Roanoke Business-May 2015 by Virginia Business

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MAY 2015

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

The Patrick Henry Hotel, which was converted into apartments, is one of Ed Walkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reclamation projects.

Comeback Historic preservation tax credits have made a big difference in downtown Roanoke.

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CONTENTS

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

May 2015 F E AT U R E S COVER STORY

Historic tax credits

They’re credited with breathing new life into Roanoke’s downtown. by Mason Adams

HEALTHCARE The debate over immunizations

Some schools and businesses are providing vaccines for children and adults. by Sandra Brown Kelly

HIGHER EDUCATION From GED to Ph.D.

Roanoke’s Higher Ed Center serves business, community and a variety of students. by Shawna Morrison

MANUFACTURING Magnet magnates

Roanoke Valley company marks 25th anniversary with a new facility.

by Beth JoJack

D 24

INTERVIEW: Thomas C. Gates County Administrator, Roanoke County ‘What’s not to love?’ Roanoke County’s new administrator focused on economic development. by Gene Marrano

COMMUNITY PROFILE: Blacksburg Planned community Blacksburg uses culture to attract companies and build community. by Michael Abraham

MAY 2015

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Chamber Champions Event sponsorships New members Member news & recognitions

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FROM THE EDITOR

Part of the solution

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

by Tim Thornton

n his first inaugural address, Ronald Reagan famously said, “In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Many people quote part of that sentence and seem to forget that later in the same speech Reagan said, “Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it’s not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work — work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.” One of the government programs Reagan liked was historic preservation tax credits. He said they “have made the preservation of our older buildings not only a matter of respect for beauty and history, but of course for economic good sense.” As Mason Adams documents in this month’s cover story, that economic good sense has done a lot for downtown Roanoke – and for Pulaski and Radford and other places. The credits reduce the cost – and therefore the risk – of turning old buildings to new purposes. Along with state credits – and an occasional push from local government and nonprofits – they’ve helped generate tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment across the commonwealth. Government stirs the economic pot in other ways, too. In March, the commonwealth awarded Roanoke a $600,000 Industrial Revitalization Fund Grant to create a regional business accelerator in what used to be Gill Memorial Hospital on Jefferson Street. The accelerator, which is expected to have an annual economic impact of more than $3 million, is one of the ideas in the Innovation Blueprint. That blueprint was drawn up by a collection of public and private sector folks who think the regional economy will do better if we figure out how to leverage all the education and ideas in the region to create new companies and new jobs. This deal involves state and local government, Carilion Clinic and the Roanoke-Blacksburg Innovation Network in an effort to improve private sector companies. While all that’s been going on in cities and towns, out in the countryside federal and state land preservation tax credits have been helping landowners preserve open space. According to a report from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, between the program’s beginning in January 2000 and the end of October 2014, the state gave $1.4 billion in tax credits to help preserve 700,207 acres. That’s saved more than open space, of course. It has preserved wildlife habitat, forestal land, agricultural land, historic sites and watersheds. Government certainly can be a problem. But as even the Gipper knew, it can be part of solutions, too.

MAY 2015

Vol. 4

MAY 2015

President & Publisher Roanoke Business Editor Contributing Editor Contributing Writers

Art Director Contributing Photographers

Production Manager Circulation Manager Vice President of Advertising Account Representative

No. 5

Bernard A. Niemeier Tim Thornton Paula C. Squires Michael Abraham Mason Adams Beth JoJack Sandra Brown Kelley Gene Marrano Shawna Morrison Adrienne R. Watson Sam Dean Christina O’Connor Don Petersen Natalee Waters Kevin L. Dick Karen Chenault Hunter Bendall Lynn Williams

CONTACT: EDITORIAL: (540) 520-2399 ADVERTISING: (540) 597-2499 210 S. Jefferson St., Roanoke, VA 24011-1702 We welcome your feedback. Email Letters to the Editor to Tim Thornton at tthornton@roanoke-business.com VIRGINIA BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS LLC A portfolio company of Virginia Capital Partners LLC Frederick L. Russell Jr.,, chairman

on the cover Developer Ed Walker in the stairwell of The Patrick Henry Roanoke Photo by Don Petersen

COVER STORY

Historic tax credits They’re credited with breathing new life into Roanoke’s downtown by Mason Adams

MAY 2015

The renovation of The Hancock Building revealed an art deco facade that had been hidden behind bricks for decades.

