SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION MAY 2014
Golden Hokie Charles Steger built a bigger, stronger Virginia Tech
HomeTown Bank is built around service. In my business, I value solid partnerships. That’s why I like HomeTown Bank. They offer a great range of services that help my company run smoothly and most importantly, they pay attention to my business needs. From remote deposits and online banking, to excellent service inside the bank, HomeTown appreciates my business. Allen Whittle, Thor Construction
Isn’t it time you turned over a new leaf? www.hometownbankva.com 345-6000 Member FDIC
CONTENTS SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION
May 2014
6
F E AT U R E S COVER STORY
6
Charles Steger
‘… the right man at the right place in the right job …’ by Kathie Dickenson
16, 2007 12 April Tech community rallied in reaction to shootings, but ‘it was a horrible tragedy’ by Kathie Dickenson COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE The deal of a lifetime
13
Jim Woltz and his firm put together a sale that will preserve Natural Bridge as a state park.
18
by Jenny Kincaid Boone
MANUFACTURING Gunning for growth
18
Alexander Industries is building a bigger plant and looking for a bigger market. by Mason Adams
HANDMADE GOODS Handmade Making a living with two hands and some tools.
22
13
by Kevin Kittredge
D 26
E
P
A
R
INTERVIEW: BARRY HENDERSON
T
M 28
22 E
N
T
COMMUNITY PROFILE
Pulaski and Giles
Natural beauty, manufacturing and industry make for a unique blend.
Building relationships
Former banker launches second career leading a landmark nonprofit.
by Donna Alvis Banks
by Beth Jones
33
2
MAY 2014
NEWS FROM THE CHAMBER
S
Its a smart time to apply. Interest rates may never, ever be this low again. Smart Tool for Financing • home improvement projects • major repairs • major purchases • bill consolidation EQUAL HOUSING
Subject to Credit Approval. Call 342-2265 or visit
Member FDIC
LENDER
FROM THE EDITOR
Different work space
I
missed the CoLab’s grand opening, but when I wandered in the next day Taylor Ricotta was nice enough to show me around. Ricotta has been working with CoLab founder Samantha Steidle since the operation, then called the Business Lounge, was in a 2,500-square-foot space on Roanoke’s Kirk Avenue. “The Business Lounge was more of just a working space,” Ricotta says. With 10,000 square feet, the CoLab aims to be much more: “an innovation lab, a co-working space and an event venue,” according to its website. A news release announcing its grand opening called CoLab “a hub for ideation (generating new ideas).” That idea isn’t new, and it isn’t peculiar to Roanoke. In Blacksburg, Tech Pad has provided 6,000 square feet of co-working space to software developers in what Tech Pad’s website calls a “technology focused co-working and hacker community.” That kind of space is being designated all over the world. Just as corporate cubicle farms replaced smokestacks and assembly lines as symbols of the American economy, CoLab and other co-working spaces may be symbolic of the American economy of the future. Instead of a nation of employees and managers, we seem destined to increasingly become a nation of entrepreneurs – a role some embrace by inclination and some out of necessity. It’s a freelance economy, a gig economy, in which people develop and market their skills, experience and innovation, partner with other entrepreneurs on a project, then move to the next project, joining another team or working on their own. CoLab’s predecessor began in a very small space in downtown Roanoke and “instantly needed to expand to a bigger space,” according to Ricotta. That bigger space was only 2,500 square feet. It was there for a year and half. That’s when developer and social entrepreneur Ed Walker told Steidle he had 10,000 square feet of space that might be a good place for something like CoLab. Steidle, who teaches small business and entrepreneurship and marketing at Virginia Western Community College, moved her coworking space to Grandin Village. Most of the people who rent space from CoLab are freelancers, coaches and consultants. Some are trying to build startup companies into something bigger. “I always point to the guy who has five businesses,” Ricotta says. “He’s 29 years old.” CoLab’s work space is open, not a cubicle in sight. Clients get a business address, a place to get their mail, access to Wi-Fi, a fax machine, a copier and the communal kitchen for $100 a month. “Then it goes up based on what you need,” Ricotta says. There are two conference rooms – the largest holds about 60 people – with televisions for presentations. Nine smaller huddle rooms offer privacy for phone calls and client meetings. Near the entrance, there’s a screen and a stage. The podcast studio isn’t ready yet. Two hundred dollars buys around-the-clock access to CoLab and access to the conference rooms and huddle rooms; $300 gets all that and access for a guest. Everyone gets access to educational and networking events, including those offered by CoLab’s partners – Virginia Western Community College, the Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council and Blue Ridge Copier. They also get lots of free parking. “Everything is shared,” Ricotta says, “as opposed to locked offices and cubicles. People are working and collaborating and hanging out in this awesome cool space.” But the space itself isn’t really the star. The people make the space valuable. “The biggest value,” Ricotta says, “would probably lie in just the relationships they bump into here.”
4
MAY 2014
SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION Vol. 3
MAY 2014
President & Publisher Roanoke Business Editor Contributing Editor Contributing Writers
Art Director Contributing Designer Contributing Photographers Production Manager Circulation Manager Accounting Manager Advertising Sales
No. 5
Bernard A. Niemeier Tim Thornton Paula C. Squires Mason Adams Donna Alvis Banks Jenny Kincaid Boone Kathie Dickenson Beth Jones Kevin Kittredge Adrienne R. Watson Pam McCallister Sam Dean Alisa Moody Kevin L. Dick Karen Chenault Sunny Ogburn Lynn Williams Hunter Bendall
CONTACT: EDITORIAL: (540) 520-2399 ADVERTISING: (540) 597-2499 210 S. Jefferson St., Roanoke, VA 24011-1702 We welcome your feedback. Email Letters to the Editor to Tim Thornton at tthornton@roanoke-business.com VIRGINIA BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS LLC A portfolio company of Virginia Capital Partners LLC Frederick L. Russell Jr.,, chairman
on the cover Charles Steger President, Virginia Tech Blacksburg Photo courtesy Virginia Tech
Where the Blue Ridge meets the sky.
For 85 years, Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport has been a place where people go to work, travel for work, and get away from work. With just one stop linking Roanoke to nearly 500 destinations, your airport is your portal to the world...and an economic engine that produces an annual regional impact of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. But we realize our most important job is working as your advocate. While the airlines control fares, schedules, and ights, we never let them forget that you deserve the very best service possible.
yroa.com
COVER STORY
A
salesman and visionary A Charles As Ch rl St Stegerr prepares pr p r to t leave Virginia Tech, he looks back on a career that produced a new medical school and more dollars for research by Kathie Dickenson 6
MAY 2014
O
n the day the world entered the 21st century, Charles Steger began his presidency at Virginia Tech with a short list of ambitious goals. He wanted to see Virginia Tech become more robust and more diverse. Specifically, he felt the school could become one of the top 30 research institutions in the country. He also envisioned more opportunities in the arts by building a new center for performance and research. In addition, he wanted to expand African-American enrollment by at least 20 percent. Fourteen years later, as Steger prepares to retire on June 1, the university has gained three million square feet of new buildings, raised $1.1 billion in a capital campaign, increased full-time, salaried employees by nearly 12 percent, and grown undergraduate enrollment by more than 13 percent. Yet Steger’s success depends on how the progress gets measured. Virginia Tech hasn’t cracked the top 30 stratosphere of research universities, but it has gained six new research institutes, a medical school and a 157 percent increase in yearly research expenditures. Beth Tranter, director of operations in Tech’s Office of the Vice President for Research, calls that “phenomenal growth, because no matter what the federal budgets were doing, Virginia Tech’s research was still growing,” she says. “Under Dr. Steger’s tenure, we
Photo ocurtesy Virginia Tech
ROANOKE BUSINESS
7
cover story
The Moss Arts Center is named for artist P. Buckley Moss, who contributed $10 million toward the center’s construction.
have increased research expenditures every single year.” Progress in diversity has been more elusive. While the number of minority undergraduates has increased slightly during the past 10 years, African-American undergraduates have decreased by nearly 30 percent – from 1,185 (5.6 percent of undergraduates) in fall 2004 to 834 (3.5 percent of undergraduates) in fall 2013, according to data available on the university’s
Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness website. Graduate minority enrollment has slightly decreased during the past 10 years, while African-American graduate enrollment has slightly increased. Despite that, Steger says he is pleased. “We have been very successful in increasing the graduation rates. Because at the end of the day, that’s what you want.” When it comes to the arts, Steger has enjoyed impressive success.
Steger earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Virginia Tech.
