among the companies,” Yao explains. “We have a very systematic way to look at growth, look at the costs and look at people engagement.”
Additionally, she serves as dean for Markel Business Systems Leadership University, an internal executive leadership development program she founded.
It all speaks to her support and passion for mentoring “high potential” younger workers.
“To be a good manager, you have to care about people. You truly have a goal to have an impact on somebody’s life and career,” she says. “Your goal is to help people grow and to improve their life.”
Yao also serves as a mentor to MBA students at the University of Richmond, where she has led discussions about course material, reviewed résumés and offered job advice. And she volunteers with the VCU Massey Cancer Center and joined its advisory board in May.
“I look forward to contributing to the community,” Yao says. “We all do better when our community does better.”
Read more about Virginia Business’ 2023 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners:
After Winoa USA closed its Bedford steel abrasives plant in 2020, town economic officials came up with the idea of renovating the empty facility into a regional technical training center for the metalworking industry that could include a commercial foundry.
In August, the Bedford Economic Development Authority expects to be closer to that goal, with plans to purchase the 60,000-square foot plant, previously assessed at $1.9 million. (The purchase cost was not available as of the mid-July press time for this issue.)
With a $99,000 grant from GO Virginia, the town will spend the next year crystallizing its planning for the Bedford Regional Metal Workforce Retention Center. Bedford’s director of planning and community development, Mary Zirkle, is heading up the initiative.
With nearly 5,800 metal and machinery jobs in Southwest Virginia, including the Roanoke and New River valleys, there’s a need for training, says EDA Chairman Jonathan Buttram, adding that the training center will attract more businesses to the region. “If we have a place that’s producing skilled labor, companies will want to be near it.”
“Having a training center in Bedford would be a huge step forward in providing skilled employees to fill our workforce needs,” says Mike Amos, president of Roanoke-based Precision Steel Manufacturing Corp., which needs workers skilled in fabrication, tube bending, traditional and robotic welding, and computer numerical control (CNC) machining.
The Winoa plant has three high-bay areas, allowing the EDA to consider multiple uses. Potential uses under discussion include:
Partnering with Central Virginia Community College to provide certificate programs in basic metalworking. CVCC offers metal working classes on campus but has limited space.
Forging a public-private partnership to provide industry- or company-specific training.
Creating a flexible metalwork training space that companies could rent.
Opening a commercial-scale foundry for training or research.
The back bay was built as a foundry, and Bedford has a 10-million-watt transformer that could power an induction or arc furnace. “It would be the only foundry for training in the U.S.,” Buttram says.
Alan P. Druschitz, an associate professor in Virginia Tech‘s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, supports establishing a foundry for hands-on training and research. “This would be truly unique,” he says, “since new materials and new processes could be developed along with the workforce to put these materials and processes into high-volume production.”
In April, David Doré started his new job as Virginia Community College System chancellor, stepping into the shoes of the retired Glenn DuBois, who held the position for 21 years.
A Pennsylvania native who once considered becoming a Jesuit priest, Doré is a former high school teacher who once took his students to meet PBS icon Mister Rogers on a field trip. He joins the college system at a time when it’s under a bright spotlight.
The search for DuBois’ replacement took on a political tenor after Gov. Glenn Youngkin objected to being left out of the hiring process last year, when the state community college board announced it had hired a Michigan college president as VCCS chancellor. However, Russell Kavalhuna backed out last June, leaving a vacancy.
Doré, who most recently was president of campuses and executive vice chancellor for student experience and workforce development at Tucson, Arizona-based Pima Community College, was hired in January with the vocal support of Youngkin, who has promoted workforce education programs run through the state’s community colleges as a solution to skilled labor shortages.
With 23 colleges and nearly 150,000 students under his purview, Doré quickly got started visiting each college in his first weeks on the job. In June, having finished his tour, Doré sat down for an interview with Virginia Business at VCCS’ headquarters in Chesterfield County.
