Hello CREW Richmond!
by Amelia Wehunt
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Happy New Year! As we embark on a new decade, I am proud and excited to serve as your 2020 CREW Richmond Chapter President. A new decade brings new opportunities for success and I look forward to working with each of you this year along with our Board of Directors to continue expand our Richmond Chapter and the greater CREW Network!
Along with beginning a new decade, 2020 also marks the 30-year anniversary of CREW Richmond. Over the past 30 years, CREW Richmond has formed connections, created supportive environments, and provided educational opportunities to advance the women of Richmond’s commercial real estate community. As our local chapter has grown over the past 30 years, the city around us has undergone its own transformation filled with revitalizing energy and vibrant culture. It’s exciting to think forward to the next 30 years and all of the change and progress that will grow not only our Richmond chapter, but the Richmond Metropolitan Region as a whole.
Speaking of change, CREW Richmond is excited to adopt CREW Network’s refreshing new brand and visual identity that captures the organization’s dedication to leading women and the industry into the future. New visual elements including a forward-facing arrow and bold primary colors named “Sky is the Limit” and “Fearless Blue” represent our commitment to moving forward toward a more successful and inclusive tomorrow. New taglines including “We’re Stronger Together” and “We Built This” will inspire us this year to work together to build a stronger future for our community.
This time of year comes with many thoughts about resolutions, change, and starting fresh. I encourage you to make the resolution this year to become more involved in CREW Richmond! Now’s the perfect time to join one of our seven CREW Richmond
Committees
which include: Community Service & Outreach, Communications, Media Relations, Membership, Network Liaison, Programs, and Sponsorship. Completing your
CREW Profile
, following
CREWBIZ Community
, and downloading the CREWBIZ app are all quick and easy ways to get more involved and maximize your CREW Richmond membership.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your President this year and I look forward to ringing in this new decade with our CREW Richmond community!
Amelia Wehunt
Timmons Group
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2020 CREW Richmond Board Members
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Amelia Wehunt is a licensed professional engineer and senior project manager at Timmons Group, a consulting firm specializing in multi-disciplined civil engineering services. She specializes in site design, redevelopment, and stormwater management. Much of her work, in addition to designing and preparing construction plans, involves stakeholder coordination and work sessions, representation at public meetings, and providing construction support services.
She has worked on a variety of projects including redevelopment plans, urban infill site plans, large commercial and industrial site plans, mixed-used projects, stormwater master planning for site scale and locality scale projects, as well as stormwater regulatory compliance work. This includes work for local governments, private entities, as well as industrial and institutional users. Amelia’s breadth of experience demonstrates her abilities to solve complex civil engineering problems and provide innovative solutions for her clients. Prior to working at Timmons Group, Amelia attended the University of Virginia where she majored in civil engineering and minored in engineering business.
Amelia was honored in 2015 as one of CREW Richmond’s 25 Women to Watch, in 2017 as one of ENR MidAtlantic’s Top 20 under 40, and in 2019 as CREW Richmond’s Member of the Year. She has served on the of CREW Richmond Board of Directors since 2012, organizes monthly Commercial Coffee events in Richmond and is an active member of Redemption Hill Church. She enjoys spending time with her husband Mark and their two children Philip (5) and Libby (3).
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President-Elect- Meg O'Brien
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Meg O’Brien is a long-time civil engineer who has recently switched to the Owner’s side of the table. In her new role with Dominion Energy, Meg oversees development projects of all types – new development, renovations & site selections. Her previous experience with corporate clients is proving to invaluable in her transition. She loves putting together good, solid design principles with overall big-picture strategy. Meg is proud to continue her CREW membership, bringing new global contacts and opportunities to her group and the larger Dominion organization.
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Immediate Past President- Brenda Karp
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Brenda Elliott Karp is the Vice President of Breeden Realty, the commercial leasing and sales division of The Breeden Company, a nationally recognized real estate services company with over 50 years of expertise in every facet of the industry.
Brenda is responsible for securing National, Regional, and Local tenants for Breeden’s Richmond, Yorktown, Newport News, Carrollton and Portsmouth, Virginia shopping centers as well as site selection, sale and development of retail and commercial properties.
Brenda has more than 25 years of corporate real estate experience including tenant and landlord representation, site and market analysis, sales forecasting and acquisition due diligence. She has represented National, Regional and Local developers and shopping center owners throughout the state of Virginia. Her career has included positions with Divaris Real Estate, The Shopping Center Group, Richfood, and Heilig-Meyers Furniture.
