All For Business

Our host, Chal Nunn, sat down with new Liberty University President Dondi Costin to talk about who he is and how his career has led him to the Lynchburg region. Listen in to get to know the president of one of our region's largest employers and educators.

About Dr. Costin

Dr. Dondi Costin began serving as Liberty University’s sixth president on July 1, 2023. He returned to Liberty, his alma mater, after five years as president of Charleston Southern University. He is a retired Major General with more than 32 years of commissioned service in a military career that culminated as a senior leader in the Pentagon, where he served as the eighteenth Air Force Chief of Chaplains.

Dr. Costin is a native of Wilmington, N.C., and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy in 1986. He then served successively as an industrial engineer evaluating air-to-ground precision guided munitions, chief of scientific analysis on a major command headquarters staff, and assistant professor of aerospace studies at Texas Christian University. After ten years as a line officer, he became an Air Force chaplain in 1996.

An ordained Southern Baptist minister, he was endorsed by the Liberty Baptist Fellowship during his 22 years as a chaplain. His chaplain assignments included service as Air Force Basic Military Training chaplain, senior flightline chaplain for both special operations and conventional forces in England, readiness instructor/evaluator preparing Chaplain Corps personnel for worldwide deployment, Air Staff branch chief, wing chaplain in Germany, senior chaplain for the air component mission in Southwest Asia, senior chaplain for Pacific Air Forces, and Air Force Chief of Chaplains.

As Chief of Chaplains, he established guidance and provided advice on all matters pertaining to the religious and moral welfare of Air Force personnel and their families. He led an Air Force Chaplain Corps of 2,000 chaplains and Religious Affairs Airmen and was the senior pastor for more than 664,000 personnel. As chairman of the Armed Forces Chaplain Board, he advised the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on religious, ethical, and quality-of-life concerns for the entire U.S. military.

He assumed the presidency of Charleston Southern University (CSU) immediately following his military career. The university flourished as an unapologetically Christian university under Costin’s leadership, which featured a visionary strategic plan, the university’s award-winning response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, and recognition as the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Business of the Year.

Dr. Costin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in operations research from the United States Air Force Academy and graduate degrees from Liberty University (M.A. in counseling), Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (M.A. in religion), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Air Command and Staff College (Master of Military Operational Art and Science), Air War College (Master of Strategic Studies), and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min in evangelism and church growth; Ph.D. in leadership).

Dr. Costin has also received the U.S. Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Americans Award and the Military Chaplains Association Distinguished Service Award as Air Force Chaplain of the Year, led his chapel team to recognition as the Air Force Outstanding Large Chapel Organization of the Year, was twice named one of Charleston’s 50 Most Influential People, has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and was commissioned as a Colson Fellow in 2023.

His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Gallant Unit Citation, Kosovo Campaign Medal, three Afghanistan Campaign Medals, Korean Defense Service Medal, and NATO Medal.

On this episode of All For Business, we strike up a conversation with Melissa Lucy, CEO of Horizon Behavioral Health. Horizon was recently recognized as a 2023 Best Place To Work by Lynchburg Business magazine and plays an important role in serving the mental health needs of our region. Listen in!

About Melissa Lucy

Melissa L. Lucy, LPC, QMHP is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Horizon Behavioral Health with 24 years of experience in community behavioral health and 18 years in leadership roles. She has dedicated her career to helping children and adults overcome their life challenges with compassion, professional guidance, and caring support. Her experience as a leader and direct service provider includes program development, evaluation, strategic planning and oversight of a portfolio of services that includes: emergency mental health, forensic services, psychiatric services, primary care, and youth and family behavioral health services.

Melissa has served as a member of several state and local committees and taskforces including SJ47 Joint Subcommittee on Mental Health Reform, Emergency Mental Health, Psychiatric Policy, Criminal Justice and Mental Health Transformation. Melissa currently is a member of the Crisis Intervention Team Coalition of Central VA. She represents Horizon Behavioral Health as a member of the VACSB Emergency Services Council and is the Emergency Services Council representative on the Data Management Team. Melissa is Licensed by the state of Virginia Board of Counseling, is extensively trained as a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) specialist, Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) specialist, and she has specialized training from University of Virginia in forensic services. Melissa has trained with leading experts in her field and received certification from Marsha Linehan, the program founder of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Today, Melissa leads her team in making Horizon Behavioral Health a leader in the field of Behavioral Health. Mrs. Lucy has presented at the International Crisis Intervention Conference in Florida, on the Crisis Intervention Program established at Horizon Behavioral Health. Mrs. Lucy was instrumental in the establishment of this program in the Central Virginia area at Horizon Behavioral Health.

