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FRANKLIN

Will Drewery is Franklin High School’s (FHS) alumnus for December.

While a student in Franklin City Public Schools, Drewery was active in marching and concert band, DECA and the Student Council Association.

After graduating from FHS in 2007, Drewery attended Tidewater Community College, where he studied emergency medical services, and earned a bachelor’s degree in homeland security from Columbia Southern University.

Drewery is the Public Health Emergency manager for the Virginia Department of Health’s Western Tidewater Health District, serving the cities of Franklin and Suffolk and the counties of Southampton and Isle of Wight. He has been leading the health district in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing case and contact investigations, community testing events and now the distribution plan for the COVID-19 vaccine. Drewery’s office is the public health lead in the four localities that they serve, specializing in bioterrorism, infectious disease and mass casualty and fatality incident response.

He is recognized by the Virginia Emergency Management Association and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as a Professional Emergency Manager (VaPEM) — fewer than 80 individuals across the Commonwealth are recognized as such. Drewery is also recognized by FEMA as a communications unit leader, and has deployed in that capacity to many planned events and emergency incidents, including the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond and the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate at Longwood University.

Outside of work, Drewery is very involved in the community. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Franklin/Southampton County Fair since 2009, where he co-chairs the entertainment committee. Drewery also volunteers his time with the Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department as a captain.

He was recognized in 2020 by “Inside Business” as one of its’ “Top Forty Under 40” for his professional and personal contributions to the area.