Panelists & Moderator  of

May 24 Small Business Forum

Christina Winn leads the Prince William County Department of Economic Development, catalyzing investment, retention, and redevelopment opportunities in the second largest county in Virginia.

By positioning the county as a leader in the fast-paced, evolving economy of the Greater Washington, D.C. region, Ms. Winn is shaping stages for expansion and collaboration in key target industries, such as life sciences and biotech; last-mile distribution and supply chain logistics; and government contracting. She wants to create higher paying jobs for a highly educated and diverse workforce in Prince William County that will also build capacity for a flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

With more than 20 years of economic development and private sector real estate experience, Ms. Winn is an expert in development programs including finance, incentives, and marketing. Since taking the helm of the department in 2019, Ms. Winn has implemented best practices and programs that attracted more than $9.1 billion in capital investment and 5,300 new and retained jobs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led multiple grant programs, providing more than $32 million in assistance to the county’s business community.

Before her current role, she led Arlington’s Economic Development business investment  group, leading retention, recruitment, and entrepreneurial support. 

Under her leadership, Arlington recruited and retained 200 companies totaling over 14 million square feet of office space and 86,000

jobs. Notable projects include the retention of Corporate Executive Board, Applied Predictive Technologies and Opower as well as the recruitment of Amazon’s HQ2, Lidl US HQ and Nestlé US HQ.

Ms. Winn earned her master’s degree in real estate development from Johns Hopkins University and her bachelor’s degree in economics from Arizona State University.

Since moving to Woodbridge in 1991, John Reid has covered a variety of events since beginning his writing career at Woodbridge Senior High School to becoming a Senior Editor at Northern Virginia Community College and also a Sports Editor at the Commonwealth Times in Richmond. 

Whether it was reporting the Million Man March to working in local elections, John has been involved in the Prince William County community with the purpose of being a voice for the silenced minorities.

 A graduate of Northern Virginia Community College and Grand Canyon University, he has worked as a teacher, minister, basketball coach and media director. He created the PW Perspective in November 2019 and serves as its Editor-In-Chief.

www.pwperspective.com

Charles Gilliam has been the Executive Director of Leadership Prince William since July 2022. Leadership Prince William, is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) serving Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. Its mission is to engage and inspire individuals, organizations, and alumni to enrich the community through collaborative leadership.  

Prior to assuming the Executive Director position, Charles was Chair-Elect from November 2020 - June 2022 and served on the Board of Regents from January 2019 - June 2022, as well as being a Leadership graduate in the Class of 2009 .  

He opened Okra's Cajun Creole in Old Town Manassas in Oct 1998 and closed it in December 2021. He was a board member of Historic Manassas, Inc. from 2011 to 2017 and volunteered with Project Mend-A –House in Manassas for several years.

Charles graduated from Berea College in 1990 with Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Business Administration, Management and Operations, in Hospitality and Business Management

Quote from his LinkedIn page:  “I love what I do. My choice of careers gives me the opportunity to move in a thousand different directions. My objective is to build businesses that focus on the happiness of the people involved, both staff and customer, while providing me with enough time to spend with my own family.”

https://leadershipprincewilliam.org/ 

Clarice Grove-Panelist

Small Business Development Manager for PWC Department of Economic Development (DED)  cgrove@pwcgov.org 

https://www.pwcded.org/

Clarice Grove is the Small Business Development Manager for Prince William County’s Department of Economic Development. In her role, Clarice's mission is to improve the County's economic base by encouraging entrepreneurship and supporting existing small businesses in Prince William County.

Clarice led the County's $5 million Small Business Relief Micro-Grant and helped over 600 businesses remain resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the lasting economic impact of COVID-19, Clarice leads the newest $6 million Restore Retail Grant to assist businesses behind on rent payments.

Aside from grants, Clarice is excited to launch other small business initiatives such as a Small Business Microloan program, Resource Center and Barriers to Success program to increase economic equity for underrepresented entrepreneurs and small business owners. As an advocate for wisdom and knowledge, Clarice aims to ensure small businesses have access to the best business literacy tools and resources.

https://www.pwcded.org/