Roanoke Business by Virginia Business

APRIL 2013

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

Rebirth Reopening of Center in the Square expected to give downtown Roanoke a new boost

Jim Sears, president and general manager, Center in the Square

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CONTENTS SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

April 2013

FEATURES COVER STORY

Rebirth

A reborn Center in the Square should bring big benefits to downtown Roanoke. by Mason Adams

CONVENTIONS Space aliens and cowboys

The Roanoke Valley’s tourism and convention business is picking up. by Kevin Kittredge

HEALTH Test of stamina

The Blue Ridge Marathon claims to be the country’s toughest marathon on pavement. by Sam Dean

CONSTRUCTION Taking the pressure off the planet

20 Sustainable buildings may mean more investment up front, but returns can be significant. by Donna Alvis-Banks

D 26

INTERVIEW: JEFF SHAWVER

Green permits, green roofs and downtown living

M 31

22 E

A leap of faith

27 years of change in downtown Roanoke. by Shawna Morrison

by Tim Thornton

LIFESTYLES

‘Almost like a big city’ by Betsy Biesenbach APRIL 2013

32 33 36

ROANOKE NEXT

Lots of things old are new again at Leaping Waters Farm.

Residents say downtown Roanoke offers urban living with fewer hassles.

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LENDER

FROM THE EDITOR Roanoke’s re-revitalization by Tim Thornton

hen my father was a little boy, his father was a carpenter and a member of a carpenter’s union that had an office in downtown Roanoke. Sometimes, when my grandfather needed to visit the union hall, my father would ride with him, waiting in the truck until the union business was done so they could go to the Roanoke Weiner Stand for lunch. That’s what downtown Roanoke used to be, a regional center with offices and banks and trains and retail businesses that drew people from all around. Some store owners out in the country closed their doors midweek so they could go into Roanoke to shop and take care of business. Farmers, butchers and fishmongers sold their goods from stalls on the first floor of the Market Building. Boxing matches, wrestling matches and dances were held upstairs. Downtown Roanoke was a lively place. When I was a young man, some friends of mine rented the bottom floor of an old and formerly grand house somewhere in downtown Roanoke. Headed home late one night, I drove through Market Square. It was a warm night. I had the car windows down. I was sitting at a stop light when I heard the yelling. I looked toward the street corner diagonally across the intersection from my car. A man wearing a full beard and a dress was shouting at me and waving his hemline. Downtown Roanoke was a different kind of lively in those days. Time passed. The Market Building was renovated years ago. Then a hulking warehouse was transformed into Center in the Square. Market Square got so spruced up the Lyndhurst Foundation called it a “Great American Public Place,” putting it on an honor roll that includes the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, New York City’s Central Park and the Lawn at the University of Virginia. Most of that work occurred decades ago, way back in the 20th century. Now a new round of renovation and construction that’s dominated the area around Market Square is nearly complete. When the last of the construction fences around Center in the Square come down in May, years of disruption will be over, and people finally will be able to enjoy the fruits of all that labor — not that things are exactly dead around the Market right now. As I type this in a coffee shop on Campbell Avenue, I can see Star Line trolleys stopping at the re-renovated Market Building. The stream of passing cars and trucks is punctuated by bicyclists, including a grandmotherly woman with a helmeted baby in a carrier. A gray-bearded man on a Harley and full-helmeted rider on a smaller motorcycle idle past. Then a chopped-and-channeled, pink-and-black sedan that could have had a bit part in “Grease” or “American Graffiti” glides by. Despite the chill, young people are going in and out of the frozen yogurt shop across the way. High school students carrying book bags and cellphones, shoppers carrying shopping bags, pedestrians carrying guitar cases and amblers sipping coffee from cardboard cups move along the sidewalks that aren’t closed by construction. It’s a lively looking place. Even though my son and I can still share a meal at the Roanoke Weiner Stand, downtown isn’t very much like it was when my father ate there with his father. Thankfully, it’s even less like the downtown I drove through on that dark night all those years ago.

APRIL 2013

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION Vol. 2

APRIL 2013

President & Publisher Roanoke Business Editor Contributing Writers

Art Director Contributing Designer Contributing Photographers

Production Manager Circulation Manager Accounting Manager Advertising Sales

No. 4

Bernard A. Niemeier Tim Thornton Mason Adams Donna Alvis-Banks Betsy Biesenbach Sam Dean Kevin Kittredge Shawna Morrison Adrienne R. Watson Elizabeth Coffey Mark Rhodes Sam Dean Alisa Moody Kevin L. Dick Karen Chenault Sunny Ogburn LynnWilliams Hunter Bendall

CONTACT: EDITORIAL: (540) 520-2399 ADVERTISING: (540) 597-2499 210 S. Jefferson Street, 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 Jim Sears president and general manager Center in the Square Photo by Mark Rhodes

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COVER STORY

APRIL 2013

Photo by Mark Rhodes

Rebirth Reopening of Center in the Square expected to give downtown Roanoke a new boost

by Mason Adams

enter in the Square has spent the past two years in a renovation cocoon, hidden beneath layers of building permits, construction fence and closed sidewalks. Late this spring, the five-story downtown Roanoke landmark will emerge from its chrysalis, freshly renovated and with a butterfly habitat on its roof. The reopening — scheduled for mid-May — marks the completion of a $30 million restoration that includes a 5,500-gallon coral-reef aquarium in a newly designed atrium, a green rooftop with exhibits, a refurbished exterior and upgraded spaces for partner organizations.

The downtown Roanoke renovations that began with the Market Building will take a giant step forward with May’s reopening of Center in the Square.

ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story The reopening of Center in the Square puts an exclamation point on an intensive period of capital investment and construction in Roanoke that has expanded downtown’s boundaries and spun off redevelopment projects in the surrounding neighborhoods. It also promises to bring an infusion of new visitors and fresh energy to an already hopping downtown core. Before it closed for renovations in 2011, Center in the Square attracted about 600,000 visitors annually, says Jim Sears, its president and general manager. With fresh attractions, Mill Mountain Theatre and new exhibits in three different museums — the History Museum & Historical Society of Western Virginia, the Harrison Museum of AfricanAmerican Culture and the Science Museum of Western Virginia — he expects the rejuvenated Center will do better than that. Retailers and restaurateurs in the vicinity expect many of those visitors will come through their doors as well. Busloads of schoolchildren — as many as 200,000 a year, according to Sears — will disembark in front of Center in the Square, visit a couple of museums, then cross Campbell Avenue for lunch at the City Market Building. “The downtown merchants have missed those busloads of kids coming in to Center in the Square and eating lunch downtown,” says Steve Musselwhite, interim president of Downtown Roanoke Inc. and a major property owner in the downtown area. Roanoke’s Thor Construction served as lead contractor for the $30 million renovation, which created 200 jobs over two years, according to Sears. Money for the work was raised with a $9 million capital campaign and extensive use of state and federal historic and new market tax credits. While Center in the Square’s reopening represents an economic boost for the surrounding blocks, it is the latest brick in a wall of economic and development activity that’s tak8

APRIL 2013

Jim Sears, president and general manager of Center in the Square

en hold in downtown Roanoke. A quick look at projects in the public sector includes: • The City Market Building. Considered by many to be the beating heart of downtown Roanoke, it was closed on Labor Day in 2010 for a $7.9 million top-to-bottom renovation. It reopened a year later with a mix of food vendors new and old, all locally based. • Elmwood Park. The city closed the park in October 2012 for a $6 million renovation. It’s expected to reopen by Labor Day with a new amphitheater and terraced seating area. • Market Garage. In 2009, the city invested $6 million to renovate Market Garage, a parking deck that sits between the Farmers Market and Elmwood Park. That paid off last summer when Greenville, S.C.-based Windsor/ Aughtry Co. signed a deal with the city to build three new floors on top of the garage for a 123-room Hampton Inn. The parking garage will remain open to the public. Construction should begin on the hotel this year. • Market Square. In January, the Roanoke City Council agreed to invest $600,000 to rework this key public space between Center in the Square and the City Market Building — changing it from a surface parking lot into a pedestrian plaza. The work was timed to be complete by the time Center in the Square reopens, but keeping to that schedule may be difficult.

Private-sector projects Private investors have pumped money into downtown, too, renovating historic office buildings and

warehouses into a series of mixeduse apartment complexes that have essentially created a new neighborhood. Fewer than 50 people lived downtown before 2000. By 2010, that number had grown to more than 600. Since then the population has more than doubled to about 1,300, according to Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill. Some city officials see this wave of public and private capital improvements as a generational upgrade. They point to Design ’79, a massive civic initiative that in the early 1980s turned the Market Building into a food court, transformed the historic warehouse that once housed W.E. McGuire’s Farmers’ Supply Co. into Center in the Square and linked Elmwood Park to the Market District. Design ’79 re-energized downtown Roanoke. It’s been 30 years since those investments. This new round of improvements is intended to reboot downtown for the next generation in much the same way. In many ways, though, this burst of revitalization owes less to Design ’79 than it does to Roanoke’s “Magic City” days in the early 1900s, when many of downtown’s structures were built. Many American cities razed their downtown buildings during the “urban renewal” movement of the mid-20th century. While Roanoke removed blocks of its innercity neighborhoods in the northeast and northwest, downtown was left largely intact. That decision helped fuel the current boom, as developers have used historic tax credits and a bevy of grants to secure financing Photo by Mark Rhodes

cover story from the Virginia Housing Development Authority, funding redevelopment projects even during a national recession. “We have these wonderful buildings with great bones that have continued to survive,” says Musselwhite, “and many have prospered by developers coming in and spending money.” Since 2005, private developers have renovated empty office buildings and warehouses into apartments. The Hancock Building and Patrick Henry Hotel, for example, offer living space close to downtown, while the Lofts at West Station and the Cotton Mill have attracted residents on its western outskirts. A steady stream of empty-nesters and young professionals are leasing the apartments, creating demand for more shops and services. Instead of a banking hours kind of place, the burgeoning population has transformed downtown. The Market District fairly hums with activity, not just at lunchtime and on weekends but on weeknights and Sundays, too. “When I came back to Roanoke 20 years ago, there was not a lot of activity seven days a week,” says Sears. “But now there’s a reasonable amount of activity every day of the week, every night of the week.”