In this week's episode of the Alliance's All4Business podcast, join retired physician, Dr. Chal Nunn, as he sits down with Amy Carrier, President & CEO of CENTRA, the largest healthcare organization in the Lynchburg region. During the episode, Amy shares her experience of leading CENTRA more than a year after the onset of the pandemic, providing leadership and resilience that has improved the quality of healthcare and life throughout the community, giving a substantial boost to economic development across the region as well.

For this week's episode of the Alliance's All4Business podcast, join the Alliance's Executive Vice-President & COO Christine Kennedy and Carrie Wright, Executive Director of Strategic Development for Chick Fil A Wards Rd and River Ridge Mall in Lynchburg, VA. As an industry expert in customer relations, executing planning, development, talent training & development, as well as leadership and goal setting, Carrie Wright shares invaluable insight that can help empower business owners to make the most of their options in the way of cultivating and retaining talent, helping to boost commercial development by generating jobs and investment.

In our final Mental Health Awareness Month podcast, we sit down with the new CEO of Horizon Behavioral Health, Melissa Lucy. We hope this series has been helpful for you and your employees. Stay tuned for our next episode!

Our fourth Mental Health Awareness Month episode explores ways you can help yourself and your teams manage stress and improve mental health with Corporate Trainer, Licensed Professional Counselor, and Certified Behavioral Consultant, Jen Rowland.

Now in the third week of our Mental Health Awareness Month series, let's examine mental health from a legal standpoint. How can employers and employees tackle this challenge? Big thanks to Leah and Patrick of Woods Rogers for speaking with us on this important topic.

In the second episode of our Mental Health Awareness Month series, we speak with two experts from Centra on the clinical side of things. How do we impact our mental health for better or worse? What can we be doing to keep ourselves mentally healthy?

As we all know mental health is often intricately tied together with our working lives. Stress, conflict, poor environments, and relationships all impact our mental health and whether we can feel at the top of our ability and happy. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we'll be diving in with local leaders and experts on mental health and what we can be doing to ensure both employees and employers are aware of the importance of mental health in our daily lives. 

Laura is the founding Executive Director of Lynchburg Beacon of Hope. 

As the idea for Beacon of Hope originated, she came on board to help build the model. She was tasked with building the structure, focus, and 501(c)3 organization status of Beacon of Hope. She naturally merged into the Executive Director as Beacon of Hope launched our Future Centers in 2012. 

Laura spent decades in public policy work, both in Lynchburg and the District of Columbia. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and her Master’s degree in Public Policy (MPP) from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  Laura served the Clinton Administration as a budget and policy liaison for the DC Budget and the Defense and Energy policy at the Office of Management and Budget.  She also worked as Development Director for Discovery Creek Children’s Museum/The Children’s Museum of Washington.  In addition, her strength in recent years has been cultivating the public/nonprofit partnership that has evolved between Lynchburg City Schools and the Beacon of Hope, including a strategic vision for the first Promise Program in Virginia.

In 2008, Laura was named as the top 20 change-makers in Lynchburg under the age of 40.  She’s a visual-rated private pilot and drives a 40-foot RV.

All For Business is back for our second season! We're excited to kick it off with another "Around The Table" mini-series with Leadership Lynchburg in honor of Black History Month. Leadership Lynchburg believes that creating opportunities for healthy conversation builds awareness, trust and ultimately relationship. Relationships can create productive action and relationships enable you to "go there" on difficult topics trusting that the benefit is greater awareness and mutual understanding. In short, relationship create community. We aim to inspire leaders and educate allies and potential allies so they can create tangible actions within their respective spheres of influence. So, it’s February, Black History Month and we thought it would be great to feature some of our local friends who can speak to their work for the black community. We’re uniting these podcasts under the theme of "Tell me what I need to know . . ."

