Current address: 11835 Fishing Point Drive, Suite #205, Newport News, VA 23606
Contact and title: Charles Wornom, president
Product or service: Real estate and property management
Year business was established: Stephen and Matt Abbitt’s grandfather established the business in 1946. Charles Wornom has been with the company for 45 years, taking over as president when Stephen and Matt’s father, Richard Abbitt, passed away 17 years ago.
Reason for locating in Oyster Point: In 1990, the company bought a building on Thimble Shoals Boulevard before moving to its current location about eight years ago. “All the businesses in Oyster Point were growing, and it was a good time to bring our management and realty practices all together in one house,” Matt Abbitt explains.
Significant milestones: There have been a lot of residential and commercial developments over the years. “Starting as an insurance and real estate company, and then transitioning to the apartments was a milestone,” Stephen Abbitt says. “And we still develop communities today.” Another milestone for the company was moving all operations under one roof to its current location and opening a new office in Williamsburg, but in the company’s stable mode of buying and selling, specific milestones are hard to pinpoint. Stephen says, “We really put a lot of focus on our associates and try to make sure we’re providing good value for them beyond just giving them a job.”
A significant story: “Our grandfather, through the Rotary Club, helped start the Nature and Science Museum,” Matt says, “which today is the Virginia Living Museum.” Charles adds, “We have supported the community over the years, and I’ve always thought that was a great thing. One of our most longstanding clients owned the Hidenwood Shopping Center and we handled all that.”
Why has your Oyster Point location been beneficial to your growth? “It’s been the business hub,” Charles says. “It’s great to be in Oyster Point in the trenches with other businesses that are also trying to grow and trying to shape the face of the Peninsula,” Stephen adds. “You get to network with those folks and collaborate with them.”
Plans for future growth: “It’s been 71 years in the making and continuing and expanding, and that is exciting,” Stephen says. “We think it’s not enough to be a 71-year-young company. We are truly looking forward to seeing what it’s going to take to reach that 100-year mark—trying to do things that make us modern, that make us progressive, that make us innovative.”
Closing comments: “The future is these two gentleman,” Charles says about Stephen and Matt. “We empower our people to do the jobs that they have been given, and I think they do a very fine job at that.”
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