Appointed/elected
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced key administration and board appointments. Lindsay Winter of Virginia Beach, head of Virginia Public Policy at Amazon, was appointed to the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority. Karey Malyszko of Norfolk, vice president of plant operations with Newport News Shipbuilding, was appointed to the board of trustees of the Science Museum of Virginia. Billy Foster of Suffolk, president/CEO of TowneBank, was appointed to Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. Dr. Andrew J. Nash of Norfolk, an audiologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was appointed to the Advisory Board for the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Krista Martinez of Chesapeake, chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Norfolk and co-director of the Norfolk Family Justice Center, was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Sexual and Domestic Violence. Ross Stolle of Virginia Beach, a consultant with Accenture, was appointed to the Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel. David Hackworth of Chesapeake, a senior associate at Moseley Architects, was appointed to the State Board of Local and Regional Jails. Vanessa Christie of Virginia Beach, CEO of Prevailance Aerospace, was appointed to the Virginia Aviation Board.
Robert Crum of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission was elected to the board of directors of the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions at its annual Summer Conference held in Norfolk July 26-28.
Awards and honors
Brown Edwards, a full-service regional accounting firm with an office in Newport News, was recognized as a top accounting firm on the Inside Public Accounting Top 100 List, moving up another spot on the list this year to No. 72.
Metronet, an independently owned 100% fiber optic provider based in Evansville, Indiana, was ranked the fastest internet service provider in Norfolk, according to data from Ookla Speedtest Intelligence.
Newport News-based PBMares continues to rank in the top 100 of all public accounting firms in the United States, ranking No. 80, according to the 2023 Inside Public Accounting Top 100 list.
Education
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones, Assistant City Manager Ralph “Bo” Clayton and Director of Human Resources Allison Dichoso were selected to participate in the seventh class of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. They join a set of 40 mayors and 80 senior municipal leaders from across the globe who are taking part in the yearlong professional management training program. Established by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, the program covers topics including policy development, communication, poverty reduction, equitable growth and jobs, climate, resilience, affordable housing, transportation and infrastructure.
Grants and donations
Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast received a $15,000 grant from the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters Foundation Inc. to support the onboarding of a new phone system at its headquarters, A Place for Girls, in Chesapeake. The new multifunctional phone system has many benefits that will improve communications and reduce additional costs.
Mergers and acquisitions
Newport News-based Ferguson acquired Bruce Supply Corp., a plumbing distributor; The Kennedy Cos., a waterworks distributor; and S.G. Torrice, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning distributor. All three acquisitions closed on July 31 and generate aggregate annualized revenues of approximately $450 million.
Opening
Lendmark Financial Services, a Lawrenceville, Georgia-based provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, opened a new branch located at 750 Independence Blvd. in Virginia Beach. It marks the company’s 45th location in Virginia.
On Aug. 7, Melone Hatley, a solo female-owned law firm practicing in the areas of family law and estate planning, opened its roughly 10,000-square-foot corporate office off Lynnhaven Parkway. The new corporate office will support the company’s three other offices in Virginia and North Carolina.
The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Outer Banks Golf Club on July 25. It features a golf pro shop for practice, play and equipment fittings and is stocked with clubs and apparel. The chamber also held a ribbon-cutting for Sherwin Williams in Southern Shores on July 26. It’s a full-service location for contractors and homeowners carrying pressure washers, paint sprayers, ladders and a large selection of wallpaper available through special order.
Partnerships
Newport News-based ITA International, a provider of data, technology and professional services, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health, enabling the company to advance the NanoSafe Tested program. The program is aimed at characterizing exposures to products containing engineered nanomaterials and respirable particulate matter to ensure consumer safety and support safety-conscious manufacturers. ITA and NIH will refine evaluation protocols for advanced manufacturing products (such as 3D printers and laser engravers), cosmetics, filtration appliances, face masks and other high-risk products.
