The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority laid off 25 employees at its headquarters in Hanover County on Tuesday in a reorganization aimed at changing how the state-owned liquor monopoly supplies its retail stores and serves its customers across the state.

The layoffs come three weeks before the authority becomes independent of direct control by the governor and General Assembly, while remaining a significant source of revenue for the state budget to pay for core services provided by state government.

Chief Executive Officer Dale Farino, a former alcoholic beverage distribution executive in Virginia Beach whom Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed as CEO six weeks ago, said it’s not clear what independence will mean for the authority, created in 2015 as a semi-independent body after more than 80 years as a state agency.

But he promised to remain focused on the same bottom line as the governor’s office and assembly budget committees.

“My aim is to operate the authority as a business,” Farino said in an hourlong interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Tuesday. “This has been my marching orders from the governor and the leadership in both the House and Senate, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

“In the end, it’s what does it do to generate more revenues for the state?” he said of the authority’s mission.

Among the changes, former interim CEO Tom Kirby was elevated to a new role as chief operations officer, while keeping his old job as chief law enforcement officer. His new job includes overseeing retail operations, logistics and the distribution center in Hanover that supplies all of ABC’s 403 stores across Virginia. Those responsibilities previously were held by Chief Retail Operations Officer Mark Dunham, who resigned on Friday.

John Singleton will move from his job as human resources director to become chief human resources officer, a new position that replaces the executive job previously held by Chief Information Officer Paul Williams, who was laid off last month. The reorganization also will create a new position of chief commercial officer, which ABC has not yet filled, to oversee marketing, merchandising and other business operations. All of the information technology functions will fall under Chief Financial Officer David Alfano.

The reorganization shrinks the number of previous executive level positions from eight to six. Four executives resigned from ABC last year, including CEO Travis Hill, as the authority came under pressure from the governor’s office to reduce expenses and increase the profits transferred to the state budget. The authority already had eliminated the jobs of chief transformation officer and chief digital and branding officer.

The layoffs did not directly affect ABC’s retail and other field employees, who account for about 3,000 of the 4,000 people whom the authority employs statewide.

The layoffs come after months of turmoil and a projected $110 million shortfall in profits for the next two-year state budget after a steep decline in Virginia liquor sales blew a hole in the budget that the Youngkin administration pushed ABC to adopt in August. The authority responded by leaving jobs unfilled and cutting other operating expenses to manage a projected $4.9 million profit shortfall in the fiscal year that will end on June 30.
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a $1 million federal lawsuit filed by its director of retail operations, Jennifer Burke, who resigned her job on June 3. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne dismissed the case after the parties reached a settlement. The terms of the settlement are not public.

Burke had alleged that ABC had placed her on paid administrative leave last year in retaliation for alleging $1.7 million in lost inventory in the transition of the central ABC distribution center from a more than 60-year-old warehouse in Richmond to a new facility next to the authority’s new headquarters in Atlee in 2022. ABC denied the allegations, asserting in court filings that Burke had been placed on paid leave during an investigation of thefts from stores under her supervision, but was then reinstated.

The authority said lost or stolen inventory, known in the alcohol distribution industry as “shrinkage,” amounted to about $1.1 million, or 0.094% of sales, well below the national average. The estimate was based on a physical count of bottles at the distribution center and retail stories on March 31, 2023.

Farino acknowledged that the authority had not properly accounted for the inventory during the warehouse transition, but he said, “All that has changed since they moved here.”

He said he intends to make more changes, focusing on the culture of the organization, its relationship with suppliers and retail customers, and its operating system to speed the time for delivering orders from 48 hours to overnight.

“Morale when I got here was not good,” Farino said. “There was no comradery. My aim is to restore the comradery.”

He said he wants to “empower” retail store managers and employees to improve how ABC stores serve customers and surrounding communities, instead of putting what he called “rigid guardrails” on how stores operate.

“I’m going to remove those guardrails and allow them to do what they’re being paid to do,” he said.

The son of a former U.S. Navy submariner who settled in Virginia Beach in the early 1960s, Farino spent nine years as an artillery officer in the U.S. Marines Corps. After he left the service, he worked for Coca-Cola and other beverage distributors before returning to Virginia Beach in 1993 to work for Associated Distributors LLC, which now operates as Breakthru Beverage Virginia.

He began as operations director at the company’s warehouse and rose through the ranks over the next 30 years to become its president, before retiring last year. Youngkin appointed him to the ABC Board of Directors as vice chairman earlier this year and then named him CEO on April 23.

​“I was enjoying retirement until I got a phone call from the governor’s office, when I was asked to come and help right a ship,” Farino said.

Author: 13NewsNow.com, Preston Steger, Christopher Collette, Brenna McIntosh
Published: 7:08 PM EST January 19, 2024

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A Virginia ABC location in Portsmouth will be converted to counter service less than a month after a man brazenly stole liquor from the store.
The ABC store on London Boulevard is one of two locations being remodeled, the other being on Turnpike Road, officials confirmed to 13News Now.
Under the counter service model, ABC team members select items as requested by customers. There are other stores with self-service available in Portsmouth and other cities in Hampton Roads.