8
MAY 2014
One of the university’s new research institutes is the interdisciplinary Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology, housed in Virginia Tech’s new home for fine and performing arts, the 150,000-squarefoot Moss Arts Center, which opened last fall. “Our task here is to try to educate young men and women who are going to be contributing members of a democratic society,” says Steger, “and they need to employ all the dimensions of their intellect, not just logical and deductive things, but their associative reasoning and insights … and the arts help you do that. “And of course it will help the economy. We have the Metropolitan Opera Summer Institute down here now every year … and they bring people into town. They spend money. That’s all good, too. I’m an enthusiastic capitalist. But it operates at many different levels.” In December, Steger attended a performance of the Roanoke Symphony Pops at the Moss Arts Center. “The acoustics are fantastic. Everything was great. It was a lot of fun,” he says. “But I was just sitting there thinking, here I’ve got 1,200 people — it was sold out — 1,200 people in our community coming together sharing this experience. To me that was kind of [an] art. The music was fine. David Wiley did a great job and all that. But the real art was having all these people together.” The art of bringing people together may be at the heart of Steger’s success. He has led Tech into new regional partnerships, new worldwide connections, new national and international recognition, and built up a stockpile of goodwill for the university. “My feeling is that Charlie was the right man at the right place in the right job, …,” says Roanoke Mayor David Bowers. “Charlie is understated in his presentation of himself but extremely effective in bringing gains to the university.” Photos courtesy Virginia Tech
cover story Understanding an institution’s strengths is vital, says Steger, because no institution is good at everything. A Virginia Tech alumnus who has spent most of his career working at the university, Steger had plenty of time to consider Tech’s strengths before becoming its president. The goals he presented at his April 2000 inauguration “were some I had thought about for years.” Second, he says, “You’ve got to work at the organizational culture. We have this entrepreneurial culture that most places don’t have. But it’s not an accident. We work very hard to ensure that people feel comfortable taking chances. And when they fail, when it’s a high-quality mistake, it’s okay. … if you don’t experiment and you don’t fail, you’re probably not going to make progress.” Virginia Tech also has a culture of community, in Steger’s view, and he works to promote that — by accepting an invitation to play guitar with a bluegrass band at a staff picnic; by showing up for a student-organized Relay for Life event in the pouring rain; by joining 66,000 football fans on a Saturday afternoon. “This kind of collective experience helps you build a sense of community,” he says, which results in support for the university vision from every level. “You need to have a vision of where you want to go and the resources to implement it,” says Steger. His focus on growing research stemmed partly from the need to increase resources in an environment of decreasing state funding. “You have to have the will and the capacity to make the decision and to act,” Steger says, pointing out that many organizations “might have a great idea … but they can never implement it because they don’t have … the ability to take risks and the willingness to take risks. They are two separate things, and fortunately we have these things.” Once goals are set, says Steger, developing strategy includes identifying “targets of opportunity.” As
an example, he explains that the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes National Institutes of Health, receives 22 percent of all federal research dollars. “So if you want to really grow your research program and yet you have no window into NIH, you’re not going to get there. So that’s one of the reasons we created the medical school. People thought we were nuts,
and perhaps we were. I shouldn’t discount that.” To Steger, increasing research funding was a matter of survival. Research funds build new buildings, bring in new equipment, support nationally and internationally competitive faculty salaries, and create national and international visibility. “We believe we do a lot of good things for society,” he says. “It’s not
540.342.4002
Innovative Partners for Your Vision ROANOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
R E A L E S TAT E A U C T I O N Tuesday, May 20 • 2 PM 14.89± Acres of Prime Commercial Property Sold to Highest Bidder Over $299,000
14.89± 14 89± A Acres off prime i commercial i l property t llocated t d on H Hollins lli R Road d adjacent dj t tto A Ardagh d h Metal Packaging. The current tax assessment is $522,100 and will be sold to the highest bidder over $299,000. The property is identi¿ed as Roanoke County tax parcel# 039.0901-02.00-0000 and is zoned C-1. Don’t miss this great opportunity. Auction will be held at Fellowship Baptist Church, 929 Murray Ave., Roanoke, VA 24013. For more information, please contact David Boush (VA# 3941) 540.871.5810 (mobile) or Sam Hardy (VA# 2545) 540.761.9166 (mobile).
VA#321
Culture, vision, action
540.342.3560 800.551.3588 woltz.com
Preview Land Anytime Agents on-site: Tuesdays, May 6 & 13 from Noon - 3 PM
5% Buyer’s Premium
ROANOKE BUSINESS
9
cover story Birth of a medical school
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, where Steger is shown riding in a self-parking Volkswagen, conducts more than $40 million in research annually.
just about making money. It’s about really adding value.” He points to a project that developed a water treatment facility that sits on the back of a pickup truck and costs about $150. “Water quality in developing countries is an extremely critical issue,” says Steger. “Young people are deprived of their entire livelihood because they don’t have clean water to drink. “We have projects in 44 countries around the world going on now, and I feel very good about the contributions we are able to make.”
The importance of people Steger says he’s fortunate to be surrounded by people who share his vision and have been with the university as long as he has. Several of his top administrators enrolled at Tech the same year he did – in 1965. Yet Steger also has been opportunistic and intentional in developing faculty, staff and administrators. As he travels, Steger says, “I meet really interesting people. I keep a list of talent that I bump into.” He has recruited much of that talent, “dedi10
MAY 2014
cated, hardworking, very smart, and just great additions to the community. And you’ve got to have a critical mass of these people to be successful.” He also helps leaders grow through the university’s Executive Development Institute, which helps “our younger people prepare for the next jobs. Not necessarily the one above them, but maybe one that’s three levels above them.” Other development is more subtle. If he thinks a young staff member can learn from being on a particular committee, he says, “I put them on there. They don’t know I’m watching them, by the way. I don’t ever tell them. But I make sure they get these kinds of experiences so when the opportunities do emerge they’re ready, and they’ve had the background and experience. “As all of us old guys are leaving, there are going to be a lot of new positions opening in this university. And I want the people who are put in these jobs to be successful. And they can’t be just thrown into it. So we prepare them over years, several years.”
Long before he became Tech’s president, Steger served on the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center board of directors. Joe Meredith, the CRC’s executive director, credits Steger with creating “an awareness of the CRC with private companies and others that he interacts with in his duties as president. “Occasionally he’ll say, ‘Well, Joe, I was meeting with the president of so-and-so, and I told them all about the CRC and why they should have a place here.’ He has become an advocate and salesman.” During Steger’s presidency, the CRC added 60 companies and research centers and about 1,000 people, for a total of “about 2,700 high-quality jobs that in all likelihood wouldn’t be here without the CRC … These are people who have been recruited from all over the world to come here, so in that sense it really is an economic driver,” says Meredith. He adds that the accepted multiplying factor for the economic impact of research park jobs is three to one, which means that “three times 2,700 people have jobs in the service economy, or background economy, or derived economy because of the people here.” Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Agee says the idea of a medical school in Roanoke was first floated in a conversation between Steger and former Carilion CEO Ed Murphy at a dinner in 2006. “They really both just looked at each other and said, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be cool if we had a medical school.’ And by the end of the dinner, it was, ‘Why don’t we figure out how to have a medical school?’ That sounds more cavalier than I intend — it was thoughtful from both perspectives.” Bowers, who was at the same dinner, recalls that when the medical school was first mentioned, “everyone at the table laughed. But this year the medical school will graduate its first class.” “Carilion already had a large Photo courtesy Virginia Tech
cover story footprint and experience with graduate medical education,” Agee points out. “Dr. Steger had the vision and the courage to transform Virginia Tech and move them in the direction of a top research institute and knew that a medical school would enhance that. So bringing those two together, and then having the energy to execute made all the difference.” Plans for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, to be colocated with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTCRI), were announced in the winter of 2007. The first class of medical school students enrolled in fall 2010. Medical school dean Cynda Johnson says co-location of the medical school and the research institute, which also opened in fall 2010, was important. “For example, on the research side, most of the investigators [researchers] were willing to consider Roanoke, in part, because the medical school and hospital were here within the campus,” Johnson says. “It helped bring them here and then they looked at the specific job, and that was attractive, too, but it was a hook to have the medical school here to entice the investigators.” Michael Friedlander, director of VTCRI, moved to Roanoke in May 2010 into a temporary office. When the research institute opened, he says, “there were no employees, no grants, and there was no research. There was just an empty building.” From fiscal 2011 through the middle of fiscal 2014, total expenditures from the research institute were $75.3 million. Friedlander estimates the economic impact of VTCRI on the surrounding community since its opening has been $166.4 million. The research institute has 162 full-time employees and another 110 short-term research employees. “The bulk of the research dollars are used to pay salaries of people who live [in Roanoke], for the most part, and then those people spend
money in the community. That’s where you get the multiplier effect on the economy,” says Friedlander. The research institute and the medical school also add “a visibility and identity to the region and the city that a lot of people don’t realize,” says Friedlander. Friedlander adds that Steger and Murphy’s “bold and visionary” public-private partnership has helped both Virginia Tech and Carilion by providing recognition for the work they are doing separately and together. Economic benefits and recognition aside, says Friedlander, VTCRI’s “product, if you will, is making discoveries that make it easier to treat, diagnose and cure diseases — and also to prevent them. It’s difficult to constrain that benefit to one region. … that ‘product’ benefits mankind, and helps people everywhere.” The university’s most important role, Steger says, is “ensuring
the quality of what we deliver to our students. And the second is creating this culture of innovation. And the third, which I think is appropriate, particularly, for a public institution, is that we engage in real problems of society, and we produce some results.” Steger has learned his way of thinking and working over a lifetime, he says. “It’s a lifelong experience of all the people that you meet who have influenced you. And your obligation is to be open enough, when you’re experiencing them, to be smart enough to take advantage of it. … I think it’s more of an attitude and a genuine desire to be open, and to learn, and to use your life energy to make a contribution to society, which is rewarding. It’s wonderful. “I view this opportunity I’ve had here — I can’t imagine doing anything better. I’m serious. I could have done a lot of other things but this has been great.”