Spillover effect The new energy has pushed developers to innovate, looking at opportunities outside of what’s traditionally considered downtown. That trend created a spinoff effect in downtown’s west end, southwest to the Wasena neighborhood, south down Jefferson Avenue to the Roanoke River and even to the north and east across the railroad and Williamson Road — long considered intractable barriers to expansion. Developer Lucas Thornton developed and leased both the Lawson Building East and Big Lick Junction east of the tracks along Campbell Avenue. Jonathan Hagmaier believes the cumulative effect of all the activity.

He started a tech company, Interactive Achievement, in 2006 and three years later moved it to a refurbished Harley-Davidson dealership on downtown’s west side. He says the company took advantage of “every single tax credit and grant” when it moved again to its current location at Sixth Street and Campbell Avenue SW. Interactive Achievement’s employees have taken advantage of working downtown, walking to lunch and working out at the nearby YMCA. Hagmaier estimates that between his company and two nearby businesses, more than 100 employees patronize downtown restaurants on a near daily basis. “This is just a great area, and it’s just getting better,” Hagmaier says. A couple of blocks closer to the market area, Samantha Steidle operates the Roanoke Business Lounge. It offers freelance workers and small startup businesses a place to ply their trade without paying for a permanent office space.

Steidle surveyed businesses early in the venture and found a widespread desire to locate downtown. “Even since I’ve been there, I’ve asked if they wanted to move to the county or South Roanoke — I want to make sure my members are happy — and they all say, ‘No, no, no; we want to be downtown,’” she says. Between the young professionals choosing to work and live downtown and news of renovation and construction projects, there’s a buzz around downtown Roanoke, says Steidle. “Businesses are being attracted because individuals are being attracted downtown. I hear about so many exciting things coming up, and business owners are hearing the same things.” Joyce Waugh, president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, says Center in the Square is an important piece in a greater arsenal of attractions that attract people to Roanoke. “If you’re visiting an area or are a business looking at locating, those amenities are so very important,” Waugh says.

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story New hotel could be a potential game changer The planned renovations for Market Garage could be a gamechanger. They’re also an example of how economic developers are looking to turn negatives into positives. Currently the six-story structure interrupts the otherwise open corridor between Market Street and Elmwood Park, so it can be both a physical and a psychological barrier to people who might otherwise explore more of downtown. Adding a hotel to the space should make it more user-friendly. Windsor/Aughtry — which has made a specialty out of building hotel chains on parking garages — plans to build a Hampton Inn on the Market Garage. The group is buying space on the ground floor for a lobby and then building three floors of guest rooms on top of the existing garage – all while leaving the building’s public parking intact. The Hampton Inn will be at a key juncture between the Market District and Jefferson Street, which connects downtown to the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke city manager Chris Morrill

Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Rivers Edge Athletic Complex, the Roanoke River Greenway and South Roanoke. A free trolley runs the route every 10 minutes Monday through Friday. “Getting people from Market Street, which is thriving, to Jefferson Street is a real challenge,” says Morrill, Roanoke’s city manager. “The hotel is key to that.” Ken Rattenbury, the owner of 10

APRIL 2013

Fret Mill Music, can attest to the limited view of downtown some visitors maintain. His storefront sits practically next to the Market Building on Salem Avenue, but because it’s on the other side of Market Street, it feels off the beaten path. “In everybody’s mind, downtown is the Market and that little Market Square,” Rattenbury says. The new hotel doesn’t just add a new draw on the south end of Market Street but is important for another reason. Though many downtown buildings have been renovated and repurposed, the hotel is the first privately driven new construction in downtown Roanoke in years. It’s not a new structure built from the ground up, but it may spur other developers to take that chance. Make no mistake: There’s still room to build. Chris Morrill estimates that 35 percent of downtown Roanoke is dedicated to parking, mostly in surface lots. Those lots represent opportunities for new buildings. And if a new structure goes up on one of those key intersections, it may encourage further infill development. “Between 1900 and 1925, a lot of the buildings we know in downtown were built. I think we’re on the cusp of that occurring again,” says DRI President Steve Musselwhite. “Based on the way the economy is turning, and based on some comments I’m hearing, it might be time for new construction.” Despite all the good news coming out of downtown, there have been many challenges as well. That construction cocoon wrapped around Center in the Square the last two years? It’s restricted pedestrian traffic, which has cut into walk-in business for nearby stores and restaurants. Retail establishments have struggled, and eateries such as Arzu Mediterranean, Horizon Bar & Grill and even longtime Market Street greasy spoon Ernie’s Bar & Grill, have sold out or shut their doors. Even businesses not directly affected by the construction have felt the pinch.

Rattenbury says he’ll be relieved when the work is completed, not just because of road and sidewalk closures but because of the impact on parking. Fret Mill Music sits on a prime block for free parking in the Market District. Roanoke has three public garages within a block of the Market, and all on-street parking is free — although for limited times. “Everyone wants to park on the street in front of the business they go to,” Rattenbury says. While there’s plentiful parking within three blocks of the Market Building, people looking for convenient parking in the immediate area feel as if parking is a problem. City officials have struggled for years to counter that perception and encourage motorists to use the garages. Roanoke tickets aggressively, especially in prime, short-term parking spots. “Enforcement isn’t about revenue,” Morrill says. “It’s about turnover and creating energy.” The city has shuffled its on-street parking, and it opened a surface lot on Williamson Road for free shortterm parking to make up for 24 spots lost in the Market Square project. Those changes are piecemeal, but they follow the city’s theory that small changes will make a big difference. Despite the multimillion-dollar price tag on the Market Building renovations, the Market Garage and Elmwood Park, Morrill says these are relatively small expenditures compared with what other cities are doing. “Roanoke doesn’t have to make those huge, big investments all at once like other cities have done because they’re desperate,” Morrill says. “We don’t need those Hail Mary passes; we’ve just got to keep moving the ball down the field and getting first downs.” But is the city putting too much stock in the Market District at the expense of other parts of town? “The reality is whether you like it or not, cities are defined by their downtown,” Morrill says. “When people think of Roanoke, they think of downtown. It’s the same all over.” Photo by Mark Rhodes

CONVENTIONS

Space aliens and cowboys Roanokeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convention and tourism business rebounds. by Kevin Kittredge

n a recent weekend in downtown Roanoke, space aliens and superheroes mingled with cowboys while a local musician played soulful blues into the wee hours of Sunday morning. The confluence of conventioneers from the SheVaCon gathering of science fiction and horror fans and followers of the Professional Series Roughstock Rodeo may not be a typical late night at The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pine Room Pub, but it is an example of business brought to the Roanoke Valley by conventions and tourism.

APRIL 2013

Photo by Sam Dean

A covered walkway linking downtown Roanoke to The Hotel Roanoke reflects the Tudor styled hotel and conference center.

That business is growing. A recent study by Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research shows demand for hotel rooms across the valley increased by 5.8 percent in calendar year 2012, with 57,873 more rooms sold than in 2011. Lodging tax revenues collected by the city of Roanoke increased Photo by Sam Dean

4.4 percent to $3.1 million, and total hotel room capacity rose 1.9 percent. The study, done for the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (RVCVB), includes Roanoke, Roanoke County, Botetourt County and Salem. For the last six months of the year, 14 groups working through

the RVCVB signed contracts for future hotel room bookings in the valley totaling almost 18,000 room nights, according to Landon Howard, convention bureau president. “I don’t think we’ve ever achieved that before,” says Howard. The number compares with seven bookings for 13,367 room ROANOKE BUSINESS

conventions nights during the same period in 2011. Both numbers, though, represent only a fraction of convention and tourism business in the valley. Travel expenditures totaled $703 million in 2012, up 8.2 percent from 2011, according to Virginia Tourism Corp. That includes money spent on transportation, food,

article about the Star City in December headlined “The Little City That Could.” Howard also cites rebranding efforts that highlight the city’s Blue Ridge Mountain backdrop and the Blue Ridge Parkway. “We’re hosting 75 to 80 travel journalists per year,” he says. Since fall 2010, those

Landon Howard, president of the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, says that in the last six months of 2012, more than a dozen groups committed to spend time and money in the Roanoke Valley.

lodging, amusement, recreation and shopping. Another positive sign: Lodging tax revenues for the city of Roanoke were up 6.7 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year, which began on July 1, 2012. “It’s certainly moving in the right direction,” Gary Walton, Hotel Roanoke’s general manager, says of the area’s convention business. “It’s getting back to the levels before 2008, 2009, when conferences and company meetings really started to take a hit.” The improving economy gets some credit. Plus, Howard points to the widespread positive publicity the Roanoke Valley has been getting: Roanoke developer Ed Walker was the subject of a flattering profile in the New York Times last July; Garden & Gun magazine featured Roanoke in October; and Virginia Living magazine ran an 14

