Agency’s chief of staff to businesses: Rivanna Station workers ‘will fit in’

Defense Intelligence Agency employees soon to arrive at Albemarle County’s Rivanna Station post will be a good fit with their fellow Central Virginians, the agency’s chief of staff told local business leaders Thursday night.

Phillip R. Roberts, third in command at the DIA, told the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council that military and civilian personnel being stationed at the Albemarle County facility would be good neighbors.

Roberts made his comments at the council’s 11th-annual awards gala at Farmington Country Club that recognized winners of seven awards and those who were nominated.

Roberts likened the DIA employees and divisions to those nominated for the awards in dedication to work, country, community and innovation.

“We will fit in, we will exemplify the values of others in the community,” he told the council. “We are sending you DIA employees who volunteer in your schools, cook meals for the needy, usher in your churches.”

More than 800 Defense Intelligence Agency jobs will move here as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure process. Most of those moves will occur in 2010 and 2011, though exact timetables haven’t been established.

The jobs are being relocated to Rivanna Station from facilities in Northern Virginia, as well as Bolling Air Force Base in Washington. The work includes military and government personnel, civilian jobs and contractors.

The Base Realignment and Closure commission recommended changes to push federal employees out of the Washington area as the nation’s vast network of military bases is realigned.

The business innovation council presented three people and four organizations with awards at the dinner.

David Chen, director of the Coulter Translational Research Partnership at the University of Virginia, won the People’s Choice Navigator Award for “significant contributions toward the improvement or advancement of the high-tech, business, and/or entrepreneurial environments” in the community.

Matt Shields, a teacher at Charlottes-ville High School, received the Red Apple Award for his ability “to inspire and prepare students for the limitless possibilities in technology.”

Arin Sime, of OpenSource Connections, was honored with the CBIC Leadership Award as the volunteer who “demonstrated exemplary leadership and contributed most significantly toward the organization’s mission.”

Organizations receiving awards include Electra Watch Inc., the Rocket Award; ecoMOD, the Spotlight Award; PluroGen Therapeutics Inc., the Breakthrough Award; and Virginia National Bank, the Community Award.