Poe & Cronk The Region’s Leader
In Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Our success is built by working in partnership with our valued clients and focusing on their success. This is reƪected in repeat referrals from those with whom we are privileged to serve. You are welcome to visit our oƥce in The Tower where we proudly serve as the Exclusive Leasing and Management Firm.
10 South Jeơerson Street, Roanoke, VA • (540) 982-2444 www.poecronk.com • pcƤrm@poecronk.com
Individual Memberships
ROANOKE BUSINESS
11
cover story
April 16, 2007 Tech community rallied in reaction to shootings, but ‘it was a horrible tragedy’ by Kathie Dickenson
T
he story of Charles Steger’s presidency would be incomplete without mention of the deepest valley in Virginia Tech history, the shooting deaths of 32 students and faculty on April 16, 2007, at the hands of a Virginia Tech student who also took his own life. It was the largest mass shooting ever to occur on an American college campus. The year “2007 will always be part of our history. … And the horror of what these families have experienced, it’s beyond description,” says
12
MAY 2014
Steger. “That being said, though, it was, I think, a credit to the community here, our students and faculty, and our community around the world, literally, that, in a certain way — you don’t want a tragedy, to result in this — but it probably made our community stronger rather than weaker in the process. But it was a horrible tragedy.” Although the families of most shooting victims agreed to an $11 million settlement offered by the state in 2008, families of two students
brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the state, the university and Steger, among others. By the time the suit was decided, only the state remained as a defendant. The plaintiffs alleged that the university was negligent in its duty to warn students of potential danger after two victims were shot in a residence hall early in the day on April 16. More than two hours later, university officials notified the campus of the first crime. Nearly 20 minutes later, the mass shooting began in
Norris Hall, where the shooter killed 30 more people. Many more were wounded. A jury in the civil case awarded the two families $4 million each in 2012. That amount was reduced to $100,000 each because of legal restrictions on tort claims against the state. Last year the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower court’s verdict, stating that “based on the limited information available to the Commonwealth prior to the shootings in Norris Hall, it cannot be said that it was known or reasonably foreseeable that students in Norris Hall would fall victim to criminal harm. Thus, as a matter of law, the Commonwealth did not have a duty to protect students against third-party criminal acts.” In 2011 the U.S. Department of
Photo credit
Education issued Virginia Tech two fines totaling $55,000. The department said Tech violated the Clery Act, a law dealing with campus crime reporting, by failing to issue a timely warning to the campus community after the first two shootings and by not following procedures outlined in its own handbook. The next year a DOE administrative judge overturned the fines, but Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reinstated one and reduced the other, making the total $32,500. Duncan wrote in his decision, “It is alarming that [Virginia Tech] argues that it had no duty to warn the campus community after the Police Department discovered the bodies of two students shot in a dormitory, and did not know the identity or location of the shooter. Indeed, if there
were ever a time when a warning was required under the Clery Act, this would be it.” On the seventh anniversary of the shooting in April, the Associated Press reported that Tech had paid the fines in February, although the university still maintains those fines are not consistent with the requirements of the Clery Act in 2007. Virginia Tech has spent $40 million improving safety and security on campus since the 2007 shootings, says Steger. “And many, many other places have done the same thing. So you try to make the best out of it you can. Nothing will replace the lives of these students. Nothing will heal the hearts of their families. But we can’t change that, and we have to do whatever we can to move forward.”
ROANOKE BUSINESS
13
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
The deal of a lifetime Jim Woltz and his firm put together a sale that will preserve Natural Bridge as a state park by Jenny Kincaid Boone
I
n 1973, a North Carolina native set off for the Roanoke Valley to make his fortune. Jim Woltz was a 23-year-old college graduate with $100, an old truck and no job. He wasn’t interested in working for his family’s apparel manufacturing business. One of nine grandchildren, he wanted to find his own way. Woltz didn’t plan to land in the Roanoke Valley. But in need of somewhere to sleep, he stopped in Salem to spend several days with his sister-inlaw’s grandmother. This stop eventually became permanent. Today, Woltz is president and owner of Woltz & Associates, a longtime auction real estate company housed in a three-story building on Franklin Road in downtown Roanoke. Earlier this year, the company negotiated a high-profile deal on one of Virginia’s most-visited tourism sites. The transaction donates historic Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County to a nonprofit that will deed the site —once owned by Thomas Jefferson — to the
14
MAY 2014
Land Report named Woltz’s Natural Bridge transaction — one of the company’s most complicated — its deal of the year for 2013.
Photo courtesy of Woltz & Associates
Commonwealth of Virginia to become a state park. The deal involved several state agencies
in perpetuity,” he says. “It’s a great warm feeling to think that our company was able to accom-
Jim Woltz, president and owner of Woltz & Associates, set out to make his own path — and he did.
Photo by Sam Dean
and a newly formed conservation fund. Woltz described it as one of the most complicated but rewarding transactions of his career. “It is the answer to Thomas Jefferson’s purpose and now it’s
plish that.” Yet the Natural Bridge sale with its 215-foot limestone arch isn’t the only major deal Woltz and his company’s professionals have pulled off since he started the company in 1976, first as Vir-
ginia Land & Auction. They have built a regional and national reputation for selling complex land holdings and buildings. Often the assets are sold through auctions and by using a computer software program, called M3, that allows brokers to divide property for sale in individual tracts, multiple groupings or as a whole parcel. Sales range from Colorado ranches to North Carolina vacation islands. Woltz takes great interest in his clients. He’s available by phone at late hours, and he still exchanges Christmas cards with a family from one of his earliest land transactions. For four years, Woltz & Associates has been named one of the nation’s top 30 auction houses by Land Report magazine, which tracks annual land sales. The company’s annual land sales have totaled as much as $41 million, says Eric O’Keefe, editor of Land Report. Woltz & Associates also is known for its expertise in conservation and estate sales, O’Keefe says. Land Report named Woltz’s Natural Bridge transaction its deal of the year for 2013. It caught O’Keefe’s attention for its complexity, its historic distinction and the passion behind it. “When you look back on your career, this is more than a feather in his cap. This is a real highlight,” says O’Keefe of Woltz. When Woltz moved to the Roanoke Valley, he took a job working for a brick mason. Not long afterward, he met Luke Waldrop, a well-known area real estate broker. Waldrop persuaded Woltz to come work for him, teaching him the real estate field. Several years later, Woltz started his company. He also went to Missouri Auction School to become an auctioneer, a move that would help his business boost sales. But rather than blind auctions that leave potential buyers ROANOKE BUSINESS
15
commercial real estate
Success Can’t Be Measured In Square Feet. Woltz is used to unusual deals. His company’s sales include Fox Island, with its private landing strip, in Lake Ontario.
With nearly 40 years in commercial real estate, we know that it’s not just about leasing and selling property. It’s about helping your business succeed. Our knowledge of the ƌĞŐŝŽŶ ĂůůŽǁƐ ƵƐ ƚŽ ƐĞĞ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ where other brokers don’t—and ĂǀŽŝĚ ƉŝƞĂůůƐ ŽƚŚĞƌƐ ŵĂLJ ŶŽƚ ĞǀĞŶ know exist. In other words, local ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ ŵĂƩĞƌƐ͘ >Ğƚ ƵƐ ƉƵƚ ŽƵƌƐ to work for you.
