Gov. Youngkin appoints former Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms to state economic board

Former Virginia Beach mayor and banker Will Sessoms, who survived a conflict of interest scandal while in office in 2014, has been tapped for a state post.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently picked Sessoms to serve as one of 17 board members on the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

“I am honored that I was selected,” said Sessoms, 68, who works part-time at TowneBank in its property management division.

During his second term as mayor in 2014, Sessoms retired as president of TowneBank after a Virginian-Pilot investigation revealed he had voted dozens of times on City Council agenda items that involved developers who had borrowed from his employer.

He was subsequently convicted of violating the state’s conflict of interest law. Sessoms has said he made a mistake and did not intentionally vote on projects that involved TowneBank.

Sessoms rallied to win a third term as mayor in 2016, but resigned barely a year and a half in to consider other job offers.

The economic development board was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 “to encourage, stimulate, and support development and expansion of the Commonwealth’s economy” through business recruitment, expansion, and international trade, according to its website.

One of Sessoms’ priorities on the board will be to bring more high paying jobs to Virginia. He has the extra time to focus on it now because he doesn’t work at the bank on Mondays and Fridays, he said.

“This will be a good thing for me to fit into my new lifestyle,” said Sessoms. “I’ll roll up my sleeves and push hard.”

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com