Leesburg, VA July 2023

Advice for what matters most, when you need it most

Congratulations to Jeffrey W. Eveland for being named to the 2023 Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” list, published on March 10, 2023. Rankings based on data as of September 30, 2022.

The Eveland Group

Jeffrey W. Eveland, CFP ®, CRPC ™, CPFA® Managing Director Wealth Management Advisor

703.779.2130

j_eveland@ml.com

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

3 South King Street

Leesburg, VA 20175

fa.ml.com/evelandgroup

2023 Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” list. Opinions are Barron’s who evaluated advisors with a minimum of seven years financial services experience and employed at their current firm for at least one year. Other quantitative and qualitative measures include assets under management, quality of practice, regulatory records, internal company documents and 100-plus points of advisor-provided data. Rankings do not reflect any client experience, endorse any advisor and are available for client evaluation only. Compensation was not received from any Advisors for the study.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member SIPC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp.

Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Investment products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value

The Bull Symbol and Merrill are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation.

CFP Board owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the U.S. The College for Financial Planning Institutes Corp. owns the service marks Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™, CRPC™, and the CRPC™ logo, and the certification marks Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™, CRPC™, and the CRPC™ logo. © 2023 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. MAP4960336 | AD-04-23-0125 | 472538PM-1022 |

Photo by Christy Kosnic

Architect: Cawood Architecture, PLLC

Summer Celebration

Summer is upon us and it is time to get some celebration in. Kids are out and free. It is warm. Vacations are planned. All of the local farmers are at peak production. Our home gardens are booming (check out the work River’s Edge Landscapes can do on page 20 if you need a yard reboot or are giving serious thought to that lap pool!) Time to sit outside and get the barbecue going. Throw in July 4th and all is good in Loudoun County.

So, we wanted to take some time and highlight a few celebrations of our own in this issue. Our cover says it all: sing, dance and be merry. We were blown away by Michael Gauvreau and the Jumptown Band at Creek’s Edge Winery, and hope you have a chance to catch them at Vanish Farmwoods

Brewery in Leesburg Saturday, June 24th from 1-4 p.m. (Even June is being generous this summer, offering up an extra weekend!) Take some time to enjoy the good in your life. Enjoy your family and friends. Live more in the moment. Get outside and see a concert. Feel the sun on your face. You live in one of the best areas on this planet so you are doing great. Let's have a great summer and I hope to see you out and about!

All the best,

July 2023

PUBLISHER

Hann Livingston | hann.livingston@citylifestyle.com

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR

Melinda Gipson | melinda.gipson@citylifestyle.com

Corporate Team

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Steven Schowengerdt

CHIEF SALES OFFICER Matthew Perry

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER DeLand Shore

HANN LIVINGSTON, PUBLISHER @LEESBURGLIFESTYLE

DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA Mindy Hargesheimer

ART DIRECTOR Sara Minor

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Janeane Thompson

WEB APPLICATIONS Michael O’Connell

AD DESIGNER Matthew Endersbe

LAYOUT DESIGNER Kirstan Lanier

Proverbs 3:5-6

city scene

1-7: Mosaic Festival 1: South Riding’s 2nd Annual MOSAIC Festival celebrating “Many Cultures, One Community” took place this Spring. More than 50 vendors offered diners the opportunity to sample world cuisines and even Southern fried favorites. 2: Thanks to Dipti Rach, Founder & Chair, Diversity Engagement Council & MOSAIC Diversity Festival and Executive Administrator for the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce for the photos. 5: Music ranged from bagpipes to Emma G (Emmagmusic.com), a singer songwriter who helps parents reconnect with their teenagers and teens express themselves through music. Photography by Dipti Rach

Where neighbors can see and be seen.

1-7: 2023 Leesburg Business Awards 1: ION International Training Center’s Mitra Setayesh hosted, seen here with Maryse Wyser-Pratte, Ladies Board of Inova Hospital. 3: The Leesburg Town Counsel and Economic Development Commission presents 2023 Leesburg Business Award Winners. 4: The Wine Kitchen’s Jason Miller takes The George C. Marshall Award for exemplary commitment to the community. 5: Loudoun Valley Homegrown Markets Cooperative promotes a positive image of Leesburg as Community Ambassador Awardee. 6: Rachel Rabat, chef and GM of Dolce & Ciabatta Bakery, awarded New or Expanding Business. 7: Paul Donohue, Jr., CEO of ECHO (echoworks.org) accepts the Innovation Award Photography by Melinda Gipson

Want to be seen in the magazine? Tag your Instagram photos with @LeesburgLifestyle

"Cupcakes for Cops"

The Town of Leesburg recognized National Police Week, May 14-20, 2023. But photographer Connie Paradise and her mom Violet Gambrill don’t need an excuse. Violet has been celebrating “Cupcakes for Cops” monthly for eight years, first to thank the Maryland State Police and then her new community in South Carolina. Her daughter Connie continues the tradition in Winchester. Here they are together with Sgt. Ferraro, Officer Carranza, Officer Ramos, Dispatcher Ellie and Dispatcher Kaitlynn.