www.hall-realtor.com 540.982.0011 16
MAY 2014
guessing about the state of a site, won’t just slough you off.” According to Woltz, the compaWoltz decided to use his real estate acumen to offer information about ny has sales of $40 million to $75 a property before the auction. This million a year. His work ethic likely due diligence gives buyers confi- is a key to the company’s longevity. Some of its biggest challenges in dence, he says. Now, the firm is licensed to sell the past few years have been dealreal estate in 19 states. The laun- ing with banks, which have tightdry list of its sales includes the $4 ened lending for potential buyers, million sale of Fox Island in Lake he says. Jonna McGraw, an associate Ontario in 2007. The private island, with a landing strip, housed a broker and auctioneer at Woltz, lodge built by the governor of New has seen Woltz’s can-do spirit firsthand. She recalled a 2002 sale that York in the early 1900s. In 2008, Woltz & Associates involved selling an entire block of sold the second largest contiguous properties in downtown Blacksboundary in Kentucky and Indi- burg, including the Lyric Theatre. Woltz wantana, stretching 27,000 ed to divide acres, for $52 million, its largest acreage sale. Woltz also has a strong the buildings into differThrough the years, interest in conservation ent parcels, the firm has branched but it seemed into Colorado, mostly and preserving impossible beselling ranches, includimportant sites. He has cause a boiler ing a 1,400-acre ranch near Aspen, Colo., for placed more than 1,500 and other utilities were con$2.5 million in 2003. “He [Woltz] cares,” acres of his own land into nected across says Chris Leverich, a conservation easements, the properties, McGraw says. real estate broker and which Woltz came up former co-owner of the with the idea to Colorado ranch. “He’ll protect property create a shared answer your calls at in perpetuity. maintenance 10 o’clock at night. He Photo courtesy Woltz & Associates
commercial real estate program for all building owners to regulate utilities, although ultimately, the properties ended up in one buyer’s hands. “Jim has always been an innovator,” says Michael Waldvogel, founder and broker at Waldvogel Commercial Properties in Roanoke. “Whether it is auctioning a country ham to start off a sale or devising the best method to parcel and group land, his clients are the benefactors of his creativity.” Woltz, who lives on Bent Mountain with his family, including 11-year-old twins, also has a strong interest in conservation and preserving important sites. He has placed more than 1,500 acres of his own land into conservation easements, which protect property in perpetuity. That background came in handy when Angelo Puglisi, a Washington D.C., real estate developer and the son of Italian immigrants, chose Woltz & Associates to help sell Natural Bridge, a national historic landmark that Puglisi had owned since 1988. During the meeting to discuss the firm’s involvement, Puglisi pulled Woltz aside. “‘I don’t want to see somebody buy this and make it a circus,’” says Woltz, recalling Puglisi’s comments. “‘I need to make sure that you figure out a way to get this to a park.’” From then on, Woltz knocked on the doors of conservation organizations, government groups, hedge funds and investors, but none of them opened. He didn’t give up. All along, plans were moving forward to sell the property at an auction if Woltz wasn’t successful. Finally, a door cracked. Puglisi agreed to donate the bridge and about 188 acres surrounding it – valued at $22 million – to the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF). Puglisi received about $4 million in cash and $8.6 million in conservation tax credits. Now, VCLF is raising funds to pay off the balance of its $9.1 million loan. Once the loan is repaid, Photo courtesy of Woltz & Associates
Woltz engineered the sale of a block of properties in downtown Blacksburg in 2002.
VCLF will deed the bridge and surrounding property to the state of Virginia to become a state park. That target date is Dec. 31, 2015. Through the deal, the VCLF will
keep the Natural Bridge hotel, cottages and caverns. “I’ve never met a more dedicated-to-the-job man,” Puglisi said of Woltz.
SHOP. DINE. ENJOY. THE SHOPPES AT WEST VILLAGE. Excellent opportunity to locate on the most heavily traveled route in Roanoke. 1,024 - 5,237 SF available for lease.
Roanoke 540.767.3000 | Lynchburg 434.237.3384
ROANOKE BUSINESS
17
MANUFACTURING
Gunning for growth Alexander Industries is building a bigger plant and looking for a bigger market by Mason Adams
T
he close of the Cold War created chaotic geopolitical situations, dispersed arms makers into the commercial sector and eventually led a British armorer to Southwest Virginia. Bill Alexander spent the first part of his career designing armor in the United Kingdom. Once the
18
MAY 2014
Cold War cooled down, however, he started a company and eventually landed in Radford because of its mild weather, central location in the mid-Atlantic and a government incentives program for the private sector to use Army plants with extra space. Now 13 years after opening
its doors, Alexander Industries is gearing up for an expansion. It’s taking pre-orders for a new product, shifting to a higher-production business model and will begin manufacturing its own machine parts instead of purchasing them from subcontractors. To make it happen, the company plans to invest $2.8 million in a new, 25,000-square-foot facility in Dublin Industrial Park. The state used a $150,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund
Alexander Industries designs and builds specialized rifles and cartridges including this 6.5mm Grendel — essentially a more powerful version of the AR-15.
to help Pulaski County beat competing sites in South Dakota and Texas and ensure Alexander Industries would remain in the New River Valley. James Reddish, president of Alexander Industries, says the region’s talented workforce and aggressive courting from economic development officials at the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance, Pulaski County and the town of Dublin sealed the deal. “At the end of the day we like the Photo courtesy of Alexander Industries
New River Valley,” Reddish says. “We think it’s a good place to do what we do.” Dublin agreed to sell three parcels to the Pulaski County Industrial Development Authority for $35,000. The development authority will in turn spend an estimated $64,000 to bring utilities to the property and provide a $1.5 million loan for Alexander Industries to build its new facility, with the loan paid back via a lease/purchase agreement. Pulaski
County also has committed to provide an additional $400,000 loan for equipment. “Really it’s a lot of making sure the company knows they’re supported in the county and town, that we want them here and we appreciate their private investment in our community,” says Danny Wilson, Pulaski County’s interim community development director. Alexander Industries also is eligible to receive benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone ProROANOKE BUSINESS
19
manufacturing James N. Reddish in his company’s booth at the annual NRA convention.
gram, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide additional funding and services to support the com-
pany’s recruitment and training activities. Alexander Industries builds specialized rifles, cartridges and accessories for use by military, law enforcement and civilian cus-
AWARD-WINNING EXPERTISE 2014 Carlisle Syntec Centurion Award 100 “Perfect Tens” on roof inspections
2014 Carlisle Syntec Perfection Award Top 5% highest quality certified Carlisle Roofing Contractors in North America
2014 Carlisle Syntec Perfection Council Top 25 highest quality Carlisle Syntec Roofing Contractors in North America.
MRIMOUNTAIN ROOFING INC 501 Shenandoah Ave., Roanoke, VA
540-342-9901
NEW CONSTRUCTION, REROOFING, REPAIRS, TPO, EPDM, Metal, Slate, Shake, Shingle, Copper
www.mtnroof.com 20
MAY 2014
tomers. Founder Bill Alexander spent the latter days of the Cold War building armor for tanks and other heavy equipment. Although he bounced between regions, companies and the public and private sectors, Alexander says the tension between two superpowers meant a steady stream of work and funding. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Alexander’s experience as an armorer kept him in demand, although the focus shifted from tanks to small arms. “We were left seeking alternative sources of employment, so you’d take contract work, large or small, doing this, that or the other,” he says. “A lot of it was ammunitionrelated, small arms-related.” A former vendor with whom he’d previously worked proposed a private enterprise based on one of Alexander’s designs, the .50 Beowulf, which is still the company’s cornerstone product. The Beowulf adapted the AR-15 — a semiautomatic adaptation of the M16 for civilian use and the most popular rifle in America — to allow for larger-caliber ammunition. The company, then known as Alexander Arms, came to the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in 2001 through an Army program called the Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support (ARMS). It seeks to attract commercial companies to use excess space at government-owned ammunition plants. “Given the nature of our business, what we did and the size we needed, the ARMS program was very well-suited,” Alexander says. “It still is.” Though Alexander Industries sweated through the first few years of production, the company’s establishment coincided with a dramatic rise in popularity of the AR-15 as a sport, hunting and selfdefense rifle. Alexander Industries’ base products, the .50 Beowulf, 6.5mm Grendel and .17 HMR, all are built around the AR-15. The Alexander Photo courtesy of Alexander Industries
manufacturing Three Alexander Industries executives on a trip to test a new rifle: Bill Alexander, vice president and chief designer; company President James N. Reddish and Wayne Holt, vice president of sales and marketing.
Industries website says the Beowulf “was designed to generate devastating stopping power at short to moderate ranges ... [T]his semi-automatic weapon is ideal as a brush hunting weapon and is capable of knocking down virtually anything you may run across.” The 6.5mm Grendel is more of a long-range weapon that can easily hit a tennis ball-size target at 600 yards, according to the website. The .17 HMR is a rim fire weapon that uses smaller ammunition and is suited to smaller game and varmints. The company recently designed a new style of rifle, the Ulfberht .338 Lapua Magnum Rifle, which Reddish says is being marketed not just to hunters but to military customers, in the U.S. and overseas. “It has become very popular for snipers,” Reddish says. Alexander, 47, says he began work on the .338 Lapua with the intention of making a “cracking hunting rifle,” not a military weapon. “I’m building a gun for, albeit a small sector, but a sector of the Photo courtesy of Alexander Industries
civilian market,” he says. “But given what it is, one would be an idiot to ignore the possible military applications.” The growth at Alexander Industries has resulted in a change to its business model. Historically the company has designed and built rifles and rifle components on the basis of orders placed by customers. Going forward, it intends to shift from a “build to order” to a “build to sell” structure, meaning that company officials will seek out new markets both domestic and international. “Over the next three years we plan to substantially grow the business, both with the existing product line and the new product line,” Reddish says. Additionally, Alexander Industries plans to add equipment to manufacture more of its own parts. “Historically we’ve accessed most of our components from subcontractors who do the heavy lifting of machining the components,” Reddish says. “But with expansion we’ll for the first time be adding manu-
facturing, doing machine shop operations and finishing.” Most of the new equipment is fairly standard, he says, “but it’s something new for us.” Alexander says bringing the machine shopping in-house allows for cost savings, additional quality control and new market opportunities. There’s another pragmatic reason behind the shift. “The domestic military market will audit the bloody hell out of you,” Alexander says. “When they ask about a part we can go, yeah, we make that. We can also avoid their repair market going right around us.” Construction of the Dublin facility was scheduled to begin in April and is estimated to take six months. Company officials say they’re comfortable in Southwest Virginia, and the decision to invest new money underscores that. “My bottom line is, enjoy what you do,” Alexander says. “I love being here. I love my clientele. I enjoy making things. I like employing people.” ROANOKE BUSINESS
21
HANDMADE GOODS
Making a living with two hands and some tools
Handmade
22
MAY 2014
Greg Galbreath learned to be a master craftsman by working with a master craftsman.
by Kevin Kittredge
O
ff the main road, up a dirt lane, on a Giles County mountainside, Greg Galbreath works with his hands. A one-time biology major who has a master’s degree in fish ecology, Galbreath didn’t like the prospect of sitting behind a desk for the rest of his life. Instead, he turned a hobby into a livelihood, making high-end banjos for collectors and professional musicians. His clients have included Scott Avett of the roots music group The Avett Brothers, as well as members of the Hackensaw Boys and Nickel Creek.
