Nick, is an enthusiastic intern at GENEDGE, focusing on client services and project support. He assists in developing client-facing reports, attend client meetings to capture service needs, and support outreach programs. Additionally, Nick engages with the Commonwealth’s manufacturing community to enhance GENEDGE’s recognition and perform various administrative tasks to support the team.
Frank serves as the Business Service Director for Food & Beverage, and Energy Management. He recently acquired his Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification.
Frank is a seasoned strategist with more than 12 years of strategy experience helping small, medium, and large Fortune 500 organizations in the manufacturing, energy, finance, and healthcare industry to craft, shape, and implement innovation strategies and best solutions to prospective client’s situations to deliver revenue growth, introduce new products and capabilities, and enhance customer experiences.
To help clients achieve their winning aspiration, Frank develops and leads execution of strategic possibilities that are desirable (via conducting market and user research), feasible (via using Lean Six Sigma and Business Design), and viable (via running financial models).
He earned his MBA from University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management in Strategy, holds a master’s in chemical engineering degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and possess a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society of Quality (ASQ), Project Management (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), and a Business Innovation certificate from IDEO.
Francisco Gonzalez is a Regional Growth Manager in the Roanoke/New River service area that includes the cities of Bristol, Covington, Galax, Lynchburg, Norton, Radford, Roanoke, Salem and includes the counties of Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, and Wythe.
With a +25-year career in the automotive industry, he defines his core mission as “to provide strategic guidance and drive to technical teams and business leaders, so they can take decisive actions to turn innovative concepts into reality”. His focus is on advancing product and process technologies, that are implemented as new manufacturing solutions that elevate performance, cost-effectiveness, safety, and environmental sustainability of vehicle systems. Passionate about fostering a culture of creativity, experimentation, and collaboration.
Francisco earned his MS in Automotive Systems Engineering at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Sean Storan is a Regional Growth Manager at GENEDGE where he will lead business development efforts to support manufacturers to innovate, compete, and grow in Region 5.
Sean is an accomplished senior executive with an extensive record of achievement across trade, international, and organizational boundaries, building and leveraging strategic partnerships with individuals, companies, grassroots organizations and targeted demographics to achieve market expansion. Diverse business development experience in both public and private sectors, including planning and executing successful political campaigns, winning over $600M in foreign direct investment for the Irish government, and growing a start-up from inception to $20M in contracts in less than 2 years.
Prior to working for GENEDGE, he was the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Integrity ISR, LLC, where he played pivotal role in growing the start-up to over $6M in annual revenue with over 50 highly skilled employees in 2023.
Sean received his Bachelor’s Degree in 2004, from Sligo Institute of Technology in Sligo, Ireland, where he graduated with honors.
Cheryl Valentine is a Regional Growth Manager at GENEDGE where she will lead business development efforts to support manufacturers to innovate, compete, and grow in Region 3.
Prior to joining GENEDGE, Cheryl was the director of New Business & Underwriting for Pacific Life Insurance Company. Prior to this Cheryl was previously in the footwear industry where she oversaw sales and marketing and supported over 2,000 independent footwear retailers across the United States. Prior to this she was with Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., where she was on a team that started a new medical school in conjunction with Virginia Tech. At the medical school she managed various functional areas including marketing, communications, strategy, and institutional effectiveness. Cheryl started her career with Coopers and Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) as an associate working on buy-side mergers and acquisitions in New York City.
Cheryl has a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Cheryl lives with her husband and two children in Lynchburg, Va. She enjoys cooking for her friends and family and being outdoors, especially if it involves downhill skiing
Business Service Director – Operations Support
A former manufacturing executive, Eades has led numerous large plant transformations, including performance turnarounds, rapid volume growth and product line changes.
He has extensive experience as a supervisor, engineer, production manager and operations manager. For over 15 years, he served as a plant manager for companies such as Blue Ridge Fireboard, IKEA Industry, Elkay Manufacturing, Mohawk Industries, and Armstrong Flooring.
Eades earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. A resident of Danville, Va., he is an officer of the Pittsylvania County Public Library Foundation and served on the board of the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce for several years.
Director, Business Services
Phone: (276) 525-0088
Email: ccarrico@genedge.org
Sam Wolford is a Director of Client Services in the southwest Virginia service area that includes the cities of Bristol, Galax, Norton and includes the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe.
Sam’s role as a Director of Client Services is to establish and maintain new relationships with economic developers, industrial associations, and local manufacturing, industrial, and technology companies in his region. He collaborates directly with clients managing the full lifecycle of projects and supporting them in their strategic goals.
With over 24+ years of experience, Sam has expertise in leading, mentoring, developing, managing, and implementing solutions in engineering, technologies, emergency operations, process improvement, organization development, workforce development, and project/program management.
Sam has a personal narrative of strategic innovation, and creative collaboration, leading to successful operational and program management, and project delivery. He has tackled complex challenges and provided programmatic solutions for many clients and organizations across the region he serves. This is evident from having successfully led GENEDGE programs including the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program in partnership with the MidAtlantic Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (MATAAC), the regional Heart of Appalachia Collaborative Economic Transition Project, and GENEDGE itself through an internal organization improvement program.
Prior to joining GENEDGE, he supported Tazewell County by leading the operation of Public Safety, Technology, Workforce Development, and by providing special project coordination across various governmental disciplines. Tazewell County received two Governor’s Technology Awards for Innovative Use of Technology in Economic Development and in Government through Sam’s program work during his time there. Sam holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering Technology from Bluefield State College School of Engineering Technology & Computer Science and holds competencies in Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt
Outside of GENEDGE, Sam is actively involved in non-profit organizations as a member of boards of directors and advisory boards for both educational institutions and service organizations.