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journalists have written stories that would have cost $1.4 million in equivalent paid advertising space, according to RVCVB numbers. Howard says Roanoke also is riding a wave of popularity for “mini-vacations,” as people look for appealing destinations easy to reach by car. The largest number of Roanoke tourists come from Virginia and North Carolina, says Catherine Fox, the bureau’s director of tourism and communications. The visitors tend to be college educated with mid- to upperlevel incomes. Many were drawn to the area by Internet promotions. Most live two to five hours away. One development that could boost tourism this year is the end of five years of physical upheaval in the Roanoke City Market area. Since 2007 construction in the city’s downtown core has been nearly constant, with the building of the TaubPhotos by Sam Dean

man Museum of Art and then renovations to the Market Building and Center in the Square. The museum and Market Building are open, and Center in the Square — a catalyst for millions of dollars in downtown redevelopment when it opened in 1983 — will reopen in May. The city hopes to work on underground infrastructure and add more pedestrian-friendly areas to the market this spring, but soon visitors should be able to walk through downtown without detouring around construction sites. Walton of Hotel Roanoke isn’t convinced, though, that cultural amenities such as Center in the Square are uppermost in the minds of people booking conventions. First and foremost, he says, they want to know if a hotel has enough space to accommodate their meetings. Downtown hotels also benefit from conventions taking place at the nearby Roanoke Civic Center when conventioneers book rooms for overnight stays. Events at the civic center during the past year included a Jehovah’s Witness convention and the Blue Ridge Bike Fest,

Gary Walton, general manager of the Hotel Roanoke, says conventions business is approaching pre-recession levels.

a motorcycle festival. Both conventions drew thousands of people. Blue Ridge Bike Fest 2013 is scheduled for April 12-14 at the civic center, while PetEx 2013, a two-day event for animal lovers, is slated for April 27-28. Second in terms of importance for convention business, says Walton, is location. Much of the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convention business comes from statewide groups who try to hold meetings in different parts of the commonwealth. Cultural amenities come in third. In fact, Walton notes, some groups coming to Roanoke have such full agendas, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave much time for sightseeing unless attendees choose to stay an extra day. Not all conventions are the same, of course, and some people do explore the area. In February, costumed participants in SheVaCon, the sci-fi, fantasy and horror convention at Hotel Roanoke, turned heads downtown. Some dressed as space aliens, Star War characters or superheroes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The downtown businesses and markets certainly benefitâ&#x20AC;? when the hotel is busy, Walton says. C onvent i on b u s i ne s s h a s changed since the 131-year-old hotel reopened in 1995. The hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is owned by the Virginia Tech Foundation and operated by DoubleTree Hotels. The hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conference center is owned by the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission, a public entity established by the General Assembly. Group bookings, defined as 10 rooms or more at a time, account for 50 to 55 percent of the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business. Total group sales range between 35,000 and 40,000 room nights per year, Walton says. In recent years, one trend is that people wait longer to book. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making decisions a little bit closer to the actual event.â&#x20AC;? Photo by Sam Dean

Hotel Roanoke has a six-member sales team that competes for bookings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aggressive. They hit the phones hard,â&#x20AC;? says hotel spokesman Michael Quonce. The presence of SheVaCon, which has held its convention at the hotel for two years, is a testament to the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard-charging sales team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They found us,â&#x20AC;? confirms the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chairwoman, Heather Simpson. SheVaCon, which stands for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shenandoah Valley Convention,â&#x20AC;? previously held meetings at the Sheraton Roanoke Hotel & Conference Center and the Holiday Inn on Starkey Road, but Simpson says the group needed more space. The hotel contacted SheVaCon, she says, after the group began making inquiries about larger sites. The group booked some 300 room nights at the hotel for the convention this year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The hotel is fantastic,â&#x20AC;? Simpson says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very conscientious

Heather Simpson, chairwoman of SheVaCon, says the science fiction, fantasy and horror fans had a good experience at The Hotel Roanoke.

about everything the convention needed. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always on call.â&#x20AC;? She says hotel staff even brought free chocolate to the people minding the SheVaCon registration desk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They think about little things like that.â&#x20AC;?

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

HEALTH

Test of stamina The Blue Ridge Marathon claims to be the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toughest marathon on pavement. by Sam Dean

Karen Bowers, left, and Erin Straight run up Mill Mountain while training for the Blue Ridge Marathon. 16

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Photo by Sam Dean

55,334. That’s the number of body-punishing steps it takes a marathon runner — with a 30-inch stride — to cover 26.2 miles. It’s a statistic that keeps the number of Americans who have completed a marathon to about 0.1 percent. If running a marathon isn’t challenge enough, organizers of the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke cranked it up a few notches — 7,234 of them, to be exact. Billed as America’s toughest road marathon, the April 20 race has 7,234 feet of elevation change on a course that climbs Mill Mountain and Roanoke Mountain, as well as numerous smaller hills in the valley. Chalk it up to a lack of flat ground in the Roanoke Valley, or perhaps the masochistic sensibilities of race organizers. At any rate, the boast about toughness inevitably draws comparison to Arizona’s Mount Lemmon marathon, with a course that climbs 8,200 feet, according to the race website. But it’s the Blue Ridge’s descent that organizers and some competitors cite as making the Roanoke event a more difficult race. “People underestimate the effect of eccentric loading on your legs coming down the mountains,” says Matt Bullington. He helped design the racecourse and placed third in the first Blue Ridge Marathon in 2010 with a time of 3:10:48. “Coming down is brutal on your quads.” All climbing or total elevation change: Pick your poison. It’s a unique brand of suffering. While organizers for both races surely will continue to spar over which race is the most challenging, the question for a runner contemplating a race of this length in the mountains is more pragmatic: How does one train? A marathon is one thing, but what about all those hills? Obviously, a runner doesn’t throw down the video game controller and bag of Photo by Sam Dean

Doritos, lace up his shoes on race day and expect to do well. Or even survive. That much holds true for any marathon. “You have to respect the distance,” says Pam Rickard, who has run 26 marathons over her 30-year career, including three Boston Marathons, and a 155-mile stage race in the Gobi Desert in 2012. While most runners were sleeping or nervously staring at the ceiling in the predawn hours before the official start of the 2012 Roanoke marathon, Rickard and a handful of other hardcore pavement pounders already were starting the course — for a first lap that finished in time for the early risers to be on the starting line for the official race. Five days before, Rickard had run the Boston Marathon. She plans to do it again this year. “It’s the official unofficial double marathon,” she says. Needless to say, this lady knows a thing or two about putting in some miles. By the middle of February, most serious runners — those looking for a personal record — will have been training for some time, but someone with a decent base level of running fitness who is looking to finish the race still has time to put in the necessary miles, says Rickard. “If by mid-February you can run 13.1 miles (a half marathon), you can still train to finish the race.” For most people, just finishing this punishing race will be reward enough. “Think about the bragging rights,” says Rickard. “How many people can say they’ve completed America’s toughest marathon?” Still, the problem of the hills re-

mains. It’s not the punishing climb up mountains Mill and Roanoke that threaten to crush the soul; it’s the seemingly benign climb up Peakwood Drive that causes many to start to lose heart. Every marathoner knows the proverbial runner’s wall appears around

Matt Bullington says training for the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon means preparing for the hills.

ROANOKE BUSINESS

health

Pam Rickard runs a portion of the Blue Ridge Marathon course that climbs Roanoke Mountain.

mile 18 of a marathon. That’s when he or she will be in the middle of the climb of this beautiful south Roanoke street lined with cheering, Mimosadrinking spectators. “Of course you should be training for Mill Mountain and Roanoke,” says Bullington, who is the one responsible for adding the climb up Peakwood to the course, “but you need to take into account the other hills, the second 13 miles of the race.” Bullington’s strategy on race day back in 2010 involved picking a goal pace for each mile. He carried a chart with each mile adjusted for inclination. However, preparation for climbing and descending those hills started much earlier. “I took what I knew about training for marathons and added the hills to it,” he says. Already at a competitive fitness 18

APRIL 2013

level, Bullington dedicated a portion of one day’s workout during the first eight weeks of his 16-week training program to running up hills for building strength. He recommends finding a quarter-mile-long hill and starting with five repeats and building to eight or nine by the end of the eight-week session. Long runs are the base of any marathon-training plan, to build endurance and reduce times. Still, hill work was so important that Bullington chose to sacrifice other elements of training to be prepared. “The race is so hill-intensive that it’s better to sacrifice the marathon pace training in favor of hill work,” he says. His version involved a climb up Mill Mountain at the end of a long run, say after having already logged 17 miles on the valley floor. All these hills mean slower paces for every-

one, so on race day adequate hydration and refueling are important, he says; otherwise, “You’re really going to suffer late in the race.” With so many hills early on, late race planning is essential, especially for those new to marathons. Virginia Tech Carilion medical students Karen Bowers and Erin Straight plan to make the Blue Ridge their first marathon, though both did the half marathon last year. They’ve been training on hills around the valley but are counting on the spectators lining the roads to push them through the last eight miles. “By Peakwood, we’ll just be trying to pull each other through,” Straight says. In the final stretch, a few encouraging words can go a long way in seeing a runner cross the finish line. Bowers and Straight plan to get to the other side of that line. Photo by Sam Dean

Cup of tea on the porch. Short walk to the mailbox. Chest pain and shortness of breath. Living with severe heart valve disease. Open-heart surgery needed, but not an option. Fortunately, less invasive procedure available. New heart valve, new lease on life. Now walks to the mailbox don’t seem so long.

