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SEPTEMBER SEPT SE PTEM PT EM M BE E R 20 2013 13
Pigskin payoff
SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION
City Manager David Ridpath
Hokie home games mean big money
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CONTENTS
6 September 2013 SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION
F E AT U R E S COVER STORY
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Hokie economics
Football weekends bring big bucks for businesses that cater to fans. by Shawna Morrison
BUSINESS TRENDS Modern-day competitors
15
Today’s credit unions offer competitive rates, technology and a say in how things work. by Rich Ellis
19
NONPROFITS Back from the dead
19
It’s been burned out and nearly bankrupt, but Mill Mountain Theatre survives. by Kevin Kittredge
SPECIAL REPORT Ready for takeoff?
22 Virginia Tech professor says drones
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are ‘sort of like the car industry in the 1910s.’ by Kevin Kittredge
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P
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INTERVIEW: CHARLES PRICE
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COMMUNITY PROFILE
It takes a village
More than moonshine
From finding sponsors to staffing reception desk, volunteer leader continues legacy of dedication to museum.
Franklin County has retail, retirement, recreation, agriculture and commuters. by Mason Adams
by Sandra Brown Kelly
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FROM THE EDITOR Numbers lead to answers — sometimes. by Tim Thornton
I
lived in Jacksonville, Fla., in the early 1990s, when city leaders were trying to convince the city that it would be a good idea to do whatever was necessary to get an NFL expansion team to settle there. Some boosters declared that each Jacksonville Jaguars home game would add an awful lot to the local economy — $10 million is the figure I recall. I couldn’t get a good answer about where that figure came from, but I eventually noticed it was the same amount of money the annual Gator Bowl was said to generate. It was also what the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party — the annual meeting of the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs and their fans — allegedly added to Jacksonville’s economy. Quite a coincidence, it seemed to me. Every time someone played a football game in Jacksonville, the local economy got $10 million richer, although in later years the figure went to as much as $80 million for the matchup between the Gators and the Bulldogs. That city by the sea certainly isn’t the only place that ever engaged in hyperbole and questionable numbers to promote an idea or an event. The Old Fiddlers’ Convention down in Galax, for instance, has been going on for 78 years now, if you overlook that one summer it skipped during World War II. For decades, organizers claimed that 65,000 people came to the festival. Never 63,000. Never 67,000. Never 65,002. 65,000. Year after year after year. Call me a skeptic, but I’m not terribly confident about the accuracy of that attendance figure. At least the Old Fiddlers’ Convention had a number. In our last issue, a Radford City Council member said the business generated by baseball and softball tournaments that attract out-of-town teams to Radford pay for the construction and maintenance of the first-class fields those teams use — the same fields Radford athletes use when the tournaments aren’t in town. That may be true, but the council member didn’t offer any numbers to back that up. And our writer couldn’t find any. This month, our cover story focuses on the economic impact of Virginia Tech football. The university shared information from an economic impact study that measured fan spending on lodging, meals and souvenirs. It added up to $10.3 million for the area per season. But that study was done in 1999. A lot has changed since then. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began that year more than 5,000 points lower than it is as this column is being written. No one had heard of the Great Recession. The Hokies hadn’t joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hokies hadn’t played in a national championship bowl game. Numbers extrapolated from a 14-year-old study may not be all that accurate. In fact, Tech spokesman Larry Hincker cautioned that the $17.2 million estimate of the effect of more recent seasons is probably too conservative. There’s no doubt that having more than 60,000 people in Lane Stadium on a fall weekend has an impact on the local economy. But what kind of impact? How big? We found lots of anecdotes that indicate that hotels and restaurants benefit, but we can’t say how big that benefit is. We can’t say how much that benefit is offset — or if it is offset — by smaller crowds at movie theaters, hardware stores, grocery stores and other businesses because locals who aren’t going to the game don’t want to get caught up in game-day traffic. No one, it seems, is keeping track of the effect Hokie football has on the area’s economy. And if no one has good numbers about the effect of something as popular and as visible as Hokie football, what else are we missing? When you’re talking about business, it’s good to have numbers. It’s even better to have good numbers.
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SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION Vol. 2
SEPTEMBER 2013
President & Publisher Roanoke Business Editor Contributing Editor Contributing Writers
Art Director Contributing Designer Contributing Photographers Production Manager Circulation Manager Accounting Manager Advertising Sales
No. 9
Bernard A. Niemeier Tim Thornton Paula C. Squires Shawna Morrison Rich Ellis Kevin Kittredge Sandra Brown Kelly Mason Adams Adrienne R. Watson Elizabeth Coffey Don Peterson Steven Mantilla 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 Virginia Tech estimates that a season of Hokie football contributes more than $17 million to the local economy. Cover photo illustration by Adrienne R. Watson with photos courtesy Virginia Tech
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COVER STORY
Hokie economics Football weekends bring big bucks for businesses that cater to fans by Shawna Morrison
Rick Arevalo and Nicky Aymes’ Clay Corner Inn is all Hokie all the time on football weekends.
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Photo by Steven Mantilla
More than 60,000 Hokie fans can make a lot of noise – and spend a lot of cash.
T
ake a drive into Blacksburg any Saturday the Hokie football team is playing a home game, and the economic impact is apparent. The hotels are full, the restaurants and gas stations are bustling, and nearly everyone seems to be wearing some sort of Hokie gear. Even the Virginia Tech/Montgomery Regional Airport brings in some major cash, and most of it has nothing to do with air traffic. It has been allowing game-going cars to park there for six years, and it opened its lots to recreational vehicles in 2009. The lots can park 85 to 90 RVs and 250 to 300 cars per game, airport Executive Director Michael St. Jean says. In six home games last season, that translated into $75,000 — money that goes directly back into operations. The airport is only three-quarters of a mile from the stadium; Blacksburg Transit provides shuttle service between the two, making it convenient for Hokie fans. Other local businesses, residents and even churches open up their parking lots and lawns, charging about $20 per car and generating an amount of money difficult to measure. St. Jean describes Virginia Tech Virginia Tech photo by John McCormick, courtesy Virginia Tech
football as “an important asset to the airport. Game days are a good day for the airport and a good day for the community. These people are out spending money in the community.” Overall spending on Virginia Tech football had an estimated impact of about $17.2 million on Montgomery County during the 2008-09 season, the most recent year for which numbers are available, according to Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Virginia Tech. “That’s extremely, extremely conservative,” he says. That’s because the number comes from extrapolating the impact of football — to account for inflation and a larger stadium — from the results of a study conducted in 1999. The 1999 study measured fan spending on lodging, meals and souvenirs and showed an estimated impact of $10.3 million. “The actual impacts are likely much larger,” Hincker says. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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cover story The university itself has an annual economic impact of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion on the community, he notes, with a survey showing that it accounts for 25 percent of jobs and 33 percent of the payroll in Montgomery County. Last fiscal year, an estimated $2.1 million was generated by the sale of Tech’s licensed products, Hincker says, compared with $1 million in 2004 and $29,283 in 1990. That
money is centrally managed by the university’s chief financial officer and is generally used to support various scholarships or student-centered programs, with some money returning to athletics, Hincker says. University Bookstore, which runs the on-campus bookstore as well as the off-campus Volume Two Bookstore, does its best to capitalize on the Hokies’ games in Blacksburg. The bookstore has four permanent
Scoring at the cash register A by Shawna Morrison
nother way to measure the economic impact of the Hokies’ football team is to look at the financial success of the team itself. “Football is the economic engine that pulls the rest of the sports department,” Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said. “It throws off money and helps support the other sports.” For the 2011-12 fiscal year, the most recent figures available, the team brought in more than $38.6 million. Its operating expenses totaled $24.9 million, leaving more than $13 million that was distributed within the athletic department. Longtime fans may know that the football program hasn’t always been a success. In fact, in the mid-1980s, it was in big trouble. According to Hincker, the football program wasn’t part of the university. The entire athletic program operated outside of university governance. It was in such deep debt that it couldn’t pay its bills, and it was on NCAA probation for violations. Hincker credits Dave Braine, who became athletic director in 1988, and Frank Beamer, who has served as head coach since 1987, for helping the team succeed and getting its financials into the black. Another financial turning point for the team was its entry into the ACC in 2003. “That’s when the money began to grow,” Hincker said, because the ACC is a revenue-sharing conference. The conference pools part of each team’s ticket proceeds, then splits it among the participating schools. The revenue is shared between all sports. So if any ACC school has a basketball team playing in March Madness, all the schools get a cut of their revenues. Along with the growth of the team has come the growth of Lane Stadium. When it was built in 1965, the stadium held about 34,000. Its capacity now is 66,233.
