The Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association (ACVA) has named two new members to its Board of Governors. Bill Connors, Executive Director and COO for the National Business Travel Association, based in Alexandria, and Troy Clayton, Owner and Chef of Old Town’s Geranio Ristorante, were presented by the ACVA Board to the Alexandria City Council who approved their nomination to serve on the ACVA Board.
“We are pleased to welcome to our Board these two leaders in their respective areas of tourism,” said Stephanie Brown, President and CEO of the ACVA. “Bill will serve in a governor-at-large capacity, while Troy will serve as a representative of Alexandria’s restaurant sector.”
The 16-member ACVA Board provides strategic direction and policy guidance to the operations of the 300-member association. Members represent a cross-section of Alexandria’s tourism industry, serving a two-year term. Governors are eligible to serve consecutive two-year terms.
In his professional capacity as executive director and COO of the National Business Travel Association, the leading source for networking, advocacy, education, news and information for corporate and government travel professionals, Connors is well-versed in the benefits and challenges of business travel in today’s economy and will provide insight into Alexandria’s business travel sector that accounts for nearly 70 percent of hotel stays in the City.
As owner and chef of Geranio Ristorante in Old Town Alexandria since 1998, Clayton offers the perspective of a successful restaurateur, a small business owner and an award-winning chef who is a part of Alexandria’s growing culinary reputation.
The ACVA Board of Governors voted to reappoint its FY 2008 executive committee to serve a second two-year term. The executive committee members include: Chair John Varghese, General Manager of the Westin Alexandria and President of the Alexandria Hotel Association; Vice Chair Charlotte Hall, Vice President of the Potomac Riverboat Company; Treasurer Charlie Banta, General Manager of the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center; Officer At-large Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager; Officer At-large Robert Lorenson, Owner of The Virginia Shop; and Secretary Stephanie Brown.
As it welcomes two new governors to its Board, the ACVA also expresses gratitude to two departing governors who have served the association during a time of change and growth for Alexandria’s tourism industry, resulting in increased marketing tourism responsibility for the association.
Jim Singerling, Chief Executive Officer of Club Managers Association of America, based in Alexandria, who also serves as President of the Board of Trustees of The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and Pat Troy, Owner of Pat Troy’s Restaurant & Pub and veteran organizer of Alexandria’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Irish Festival, have both stepped down after serving on the Board for two consecutive terms. The ACVA will publicly recognize their services at the Annual Membership Meeting on September 25.
“We can’t thank our retiring ACVA Board members Jim Singerling and Pat Troy enough for the many tireless hours they have volunteered on behalf of our tourism industry,” Brown said. “Their professional expertise and support of Alexandria’s tourism industry have been vital to the work we have accomplished over the past four years.”