Photo by Don Petersen

ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story

wenty-five years ago, downtown Roanoke was locked in a struggle against stagnation. The city had poured millions of dollars into its Design ’79 initiatives a decade earlier, yet businesses and tenants were streaming from downtown office buildings out into the suburbs and strip malls. Today, downtown looks dramatically different than it did in 1990. Key structures, including the iconic Roanoke City Market and Center in the Square, are coming off fresh renovations. Those former office buildings are now filled with apartments, in turn filled by empty nesters and millennials who walk to work and eat in downtown’s numerous restaurants. The transformation came about through a combination of government incentives, visionary individuals and a fair amount of luck. The biggest single contributor, however, may well be federal and state historic tax credits that made it more profitable to renovate old buildings than to tear them down. “If you imagine Roanoke without the tax credit program, it’s a really stark portrait,” says developer Ed Walker, who has restored the Hancock Building, the Cotton Mill, the Patrick Henry Hotel and others. “It would be a completely different place. The Patrick Henry would be a parking lot … I think if you took the tax credits out, I think we’d probably be in the bleakest times in Roanoke’s history.” The federal tax credit dates back to 1981 and the Virginia tax credit to 1987. The tax credits allow developers renovating historic properties to write off up to 45 percent of their rehabilitation costs from their taxes – not just a deduction but a reduction in the actual amount of tax to be paid. There are a series of restrictions along the way: the federal credit applies only to income-producing proper-

MAY 2015

ties; rehabilitation costs must meet a series of qualifications; buildings must either be listed as historical on a federal or state register or contribute to a listed historic district. Once developers ensure their building qualifies for historic tax credits, they can attract an investor willing to purchase the tax credits, effectively providing up-front financing in return for a payoff at tax time. Doug Chittum, who works with historic tax credits at Brian Wishneff & Associates, a consulting firm that advises developers on how to take advantage of tax credits and other incentives, describes the process: “Let’s say you have $10 million in qualified rehabilitation expenses, which are anything that has to do with fixing the building itself up. You get 20 percent federal credits, so that’s $2 million, and 25 percent state, so that’s another $2.5 million. We find an investor who gives 90 cents per dollar for the four and a half million in credits. So he paid this developer $4,050,000. He got a $4.5 million credit. When he [the investor] does his taxes, he reaps $450,000. The investor basically saved a half a million on taxes, and the developer got $4 million and change to stick in his pocket.” Layered with other government incentives — such as local tax abatement programs that allow developers to pay taxes on the pre-rehab value of properties for five, 10 or occasionally 15 years — historic tax credits make it financially attractive to restore old buildings that would otherwise sit and rot. It appears to be a good deal all around. Investors get a tax break, developers get a source of working capital up front and the local government often gets a revitalized, flourishing neighborhood or commercial district. What’s conventional wisdom now, however, was considered lunacy back in the ’90s. Nobody was

taking a chance on the big, stagnant buildings in downtown Roanoke. Nobody except for the city and Virginia Tech. The Hotel Roanoke is restored In 1993, the two entities worked together to invest millions of dollars in restoring The Hotel

Photo by Don Petersen

Ed Walker was a pioneer in the use of historic renovation tax credits in Roanoke — an example others have followed.

Roanoke. It reopened two years later with an antiques-filled lobby, original Czech-made chandeliers and a 63,000-square-foot conference center. Soon after, the city partnered with education and housing authorities to renovate two former Norfolk Southern railroad office

buildings into the Roanoke Higher Education Center and Eight Jefferson Place. For the first time, downtown apartment rentals were available at Jefferson Place. Yet, regardless of the tax credits, developers still need investors willing to take a risk. “That’s why in my opinion the first projects in

Roanoke were more institutional in nature,” says Brian Townsend, Roanoke assistant city manager for community development. “We didn’t have individual investors out looking at renovation of old buildings initially … Once you show success [by the public sector], then you begin to see private investors ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story

Roanoke’s renovation of the old Norfolk & Western headquarters helped convince private developers such projects were viable.

dipping their toes in the water and moving forward.” Enter Ed Walker, a Roanokegrown lawyer who was appointed

chairman of the board of the Grandin Theatre Foundation while still in his late 20s. “I was sitting at the end of the

table in board meetings, and I had this wild discovery that suddenly everyone was pulling in the same direction — neighborhood groups, neighborhood economic development associations, tax credit folks, accounting, legal, everyone,” Walker says. “Real estate has a convening power. The power of commerce to change the status quo is like nothing I’ve ever seen. For me, it was the discovery of a medium.” Walker launched a couple of smaller projects. Then he got hold of the Hancock Building – an old office building in downtown Roanoke whose distinctive art deco facade had been covered by bricks for years. He set out to renovate it both inside and out, building small apartments in the upper floors and a commercial space down on the street. Walker’s partner on the project – though not in a legal sense – was then-Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham. She set about to

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help him and directed Walker to the Richmond-based Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), which at the time had recently added a mixed-use/mixed-income financing program for projects that blended affordable and marketrate housing. Burcham also put before City Council an $880,000 performance grant to help Walker pay for the facade restoration. While approved, the grant quickly became a source of public criticism and ongoing argument among council members who debated whether the city should be giving taxpayer money to private developers. The fact that Walker had taken then-Mayor Nelson Harris to Mexico for a trip to look at public art further complicated matters. In retrospect, however, that performance grant looks like a smart investment: The Hancock Building quickly filled to capacity, spurred a string of future Walker projects and, perhaps most importantly, provided a financing model for developers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The $880,000 performance grant was really a drop in the bucket as far as what that put into motion, restaurants and all the activity downtown,â&#x20AC;? says Alison Blanton, a historic preservation specialist who has worked on many key projects in Roanoke. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The number of residences downtown has gone from 500 to nearly 1,500, and I would say the Hancock Building is really what made that start snowballing.â&#x20AC;? Walker went on to restore and open the Cotton Mill, a similarly mixed-use apartment building a few blocks farther out from downtownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core. Out-of-town developers By now, downtown Roanoke was drawing attention from out-of-town developers, including some in Richmond. Developers there had been using tax credits to develop historic properties since the late â&#x20AC;&#x2122;90s, when Cleveland-based development group Forest City rehabilitated six abandoned tobacco warehouses on the James River into a mixed-use, Photo by Don Petersen

