Virginia Chapter

National Emergency Number Association

 

 Virginia Chapter Officers

 

President

Hershel Kreis

(James City County)

hkreis@james-city.va.us

(757) 564-2190 - office

3131 Forge Road

Toano, VA  23168

 

First Vice President

Bernard J. “Buster” Brown

Asst. Director Emergency Mgt.

Danville Emergency Services

427 Patton Street

Danville, VA 24543

(434) 799-6535

busterbrown1964@gmail.com

 

Second Vice President

Allan Weese

(Chesterfield County)

PO Box 40

Chesterfield,VA 23832

(804) 796-7065

Fax:  (804) 717-6610

weesea@chesterfield.gov

 

Secretary

Susan Rorrer

(Nelson County)

84 Courthouse Square

Lovingston, VA  22949

(434) 263-7120
SRorrer@nelsoncounty.org

 

Treasurer 

Chris Knights

(Intrado Inc.)
264 Autumn Oaks Lane
Barboursville, VA 22923
(434) 985-6161 - office
chris.knights@intrado.com

 

Immediate Past President

Denise Johnson

(Prince George County)

(804) 733-6449 - office

djohnson@princegeorgeva.org

6600 Courthouse Rd.

Prince George, VA 23875

 
 
 


Officer Biographies

 

President:  Hershel Kreis began working for James City County in September of 1990 after serving 9 years in the Navy.  He started working in the Communications Center in February of 1993.  In 1999, he was promoted to Supervisor.  He has served on two national NENA working groups.  The first developed the Minimum Standards for Emergency Telephone Notification Systems Operating Standard.  The second was the Wide Area/Statewide Emergency Notification Systems Operating Document.  He is a member of both APCO and NENA, and has DCJS General Instructor, VCIN instructor and EMD instructor certifications.  He is a peer member of the Peninsulas EMS Council CISM team. He has been married to his wife Allyson for 7 years and is the proud father of Justin 17, John 13, and Emma 5.  Hershel is involved in amateur radio and is the current President of the Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club and a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club which specializes in radiosports.  He is also involved with his church and is a member of the Gideons.

 

First Vice President:  Bernard J. Brown is currently the Assistant Director of Emergency Management for the City of Danville, Virginia.  His 20+ years in Emergency Services began in 1984 as a driver for a private ambulance company just outside of Buffalo, New York, where he was born and raised.  “Buster”, as he is known by friends and colleagues, came up through the ranks – so to speak.  A list of job titles includes EMT, dispatcher, shift supervisor, and 911 Operations Manager.  When working as the 911 Operations Manager in Greene County, Virginia, Buster implemented EMD and Reverse 911 in the county, and brought a higher-level of state and national training certifications to the agency staff. Buster has been involved with both NENA and APCO on both state and national levels.  He is an APCO adjunct instructor, serving on multiple committees including the state membership committees, as well as chairing the spring 2008 and 2009 Virginia NENA/APCO conference programs.  He is a DCJS Instructor and American Heart Association BLS Instructor.  Buster has lived in Virginia for 5 years and lives in Danville with his wife, Nancy, and four daughters: Rebecca, Laura, Michelle, and Jessica.  His son Adam lives in South Carolina, and his son Korie lives in New York. They are both pursuing their own careers in Public Safety.

 

Second Vice President:  Allan Weese is the Senior Automation Analyst for Chesterfield County Emergency Communications.  Though relatively new to public safety, technology issues are far from new to him. With more than twenty years experience with various technologies, including 10 years experience as the IT Manager for a large Mid-Atlantic engineering firm, he have been a part of the ever-changing cycles within information technologies. He has been a member of NENA for the past six years.

 

Secretary:  Susan Rorrer was elected secretary of the Virginia Chapter of NENA in April of 2007.  Susan graduated from Lynchburg College in Virginia in 1993 with a B.S. Degree in Environmental Science.  She began her career in local government with Nelson County in 1992 and has been employed by the County for the past 15 years, a portion of which time was spent managing the initial implementation of the County’s E-911 system.  Susan currently serves as the Information Systems Director for Nelson County and oversees E-911, GIS and IT systems operations.  Susan resides in Nelson County with her husband, Scott, and their two children, Haley and Zach.

 

Treasurer:  Chris Knights is the current Treasurer of the Virginia NENA Chapter.  Chris graduated with a degree in Geography from Mary Washington College (Fredericksburg, VA) in 1995.  He has since worked in the commercial sector working on Federal, State, and Local government contracts in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) industry.  More recently, Chris spent over four years at MSAG Data Consultants (Orange, VA) where he was a regional Sales Manager selling IT solutions and GIS Public Safety software to PSAPs and other local/state government agencies.  Chris is currently employed at Intrado as an Account Executive selling Next Generation 9-1-1 solutions to the Public Safety industry.  Chris has thorough experience in high-tech sales and consulting with Public Safety agencies on 9-1-1 technology, including Wireless, VoIP, GIS, and 9-1-1 Call-handling.  In addition, Chris currently holds a Governor-appointed position on the Virginia Geographic Information Network (VGIN) Advisory Board.  Chris has been a Virginia resident for 16 years and resides in Greene County with his wife, Erica, and their three children, Lindsay, Jared, and Carson.

 

Immediate Past President:  Denise P. Johnson began her career with the Hopewell Bureau of Police in 1989 as communications officer. In 2002 she was hired as the Communications Manager for Dinwiddie County. In 2004 she was hired with L. Robert Kimball & Associates as a telecommunications specialist. In October of 2005 she was hired as the PSAP Manager for Prince George County where she is currently employed. She has been active on various NENA conference committees. Throughout her career she has been a communications officer, training officer, instructor with the Department of Criminal Justice, EMD instructor and is also an EMT. While with local government she has been involved with two PSAP construction projects. Both of these projects have included building a new PSAP, complete radio replacement, new CAD, phone equipment and managing up to 19 employees. While with Kimball and Associates she worked on a number of different building projects, staffing studies and assessments. She has enjoyed working with the PSAP’s across the state and hopes to continue that relationship as a NENA officer. She is married to Kevin Johnson who is a police officer for the City of Hopewell. She has 5 children, Ariel 16, Stepsons Kevin Jr. 21, and Brian 12 and two stepdaughters Lindsay 19 and Katie 16.

 

 

 

Committees

 

 

2010 Spring Conference Committee – TBA

 

Membership – Emmy Isbell, Chair; Emmy.Isbell@Embarq.com

 

By-Laws Review – George Thomas, Chair; ThomasGK@chesterfield.gov