Photo by Alisa Moody
He’s not making a fortune — Galbreath estimates his gross annual income at around $35,000 — but with the help of his wife, Cindy Cook, a bookkeeper and blacksmith, he’s making a living. “It’s hard to compete with a factory,” Galbreath admits. On the other hand, “You’re doing what you love doing, and you’re proud of what you do in the end. It’s a nice feeling.” For years — centuries in fact — artisans in the Roanoke and New River valleys have been making things by hand. Sometimes the products were made for profit, as
with the blacksmith’s trade, but often they were made for the artisans’ own use. In the 21st century, mass production has replaced most handmade items in our daily lives. But a tradition of making things by hand endures. “There’s a need to go backward a little bit,” says Roanoke artist/ metalworker Sarah EK Muse, a board member of the Staunton-based Artisans Center of Virginia. “The crafts bring us back to our roots.” There’s a growing awareness here and around the country that the economic impact of handmade
ROANOKE BUSINESS
23
handmade goods The engraving on Galbreath’s banjos have included an elephant, a cicada, an 1864 penny and The Little Prince.
goods can be substantial, through direct sales and as a driver of tourism. Detailed studies on the economic impact of handmade goods in the Roanoke and New River valleys are
not available, but a 2009 report from the national Craft Organization Development Association says 5 million Americans make at least part of their income from artisan crafts, and that
30,000 to 50,000 do such work full time. It estimated their gross sales at $6 billion to $10 billion. For a lesson in the economics of artisan crafts, Virginia need look no farther than North Carolina. A 2008 study on the economic impact of the craft industry in the Blue Ridge National Heritage region of Western North Carolina estimated the direct economic impact of the crafts industry there at more than $200 million. “We have similar things going on here,” says Sherri Smith, executive director of the Artisans Center of Virginia. “We just need to start to quantify that.” What is an artisan? The line between artisan and artist is fuzzy at best, but according to the Artisans Center website, an artisan “creates objects traditionally encompassing three-dimensional craft, often to be used functionally, always with a high degree of artistry and quality craftsmanship.”
As the largest community bank headquartered in the commonwealth, we understand that what’s good for Virginia business is good for all of us. To this end, we made 7,680 loans to businesses in 2013. And now, with our newly increased lending power and ability
THE SMART MONEY IS ON VIRGINIA Member
we’re even better positioned to contribute to the economic vitality of our state. We’re committed to keeping Virginia strong, one customer at a time.
®
bankatunion.com
FDIC 24
to fund up to $60MM per relationship,
MAY 2014
Photo by Alisa Moody
handmade goods Efforts to better tap the economic potential of handmade products in Southwest Virginia have been underway for years. The Abingdon-based ’Round the Mountain, a governmentfunded artisans’ network, serves much of Southwest Virginia, including Giles, Franklin, Montgomery, Pulaski and Floyd counties and the city of Radford. According to executive director Diana Blackburn, ’Round the Mountain counts artisans, craft venues and agritourism businesses such as wineries among its nearly 600 members. Some of the best work of those members is showcased at the Heartwood cultural center in Abingdon, which calls itself “Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway.” Founded in 2004, ’Round the Mountain has helped create some 15 “artisan trails” in the hills and valleys between the Roanoke Valley and the Tennessee border. The Artisans Center of Virginia, incorporated in 1997, has helped create similar trails to the north and east. In the Roanoke and New River valleys there are seven trails: the Bedford County Artisan Trail, the Virginia’s Western Highlands Artisan Trail, the Floyd County Trail, the Montgomery County Artisan Trail, the Giles Art and Adventure Trail, the New River Artisan Trail and the White Lightning Artisan Trail. Oddly, none of the trails includes Roanoke. Smith, the head of the Artisans Center, says it tried to get grant money for a Roanoke artisan trail but failed. The Star City certainly has its share of people making things by hand, however, including Muse, who serves on the Artisans Center’s board. “If you look back to the olden days, everything you used, you made,” Muse says. Nowadays, handmade items are more likely to be appreciated as much for their aesthetic value as their usefulness, she notes. “So many of our traditional craft techniques are being lost because those traditions are not being handed down to family members any longer,” says ’Round the Mountain’s Photo by Alisa Moody
Blackburn. Yet she also sees a resurgence of interest in making things by hand. “Some of it may be a result of the economic downturn in Southwest Virginia and folks looking for new ways to earn additional income, to younger folks’ renewed interest in handmade work, growing their own food and shopping local.” How many artisans are there in the region? Nobody really knows. Only a fraction of the people who
furniture making. Today they work in a variety of mediums including clay, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, natural materials and wood. The top three mediums used by ’Round the Mountain members are fiber, wood and clay. Ferrum’s Nell Fredericksen makes jewelry and pottery. “I’m making a living,” she says. “At this point in my life, I can actually say I am a master craftsman.” A board
When banjo-playing Galbreath and his wife, Cindy Cook, a fiddler, perform, they’re known as Farm Use Only.
make things by hand sell them for a living. Like Greg Galbreath, they tend to work in isolation. “I kind of work better by myself,” says Galbreath, who has a 3½-year backlog of banjo orders, despite the fact he has never advertised. Historically, says Blackburn, artisans in this region were known for
member of ’Round the Mountain, Fredericksen says the new economic initiatives and artisan trails are helping bring other mountain artisans to light. “There’s a treasure trove of undiscovered talent” in the area, she said. “I’d like the public to wake up and go, ‘Wow.’” ROANOKE BUSINESS
25
INTERVIEW: Barry Henderson, president and general manager, Center in the Square
Building relationships
Barry Henderson, president and general manager of Center in the Square.
Former banker launches a second career leading a landmark nonprofit by Beth Jones
B
arry Henderson understands the value of relationships. If the new president and general manager of Center in the Square mentions a person in conversation, he’ll likely pause to tell you the place or even the year where he met the individual. “It’s very important to be connected to people,” Henderson says. It’s a skill the Roanoke native polished over a 37-year career in financial services and especially during the five years he worked as president and CEO for the Western Virginia region of SunTrust Bank. That job was eliminated in early 2013 when, according to Henderson, the company
26
MAY 2014
changed its operating model “from a regional approach to a line-of-business, vertical model.” Henderson had no interest in relocating, and, at age 60, he wasn’t ready to retire. Luckily, it didn’t take long for him to launch Career 2.0. In June, Henderson began work at Center in the Square as a consultant. In January he took over the helm of the organization from Jim Sears, who had spent two decades at the nonprofit. A move from finance to the notfor-profit world doesn’t seem like such a dramatic shift when Henderson points out his decades-long tenure of working on boards of Roanoke
Valley organizations. “It really just comes naturally to me because of my volunteerism,” Henderson says. Currently, Henderson sits on the board for the Child Health Investment Partnership of Roanoke Valley, and he’s the chair of the boards for Downtown Roanoke Inc. and the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. Henderson also had history with Center in the Square, which houses or offers other support to many of the valley’s top cultural institutions, including the Science Museum of Western Virginia, Mill Mountain Theatre and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. He worked on the leadership team during Center in the Square’s 2009 capital campaign, which raised the funds that, along with tax credits, financed the $27 million renovation of the organization’s downtown landmark building. When Center in the Square celebrated its grand reopening in May 2013, it boasted a new rooftop pavilion and an atrium that houses coral reef and jellyfish aquariums and a seahorse estuary. Henderson is proud of the accomplishment: “Clearly, Center in the Square’s rebirth has created one of our cultural gems in our region.” Roanoke Business: Five years ago, could you have pictured yourself running one of the area’s most prominent cultural organizations? Barry Henderson: In my career, notfor-profits had always been something near and dear to me. It’s something I believed in, that giving back to your community is so important. Did I anticipate this happening? No. But one thing I did always say was, if I did ever leave SunTrust, I was probably going to do something else and would want to stay in the region, and I could see myself being involved in running a not-for-profit organization. It’s something I think is extremely important for any vibrant, growing community is to have strong and stable organizations, especially in arts and culture. Photo by Sam Dean
RB: Your new position at Center in the Square puts you in contact with more artistic and academic folks than you worked with in your finance career. Have you had to tweak anything about your working style? Henderson: Other than the size of what I did at SunTrust and the number of people I had reporting to me, the same skill sets that I used there day-in and day-out are the same skill sets I need here. I come to work and do a lot of the same things that I did every day at SunTrust, which was being visible in the community. The biggest difference is now I don’t have to travel. When I was at SunTrust … I traveled every week. I still will do some traveling now … I’ll be making calls in the New River Valley to continue to ask for support … but also in Lynchburg. The reason being, lots of school systems visit us consistently every week. Forty-four percent of the school districts in Virginia visit Center in the Square each year. Smith Mountain Lake is another good region for us to continue to expand to, and when I say expand, I mean for me to be more visible there. RB: You’ll be reaching out to people to raise money for Center in the Square? Henderson: We want to continue to sustain the donors we have and we want to grow that. One way we do that is I need to be engaged with both companies and individuals. I need to be making calls and explaining our story of “Why Center?” Why should someone want to support and invest in Center? That person may be an individual or someone from a foundation who can help in the form of a grant or a sponsorship or supporting our annual campaign, which is really important. RB: What’s it like stepping into the shoes of someone as well known as Jim Sears? Henderson: Clearly, Jim has done a great job in his 20 years of leading the organization. His legacy is one I want to continue to sustain. I want to continue to try to grow it and sustain the vibrancy we have at Center. Jim did a great job of mentoring and sharing with me his thoughts about this organization.