Our final two guests are Donise Farmer and Justin Mercer. Donise serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at Genworth and Justin is an RPO Recruiter at Aya Healthcare.

All For Business is back for our second season! We're excited to kick it off with another "Around The Table" mini-series with Leadership Lynchburg in honor of Black History Month. Leadership Lynchburg believes that creating opportunities for healthy conversation builds awareness, trust and ultimately relationship. Relationships can create productive action and relationships enable you to "go there" on difficult topics trusting that the benefit is greater awareness and mutual understanding. In short, relationship create community. We aim to inspire leaders and educate allies and potential allies so they can create tangible actions within their respective spheres of influence. So, it’s February, Black History Month and we thought it would be great to feature some of our local friends who can speak to their work for the black community. We’re uniting these podcasts under the theme of "Tell me what I need to know . . ."

Our fourth guest is John H. Hughes, IV. Mr. Hughes was appointed as Assistant City Manager for the City of Lynchburg in December 2016. He previously served the City as the Children’s Services Act (CSA) Coordinator in Human Services from 2007-2016, as a Foster Care Social Worker from 2004-2007, and as a Youth Care Worker at the Lynchburg Regional Juvenile Detention Home from 1998-2000.

A native of Lynchburg, Mr. Hughes has earned an A.A.S. in General Studies from CVCC, as well as a B.S. in Social Science, a B.S. in Business Administration, and an M.B.A., all from Lynchburg College. Mr. Hughes received the Lynchburg College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013 and is currently pursuing the Doctor of Education Degree in Leadership Studies at Lynchburg College with a focus on local government leadership and the phenomenon of gentrification.

Mr. Hughes is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, serves on the City’s Community Policing Advisory Committee, and is active with professional organizations including the Virginia Local Government Management Association and the International City/County Management Association. He previously served on nonprofit boards in the City of Lynchburg including Mary Bethune Academy, Hill City Youth Football and Cheerleading, and The Festival Center, and currently serves as a Board member for the Old City Cemetery and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC).

Mr. Hughes most enjoys the pleasures of fatherhood, music, history, recreation, and opportunities for transformational leadership.

All For Business is back for our second season! We're excited to kick it off with another "Around The Table" mini-series with Leadership Lynchburg in honor of Black History Month. Leadership Lynchburg believes that creating opportunities for healthy conversation builds awareness, trust and ultimately relationship. Relationships can create productive action and relationships enable you to "go there" on difficult topics trusting that the benefit is greater awareness and mutual understanding. In short, relationship create community.   We aim to inspire leaders and educate allies and potential allies so they can create tangible actions within their respective spheres of influence.   So, it’s February, Black History Month and we thought it would be great to feature some of our local friends who can speak to their work for the black community. We’re uniting these podcasts under the theme of "Tell me what I need to know . . ." 

Our third guest is Stephanie Andrews, CEO of YWCA of Central Virginia! Stephanie formerly served at Lynchburg City Schools, where she worked in Grant Management, State Reporting, and Record Maintenance. She previously worked with Centra, Horizon Behavioral Health, and Genworth Financial. She is an upstanding member of the community and a champion volunteer for over 20 years. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Gamma Iota Omega Chapter, a Beacon Buddy with Beacon of Hope, a member of the Lynchburg Junior League, a member of the Coalition for HIV Awareness and Prevention (CHAP), and has served on the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance Leadership Council among many other engagements in the Lynchburg region community.

All For Business is back for our second season! We're excited to kick it off with another "Around The Table" mini-series with Leadership Lynchburg in honor of Black History Month.

Leadership Lynchburg believes that creating opportunities for healthy conversation builds awareness, trust and ultimately relationship. Relationships can create productive action and relationships enable you to "go there" on difficult topics trusting that the benefit is greater awareness and mutual understanding. In short, relationship create community.  

We aim to inspire leaders and educate allies and potential allies so they can create tangible actions within their respective spheres of influence.  

So, it’s February, Black History Month and we thought it would be great to feature some of our local friends who can speak to their work for the black community. We’re uniting these podcasts under the theme of "Tell me what I need to know . . ."