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locations inside Lane Stadium — in the west, east, south and northeast sides — and sets up an additional three or four kiosks outside the stadium for each home game, says Don Williams. He’s the executive director of Virginia Tech Services Inc., a nonprofit corporation that returns all profits to Virginia Tech for student-related scholarships and improvements. Williams said the bookstore sees about a 69 percent increase in sales on a football Saturday versus a regular Saturday during the school year. “We wish they had all their games here,” Williams says. “They certainly have a tremendous impact on our spirited sale items,” which he described as things such as Hokierelated clothing, hats, visors, footballs, helmets and gifts. When Lisa Bleakley began working as tourism director for the Montgomery Regional Tourism Office last fall, she learned right away Hokie football’s importance to the community. “One of the first things I learned when I came here is nothing really happens until we get that [football] schedule,” she says. “I think it’s undeniable that Virginia Tech football is a primary economic driver here. “If they have six home games, that provides six opportunities for thousands of people to come in.” It’s difficult to create the same impact any other way, she says. There are many ways the county can try to market itself to visitors, “but these games bring people right to our doorstep.” Many hotel, restaurant and store managers in the New River and Roanoke valleys sound excited when they talk about the boon created by a home game. “This town thrives on Virginia Tech,” says Gabe Figueroa, culinary manager for the Olive Garden restaurant in Christiansburg. “If they’re
Culinary manager Gabe Figueroa says game days are busy days at the Olive Garden restaurant in Christiansburg if the Hokies are playing at home.
in town,” he says of the football team’s games, “we know we’re going to be busy.” The restaurant becomes packed, and sales of food and alcohol go up. Tech’s move-in, move-out and graduation weekends are busy as well, he says. “The flow of traffic for every business in the area is affected,” he says. Traffic on the U.S. 460 corridor gets backed up and people stop in at restaurants and stores until the flow of traffic resumes. On the flip side, he says, customer traffic is down during away games. “We don’t have TVs,” he says, “so people can’t come in to watch Photo by Steven Mantilla
the game. If it’s a big game like U.Va., people are going to be out watching it.” At Sycamore Deli in Blacksburg,
about 25 percent over non-football, fall weekends, he says. Restaurants, in particular, seem to benefit from the influx of people
“I think it’s undeniable that Virginia Tech football is a primary economic driver here.” the earlier the game is, the more business suffers, owner Mike Weber says. “People go to the game, and then they leave,” he says. But for later games, business increases
brought in by home games, says Laureen Blakemore, director of Downtown Blacksburg Inc. They see extra business not only on the day of a game but the days before and after. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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cover story
Sycamore Deli owner Mike Weber says business booms when kickoffs come later in the day.
Laureen Blakemore, director of Downtown Blacksburg Inc., says game days are especially good for restaurants.
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Other businesses say the traffic generated by home games tends to keep locals away, but they always come back. “I think a lot of the locals hunker down and stay home because traffic does get pretty bad in town,” Ellen Stewart, market director for the Blacksburg Farmers Market, says. Because out-of-town shoppers might not have a place to store things like fresh vegetables and plants, some vendors tend to suffer on home game weekends, she says. But those who sell items such as crafts, baked goods and prepared foods sometimes fare better, she says. The timing of the game is a big factor. If kickoff is at noon, the market doesn’t get much business. If it’s a 3:30 game, it sees more customers, she says. Photos by Steven Mantilla
Nancyne Willoughby, the owner of Fringe Benefit, a ladies’ boutique on North Main Street in Blacksburg, says loyal customers are sometimes kept away by the crowds. The games are still good for business. Even though she doesn’t sell Techrelated merchandise, she does stock some items in orange and maroon for women who want to show their support without wearing a logo. Several hotels in the Blacksburg
“Downtown certainly has benefits from people coming and staying in Roanoke for games” area say they sell out for every game, often months in advance. “If it’s a bigger game,” if Tech is playing Clemson or Florida State, for example, “we sell out quicker,” says Chris Lyon, assistant general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn about a mile from the Tech campus. Like other hotels, the Hilton Garden Inn raises prices about $100 per room on football weekends, but that certainly doesn’t keep people away. “It’s supply and demand,” Lyon says. He compared a Blacksburg hotel on a home game weekend to a beachfront hotel during the summer. “We’re sold out on every home game due to the fact that we’ve got a lot of fans, alumni, who come here to stay,” he says. The hotel receives a rush of calls as soon as the football schedule is released, he says. Nicky Aymes, owner of Clay Cor-
ner Inn, a bed and breakfast opposite the Tech campus, keeps a “football list” guests can sign. When the schedule is released, she begins making calls to ask if they want to reserve one of the inn’s eight queen rooms or three suites. The inn normally books up within a week of the schedule’s release. In the last week of June, she had only one room left for one game, the first home game of the season against
Western Carolina University. “We are full for the rest of the games,” she says. She and her husband turn game weekends into big events at the inn, she says. They wear their best fan gear, decorate “Hokie style,” cook out and offer tailgating. “The whole atmosphere, it’s just fantastic,” she says. The inn is so close to Lane Stadium “we feel the vibration from the games,” she says.
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On cold days, the inn streams the games on a large-screen TV and offers wine for its guests. Often, Aymes says, women and children will return to the inn to watch a game while men brave the cold at Lane Stadium. They offer the same for other sports, including basketball and lacrosse, she says. But the prices increase only for football. The rate for a room with a queen-size bed rises from the weekend rate of $174 to a rate of $259 for two people, with a two-night minimum stay required. Hotels in the Roanoke area see an increase in the number of rooms rented on home game weekends as
“You’ve got football, you’ve got a market. Everybody wanted to come to Blacksburg.� well. Comfort Suites on Wildwood Road in Salem, 29 interstate miles from Lane Stadium, often sells out its 72 rooms, a manager says. The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center is a popular place to stay because the team stays there the night before home games. The team and coaching staff rent about a third of the hotel’s rooms, marketing manager Mike Quonce says. They also rent a couple of meeting rooms, where they hold strategy sessions or go over game plans. The rest of the hotel’s 331 rooms usually sell out, he says. “We benefit not only from the team but also from the fan base,� he says. He says guests enjoy seeing Hokie team members and Coach Frank
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Beamer in the hotel. When the team leaves for Virginia Tech the morning of a game, fans gather outside to cheer them on. “It’s almost like a mini-pep rally before the game,” Quonce says. “We enjoy it,” he says of the busy weekends. “It really creates a great atmosphere here at the hotel.” He says the hotel’s Pine Room Pub sees an increase in customers as well. And many people use the connecting Market Square Walkway Pedestrian Bridge to head for downtown Roanoke. “They’ll come and patronize downtown businesses,” says Price Gutshall, vice president of economic development for Downtown Roanoke Inc. “Downtown certainly has benefits from people coming and staying in Roanoke for games,” he says. “People come and they dine out and shop. It benefits everybody.” Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, said he believes the influx of fans generated by home games has an impact far outside Blacksburg, including an area that stretches from the Roanoke Valley to Wytheville. “Certainly they have a big impact,” he said. “People buy all kinds of things, and normally it’s a weekend event, not just a day. It affects all of us.” Downtown Blacksburg’s Blakemore says Hokie home games “certainly bring a lot more people into town and they spend their money eating and drinking and shopping. “We really enjoy the games. We look forward to them.” Catherine Sutton, executive director of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, agrees. “I think everyone looks forward to football season because they know it brings people to our area,” she says. “Any school that has this caliber of team that plays at the level that they
do, it has an impact.” Weber, the Sycamore Deli owner, thinks Hokie football not only brings in customers. It attracts new businesses, too. Hokie football “put us on the map,” Weber says of the Montgomery County area. “That’s why we’ve got a Panera Bread. That’s why Mellow Mushroom is coming.” He says he thinks the arrival of many businesses during the past de-
cade can be attributed to Tech’s participation in a 1999 National Championship game, when the Hokies took on the Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl. “I think that’s when the explosion began as far as business,” he says. “We got national exposure.” Businesses, he says, thought, “you’ve got football, you’ve got a market. Everybody wanted to come to Blacksburg.”