We worked together very closely for the six months before I succeeded him on Jan. 1. RB: When Center in the Square closed for renovations, its absence was felt by Roanokers, particularly by schoolchildren who frequent it on field trips. The building reopened in May to considerable fanfare. How do you keep that excitement going? Henderson: What we’re doing today is … to continue marketing the rebirth of our beneficiary organizations along with our new atrium and rooftop, which offers a panoramic view for the community. It would probably be very hard for people to not know what Center in the Square is, but you should never just assume that. It’s about continuing to be visible and active in the business community but also in civic organizations and sharing our message. RB: Do you have a favorite spot in the renovated building? Henderson: It’s such a panoramic view from the rooftop. I go up there once a day. But I’m also in the atrium because the atrium is such an attraction. I want to be visible to people visiting. It might be schoolchildren. It might be a group that comes in. It might be people traveling. I also just interact with our team downstairs: our volunteers, our security team, our box office staff. Usually, I go both places at least once a day. RB: Roanoke’s arts and cultural organizations have weathered financial challenges in recent years. Mill Mountain Theatre went dark in 2009 due to mounting debt and didn’t reopen with an Equity show until March of 2012. The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge dissolved in 2012. The Historical Society of Western Virginia nearly buckled in 2013 from the stress of a loan taken out to build a new exhibit. Since Center in the Square’s vitality is largely tied to the financial health of the organizations it supports, how do you feel about the future of arts and culture in the Roanoke Valley? Henderson: I think our community … has been supportive of the arts and
cultural organizations. It’s important for companies and individuals that you have stable, diverse arts and cultural amenities, so from that perspective, I think we are very fortunate to have the diversification that we have in this community … Clearly, all communities across the country [have seen their arts and cultural organizations struggle with finances] because of the economic challenges that changed with the great recession. RB: Do you think the community took cultural amenities like Mill Mountain Theatre for granted? Henderson: The good news is that [Mill Mountain Theatre] is back and doing great, sellout crowds. It’s great to see the theater full. RB: In October, arts leaders held a summit to discuss the idea of a private/public endowment to help fund Roanoke’s arts and cultural organizations. How do you feel about the idea? Henderson: We’re supportive. … I attended the summit along with some of my team members here. I think it’s really important. RB: Is it difficult to juggle a new job and a new role as chair of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce? Henderson: It’s gratifying because it’s the voice for business here in Western Virginia, both on the legislative front and at the local front. What’s important is being able to share that. I don’t look at it as work. I look at is an opportunity to meet new business people I don’t know and continue to be visible. That’s good for Center in the Square and for our region. RB: When you have a high-profile job and a history of volunteering, do a lot of organizations clamor for your help? How do you decide where to invest your energies? Henderson: Historically, I’ve never ever served on a board where I was not committed to and believed in [the organization]. That’s the first criteria. Is it your mission? Is it something you believe in and that you support personally with volunteerism and financially? ROANOKE BUSINESS
27
COMMUNITY PROFILE: Pulaski and Giles counties
Pulaski and Giles Natural beauty, manufacturing and industry make for a unique blend
by Donna Alvis-Banks ugged by the wide arms of the Appalachians, the New River Valley’s Pulaski and Giles counties together have 51,664 residents — a little more than half of Montgomery County’s population. You won’t find an abundance of chain restaurants or town homes here because the counties have not experienced the explosive retail and residential growth of their more populous neighbor. You won’t find a traffic jam, either, unless you happen to be leaving a high school football game on a Friday night. Pulaski and Giles sports fans — both boasting past state championship football teams — rally around the gridiron. Visitors will find an extensive natural playground, as well as industries representing countries from all over the world. The importance of
H
28
MAY 2014
Giles County Administrator Chris McKlarney says a mix of natural beauty and industry makes Giles unique.
Pulaski County Administrator Pete Huber says, “Whatever you might be interested in, you can find here.”
Photos by Alisa Moody
industrial development goes back to early settlers who found uses for area resources. Mining, lumbering, manufacturing, transportation and tourism developed from geography graced with mountains, lakes, rivers and forests. “Our natural beauty combined with a fair amount of manufacturing and industry is what makes us unique,” explains Chris McKlarney, Giles County’s administrator and economic development director. He points to several noteworthy attractions, including Mountain Lake (one of only two natural lakes in the state), the Jefferson National Forest and the New River. “We’re blessed with an abundance of resources. There’s 37 miles of the New River; one-third of the county is national forest and we have over 60 miles of the Appalachian Trail in our county,” he says. Pulaski County Administrator Pete Huber echoes McKlarney’s pride, pointing to Claytor Lake and its 100 miles of shoreline, two state parks (Claytor Lake State Park and the New River Trail State Park), the largest Boy Scout reservation east of the Mississippi (Camp Ottari and Camp Powhatan with 16,000 acres) and the 400-acre Gatewood Park and Reservoir. Pulaski County, Huber says, is a nature enthusiast’s paradise: “Whatever you might be interested in, you can find here. You can be hiking on a mountain, playing in the lake, hunting in the woods, riding a bike.” In addition to Pearisburg, the county seat, Giles has four incorporated towns: Glen Lyn, Narrows, Pembroke and Rich Creek. Dallasbased Celanese Acetate LLC, the world’s largest maker of cellulosic manmade fibers and a subsidiary of Germany’s Hoechst A.G., has a plant just east of Narrows along U.S. 460 and is the county’s top employer. Travis Jacobsen, global communications manager for Celanese, says more than 650 employees staff the Narrows site with an additional Photo by Alisa Moody
Pulaski and Giles counties by the numbers PULASKI
GILES
Area
318 sq. mi.
363 sq. mi.
Population
34,736
16,928
Percentage of age 25+ with a high school diploma or higher
79.4 %
80 %
Percentage of age 25+ with a bachelor’s degree or higher
15.4 %
16.1 %
Median household income (2008-12)
$43,072
$45,231
Annual budget (2013-14)
$57.9 million
$45.9 million
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Giles County, Pulaski County
300 contractors working on an ongoing basis. “Celanese’s commitment to Giles County is strong, and our company has a rich history in Narrows with this year being our 75th year of operation,” notes Jacobsen. In fact, Celanese is investing $150 million here, replacing the plant’s coal-fired boilers with natural gas-
fired boilers. The upgrade, set for completion in 2015, will create more than 20 jobs and require about 200 construction workers. Three mining equipment manufacturers — Caterpillar, Jennmar and GE’s Fairchild — operate in Giles, as well as the chemical lime mining company Lhoist North America and steel processor Pat-
Pulaski County’s historic courthouse has been on the National Register since 1981.
