There’s a new Greater Williamsburg Partnership director in town.
On Thursday, the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance announced in a news release that Voncile “Von” Gilbreath will start as the new Partnership director on Monday.
“Strategic, collaborative, product developer, creative and innovative are words those of us involved in the interview process would use to describe her,” said Terry Banez, CEO of the Business Council. “Von is a leader with a history of building new programs models, implementing new initiatives and pursuing intra/entrepreneur ventures in revenue generating and performance driven environments.”
During her career, she has worked in economic development and tourism in four Virginia communities: Chesapeake, Hampton, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth.
In Chesapeake, Gilbreath served in the department of economic development for more than a decade. While there, Gilbreath worked to attract and retain companies, increase foreign direct investment, build collaborative workforce programs and identify product development opportunities.
Throughout that time, she assisted thousands of companies with new business investment, entrepreneurial growth as well as created and saved jobs for Hampton Roads, according to the news release.
“The Greater Williamsburg area is strategically positioned to build upon its rich history and capitalize on its proximity to markets, Port of Virginia and access to a skilled workforce to name a few assets,” Gilbreath said. “Now is the time to tell the story of Greater Williamsburg’s economic advantage as a preferred business location. I look forward to collaborating with the community at large to advance this goal. “
When Gilbreath starts in her new position, she will begin working on several current projects.
One will be working with Pegasus Partners, a consulting firm contracted with the Greater Williamsburg Partnership to create a strategy for bringing long-term foreign direct investment to the community.
Gilbreath will also help implement the $600,000 FY2019 Environmental Protection Agency Community-Wide Brownfields Assessment Grant which looks at adaptive reuse of existing properties.
Gilbreath is also on the Virginia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors, GO Virginia Cyber Alliance Board and 757 Accelerate Board.
In July, the Greater Williamsburg Partnership merged with the Business Council with the regional mission to market Greater Williamsburg with job creation, new investments and diversify the local economy.
