GO Virginia Region celebrates > Virginia Western Community College hosted business executives, local government officials, educators and other stakeholders in late January, marking the first round of accomplishments for the initial 15 grant recipients from the Go Virginia public-private partnership that includes parts of Southwestern and Central Virginia in Region 2, from the New River Valley to the Roanoke Valley and beyond to Lynchburg and surrounding localities. The Region 2 Council has more than a million dollars annually it can dole out as seed money for entrepreneurs creating high tech jobs. “These grantees are no doubt assisting in the economic landscape in our region,” said Go Virginia Region 2 Council Chairman Raymond Smoot. After watching a video with commentary from some of the initial grantees many stayed to tour the new STEM building at Virginia Western – where students can be trained for the types of jobs those grantees – and other Region2 startups in the future – may create. “I think some business leaders [elsewhere in the state] were frustrated about how long it was taking to ramp up the growth,” said Vice Chair Ab Boxley at the GO Virginia Region 2 celebration; “now we’ve got the process down and people are seeing that it works – [there is] a lot more traction.”
SML Chamber awards > The Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce honored local businesses and community figures during its annual dinner last month at The Waterfront Country Club. Among those cited was the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount as Tourism Advocate of the Year. Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton Jr. is the Leader of the Year. Haywood’s Jewelers is Business of the Year and Business of the Decade is Capps Home Building Center. (see story on SML Chamber elsewhere in this issue)
More cakes and cookies in Rocky Mount > Empire Bakery Commissary LLC has cut the ribbon on an expansion at its Rocky Mount plant, where it produces ready-to-sell decorated cakes and cookies for grocery retailers throughout the U.S. affiliated with the Kroger chain. The $10.4 million investment includes 32,000 sq. ft of new space, renovations to 12K sq. ft. and $2.3 million in new equipment. In all it will create 75 new jobs; Empire Bakery employs around 200 currently. The company moved from Roanoke to a Rocky Mount business park in 2010. Said H-R recruiter Anthony Johnson: “ my goal is to ensure we [find] long term associates and retain those people, going out to the market, partnering with different job sources, trying to attract talent.”
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