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BUSINESS TRENDS This isn’t your grandfather’s credit union.
Modern-day competitors Today’s credit unions offer competitive rates, technology and a say in how things work by Rich Ellis
C
redit unions. Every town seems to have one. In the past, they’ve been the little guys compared with the national banking giants and their glossy marketing campaigns, hefty balance sheets and imposing corporate headquarters.
The Roanoke region has at least two dozen credit unions. While some of the names – Kemba, Blue Eagle, FedStar – might still seem a little “different,” credit unions have grown up, leaving their booster seats at the kids table to rub elbows alongside the banking industry’s big players at the adult table of financial services. Consumers, locally and naPhoto by Don Peterson
tionally, aren’t the only ones noticing these bigger and better credit unions. Banks see today’s credit unions for the competitors they are. Through professional trade groups such as the American Bankers Association, banks are pushing for changes that they say will level the playing field, including the end of a tax exemption for credit unions as not-for-profit or-
ganizations. One of the most succinct explanations of what a credit union is appears at the National Credit Union Association’s consumer website. “Credit unions are notfor-profit organizations that exist to serve their members rather than to maximize corporate profits. Like banks, credit unions accept deposits and make loans. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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Health Care business trends But as member-owned institutions, credit unions focus on providing a safe place to save and borrow at reasonable rates. Unlike banks, credit unions return surplus income to their members in the form of dividends.” The “dividends” often are delivered as better interest rates on both loans and deposits. “Credit unions are based on a philosophy of people helping people, meaning, it’s our responsibility as a credit union to offer the best banking experience at as little cost to the consumer as possible,” explains Mark Hudzik, chief development officer for Member One Federal Credit Union in Roanoke. “Our fiduciary responsibility is to our members, versus other financial institutions who are owned by shareholders.” Credit union boards are composed of volunteers elected by members. Members’ deposits are insured up to $250,000 per account,
Freedom First’s Dave Prosser says credit unions with community charters have a special focus.
even if there are several accounts within a household, by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). Membership rules at credit unions have relaxed in re-
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cent years. Instead of being exclusive to one company or industry – a “Select Employee Group” or SEG charter – membership is moving to a more geographic focus, known in the industry as a “Community Charter” and open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in a certain area. Dave Prosser, vice president of community development at Freedom First Federal Credit Union, based in Roanoke County, says a credit union’s focus and commitment to its local community make it unique. “Freedom First has a community charter,” he says. “With our community charter, we are able to expand our assistance and help a broader range of individuals.” Plus, since credit unions are focused on a specific territory, “We’re able to identify the needs in our own community, and we can develop programs and offer services that target those specific needs.” Credit unions offer traditional account services, including debit and credit cards, personal and business checking and savings accounts, and direct deposit. Lending services include new and used auto and recreational vehicle loans, mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, and unsecured and Photo by Don Photo Peterson credit
secured personal loans. Credit unions also have the flexibility to offer products, such as Freedom First’s “Impact Banking” suite of products or Member One’s “Second Chance” checking, targeted to helping low- to moderate-income individuals or individuals with low or no credit scores. Rates on both savings and lending products are competitive at credit unions. Prosser credits the different cost structure, which he says enables credit unions to offer better interest rates. A majority of local credit unions post loan rates online, and the rates differ from institution to institution. Recently, Member One’s website listed home equity loans “as low as 2.5% APR” and new car loans at 3.84% APR. Credit unions are attracting members and competing with other financial institutions by offering the banking technology products consumers want, including online banking, mobile apps, deposits made using a smart phone to snap a photo of a check, online bill pay and financial software that tracks expenditures. “In emerging markets, less folks are starting to go to tradi-
tional brick-and-mortar banks and doing it [their transactions]
“I think the next wave you’re really going to see is trying to connect to the younger population, and we know that most of them are doing everything through their phones.” online,” Prosser says. “I think the next wave you’re really going to see is trying to connect to the younger population, and we know that most of them are doing everything through their phones. I think to be competitive in our market going forward, we are going to have to pay close attention to that and be able to deliver the technology that
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business Health Care trends they will be demanding.” Hudzik is seeing other trends emerge. Regulatory oversight is on the rise, and smaller credit unions are having more difficulty competing, particularly those that lost members when companies cut jobs. That is driving a trend toward consolidation within the industry. “You’re also seeing credit unions becoming more aggressive in their lending, and marketing heavier,” Hudzik says. Among the Roanoke Valley’s credit unions, Member One is the largest, with about 71,000 members and assets totaling nearly $600 million. It’s trailed by Freedom First, with about 50,000 members and assets of nearly $279 million. Member One, Hudzik explains, has seen strong growth since 2008 when the credit union had 52,000 members and $350 million in assets – growth that he attributes to strategic planning and aggressive marketing.
As the Member One downtown Roanoke branch shows, credit unions have come a long way since the days of George Bailey.
“We became very aggressive in our marketing in 2008 and very aggressive in our outbound business development tea m,” Hudzik says. “I have a team that spends 80 percent of their time on the road, in companies, actual-
ly doing setup, opening accounts, talking to members about loans and making financial education presentations. And we continued to make real estate loans when other people were skittish about the market.”
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It’s been burned out and nearly bankrupt, but Mill Mountain Theatre survives by Kevin Kittredge
M
ill Mountain Theatre died on a Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Ten minutes into a regularly scheduled staff meeting, board members began to file in. Ginger Poole, the theater’s education director, remembers sitting beside set designer Jimmy Ray Ward.
“He said, ‘This is it, Ginger,’” Poole remembers. “I said, ‘What do you mean, “This is it”?’” It was soon clear. “We heard there was no more money. We were to come in on Friday and turn in our key,” says Poole. The four-decade-old theater – for years the valPhoto by Don Peterson
ley’s flagship arts organization and the catalyst for the creation of Center in the Square in 1983 – was closing its doors. Board members blamed more than $750,000 in debt, coupled with a bad economy. “This is just gutwrenching, heartbreaking,” Jason Bingham told The ROANOKE BUSINESS
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nonprofits Roanoke Times in 2009. Four and a half years later, Mill Mountain Theatre has sprung back to life. Technically, its heart never stopped. An anticipated bankruptcy filing never happened. Instead, the theater treaded water as board members painstakingly negotiated their way out of a mountain of debt. Behind the scenes, changes were gut-wrenching. The theater’s fulltime staff was cut from 23 to three, then two, then one. Poole credits the theater classes she ran for making her the sole survivor. “It was a revenue stream,” she says. Poole hung on for four long years, eventually winning a promotion to producing managing director, the title she holds today. Along the way she also married theater board President Jack Avis. The couple’s daughter, Anne Tillison, was born last October. “We’re just as married to the theater as we are to each other,” Poole says. “This was our first baby,
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Greater Tuna was one of the recovering Mill Mountain Theatre’s productions that made money.
