Talk to Ryan Dunn, executive director and CEO of the Virginia Dental Association (VDA), and you’ll hear his passion for the organization – a 155-year-old nonprofit that advocates for nearly 4,000-member dentist practices across Virginia. VDA’s vision is to continually improve the quality of dental education and treatment in the state.

“We are the voice of dentistry in Virginia,” says Ryan, who just began his seventh year at the VDA. “We speak on behalf of and look out for our members who are focused on promoting excellent oral health among Virginians. We take that on with great responsibility, understanding that a person’s overall health has got to include oral health, and unfortunately, sometimes people overlook oral health as a preventative and as a pre-determinate for other health issues.”

Ryan sees a direct correlation between the business climate in Virginia and the dental profession. “Most of the dental offices are small businesses with the majority of them independently owned. Starting a business and running it successfully, in addition to treating patients is not easy without support. I really believe that the American dream lives inside of dentistry.”

When a dental practice joins the VDA they actually become a member of three associations at once: the American Dental Association (ADA) at the national level; the VDA at the state level; and the local or “component” dental society. VDA divides Virginia into eight local societies: Richmond, Tidewater, Peninsula, Southside, Piedmont, Shenandoah, southwestern Virginia, and northern Virginia.

“The local association level is where members attend in-person meetings and enjoy networking, training, and peer-to-peer contact,” explains Ryan. “At the statewide level, we spend a lot of our time on advocacy in the General Assembly. The profession is regulated by the government (the board of dentistry), so we maintain these relationships and oversee the regulation. Once a year we have a big event in January called Dental Days at the Capitol where we’ll have 200+ dentists and dental students come to Richmond to make sure everyone understands the issues impacting dentists and their patients.”

According to Ryan, the biggest issue impacting dentistry right now is a workforce shortage. “There is a huge shortage of dental hygienists and dental assistants in the Commonwealth,” he explains. “It’s nationwide, but currently in Virginia we have more licensed dentists than we have hygienists. Being a hygienist is a wonderful career that pays well, but unfortunately in the Richmond area right now there is no two-year certificate program, there is only a four-year degree program at VCU. So we are working with the governor and the community college system to remove any hurdles, regulations or legislation that’s in the way.”

Ryan first connected with TowneBank about three years ago when Arlen Penfield, a friend from church, joined the Towne team as vice president and private banker. Ryan soon started working with Arlen and moved the VDA’s accounts and his personal accounts to Towne. 

“When I found out Arlen was moving to TowneBank, I couldn’t be more excited for him because Towne has such a great reputation,” recalls Ryan. 

“They operate differently; they personalize banking. I like working with TowneBank because I know I’m going to talk to someone who genuinely knows me. It’s a personal touch in banking that just isn’t there in most places.”

The VDA has invited representatives from other Towne companies in to talk with members about employee benefits, insurance, and mortgage. Ryan noted that a portion of the TowneBank website is even devoted to dental practices. “It’s called private banking solutions for dental practices and practitioners, and it’s a specific package set up for dentistry. They recognize that dental practices are unique, small businesses so that’s the nice advantage to Towne.”

Ryan, who lives in Goochland with his wife and three children ages 13, 11 and 4, was a first-generation college graduate. He remembers his father sending him off to UVA with this advice: “Don’t get too big for your own britches.” Today, as he thinks back to his dad’s advice, he muses: “I think my father was saying that you should stay humble and you shouldn’t lose sight of what really matters in life – and that is relationships with people. Every business is a people business. At the VDA we’re selling a vision and a service and a why. And our why is that we are the voice for dentistry and we’re looking out for you. I see those same values in TowneBank, and I appreciate that.”

For more information, visit VaDental.org.