Pamunkey Indian Enterprises - Professional Services

07/04/2023

06/15/2023

Jim Cheng has over 30 years experience as a technology entrepreneur, angel/private capital investor, business leader and a senior state government executive. He currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer for PIE-PS, a Tribal 8(a) IT service firm owned by the Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia.

Jim is also co-founder of CAV Angels, a UVA Alumni based Angel Investment Group. He is also a member/advisor to several other Angel/Venture groups and high tech Startups. He is an Executive Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also serves on numerous boards/advisory boards of community non-profit organizations and for-profit technology companies.

From Jan 2010 to Jan 2014, Jim served as the Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia. His portfolio included about 2000 personnel at 13 agencies, with responsibilities ranging from economic development, housing, employment, export, licensing, tourism, mining and energy. His responsibilities included interacting with stakeholders, policy experts, State General Assembly members, US Congressmen and Senators, and other US Governors and their staff.

Also a large part of his duties included interacting with the highest levels of foreign corporations and governments on trade and related issues. He planned and led over 12 overseas trade delegations (many with the Governor), including trips to UK, Germany, France, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Israel.

Before his role in state government, Jim was an active Angel and Venture investor specializing in technology companies. He was the President of Totus Lighting Solutions, a startup efficient-energy firm, and mentored several emerging companies.

From 1994-2005 he was founder and CEO of CHM, a government contracting firm specializing in Information Technology, which he grew from a staff of 5 people to 550 and $90M in revenue at the time of sale in 2005. Among the many awards and recognition he received, in 1999 CHM was named Virginia Business Magazine’s fastest growing private company in Virginia and the 12th fastest growing private US company by Inc Magazine’s “Inc 500”. In 2001 he was named SE Virginia’s KPMG Entrepreneur of the year. From 1981-1994 at ECI, a government IT contracting firm, he held various management and technical positions, rising to the position of Sr. Vice President of Marketing.

Jim holds a BS Degree in Computer Science from Old Dominion University, an MBA from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business (UVA) and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

05/29/2023

In remembrance 🇺🇸

05/11/2023

Sean is an IT Specialist for Project Director Joint Services at Picatinny Arsenal and has been at Picatinny for about 17 years. He has previously worked for Project Manager Close Combat Systems and Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems.

Sean attended Kean College (which is now Kean University) and received a B.S. in Computer Science. He is certified by Microsoft as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Sean has always loved being near water. He and his wife, Melinda, bought a fixer-upper lake house when they were still dating. Having survived a home renovation together, they decided to get married and eloped in the Bahamas. Sean and Melinda have a 12-year-old daughter named Maci. The Bennetts spend their summers boating, fishing, and swimming on the lake and Maci competes on the lake swim team.

Here are a few Fun Facts about Sean:

He raced motocross when he was in high school.

While working various construction jobs to help pay his way through college, Sean gained a love for carpentry and building. When he sees an old, run down house, he wants to buy it and fix it up.... and sometimes he does.

He's a certified welder.

He was a licensed real estate agent for 20 years.

05/03/2023

Teachers learn about the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s living culture and connection to a river.

04/07/2023

Gary Gisolo is a retired Marine Corps officer having spent 2 years in the Inactive Reserve and 28 years on active duty as an Infantry officer (8 years) and Aviator (20 years); he has over 3000 hours in the CH-46, CH-53, UH-1, AH-1, F/A-18 and F-5 aircraft. Upon retiring from the Marine Corps as a Colonel in 2001, he went to work for a congressional think tank – Potomac Institute for Policy Studies – as the Deputy for the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities. From 2006 through 2013, Gary worked for Chenega Federal Systems in various positions from Program Manager through President of the company. From 2013 through 2021 Gary started and owned two businesses – The Leader’s Edge – a small business consulting company and ARCpoint Labs of Washington DC – a drug, alcohol, DNA, clinical testing facility. Selling his half of the lab on 1 January 2022, Gary came to work for PIE-PS on 8 August 2022 as the Program Manager for our Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point NC and Picatinny Arsenal MD contracts.

Born and raised in New York, Gary attended the University of New Mexico, earning a BA in English; he subsequently earned his MS in National Security and Strategic Studies from the National War College, National Defense University, Washington DC. Gary is married to Linda, his wife of 44+ years, and has 2 grown children and 3 grandchildren.

A few fun facts:

Gary is from a Marine family – his father was a Marine in World War !!; he was a Marine during the Vietnam and Desert Shield / Desert Storm era; his son was a Marine; his sons-in-law were Marines. However, Gary smartened up and married Linda, a Navy Nurse.