I guess.” “Without Jack Avis and Ginger,” says Jason Bingham, “the theater would probably be dead.” This is not the first resuscitation for Mill Mountain Theatre. The company, which began as a summer stock playhouse in an old resort atop Mill Mountain in the mid-1960s, lost its original home to fire in 1976. Talk of rebuilding the theater gave birth to Center in the Square. The center, now the anchor for Mill Moun-
tain Theatre and seven other arts and cultural organizations, is often credited with starting a downtown renaissance that sparked hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. This time, the ripple effect from a revitalized Mill Mountain Theatre is unlikely to be quite so dramatic — in part because downtown Roanoke is a different place. But Center in the Square President Jim Sears says it was unthinkable that the center, which recently completed a $30 million renovation project, could reopen without a professional theater inside. Mill Mountain “is important because of its long history in Roanoke and because of the number of people it brings to Center in the Square,” Sears says. “It would be virtually a tragedy to lose the region’s only Equity theater.” How did Mill Mountain Theatre pull off a second revival? Board members recently described a long process of negotiations with creditors large and small, right down to disappointed ticket holders. The biggest single hurdle to reopening was Wachovia Bank, now Wells Fargo. The theater’s 2007-2008 IRS tax Form 990 for nonprofits shows it owed the bank $367,726, and Center in the Square another $150,000. Sears confirmed Center in the Square forgave its portion of the debt. “It seemed like the only thing we could do. We support our organizations to the very best extent that we can, and that was the way Photo courtesy of Mill Mountain Theatre.
that we could do it, and kind of help them out and get them back on their feet. A number of other businesses forgave their debt, too,” he said. Wells Fargo currently has a vice president, Jim Beckett, serving on the Mill Mountain board, and the auditorium of Mill Mountain’s main stage theater is named for the bank. Wells Fargo officials, including Beckett, referred questions about the theater to a spokesperson, Kristy Marshall, who said she could not comment on the debt. “As they reopen and rebuild their program, we look forward to working in collaboration with the theater in helping them to achieve their goals as a regional theater with programs that educate, entertain, challenge and enrich,” she said in an emailed statement. Avis declined to talk about how specific creditors were satisfied, but theater revenues listed on Mill Mountain’s 2008-2009 Form 990, include $531,662 for “cancellation of debt.” As for the rest, every creditor was different. “We broke it down,” says Avis, who is part owner of Avis Construction Co. in Roanoke. “Everybody took somebody that they knew or didn’t know, and negotiated.” Some forgave the debt in return for a promise to do business with them in the future, say Avis and Poole, while others insisted on getting all of their money. In the end, “All of the vendors and debt holders were satisfied in one way or another,” Avis says. The theater came back with baby steps. There was a children’s play in December 2009, “Annie Junior,” using only child actors. A year later came “My Son Pinocchio” and then “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” in 2011 and 2012. The theater’s first professional production was “Greater Tuna,” performed on its smaller, alternative venue, the Waldron Stage, in 2012. This spring, the theater staged
its first professional production in more than four years using union actors on the Trinkle Main Stage for “The Marvelous Wonderettes” in April and May. It wasn’t until that production, another success, that some board members say they finally began to believe that Mill Mountain was back to stay. At opening announcements during the final performance of “Wonderettes” on May 12, midway through her talk, Poole cried. She says the depth of her emotion surprised her along with everybody else. “I guess I felt like I could exhale,” she says. The new Mill Mountain Theatre is a different organization, leaner than the one that closed four years ago. Much of the full-time staff has been replaced by contract workers. Plays have shorter runs, to decrease production costs and increase attendance per show. And the theater is negotiating a new
contract with the actors’ union, Actors’ Equity, which requires fewer Equity actors, Avis said. Mill Mountain also will stage more co-productions with other theaters, which can save money. Plus, it no longer operates its own box office. Center in the Square handles ticketing instead. Although the budget for the coming year is not yet approved, Avis says he expects it to be much closer to this year’s $1.24 million than to old Mill Mountain budgets that topped $3 million. “The main focus will be getting people in the seats,” Avis says. So far, that hasn’t been a problem. “People are excited,” he says. All of the theater’s productions since it closed its doors in 2009 have ended up in the black, he adds, which couldn’t happen without filled seats. “The future looks really bright for Mill Mountain Theatre,” Poole said.
Things are looking up downtown. Center in the Square
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SPECIAL REPORT
Ready for takeoff? Virginia Tech professor says drones are ‘sort of like the car industry in the 1910s’ by Kevin Kittredge
Kevin Kochersberger is overseeing the expansion of Virginia Tech’s unmanned aerial vehicle program. 22
SEPTEMBER 2013
Photo credit
nside a large metal shed at the edge of the Virginia Tech campus are what look like the world’s coolest toys. A couple of helicopters barely large enough to carry a Pekingese puppy are perched here awaiting their next command to take off, land and fly.
I
They are hardly toys, however. For one thing, the helicopters cost more than $150,000 each. What they represent is the future. The two helicopters are drones – unmanned aerial vehicles in academic parlance, or UAVs for short. Scarcely a day passes when drones don’t make headlines. The pilotless aircraft have been a mainstay of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They perform surveillance operations and deadly attacks in Africa. The Navy recently landed a fighter-size drone on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Yet it’s here, on a smaller scale, that drones are most likely to change our lives. Indeed, the only thing stopping their commercial use right now, says several Virginia Tech professors, is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates the use of drones in public airspace. The FAA is working on a set of rules governing their commercial use, which could be in place within a year or two. (Virginia’s General Assembly recently put a moratorium on most drone use in the commonwealth; it will expire at about the time the FAA plans to have its rules in place.) Hobbyists, meanwhile, already are f lying low-altitude drones in droves. “It’s a nascent industry that is clamoring to establish itself and can’t yet,” says Craig Woolsey, an associate professor and assistant department head for graduate studies in Virginia Tech’s Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department. “It will happen.” “It’s here to stay,” echoes Tech’s Kevin Kochersberger, a research
Photo courtesy of Virginia Tech
associate professor in Virginia Tech’s department of mechanical engineering. Kochersberger, who came to Tech in 2007 and has overseen the expansion of its drone laboratory, says drones are “sort of like the car industry in the 1910s.” Despite current safety and privacy concerns over drone use, he says, “People will figure it out somehow.” When they do, “There’s going to be a lot of money floating around,” he says.
Most modern jets are largely automated already. Still, “I don’t think the public’s ready for an empty cockpit,” Kochersberger says. Though the FAA has yet to approve drones for commercial use, drone research hasn’t stopped. Virginia Tech has more than a dozen drones, Woolsey says, with some purchased from outside sources and others built on site. They include both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Most weigh 55 pounds
Virginia Tech’s mini helicopter lab is working on drones that can change lives.
Drones are flying vehicles with no onboard pilot. There may be a pilot on the ground, steering the aircraft by remote control, or the vehicle may be preprogrammed for autonomous flight. Either way, drones stand to revolutionize the understanding of what an aircraft is and can do. Indeed, some experts believe the only thing standing in the way of pilotless jetliners one day may be passenger uneasiness.
or less and can carry a payload — video camera, a sensor or something else — of up to 10 pounds. Tech has used its drones for research on radiation testing, crop maintenance, and search and rescue operations. Engineering students are designing an aircraft that can find lost hikers in Australia and drop them bottles of water. Other potential uses could include global mapping — think ROANOKE BUSINESS
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special report Google Earth — police work and firefighting. Drones, after all, can be flown into almost any situation, with no risk to human life. “Unmanned aircraft can do the dull, dirty dangerous work that people don’t want to do,” Kochersberger says. Much of Tech’s research has been funded by the government, including the Department of Defense, though Kochersberger notes that the university’s research is far removed from the battlefield. “We’re not building anything that can be deployed,” he says. “The stuff we do here, most of it’s going to stay in the academic community.” The engineering department is not the only one at Tech using drones. David Schmale, a professor of plant pathology, and his students experiment with their own drones, at the university’s drone laboratory at Kentland Farms on the New
Many of Virginia Tech’s UAV flights take place at Kentland Farms in Montgomery County.