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We treat heart conditions in ways others can’t. As the only heart care team in the region with the trained experts to perform sophisticated heart valve procedures, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), we’re helping extend the lives of patients who need an alternative to open-heart surgery. We’re here to keep a close watch on your heart, care for your condition, and keep you looking forward to all the moments to come. To watch patient videos, visit CarilionClinic.org/heart.

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CONSTRUCTION

Taking the pressure off the planet Sustainable buildings may mean more investment up front, but returns can be significant. by Donna Alvis-Banks

In 2010, the Roanoke County Fleet Service Center became the first Roanoke County facility to achieve LEED certification.

fter graduating from Virginia Tech with a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in urban and regional planning in 2009, Jackie Pontious landed a job with Community Housing Partners. At the Christiansburg-based nonprofit, she worked as an employer outreach specialist for a jobs training program. It administered a $3.8 million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Labor aimed at developing sustainable building practices.

APRIL 2013

Photo by Sam Dean

The money helped nearly 500 Southwest Virginians in a 21-county region — unemployed and dislocated workers as well as those holding down construction jobs. The goal was to “green” their existing skill sets. Pontious found herself working with area builders, learning lots about the values they place on environmental safeguards. “There are builders in this area that are going green already,” she says. “The ones who aren’t going green ... a lot of them understand this is coming, no matter what. I think people generally understand how we need to take pressure off the planet.” “Green,” according to those in the construction industry, is a relative term. It’s hard to say how many buildings use the array of programs and technologies available. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Southwest Virginia chapter points to more than a dozen buildings that are LEED certified, referring to the council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. That’s a green building rating system offering voluntary guidelines for construction practices. The group’s website, usgbcswva.org, lists some projects that have achieved certification, including two with “gold” status, Wytheville’s Gatorade Bottling Plant and Roanoke’s Claude Moore Education Complex. Gold is one step below platinum, the top LEED certification level. In Floyd, the Village Green commercial center boasts the largest solar array in Southwest Virginia with 108 panels. Roanoke’s Carilion Riverside Clinic and the Western Virginia Regional Jail in Roanoke County are both LEEDcertified. The $78.5 million jail has many sustainable features, including waterless urinals, low-flow toilets and a vacuum plumbing system. While the green features added $1.5 mil-

Photo by Alisa Moody

Jackie Pontious learned about green construction from builders.

lion to the cost, savings in water and energy usage are expected to repay that investment in three to five years. Roanoke has one of the few planners in the country certified in Passive House technology — which can save up to 70 percent in energy

Illinois and Maryland with 29.7 million square feet of LEED space. Only Washington, D.C., had more per capita. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency def ines green buildings as structures promoting resource efficiency, waste reduc-

Roanoke has one of the few planners in the country certified in Passive House technology – which can save up to 70 percent in energy use. use. An example of this type of construction is found at Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Rosenberg Hillel Center, the first religious building in the country meeting Passive House standards. These and other projects have helped move Virginia to the forefront of the green building movement. While the state used to be a straggler, it was ranked as the No. 1 state in 2012 by the USGBC for new buildings certified as meeting LEED standards. Virginia jumped ahead of Colorado, Massachusetts,

tion and human and environmental health. Agency statistics say that approximately 170,000 new commercial buildings are built each year, while only 44,000 existing buildings are demolished. On the residential side, statistics point to a 2007 report that counted 128 million housing units. Between 2005 and 2009 alone, approximately 7.2 million new residences were built. Many young Americans worry that, without environmentally responsible and sustainable building, Mother Earth won’t have a fruitful

ROANOKE BUSINESS

construction future. Pontious, whose experience at Community Housing Partners inspired her to learn more, is now 25 and back at Tech going for her masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My dream is to make a positive contribution to the world,â&#x20AC;? she says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;so we can make sure our children and grandchildren have the same things we had.â&#x20AC;? Adam Cohen is 50 but remembers when he was Pontiousâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; age and filled with idealism. With an architecture degree from the University of Maryland, Cohen moved to Floyd County to be among likeminded environmentalists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Back when I started [building], it was off-grid hippie stuff,â&#x20AC;? he recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I did that for 10 years and couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make a living.â&#x20AC;? In 1999, Cohen teamed up with Steven Strauss to create an architectural and construction firm called Structures Design Build. The Roanokebased company helped him provide a better living for his family of five,

Adam Cohen went from â&#x20AC;&#x153;off-grid hippie stuffâ&#x20AC;? to Passive House technology.

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Passive House. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I discovered this low-energy stuff that they were doing in Germany. I said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Man, this is beautiful. This is a superefficient way to build large-scale buildings,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? he says. He graduated from one of the first American classes to achieve certification in Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Passivhaus energy performance standards. They are based on designs for wellinsulated, airtight buildings with heat recovery ventilation. In 2009, he was named a certified North American planner. Cohen visited Germany and Austria, learned the technology firsthand and has since built seven projects. He says there are only 150 true Passive House buildings in the U.S. Now, he is in demand as a national consultant. In addition to the Hillel center at Tech, his projects include Rocky Mountâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center for Energy Efficiency, which earned him last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Green Designer award from the Virginia Sustainable Building Network, and a new dormitory at Emory & Henry College. Although energy efficiency Photo by Sam Dean

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construction generally means increased construction cost, Cohen says the dormitory is $5.75 per square foot less than the same building built to standard two years ago. ”We need to get the word out,” he insists, attributing the cost reduction to new Passive House technology. Roanoke Valley builder Rich Backus of Timber Ridge Craftsmen and Blacksburg’s Ed Tuchler of Shelter Alternatives have been using advanced building systems in residential construction for years. They utilize a variety of certified programs including Passive House, EarthCraft (which promotes site planning, waste management and energy conservation) and the EPA’s well-known Energy Star. Solar, wind and water energy sources all hold answers, according to Backus. “We took the luxury of cheap energy for granted in years past,” he says, “and consequently deprived ourselves of that luxury tomorrow.

Ed Tuchler, owner of Shelter Alternatives, says green construction is good construction — buildings that will last a long time.

... Our children will live in homes, study in schools and enjoy commercial buildings that are far more selfsufficient and wonder what took us so long.”

FOSTERING VIBRANT STUDENT COMMUNITIES AT R A D F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y

RADFORD UNIVERSITY MOFFETT HALL

APRIL 2013

Backus says it may cost about 10 percent more to build a Passive House than a regular house but notes that “yesterday we didn’t blink at spending many thousands of dollars on countertops because their value seemed self-evident. Tomorrow, sustainability will be of prime value.” Ed Tuchler, a Virginia Tech architecture graduate, already sees that happening. After starting as a carpenter with Shelter Alternatives in 1988, he bought the company in 2005. “Houses in general are getting more efficient,” he says, noting that the International Residential Code now mandates air pressure tests on all homes, something his firm has done since the early ’90s. All his homes also are fitted with mechanical fresh air ventilation systems. “You can’t talk about green without talking about the health of the house,” Tuchler insists. But green, he also insists, is more than the color of money. Green is good. “Green is a building that’s going to be durable and healthy for a long time,” he says. “A lot of that is just good building practice.” Photo by Alisa Moody

Living green at Radford University s 6IRGINIA 'OVERNOR S %NVIRONMENTAL %XCELLENCE !WARDS FOR s ,ISTED IN 4HE 0RINCETON 2EVIEW S 'UIDE TO 'REEN #OLLEGES %DITION s ,%%$ AND %0! %NERGY 3TAR CERTIl CATION FOR RESIDENCE AND ACADEMIC BUILDINGS s PARTICIPATION IN 2ECYCLE-ANIA AND #AMPUS #ONSERVATION .ATIONALS s #OMMITMENT TO 'REEN 3EAL CERTIl ED CLEANING PRODUCTS s ,OW m OW PLUMBING l XTURES s 7E#AR CAR SHARING ALTERNATIVE TO VEHICLE OWNERSHIP s 4RAY LESS DINING TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE AND CLEANING COSTS

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INTERVIEW: Jeff Shawver, Roanoke’s building commissioner

Green permits, green roofs and downtown living 27 years of change in Roanoke’s urban core Shawver: I think probably the innovative piece is people taking these old buildings and repurposing them. That’s innovative because … a lot of people would much rather just build new ... You’d be totally amazed at the work that’s being done. A lot of communities don’t want to see buildings torn down. What happens is they think if you tore down the building, it’s going to turn out to be a parking lot. If you have a good solid, sound building then you definitely want to encourage the reuse or repurposing of those buildings. RB: What trends are you seeing? Shawver: Downtown living is a big thing. We have these things called live/work units, so if you want to live and work out of a unit, the code allows that now. It’s pretty cool. You have a small unit, and then you can actually have an artist’s studio or something else.

Jeff Shawver has been a Roanoke city employee for nearly three decades. by Shawna Morrison

id you know that Roanoke residents can get a 10 percent tax break for exceeding statewide standards for energy efficiency? That’s one way the city is helping people who want to build a little greener and is one of the welcome changes Building Commissioner Jeff Shawver has seen in nearly three decades as a city employee. Shawver has worked for Roanoke for 27 years, starting out as a plumbing inspector and working his way up to the commissioner position he has held for the past four years in the Planning, Building and Development Department. He has seen many changes, including the evolution of the downtown area from a commercial space to a largely residential one – a change

APRIL 2013

Shawver never would have expected. From the repurposing of old buildings into apartments to major public renovations at Center in the Square and Elmwood Park, all of the changes taking place downtown get their start in his department. In an interview with Roanoke Business, Shaw ver discussed many of the works in progress downtown, the trends he is seeing and another incentive the city is considering to encourage green building. Roanoke Business: There is so much going on downtown, from huge renovations like Center in the Square to smaller-scale projects like the installation of green roofs. Do any of these projects strike you as particularly innovative?