Gary’s mother Georgia will be 102 years old in April – she lives with Gary and Linda – she is a World War II veteran as well – she was in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and transitioned to the Women’s Army Corps – she got out of the Army in 1944 – 79 years ago.

Gary has been learning to play the guitar the past year.

03/17/2023

Opening weekend of the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center has been announced with a new exhibition!

OPENING WEEKEND:
The Pamunkey Indian Museum & Cultural Center will reopen to the public for the 2023 season the weekend of April 1-2, 2023. Hours of operation will be 10am to 4pm.

EXHIBITION OPENING:
We are very excited to announce that "PAMUNKEY NUNOWÁM" will open to the public on April 1st. The exhibition celebrates the modern Pamunkey people through the lens of contemporary Pamunkey photographer, Rebecca Hill.

01/27/2023

Rudy is the Chief Development Officer for PIE-PS, focusing on business development, capture management, and proposal development for PIE-PS and the 1A3 Joint Venture. He is a California transplant and has been a federal contractor for over 40 years. During his career he has worked on stealth aircraft, with Navy dolphins and sea lions, SONARs for submarine and mine warfare, in military training, and in virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality systems.

Now in the sunset of his career, Rudy focuses on generating growth through unconventional business development approaches, decomposing/recomposing technical capabilities to develop solutions to address the Government’s evolving needs. When he’s not musing about the next big thing, Rudy enjoys spending time with his wife Marcia and son Spencer, singing along with his ukulele (usually alone, but sometimes in front of others), playing computer chess, and hunting for wild edibles on his wooded acreage in Virginia.

Here are a few fun facts:

Developed a conformal acoustic lens based on a baby diaper.

Avid paddle sportsman – Raced Hawaiian outrigger canoes and raced/coached Chinese Dragon Boat racing teams.

Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) G**o (teacher) – Nearly 20 years teaching martial arts based on edged weapons and sticks.

12/12/2022

Mike is the Chief Operating Officer of PIE-PS and FedTribe. Mike has been involved in entrepreneurship, business start-ups and business expansion most of his working career. He created the Gifford Real Estate Team as an associate real estate broker and formed a real estate investment company that renovates properties in Richmond and the surrounding areas.

When he's not working, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife, Heather, and their three wonderful children.

Here are a few fun facts about Mike:

He is a citizen of the Pamunkey Tribe.
He delivers food for Meals on Wheels.
He ran hurdle events in college for the University of Richmond.

12/08/2022

We had a wonderful time visiting with our staff at Picatinny this week. It was a pleasure spending time with you all!

11/09/2022

Our CEO, Kevin Krigsvold, will be speaking at Saturday’s Reclaiming the Monument event.

Special Guest: Kevin Krigsvold is the President and CEO of Pamunkey Indian Enterprises. He is a proud citizen of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe with more than 25 years of experience in the federal/government contracting world. Kevin attended Old Dominion University, where he majored in Communication. Upon graduation, he initially worked at WAVY TV 10 and WTKR Channel 3 where he learned the craft of digital story telling. After a few years in TV news, he decided to go back to graduate school and accepted a NASA funded graduate school scholarship to Hampton University (HU). In addition to graduate school, he also accepted a job at NASA Langley Research Center as an associate producer for NASA Langley’s budding television production team. As an associate producer, he was on the ground floor of the production of a NASA STEM-based television program entitled NASA CONNECT. This program earned numerous awards and the title of “Best Distance Learning Program in the Country”. Based on this success, Kevin was promoted to Senior Producer and Program Manager where he eventually managed and created numerous television and radio programs including NASA’s Destination Tomorrow, NASA 360, The Discovery Now Radio Program, and NASA X. For his efforts, Kevin has been awarded more than 60 professional peer reviewed awards, including seven Emmy Awards. Kevin eventually took a short hiatus from program management and television production in accepting a job as the congressional lead for the Census Bureau for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this position he regularly worked with congressional members, their staff, and with city and state government officials. After much success in the federal world, Kevin was asked by the Chief and Council of his tribe to take on a leadership position to build a tribally-owned business that focuses on obtaining federal contracts. As the CEO for Pamunkey Indian Enterprises, and its affiliate companies, Pamunkey Indian Enterprises - Professional Services and FedTribe, Kevin is now leading the effort to build PIE into a revenue generator for the Pamunkey Tribe and its partners. Outside of his professional accomplishments, Kevin’s greatest claim to fame is being a husband to his wife Sasha, and father to his beautiful children, Sabine and Roman.

We are excited to share that Kevin will be giving opening remarks on Saturday evening.