River and at Fort Pickett, a military installation where they can fly drones for a fee. Schmale’s interest
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is in testing crops for airborne microorganisms that can spread disease. “The UAV is a moving sampler,” he says. “The real advantage is the high volume.” Like others, Schmale expresses frustration with current FAA regulations that limit drone use, commercially and at universities. “We’ve got all these exciting things that could have commercial applications,” he says. Tech may soon have another role to play in drone research — helping determine how drones can be used safely in public airspace. Congress has approved the designation of six drone testing sites to help the FAA assess how to safely legalize drones for commercial use. Virginia and New Jersey have submitted a joint application. Although Kochersberger would not disclose the proposed testing location, Tech stands to be a major player if the application is approved. Once the FAA takes action on the commercial use of drones, Tech’s role in drone research Photo by Kevin Kochersberger
special report should expand, Woolsey believes. “I think the university will still have an important role to play in research and making them safe,” he says. “It’s only going to grow.” Meanwhile, Tech students such as Kenneth Kroeger, who is doing graduate work in mechanical and electrical engineering, are getting a head start on the new technology. Kroeger not only works on UAVs at Tech but also has a fleet of hobby drones he flies in his spare time. Bottom-end drones are available to hobbyists for a few hundred dollars or less, although others cost far more. Hobbyists currently must fly their aircraft under 400 feet but otherwise do not face the same kind of restrictions that businesses and universities do. “I’ve got a bunch,” Kroeger says. “It’s already happening,
Once the FAA takes action on the commercial use of drones, Tech’s role in drone research should expand. whether the FAA likes it or not.” He envisions a career doing drone research in the aerospace industry, perhaps for Lockheed Martin or Boeing. He’s not the only one. “The students who are graduating now are going to lead this new industry,” Woolsey says. “And they’re really excited about it.”
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INTERVIEW: CHARLES PRICE, president, Harrison Museum of African-American Culture
It takes a village From finding sponsors to staffing reception desk, volunteer leader continues legacy of dedication to museum
Charles Price says the Harrison Museum “became a mechanism for exposing my family and others to different things we might not be aware of.” by Sandra Brown Kelly
C
harles Price, president of the board of Har rison Museum of African-American Culture in Roanoke, also is the unpaid head of the museum’s daily operations. This seems an unlikely spot for a man who spent more than 30 years as an executive of a commercial contracting company. Throw in the fact that Price’s past involvement with museums has been mainly as a visitor, and it’s a curious spot indeed for someone used to the rough and tumble of construction. On the day of this interview, Price was working out of a small office near the reception desk and occasionally ran out to oversee a project, such as the hanging of the brass letters that spell the name of the museum. The office has no art on the walls, and neither does his official office behind
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the exhibit area. “I have what I need to get the job done,” he says. Price, 66, grew up in Roanoke and studied architecture at Hampton University, where he met his wife, Roanoke Council member Anita Price. After marriage, they moved to Baltimore, where he became a vice president for Payne Construction, a business owned by his uncle. He later oversaw the company’s move to Campbell County, where the family originated, and his family settled in Roanoke in 1978. A Virginia Historic Landmark, Harrison Museum began life in 1985 in a building constructed in 1916 as Roanoke city’s first public high school for African-American students. The opening of the museum was a great source of pride and an example of
successful citizen action. The school building near the Hotel Roanoke had been saved from demolition by local residents and then renovated into apartments and space for the museum by the Northwest Neighborhood Improvement Council Inc. and Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke Valley Inc. As the museum grew, the two-story temperature-controlled annex was built to house artifacts, which include some 30,000 pieces excavated from a site in the historic Gainsboro neighborhood. Much of Gainsboro was demolished in an urban renewal project that made way for the Roanoke Civic Center. Some of Price’s relatives were displaced in that process. Despi te gr ant s and gover nment support, however, the museum struggled. In 2009, after losing an executive director, its existence became so shaky that it was open as little as 11 hours a week. The year before, when the Art Museum of Western Virginia (now the Taubman Museum) closed in Center in the Square to move to its new quarters, talks began about moving the Har r ison Museum into the downtown center on Roanoke’s Market Square. The higher-profile location, surrounded by music venues and restaurants, was viewed as a way to boost the museum’s suppor t. When Center in the Square reopened this spring after a 19-month, $30 million renovation, the Harrison Museum occupied some 14,000 square feet of space — most of it for exhibits on the second floor. The new location has helped boost the museum’s profile, Price said. Attendance has topped 500 visitors per month. Roanoke Business: What was your involvement with the museum in the past? Charles Price: When the museum was started, I knew about it and knew what it was going to be in relation to the community. My background is what I learned in school relative to African-American history and what was told to me through the process of Photo by Don Peterson
passing down history. When I was in college, my studies took in architectural history as well as museum history. We had an AfricanAmerican museum at Hampton University at that time, so part of our study allowed me to see the physical history as opposed to hearing the history and also to have a better understanding of the history we had received growing up. The history growing up was history that you knew because it affected you. You knew about certain things you weren’t supposed to do, and you often wondered why certain things were not that way for you but were for others. The Harrison Museum became a mechanism for exposing my family and others to different things we might not be aware of. RB: Were you part of the initiative to move the museum downtown? Price: I wasn’t part of the initial part of it; I wasn’t part of the decision to move down here, but I applaud the people who kept the museum viable in the past and consider them responsible for getting the museum where it is now — almost like what my ancestors did to get me where I am. RB: How did you come to be president of the Harrison Museum board in 2011? What kind of time does this commitment take? Price: I thought I would help with the Henry Street Festival [named for what was once a thriving black business community on Henry Street and a major fundraiser for the museum for years], and I understood the linkage of the museum to our heritage. Then a friend asked me to help with the museum. The economy was slowing down, and I thought I could maybe give a few hours to it. A little bit led to a little bit more. Sereina Paynter, who had been president for a long time, needed a break, and I was the new guy, and the next thing I knew I was president of the board. I didn’t realize it was going to take as much of my time. I am here a full work week with hours beyond that. Until we get to the point where we feel stable, I will be here all days. RB: What are some of the duties you carry out, and how does your background fit with this role? Price: My background fits in an abstract way. One thing my dad constantly would tell me
was if I didn’t make mistakes I wouldn’t learn … I try to always make sure I’ve minimized mistakes. I think of it as football or chess: Before I make a move, I have to know what the next move will be. If I can see a potential problem, and I can avoid it, I can get to the next move ... or, it works like this: at what point do I lose $5 in order to save $25 later? I try to anticipate what can go wrong. We do have a cadre of volunteers that help with the museum activities, but I do what has to be done. Sometimes I work the reception desk if there is no one else … With an it-takes-a-village concept, plenty of others have worked on this museum … people like Hazel Thompson [who helped save the Harrison School], Melody Stovall [onetime museum director who died in 2008], Mac McCadden [a former Roanoke city councilman who ser ved as board president]; Sonny Pendleton [chef/owner of La’Cove Restaurant and a past president], board members Carolyn Haley and Lew Bishop, Joyce Bolden, Michelle Jones, Marisa Beatty and Vareni Shears, and a dedicated group of volunteers. David Mickenberg, the former director at the Taubman, has helped us as a consultant. He took to heart what we are trying to do. He helped us get our opening exhibit from Dianne Smith [a Harlem, New York, artist]. RB: Your main volunteer interests in the past have been in sports, right? Price: I have been involved in youth sports programs for almost 40 years. I find sports to be rewarding. They can convince children they have capabilities of reaching goals they may not have thought about … I’ve enjoyed helping young men to move forward. I helped star t a youth program when we lived in Baltimore and have always been involved with Northwest Recreation, a local athletic group. Volunteerism is something you don’t think about; you do it because it needs to be done. RB: What is the vision for the museum? Price: It’s impor tant that we represent culture and history in the region … we have an oral history exhibit of Christiansburg Institute here, for example, done by Virginia Tech professor David Cline and his class. We will use the expertise of others to improve our archives. A research portion has to be
developed. We have a unique opportunity to collaborate if we can tie into the expertise of universities and the public school system. If we can work with others such as the Jefferson Center or the Taubman Museum or the History Museum, we will. Center in the Square staff have been great to the tenants. If we haven’t done something before, someone else in the center may have, and we can sit down with them to come up with a solution … We have a wealth of information in this one building, from the museums to art to the theater. RB: In the past, the museum borrowed money to stay viable. Have the loans been repaid or does the museum still need funds to offset past loans? Talk about the budget needs. Price: Even though the Harrison Museum has its public space in Center in the Square, it still needs archive space, so we will keep the Harrison Museum annex for that. We have a $50,000 mortgage on it, but it was a necessity. We have received some grants. [In 2012, the museum received a Taubman Foundation grant for $25,000 and got another $23,000 from the Roanoke Arts Commission.] A $2.7 million fundraising campaign has been launched, but we needed to do things to get the museum in place; this gives us a better foothold. We have to be able to show we can continue a process. One of the things we are looking at is getting a strong administrative staff and then bringing in an executive director, but we will not do that until we can pay for it. We want to be able to apply for grants. We have to create a revenue base. RB: What are your greatest needs right now? Price: To get open, we put exhibits on without sponsorship. Part of the process we will develop is sponsorships for exhibits. We also are looking at naming rights for the gallery and some of the areas within it. And you always need administration things and volunteers and always need to improve your computer system. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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COMMUNITY PROFILE | FRANKLIN COUNTY
More than moonshine Franklin County has retail, retirement, recreation, agriculture and commuters. by Mason Adams
In a county famous for moonshine, Jerome Parnell’s Sunken City is brewing a different kind of beverage.