Brenda is actively involved in business and community organizations, currently serving as the Immediate Past President of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Richmond, currently a member of the Greater Richmond Association of Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE) and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Brenda has been a Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation volunteer for over 15 years and also served on the Board of Directors.
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Secretary - Elizabeth Lewis
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Elizabeth is a CPA and Senior Manager in the Business Assurance department at Keiter CPAs. Elizabeth entered public accounting at Keiter in 2011 after teaching high school math for two years. As a former teacher, she enjoys research and explaining concepts in new ways to assist her clients. She also devotes much of her time to developing her teammates internally at Keiter. Elizabeth’s audit client base consists primarily of not-for-profit organizations (including foundations) and real estate investment funds, but she also has experience with a wide variety of industries including contractors and employee benefit plans. Elizabeth has worked with numerous clients to specially design procedures and reporting to owners, investors, donors, and other stakeholders for a variety of needs. Creative problem solving is her specialty!
Elizabeth received her degrees in Mathematics (B.A.) and Accounting (M.A.) from the University of Virginia. Outside of the office, Elizabeth enjoys visiting Virginia wineries and spending time with her family.
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Monica is a Vice President and Principal Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo’s Commercial Lending group in Central Virginia She is in her 16
th
year with the Company and has a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. Her banking experience includes asset based lending, government contract receivables financing, staffing services financing, commercial factoring, equipment lending, SBA lending, commercial real estate lending and cash management/treasury services for businesses. Monica has experience working with various industries including manufacturers, property management companies, commercial contractors, real estate investors, distributers, medical/dental practices, and other service based industries.
Monica enjoys spending time with her family and friends as well as her two rescue pups. She loves to travel, attend exercises classes, watch VT football, attend the many festivals Richmond has to offer and visit the local restaurants and breweries in town.
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Network Liaison - Laura Lee Garrett
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Laura Lee Garrett is a partner at Hirschler with a practice focused on counseling clients on the development and redevelopment of commercial projects, including retail, mixed-use, office, multi-family, hospitality, and healthcare. During her many years of experience in commercial real estate, she has worked in well-respected private law firms as well as served as in-house real estate counsel at Circuit City and at Richfood. She is active in ICSC and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW). Laura Lee has been a leader in the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”) and is a former Richmond District Council Chair. She served on the board of directors for the Better Housing Coalition for nine years and was a founding board member of the Richmond Community ToolBank. Laura Lee has been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America,
Virginia
Super Lawyers,
Virginia Business Magazine's
Legal Elite,
and was chosen one of CREW Richmond’s Top 20 Women in Commercial Real Estate. She received the 2012 AIA Richmond Chapter Citation Award for her contributions to the built environment. She is a past president of the Fan District Association and the West Grace Street Association.
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Sponsorship Director - Chelsea Carroll
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Chelsea Carroll is a Relationship Manager with M&T Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Team covering Central and Southern Virginia. M&T Bank is one of the top 20 full-service U.S.-based commercial banks, with a long history of community-focused banking. Chelsea is responsible for developing and managing commercial real estate banking relationships, together with the origination and underwriting of new commercial real estate opportunities. She works with all types of income producing assets, commercial and residential development, and both construction and permanent deals.
Chelsea joined M&T in the summer of 2016 after completing her MBA at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Prior to business school, Chelsea spent approximately five years working in project management for Grunley Construction Company, a commercial general contractor in the Washington, D.C. area. She has a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, where she competed on the Women’s Varsity Tennis Team (Go Hokies!).
Chelsea lives in the Atlee area with her husband Brendan, 2-year old son Rhett, and yellow lab Dixie. The family is looking forward to welcoming baby boy #2 in April!
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Communications Director - Laura Anderson
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Laura Anderson began her civil engineering career after graduating from Michigan State University in May of 2015, Go Green! She packed up her Midwest roots from her hometown of Chicago, IL and ventured south to Richmond, VA where she began working for Kimley-Horn. Laura has worked on a broad range of projects throughout her career leading civil site design and permitting for large redevelopment, mixed-use, and senior living projects. In addition to her project leadership, Laura spends time leading and organizing the Women’s Group within her office that focuses on growth and development for women in engineering. She enjoys the challenges that everyday has to offer and knows she can always count on her amazing teammates who continuously provide support and wisdom. Outside of work, Laura spends time teaching fitness classes including Zumba and Pound. She also loves traveling and makes it a goal to visit a new city or country each year.