WGB Celebrates its Volunteers on Cinco de Mayo

Women Giving Back celebrated its volunteers: Sharri Dean of Intercoastal Mortgage, purchased 581 pairs of kid’s shoes. Group volunteer 7x24 Exchange Greater Washington DC Chapter led multiple area tech firms to give money, volunteer, participate in clothing drives, and donate school supplies. Youth volunteer Sophia Yao from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology contributed more than 150 hours with WGB since 2020. Finally, Cecilia Hodges, a Regional President of M&T Bank and a founding WGB Board Member, received the Bill Dubois legacy award.

Photography: WGB

Elizabeth Lancaster Elizabeth Lancaster

John C. Whitbeck John C. Whitbeck Jim Beglis Jim Beglis

Julia Healey

Launches Inspired Changemakers Podcast

Julia Healey with United Charitable has launched a podcast focused on creating change and the moments that inspired people to activate their impact. Join Julia as she delves into how Inspired Changemakers are changing the world. Guests include retired NFL players Charlie Batch and Hannibal Navies, Executive Director of Loudoun Cares Valerie Pisierra, and more. Tune in at instagram.com/ inspiredchangemakerspod

Photography: United Charitable

Want

Get in touch by heading over to our landing page to connect: CityLifestyle.com/Leesburg

Landscapes With Legacy

River’s Edge Landscapes Creates Lasting Beauty for Williams Gap Vineyard

With River’s Edge Landscapes (riversedgelandscapes.com), it’s personal. In part that’s because the company Paul LaPointe founded 20 years ago doesn’t just design and build great landscapes but also maintains them. But it’s also because Paul and his staff listen to their clients’ dreams for their outdoor spaces and work to fulfill them, no matter how long that takes.

Designers, as artists, have a trained eye for what would be the most functional and aesthetically pleasing for a given property. But Paul says, “Understanding our clients’ objectives and taste must come first. We can’t automatically assume our vision is the right vision without fully understanding our clients, the functionality they seek with their landscape and their preferred style. So, I think the most important thing is listening to the client’s objectives and understanding the look that they desire.”

Whether someone is looking for formal gardens or pollinators’ profusion, Paul’s team of designers have done it all.

In the case of Williams Gap Vineyard (williamsgapvineyard.com) – Paul’s third

Virginia winery project – he collaborated with Jeff Foresha of Sounthpaw Collaborative to help create the perfect design.  His primary mandate was to marry the tasting barn to the adjacent pavilion, and the estate’s home to the landscape. He explains, “I don’t want somebody to say, ‘What a great landscape.’ I want them to say ‘What a beautiful home.’ It’s a beautiful home because you were able to enhance it with the landscape and it’s become one –not two separate things.”

The home at Williams Gap was built by Jack Sexton who spent the last 40 years caring for animals as a veterinarian at McLean Animal Hospital. As his website says, “Having always enjoyed a nice glass of wine, he decided in the early 2000’s to start a vineyard on a parcel of land he has owned since 1983.” The house, built just last year, was intended to look like a traditional home that’s been there awhile. The front stone edifice therefore evokes the style of some of his 18th Century neighbors’ homes in Round Hill, but on a larger scale.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW SAMPLE PHOTOGRAPHY

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON

Jack Sexton Williams Gap Tasting Room

Jack Sexton's 'Old World' Home Front

Tasting pavilion brightened by Nepeta Catmint

Stonework behind the main house

It’s intended to house not just Jack and his wife of 35 years, but a wing of the L-shaped structure will serve as lodging for wedding parties and eventually will frame a 50-foot pool where Jack can enjoy swimming laps. Paul’s first order of business was to marry architectural details of the home into the landscape including the old-world stone style into stone columns and terraced retaining walls. River’s Edge designed and laid all the full-range flagstones for the walkways and patios “trying to keep it as oldworld as possible,” as Paul explains. Because of the way the walls and terraces were constructed, they’ll stand for generations without needing repair.

Part of the challenge in any project is to envision what the property will look like after a generation, Paul adds. “This landscape is young, but in just two or three years it will really have grown into the house.” If he’s learned anything after more than three decades in the business, it’s to always provide adequate room for growth.

For the tasting room and adjacent pavilion both traffic flow and safety are a consideration. Architecturally, the goal was to weave them together by creating a mutual center focal point that may become a fountain in subsequent iterations. For now, the central space is framed by white crepe myrtles and Hinoki cypress with a dwarf Greenleaf Japanese

maple surrounded by stone as a centerpiece. Nepeta Catmint provides gorgeous lavender color in the Spring. If cut back after bloom cycles, it will bloom one or two times more during the year, and doesn’t become woody and leggy like lavender. It is planted with white Snowmound Spirea and Caryopteris, also a cornflower blue in color, which flowers later in the summer and fall to complement white crepe myrtle. Grass softens the landscape and provides space for guests to wander beyond the tasting barn.