RB: Another trend we’re starting to see is the use of green roofs downtown, like the one that covers part of the municipal building roof. Tell us about that. Why is that important? Shawver: To repurpose a building for a green roof is definitely innovative, and it takes a lot more work. There are a few green roofs that I know about in the city. One of them is at the apartments in the old Woolworth’s building [at 24 Campbell Ave. SW]. The Claude Moore [Education Complex] building on First Street [109 First St. NW]. You can definitely enjoy downtown living with some green space. If you look around, there is limited green space around downtown. The municipal building’s got some nice green space, and, of course, everybody loves it. It’s a place you can play with your dog and stuff. The other piece to it is that it’s environmentally friendly. It cuts down on energy cost and Photo by Sam Dean

definitely promotes less carbon footprints for buildings. And it should be less maintenance from leaky roofs and so forth. RB: What is the city doing to encourage or support this type of development? Are incentives being offered? Shawver: What we’re looking at is this thing called green permits. We’re going to reduce permit fees, whatever it is to help you do this. The city of Chicago offers it, and we’re looking at kind of a hybrid of it … If you want to do a green roof … solar panels, wind power, we want to encourage that and reduce your cost in getting permits and so forth … Right now, we offer a tax credit. If you invest in your building or your home so much, we want to help. If you build your home or building [to exceed the energy-efficient standards from the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code by 30 percent], we’re going to reduce your property taxes [by a 10 percent reduction in the tax rate on the improvement value for five years]. RB: You’ve been in this office a long time. How have you seen the face of downtown change over the years? Shawver: It’s so funny to see how downtown has changed. What I mean is, the reuse and repurposing of the buildings, with the Higher Education building and the development over there … that kind of spurred a lot of growth across the tracks. With all the downtown development to residential – if somebody was to ask me 27 years ago would people be living downtown, I would say absolutely not. Now, we’ve got a thousand apartments downtown or close to it. RB: Why is it significant to see it change from what it was before to more of a residential area? Shawver: A lot of things make this big circle in life. You can just see this circle coming back as the downtown area of Roanoke is rebirthing itself into this mixeduse area. Years ago it was all commercial, now we’ve got this mixed use of downtown living plus commercial, retail spaces and so forth, which is the ideal situation. People work downtown, it’s lively during work hours, and then at night or Sundays or Saturdays, there are the people who live downtown.

RB: How do you think all these projects are going to affect business downtown? Shawver: As everybody takes more of a regional approach, it doesn’t affect just the downtown area, it affects the whole Roanoke Valley. You asked me: What’s different in my whole 27 years of being here? It’s this whole regional approach. Everybody’s finally realizing what’s good for Roanoke County is actually good for Roanoke city, too. You know, people have to get from one point to the other and stop and get gas or fill in the blanks. What’s good for one is good for us all. I don’t think anyone wants to lose their trademark … but I think as more people talk and work together, we want to sell our whole valley. RB: A lot of the projects we’ve been talking about are high profile and have been in the spotlight quite a bit. What are you seeing behind the scenes that you’re excited about? Shawver: There are low-profile ones, too, that people don’t even see. 304 First St. What’s unique about this is it’s not like a big developer, it’s somebody who just bought a piece of property, and he’s working on it. He’s the sole person behind this … He is making two upstairs apartments — one for him to live in and retail space downstairs. RB: Is there a driving force behind the development downtown? Shawver: There’s a vested interest from a lot of people to make the downtown more of a live-friendly atmosphere. It comes from council members, the mayor. It’s funny how it’s everybody. It’s not like it’s just one person saying we want more of this ... I think everybody is just so energized by this thing. I think that’s significant. RB: Some of the development, the repurposing of buildings, is taking place in areas that might not traditionally be thought of as part of the downtown area. Do you think the borders may be changing? Shawver: I guess there’s no specific downtown limits. I think we want to encourage expansion out from downtown; there’s a lot of reuse of some existing buildings that we want to encourage. Especially, for example, like the old YMCA [on Church Av-

enue]. That’s on the fringes of what some people would call downtown, but that’s one that we’d like to see come up. RB: Some of the planned changes, like the plaza area and the renovations at Elmwood Park, seem to be geared at making the downtown area more of a draw for families. Can you speak to that? Shawver: The plaza area downtown is going to be a real nice addition to the whole downtown core area. We’re pretty excited about that. It’s going to be a raised area, so people won’t be able to park down there anymore … Everybody’s looking for more of a pedestrian-friendly area. It will be set up for more vendors … and there will be a courtyard there so you can have events there and so forth. The Elmwood Park development, that’s going to be a great development. It’s going to have these interactive fountains for kids to play in. RB: What else would you like to see happen downtown? Shawver: We need to take a look at … a grocery store or something downtown. If we can get a Trader Joe’s or something, oh, my gosh, that would really connect the dots. You know if you live downtown or … work there; it would just be everything you need. And there are a couple of buildings we need to get back from being vacant. Nothing looks worse, when you have everything moving forward, than vacant buildings or vacant lots. I think we need to continue on the momentum. Like the Heironimus building [at 401 S. Jefferson St.], hopefully we can get somebody interested in it. The other piece, too, as we expand out, is look to more shuttle service. Having the shuttle moving from Carilion Roanoke Memorial and back and forth has been a great thing for people who work in that area. Just catch that shuttle and come downtown. Maybe expand on that. RB: Is it a goal to make downtown into more of a community? Shawver: You know, I would say so, a community. I think the community would take both the people who work downtown and the people who live downtown. I think the two groups … are on the same path. ROANOKE BUSINESS

LIFESTYLES

t 26, Price Gutshall is too young to remember what downtown Roanoke was like 30 years ago, when it was home to adult bookstores, boarded-up businesses and a different sort of nightlife. He and his peers “don’t have that impression of it,” he says. As a teenager, he came downtown once in a while. “There were things going on, but nothing like it is now. It has increased dramatically in nightlife and cultural activities.” In 2012, Gutshall returned to Roanoke after earning a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University. He found a job downtown — as Downtown Roanoke Inc.’s first economic development specialist — and a home, as well. His two-bedroom rental is a short walk from his office. Gutshall is one of about 1,300 people who have moved downtown since 2000. By 2011, downtown Roanoke’s population had increased by 2,240 percent — up from roughly 50 residents. A 2011 study commissioned by DRI and done by Clemson University’s Richard H. Pennell Center for Real Estate showed a demand for apartments, condos and town houses. The study turned out to be “very accurate,” Gutshall says, in terms of what happened. The only component of the plan that hasn’t materialized, he adds, is town houses. “There were a lot of ideas,” he says, but few suitable buildings. The credit crunch that followed the economic downturn of 2007-09 made financing new structures harder, so developers chose to renovate existing commercial buildings. Although plans called for mostly owner-occupied units, today only 18 percent of downtown homes fit that description, Gutshall says, again because of the collapse of the housing sector and the financial crisis. He says downtown “is one of Roanoke’s most diverse neighborhoods.” In 2011, 68 percent of downtown residents were white, 27 percent were black, 3 percent identified as Hispanic and 2 percent were Asian. The average age of downtown residents was 32.4, compared with 40 for the city as a whole, he says. There’s also a good mix of middle-age residents, with nearly 15 percent of the residents over 45. Gutshall characterizes rental rates as “really low for urban living” compared with other places he’s lived, including Concord, N.H., and Ithaca, N.Y. He says cities such as Charlotte, Richmond, Atlanta, Charlottesville and Asheville, N.C., are more expensive as well. Rentals in Roanoke range from $600 to $1,500 per month. Most condominiums sell for $150,000 to $300,000. While a detached house with a yard can cost less, “the urban experience is the thing you’re paying for,” he says, and “demand is very high.” The Cotton Mill Lofts on Fifth Street offer easy access to the YMCA and the Jefferson Center. The Patrick Henry, a historic former hotel that was converted into apartments, is close to Roanoke’s medical hub and Elmwood Park. The Hancock, a renovated furniture store, is in the heart of the arts district, and the developments on Jefferson and Church are handy to the City Market and the burgeoning arts scene on Kirk Avenue. The Cotton Mill has 108 units, the Patrick Henry has 132, and The Hancock has 58. Like every other downtown project, they are fully leased. “They’re all family-friendly,” Gutshall says, and “everyone has pets.” Most of the buzz has been about renovated industrial spaces. John Reburn, though, has a different story to tell. The 48-year old lives in an apartment that has been continuously occupied since 1905. He moved to Roanoke from Los Angeles 10 years ago and bought the building that houses both the apartment and his shop — Appalachia Press — on Salem Avenue. Although three years of nonstop construc-

APRIL 2013

Photos by Sam Dean

‘Almost like a big city’ Residents say downtown Roanoke offers urban living with few hassles. by Betsy Biesenbach

Downtown Roanoke has become one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods. ROANOKE BUSINESS

lifestyles tion downtown nearly put him out of business last year, Reburn, nonetheless, is a big supporter of downtown living. “I saw so much potential here, so much cool stuff,” he says. “It’s so easy as a city. I can get to the airport in 20 minutes.” Rob Marmerstein, 27, has lived in both the Cotton Mill Lofts and the Patrick Henry. The Cotton Mill “has a very industrial, urban-chic atmosphere,” he says, but he prefers the Patrick Henry. The rent is lower, and “I enjoy having easy access to restaurants, bars and music venues. It’s more in the heart of things.” Kelly Miller, 24, recently graduated from Virginia Tech. “Blacksburg was such a walkable community,” she says. So when she was hired as a client services specialist for Meridium on Bullitt Avenue in downtown Roanoke she wanted to live within walking distance. She rents at the Patrick Henry, too. “I love it,” she says, especially the former hotel’s beautifully restored lobby. “I’ll probably never live in a nicer place.” Gutshall says it’s possible to live downtown without a car. There is no large supermarket, but the small groceries and the farmers market