sordid and celebrated relationship with untaxed whisky has earned Franklin County national attention. T. Keister Greer’s exhaustive “The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935,” a nearly five-pound book published by the author in 2002, inspired 2008’s “The Wettest County in the World,” a novel by Matt Bondurant. That subsequently spawned last year’s “Lawless,” a feature film that grossed $54 million worldwide.
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Photo by Don Peterson
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community profile But there’s more than moonshine to Franklin County. In 2012, it ranked 12th for job creation and 26th in investment among Virginia’s 134 cities and counties. Those numbers grew in part from a planned $7 million expansion by Ply Gem Windows, the county’s largest private-sector employer, and construction of the new $2.3 million, 8,800-square-foot Sunken City Brewery near Smith Mountain Lake.
Mike Burnette, the county’s economic development director, says its biggest asset is “quality of life,” which means different things in different parts of the county. For instance, Franklin County acts as: ·
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a bedroom community just a short drive from Roanoke’s urban center; a recreational and retirement destination, centered around
Smith Mountain Lake; ·
an agricultural stalwart that’s home to dairy cattle ranchers, transitioning tobacco farmers and the Homestead Creamery, which has become a rising force in the regional dairy market; and
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a magnet for retail in the town of Rocky Mount, the county seat, and growing village centers in Westlake, Ferrum, Union Hall and elsewhere.
County schools have maintained a good reputation despite annual budget battles between the school board and county supervisors. A new school, Windy Gap Elementary, opened in 2009 to keep up with population growth. All public schools were accredited last fall. During the past 10 years, Franklin County has created athletic fields, a 37-acre community park with beach at Smith Mountain Lake and “blueway” boating routes along the Blackwater and Pigg rivers. Rocky Mount bought a former farm equipment dealership to renovate for a music venue to serve as the easternmost stop on the Crooked Road Music Heritage Trail. The Blue Ridge Institute showcases the county’s rural heritage, and the Antique Tractor Days and Folklife festivals celebrate it. “By having that kind of diversity, we’re not beholden to one type of industry or business,” Burnette says. “We’re able to weather some of the downturns in certain sectors of the economy better than others have.” State government also has chipped in with incentives to close the deal with potential businesses. Franklin County persuaded McAirlaid’s Vliesstoffe GmbH & Co., a German absorbent paper manufacturer, to locate its $86 million North American headquarters at the county’s Commerce Center park with $2.5 million in local in30
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community profile centives and an additional $1 million from the state. But initially Franklin County grabbed the company’s attention by wining, dining and moonshining its CEO at Smith Mountain Lake. Indeed, Smith Mountain Lake drives a substantial portion of Franklin County’s economy, and not just as a spot to take prospective employers. The lake was created in 1963 when Appalachian Power built a dam for hydroelectric energy. It quickly became a vacation and recreation destination before taking off in the mid-’80s as a hotspot for retirees and secondhome owners. Between 1990 and 2000, population in the 10-mile ring around the lake grew by 42 percent as people from North Carolina, Florida, New York, New Jersey and other parts of Virginia flocked to purchase and build homes. The lake is now home to more than 25,000 people, mostly in Franklin and Bedford counties. Developer Ron Willard started building at the lake in 1973 and grew with it, ultimately becoming a driving force in its development. He not only built residential and commercial developments but also several country clubs and golf courses. By 2000, Willard saw the lake’s population had grown large enough to support a cornerstone retail center and began acquiring property for what became the 200-acre Westlake Towne Center. Kroger built a store there in 2003, and Carilion located a $4 million, 10,000-square-foot medical center there in 2009. The arrival of big-box retail accelerated real estate speculation around the lake, and when the real estate bubble burst with the national recession, Smith Mountain Lake was hit particularly hard. Several developers with plans for multimillion dollar mixed-use developments filed for bankruptcy as the market collapsed. “I think it will come back, but Photo by Don Peterson
Developer Ron Willard’s business has grown along with Smith Mountain Lake’s population.
what’s got to happen is people who are retiring to our lake have to be able to sell their old home so they can bring their dollars here,” Willard says. “We were the last to feel the recession, and we’ll be the last to feel it getting over.” There are signs that things are moving again, even if on a much smaller scale. Willard says occupancy at the Westlake Towne Center is at 88 percent. Utility upgrades have helped.
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community profi file le Appalachian Power built ilt new lines to reinforce the electrical al grid around the lake. In 2009, Franklin anklin County joined the Western Virginia Water Authority, which brought rought water lines down U.S. 220 from om Roanoke County and from Bedford dford County to Westlake and nearbyy residences. Water and wastewater water services have opened the door oor for a new round of development. nt. For example, the utility needss of Sunken City Brewery would have made it impossible to build d at Smith Mountain Lake just a few years ago. Owner Jerome Parnell arnell says his brewery likely will produce more than 3,000 000 barrels of craft beer this his year, and it has the caapacity to produce 20,000 barrels annually. Cans of his Dam Lager and Red Clay IPA eventually may bee sold in seven states. The water line now w is being expanded westward from m Westlake to Burnt Chimney, where re it will provide capacity for Homestead Creamery to expand. The creamery will invest $1.1 million during the next three years, assisted by the new water source and a grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. The lines down U.S. 220 are
H 25T
FRANKLIN COUNTY Population: 56,411 Population growth since 2000: 19.3 percent Percentage of population with at least a master’s degree: 17.6 Median household income: $47,606 Unemployment: 5.4 percent (May 2013) Souces: U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics
helping support growth in the northern part of the county, home to the county’s biggest commuter population. The lines currently end south of Boones Mill at Wirtz Plateau but may eventually connect to Rocky Mount, further cementing Franklin County’s links to the Roanoke Valley. As it faces the future, the county
is investing money in services for an a aging population. Its supervisors recently voted to buy space to expand its Office on Aging. “This county’s getting older as time goes on,” says Gills Creek Supervisor Bob Camicia. “We’re attracting all these retirees, plus our regular population is aging.”
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Prime Time Business After Hours – June 27
Note: Chamber Champions are members who support the Roanoke Regional Chamber through year-round sponsorships in exchange for year-round recognition.
Sunapsys Inc.
Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC Quality Inn Roanoke
NEW MEMBERS JOIN CHAMBER Brambleton Law Office PLC Creative Entertainment Faith Christian School Private Investigations by Jeff Spar Roanoke River Associates – The Bridges
Warehouse Furniture LLC The 2013 Leadership Roanoke Valley graduating class held graduation ceremonies at Roanoke College in Salem June 4.