While a blanket on the lawn and a nice glass of award-winning wine sound great to Paul, he may have to wait until harvest time to take a break. “People in our industry are extraordinary. They’re very hard working. It’s demanding work in the Spring and Summer because that’s when all the magic happens.” The payoff comes when he gets to view some of the most beautiful properties in the state years after an installation looking exactly as they were originally envisioned.

Jack, who credits interior designer Amy Walton for introducing him to Paul, says, “We have been very pleased with all aspects of the project.... Everyone that comes to our Farm comments on the quality of our wines and the beauty of the property. I could not have achieved the visual success of the property without the input of Paul at River’s Edge Landscapes and Amy Walton Design.”

Where the pool will go next

THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD

that I may not know all the details but I love technology and we have a great team of electricians and super tech people. I love to research and learn about the different trends and find out what people might want or what we think is important” – again, to improve their lives and build more sustainable, ecological structures.

MOUNTAIN VIEW SOLAR’S MIKE MCKECHNIE SHEDS LIGHT ON SOLAR ENERGY AND ON GIVING BACK

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOUNTAIN VIEW SOLAR, MELINDA GIPSON

Just across the Virginia line in Berkeley Springs sits a fully renovated house with enough solar panels to power not just the lights, heat and hot water but extensive Internet and EV charging stations for the company’s service vehicles. From this modest outpost flows both the vision and the technology to power thousands of homes, commercial buildings, government warning systems and soon more than half the Loudoun County Public School System.

The company is Mountain View Solar (MTVSolar. com), incorporated in 2009, after the custom builder pivoted into solar power for homes and businesses. The company was such an early innovator that it recently updated its EV charging stations because they were more than a dozen years old.

The owner and visionary behind it all is Mike McKechnie, a self-described early adopter of technology that is intended to make everyone’s lives greener, more economical and more livable. “I continue to claim that I had the first Nissan Leaf in West Virginia,” he chuckles. He adds, “I may not be the most tech savvy guy in

Mike’s love of innovation likely dates to living in Europe in the 60’s. His father was then a computer programmer for Philips, based in the Netherlands, and his young family with four kids lived both there and in Great Britain. Mike was exposed to experiential learning in the Montessori schools of the era and became adept at problem solving and critical thinking. Returning to the states in 1976, it was apparent to Mike that both he and his brother, his first partner, just thought differently – “we still do.” Influenced by his education to think in terms of, “What can we do to improve people’s quality of life?” and later, “How can we do it and save energy?”, he first applied this point of view to building houses that were extremely energy efficient and that contained fewer toxic chemicals in their building materials.

“We became known as a Green Builder when this was still a new concept,” he recalls. They were among the first companies in the region to offer geothermal and radiant heat and the first contractors to offer on-demand hot water heaters. “We began building healthier homes in 2003, and by 2007 we were doing solar. By 2009 we switched over to solar because building houses wasn’t as challenging as we would have liked. Solar is never without a challenge,” Mike explained.

The pattern that’s guided the company’s growth is that, as soon as a new technology emerges that is healthy and saves energy, Mike

Trained Installer at Work

explores how to implement it. “A lot of the related building science was self-taught. We couldn’t learn it from the building community, because they weren’t doing it!” Radiant floor installation training came from Thomas Somerville, one of the big suppliers, but then company engineers and plumbers did all of Mountain View Solar’s radiant pipe work themselves. New technology is always first installed at their own homes and offices and tested to make sure it works as promised. Mike then hires the smartest and most adaptable workers he can find and trains them on how to install the systems for customers.

Mountain View’s work force has grown to just under 50, double the size of just a couple years ago. “We’ve tried to make a really good environment with good wages, good benefits and to make it fun and enjoyable. That’s something we’re really good at so we retain people for lots of years, which is unusual in the construction industry,” Mike says. His VP and Controller Kelly Waugh agrees – she’s been with the company 22 years.

“We have purposely had a very inclusive hiring practice. We also have a very strong presence of women in our business. Our management team is 62% women,” says Mike. “We did this on purpose. We find that, especially in construction, it’s

Residential Roof Mount

Mike with VP and Controller Kelly Waugh

Two Solar Panels Power Mountain View Solar's Office and Fleet of Service Vehicles

usually very heavily dominated by men, especially in the management level. Because we’re in the service industry, providing a service that needs to be installed and followed up, it helps us to have more women involved.” In the solar industry, “there are more paperwork hours than there are men in trucks putting panels on roofs,” he explains: “Permitting, engineering, design, procurement, interconnection with the utilities, all requires detail-oriented people with good interpersonal skills, good software, good follow-up and good communication.”

