Client Services

Francisco Gonzalez

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.

Tim Rombach

Tim Rombach is a Regional Growth Manager in the Central and Northern Virginia areas that include the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond, and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Greensville, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Surry, and Sussex.

Tim is a sales champion with success in consultative selling based on building trust and delivering solutions. He is entrepreneurial and skilled in opening new markets, developing distribution channels, introducing new products, developing and retaining profitable business.

Tim earned his BA from Alleghany College in Political Science and Communications.

Sean Storan

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

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

Sam Wolford

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.

Steve Dalton

Steve Dalton is the Regional Growth Manager for the Shenandoah Valley/Blue Ridge Region. Steve’s role as a Regional Growth Manager 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.

His service area includes the cities of Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro, Winchester and includes the counties of Albemarle, Augusta, Bath, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Greene, Highland, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Page, Rappahannock, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren.

Steve is a results-oriented, client-driven Sales Professional, Team Leader, Business Coach and Entrepreneur with over 30 years of proven results. An effective communicator who is skilled at assessing needs and providing profitable solutions.

Before joining the GENEDGE team, Steve worked: as a Sales Manager Consultant & Leadership Coach at Peak Performance Coaching LLC; as the Owner/Entrepreneur & Product Designer for HOUSEHOLDSUPPLIES.COM LLC; as Senior Team Leader at Allstate Insurance Corporation; and as the VA Territory Manager/Developer for Diamond Paper Corporation.

Steve holds an Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Averett University of Danville and an MBA from Radford University. Certifications and affiliations include ACC Leadership/Business Coach ICF (International Coaching Federation), ITIL certification, and Chamber of Commerce Import / Export certification.

In his free time, Steve enjoys spending time with family at Smith Mountain Lake, biking, coaching sports, and boating.