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GRP recognizes Mancuso with Ukrops Economic Development Service Award
October 28, 2024
“One of the things that I truly admire about Sal Mancusco is that he is a proponent for job creation,” said Charlene Whitfield, GRP Immediate Past Chair and retired Dominion Energy executive. “And it’s not just job creation, it’s about job creation and how it leads to economic development and economic development in terms of a more diverse and equitable region.” Charlene also expressed that her personal conversations with Sal helped her to become a better leader.
The Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP) honored Sal Mancuso, Executive Vice President and CFO of Altria Group, with the Ukrops Economic Development Service Award at the organization’s Annual Meeting on October 21.
GRP created the Ukrops Economic Development Service Award to honor volunteers who have dedicated their time and resources to aiding GRP’s vision of economic prosperity.
Sal’s nearly 8-year commitment to GRP helped the organization welcome many new and expanding companies. Since Sal joined the Board in 2017, Greater Richmond experienced more than $3.7 billion in capital investment and the creation of 11,000+ jobs across 73 different projects.
During his time on the GRP Board of Directors, Mancuso helped steer the organization through unprecedented challenges like the pandemic by prioritizing multi-year strategic plans that considered both public and private sector interests. His visionary leadership has been instrumental in building a sustainable future for Greater Richmond.
Sal’s time on the Board overlapped with that of Leslie Haley, previous GRP Board Chair and current Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to Leslie, “With Sal being on the board since 2017, that overlapped with my commitment in the public sector. Just to have that certainty coming from a large corporate environment (Altria) during rocky times in the business community, just gave us some assurances, and also their unwavering commitment to the region was critically important.”
Sal rolled off GRP’s Board at the end of Fiscal Year ’23. He was a strong advocate for public-private collaboration and long-term strategic planning. His efforts to promote regionalism and corporate social responsibility were pivotal in advancing GRP’s mission.
According to Richmond City Council member and past GRP Chair Dr. Cynthia Newbille, “For me, it is important that we look prospectively for any organization or entity, and so to have someone who is that thoughtful, having just come out of the pandemic but looking prospectively at the opportunities and in a way that’s across the region, becomes key. And having a multi-year strategic plan based on that view becomes key. Being inclusive of the public and private sector becomes key to the success for the overall organization, which means for the success of the region. He was great at that.”
The award is named after Jim and Bobby Ukrop, the first recipients in 2022, for nearly three decades of service to the organization. In 2023, GRP honored previous Board Chairs Angela Kelly-Wiecek of Hanover County and Pat O’Bannon of Henrico County with the award.
“He gets that service aspect or the service side, and I can tell you that what I recall from early in my career, that just doesn’t exist anymore,” said Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas. “Richmond is a much better place for Sal having served what has happened in that time period that he served, because it’s been a remarkable difference.”
For his leadership and strategic insight, the Greater Richmond Partnership is proud to honor Sal Mancuso with the 2024 Ukrops Economic Development Service Award.
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