Mike’s other mantra: “If our team is happy, they’re going to take much better care of the customers. Our employees come first and then come the customers because we get better customer care that way.” Employee retention leads to a repository of experience – “We’ve learned a lot of things the hard way. We’ve got good people, good processes and we’re passionate about what we do. We like to help people and give back to our community, and then we get up and do it all again tomorrow.”

Besides permitting, tracking the various incentives is among the company’s ongoing challenges, because what they deliver to consumers is a complete package consisting of a fully installed and operating system, plus all the paperwork to claim their tax credits. Under the Inflation Reduction Act that became law last year, there’s a 10-year, guaranteed tax credit of 30% for both businesses and homes that install solar systems. “That’s a tax credit – not an incentive, but real money that offsets the taxes you pay,” says Mike. It’s the longest runway the solar industry has had to incentivize consumers to adopt solar technology and provides the company with plenty of time to aid adoption.

Mike’s bedrock argument for solar power is that power for most Americans is something they rent – they don’t own it – and the cost has always gone up, until the advent of solar. “Now you can own a portion of your utility bill. You’re taking an expense and turning it into a depreciable asset for your home,” Mike explains. It generally takes less than 10 years to recoup the cost of installation in every jurisdiction Mountain View Solar operates, and in some cases as little as 5 years. For commercial installations, the ROI has been cut to less than a year by government incentives. These metrics also are useful in determining whether a home’s roof has enough usable life left in it to justify a solar installation, or whether a replacement roof should precede adoption. Mountain View Solar has teamed with

Hovatter Elementary School, LCPS

many roofers to update homeowners’ shingles so they don’t have to wait six months to a year before they can begin solar installation.

Another way to approach solar is for its ability to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, Mike says. “Big picture, we know that every solar panel we install reduces our dependence on a finite resource by accessing an infinite supply of energy. I think that’s important. I’ve got young kids. I’m hoping that we they live in a world that is not as polluted, that has cleaner air, that has good, thriving communities where we were not so dependent on a finite resource.”

The technology has matured to the point that the efficiency of today’s solar panels is extremely high – on the order of 98-99% — and the failure rate is extremely low. “If you don’t break it, it keeps working,” says Mike. “We offer a 25-year warranty. You know what else on your house has a 25-year warranty? Nothing!”

Seeing the impact on lower-income families that a $100 savings on their energy bills can have is something that has spurred Mike’s philanthropy. Like many building contractors, he’s worked for Habitat for Humanity, and he still donates solar

panels to one Habitat house per year. To have even more impact, in 2017 the company instituted a program where, for every project for which it sold solar panels, they donated a solar panel. Homeowners can designate a non-profit where they’d like the panel installed and MTV will supply them with a list of nonprofits it has already qualified. (See mtvsolar. com/about/in-the-community)

The company has now donated just shy of 1,000 solar panels plus related equipment to seven or eight different nonprofits in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pittsburg and elsewhere. One of Mike’s favorite projects was The Kid’s Club of Northern Shenandoah Valley where the company not only donated solar panels, but also helped build an outdoor basketball court.

Beginning this year, on March 31st, to commemorate the American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez’ birthday, everyone in the company engaged in a day of service to the community, a practice that Mike says will become an annual tradition.

Why

Cesar Chavez Day?

Well, as it turns out, thanks to 23andMe, Mike, who was adopted as a baby, learned that his father was Cesar Chavez. It’s something he’s known for many years but didn’t speak about publicly until he had an opportunity to meet and get to know Cesar’s other children. Understanding his heritage has made Mike even more committed to giving back to his community. “That passion that I feel for helping people, I now believe that much of that comes from him and my desire to contribute to his legacy.”

As to legacy, Mike already is having an impact on the lives of Loudouners through his work for the Loudoun public school system. LCPS has identified 54 of its 100 schools that will receive solar panels under its sustainability initiative. Working as a subcontractor to CMTA, Mountain View Solar already has completed installation at 12 of those schools, amounting to more than 8,000 solar panels. The work will continue for the next five to seven years providing substantial savings to county taxpayers – not just because of lowered utility bills and

"We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own."

– Cesar Chavez

the installation of EV charging stations for busses, but through the installation of smart automation that can centrally regulate the use of heat or air conditioning to provide it only when needed.

Work on the school system excites Mike because he hopes it will engage a new generation of students to learn more about solar energy and what it can do for the environment. “They’re our future employees. There are so many jobs that this industry provides — construction, sales administration, permitting, design, engineering, fleet maintenance, there’s something for almost everyone in this growing industry and we don’t have many trained individuals to choose from. We bring them in and train them.”