In August, Doré plans to roll out VCCS’ legislative agenda during his chancellor’s retreat to an audience that will likely include Youngkin and other state officials.
Doré says that he believes in the system’s role in creating more opportunities, especially for people in economically disadvantaged areas of the state. One of his chief goals, too, is to see that all Virginia high school students graduate with a community college credential under their belts, whether it’s a marketable job certification or a credit that transfers toward their bachelor’s degree.
Doré and his husband, Chauncey Roach, a Veterans Affairs nurse who served in the Air Force, live in Richmond with their dog, Riley, and enjoy running in the city’s parks.
Virginia Business: How does VCCS compare with other community college systems?
David Doré: I was somewhat familiar with this system, and there were a couple of items that really stood out for me.
One is that the Virginia Community College System had initiated … FastForward, which is a short-term, noncredit credential program that was very well-known throughout the country. I think that was one of the first impressions that I had, that this was a forward-thinking system.
I’ve served 27 years in the community college sector. I spent the majority of that time in the California community college system, where the community college districts are independent. Even though there is a chancellor, the presidents don’t report to the chancellor.
Then I spent about 10 years in Arizona, and those are independent districts. What really attracted me about this position was that the 23 colleges are one system. I think it provides an opportunity for alignment across the entire commonwealth of Virginia, particularly with the needs of business and industry.
VB: As far as which programs are being offered at the colleges, is there a real difference depending on where you are geographically?
Doré: In some instances, yes. For example, Northern Virginia is home to data centers, and so a lot of the focus is going to be focused on regional needs in terms of business and industry. Certain sectors and regions of the commonwealth are in need of certain kinds of workers. If you go into the Hampton Roads area, one of the largest employers there, of course, is the Newport News Shipyard.
With that said, I think that we can do an even better job of aligning more from a regional perspective.
Now, in certain aspects for transfer education, which is a really important part of what we do, many programs [are] similar from college to college because, again, we want to have a real seamless alignment for our students who are transferring to the four-year schools. If you’re taking an English class at [Northern Virginia Community College] or you’re taking an English class at [Southwest Virginia Community College], that class needs to transfer to all of the same transfer institutions.
Around health care, pretty much every region of the commonwealth has health care [labor] needs. In some instances, I think we’re going to see some scaling [up] of certain programs in certain parts of the commonwealth and will actually need to do some realigning, from my perspective.
VB: Was there anything that surprised you during your tour?
Doré: We are doing incredibly innovative things at the colleges. I think that was really powerful for me to see firsthand some of the innovations.
I was really, really impressed with how our faculty and staff have embraced emerging technologies. One example is in the health care space. Right now, there’s a challenge in health care around clinical placements [for students], but educational institutions are permitted to have about 25% of the [in-class] simulations count for clinical placements.
For example, when I was doing the tour [at Virginia Peninsula Community College], I delivered a baby. I literally delivered a baby. It was all simulated. [Laughter]
Doré wants all Virginia students to graduate high school with a community college credit of some kind. Photos by Caroline Martin
VB: Whoa — how did that work?
Doré: Again, this is all [a] simulation, [in which] there was a woman in the middle of childbirth. I accompanied the EMT students who took her in the ambulance, and then we went to the hospital. This mannequin [is] so high-tech now that you actually deliver a baby in a hospital bed. We’re talking about placenta and the whole nine yards!
Then, similarly, in a lot of our heavy machine operation programs, [there’s] a lot of simulation there and in our truck-driving programs. It actually is a more efficient model for learners.
We’re using virtual reality at our colleges, artificial intelligence. We can’t run from these emerging technologies. We’ve got to embrace them, and we’ve got to incorporate them not just into how we teach and how our students learn, but then what kinds of skills we’re giving our learners. Students today need to have not just digital literacy, they need to be digitally fluent in these technologies in their respective fields.
VB: Do you think that people in general are more aware of what is offered at community colleges?