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Membership Director - Lee Ann Gudorp
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Lee Ann Gudorp is a Senior Project Manager/Associate in the Private Land Development division at Timmons Group. Lee Ann can best be described as a Practice Builder and she has played a pivotal role in growing the firm’s Retail Development Program and Women in Design Program. Her retail development experience includes notable clients such as: Publix, Target, AAA Car Care Centers and Panera Bread.
With a personal mission to promote women in the field of engineering and as a way to encourage more women into the fields of science, technology and management, she remains actively involved in CREW and GRACRE and is proud to serve as the incoming 2020 CREW Membership Director.
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Media Relations Director - Statia Gibson
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As a Business Development Manager, Statia Gibson works with GRP’s Business Attraction team, helping both domestic and international businesses choose to locate in the Richmond Region. She also manages the RED (Real Estate & Developers) Program, an initiative between GRP and local commercial real estate partners.
Prior to joining GRP, Statia was the Director of Research & Communications for Colliers International for the Richmond and Norfolk markets. In this role, Statia was responsible for collecting market data and creating reports for various property types statewide. In addition, she worked alongside brokers with on-demand research projects, as well as acting as the firm’s public relations manager.
Statia has been active in the commercial real estate community through multiple organizations including GRACRE (Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate) and SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services). She sits on the Board of Directors for CREW Richmond (Commercial Real Estate Women) and serves as co-chair of VCU AREA (Association of Real Estate Alumni). Statia is also an active member of PEO International, a philanthropic organization committed to advancing women through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and stewardship of Cottey College.
Statia holds a Bachelor of Real Estate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Virginia Real Estate license.
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Community Relations Director -
Alyssa Budlong
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Alyssa Budlong, PG is the Environmental Due Diligence Practice Leader at F&R. In this role she is the technical lead and drives the strategic initiatives for the practice. She also serves as client manager for F&R’s strategic banking clients, consulting with them on potential regulatory and technical issues in support of their risk management process. Her technical responsibilities include review and quality control of due diligence reporting in order to conform with client-specific scopes of work, risk management policies, and the ASTM standard. She is a licensed Professional Geologist with a comprehensive background in the environmental field including performing Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, remedial investigations, case management, rapid response actions, and geotechnical investigations. Alyssa is passionate about mentoring and training of junior staff and educating her clients.
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Programs Director - Cathy Pryor
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Cathy Pryor is a Vice-President & Portfolio Manager for Atlantic Union Bank’s Commercial Real Estate portfolio in Richmond, VA. Cathy has also served as an advisory board member for the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference in Atlanta, GA since 2013. Prior to joining Union in June 2017, Cathy worked as an associate director of hotel lending at GE Capital Real Estate for eight years before joining EY’s Transaction Real Estate team from 2015 to 2017.
Cathy received both a Bachelor of Arts (1994) and Masters of Business Administration (2000) from the College of William and Mary. She has also enjoyed her volunteer work with Junior Achievement and Habitat for Humanity, and most recently her time as a foster parent for pets rescued by the Washington Humane Society. Outside of work, Cathy enjoys relaxing at the beach, sailing, traveling and time with her family & friends.
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SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
SIGNATURE SPONSOR
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Founded in 1987, CoStar Group is the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces. Our clients make up the largest community of CRE dealmakers, and we’re proud to provide them with the most complete, real-time commercial real estate data and the best marketing exposure for their properties.
Our suite of online services – including our most-recognized brands CoStar, LoopNet, STR, and Apartments.com – enables you to analyze, interpret, and gain unmatched insight on commercial property values, market conditions, and current availabilities. Clients rely on our constant reinvestment into our data and technology capabilities so they can get actionable insights to make decisions quickly.
While our corporate headquarters is located in Washington, DC, CoStar Group maintains offices throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Canada, with a staff of over 4,300 worldwide. We also have the industry’s largest professional research organization based right here in Richmond, VA, and led by CREW Richmond member Lisa Ruggles.
CoStar Group supports the mission of CREW Richmond, and we’re proud to be your Signature Sponsor. For more information, visit us at
costargroup.com
.
CoStar Group’s CREW Richmond members:
- Lisa Ruggles, Sr. Vice President of Global Marketing Research
- Danielle Pinto, Regional Director
- Mary Glerum, Director, Product Management
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