Where else, he asks, can someone with a facility and interest for technology, that enjoys working outside, or that is mechanically inclined, find a job that can provide a good living and save the planet? asks Mike. “We have room for plenty of people who want to change the world.”

Mike McKechnie Explains the Economics of Solar Power

Making the Inc. 5000 List While Building a Better World

Measuring success in today’s society isn’t always easy, but certainly one external measure is making the Inc. Magazine 5,000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S. Round Hill resident Ray Vazquez has done it twice, most recently with his company Vertex 11 (vertex11.com), offering cybersecurity, risk management, continuity of operations and data protection tools to other businesses.

We sat down with Ray at Magnolia’s at the Mill to learn what accounts for the rapid growth of Vertex 11 and what helped make this 1st generation Caribbean American so successful. We encountered a blossoming entrepreneur, a savvy tech strategist, a rock-solid business proposition and miles and miles of heart.

We say blossoming entrepreneur because Ray’s upbringing didn’t groom him to become

Ray Vazquez: Building Companies That Make the World a Better Place

a risk-taker. Ray’s mom left Cuba in the 1960’s, sponsored by the Catholic Church in Miami. After living with a Mexican American family for a few years, she moved to New Jersey where she met Ray’s dad, who was from Puerto Rico, on a bus. Ray’s dad had to fend for himself at an early age as his mom died when he was three old. Losing his mom at such an early age influenced several philosophies in his view of life.  Chief amongst them was, what can go wrong will go wrong.

“My dad’s way of motivating me was to tell me, ‘You’re never going to amount to anything,’” says Ray. To cement the lesson – either of how far they’d come or how far he could fall isn’t clear – Ray’s dad would often invite a homeless person to lunch. There, the guest would be invited to tell his or her personal experience and Ray’s dad would counsel his son on how to avoid a similar fate.

Ray, who was just 10 years old at the time, found the lessons traumatic. “That was his way of trying to scare us into going to school and working hard. However, I would not recommend this methodology for motivation.” Ray’s takeaway was the intended, “I will prove you wrong. That’s not where I’m going.”

While he worked hard at school, he set his sights on a local trade school in avionics engineering rather than college. When he met his future wife, she told him that if he weren’t going to college, “My dad’s going to kill you. You won’t even get out of the driveway!” So, at the last minute, he applied to Florida International University but still hadn’t chosen a career.

According to Ray, he picked up the Yellow Pages and started with the “A’s” calling first architects, then attorneys, and finally accountants.

His assessment: the architects didn’t make much money though their work was enjoyable, the attorneys made lots of money but there were too many in Miami, and the accountants said they would never make as much as attorneys but would always have a job. “So, I decided to become an accountant... The next thing you know, I’m interviewing

with Price Waterhouse and that’s where I got my first job out of college.” Because he did well in an IT auditing program that involved robotics and critical problem solving, he was trained in every existing computer system at the time and met a guy named George Kurtz who in 2011 founded a “little” company called Crowdstrike.

From Kurtz, Ray learned how to hack into computer systems – a practice now known as being a “white hat” hacker, someone uses hacking skills to identify security vulnerabilities in hardware, software or networks. Kurtz co-wrote a book called Hacking Exposed, then left Price Waterhouse to create Foundstone, a company he sold to McAfee before founding Crowdstrike in 2011.

Ray’s goal at the time was to become a partner in 10 years, a goal hastened by his work leading company training on compliance with the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002 which put in place internal corporate controls and financial accountability in the wake of the Enron and MCI accounting scandals (controls which became known as SOX compliance.) Despite his track record of success, when he applied for partner, his file was unaccountably “lost.”  After further investigation, Ray came to believe that the move was deliberate and that he was discriminated against on the basis of his Cuban heritage.

He, therefore, left what was by then PricewaterhouseCoopers to help one of his clients, AOL, build its SOX program. AOL had gotten itself in trouble with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for financial reporting fraud. “I came in with a significant new crew of experts to reform the company,” Ray says frankly.

After AOL, he was recruited to Fannie Mae, again assigned to implement internal controls due to financial reporting errors and misstatements of its own making. All these experiences combined to give Ray a reputation as the guy you call when internal controls are broken or if your business is on fire. “I love burning buildings,” Ray quipped,

Building growth companies is “all about leaving everything better than the way we found it.”

– Ray Vazquez

because he knows how to put the fire out, and because “status quo” jobs are boring.

They nevertheless do take a toll, and by 2010 Ray was experiencing his own form of burn-out, when he took an opportunity to build a risk management practice with a growing and successful consultancy in Northern Virginia, Infinitive. Within five years, Infinitive Insight made the Inc. 5000 list. Ray reflected, “The success that got us to the Inc. 5000 list was not sustainable to keep

us there.”  When the risk practice started to have some unforeseen challenges, Ray decided it was time to close the business and do a reset.

