The Herd: New Hires & Promotions for 3.17.10

Socialite/Reality TV Former Richmonder and New York Socialite Tinsley Mortimer (who was on the cover of a Virginia Living magazine) is in a new reality TV show on the CW called “High Society”. You can read a not-so-complimentary review here.

Technology: Les Venable has joined local computer support firm The HelpDesk Company as a senior sales representative. Venable, a graduate of Morgan State University, was most recently at Electronic Systems. Legal / Public Relations: Andy Poarch joined the Alliance Group as VP for Communications. Poarch, who studied at UVA for both his undergraduate and law degrees, was previously an attorney at Hunton & Williams.

The Herd: New hires and promotions for 2.24.10

A retiring university president joins the board of one of the area's biggest companies and a hard-nosed reporter gets shown the door, all in this week's Herd. Big Companies: John T. Casteen III has been elected to Altria Group Inc.’s board of directors. Casteen is retiring August 1 as president of the University of Virginia, a post he has held since 1990. Financial: David W. Shoulders and Matthew F. Murphy, Jr. have been promoted to Senior Associate at Matrix Capital Markets Group. Advertising: Angeline Vaughn has joined PUNCH, a creative design agency in Carytown. Vaughn has a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Virginia Commonwealth University. Education: Deborah Sommers has been named executive director of the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond, effective July 1. Technology: Grant Newton has joined Genesis Consulting as Vice President Commercial Services. Newton holds a ...

Top innovators of 2009

Some people have a vision of something that doesn’t exist. They believe that people will pay for it. And then they take the gamble and invest time and money creating it. We’ve picked seven of the most innovative business people to highlight. Surely there are others, but you'll have to keep reading RBS in 2010 as we discover them. 7. Peter Vinci, Vinci Pro When you talk to lots of startups, you hear a common refrain: “We just don’t have the money for marketing, and that’s what we need to get the word out.” Peter Vinci found a way around that. The Richmond-based maker of baseball mitts – run by a father/son team – gives them to minor league players, and when those players move up to the big leagues, they stick with their glove. The company sells more than 65 types of gloves and styles that cost between $50 and $250. The company was featured in Fortune and an RBS story .

Monday Q&A: It’s up from here

If you picked the industries most under stress right now, the hotel and commercial real estate businesses would likely be in the top five.

This week BizSense caught up with a guy who is in the thick of both.

Glade Knight is the chairman and CEO of Richmond-based Apple REIT Companies, a collection of real estate investment trusts that own hotels across the country. In January 2008, the firm purchased the Richmond Marriott for $53 million. This past spring the company completed a $14 million renovation of the hotel, which included the opening of a new sports bar, T. Miller's, over the summer. (You can read about that here.)

Monday Q&A: Does sex still sell?

Alison Miller didn’t plan on getting in the business of selling adult toys and DVDs, but now she runs what was recently voted the best adult store in the country.

We had heard that adult stores do better business during a recession, but Miller says that isn’t necessarily the case — but she’s not doing too badly, either.

BizSense visited Taboo, at 6021 W. Broad Street, to ask Miller about the business and her plans.

Monday Q&A: Forget cosmetics, ladies. Sell cars.

Theodora Stratos wonders why more women don’t ditch the makeup section at department stores for the much better pay at car dealers. Stratos, 50, is the general manager at Crown Acura in Richmond and says that despite the sluggish economy, her company is predicting a 30 percent rebound in sales for 2010. Part of that approach is positive thinking.

This week BizSense chats with Stratos about cars, the future of the American consumer and the power of mind over matter.

The Herd: new hires, promotions and a few departures for 11.4.09

Josh Allen has joined Transact Capital Partners as a senior analyst. Allen brings over two years of investment banking experience in corporate debt research, and mergers and acquisitions. Allen graduated from Virginia Tech.

Monday Q&A: Politics after business. Why?

On Tuesday, Virginians will again go to the polls, and Hanover residents will see the name of one of their most successful business men on the ballot.

John Cox, who started Cox Trucking in the early 1980s and has around 300 employees, wants to take over the reins of 55th District House of Delegates chair from retiring Republican Frank Hargrove.

Below is an edited transcript:

The Herd: Promotions and New Hires for 10.28.09

Firms hiring/promoting employees include some of the area’s biggest employers, and some from financial services and law.

Financial Services: Meredith W. Briggs has recently joined Heritage Wealth Advisors as a senior associate. Previously, Briggs was a financial consultant with AXA Advisors, where she worked with clients in the areas of investment management, retirement planning and risk management. Briggs received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and became a certified financial planner in 2009.

Monday Q&A: You still want to be a doctor?

Richmond’s medical community has a big dog in the health-care fight. The industry is one of the region’s largest and is at the front lines of a system that seems dysfunctional to most parties involved.

Medical students at MCV see that dysfunction first-hand – with patients who run out of meds because they’ve been laid off (and they’re hearing that more and more) and ERs jammed packed with patients who could have been treated far more cheaply before they became so sick.

And then there is insurance and paperwork – the scourge of the profession.

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