Our first guest is no stranger to All For Business podcast! Gloria Witt is the owner of Define Success Coaching & Consulting and serves on the board of directors of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance as well as with the NAACP. Welcome back Gloria!

On this week's episode of All For Business, Carroll Moon, Chief Technology Officer of CloudFit, speaks on his journey from Lynchburg native to 17 years at Microsoft, to helping found CloudFit, a rapidly growing IT and digital transformation company started right here at the Alliance. 

About Carroll Moon

Carroll has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry. As the Chief Technology Officer for CloudFit, Carroll works to solve CloudOps and DevOps scenarios for the industry through managed scenarios and managed services delivered from a posture of extreme accountability.  Carroll leads a series of Product Groups that deliver managed scenarios, managed applications, and niche consulting for customers and partners.

Prior to CloudFit, Carroll spent 17 ½ years at Microsoft. During his tenure at Microsoft, Carroll spent 10 years as the Senior Director of Service Management for Office 365 from the first customer forward. In that role, Carroll led the engineering team for internal monitoring, tooling, and analytics; led the engineering team for the customer-facing Service Management stack (e.g., admin dashboards, admin apps, APIs, etc.); and built and ran global, automated operations. Carroll then spent four years as a Senior Architect transforming a legacy ITIL consulting practice into a CloudOps and DevOps enablement vehicle for the world’s largest enterprises.

Carroll lives in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia with his wife of 20 years (Carolyn), two children (Emily and Jeb), and rescue-dog (Pip). 

Adolphus Humbles, who is being inducted into the Business Hall of Fame posthumously, was a successful merchant in Campbell County and operated the toll road between Lynchburg and Rustburg. He was an early supporter of the Virginia Theological Seminary, a precursor to the Virginia University of Lynchburg, where Humbles Hall is named for him, and he also was the Treasurer of the Virginia State Baptist Convention. Also active in politics, he served as Chairman of the Campbell County Executive Committee for the Republican Party for 13 years. Mr. Humbles built what is known as the Humbles Building at 901 Fifth Street in what is now the Fifth Street Historic District. The Humbles Building is a large, three-story, mixed use facility that contained two storefronts on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor. He also served on the board of the Grand United Order of True Reformers, an African-American fraternal organization that had many forms including a temperance movement, bank, newspaper, real estate, and at one point in time was the largest black fraternal society and black-owned business in the United States.

Stuart Fauber attended Washington and Lee University where he studied economics and then entered the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI upon graduation. He served three years active duty as Navigator and Communications Officer on board the USS Richard E. Kraus (DD 849). Stuart is also a graduate of Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, as well as the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, the University of Oklahoma, Northwestern University, and the College of Financial Planning in Denver, CO. He began his banking career in 1974 with First & Merchants National Bank where he rose to the position of Assistant Vice President. In 1982, he joined United Virginia Bank as Vice President and by 1992 was promoted to Senior Vice President. After serving as the President of SunTrust Bank from 1998-2008, he retired and joined the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust (now known as the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation) where he served as President & CEO until 2015. Mr. Fauber is also the 2005 recipient of the Alliance’s F.M. “Dink” Cloyd Award.

J. Everette “Ebo” Fauber, III, is a graduate of Christchuch College Preparatory School and the University of Virginia where he studied Architecture. He is the founding principal of Fauber Architects, now known as Dominion Seven. During his career he received gubernatorial appointments from four different Virginia governors from 1989 to 2011 and served on the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) as well as the former Region 2000 Workforce Development Board and the Bedford County Board of Supervisors. He has also served as co-chairman of the annual giving campaign for UVA Historic Preservation with Georgia, his wife, and in the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, now known as the Alliance, from 1970 - 2008. Mr. Fauber has also been recognized in \"Strathmore's Who's Who\" and he is also the 1982 recipient of the Alliance’s F.M. “Dink” Cloyd Award for outstanding service.