During his time off, Ray started an equestrian business and an Airbnb with his wife.  However, with his passion for risk management, and his father’s voice nagging him, he and his wife came up with the idea for Vertex11.  Vertex11 would be the company that would bring solutions to problems, creativity to challenges,

Ray Hosts a Loudoun Cares Barn Party

and good people to great work opportunities.  “We help organizations improve the way they do cybersecurity and technology risk management so they can achieve their strategic objectives,” he explains. But, beyond that, Ray also determined that this time, he would build a firm that was “all about leaving everything better than the way we found it.” And by this, Ray doesn’t just mean his clients’ internal control foundations, but also in its ability to make a difference in their community.

Corporate culture now refers to this as ESG – the extent to which a company is capitalizing on all the non-financial risks and opportunities related to the environment, social welfare and governance in a responsible manner. It’s about not just how a business can grow and make money, but make the world a better place.

And that’s where we come back to heart. Internally, Vertex11 wanted to become a role model for the companies it consulted, so it began by supporting Manta Ray conservation – which explains why there’s a Manta Ray in the company’s logo. It began investing in non-profits it believed could create a lasting difference in society through their work. These included Richmond Cycling Corps which helps inner-city youth with cycling and tutoring

(richmondcyclingcorps.org ) and SailAhead.org in Huntington Station, New York, which takes veterans sailing as therapy for PTSD. Because his wife is Greek, he attends a Greek Orthodox church, serves on the audit committee of the Archdiocese and participates in mission trips where his church helps orphanages in Mexico and Guatemala

Locally, Ray also has been moved to support Loudoun Cares, in part because he knows what it’s like to be supporting a young family living paycheck to paycheck. “I’ve seen my mom pay for groceries with food stamps. So, I support an organization that makes sure people don’t fall through the cracks in the richest county in America.”

“And maybe, too, it’s because of all those homeless people I met over lunch with my father, right?” he laughs.

Ray follows a different model in raising his son Nick. Nick is the company’s CMO and together with his father in May, they invited many of those friends he made along the way to a barn party to introduce them to Loudoun Cares. Their goal: to raise awareness for all that needs doing to bridge the gaps impacting their needier neighbors. Growing and giving: all part of building a successful company and a successful life.

Vertex11 Founder at Magnolia's at the Mill

Nick and Ray Vazquez

ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHY

BY MELINDA GIPSON

loudoun cares RECOGNIZES OUTSTANDING volunteers

This year’s Outstanding Volunteer Awards from Loudoun Cares ( LoudounCares.org ) was uplifting for many reasons, but this year held an aura of passing the torch and paying it forward. Monti Mercer, immediate past chair of Loudoun Cares, related how, in 2012 he met Gabriella Miller “a beautiful, passionate, firecracker of a young lady” who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Monti was Gabriella’s Make-a-Wish Foundation counselor, and witnessed how the young girl’s passion for helping others generated more than 250,000 fundraising letters to Santa during Macy’s annual letter-writing campaign. Those letters generated 36 wishes for children besides herself. But, far beyond that, legislation in her name has caused $126 million in kids’ cancer research funding to be authorized for the National Institutes of Health, an authorization currently the subject of reauthorization efforts by Virginia’s Congressional delegation.

Gabriella’s story remains relevant today because, since 2012, Loudoun Cares’ OVA award to an outstanding youth volunteer in the community has also borne her name. This year, as Monti and Ellyn Miller, Gabriella’s mom, handed out the award, Monti quoted Gabriella as saying, “You may have a bad day today, but there’s always a bright, shining start to look forward to.” Ellyn added, “what Loudoun Cares does is literally bring our community together. What every one of you are doing makes our community better and stronger and helps those in need.”

CONTINUED >

Loudoun Chamber President Tony Howard (the MC) with Susan Snyder a Loudoun Cares Founder

You've Got Maids - NOVA

Monti Mercer With Keynoter, Board of Supervisors Chair Chair Phyllis Randall

Sponsors Northwest Federal Credit Union, Denise Kitchen and President / CEO Jeff Bentley

Loudoun Cares Board Chair Ronni Ward and Ellyn Miller

Loudoun County Social Collective

Ellyn Miller and Mahsa Riar Una and Tony Giachinta

Besides spotlighting local volunteers, the organization annually connects more than 2,000 volunteers with more than 260 non-profits through its online Volunteer Center: volunteer.loudouncares.org

This year’s youth “star” was Mahsa Riar, a highschool sophomore who has worked closely with the Loudoun Coalition of Women and Girls ( bit. ly/LCWG-VC ), developing and managing the Girl emPower Summit, a leadership development event hosted by girls for girls. With Mahsa’s leadership, the event has drawn girls from every district in Loudoun, and expanded to surrounding counties. She’s also founder of Create for a Cause and Limitless Limb, a company that designs 3D assistive devices for children who have suffered limb loss.

