Matt Mader, Senior Land Development Engineer, celebrated his recent graduation from the Virginia Maritime Association’s (VMA) Maritime Leadership Certification Program (MLCP)—VHB’s fourth graduating member since the program was founded in 2020. The MLCP provides education on the maritime and logistics community and helps participants develop the critical skills necessary to be impactful leaders. As an active member of VMA, VHB contributes to the organization’s mission through advocacy, volunteering, membership, and thought leadership.
“The VMA MLCP exposed me to all facets of the maritime industry, connected me with maritime professionals, and taught me about this important local industry that has global economic impacts,” Matt comments. “It’s had an immediate positive impact on my work with clients across the I-64 corridor—from Richmond to Virginia Beach—integrating maritime insights into transportation and infrastructure planning to support regional growth.”
Graduates were celebrated during Maritime Day 2025, which also included a VMA Legislative session. VHB joined more than 80 VMA members and 85 state delegates and senators to identify, discuss, and advocate for key initiatives, including the Virginia Ready Sites program funding and increased economic development marketing budget to enhance our Commonwealth's competitive edge.
The knowledge gained from the VMA has been impactful as VHB leads a region-wide planning project with the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission to address the needs of commercial seafood and marine industries at publicly-owned, rural, working waterfronts in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula region. The goal of the project is to develop recommendations for a suite of shovel-ready, high-priority multimodal transportation infrastructure improvements.
To learn more about how VHB is supporting our maritime industry partners in Virginia, please contact Piotr Swietuchowski via email or connect with him on LinkedIn.