ROANOKE BUSINESS
29
community profile rick Enterprises. A notable nonmanufacturer is Mountain Lake Hotel, the Pembroke resort that gained fame as the location for the 1987 box office hit “Dirty Dancing” and remains a popular vacation destination for tourists. McKlarney says companies are attracted to the Giles County work ethic: “I deal with CEOs who always say we have a great workforce. … The biggest weakness we have is available sites and buildings. We’re topographically challenged so it is hard to find land suitable for economic development.” Site availability isn’t a challenge in Pulaski County which has two incorporated towns: Pulaski, the county seat, and Dublin. Assistant Administrator Robert Hiss says the availability of land and utilities is the county’s best asset. Huber points to regional cooperation, as well, facilitated by the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. The New River Valley Com-
Assistant County Administrator Robert Hiss says land and utilities are Pulaski’s best assets.
merce Park in Dublin, for example, brings together 15 jurisdictions, including Giles County, through
Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Transportation Museum The Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Transportation Museum offers a display of the history and culture of the Pulaski area. Pulaski was a booming industrial center by the late 1880’s.The proximity of coal led to the development of foundries and the smelting of minerals. Later economic cycles saw the emergence of textiles and furniture making. Pulaski also played an important role as a retail and entertainment center for Southwest Virginia. The Museum was located in the historic Pulaski Train Depot until it suffered a devastating fire in 2008.The Depot’s grand reopening was celebrated in 2011 and now houses a bike shop and meeting spaces. In 2013, the Museum expanded to its new home at 51 Commerce Street to include historic fire engines, storyboards featuring the Town’s history, and artifacts helping to tell Pulaski’s story. But the highlight of the Museum is an 80’ “O” Gauge model train display (to scale!) of the Town about 1955. To find out more about the museum go to http://www.theratcliffemuseum.com/ 30
MAY 2014
Virginia’s first Regional Industrial Facility Authority. The publicly owned 1,000-acre park got its first tenant last year when Mexico’s Red Sun Farms announced plans to build a $30 million organic tomato greenhouse operation on 45 acres. Building is underway on the project, expected to create 205 jobs within five years. Pulaski County’s largest economic driver, Volvo Trucks North America, currently has 2,350 employees working in a 1.6-millionsquare-foot Dublin plant, the largest Volvo assembly facility in the world. In April, the company said it plans to hire another 200 people at the plant. Originally built by White Motor Co. in 1974, the plant was bought by Sweden-based Volvo in 1981. The company completed a major expansion in 2000. In 2007, Pulaski Furniture — a major employer in the town of Pulaski for 50 years —closed, leaving a hole in a downtown where many storefronts remain vacant. County officials hope, however, that recent developments will spur growth. Earlier this year, MTM Inc., a medical and transportation management company, pledged over $1 million to expand its downtown call center, creating 66 jobs. Last August, Falls Stamping and Welding Co., supplier of metal subassemblies to Volvo, announced a $5.7 million investment to open its operation in the town’s vacant Renfro building (a textile plant that closed in 2003), bringing another 112 jobs. In January, Alexander Industries said it would relocate firearms manufacturing from the Radford Arsenal to the county, spending $2.8 million and bringing 64 jobs. (See story on Page 18). Poland’s Korona S.A. candle manufacturing company also chose the county as the site of its first U.S. plant. Korona is investing $18.3 million to create 170 jobs. This new growth, coupled with such established companies as Trim Systems LLC, James
community profile Hardie Building Products and Xaloy, inspires optimism. “Existing businesses are starting to expand,” says Huber, noting that James Hardie recently added a building. “Once a company relocates, that’s when the real work starts. We have plenty to do.”
Chris McKlarney says companies are attracted to the Giles County work ethic: “I deal with CEOs who always say we have a great workforce. … The biggest weakness we have is available sites and buildings.”
Accomplished “It was absolutely incredible working with Waldvogel Commercial Properties. They did an excellent job of understanding our needs and listening to us. They have been very creative in finding buyers for our properties and have been our advocates throughout the process. They are both professional and innovative.” - Ted Edlich, President & CEO, Total Action for Progress Read about how we helped TAP sell their portfolio of multifamily and office properties. www.waldvogelcommercial.com 540-342-0800
Huber and his Giles County counterpart like the challenge. “We always want to create more job opportunities for people,” says McKlarney. “We have some really bright kids. A lot of them, unfortunately, have to leave to find employment.” Giles County has two public high schools, three elementary schools and the private Jefferson Christian Academy. Pulaski County High School serves all secondary students, and the county has five elementary and two middle schools. The Southwest Virginia Governor’s School is in Pulaski County, as is New River Community College, which offers associate degrees and certification in 32 programs. With both Virginia Tech and Radford University nearby, Pulaski and Giles have educational resources. McKlarney describes a citizenry of “blue collar folks but very well educated.” That, he says, makes for “a great place to live and to raise children.” Photo by Photo Alisa credit Moody
ROANOKE BUSINESS
31
Roanoke Business got its first chance to compete for Virginia Press Association awards this year, bringing home one first place and four third place awards for photographer Sam Dean and writer Donna Alvis Banks.
Sam Dean
FIRST PLACE:
Sam Dean feature photo “Riding to work”
Donna Alvis Banks
Judge’s comment: “This image shows rustic urban life.”
THIRD PLACE:
Sam Dean feature photo
“Out for a good time” Judge’s comment: “Excellent lighting and focus.”
Sam Dean personality or portrait photo “Theater director” JJudge’s comment: “Wonderful use of light.” ”
Sam Dean pictorial photo “Almost like a big city” Judge’s comment: “Nice time exposure and colors.” ors.” EDUCATION
Donna Alvis Banks feature story writing “The other medical school” Scottie Hurley wants to take what he’s learned at VCOM back to his Buchanan County home.
The other medical school Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine takes different approach to training and service by Donna Alvis-Banks
cottie Hurley set his sights on medicine when he was in the sixth grade. His mother was to give birth when she suffered complications from an enlarged heart. She and his baby sister died, changing his childhood suddenly and profoundly. The 23-yearold believes that both lives could have been saved if his family had lived within 10 minutes of a hospital.
S
Hurley is from Hurley, a Buchanan County community named for his distant relatives. The town of just more than 3,100 people, where his father started working at 18 and continues working in the coal mines of the rugged Appalachians, is an hour from the nearest Wal-Mart. The closest cardiac 22
JULY 2013
thoracic surgeon is three hours away in Pikeville, Ky. Hurley plans to graduate from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg and to continue his education by specializing in cardiothoracic surgery. Then he will return home. “Most of us came from underserved ar-
eas,” he says of his classmates at the school, known by the acronym VCOM. “I don’t need to have the big money. I want to go back to my hometown and provide care to people I grew up with.” Hurley says VCOM is the perfect school for him. VCOM officials say Hurley is a perfect representaPhoto by Alisa Moody
Judge’s comment: “Great read.”
Congratulations Sam and Donna!
Roanoke oa o e Regional eg o a C Chamber a be o of Co Commerce e ce | SPONSORED S O SO CONTENT CO 2014 CHAMBER CHAMPIONS
EVENT SPONSORSHIP
BB&T Brown Edwards Cox Business Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LeClairRyan LifeWorks REHAB (Medical Facilities of America) MB Contractors Pepsi Bottling Group rev.net Richfield Retirement Community Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC Trane Valley Bank Woods Rogers Attorneys at Law
Business After Hours – Feb. 28 Roanoke College Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC Business Before Hours – March 13 HopeTree Family Services Doctors Express 2014 Legislative Wrap-Up – March 20 Appalachian Power Member One Federal Credit Union Verizon
Note: Chamber Champions are members who support the Roanoke Regional Chamber through year-round sponsorships.
NEW MEMBERS The following businesses joined the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce from Feb. 8 to March 12, 2014:
Click Create Connect LLC
Maridor Bed and Breakfast
CowanPerry
The Mid-State Group
Downtown Drug
Physicians Weight Loss Center
Fidelity Power Systems
ProfitFinders USA
Flip Flop Shops
RE/MAX Valley REALTORS
Member news & recognitions Local students and employers have access to training in one of the fastest-growing industries, thanks to the associate degree program in tourism and hospitality management at the Roanoke Valley Campus of American National University. The already successful program has been revamped to include a greater management focus, providing students with the skills and expertise they will need to excel in entry-level and supervisory management, marketing or operations positions in the industry. Diane K. Hailey has joined the staff of American National University as the director of programmatic and agency approvals. In this role, Hailey is responsible for the management and outcomes that ensure the institution is in full compliance with all programmatic and agency approvals. B2C Enterprises recently launched websites for two clients striving to enhance online communication with targeted audiences.