Bookending young givers, the Judy Hines Service of a Lifetime Award went to Brenda MacEoin , currently vice-chair for LAWS, Loudoun’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services ( lcsj.org ). She also actively volunteers with Loudoun Hunger Relief, Dulles Area Association of Realtors and Keep Loudoun Beautiful Roadside Project.

Other awardees included: Harriet “Doode” Summers who works closely with youth at risk. Harriet started the Young Kings Movement in November of 2020 with a mandate to mentor and help empower young men ages 13-18. Young Kings provides a safe place for these young men to come and be themselves. Dulles District’s award winner Chuck Glass has driven for Dulles South Food Pantry since 2018. In 2022 Chuck’s impact included more than 155 hours of service, picking up 60,000 pounds of food from Walmart alone, not including the other stores on his route. The food he picked up last year was valued at $118,000, all of it saved from the trash and used to feed some of DSFP’s more than 2,000 clients.

Ashburn’s Senior Center’s 200 volunteers are essential to the facility’s operations – the backbone of daily programs and services provided to older adults in the Ashburn area. During 2022, volunteers provided 16,785 hours of vital services in home delivery meals, onsite lunch service, front desk assistance, wellness and fitness instruction, and educational and social program instruction.

Didem Maurice and Patti Painton both were recognized for their service to LAWS. Ann Doss , a U.S. Army veteran is Vice Commander for Leesburg’s American Legion Post 34, where she was recognized for leading fundraising to assist Loudoun’s veterans. Una Giachinta received a nod from Loudoun Cares Executive Dir. Valerie Pisierra for her work

first as an employee, then as a community partner with Catholic Charities, and most recently as an irreplaceable volunteer during COVID on the Loudoun Cares’ ConnectLine.

Outstanding Adult Volunteer Amy Ulland volunteers with Loudoun Wildlife and is instrumental in all its efforts to test, maintain or improve the waterways of Loudoun. In 2022 Amy worked to implement and execute a grant to secure clean drinking water for the Lucketts community dependent on the wells that are stream fed.

Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Auxiliary was recognized for its tireless work providing traffic assistance and in emergency response for the county. The Resourceful Woman Thrift Store team of 35 adults have volunteered more than 3,000 hours to manage and run the store, an extension program of LAWS. Outstanding Senior Volunteer Cynthia Colbert Cynthia is an invaluable member of the Loudoun Hunger Relief Team. Outstanding Senior Team Volunteers John and Robin Peterson volunteer twice a week at the Habitat ReStore where they price donated items, then clean and display them for sale.

Among teams: The Outstanding Team Volunteers of Travelers Aid at Dulles Airport helps travelers track down a friend, assist those wandering in search of terminal transport or lost luggage and offer general support for the thousands of people who make their way through Dulles daily. In 2022 alone the 275 volunteers of Travelers Aid assisted over 1 million passengers and visitors and logged over 30,000 hours of service. You’ve Got Maids NOVA’s corporate tea m was recognized for working together to serve with Loudoun Hunger Relief, A Farm Less Ordinary and INMED and hosted 5 in-kind collection drives. The Outstanding Community/ Civic Org Volunteer award went to Loudoun County Social Collective , which began as a social network, and last year rolled up its sleeves to raise $60,000 to donate to ECHO and Tree of Life.

Honored for 2022’s Outstanding Volunteer Project was the Park View Redo Crew. Recognized as Outstanding Volunteer Project Leader was Rich Ruckman VP of HITT Contracting who stepped up to bring a client’s home up to code for Habitat for Humanity. Outstanding Veteran Volunteer Gloria Martin volunteers for Loudoun Literacy. Claude Moore’s Community Builders ’ youth volunteers volunteer at special events held by non-profits throughout the county. And, finally, Ashburn’s Youth Men’s Service League pairs young men and their moms on projects for All Ages Read Together.

Reading Local This Summer

Local authors abound in Loudoun. One of them just might be your neighbor.

ARTICLE BY JEANNE GODFROY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BIRCH TREE BOOKSTORE

We’ve all heard about the value of shopping local, but what about reading local?  Did you know that your neighbor might be a published author?  Independent bookstores like Leesburg’s Birch Tree Bookstore partner with local authors by holding signing soirees like the one this photo depicts this Spring. The rise of digital publishing platforms and the resurgence of independent bookstores has given a new, far more diverse set of authors the opportunity to be read and heard. So, consider supporting a local author or bookstore this summer. You may discover that one of your neighbors writes thrillers, science fiction, history, or literature. The following works by Loudoun County authors span reading for all ages and are a small sample of local writing talent.