Downtown living options range from “industrial urbanchic” to grand restoration.

says, but some bigger stores would be welcome, too. “There’s very little I can’t find here,” he says. “But we need more anchor stores.” Miller says she often calls the convenience store at 16 West Marketplace to see if it has what she needs. “They don’t have everything, but it’s enough.” Getting in the car to go to a larger store “is a 45-minute adventure.” The only

In 2011, 68 percent of downtown residents were white, 27 percent were black, 3 percent identified as Hispanic and 2 percent were Asian. The average age of downtown residents is 32.4, compared with 40 for the city as a whole. provide “a different sort of shopping experience.” The only thing missing, he says, is a movie theater. Marmerstein, the associate chief operating officer at LewisGale Medical Center, uses his car almost every day to get to work, visit friends and shop. Although he pays to park in the garage across from his building, he says finding on-street parking is easy. Small shops like Reburn’s give downtown a local flavor, Reburn 30

APRIL 2013

thing Miller misses is a pharmacy. For Gutshall, the best part of living downtown is “I run into people all the time.” In the suburbs, he says, “You’re living in a bubble.” “I love the fact that I can walk to everything,” Reburn says. “Everything is so contained.” Expanding the trolley system would make it even better. Some of the activity, though, has a downside, he says. “There has been a huge influx of restaurants and bars,” all

of which try to attract customers with outdoor dining and music. “It can become outrageously crazy,” he said, but “it’s a growing pain” that he feels will eventually be worked out. Noise from Elmwood can be a problem at the Patrick Henry, too, Miller says. “I’m usually at the festivals, so it doesn’t bother me.” Miller enjoys watching downtown parades from a neighbor’s window, which faces Jefferson Street, and she often meets fellow tenants in the building’s gym. During the summer, she spends time walking around. Street life “really picks up in the warmer months,” she said. “It’s starting to be a center for young adults. It’s almost like a big city.” Marmerstein says Roanoke “is by several hundred thousand the smallest place I’ve ever lived,” so he was surprised to find “the social pool is deeper than I expected it to be.” Gutshall says demand is growing for high-density housing. He expects it will stay contained within the downtown area rather than spreading to the nearby established neighborhoods. In 20 years, he predicts, downtown will once again “be the major urban core of the region.” Photo by Sam Dean

Alec and Sarah Bradford, owners, Leaping Waters Farm

The Bradfords and their four children live on a 110-acre farm near Shawsville.

Next ROANOKE

A leap of faith

A doctor and a farmer raise children and livestock in Montgomery County by Tim Thornton

arah Bradford’s trip to the Rockies turned into an even bigger adventure than she had imagined. “I decided I was going to book myself a fishing trip on horseback in Montana,” she says. “And I met Alec at the fishing lodge in Montana.” It was Hubbard’s Yellowstone Lodge, near a little community called Emigrant. “I was getting a guiding license,” Alec Bradford explains, “and she was learning how to fly fish … So we fell in love and we were engaged within four months.” The couple met one mile from the largest herd of Ancient White Park cattle in the United States. It didn’t seem very important at the time, though it seems almost prophetic now. Alec followed Sarah to Toronto. “She was fed up with the winters in Canada,” he says, “and I didn’t really want to live there either.” They decided to move south. Since 2004, the Bradfords have operated Leaping Waters Farm, 110 acres across the South Fork of the Roanoke River from what used to be Alleghany Springs resort. It’s just outside of Shawsville, in Montgomery County. The Bradfords

Photo by Sam Dean

lease another 1,000 acres, most of it connected to Fotheringay, another historic Montgomery County landmark. The Bradfords use all that land to raise four children, about 700 geese and heirloom turkeys, 300 heirloom hogs, 13 cats, seven horses, seven dogs and more than 250 of those Ancient White Park cattle. The Bradfords’ clients include several Roanoke restaurants and other food establishments such as Lucky, Local Roots and the community-supported agriculture organization Good People, Good Food. Leaping Waters delivers bacon, sausage, turkey and beef to subscribers. One morning while their children were getting ready for school, the Bradfords talked about their grass-fed beef cattle, their farm and how a city girl obstetrician from Canada and a country boy from Tennessee became farmers in Alleghany Springs. Roanoke Business: How did you decide to start a farm? Sarah Bradford: I wanted to live in the country. I had a couple of times when I was a kid. My parents were opera singers; we leased the land out. But I had a

horse when I was younger. We had a cow once, some guinea pigs – and gardening. Alec Bradford: My grandfather had a farm all through my youth, so I had a bit of experience with the livestock, especially cattle. And I told her I could run a farm if she wanted to do that, but it was a lot of work and did she really want to do that? And she said yes. RB: Why did you decide to farm in Alleghany Springs? Alec Bradford: We looked for places across the country where Sarah could practice obstetrics in family practice, and we could afford enough land to have an actual operating farm, not just a little hobby thing. This was about the only place. It was here or nor theast Tennessee or western North Carolina or New Mexico. In New Mexico we couldn’t afford enough land … We’d have to buy a ranch, and we couldn’t afford to buy a ranch. Western North Carolina is really expensive. The land around Asheville is super expensive per acre. Northeast Tennessee was affordable, but that’s exactly where I’m from and that was just too close to home.

RB: How did you choose Ancient White Park cattle – and what are they, anyway? Alec Bradford: There was a livestock guy who used to be in Pulaski who has now moved back to the Midwest. … he mentioned Ancient White Park. … They’re really well suited to this part of the country. They’re from the northern part of England, the southern part of Scotland. … They were the exclusive property of the British royal family … They were actually a feral breed. They were just hunted … They still have a bit of the feral, the wildness in them. RB: You started with cattle, then added hogs, turkeys and, most recently, geese. What’s your plan? Alec Bradford: We’re cons tantly on the lookout for products that we can produce, that we can make better than your average industrial farm. If animals are raised outside and they’re raised with sunshine and clean water and nice pasture and fresh hay and whatnot, we typically have healthier animals and so we have better-tasting animals.

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he daay af afteer Va Valeent ntin ine’ ne s Da Dayy, The he Atl tlaan tlan nti t c pu p bl b is ishe h d a blog post by asso ociat atte ed e it itor or Jorrdaan n Weisssm man ann n tiitl tled “The Th he W Wo ors rst st C Ciittiies e For CollegeEducat Educ Ed ated teed d Wom omen en Try ryin ing to in o Fin nd a De Dece Dece cent ntt Dat ate. e ” By B tha hatt he he mea eant ntt a date with a coll l eg ge-ed educ ed uccaatted man. Sara aso sota ta, Fl F a. a.,, is i the wor orst st,, ac acco cord rrd din ing g to o his is cal alcu culations. cu Weeiisssman sman sm ann us used ed the h Am meeri eri rica ca an Co omm mun nit ityy Su urv rvey e thrree-y ee-yea ee -y yea earr es esti esti timates to calc lculat lcul lc ullat atee wh what hatt he ca c ll lled lled ed the he “man ga gap” p” in th thee coun co ountr try’ y’ss 1 10 02 me m ttrro aarreas eaas with at leastt 500, 0,00 0, ,00 000 0 re resi side si dents. The Roano n ke and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-R Rad adfo dffo ord me etr tro ar area rea e s di d dn dn’tt mak ke th he li li list. Th he raw da d ttaa beh hind ind We in W is issmann’’s ciiph pherin i g may say someth thin th i g ab bou ut ho ow society is changing and, d, perrha h ps p , wh ho is mor ore liike k ly y to o ev e entu tu ual ally ly be si ly sitttin ing ng i cor in orne nerr offfi fice cess or be unem em mpl ploy lo oyyed d. (I (In In JJaan nu uar ary, the h job oble leess ss raatte aam mon ng hi high gh school graduates wass 8.1 1 per e cent cent ce nt,, 4. 4.4 pe ercen rcen rc ntta age ge poi on ntts h hiigh igh gherr th haan the th he rate rraate e for o those with a bac ache helo lor’ lo rs d r’ deegr g ee or hi high gher.) Womeen have outnumb mbered d men e amo m ng col olle ege gra radu duat a es for or yearss. Th he char a t be elo ow sh show ow ws th the he estimates of college deg grees among ng peopl p e unde derr 35 in n the U..S., Vi Virg Virg gin inia ia, aan nd thee Roan nok ke and New w Ri R ver vaall l ey eys. s.

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Our Custom Published Reprints can extend the effectiveness of your ad or article that appears in Roanoke Business magazine, and they make excellent marketing pieces. Articles can be reﬂowed without surrounding ads. If space allows, we can place your company contact information and logo. The cost will depend on the size of the reprint.