John Fees is the chairman of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT). He has served as chairman of the company since 2015, following a series of spin-offs from McDermott International, Inc. He was CEO of McDermott until July 2010, at which time he retired from the company with 31 years of service, In parallel, he has been an advisor and board member of Brookfield Asset Management, focused on their infrastructure investments. In the last 12 years, he has helped grow the value of their infrastructure business by over 400%, now valued at over $20B. Mr. Fees holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Engineering Administration from the George Washington University. He has also served on the boards of the Nuclear Energy Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, and was a Presidential appointee to the President’s Energy Council by two Presidents. Mr. Fees has also served with the United Way of Central Virginia, Lynchburg City Schools Education Foundation, the Academy Center of the Arts, and Centra Health to name a few.

Rodger Fauber is a graduate of E.C. Glass High School and attended Washington and Lee University and Columbia University as well as the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University and the Member American Institute of Banking. Rodger served at Central Fidelity Bank for 30 years, 15 of which as the President of the Western Region until he retired in 1996. He has served on many local boards including the United Way of Central Virginia, Sweet Briar College, Central Virginia Community College Foundation, Centra Health, and the Al Stroobants Foundation, just to name a few. He has also served on the Governor’s Advisory Committee for the Regional Competitiveness Act and received the Excellence in Governance Award from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Mr. Fauber is also a recipient of the Alliance’s F.M. “Dink” Cloyd Award as well as the 2001 recipient of the George Taylor Stewart III Award for service to the community.

On this episode of All For Business we check-in with Blair Godsey, Founding Partner of the Altus Group. Mr. Godsey has had profound impact on the sites and building of the Lynchburg region in the past decade. Part of his work has been in restoring historic buildings to their former glory with modern improvements, including the Virginian Hotel, a massive public/private partnership, the Carter Glass Building, now home to CloudFit, and the Allied Arts Building, the third tallest building in the Lynchburg region. Listen in to learn from his experience in construction and his advice for success, no matter your industry.

About Blair Godsey

Blair Godsey is the Director of Operations and Business Development at Altus Construction, a state-of-the art construction firm dedicated to providing the highest level of customer care and technological expertise, located in Roanoke, VA. Blair’s work in the construction industry spans over 20 years, and he has played key roles in the construction of more than $100 million of commercial and residential construction projects and more than $150 million of real estate development projects throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Blair’s primary responsibilities for Altus include oversight and control of finances, operations, business development, and strategic planning. Blair is a graduate of the University of Virginia, and is an important contributor to Altus’ mission of maintaining and building lasting relationships with their colleagues, customers, and communities they strive to serve. 

In this episode of All For Business, we chat with Gary Mignogna, President & CEO of Framatome Inc. in North America. Gary is a top-notch leader and expert on the nuclear energy industry and a long-time resident of the Lynchburg region.

Over Gary's 40-year nuclear career, he has gained experience in engineering design and analyses, project engineering & management, product development & management, field services, services tooling & process design, business development & management, and executive leadership. He was appointed Vice President of Component Replacement & Repair in 2000, Vice President of Operating Plant Engineering in 2006, Vice President of Engineering Business Units in 2008, Vice President & US Region Deputy of Engineering in 2010, and Senior Vice President & US Region Deputy for Engineering & Projects in 2012. He was appointed President and CEO of AREVA Inc. in 2014, and it's successor Framatome Inc. in 2018.

Framatome is a major international player in the nuclear energy market recognized for its innovative solutions and value-added technologies for designing, building, maintaining, and advancing the global nuclear fleet. The company designs, manufactures, and installs components and fuel for nuclear power plants and offers a full range of reactor services.  With 14,000 employees worldwide, every day Framatome’s expertise helps its customers improve the safety and performance of their nuclear plants and achieve their economic and societal goals.

Framatome moved its North American headquarters to Lynchburg in 2018. Framatome employs nearly 2,000 people in the Lynchburg region.

Listen in to part 3 of our Leadership Lynchburg Around the Table Series to discuss the impacts of DEI in the workplace with a few professionals who apply it to their daily lives. This week we have Tina Garrett-Ragland, Tim Smith, and Trae Watkins joining us with host, Chal Nunn. 

Tina is a Senior Human Resource Executive at Pacific Life with 30 years of HR experience. Tina has also led DEI and human resources best practices with Genworth, Advance Auto Parts, and Nationwide Insurance.

Tim is an Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager for Carter Bank & Trust with experience in community banking and human management. Tim formerly played college football at Liberty University and has worked with SunTrust, Wells Fargo, and Radio Shack.