Photo by Jim Markey Photography
30th class of Leadership Roanoke Valley Graduates The Roanoke Regional Chamber’s Leadership Roanoke Valley held graduation ceremonies for the 30th class on June 4 at Roanoke College in Salem. Twentynine participants graduated from the ninemonth leadership training program. The graduates and their sponsors are: Drew Arney, Cherry, Bekaert & Holland LLP; Mark Ayles, Hughes Associates; Nadean Carson, ECS Mid-Atlantic LLC; Ruth Cassell, Virginia Western Educational Foundation; Julia Durodoye, HopeTree Family Services; Ian Fortier, Jefferson Center Foundation; Sara Guerry; Na-
than Harper, Spectrum Design; Jeremy Holmes, Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission; Kim Hedge Turner, Taubman Museum of Art; Valerie Koeppel, Youth Advocate Programs; Brenda Landes, SFCS Inc.; Mariana Laughlin, Allstate Insurance; Hank Luton, Salem Civic Center; Jackie Mayrosh, Spectrum Design; Shawn McMahon, Wadsworth Group/Morgan Stanley Smith Barney; Tim Mills, Trane; Adam Morgan, c5 Wealth Management; Jamie Morris, Western Virginia Water Authority; Jay O’Keeffe, Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore; Christy Pauley, Virginia Farm Bureau; Amy Petersen,
United Way of Roanoke Valley; Sheryl Ruocco, Carilion Clinic; Randy Swatzyna, Carilion Clinic; Chris Turnbull, Neathawk Dubuque & Packett; Kevin Warman, National Financial Services; Josh Whitlow, Roanoke County Public Schools; Leesa Wilcher, WSLS-TV; and Linda Wright, Roanoke County Public Schools. The graduates are now eligible to join Leadership Forward, the Leadership Roanoke Valley alumni association, which continues the engagement of graduates in the community and supports their integration into positions of leadership in the region. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce
Member news & recognitions A Advance Auto Parts, a leading retailer oof automotive aftermarket parts, accesssories, batteries and maintenance items, aannounced the promotion of Jon Dehne to senior vice president, market availability, inventory management and merchandise in Dehne ooperations. Dehne has been with the company since 2008. Advanced Auto Parts has announced the appointment of Donna Justiss as senior vice president, chief information officer. She will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of Advance’s information technology area. AAmerican National University has named Ronald J. Bradbury as director of the R RRoanoke Valley Campus. Bradbury will sserve as the college’s chief academic and aadministrative officer, as well as American NNational University’s principal representaBradbury titive in the local community. American National University recently recognized the following employees and instructors: Reem Osman, Susan Smith and Teresa Duschean were recognized as outstanding employees for the year for their service and dedication to the Roanoke Valley campus. Ben Wright and Annette Chamberlain were recognized as outstanding employees of the year for their service and dedication to the university’s online program. Mary Anne Pannell, Cindy Hunnell, Stephen Smiroldo, Randy Farr, Rosalind Fields, and Lisa Kelly were also recognized as outstanding employees of the year for their service and dedication to the university’s campus support operations. Kristal Bushong was presented the Career Center Director Chairman’s Award for achieving a high graduate job placement rate. Lew Bishop was presented the Campus Director of the Year Award. The award is presented to the campus director who best manages the performance of all campus functional areas over the course of the academic year.
Dooley
Madonna
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HoneyTree Early Learning Centers has announced the following new hires and promotions: Amanda Dooley has been named director of financial management of real estate entities for McLeod Enterprises; Brittany Madonna has been named marketing director for HoneyTree Early Learning Centers; and Leanne Underwood has been promoted to assistant director of HoneyTree’s Oak Grove and McVitty centers. HoneyTree Early Learning Centers recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of their new aquatic center. The new center features a gym, snack bar, classrooms, and a swimming pool. Richard Wellford and Bryan Musselwhite, who make up “The Grapevine” team at Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group, have launched a new mobile app catering to the Roanoke business community. The app, which is available in iPhone and Android formats, aggregates news feeds and 34
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other information about local and regional business. An outgrowth of the popular commercial real estate newsletter, the app also immediately alerts users to new commercial real estate listings. Ryan R McCarren, PE, has joined Balzer z and Associates, Inc. McCarren is a structural engineer who will be working in s the th Roanoke office. He brings eight years of o engineering experience in residential, commercial, institutional and industrial c McCarren projects to the firm. p Ellie E Rigby has been hired as project manager at Building Specialists general m contractors of Roanoke. She has a master’s c degree in building construction from the d Virginia Tech Myers-Lawson School of V Construction. C Rigby Neathawk Dubuque & N Packett has announced P an a expansion with nine new n associates, including i two in Roanoke, further positioning f Smigielski Mitchell the t agency for future growth. The full-service advertising, marketing and public relations agency, with offices throughout the Southeast, introduced new associates in account strategy and creative services. The recently hired Roanoke associates are Tom Smigielski, account supervisor, and Caitlin Mitchell, creative coordinator. Thanks to Hollins University, Stanley the Bicycle Man now adorns the walls of the Market Garage, located at 25 Church Avenue in Downtown Roanoke. This colorful mural, titled “Parts and Pedals” was provided by the artistic talents of Hollins University students Jeanine Stewart and Trish Hammer as well as Jennifer Anderson, assistant professor. The colorful artwork is made entirely from outlines of bicycle parts. To the left of the mural is a bicycle route map. The bicycle theme complements the Market Garage’s new bicycle rack and “fix it” station donated by Norfolk Southern in conjunction with Ridge Solutions. PARK Roanoke offers free covered and secured bicycle parking in all of its seven garages. With the recent announcement of Interactive Achievement’s private investment and expansion, the company needed additional space and has partnered with the Jefferson Center to secure offices for its expanding workforce. The Jefferson Center is located near the Interactive Achievement offices and the employees began moving to the new space in early May. The offices provide additional workspace for about 12 employees, with additional conference rooms for all Interactive Achievement staff. Richfield Retirement Community has R named Janice Wilkins, RN, as director n of o nursing. She will oversee nursing care at a Richfield Recovery & Care Center and the th award-winning Rehab Center. Roanoke has been chosen as the location R Wilkins city for the fall 2015 “Collaborating Across Borders” conference series. Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute will
be the host for the conference, and 1,200 individuals are expected to attend. The proposal to bring the conference to Roanoke was the effort of leaders from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, the City of Roanoke, the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, where the conference will be held. The new Glenvar Branch Library at 3917 Daugherty Road in west Roanoke County was opened to the public in a dedication ceremony on July 1. The new 15,000-squarefoot library replaces the modest 5,100-square-foot facility that served Glenvar’s citizens since 1979. HBM Architects designed the new library. Salem-based G&H Contracting served as the general contractor for the new facility.
