October 2012


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Ella Ward Wants to Represent the People of the 4th District


BY SPECIAL TO HRM Dr. Ella P. Ward wants to


represent the people of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District. Ward is an experienced public servant, an educator at heart and a person who knows how to get the job done.


Her qualifications speak for


themselves. Ward was first elected to Chesapeake City Council in May 2006, and she was re-elected for a second 4-year term on May 4, 2010. She was elected to the Chesapeake School Board in 2000 and re-elected to a second 4-year term in 2004. Ward was appointed to a 4-year term on the Virginia Board of Education by Gov. Mark Warner in January 2003 and re-appointed to another 4-year term by Governor Tim Kaine in January 2007. She was first elected as Vice-president of the Virginia Board of Education on February 15, 2006 and was re-elected to that position for four consecutive terms.


Although she was an elected


official in Chesapeake, Ward served eight consecutive years on the Virginia Board of Education in Richmond and was honored last year for having served the longest term of elected office in the 140-year history of the Virginia Board of Education. She is a retired educator who had 35 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in the Portsmouth Public School System before retiring in 2004.


Ward is an advocate for early


childhood education (0-5 years) and high school industry certifications for technical education in industrial


Sunny Days FROM PAGE 1


finance major, Abrahams first became interested in banking, during a summer internship with a bank his junior year. “[I] had a good summer, learned a lot, and thought ‘You know, I kind of like this,’” Abrahams recalls. “One of the things that summer taught me was that you are always learning something new in this industry.” Today, Abrahams has been in


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


position, Abrahams served as executive vice president of retail banking for SunTrust Bank in Atlanta, Georgia, where he oversaw the development of business strategies for more than 1,700 branch locations.


It does not take long for anyone Dr. Ella P. Ward


manufacturing, technology, and construction.


Due to Dr. Ward’s diligent efforts


as Vice President of Virginia’s Board of Education, 4th District Public Schools are now fully funded and fully accredited, new schools have been built, and extensive renovations have been made on older schools.


Ward wants to serve in Congress to


help end gridlock and work on important issues such as job creation. She believes it will take a series of coordinated efforts to create a large number of new jobs in Virginia and throughout the nation. These efforts include: improving our education system at all levels so the U.S. is competitive worldwide; developing job training programs that reflect 21st century requirements; passing the job creation bill proposed by the Obama Administration which will go a long way to repair our crumbling national infrastructure, e.g., roads and bridges; and repealing tax incentives for outsourcing American jobs.


talking to Abrahams to realize that he loves what he does, and though he is responsible for all of Hampton Roads’ 48 SunTrust Bank locations, he still makes time to engage with business clients. “It is exciting to me to learn about how people decide to make a living,” Abrahams says. “Small business people are pretty amazing in their creativity. I am always amazed with the people I run into, how they have found niches and needs, and how they have cobbled together resources. One of my favorite things to do is to be out talking to our clients.” Abrahams also recognizes the value of great employees or as he refers to them, his “teammates”; there are approximately 500. He is aware that although they are the 8th largest bank in the country, it is their local touch that makes the difference for clients. “There is a certain energy that you get when you are working with people that are actually working with clients, because most people that I have met in this business really enjoy the fact that we help people. We are structured in a way where we intentionally want to keep as many management decisions locally, as possible,” states Abrahams. “We want to deliver locally.”


Abrahams is a big advocate for


Leroy Abrahams gives welcome address during the Regional Inclusion and Diversity Roundtable hosted by SunTrust Bank recently. Photo by HRM staff


the banking industry for 27 years, and has been with SunTrust Bank for nearly seven. Prior to coming into his current


Scholarship Watch Edward S. Roth Manufacturing Engineering Scholarship


Since 1998, the SME Education Foundation has provided over $5.3 million dollars in financial aid through its various scholarship programs. The


Foundation


awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors, current undergraduates and masters or doctoral degree


students pursuing degrees in


manufacturing and related fields at two-year and four-year colleges. Applicant must be a graduating high school senior or current full-time graduate or


undergraduate student seeking a bachelor’s or master’s degree in manufacturing engineering. Preferences will be given to students demonstrating financial need, minority students and students participating in a co-op program. A minimum 3.0 GPA is required.


Minimum Award: $1,000.00


Deadline Details: February 1 Study Areas: manufacturing engineering Sponsor information:


Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation One SME Drive, P.O. Box 930, Dearborn, MI 48121 313 425-3300 313 425-3411 (fax) foundation@sme.org


Visit hamptonroadsmessenger.com for a list of 50 scholarships


community involvement within his company. “It’s easy to get bogged down in the administrative part of the job,” he says. “You really have to just carve out time to make sure that you are still engaging with clients and that you are out in the community and that you are participating in activities, because that is where the real people are.” Abrahams also believes that SunTrust Bank has an obligation to serve its community well. “We are a major employer in town and a major provider of services. That, in itself, gives [us] an opportunity and also creates an obligation for us to give back. Our ongoing involvement in the community is really important. Banks are so tied to the economic environment; contributing back to that economic environment is important to us as an industry.”


Carrying on the torch of


community outreach for SunTrust Bank in Hampton Roads, Abrahams hopes to widen the impact of the company’s past efforts, though he has


already been impressed with what he has seen so far. “When you look at economic development, and when you look at the Arts, there have been a lot of things that our organization has done throughout the years,” says Abrahams. “Maybe most significantly our teammates actually contribute hundreds or even thousands of hours of volunteer help to many local non-profit organizations. Internally, we really try to promote that to the point that we will even give [employees] paid time off to volunteer. We take community involvement very seriously. We also try to stay very much engaged on the people to people basis.”


Abrahams is cognizant of


Hampton Roads’ unique economy, including the importance of its large military presence. “I think the military, especially in this area, is a huge part of the economy and the population,” he admits. “You probably couldn’t find three people out of ten that do not have some affiliation with the military. That’s a population that we definitely want to serve, and we have very well.”


Another area that is important to


Hampton Roads is the small business sector, which is why SunTrust Bank, the FDIC, and the U.S. Small Business Administration and TowneBank are supporting the 2012 Small Businesses Thinking Big Conference to be held on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. In addition to Abrahams’ address, small businesses owners will hear from various community leaders and procurement personnel about the small business climate in Hampton Roads. The event will bring low cost workshops to small businesses from across the region and include a Community Development Awards Luncheon to recognize small businesses and institutions that have made significant contributions to the local economy. “I admire the entrepreneur,” Abrahams states, “The person that gets into business for his or herself, and is essentially married to that business.” For more information about the conference, visit ThinkBigHR. eventbrite.com.


Although he has a long, bright


future ahead at SunTrust Bank, Abrahams has a good idea of what he would like his legacy to be. “Whenever I retire, I want to leave [SunTrust Bank] better than I found it,” he shares. “I would like for people, who work in our organization, to think about my tenure as a time when we worked better as a team than we ever have before.” Abrahams and his wife live in Chesapeake; they have three children.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16