Virginia Housing board elects officers

Members of the Virginia Housing Development Authority’s Board of Commissioners elected Sarah Barrie Stedfast chair, the organization announced last week. 

Stedfast is venture president at Norfolk’s RW Towne Mortgage, a subsidiary of TowneBank Mortgage, and is active in the Virginia and Tidewater mortgage bankers associations. She has a degree in business finance from Virginia Tech. 

William C. Shelton of Charlottesville was tapped to be vice chair. Shelton, with his family, owns Vintage Virginia Apples, an orchard and fruit tree catalog, and Albemarle CiderWorks, a cidery with a tasting room in North Garden. He served as the director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for two decades before retiring in 2015, and is a founding board member at Locus, formerly known as Virginia Community Capital, a community development bank. 

New board members Robinson Development Group Vice President Dare Ruffin and 4th Generation Home Builders Senior Vice President Michael Olivieri, both of Virginia Beach, and Matthew Fields, Buchanan County’s director of economic development and tourism, were welcomed at the August meeting. Board members are appointed by the governor.

Virginia Housing is a nonprofit that provides mortgages, primarily for first-time homebuyers, and financing for rental developments and neighborhood revitalization efforts. The organization raises money in capital markets to fund the loans.