Authors' Night at Birch Tree Bookstore

The award-winning Clifford’s War books are a set of actionpacked crime novels by J. Denison Reed, a former Army network engineer who lives in Ashburn. Reed pivoted from hiding poems and short stories in work logs and trouble tickets to amuse his fellow Soldiers, to writing longer, more complex narratives that culminated in his series debut. Synopsis: Join private investigator and Army veteran Clifford Dee as he navigates the mafia, the U.S. government, the entertainment industry, and the illicit global weapons market. Dee must fight for survival—and his sanity—while trying to maintain his loyalty to both country and compatriot.

Fans of action thrillers and crime suspense like the TV series “Burn Notice” are sure to enjoy these mile-to-minute stories of government conspiracy, car chases, lethal encounters, and humor. jdenisonreed.com

Clifford’s War Bunny Bart Needs a Heart

Bunny Bart Needs a Heart is a touching tale by Jill Solis, a Blue Ridge Mountains resident and LCPS elementary school employee who struggled to find children’s books that would reinforce the lessons she was trying to teach students. The result: a book that subtly weaves early learning concepts like shapes, colors, and directional words into a story about unconditional love. Synopsis: Bunny Bart needs to find a special heart for his mother’s birthday. Will he find the perfect heart in the meadow, the mountains, the city, or the night sky?

Bunny Bart Needs a Heart is a warming tale reminding us that sometimes we don’t need to look far and wide for the most special gifts of all.jillsolis.com

The Wayward Target

The Wayward Target is the third novel in Susan Ouellette’s exhilarating “Wayward Spy” series. A former CIA analyst, Soviet specialist, and current Hamilton resident, Ouellette combines imagination with her background to create stunning, realistic spy thrillers. Synopsis: After hunting down the terrorist who killed her fiancé, CIA analyst Maggie Jenkins finds herself with a price on her head.  Despite this threat, Maggie jumps into action to bring down the terrorist network.  When a shadowy Russian operative presents Maggie with an impossible choice, she must decide between the man she loves and the man who supported her during her darkest days.

“Susan Ouellette has written a well-crafted page-turner that benefits not only from her imagination and way with words—but from her experience.” Dr. Mark Lowenthal, Former CIA Assistant Director.  susanouellette.com

Midgard

Midgard is the award-winning debut novel by Jeanne Hull Godfroy, an Army veteran, historian, and political scientist from Hamilton. In telling this story, Godfroy strives to entertain her readers while subtly educating them about the perils of environmental abuse.Synopsis: It is the mid-22nd century, the Earth is dying, and humankind is out of time. The only hope is the Human Resiliency Program—a conglomeration of last-ditch efforts to preserve human life. Sam Richmond is one of its rising stars until those close to him disappear, his headquarters is attacked, and he learns nothing is as it seems.

“An imaginative, frightening glimpse of humankind’s future.  Jeanne Hull Godfroy’s fictional world is as uncomfortable as it is engaging and important to read.”– Caleb S. Cage, author of “Desert Mementos”  be-stirred.com

realty report

A sample of recently sold properties in Leesburg.

When it comes to buying and selling homes virtually, “Rely on Pam”!

After retiring further south, we decided to sell our River Creek home after leaving it on the rental market for over ten years. Selling an older home in a high-end neighborhood, with a tenant in place, with $150k of needed updates, long-distance and during COVID-19 pandemic—this could have been the ultimate real-estate horror story. Instead, it was one of the easiest, smoothest house sales I’ve ever experienced. Pam handled everything and quickly sold the house for more than the asking price. Pam is the most professional and capable agent that I’ve ever worked with.

Jim Sheffield Shares How Art Enriches His Life

ARTICLE BY MELINDA GIPSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ART TOGETHER

Catherine Fetterman, a Northern Virginia artist, founded Art Together as a way of brightening and enriching lives, families and communities through shared creative experiences. The organization does this through collaborative community arts programs that are designed to bring joy to older adults of all ability levels.

After winning her Leesburg Business Award, Catherine wanted to introduce us to her friend Jim Sheffield who joined one of her classes in a local nursing home. During the pandemic, Catherine couldn’t visit them, and residents had to resort to using permanent markers on plastic plates for their artwork because they weren’t allowed to have paint in their rooms. Jim’s enthusiasm was undimmed, and he had compiled

so many paintings during the break, Catherine decided to offer him a solo show. She says, “It is so exciting to see him discover a talent he never knew he had and see him find so much joy and fulfillment in his new hobby.”

Jim, who had never painted before Catherine’s class, says, “People have purchased many of my paintings which gives me money to buy paint supplies. I’ve completed 22 different pictures... It gives me a great deal of peace of mind, keeps me busy and helps keep my mind off health issues. I am very thankful to have discovered painting.” You can see more of his artwork here: bit.ly/JimsArt . Also check out art-together. com/join-us if you’d like to become a one-on-one assistant in a painting class.

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

—Frederick Buechner

Catherine Fetterman and Jim Sheffield With Jim's Art Exhibit