Trae is a Vice President and Community Development Officer at the Bank of the James. Trae works with low-to-moderate income areas including small businesses, housing, financial education and general community needs assessments that will enhance the economic development and quality of life in the communities we serve.

Alyson Ramsey, President & CEO of Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest stopped by our brand new podcast studio to discuss the history and the future of one of region's best known landmarks. Alyson spoke to us about the new parkway project to create a new entrance to Poplar Forest off of Enterprise Drive which will create greater access and visibility for guests to experience their 600+ acres. As well as trails in the works for Spring 2022 and her advice for success in your life and career.

Looking to get involved? You can volunteer at Poplar Forest as a tour guide, in the shop, in the hands-on history courses, and for special events. Poplar Forest is open every day from March 15 through December 30 with four guided tours a day and self-guided tours available through their new app.

In this week's episode we took a trip to visit Fire Chief Gregory Wormser at the historic Fire Station 6 at Miller Park. Located at 2084 Fort Avenue, Station 6 is currently the oldest active station in the Fire Department and is the only station that still utilizes a sliding pole. Station 6 opened in November of 1914 is currently the home to Engine 6 and Medic 6.

About Fire Chief Greg Wormser

Falling in love with the Central Virginia area after becoming a permanent resident of Lynchburg in 1993, Greg graduated from Lynchburg College in 1995 and was hired by the Fire Department that same year. It wasn’t long before he realized his true calling as that of a public servant. Greg obtained his National Registered Paramedic certification in 1998, and in 2001, he was promoted to Captain at Station 3, supervising eight staff operating three apparatus. In 2007, Greg was promoted to Battalion Chief and was named the Fire Marshal for the City. In 2010, he obtained his Masters Certificate in Local Government Management from Virginia Tech and obtained his Masters Degree in Public Administration from Old Dominion University in 2016. Having been a Field Battalion Chief for two years, Interim Training Chief, and Interim Deputy Chief, Greg has come up through the ranks and was promoted to Deputy Chief in October of 2015. He was promoted to Fire Chief February 21, 2018. 

Greg holds many Technical Rescue Certifications and is certified as Fire Officer IV.  In addition to participating in educational opportunities in Central Virginia, Greg maintains instructorships in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, CPR, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.  Greg volunteers in the community, serving as a board member on three different community-driven projects/associations in the Lynchburg area.

We sat down with Kelly Mirt, publisher of The News & Advance, to discuss his experience in writing, advertising, and news reporting, as well as how the world of print and digital is changing.

About Kelly Mirt

Kelly is a veteran newspaper executive who joined The News & Advance in 2018. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and has also served in top advertising leadership positions at the Messenger Inquirer in Kentucky, the Daily Camera in Colorado, The State in South Carolina, The Augusta Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, and the Charlotte Observer. Before joining The News & Advance, Mirt was the president and publisher of the Wichita Eagle.

The News & Advance is the daily newspaper of record in Lynchburg. Its primary circulation area consists of the city of Lynchburg and the surrounding counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, and Campbell. The News & Advance is owned by Lee Enterprises. 

Welcome to Part 2 of our Around the Table with Leadership Lynchburg. We're bringing leadership to REAL conversations about REAL topics of our day. Leadership Lynchburg is the nationally award winning community leadership program in Lynchburg, Virginia offering programming for college students, emerging and mid-career managers, leaders, executives, and alumni. In this series, we’ll sit down with leaders, everyday citizens and subject matter experts to “go there” on uncomfortable topics.  

Why: 

• To help bring awareness, understanding and appreciation for the experiences of underrepresented populations. 

• To expand a leaders emotional and social intelligence with regard to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

• To lessen the tension in the community by appealing to our audience to bring positive action to issues of race, bias and inequity. 

Our Foundations: 

Leadership Lynchburg believes that creating opportunities for healthy conversation builds awareness, trust and ultimately relationship. Relationships can create productive action. Relationships enable you to “go there” on difficult topics trusting that the benefit is greater awareness and mutual understanding. Relationships create community.  

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Mark Hine at Liberty University. Dr. Hine is a long-term resident of the Lynchburg region and in this episode you'll hear him describe just how much has changed after the last four decades. You'll also hear his thoughts on the new student life and mental health awareness, leadership styles, and lessons-learned from his life experiences.

