Loudoun Impact

Sharon Virts was born and raised in Loudoun County.   She and her husband have spent the past few years renovating Selma Mansion that sits at the base of Catoctin Mountain.  Sharon has just published her first book, Masque of Honor which chronicles the life of Armistead Mason who built Selma Mansion in 1810.  Armistead was a US Senator from Virginia at the age of 28 and later was killed in a dual with his cousin John Mason McCarty.

Frank is a retired United States Marine Gunnery Sgt who now leads the Loudoun County effort for the USMC Toys for Tots Charity. Frank shares some of the challenges that Covid is presenting this year. On the lighter side, we chat about the Marine Corps Dress Blues Uniform and some of its historical significance.

Breaux Vineyards in one of the first wineries in Loudoun County and one of the first 50 in all of Virginia. Jen has taken the reins of this family run business from her father Paul Breaux. Jen talks about her fathers entrepreneurial spirit and the challenges of sustaining a small business.

Melissa Hinton is the founder and Director of Loudoun Serenity House. A local non-profit with a mission to provide supportive and affordable residential services to women striving for their best life, a sober life, free from dependency on alcohol, opioids, and other narcotics. Melissa speaks from the heart having gone through rehab herself as a young women and has also tragically lost her sister to the disease.

Mrs. Ketterman and her husband Dan have been operating one of the most successful jewelery stores in Loudoun over the past few decades.Mrs Ketterman talks about some of her guiding principles as well as her strong faith as a Christian. It was my privilege for her to join me to discuss being a purpose driven leader in Loudoun County.

It was a privilege to interview Chief Brown last week. We sat on the back patio at Shoes Cup and Cork on a 90 degree day doing our best to social distance with masks. These are challenging times but Chief Brown emphasized that the Leesburg Police Department will continue to provide professional, fair and objective service to every one that lives in or visits our community.If you see Chief Brown out in the community, be sure to say hello. He is very approachable and typically has a few minutes for a quick conversation.

Boulder Crest Foundation is located right here in Loudoun County. They are a leader in the field of posttraumatic growth for combat veterans, first responders and their families. Ken Falke is the Chairman and Founder of Boulder Crest and has a unique story of starting this charity with such a crucial mission.

If you are on Facebook in Loudoun County you probably are familiar with "The Burn" But do you know anything about the founder and editor, Chris Wadsworth. He is a really interesting guy and I had a lot fun chatting with him about how he started the digital magazine which has fast become the go-to place to learn about what is new in Loudoun.

I imagine everyone that has served has a similar story. Circumstances that allowed you to live through a twist of fate.Every Memorial Day for the past 27 years I think of my friend Lt. Tom Waterbury. Tom died off the coast of Pensacola while launching off the deck of the USS Forrestal.All gave some. Some gave all. Tom gave all! RIP "Bagger"

Did you know Supervisor Umstadtt was a Naval Reserve Officer in 80's, where she translated Soviet naval documents from Russian into English. She later was a CIA analyst specializing in Soviet naval capabilities. Supervisor Umstadtt has held public office in both Leesburg and Loudoun since 1997.Where did she develop her passion for politics? Campaigning for Ronald Regan with her parents in the early 80's!

From boarding school in Africa with the children of Nelson Mandela, to cold calling out of the phone book selling advertising, to growing a $200,000 company into a 30 million dollar powerhouse in Northern VA, Kristina Bouweiri has had quite the career.Kristina is highly engaged with the Loudoun County community and sits on multiple Boards. One that she is particularly passionate about is One Hundred Women Strong who's missions is to enhance the lives of residents within Loudoun County.Her favorite take-out during COVID. Fords Fish Shack in Lansdowne.The first winery she will be visiting post lockdown? Stone Tower Winery.

Chair Randall has had a long career in politics, both at the state and local level, however her original profession is as a mental health therapist. Born in Stuttgart Germany as one of 6 children in a military family, Chair Randall was raised to believe that public service is one of the highest callings.Daily briefings on the number of Covid cases and deaths in the county is difficult. She credits her family, friends and her strong Christian faith to help her get through the crisis.What's one of her favorite take-out meals over the past few weeks? Shrimp & Grits at Tuskies!

Russ lives just down the street from me but due to the Covid, we chatted over Zoom. Russ has previous experience working on long range planning in Stafford County and then with Economic Development in Williamsburg before taking his current position in Leesburg. Russ talks about a "virtual Leesburg" as well as how Leesburg / Loudoun are helping small businesses survive. Russ feels that there will be a huge opportunity for Leesburg once the restrictions are lifted and people will be looking for day trips instead of jumping on an airplane.You can reach Russ and his staff here: Leesburg Economic Development

What exactly do settlement companies do? Why are they so important to the process of buying a home or refinancing a mortgage? Keith Barrett is the founder of Vesta Settlements. Keith discusses how Vesta is still completing settlements despite the Covid crisis. What precautions are they taking. Are online closings possible? How to protect yourself from fraud when there are large amounts of money being transferred.

Chuck Kuhn founded JK Moving Services at the age of 16 and grew it into the largest independently owned moving company in North America. Chuck describes how his family went through two horrible moves to and from Iran. I highly recommend JK Moving to anyone that is in need of moving services. All of my clients that have used JK have been very happy.

Tony Howard is the President and CEO of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce. Tony has a great understanding of the different programs offered by the Federal Government to help small businesses. In this episode we discuss the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)

Eric manages the Loudoun Small Business Development Center. The Center provides free advice to both established businesses as well as start-ups and those with simply an idea. Their one-on-one coaching has proven to be invaluable to many small business owners. In this interview we get into the details of applying for the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP)

Roger Zurn has come a long way since his early childhood days growing up in Baltimore without a father and a mother with just a fourth grade education. He is now the longest running elected official in Loudoun County.

Alice is a leader within the Loudoun small business community and has been supporting those small companies over the last 30 years as a banker. Most recently she is the president and CEO of BCT Bank. In our discussion, we talk specifically about how BCT is positioned to help small businesses with SBA approved loans during the Covid crisis.To learn more about how BCT can help you individually or your local business, you can reach them here. BCT, The Community's Bank