Reclaiming the Monument ▪️ Pamunkey Indian Tribe & Reservation ▪️ Mellon Foundation

11/07/2022

Check out this video featuring FedTribe employee, Ethan Brown!

"Ethan is a Virginia artist working in multiple mediums including Gourd art, Oil Painting, Sculpture, and Filmmaking. He is a Pamunkey Tribal Citizen and resident of the Pamunkey Indian Reservation in King William, Virginia. A self taught artist— Ethan’s work is inspired by Pamunkey history and culture, Virginia’s flora and fauna, dreams, intuition, and spirituality.

Ethan is a featured collaborator of Reclaiming the Monument's Recontextualizing Richmond project, a year long effort to create collaborative temporary work of monumental art that tell the untold stories of Richmond's history.

This work was made in collaboration with the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center, The Valentine, and was made possible by the support of the Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project."

Ethan Brown is a Virginia artist working in multiple mediums including Gourd art, Oil Painting, Sculpture, and Filmmaking. He is a Pamunkey Tribal Citizen an...

11/04/2022

Kevin Krigsvold is the President and CEO of PIE, PIE-PS, and FedTribe. He spent 25 years working as a federal contractor at NASA where he produced national TV and radio programs, and two years as Congressional Lead in Virginia for the Census Bureau.

When he's not working, Kevin enjoys spending as much time as he can with his two amazing children, Sabine and Roman, and his wife Sasha.

Here are a few fun facts about Kevin:
✨He is a 7-time Emmy award winner.
✨He is a member of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.
✨His first job was a as a costumed interpreter at Jamestown's Indian Village.

11/02/2022

November 1st marks the beginning of Native American Heritage Month in the United States.

As we all celebrate indigenous history and resilience over the coming month, we’d like to start by taking the time to reflect on the history of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe here at the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center.

Pamunkey Tribal history dates back more than 12,000 years, prior to European contact based on archaeological evidence in the region. For centuries, Tribal Citizens have lived along the Pamunkey River on the mid-Atlantic coast. The Pamunkey Tribe was one of the six core tribes of Tsenacomoco (more commonly known as the Powhatan Chiefdom) which was a political alliance of Algonquian-speaking tribes that was ruled by Wahunsenacawh, or Powhatan, when contact with Europeans took place in 1607.

The Tribe played a key role in the Europeans’ first contact with the New World. Early treaties in the 1600s established tribal lands, of which, the Pamunkey Indian Reservation today is a part of. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi Tribes will participate in the 345th Tax Tribute Ceremony with the Governor of Virginia in November, paying tribute in the form of game and gifts.

Today, the Pamunkey Tribe is one of 11 state-recognized tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of seven federally-recognized tribes in the state. Tribal citizens have worked to preserve their rich history and culture, our museum and collection is an extension of this work open to the public.

With the commencement of this month, we welcome all to study the history of indigenous people in Virginia and to support the futures of tribal communities throughout the country.

Events happening in November:
▪️ 11/11-11/13 TSENACOMMACAH at Libby Hill in Richmond from 6-10pm

▪️ 11/10 & 11/18-11/20 6th Annual Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival

10/11/2022

PIE-PS is thrilled for Ethan Brown! Ethan is an employee of FedTribe, a sister company in the PIE family of companies owned by the Pamunkey Tribe. He is also a member of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.

He is currently serving as the inaugural Karenne Wood Native Artist/Writer in Residence at the Humanities Research Center (HRC) in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

“It’s been an honor having Ethan on the Monroe Park Campus, and we hope this is the beginning of a long and productive collaboration between the HRC and Virginia Indigenous communities,” said Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., director of the HRC...

"We hope to continue to partner with units on campus to make this residency available annually to Indigenous writers and artists in Virginia and beyond,” she said. “It is high time we listened to Indigenous voices and reexamined our settler colonial history.”

To read the full article, click the link below.

Brown is serving as the inaugural Karenne Wood Native Artist/Writer in Residence at the Humanities Research Center.

10/10/2022

Shelley is our Chief Growth Officer and serves as a key member of the PIE-PS Advisory Board. She has extensive experience in business development and the federal contracting world.

When not driving PIE-PS's corporate growth, you can find her in the garden, doing crossword puzzles, spending time with her husband or visiting her daughter in Orlando.

Here are a few fun facts about Shelley:

✨Her fig tree produced 88lbs of figs last year!

✨She is an avid sports enthusiast, playing racquet sports, golf, swimming, and speed walking.

✨She enjoys harvesting her herbs, fruits, and veggies to make goodies for family and friends.