About Dr. Mark Hine

Dr. Mark Hine, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, oversees the Office of the Dean of Students, Office of Residence Life, Student Health and Wellness Services, Office of Student Affairs Assessment, Student Government Association and Army and Air Force ROTC. He ensures that these offices provide guidance, programming, counseling, orientation, and support to students. Through extensive planned activities, students participate in spiritual, social, recreational and cultural activities that enhance their personal development.

Dr. Hine began working for LU’s Division of Student Affairs in 1979 when he became a Resident Director. Since that time, Dr. Hine has served as Associate Dean of Men, Dean of Graduate and Commuter Students, acting Dean of Men, Dean of Students, Associate Vice President for Student Development, Vice President for Student Affairs and now, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs.

Dr. Hine graduated from Liberty University in 1978 with a B.S. in Youth Ministry. In 1983, he earned his M.Div. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and completed his D.Min. in May 2003.

We met with Ryan Zuidema, Chief of Police at the City of Lynchburg Police Department at the Skyline on top of The Virginian Hotel to discuss societal issues facing our region and nation and how the department partners with our community to protect our citizens, while respecting the rights and dignity of all persons.

Given that the issues discussed in this episode are timely and societal events change on a daily basis, it is important to note that this episode was recorded on April 16, 2021.

About Chief Zuidema

Prior to his current position, he served in a variety of operational and administrative roles throughout the department. Ryan received his MBA from Averett University and holds a graduate level certificate in local government management from Virginia Tech.

Ryan stays actively engaged with the community through serving on several boards and participating in a variety of local initiatives. If you see him in the month of November, turn the other way, as he joins a bunch of other guys growing mustaches as a part of the Mustaches for Kids fundraiser.

Ryan and his beautiful wife of 24 years, Jenna, moved to Lynchburg in 1996 from the Buffalo, NY area. They keep busy raising their two boys, Connor and Jack. Ryan is an avid hockey fan and roots for the Buffalo Sabres.

We had the opportunity to sit and talk with Gloria Witt, community leader and owner of Define Success Coaching & Consulting. Listen in to hear how she grew up in Virginia, her advice for leading your organization towards success, and how we should be responding to the events of our time.

About Gloria Witt

Gloria Witt, ACC, is the founder of Define Success Coaching and Facilitation Services, LLC. She is committed to developing executives and leaders that are known for their ability to produce defined results whether in a commercial, government, non-profit, or faith-based organization. Gloria launched Define Success Coaching and Facilitation Services following a 32 year career within the energy industry where she specialized in talent management, leadership development, and performance management consulting. Gloria believes that every individual has the power to achieve. She is passionate about serving others and helping individuals transform to create breakthrough measurable results. She is an experienced executive coach, expert facilitator, and trainer.

During her career, Gloria led the transformation of learning and development to enable the company’s objective to grow the business from $180M to $2B in revenue by implementing a talent management strategy that strengthened leadership behaviors to produce concrete business results. She was the force behind several innovative initiatives, including a leadership development strategy to grow high potentials that included strategic business projects, executive mentoring, and coaching. Gloria designed and implemented the organization’s first electronic performance management solution that aligned individual performance with business strategy. The concept was later expanded and launched internationally. In addition, she devised the organization’s six-dimensional Mentoring & Knowledge Management Program addressing aging workforce demographics. She is experienced in Competency Modeling, Change Management, and Succession Management.

We met up with Dr. David Brat, Dean of the Liberty University School of Business, to talk about his experience as a U.S. Congressman and businessman.

Before coming to Liberty, Dr. Brat served in the United States Congress for Virginia’s 7th District. He served on the Budget, Education and Small Business Committees, and Chaired the subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access.

His knowledge base comes from years of experience in business, as an economic consultant with Arthur Andersen and the World Bank and 20+ years of work in higher education teaching economics and ethics. He worked with the Senate side of the Virginia General Assembly for seven years. He also served as the president of the Virginia Association of Economists and was a member of the Virginia Board of Accountancy.

