The Virginia Proffer Solution team combines the talents of outstanding individuals in the areas of law, land use planning, analytics, and research. The company brings together talented professionals with deep experience to prepare and present impact analysis reports that will meet the requirements of the Koontz case and the Virginia statute. These individuals provide an integrated, holistic approach that is truly unique.

Our team

Mike Vanderpool, J.D. 

Founder, CEO

Mike Vanderpool formed Virginia Proffer Solutions. Mike has been a zoning and land use attorney in Virginia for 42 years and has handled numerous rezonings, special use permits and variances. He represents both developers and local governments and is a Martindale Hubble AV rated attorney. Mike is also a real estate developer and consultant. For the last six years, he has also been an adjunct professor at George Mason University, teaching in the Masters of Real Estate Development program, where he teaches the program’s law class.  He has twice been recognized as faculty member of the year in that program. Mike is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Penn State University and earned his law degree from the Georgetown University Law School.

Mike was one of the first land use attorneys to recognize the importance of the ground breaking 2013 Koontz case. He immediately understood that it would upend the way proffers and conditions were negotiated. He presented his position during a panel discussion to the Virginia Local Governments Attorneys annual meeting in 2013. When the Virginia legislature adopted the new proffer legislation, providing remedies for a violation of the principals laid out in Koontz, Mike created and led the presentation of a webinar on how to deal with the new law to over 200 local government attorneys and planners. In addition, he has advised several jurisdictions and the mayors and chairs in northern Virginia with regard to the law.

 As the new proffer law took effect, many jurisdictions adopted the strategies laid out in that webinar. In particular, they revoked their monetary proffer policies, leaving the private sector with a conundrum as to how to proceed with zoning cases. Virginia Proffer Solutions was formed by Mike to step into the gap that has disrupted the zoning process by providing the in-depth, high quality analysis that is required by the Koontz decision and the new proffer legislation.

Rick Lawson

Quality Control 

Rick Lawson, a professional planner, brings the perspective of a former government planning official to the Impact Analysis, LLC, team. He was the Director of Planning for Prince William County from 1996 to 2003 where he managed and directed the activities of the Planning Office. In this capacity he managed the successful update and adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. Rick is experienced with fiscal economic analysis, having worked with George Mason University while he was Director of Planning to create a Fiscal Impact Model for development applications. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wayne State University. He helps prepare, critique and quality control each Virginia Proffer Solutions report. According to Rick, “impact modeling has become much more complex and detailed than the original work that we did several years ago. Virginia Proffer Solutions' model is much more sophisticated than all of the prior modeling systems.”

Chris Garcia, PhD. 

Data analytics

Chris Garcia, PhD is the Associate Dean of the College of Business at The University of Mary Washington. He is a specialist in analytics and big data and has published works in the areas of computational economics. He specializes in providing advanced analytics consulting and technology development. Chris is responsible for vetting and improving the Proffer Pro™ computational model developed by Virginia Proffer Solutions and reviewing the computations set out in each report provided by the team. He said, “I have been teaching advanced analytics and consulting in the field for several years. I am excited to bring that experience and my expertise to Virginia Proffer Solutions.” Chris received his B.S. degree from Old Dominion University and holds Masters’ degrees from NOVA Southeastern University and Florida Institute of Technology; his doctorate degree is from Old Dominion University. Dr. Garcia has published articles in the journals International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Engineering Optimization, AIS Educator Journal, and Computational Economics.

Eileen Settlemyer, M.S.

chief research analyst

Eileen Settlemyer is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of Mary Washington, where she double majored in Business Administration and English. As an undergraduate, she completed two research-oriented internships, one in Shanghai, China, with Web2Asia, and one with TechInt Solutions Group in Virginia. Upon graduation, she was accepted into a dual Master’s program at the McIntire School of Commerce at The University of Virginia. Through an innovative program, involving attendance at three universities around the world, Eileen earned a Master’s degree in Global Commerce from The University of Virginia, a Master’s degree in Global Strategic Management from ESADE University in Barcelona, Spain and a certificate in International Management from Lingnan University in Guangzhou, China. Eileen holds the title of Chief Research Analyst for Virginia Proffer Solutions. She is adept at locating, integrating and presenting the data that is at the core of every Virginia Proffer Solutions report.