The London Boulevard closed on Jan. 12 and the modeling project is underway, which Virginia ABC officials said should be done within the next few weeks. 
13News Now spoke to several Portsmouth residents who say they aren’t  happy about the temporary closure, and they aren’t too thrilled with the idea of counter service either.
“I would like to be able to go in the store and touch my own bottle," said Shatiara Mitchell.
“The lines here at like three o’clock in the afternoon are usually pretty long to begin with. Then, if they’re going to have counter service, they’re going to probably be out the door," said Britton Grieser.
Grieser said he can understand why they’re making the change. He said he’s witnessed theft at the London Boulevard store firsthand.
“Usually, it’s couples that come in and somebody will go to the counter, you know, with a couple little airplane bottles or something," he said. "Then their partner will sneak in the back, grab a bottle, and stuff it in their pants...and walk out."
The Turnpike Road store's remodel is done and the store reopened on Jan. 12.


The remodeling comes after the arrest of 41-year-old Diante Jackson of Virginia Beach, who police say stuffed multiple bottles of alcohol down his pants and simply walked out without paying, all while bemused onlookers jeered.

Surveillance video from inside the store on London Boulevard shows the man picking out at least four bottles of top-shelf vodka on Dec. 30.
Additionally, Portsmouth police claimed Jackson had hit this same store before, and stolen more than $3,000 in alcohol.
According to Virginia ABC, the London Boulevard and Turnpike Road locations were among the top five stores across the Commonwealth for theft during the fiscal year 2023.

 December 12, 2023News Release Contact:Virginia ABC Communications - (804) 213-4413
Email: [email protected]
Virginia ABC Announces Dates for Its Alcohol Education and Prevention Grant Applications
​
In an effort to eliminate underage and high-risk drinking, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) will begin accepting applications for the 2024-2025 Alcohol Education and Prevention Grant program on Jan. 1, 2024. 

This is the ninth year Virginia ABC is offering grants to support alcohol education and prevention programs and projects across the commonwealth. 

Since 2013, Virginia ABC has awarded an average of $80,000 each year through its grant program to Virginia organizations working to prevent underage and high-risk drinking. Organizations are eligible to receive up to $10,000 each to support evidence-based programs that have a long-lasting impact and encourage partnerships between organizations. Community coalitions, law enforcement, nonprofits, schools, government entities, colleges and universities, faith-based organizations and prevention-related groups are encouraged to apply. Proposed projects must address prevention in one or more of the following focus areas: 
     •underage drinking  
     •providing or serving alcohol to youth 
     •high-risk drinking 

“We strive to support and work collaboratively with organizations that share our mission to strengthen the commonwealth through public safety and education,” said Katie Crumble, director of Virginia ABC Community Health and Engagement.  

Applications are available online, with a convenient online platform for submission. Virginia ABC has provided an application guide to assist applicants and provide more information about the program. This grant application guide and the grant application are at www.abc.virginia.gov/education/grants.  

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on March 1, 2024.

Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) has earned the Overall Best Practices Award from StateWays magazine, the only national magazine devoted to the issues and subjects that affect the 17 states and multiple local jurisdictions where government manages the sale and distribution of distilled spirits at the wholesale level.

This is the third such recognition for Virginia ABC in the last decade.

StateWays recognized Virginia ABC’s innovations in five categories:

     • Best Distribution/Warehouse Innovation

Team W.O.W. (Warehouse Optimization Workgroup) implemented 54 ways of enhancing operations and logistics; people, performance, and culture; safety and enforcement; and communications and training. The effort led to an increase in cases packed per hour; an increase in cases shipped per day; a reduction in staff turnover; and a record 146 days without injury.

     • Best Enforcement Program

Virginia ABC Licensing (VAL) allows licensees to apply for, renew, modify and surrender any license online. Additionally, VAL processes all fees and fines online, eliminating the need for people to drive to an ABC regional office. The system was developed to replace a largely paper-based system. 

     • Best Technology Innovation

A dedicated call center has improved the Authority’s phone call answer rate from 60% to 97%. Improved, quality service has led to more incoming calls, an estimated 33,000 this year. The call center also features data tracking and metrics that were not previously available.

     • Best Licensee Outreach Program

In response to a change in state law, the ABC Community Health and Engagement Division developed the Responsible Alcohol Delivery Driver (RADD) training. This 45-minute online training educates licensees and alcoholic beverage delivery drivers on delivery best practices. More than 15,000 people have taken the training, with 89% of survey participants agreeing the training was relevant to their job duties.

     • Best Retail Innovation

To create an equitable way of selling allocated products (primarily bourbons), Virginia ABC created the drop system. Store locations and times are randomized, and once a drop occurs, store employees receive a five-minute heads-up notifying them that a range of products are now available for sale. Shortly after that, Virginia ABC announces the drops to the public via email and social media. Products are then made available to customers on a ¬first-come, ¬first-serve basis, with a limit of one product per person. Earlier this month, Virginia ABC added text notifications for drops.

StateWays’ editorial staff judged all award entries and deemed the totality of Virginia ABC’s entries deserved the highest recognition.

“This award from StateWays recognizes our commitment to accountability, service, integrity and performance excellence,” said CEO Travis Hill. “Earning this honor speaks to the incredible teamwork that is part of our culture and  values. I am thrilled to be a part of such an incredible team that has accomplished so much in service to the commonwealth.”

"We’re proud to recognize the Virginia ABC as our Best Practices Awards Overall Winner for 2023," said Jeremy Nedelka, StateWays magazine vice president. "The agency is our first three-time winner, repeating an achievement from 2015 and 2021. Our judges chose Virginia as the ‘Best of the Best’ due to innovation and operational excellence across a number of areas, including distribution, technology and licensee education."

The fall 2023 digital edition of StateWays is available at this link.

News Release Contact:Virginia ABC Communications - (804) 213-4413 
Email: [email protected]