He is passionate about connecting and celebrating the long history between the life of the mind and the Christian tradition. His vision is to advance Liberty’s unique position in higher education as an institution which studies, teaches, knows and lives out the good life and actively puts faith to work in the real world of business and beyond as they train "Champions for Christ."

On this special episode of All For Business, Leadership Lynchburg, the nationally award-winning program of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance begins to dive into the hard conversations our region and the nation is facing. Listen in to the "Around The Table" series to learn how to have tough conversations on issues such as race, equality, diversity, equity, and inclusion and much more.

We caught up with University of Lynchburg President Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar to talk about her experience working around the world in higher education.

About Dr. Morrison-Shetlar

Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar is the 11th president of the University of Lynchburg. She most recently served as provost and interim chancellor at Western Carolina University. She has held academic and leadership roles at private and public institutions at several locations in Europe and the United States. She and her husband, Dr. Robert Shetlar, officially joined the University of Lynchburg community in the summer of 2020.

We visited Liberty University's Williams Stadium to talk football, life, and the art of coaching with Head Football Coach Hugh Freeze.

About Coach Freeze

A winning tradition at the highest level of NCAA collegiate football was brought to Liberty Mountain when Hugh Freeze was introduced as the ninth head coach in football program history on Dec. 7, 2018.

Just like the other stops along his storied coaching career, Freeze has quickly elevated Liberty's program to unprecedented success during his short time with the Flames.

Freeze has experienced similar success at each of his head coaching stops: Lambuth University (2008-09), Arkansas State (2011) and Ole Miss (2012-16) and Liberty (2019-20).

Liberty is the second team in NCAA history to win a bowl game during its first two full seasons at the FBS level (2019 and 2020), both coming under Freeze's leadership.

Additionally, Freeze guided the Flames through one of the most unique seasons in NCAA college football history in 2020 where Liberty finished the year ranked No. 17 in the country and tied a program record with a 10-1 overall record.

We sat down in the studio within the state-of-the-art Liberty University School of Music to chat with award-winning singer and songwriter, Charles Billingsley. Charles has sold thousands of records and is currently a professor and local business owner.

About Charles

Launching his career nearly three decades ago as a lead vocalist for GRAMMY®-nominated genre giants NewSong, Charles has since headlined more than 3,200 concerts, released 23 recordings as a solo artist and garnered seven #1 Inspirational radio hits. He serves as the worship leader for such popular events as Women of Joy, Gridiron Men’s Conference and Celebrators Conference, and is the author of Words on Worship: Devotions of Praise (Worthy Inspired). Additionally, Charles is a teaching pastor at the 8,000- member Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, preaching once a month and also leading worship monthly. And, he’s an adjunct professor at Liberty University’s Center for Music & Worship, a specialized training program he helped found more than a decade ago.

We sat down with Interim Lynchburg City Manager, Reid Wodicka, to discuss the City of Lynchburg as the hub for our greater region. Take a listen and find out how we stack up against the country's best small cities! (Spoilers- REALLY WELL).

Reid Wodicka was appointed Interim City Manager for the City of Lynchburg on Tuesday, September 8. Prior to his service in the City, Dr. Wodicka served as Deputy County Administrator for nearby Bedford County and Town Manager for the Towns of Woodstock and Elkton in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

A graduate of E. C. Glass High School, Dr. Wodicka was born and raised in the City of Lynchburg. He later graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg with a BS in Public Policy and Administration. He continued at JMU to earn his Master of Public Administration degree while serving as the Town Manager in Elkton. After several years of working in local government, he earned a PhD in Public Policy with a concentration in Urban and Regional Development from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Wodicka serves as a member of a number of local community boards and organizations. He is also a member of the Virginia Local Government Management Association and the Government Finance Officers Association.  

In our first-ever episode, we sat down with Geoff Kershner, Executive Director of the Academy Center of the Arts, to discuss his experiences and background, the importance of the arts in the Lynchburg region, and the impact of the pandemic on local business.

About the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance

The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance is the region’s largest business association. For nearly 750 businesses, professionals and organizations in the Lynchburg region, our mission is to lead regional economic development through: 

• Generating Jobs & Investment
• Promoting the Region’s Brand and Image Globally
• Cultivating Talent
• And Enhancing the Business Climate