PillarENS.com and Hire26.com deliver an informative, interactive and creative online experience for visitors searching for desired service or opportunities. B2C Enterprises is an award-winning advertising, marketing and business development firm. Tim Friel has joined the office of Cole & Associates CPAs LLC as a staff accountant. Shey Cline and Melissa Horan have joined the adminFriel istrative staff of Cole & Associates CPAs LLC. Good Samaritan Hospice has appointed the following new members to its board of directors: Mike Abbott, Pharm.D., MBA, from LewisGale Medical Center; Jack Ballenger, M.D., from Valley Nephrology Associates; Gerald Carter from Second Presbyterian Church; and Sanjoy Saha, M.D., from LewisGale Medical Center. Members rotating off the board include: David English, Dr. Joe
Nelson, Robert Rector, Peggy Strong and Ellen Ward. LeClairRyan has announced that Lori D. Thompson, a shareholder at the national law firm, has been named as the office leader for the Roanoke office. Thompson rotated into the role Jan. 1. In this position, she will be responsible for managing the firm’s operations in Roanoke and assisting in recruiting attorneys and professional staff. LeClairRyan has been named Virginia State Litigation Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation for the second time. The firm was recognized at the second nationwide U.S. Benchmark Litigation Annual Awards banquet Jan. 29 in New York City. The Colgate v. Disthene matter, cited as a reason for selecting LeClairRyan as Virginia State Litigation Firm of the Year, was a corporate dissolution case based on the oppression of minority shareholders. Amid rising interest in unmanned aircraft sysROANOKE BUSINESS
33
SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Reg Regional gional Chamber of Commerce tems (UAS) – popularly known as “drones” – national law firm LeClairRyan has launched a new practice group geared toward helping clients maximize the creative potential of this fast-growing technology. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems practice group represents UAS manufacturers and operators – including businesses and government agencies – in the opportunities and emerging issues in this sector. Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group recently announced the abandoned Huff Lane Elementary School and its 5.3-acres adjacent to Valley View Mall have been transferred from the City of Roanoke to NDRA II LLC, a regional hotel and hospitality development company. NDRA II commenced development of the property immediately. The first phase of development will include a “Home-2-Suites,” a new Hilton Hotel product that has launched in other markets very successfully. Construction will also begin soon on a new Mexican restaurant operated by El Rodeo/El Toreo group. Professional Network Services has named Don Daniel as senior account manager. He was previously with Cox Business in Roanoke. Prudential Waterfront Properties has announced that Lori Shultz-Moore, associate Daniel broker, has recently joined its sales team. Shultz-Moore is a member of the Virginia Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. The National Civic League Shultz(NCL) recently appointed RoaMoore noke Mayor David A. Bowers to serve on its board. The NCL is the country’s premier organization that promotes good government. The organization annually recognizes and celebrates communities that tackle challenges through inclusive practices and achieve inspiring results through honors such as the All-America City Award, which Roanoke has won six times, most recently in 2012. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services recently raised its long-term and underlying rating on the City of Roanoke’s general obligation bonds outstanding one notch to “AA+” from “AA,” with a stable outlook based on its view of the city’s continued economic growth and maintenance of a strong and stable financial position. AA+ is the second highest rating that a municipality can receive from a bond rating agency. Fitch Ratings also recently reaffirmed the city’s AA+ bond rating with stable outlook. The Roanoke Regional Airport Commission 34
MAY 2014
has announced that Kari Dabrowski has joined the staff as director of operations and maintenance for the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. She will be responsible for planning, organizing, staffing and directDabrowski ing the Custodial, Facilities and Operations division for the commission. The Roanoke Regional Airport Commission has announced that Diana Lewis has joined the staff as director of planning and engineering for the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. In the newly created position, Lewis will be responsible for organizing, planning, Lewis leading, and managing the Department of Planning and Engineering. Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, recently received the Virginia Planning District Commission’s first-ever President’s Award. The award recognizes an individual for “exemplifying with distinction, Strickland the ideals of regional cooperation, planning and development within the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Strickland received the award at the Virginia Planning District Commissions’ 2014 winter conference. Landon Howard, president of the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, has announced that Michael Unanue has joined the staff as the new vice president of sales. Unanue was formerly with the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, N.C. Unanue N. Ray Tuck, Jr., D.C., president of Tuck Chiropractic Clinics, has announced that Sean Skinner, D.C., has become a full partner in the Tuck Chiropractic ClinicSkinner organization. Skinner joined the clinic in 2009. Dr. Jeremy A. Keene has joined Tuck Chiropractic Clinic and will provide patient services with Dr. A.J. LaBarbera in the Bedford Clinic. He is a 2012 graduate of Palmer ColKeene lege of Chiropractic in Florida. Local moving company Two Men and a Truck, located at 1123 E. Main St. in Salem, hosted its grand opening celebration in the
Roanoke market with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February. The staff includes Chris Kavanagh and Tracy Kavanagh. The Virginia Museum of Transportation has announced the addition of William L. “Bill” Withuhn to its board of directors and its Fire Up 611! Committee. Withuhn served the Smithsonian Institution for 30 years, retiring in 2010 as curator emeritus from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American Withuhn History. Many families and businesses in rural Virginia don’t have ready access to high-speed connections to the Internet. Virginia Tech researchers are out to change that. Wireless@Virginia Tech is testing new technologies that will make it possible for high-speed Internet to reach more homes and businesses through a project called the “Spectrum Management Research Testbed – Self-Sustaining Broadband Network.” In a traditional broadband Internet access by wireless Internet service providers, the more end users, the faster the infrastructure costs can be recovered and a profit can be realized. However, rural areas have a lower population density, which gives little incentive for service providers to build in those areas. The lack of broadband limits business and education growth for the region. Rosemary Blieszner, associate director of the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech, has been installed as president of the Gerontological Society of America, the nation’s largBlieszner est interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging. Blieszner was elected by the society’s membership, which consists of more than 5,500 researchers, educators, practitioners and other professionals. Dushan Boroyevich, the American Electric Power Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, is one of 67 new members elected to the National Academy of Engi- Boroyevich neering for 2014. He is being honored for his advancements in control, modeling and design of electronic power conversion for electric energy and transportation. Muhammad Hajj, professor and director of research and graduate studies for the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and director of the Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems at Virginia Tech, has been appointed associate dean for graduate education in the Graduate School.
SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Reg Regional gional Chamber of Commerce Virginia Tech Vice President for Student Affairs Patty Perillo has been selected 2014 recipient of the Esther Lloyd-Jones Professional Service Award given by Hajj the ACPA-College Student Educators International. The award honors the life and work of Esther Lloyd-Jones, one of the earliest pioneers in the field of student affairs. As a transformative leader Perillo in higher education, Perillo is internationally known in the field of student affairs. She joined the Virginia Tech staff in 2012. Dale D. Pike has been named executive director of Virginia Tech’s Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies department, a unit of Pike Information Technology. Pike had served as director of academic technologies at Boise State University. Barbara Ryder, the J. Byron Maupin Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Computer Science in the College of Ryder Engineering at Virginia Tech, received the biennial Woman of Achievement award from the American Association of University Women of Virginia at its state conference in April. Ryder is a founding member of the National Center for Women and Information Technology Pacesetters program that strives to increase the number of women in computer science. Virginia Western Community College has been selected as one of only 150 community colleges nationally eligible to apply for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The Aspen Prize recognizes one outstanding community college for its academic and workforce outcomes every two years. The 2015 Aspen Prize winner will be awarded $1 million. Virginia Western Community College Workforce Solutions administrative officer Dan Semones was recently honored with the 2013 Virginia Community College System Chancellor’s Award in the area of occupational instruction and services. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, Semones had an increase of revenues of 137 percent over 2011-12 with a 22.4 percent increase in enrollment (1,350 students); and 33,473 class contact hours.
36
MAY 2014
Pace
Patterson
Guthrie
Pearce
Beveridge
Smith
Wilson
Simon
Guessford
Bradford
ETS (Executive Talent Search) has made the following announcements: Morgan Pace has been promoted to vice president of ETS Dental; Marcia Patterson has been promoted to senior account executive for ETS Dental; Carl Guthrie has been promoted to senior account executive for ETS Dental; Nola Pearce
Callahan
has been promoted to senior account executive for ETS Tech-Ops; Sheri Beveridge has been promoted to account executive for ETS Vision; Chante Smith has transitioned to search manager for ETS TechOps; Katherine Wilson has joined the firm as a recruiter support associate for ETS Dental and ETS Vision; Jen-
Hale
Morse
Nine attorneys with the Roanoke office of LeClairRyan were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The attorneys and their practice areas are: William E. Callahan Jr., bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/ insolvency and reorganization law, litigation – bankruptcy; James Chapman Hale, banking and finance law, mergers and acquisitions law; John T. Jessee, medical malpractice law – defendants, personal injury litigation – defendants;
Jessee
Oddo
nifer Simon has joined the firm as a recruiter support associate for ETS Dental and ETS Vision; Michael Guessford joined the firm as a recruiter support associate for ETS Dental and ETS Vision; and Scott Bradford has been promoted to database marketing coordinator for ETS Dental, Vision, Tech-Ops and Therapy.
Kuhnel
Rapp
Paul C. Kuhnel, medical malpractice law – defendants; Powell M. “Nick” Leitch, III, medical malpractice law – defendants; Clinton S. Morse, employment law, management, labor law – management. Morse was also named the Roanoke Labor Law – Management Lawyer of the Year; Kevin P. Oddo, commercial litigation, litigation – banking and finance, litigation – bankruptcy; Brandy M. Rapp, bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, litigation
Leitch
Thompson
– bankruptcy; and Lori D. Thompson, bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, litigation – bankruptcy. Paul C. Kuhnel, shareholder at the national law firm LeClairRyan, has been recognized as a 2014 Client Service All-Star by the BTI Consulting Group. BTI conducted more than 300 individual interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 and large organizations. Kuhnel is one of approximately 330 attorneys nationwide who received this recognition in 2014.
Technology is hard wired into Virginia Western education. For three years in a row, Virginia Western Community College has been named #1 or #2 in the top 10 digital community colleges in the nation by the Center for Digital Education. That’s one of the reasons Virginia Western Community College is enjoying a growing reputation for hands-on training in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and healthcare (STEM+H). Students get the skills and knowledge that will take them where they want to go, whether it’s upgrading a current job, transferring to a four-year program or transitioning careers with confidence. Looking for an affordable education with a future?
Virginia Western will take you there.
.edu
A Comforting Hand at Home
At the end of life, when the important things like family and faith come into focus, you can trust that Carilion Clinic Hospice will support you and those close to you. Our experienced and compassionate caregivers are here to provide skilled care and to meet the needs of the entire family, all in the comfort of your home. If you have an advanced illness and want comfort and quality of life to be the focus of care, talk to your physician about the beneďŹ ts of hospice.
CarilionClinic.org/hospice | 800-964-9300