Doré: I think that is going to be one of my primary goals, is to market our Virginia community colleges much better than we have. I think that we have a lot of work to do in terms of not only promoting our colleges, but really promoting all of these different fields that are high-demand and high-wage fields that you do not necessarily need a four-year degree to compete and to be successful in many, many of these career fields.
I think it’s important for us to really work very closely with our K-12 partners and with high school counselors, so that we really can ensure that students get on a pathway much earlier into some of these high-demand areas.
VB: Can you elaborate on that?
Doré: When I came to Virginia back in January, I was able to meet with Gov. Youngkin and with [state] Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera. One of the things that we discussed was this goal of having every high school student graduate from high school with a postsecondary credential.
I am very aligned with Gov. Youngkin, Secretary Guidera and Secretary of Labor [Bryan] Slater around these issues. I think that this is an achievable goal. We will need to deepen our partnerships with K-12 institutions across the commonwealth, but our colleges are ready and able to scale what we are doing to get students into a pipeline, to be career-ready when they graduate from high school.
Now, that is not to say that these students will not continue to pursue postsecondary [education], but … I think people are looking for the skills that can be applied in their lives sooner. When I went to college, I had a job that was really not related to my major to earn my way. Then I looked for a job when I got my degree.
More and more of our learners are actually employed full time, and they’re trying to get to a next level, and so they want to be able to use those skills right away. I think what we’re really doing much more is this notion of stackability — what we’re doing is really stacking credentials. They can be used earlier in their career, but then those credentials can be stacked to [become] an associate degree and ultimately … a bachelor’s degree.
VB: There are many sectors that need trained workers, from health care to education to wind energy. What can be achieved on this front in the next five or 10 years?
Doré: There are a number of sectors that we will be focusing on in the community college system. I’ll just give you some examples: IT and cyber. Obviously, we have an incredible skills gap in the health care sector.
Then we have a whole host of what we call the skilled trades: welding and machines, advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, public safety.
We really need to educate this new pipeline of talent. We’re going to have to scale certain programs at a much faster pace than we have over the last several years.
We are working collaboratively from a regional perspective to look at the pipeline that is needed for our various industry sectors — not just next year, but over the next five and 10 years. Then we need to, if you will, realign our entire system to make sure that we are really educating the pipeline to fill those necessary positions.
VB: Do you have enough educators?
Doré: No. We particularly do not have enough faculty in the high-demand sectors. If there’s a nursing shortage, then there’s obviously a nursing instructor shortage.
Attracting talent to our institutions is going to be another significant issue that I will need to address as the leader of this system. One of the things is that we have to be competitive to be able to attract the talent that we need to our system. That has to do with compensation. It is quite frankly challenging for us to attract faculty in these high-demand areas because industry has a shortage, and many of our faculty could make a lot more money working in industry.
We need to work very closely with business and industry to solve that problem. I see pockets of innovation in which our industry partners are in fact helping provide those faculty to our system.
VB: How do you appeal to prospective students who could choose a for-profit college over a community college?
Doré:Traditionally, if you look at the model for many for-profit institutions, they allocate a much higher percentage of their operating budget for marketing. They’re very, very well-invested in terms of marketing, and that’s something that, historically, public community colleges have not done. That is one area that I think it’s really important for us to look at is, how do we market the value proposition of our public community colleges?
VB: Youngkin signed a bill in May to create the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, which consolidates a lot of different state workforce initiatives under one roof. How will that impact VCCS?
Doré: Some folks that are now here in this system office will be moving to this new agency, so yes, it does affect us somewhat. Now, with that said, I believe that we are going to be able to partner much more closely with the Commonwealth of Virginia to really streamline workforce programs. The Virginia community colleges are designated as the coordinator of postsecondary workforce education in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Ultimately, we will play a crucial role in helping to shape what that new agency looks like and ensuring that we’ve got greater efficiency across the commonwealth.
VB: What about military veterans and their family members? There’s a big effort to keep them here in Virginia so they can take some of these in-demand skilled jobs. How big a priority is that?