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The law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, has announced that three attorneys in its Roanoke office were recognized in the 2013 edition of Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine. After receiving excellent reviews, Paul M. Black, King F. Tower and Carrie Harris were named to the 2013 Super Lawyers list. Black was recognized for his work in the bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights field. Tower was recognized for his work in employment and labor law. Harris was named to the Rising Stars list for her work in employment and labor law. The law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle has announced that Paul M. Black has been appointed a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for the Western District of Virginia by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His judgeship continues a long tradition of Spilman attorneys entering public service leadership roles. Black will succeed Judge William Stone and begin his 14-year term on the bench in early 2014. SunTrust Bank, Western Virginia has anS nounced that John Stinnett has been n named business banking relationship n manager within its Commercial Division. In m his h role, he will offer financial solutions to business clients in Roanoke, Martinsville b Stinnett and a Danville. He has 16 years experience in the banking industry. Titan America’s Roanoke Cement Company has earned its seventh consecutive ENERGY STAR award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The award proves that the plant performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict performance levels set by the EPA. Roanoke Cement has reduced its plant air usage, installed a VFD on a major fan, reduced the use of heaters throughout the plant and increased automation throughout the plant in order to lower energy consumption. These efforts have resulted in a reduction of more than 2 MW in energy used since entering the certification program in 2007. U.S. Cellular brought 4G LTE service to Roanoke, Lynchburg, Christiansburg, Rocky Mount and Salem in 2012 to elevate their customers’ wireless experience and simplify
Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce | SPONSORED CONTENT and enhance the way they access information. The 4G LTE also offers huge advantages for area businesses. A recent survey reported by management consultant company Arthur D. Little found that when using 4G LTE in the workplace, 67 percent of U.S. organizations have seen increased productivity, 47 percent cut costs, and 39 percent won more business. Virginia Tech is among eight U.S. research universities who will join with Motorola Mobility’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group on a multi-university research agreement that will streamline the generation of new joint research projects and pave the way for closer cooperation on the development of fundamental new technologies. In addition to Virginia Tech, the signatories include Motorola, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Texas A&M University. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has approved a new undergraduate degree in real estate at Virginia Tech. Students will be able to enroll in the program this fall. The innovative degree will transcend traditional college boundaries as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary academic program that will be a partnership among six colleges including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, the Pamplin College of Business, the College of Engineering the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Human Resources and Environment. Dr. Erin Champagne has returned to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech as an assistant professor of ophthalmology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. Dr. Champagne, a seasoned ophthalmologist who was a faculty member at the college in the 1990s, will be responsible for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s new auxiliary ophthalmology service. Dr. Tracey Criss has been named assistant dean for clinical sciences for the clinical years at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. In her new position, Criss, a psychiatrist, leads the day-to-day operations, planning and administration of the clinical curriculum for medical students in their third and fourth years of training. She will continue to serve as a faculty member in Carilion Clinic’s Department of Psychiatry, where she has cared for patients for 18 years. Richard T. Crowder, professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, was recently named the C.G. Thornhill Professor of Agricultural Trade by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The professorship was created in 2012 by C. Gordon Thornhill, Jr., who earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Virginia Tech in 1975. David A. Dillard, who holds the Virginia Tech Adhesive and Sealant Science Professorship endowed by the Adhesive and Sealant Council, will receive the 2013 Wake Memorial Medal at the Society for Adhesion and Adhesives/ international conference to be held in September at the National Science Learning Center at the University of York, United Kingdom. The Wake Medal is awarded triennially to a person in the field of adhesion or adhesives who has made outstanding contributions over a substantial period of time. There are only eight previous recipients. Patricia Dove, the C.P. Miles Professor of Science in Geoscience in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has been elected to the National Academy of Science, becoming just the fourth faculty member to earn the honor while at Virginia Tech. She was honored as a 2013 Virginia Scientist
of the Year, and was also named a University Distinguished Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Directors. Deborah Freed, alternative transportation manager at Virginia Tech, was recently named the 2013 Extraordinary Bike Professional by RIDE Solutions, a regional transportation demand management agency dedicated to expanding the efficiency and life of the roadway network and reducing the environmental impacts of vehicle emissions. Freed was honored for her dedication to improving bicycle accommodations, education, access, and safety in the region. Dr. Aubrey Knight has been named associate dean for student affairs at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. In his new role, Knight manages student affairs for all four years of the medical school curriculum. He most recently served as the school’s assistant dean for clinical sciences for the clinical years. Michael L. Madigan, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently named the Kevin P. Granata Faculty Fellow by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The fellowship was established in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics in memory and honor of the tenured professor who died during the tragic shooting on April 16, 2007. The fellowship recognizes teaching and research excellence. Robert G. Parker, professor and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently named the L.S. Randolph Professor in Mechanical Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The professorship was established in 1985 to honor L.S. Randolph who served as Virginia Tech’s Dean of Engineering from 1913 to 1918 and for whom Randolph Hall is named. Richard E. Sorensen, dean of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of “professor and dean emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1982, Sorensen has served as dean of the Pamplin College of Business for 31 years. Eric Wong, professor of animal and poultry sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, was recently reappointed as the John W. Hancock Professor of Animal and Poultry Sciences by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The professorship was created by and is named for an alumnus who earned his bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from Virginia Tech in 1925 and founded the Roanoke Electric Steel Corporation. The Google Foundation recently awarded Virginia Western Community College a $7,000 grant in support of a summer computer science workshop for educators at the high school and middle school levels. The workshop, titled App Inventor for Educators, promoted computer science and computational thinking in the region and was held July 30-31 at Virginia Western. The grant covered the costs of the one-credit seminar for 20 area teachers. The Foundation for Roanoke Valley has provided a Katherine Nelson Fishburn Foundation Fund grant to the Virginia Western Educational Foundation so that more nonnative residents will have access to and can afford English classes at Virginia Western Community College. The $1,000 grant will help reduce tuition costs for area students taking the English as a Second Language (ESL) class. The college’s ESL class has helped students from more than 35 countries learn language skills and become successful members of
the Roanoke community.
Bagby g y
Birkhoff
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Casola
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Conte
Friedman
Jennings
Knighton
Perrow
Saunders
Winn
Ashwell
Cothran
Hertz
Sarrell
Prillaman
King
FFifteen principals at Woods Rogers PLC hhave been named 2013 Virginia Super LLawyers while nine younger attorneys were rrecognized as Rising Stars. The results wwere published in Virginia Super Lawyers aand the Richmond magazine. The Woods Long Rogers “Super Lawyers” are: Thomas Bagby, labor and employment; Neil Birkhoff, tax; Victor Cardwell, labor and employment; Francis Casola, business litigation; Agnis Chakravorty, labor and employment; Nicholas Conte, business/corporate; Frank Friedman, appellate; James Jennings, civil litigation defense; Al Knighton, bonds/government finance; Heman Marshall, healthcare; Richard Maxwell, bankruptcy; Lee Osborne, estate and probate; Elizabeth Perrow, personal injury defense, medical malpractice; Alex Saunders, tax; and Thomas Winn, labor and employment. The Woods Rogers attorneys named Virginia Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” for 2013 are: Erin Ashwell, litigation; Elizabeth Hope Cothran, labor and employment; Michael Hertz, intellectual property; Webb King, business litigation; Joshua Long, business litigation; John Prillaman, business/corporate; and Daniel Sarrell, personal injury defense, medical malpractice. ROANOKE BUSINESS
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SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce
News from the Roanoke Regional Partnership Roanoke Home Sales Return to Pre-Recessionary Levels Roanoke consumers are flexing their muscles as the recovery gains steam. The latest data from the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors show that home sales are again at pre-recessionary levels in the Roanoke Region. Data for May 2013 are the highest of any May since 2007 and the average price sold is the highest since May 2008. Sales are up just over 30 percent from May 2012 to May 2013. In all, nearly $91 million was reported in overall residential volume averaging just over $205,000 per home sold. Historically low interest rates have obviously stimulated homebuying activity. Such macroeconomic factors combined with local consumer strength have translated into a healthy home-buying season for Roanoke in 2013. Just last year, Experian noted Roanoke’s average credit score was above the national average. Meanwhile, per capita personal income growth in the Roanoke market outpaced the state and nation between 2005 and 2011. All of this homebuying activity will translate to higher retail sales as households furnish their homes with goods from furniture and hardware stores, which spells good news for the area’s retail sector.
ranks Roanoke above several southern metros for prime workforce grow th, including Charlotte, N.C. (54th); Chattanooga, Tenn. (11 5 ) ; R i c h m o n d , (120); Columbia, S.C. (121); Lynchburg, (230); Asheville, N.C. (262); Knoxville, Tenn. (322); Charlottesville, (339); and Greensboro, N.C. (371), among others.
River and Rail Dessert Earns Food Network Recognition The accolades just keep coming for Roanoke’s River and Rail. The restaurant, which has been featured in Southern Living, Garden & Gun and Food Republic among others, has been cited for one of the most delicious desserts in America by Food Network Magazine. The River and Rail was noted for its banana pudding served in a small jar: “This dessert-in-a-jar is full of surprises: Under the jalapeno-coconut ice cream you’ll find banana pudding and crunchy cornbread bits.” The feature, “50 State, 50 Ice Cream Treats,” tracked down the most delicious frozen desserts – one for every state. The River and Rail is located in the heart of Roanoke and features a seasonal menu made from local food. Chef Aaron Deal and his team produce updated Southern and French classic dishes for the neighborhood restaurant, located just a block away from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in the old Lipes Pharmacy, in South Roanoke.
Roanoke Recognized for a Strong Workforce And Roanoke is a magnet for talent. The Census Bureau estimates that the Roanoke MSA attracted more than 1,450 individuals from out of state holding at least a bachelor’s degree each year between 2007 and 2011. The talent pool is growing in Roanoke. Area Development 36
SEPTEMBER 2013
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