Southside Series

Gov. Bob McDonnell will speak in Danville next Monday, Aug. 30, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

McDonnell will talk and respond to questions from Virginians about his administration's plans for the future at a town hall meeting as part of the annual Southside Public Leadership Series sponsored by the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia and the Danville Register & Bee.

The 7 p.m. talk, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a Sorensen reception at 8:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend both the town hall meeting and the reception and to participate in the question-and-answer period. The media is welcome and cordially invited to attend.

McDonnell will present a PowerPoint discussion of his plans for government reform and ABC privatization at the next to last "Virginia Speaks: A Conversation about Jobs, Government Reform and Our Future" town hall meeting.

His presentation precedes the question and answer portion of the meeting. McDonnell was sworn in as the 71st Governor of Virginia on January 16, 2010.   As the state’s chief executive, he has expressed a commitment to implement policies and initiatives to create more jobs and opportunities for all Virginians, promote economic development, and lead to greater innovation in state government.

McDonnell's event is the second of three Sorensen-sponsored programs at Danville's Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in a two-month period. The first featured Todd Haymore, Virginia's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, who spoke to a crowd of more than 70 people at the Institute on Aug. 24. Haymore, a native of Pittsylvania County, spoke about leadership, public service  and current issues in agriculture and forestry.

The third event will be an issues forum featuring Fifth District Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, and Republican nominee Robert Hurt, who will face off in a one-on-one televised debate Oct. 21 at the Institute in Danville moderated by Sorensen and co-sponsored by the Danville Register & Bee and WSET-TV and WVIR-TV, which will broadcast the debate live from 7-8 p.m.

 McDonnell's town hall meeting at  7 p.m. on Aug. 30 is free and open to the press and public. For more information, please call Bob Gibson at 434.982.4998.

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*Update: For coverage of this event please go to GoDanRiver.com.

Todd Haymore, Virginia's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, will speak in Danville next Tuesday, Aug. 24, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

Haymore, a native of Pittsylvania County, will talk on leadership and current issues in agriculture and forestry as part of the annual Southside Public Leadership Series sponsored by the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia and the Danville Register & Bee.

The 7 p.m. talk, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a Sorensen reception from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend both the talk and the reception and to participate in the question-and-answer period. The media is welcome and cordially invited to attend.

Todd Haymore became Virginia’s second Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry in January 2010, succeeding Robert S. Bloxom. In addition to serving in Governor Bob McDonnell’s Cabinet and his duties as the chief marketing and development officer of the state’s two largest industries, Haymore is responsible for two of the state’s most well known agencies, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF). He is also responsible for the Virginia Agricultural Council.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Haymore served as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from August 2007 to January 2010. The Department is responsible for over 60 laws and more than 70 regulations relating to consumer protection and the promotion of agriculture. The Virginia Department of Forestry protects almost 16 million acres of forest land from fire, insects and disease and manages 19 state forests and other state lands totaling approximately 58,000 acres for timber, recreation, water, research, wildlife and biodiversity. The agency’s mission is to protect and develop healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians.

Haymore was born and raised on his maternal grand-parent’s Pittsylvania County farm. He began his professional career as a legislative intern in Richmond to former Virginia State Senator Onico Barker (R-19th). From there, Haymore moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as a legislative assistant for former United States Rep. L.F Payne (D-5th). Haymore also served as the congressman’s communications director, as well as deputy campaign manager of Payne’s lieutenant gubernatorial bid. Following his work in Congress, Haymore worked in Danville for DIMON Incorporated, a leaf tobacco company that later merged with Standard Commercial Corporation to form Alliance One International. Haymore then joined Richmond-based Universal Leaf Tobacco Company. He served in various leadership positions from 1999-2007, concluding his time with the company as Corporate Director, External Affairs and Vice President of The Universal Leaf Foundation.

He graduated from George Washington High School in Danville, received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Richmond and his Masters of Business Administration Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He is married to the former Margaret Cary Lewis and they have three children, Catharine Cole Haymore and Elizabeth Whichard Haymore (twins), and Lillian Bryan Haymore.

In this second and final part of the podcast of the Q&A with Bob McDonnell from the Monday evening program in Danville, audience members asked about landfills and recycling, the state budget, biofuels and energy, off-shore drilling, and crime.

Following his remarks, Bob McDonnell took questions from the audience. In this first part of the Q&A podcast, questions covered uranium mining, states rights, jobs and economic development, immigration, public safety, law enforcement, and the war on drugs.

Republican nominee for governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell began the program on Monday evening in Danville with these remarks about his vision for the future of the Commonwealth. This podcast lasts about 20 minutes.

Coy Barefoot and Bob Gibson of the Sorensen Institute welcomed over 200 audience members to the event in Danville on Monday evening to hear Republican nominee for governor, Bob McDonnell.

The next program in the Sorensen Institute's Southside Public Leadership Series will take place tonight in Danville.

Repbulican nominee for Governor, Bob McDonnell, will speak at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (150 Slayton Avenue) from 7-8:30pm. A reception for guests and potential Sorensen applicants will follow the program.

This event is FREE and open to the public. All alumni in the region are strongly encouraged to attend. Please show your support for Sorensen by joining us this evening in Danville.

The program tonight will be recorded in full and made available as a podcast here in the Sorensen Newsroom in the coming days.

The Democratic nominee for Governor, Creigh Deeds, has been invited to participate in a similar open forum in Danville to occur some time in the next several weeks.

For more information on tonight's event, please contact the Sorensen Institute. 

The Sorensen Institute and the Danville Register & Bee hosted an Issues Forum last night in Danville with the three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Governor: Brian Moran, Creigh Deeds, and Terry McAuliffe. The event was moderated by Sorensen's Bob Gibson and former Danville Mayor Linwood Wright. This podcast includes the complete audio of the forum, which ran from 7-9pm. You can read some of the news coverage of the forum here and here.

The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia will host an Issues Forum with the three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Governor: Creigh Deeds, Brian Moran, and Terry McAuliffe.

This event will be held in Danville on Tuesday evening April 28 from 7-9pm at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

The event will be moderated by Sorensen's Executive Director Bob Gibson and former Danville Mayor Linwood Wright.

A full podcast of the Forum will be made available here in the Sorensen Newsroom following the event.

This Issues Forum will be free and open to the public. It will be co-sponsored by the Danville Register & Bee, and is the next event in the Sorensen Institute's Southside Public Leadership Speakers Series.

Stay tuned to the Newsroom for more details.

This has been an unforgettable year for the Sorensen Institute—the 15th anniversary of our founding. We hope you enjoy this collection of photos from throughout this special year. (Press the arrow to play the slideshow and click here to see a larger version of the photos)