United States*

TOTAL POPULATION

235,186,182

6,165,287

135,602

241,995

114,165,401

2,987,556

68,383

114,439

18 to 24 years

15,779,629

416,897

22,614

12,166

1,093,919

36,532

1,678

1,038

Bachelor’s degree Graduate or professional degree 25 to 34 years Bachelor’s degree

APRIL 2013

75,004

2,524

20,676,130

544,413

10,166

17,129

4,131,941

126,658

2,598

3,064

1,532,484

56,334

1,610

1,165

Female population

121,020,781

3,177,731

67,219

127,556

18 to 24 years

15,058,084

394,113

19,745

13,191

1,545,344

50,366

2,330

1,260

122,700

5,740

612

20,464,562

544,297

8,703

17,758

Bachelor’s degree

4,965,566

150,206

2,301

4,248

Graduate or professional degree

2,220,990

82,056

1,701

1,734

Graduate or professional degree

Bachelor’s degree 25 to 34 years

Roanoke Metro Area*

Male population

Graduate or professional degree

Would you like to know more about reprints? Please contact: Kevin Dick - (804) 225-0433

Virginia*

BlacksburgChristiansburgRadford Metro Area*

* Estimates

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey three-year estimates

Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce | SPONSORED CONTENT

Roanoke Regional Chamber recognizes Chamber Champions and event sponsors CHAMBER CHAMPIONS BB&T Brown Edwards Blue Ridge Copier Cox Business

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore Grow Inc. LifeWorks REHAB (Medical Facilities of America)

Lumos Networks rev.net Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC Trane

Tread Corp. Wells Fargo Woods Rogers Attorneys at Law Pepsi Bottling Group

Note: Chamber Champions are members who support the Roanoke Regional Chamber through year-round sponsorships in exchange for year-round recognition.

Member news & recognitions Access Advertising & Public Relations has expanded its firm with the addition of Misty Smith-Klein as an Smith-Klein account executive. Advance Auto Parts, a leading retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items has announced the promotions of Joshua Moore to vice president, finance and investor relations and Navdeep Gupta to vice president, finance and treasury. Moore will be responsible for leading the company’s enterprise planning and performance management functions, field finance support and investor relations. Gupta will continue to lead the company’s finance decision support teams and will assume responsibility for leading the treasury function and corporate purchasing team. Advance Auto Parts has announced the promotion of Richard Robbins to vice president, rewards Robbins and human resources services. He will be responsible for leading Advance’s HR rewards strategy for benefits and compensation. He joined Advance in May 2000. Advanced Logic Industries (ALI) has announced that it has

acquired Brush Mountain Data Center. This regional IT data center has been providing private cloud services and data hosting from its location at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg since 2006. The ALI support team will continue to work closely with Doug Mauer and his staff at Biz Net Technologies to ensure a seamless transition. Doctors Connected, a Carilion Clinic Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO, has been selected as one of 106 new Accountable Care Organizations in Medicare, ensuring as many as four million Medicare beneficiaries across the United States now have access to highquality, coordinated care, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in January. Doctors and health care providers can establish Accountable Care Organizations in order to work together to provide higherquality care to their patients. Carilion Clinic has launched a wellness initiative to encourage employees and visitors at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Stairwellness is a free, convenient way to incorporate exercise into a daily routine. To help motivate this positive behavior change, the stairwell in the south tower of

Roanoke Memorial is now outfitted with colorful blocks of paint containing fun health information facts regarding the benefits of stair climbing. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association named George M. Koumaras, DDS, center Koumaras director of Delta Dental of Virginia, as the 2012 Medical Director of the Year for his accomplishments in reducing insurance fraud. He has led the development of the fraud and abuse program at Delta Dental of Virginia since 2006. LewisGale Medical Center ranked among the nation’s top five percent of hospitals in a recent study of mortality and complication rates for nearly 5,000 hospitals. This achievement earned the hospital a five-star rating and the 2013 Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. For 2013, LewisGale Medical Center was also named one of America’s top 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care and received a five-star rating for hip fracture treatment, back and neck surgery (spinal fusion), overall pulmonary services, gastrointestinal procedures and surgeries, and appendectomy. Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group released the results of its 26th an-

nual office market survey reporting that both rental rates and occupancy edged upward in 2012. The overall occupancy rate at the end of 2012 was up to 90 percent from 88 percent at the end of 2011. The 90 percent occupancy rate for the Roanoke market is well ahead of the national average of 87.7 percent, as reported by the National Association of Realtors. The most substantial gain was seen in the South Suburban Business District which increased two percent despite the addition of 25,715 square feet to the surveyed inventory. Occupancy and rental rates were up slightly in the Central Business District as well. In anticipation of its reopening in Center in the Square on May 18, the Science Museum of Western VirHale ginia has announced the hiring of three key new staff members. Betsy Hale has been named the new volunteer coordinator and is responsible for recruiting the dozens of volunteers who will serve as exhibit docents, assist in the Museum’s new butterfly garden, and help with special events and membership. Leigh Ann Soltis is in charge of scheduling all schools, community groups and families interested in contracting with the Museum for educational programs and special

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SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce events. Hannah Weiss has been named the new animal care specialist and will help care for the butterfly garden and the Museum’s other live animals. S u nTr u s t B a n k , Western Virginia has named Jake Hedrick financial advisor with SunTrust InvestHedrick ment Services within its Private Wealth Management Division. He came to SunTrust Investment Services from First Citizens Investment Services. The Taubman Museum of Art has named Della S. Watkins, former chief educator at the Virginia MuWatkins seum of Fine Arts in Richmond, as the new executive director of the Roanoke art museum. Watkins brings to the Taubman extensive experience in museum management, volunteer engagement, public programming and development in addition to art education. She began her new role at the Taubman on February 4. Building on its internationally recognized 30-year specialization in international development planning, Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs has created a new Graduate Certificate in Global Planning and International Development Studies. The certificate is the result of collaboration between faculty from multiple disciplines and programs including Urban Affairs and Planning, the Master of Public Health Degree Program, the Department of Geography, and the Department of Building Construction. Michael H. Aldrich, Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech alumnus and head of client service Aldrich of Brown Advisory in Baltimore, Md., gave the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lec-

APRIL 2013

ture, sponsored by the Pamplin College, in February. His talk was titled “Goals without Plans.” Harold E. Burkhart, the Thomas M. Brooks Professor of Forestry and University Distinguished Professor in Burkhart Virginia Tech’s Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, has been selected as Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist of 2013 by the Governor’s Office and the Science Museum of Virginia. Also named Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist of 2013 was geoscientist Patricia M. Dove, the C.P. Miles Professor of Science in Virginia Tech’s College of Science. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Crowder Agriculture Award, to Ambassador Richard T. Crowder, former U.S. chief agricultural trade negotiator and professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The award was announced during the AFBF 94th annual meeting held in January in Nashville. AFBF established the award to honor individuals who have devoted their careers to serving agriculture. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has recognized Donna Dunay, the G.T. Ward Professor Dunay of Architecture in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech, with the 2012-2013 Distinguished Professor Award. The prestigious national award is only presented to four professors annually in recognition of their achievements in teaching, design, scholarship, research, or service. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has named

Stephen Edwards, associate professor of computer science with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, Edwards is a 2013 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award winner. The awards, sponsored by the Dominion Foundation, a philanthropic unit of the energy company based in Richmond, is the commonwealth’s highest honor for university faculty. Howard Feiertag, hospitality and tourism management instructor in the Pamplin College of Business at Feiertag Virginia Tech, was recently honored with two lifetime achievement awards. He won the Winthrop W. Grice Award for public relations excellence from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International and the Virginia Society of Association Executives Lifetime Career Services Award. He has more than 50 years experience as a hospitality professional and an educator. Dr. Robin Fontenot has joined the VirginiaMaryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech as Fontenot a clinical instructor of large animal surgery in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. Prior to joining the faculty, Fontenot was a large animal surgery resident at the veterinary college. Thomas R. Fox, professor of forest soils and silviculture in the College of Natural Resources and EnvironFox ment at Virginia Tech, has been named a Fellow by the Society of American Foresters, a national scientific and educational organization representing the forestry profession in the United States. The Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech has named

Mark Goodwin as its first portfolio director, responsible for overseeing programmatic activities within Goodwin the quickly-growing, two-year-old center. The Hume Center heads the university’s educational and research programs in supporting the defense and intelligence communities, and executes a broad range of research programs in wireless communications, satellite engineering, cyber security, and big data. Rodney Ir vin has been selected to serve as the interim director of employee relations in the Department of Irvin Human Resources Office of Equity and Access at Virginia Tech. Irvin succeeds Pat Burton who retired in January. In this role, Irvin is responsible for managing and coordinating all activities related to employee relations, staff grievances, coaching, counseling, and progressive discipline. Gary Long, professor of chemistry, has been named associate dean for curriculum and instruction in the College Long of Science at Virginia Tech. Long will be responsible for developing a sustainable process for selecting and awarding scholarships, providing leadership for curricular development and assessment and for recruiting and placement programs, diversity leadership, representing the college on university committees, and working with the assistant dean of graduate studies on graduate issues. Ross Mecham has been named assistant director of organizational development in the Department of Mecham Human Re sourc e s at Virginia Tech. Mecham is responsible for contributing to the

Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce | SPONSORED CONTENT research-based design, development, delivery, assessment, and outsourcing of new and existing leadership, management, and employee development opportunities for faculty and staff. J.P. Morgan, professor of statistics, has been appointed assistant dean for graduate studies and Morgan strategic initiatives in the College of Science at Virginia Tech. Morgan will be responsible for managing graduate studies administration in the college, coordinating departmental reviews, spearheading faculty development initiatives, meeting with prospective faculty, and assisting the dean of curriculum and instruction with graduate-level course proposals. William “Bill” Nelson Pruitt III has been named assistant director for education abroad at Virginia Tech. Pruitt Pruitt joined Education Abroad in 2009 as a program coordinator. While pursuing a doctoral degree in higher education administration at Virginia Tech, he served as a graduate assistant. Jeffrey H. Reed, the Willis G. Worchester Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, was the recipient of the 2012 Forum International Achievement Award for significant contributions to the further development of software designed radio and cognitive radio presented at the Wireless Innovation. Reed, also director of Wireless@VirginiaTech, a research center that is part of the university’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, was cited for his leading role, along with his colleagues, in the research and academic collaboration in this part of the wireless spectrum. Raymond J. Resendes, who has been chief of the Intelligent Technologies Research Division of

