The Randolph-Macon College Board of Associates presented Entrepreneur Achievement Awards to three notable alumni at a Macon Connections gathering on November 15, 2019 at the Westin Hotel in Richmond, Virginia. The awards, established in 2009, recognize alumni who transform a vision into a viable, sustainable enterprise. Recipients demonstrate the ability to envision a unique or highly improved concept and bring it to an extraordinary outcome.

David L. Hartley ’85 was presented the Executive of the Year award; Mark A. Gannon ’97 received the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award; and Allan R. Staley ’82 was presented the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Andrew W. Price ’04, chair of the Macon Connections Committee, welcomed guests, President Robert R. Lindgren shared some remarks, and Cristin K. Traylor ’97, chair of the Board of Associates, presented the awards.

The following awards were presented:

Executive of the Year

David L. Hartley ’85
Head of Private Wealth, Middleburg Financial 

Hartley earned his B.A. in political science from RMC and is a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. He began his relationship with Middleburg in 1999, serving on the Middleburg Trust Company Investment Committee. He became President and CEO of Middleburg Investment Group in 2011, and its subsidiary, Middleburg Trust, in 2015. Middleburg Trust and Middleburg Investment Group became Middleburg Financial in 2019. 

 

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Mark A. Gannon ’97 
Executive Vice President, Talent Management, Recruiting Services, TekStream
Gannon earned his B.A. in economics/business from RMC. His career in the recruiting industry includes a strong track record in corporate recruiting and recruitment consulting, recruiting agency sales, and team management. In 2002, Mark took on a recruiting role for an Atlanta staffing agency. Over his nine years there, Gannon managed new company targets, demonstrating success in building sales delivery teams. In 2011, he co-founded TekStream Solutions, which combines recruiting, talent management and consulting.

 

Entrepreneur of the Year

Allan R. Staley ’82 
President, Misonix, Inc.
Staley earned his B.S. in economics/business from RMC and his J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law. Misonix, Inc. is a medical device company. In 2019, Misonix, Inc. acquired Solsys Medical, LLC. Staley co-founded Solsys in 1999 and serves as its CEO. He previously served as President of Solsys, during which time he led Solsys’ approximately $45M of equity capitalization and $20M of debt capitalization to grow the business. Staley previously served as a partner with the law firm of Patten Wornom Hatten & Diamonstein.

The RMC Board of Associates
Created by the RMC Board of Trustees in 1980, the Board of Associates is an organization of RMC alumni who have pledged to join their talents, energies, resources and wisdom to advance the mission of Randolph-Macon College.