Doré: I want to make it very clear that all of our colleges are veteran- and military- friendly, and that we have veteran centers.
Now, what’s really important for veteran students is that we have a robust program called Credit for Prior Learning. This is really for those who are transitioning out of the military. They’ve spent a whole lot of time perfecting a field, and in many instances they may or may not then have the necessary industry credentials to be hired in various sectors.
In many instances, they may only need another semester to complete even a degree. That’s really important for me — that we honor the skills that these veterans are already bringing to our colleges, and [that we’re] giving them credit for those skills. It’s [also] important for our veterans to get their benefits for the G.I. Bill and all of those programs.
VB: What did your own educational path look like?
Doré:I come from the working class, and neither my mom nor my dad went to college. I’m a first-generation college student. I grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. I’m one of five children.
To be honest with you, I did not want to go to college. I graduated from high school, and I really didn’t want to go to college. My parents were like, “No. You’re going to college.” I had an opportunity, the summer that I graduated from high school, [to spend] the summer in Mexico working at a hospice. It was run by Catholic nuns in Mérida, which is in Yucatán. I was 17 years old.
I’ll never forget the first day in there, the nun, she tells me to go in and give this guy a bath. I walk in to give this guy a bath who’s in the shower, no arms or legs. Well, fast-forward to the end of the summer, I grew up really fast. There was a young man there who had fallen off of a hut, broke his back, was paralyzed from the neck down. I was taking care of these people.
One of the things that hit me that summer was my parents wanted me to go to college. I didn’t really want to go to college. I just wanted to get a job, but I was like, “I have the opportunity to go to college, and these people that I had been serving in this hospice, they didn’t have any opportunity.”
It was a wake-up call for me. I got home and I went down to my local college, and I enrolled right away. College transformed my life. I did become a teacher out of college. I taught in Catholic high school
for two years.
VB: And you met Fred Rogers, late host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” during a class field trip to his TV studio in Pittsburgh?
Doré:At the lunch break, Fred Rogers spent an entire hour with me and my class. It was awesome! All my students were asking him all kinds of questions — everything. I remember I got to ask him the last question, and I said, “I’m a young new teacher. What advice do you have for me?”
I’ll never forget what he said. “David,” he said, “Remember that love is at the heart of all learning.” That has been my North Star throughout my entire career.
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from June 15 to July 14 were led by CNBC‘s announcement that Virginia placed second this year in the cable business news network’s annual Top States for Business rankings.
Rated America’s best state for education, Virginia climbed to No. 2 in the 2023 rankings, with North Carolina taking the top spot for the second consecutive year. (July 11)
Family-owned fast food chain Five Guys Enterprises LLC was set to move its corporate headquarters from Fairfax County to Alexandria on July 17. (July 7)
Developers broke ground on the Fairwinds Landing maritime operations and logistics center supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. (June 29)
This year, 24 Virginia companies made the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States by total revenue.
The commonwealth had three more Fortune 500 companies in 2023 than last year, largely due to aerospace and defense contractors RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies Corp.) and Boeing Co., which both moved their headquarters to Arlington County from out of state last year. This year, they debuted as Virginia’s second- and third-ranked Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, McLean-based global hotelier Hilton returned to the Fortune 500 this year after a two-year slump caused by the pandemic.
This year, 10 of the commonwealth’s Fortune 500 companies are based in Fairfax County, the Virginia locality with the most Fortune 500 companies. The metro Richmond region, including Hanover, Henrico and Goochland counties, has the second most, with five companies.
Notably, Goochland-based used vehicle retailer CarMax Inc. had the biggest rise in 2023, jumping 50 slots to No. 124. Henrico-based convenience store holding company Arko Corp., which debuted on the Fortune 500 last year, moved up almost 40 slots to No. 460.
The biggest slides were seen from Henrico-based insurance holding company Markel Group Inc., which dropped 63 slots to No. 352, and DXC Technology Co. in Ashburn, which dropped 48 slots to No. 255.
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