Chris Hillabrant recently was appointed first vice president general manager for the Mid-Atlantic region by T-Mobile USA, Inc. The region consists primarily of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Hillabrant will be responsible for sales across all T-Mobile retail properties, customer growth and loyalty efforts. He joined T-Mobile in 1998 after gaining sales and operations leadership experience with Verizon Wireless (PCS PrimeCo) and Columbia Spectrum Management.

Capital Ale House recently announced the opening of the company’s fifth restaurant, to be located in Harrisonburg, Va. The location will employ 70 staff members and will feature more than 100 fine ales and lager beers from Virginia and around the world on draught, two dining areas, banquet spaces, darts and billiards and a rooftop deck. Capital Ale House also has locations in downtown Richmond, Midlothian, Fredericksburg and Innsbrook. The projected opening is in October 2011.

Richmond business owners and web designers Sharif Ewees and Brian Forrester recently joined forces to give Richmond’s ugliest small business website a free makeover. The winner will receive $10,000 worth of design, development and programming, as well as monthly maintenance for a year. The contest is open to companies with 2-20 employees and runs until Sept. 1. Sites can be submitted through http://www.richmondsugliestwebsite.com .

Salon Debonaire, located at 8514 Patterson Ave. in Henrico, recently was named a salon of distinction in the nationally acclaimed “Salons of the Year” interior design competition sponsored by Salon Today, the leading business publication for the professional salon industry. Competing salons were either newly constructed or remodeled in 2010; Salon Debonaire invested $250,000 in new flooring, lighting and salon equipment. Only 20 salons were awarded nation-wide and this is the first time in six years that a Virginia-based salon has been recognized. Deborah Lee established the salon in 1990 at the age of 17 with just a $25,000 loan.