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) since 2005, has been named director of the Virginia Resendes Tech Transportation Institute’s National Capital Region operation. The transportation institute’s capital region operation includes the Virginia Connected Test Bed, the Northern Virginia testing area for the Connected Vehicle Infrastructure University Transportation Center, and other communication between emergency vehicles. Dr. Gerhardt G. Schurig, dean of the Virginia-Mar yland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Schurig will be stepping down from his position during the summer of 2013. Appointed as the college’s third dean in 2004, Schurig first joined the veterinary college faculty in 1978. A professor of veterinary immunologist, he is considered one of the world’s leading brucellosis researchers and is internationally renowned for his work in development vaccines against bovine brucellosis, a zoonotic disease that causes reproductive problems in cattle and undulant fever in humans. Gary C. Shapiro has been named associate director of administration for human resources for the Division of Shapiro Student Affairs at Virginia Tech. He succeeds Samuel L. Camden who retired in August 2012 after 15 years with the university. Dr. Megan Shepherd has joined the Virginia-Mar yland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Shepherd at Virginia Tech as a clinical assistant professor of nutrition in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. Prior to joining the faculty, Shepherd was a resident in clinical nutrition at the

veterinary college. Jill Sible, professor of biological sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has been appointed assisSible tant vice president for undergraduate education in the Division of Undergraduate Education. Sible will oversee implementation of the Vision Plan for Undergraduate Education and coordinate undergraduate curricular development and improvement across campuses. Two Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have won an Edward F. Obert Award from the Spakovsky American Society of Mechanical Engineers for a breakthrough research paper on intrinsic quantum thermodynamics. Winning the Smith 2012 Obert Award are Michael von Spakovsky, professor with the Department of Engineering, and Charles E. Smith, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Their winning paper is titled, “Comparison of the nonequilibrium predictions of Intrinsic Quantum Thermodynamics at the atomistic level with experimental evidence.” Dean Tyler Walters, with the Virginia Tech University Libraries, has been appointed to the board of direcWalters tors of DuraSpace. DuraSpace is an independent, not-for-profit organization with the mission to lead the development and improvement of open technologies that provide long-term, durable access to scholarly, scientific and cultural records. Donna Wardell has been named director of alumni relations for the College of Science at Virginia Tech. She comes to Virginia Tech from

Wardell

a position as special assistant to the dean and director of communications at Rutgers University’s School of Social Work.

Several Virginia Tech professional faculty members are making significant contribuWilliams tions to knowledge in their fields and raising the visibility of Virginia Tech in the process. Mekeisha P. Williams, executive MacQueen director of the Office of University Organizational and Professional Development in the Department of Human Resources, is known regionally for her work with leadership development, program development and evaluation, succession planning, and leadership coaching. Jim MacQueen, an organizational development consultant in the Office of University Organizational and Professional Development, is known internationally for his work in organization analysis and intervention, change management, brand/ culture transformation and systems thinking. Virginia Western Community College and the Virginia Western Educational Foundation have announced the addition of Roanoke County to the Community College Access Program for the 2013-14 academic year. With the recent additions of Botetourt and Craig counties, the program now extends to the college’s entire service region and gives local high school graduates the opportunity to attend college tuition free. Administered by the Virginia Western Educational Foundation, the program is currently available in Franklin County, Salem City and the City of Roanoke.

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SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Partnership

News from the Roanoke Regional Partnership 2012 partnership projects support more than 1,150 jobs Roanoke Regional Partnership-assisted projects in 2012 added critical momentum to the continued recovery of Roanoke’s economy. The impact exceeds an announced $50.2 million in real estate and equipment investment and 549 new jobs. The Roanoke Regional Partnership assisted in attracting investment from companies such as Advance Auto Parts, Altec, Balchem, CAE, FedEx, Ogburn Brothers, Ply Gem and Sunken City Brewing, among others. Once the eight new locations and five expansions of existing industry are in full operation, they can be expected to have a $322 million impact and support a total of 1,159 jobs throughout the region’s economy annually. The $322 million in sales or output represent not only the activity of the announced projects, but also the projected activity of local suppliers in providing goods and services directly to the companies and their employees. The average employment multiplier among the Roanoke Regional Partnership’s announced projects in 2012 was 2.11, meaning that every job directly created will support another 1.11 jobs elsewhere in the region’s economy. In addition to announcements, the partnership also was busy with a flurry of activity in process. A five-year high of 74 projects opened in 2012.

Roanoke called ‘A Most Vivacious Virginia City’ by magazine Jacksonville Magazine’s January issue highlights the Roanoke Region as a place to “relax and recharge” as a travel destination. Here’s what writer Nancy Moreland had to say: “If places have personalities, then Roanoke is a most vivacious Virginia city. Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, its lively downtown is a suitable place to recover from last year’s exhausting election season and the holiday craze. Day and night, Roanoke’s pedestrian-friendly streets buzz with activity. Nineteenth-century buildings enjoy a second life as galleries, restaurants and lofts. “Yet, for all its industriousness, Roanoke is also beautifully balanced by nature. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Smith Mountain Lake and two national forests are within easy reach.” The article goes on to highlight some of the great views from the city, museums, restaurants and the Roanoke City Market. Jacksonville Magazine reaches upscale, affluent and educated readers throughout Northeast Florida, from St Augustine to Amelia Island and every community in between.

Roanoke region elementary schools honored by state The Virginia Board of Education is honoring 46 schools for raising the academic achievement of economically disadvan36

APRIL 2013

taged students. The awards are based on student achievement on state assessments during the 2011-2012 and 2010-2011 school years. Title I Highly Distinguished schools must exceed all state and federal accountability benchmarks and achieve average scores on Standards of Learning tests in English and mathematics at or above the 85th percentile. Clearbrook Elementary, Green Valley Elementary and Oak Grove Elementary schools in Roanoke County earned Highly Distinguished status. Across Virginia, nine schools were recognized. Title I Distinguished schools are recognized for meeting all state and federal accountability requirements for and achieving average reading and mathematics SOL scores at 60th percentile or higher. Breckenridge Elementary in Botetourt County was recognized, as were Callaway Elementary, Glade Hill Elementary and Lee M. Waid Elementary in Franklin County. Glen Cove Elementary and Mason’s Cove Elementary in Roanoke County and East Salem Elementary in Salem also were honored. “The progress we make in narrowing and ultimately closing achievement gaps depends in large measure on the efforts of teachers, principals and other educators in the commonwealth’s Title I schools,” Board of Education President David M. Foster says. “The educators in the schools we are honoring … are leading the way. I congratulate them for their success in helping students overcome barriers and achieve at higher levels.” Each school and division will receive a certificate celebrating its status and achievement.

New population data shows growth returning to the Roanoke region Population growth has returned to a robust level in the Roanoke region. The Roanoke metro area grew by 0.8 percent over 2011, up significantly from rates seen between 2010 and 2011, according to figures from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center. The Roanoke metro area grew faster than several other Virginia metro areas, including Blacksburg, Bristol, Charlottesville, Danville and Lynchburg. Population growth increased significantly in the latter part of the previous decade only to fall as the Great Recession and resulting slow recovery impacted migration activity nationally. Lower migration rates occurred nationally and at the state level during the immediate post-recession period. The new data confirms that growth has returned. A growing population is generally an indicator of a healthy region and one that offers opportunities sufficiently attractive to entice migration from other regions of the state and country. With the recessionary impacts on population growth and migration now behind the region and the nation, Roanoke can expect continued increases as job growth continues and as quality-of-life amenities attract people and investment. With the national recovery gaining ground, the upside potential for the Roanoke region is significant.

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photos by Miriam Rich

High in the Western Ghats of India, Muni Muniappan examines onions for thrips, an insect that deprives the plants of sap.

Building relationships with the world When a Virginia Tech researcher discovered sticky residue on a papaya leaf in Indonesia, he had no idea this would lead him on a mission that would result in saving the livelihoods of thousands of farmers in Asia. Yet this is exactly what happened. Rangaswamy (“Muni”) Muniappan, an entomologist and director of a multimillion dollar U.S. Agency for International Development-funded program at Virginia Tech, had been carrying out a survey on the island of Java when he found a papaya tree infested with the papaya mealybug

at a public garden. Several months later, Muniappan discovered the insect pest in South India as well. 7KH VLJQLÀFDQFH RI WKHVH GLVFRYHULHV was not lost on this internationally sought-after pest expert. If an infestation of papaya mealybug were left unchecked, it could destroy thousands of acres of papaya orchards and spread to other tropical countries throughout Asia. Many people would lose their livelihoods. Muniappan recommended the introduction of a natural enemy of the papaya mealybug: a parasitic wasp. The introduction proved successful, the papaya industry was restored, and the wheels of local economies were kept spinning. “It’s rewarding to know that we helped a country conquer a devastating scourge,” Muniappan says.

7KH EHQHÀWV RI RYHUVHDV UHVHDUFK DUH QRW just altruistic. Virginia Tech professors involved in international work bring new knowledge back to the classroom, helping to train the next generation of experts. And for students, the international exposure helps them be competitive in a challenging job market. “To be competitive domestically, we need to be competitive internationally,” says Guru Ghosh, associate vice president IRU ,QWHUQDWLRQDO $ͿDLUV For more information on Virginia Tech’s international activities, contact Ghosh at gghosh@vt.edu or 540-231-7888.