Voncile "Von" Gilbreath Selected as GWP Director
Williamsburg, VA—The Greater Williamsburg Business Council is pleased to announce that Voncile “Von” Gilbreath has been selected as the new Greater Williamsburg Partnership Director. After a three-month national search, the selection committee voted to hire Mrs. Gilbreath who will begin October 14, 2019.
Terry Banez, CEO of the Business Council stated, “We’re excited to have Von join our team. Strategic, collaborative, product developer, creative and innovative are words those of us involved in the interview process would use to describe her. 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. This makes her the perfect fit to collaborate with our local Economic Development Departments to drive economic development in the Greater Williamsburg area.”
Von has worked in four communities- Chesapeake, Hampton, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. Her career path has primarily delved into the areas of economic development and tourism in municipal government environments. Throughout her career, Von has directly assisted thousands of companies resulting in new business investment, entrepreneurial growth, saved jobs and created new jobs for the Hampton Roads region and Commonwealth of Virginia. Von served at the City of Chesapeake, Department of Economic Development for over a decade. She was a part of the executive management staff, which directed the City’s efforts to attract and retain companies, increase foreign direct investment, build collaborative workforce programs, identify product development opportunities and stimulate entrepreneurial growth.
“I'm excited to serve as the Director of the Greater Williamsburg Partnership and spearhead regional efforts to diversify the economy, encourage entrepreneurial growth and foster job creation for the communities of Williamsburg, James City County and York County," said Gilbreath. "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. 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.”
The Greater Williamsburg Partnership merged with the Business Council in July 2019. The Greater Williamsburg Partnership brings a regional mission that markets Greater Williamsburg by fostering job creation, facilitating new investments and seeking to diversify our economy through economic development. Von will hit the ground running as the Director with several projects already in the works. In order to fully market Greater Williamsburg to interested international companies, Greater Williamsburg Partnership contracted with Pegasus Partners, a consulting firm that will assist Great Williamsburg Partnership in creating a strategy to attract long-term foreign direct investments and well-paying quality jobs that align with Greater Williamsburg’s targeted industries. In addition to working with Pegasus Partners, Von will also help implement the $600,000 FY2019 EPA Community-Wide Brownfields Assessment Grant, which looks at adaptive reuse of existing properties.
Von is on the Virginia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors, GO Virginia Cyber Alliance Board and 757 Accelerate Board. She is also a Lead Hampton Roads graduate. Von is a proud military spouse, married to her husband Larry who served 30 years Active Duty in the US Coast Guard.
