VDOT Announces New Staff

VDOT Bristol District Engineer

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Tabitha Crowder  

Tabitha Crowder, P.E., has been selected as VDOT’s new Bristol District engineer.

Tabitha will be responsible for the construction, maintenance, operations, project development and business functions of more than 7,400 road miles in the Bristol District’s 12 counties: Lee, Scott, Wise, Dickenson, Russell, Buchanan, Washington, Smyth, Wythe, Grayson, Tazewell and Bland. Tabitha brings tremendous experience to this role from within VDOT and outside of state government. She has been serving as the acting district administrator since November 12.

Tabitha most recently served as the deputy district engineer and locally
administered projects engineer in Bristol District. She has a robust portfolio of experience throughout the Commonwealth, having served as the city manager and director of public works for the city of Bristol, along with multiple positions with the city of Virginia Beach Department of Public Works. She also has a storied career within the private sector as a project engineer and project manager for the LandMark Design Group.

Tabitha has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. She is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

State Location and Design Engineer

Emmett Heltzel, PE has been chosen for the position of the VDOT State L&D Engineer. 

Emmett Heltzel joined VDOT in July of 2003 after a twenty year career that included service in the U.S. Army and engineering work in private consulting practice. In private practice, he has worked on a variety of small and large engineering projects from small building and site development projects to large, complex highway interchange designs. His first VDOT assignment was as one of four assistants to the State Location and Design Engineer.

In this assignment, he provided oversight to two Location and Design Division program areas in the VDOT Central Office in Richmond, Virginia, and served as liaison to three construction districts in the northern part of the state. As an assistant, he also provided engineering liaison and design oversight to several of VDOT’s largest projects including the Springfield Interchange Improvement Project, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement Project, the I-495 Capital Beltway Highway and the I-395/95 HOT Lanes Projects. Emmett has participated in or helped lead many internal Agency and Division work and special project initiatives, and he has served as VDOT liaison during the General Assembly sessions since 2007, helping both to respond to legislation and guide the Agency development of legislation impact statements and ensuing legislation implementation efforts or study responses.

From October 2010 to November 2014 he served as VDOT State Maintenance Engineer. After a period of six months on special assignment duties for the Commissioner of Highways, he began work as the Director of Engineering Management Services in the Location and Design Division, overseeing consultant contract administration, all Division business functions, and the project management, policies and engineering standards program areas. He was promoted to State Location and Design Engineer effective December 25, 2021.

Emmett holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in civil engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia, respectfully. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and is a retired officer in the Army Reserve. Emmett is active in several professional organizations and is a past president of the Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Chief of Policy

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  Angel Deem

VDOT has announced Angel Deem has been selected as VDOT’s new chief of policy and will transition into her new role effective Monday, January 10, 2022.

Angel will be responsible for the agency’s policy, legislative and regulatory affairs including the oversight of the Environmental, Local Assistance, Right of Way, and Governance and Legislative Affairs divisions.

Angel has held many progressive roles and responsibilities throughout her 25 year career in VDOT’s environmental division, beginning as an intern and most recently serving as division director for the last seven years. Much of her career has focused on environmental data management and the development and management of complex National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) studies.

Angel has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a certified business analyst and graduate of the Commonwealth Management Institute and the Virginia Natural Resource Leadership Institute.

Deputy Director of Professional Services Procurement Office (PSPO)

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Jena Richmond  

Jena Richmond joined the Professional Services Procurement Office (PSPO) on December 10th to serve in the role of Deputy Director of the recently established office. 

Jena brings a rich background in complex procurement serving most recently as the Contracts and Procurement Manager of the Seattle Housing Authority.  With over 18 years of public procurement experience ranging from executive level leadership at state agencies to large metropolitan counties, Jena has served in a variety of roles in national organizations such as Procurement Advisor to the Government Finance Officers Association and advisor to the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC) to redevelop the Certified Professional Public Buyers (CPPB) exam.  In addition, Jena has served as a national presenter for HUD regarding best practices for WMBE and Section 3 compliance. 

Jena holds her CPPB from UPPCC and a Master Compliance Administrator certification from the American Contract Compliance Association.  Her experience includes complex professional services, vertical construction, USDOL labor compliance, deployment of multiple financial/contract management solutions, surplus property management, supply chain management, fleet management, and the procurement of goods and services.  Jena is passionate about process improvement, staff development and is excited to join VDOT.