Brian Townsend, Roanoke assistant city manager, says government and nonprofits showed businesses the way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once you show success,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;then you begin to see private investors dipping their toes in the water and moving forward.â&#x20AC;?

residential district with office and retail amenities. Bill Chapman had worked first with Hamilton Development, then with Fountainhead Development to manage more than 15 adaptive reuse projects in Richmond between 2001 and 2006, in the wave that followed Tobacco Row. He first visited

Roanoke in 2005 as part of a trip sponsored by former state senator and City Council member Granger Macfarlane. Chapman says that in Roanoke he saw demand for downtown living, as well as a large, growing, regional employer, Carilion Clinic. He bought three buildings on Salem

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story Avenue for about $1.2 million. By 2008 the first units in his condominium complex, the Fulton Motor Lofts, went on the market. All 22 units sold within 14 months. Despite his initial success, the Great Recession severely damaged Chapman’s – or anyone’s – ability to secure financing in 2009. By 2011, however, Chapman had begun work on the Lofts at West Station. That project renovated a warehouse into 71 apartments and a ground-floor restaurant. Within three months of opening, it reached 100 percent occupancy. “I can’t put enough emphasis on how important Ed Walker was to getting things started,” Chapman says. “Local banks don’t have the experience and know-how to finance these projects. Developers don’t have the experience and know-how even if the banks were willing to finance. To get it off the ground, it takes an Ed Walker who has the know-how, is capitalized,

Costa Canavos, who worked with the VHDA, says the program can work in communities of every size.

sits on the board of a bank and can convince a bank without any comps [comparable properties] in the

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downtown market.” What Chapman means by that last point is that with no other downtown rentals being offered, banks were using rental prices from 30-year-old properties in Roanoke’s suburbs to set rates, which ruined the financial equation for developers. “They were using these 30- to 40-year-old properties in suburban Roanoke that were not our product and diminished our value,” says Chapman. “In comes Ed Walker, who gets the Hancock done, and then the Cotton Mill. He shows demands and also sets values for the market. I could then go back in and use his two projects for my comps.” Other developers increasingly took on projects in Roanoke, too, effectively creating a new neighborhood downtown where there had been none previously. Townsend charts the wave of development: “First you had the institutional investors, then the risk-takers [like Walker], then people with expertise in other localities [Chapman and George Stanley, both from Richmond], and then the ones more active now. “The other thing you’ve got to remember is that what makes things happen is more than one thing,” Townsend says. “If you look at it historically, the most successful people are the ones who took advantage of all aspects of programs out there” – historic tax credits, real estate abatement programs and more – “and knew how to put them together to the greatest benefit to their project. One program may make a difference, but if you can put two or three or four programs together – state, federal, or local – that’s where you really begin to make it feasible.” Success built on success, as more historic downtown Roanoke buildings were restored, mostly into apartments with a commercial space on the ground floor. The use of historic rehabilitation to breathe life into downtowns isn’t limited to just Roanoke: Developers in Pulaski and Radford, to name just two Photo by Don Petersen

nearby communities, have renovated historic buildings and helped inject new life into towns that had started to stagnate. Costa Canavos, who worked with the VHDA from 2005 through 2012 promoting the Mixed-use/ Mixed-income Financing Program, estimates that 90 percent of the developments he assisted used historic tax credits. “That’s the beauty of that program … It doesn’t matter the size of the locality or the city,” Canavos says. “It worked in Radford, Roanoke, Danville, Alexandria, Galax, Petersburg.” Developers have undertaken projects using historic tax credits in all 11 Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Areas and in 80 of 95 Virginia counties, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Urban and Regional Development released last year. Stretching the boundaries of downtown In Roanoke, it worked so well that the city and developers worked together to stretch the boundaries of “downtown.” The Roanoke City Council extended the official downtown district south to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Riverside Park, including a 22-acre parcel that will be home to the Bridges, a mixed-use project with a projected $150 million build-out value. The development team brings experience from substantial projects in Woodbridge and Richmond and is using federal and state historic tax credits on all seven existing buildings on the property. Elsewhere, Walker redeveloped the Wasena neighborhood’s historic ice house into a mixed-use building called the River House. Instead of securing historic status just for the building, he partnered with neighborhood advocates to win it for a roughly 450-house district. Today, only a few notable, large downtown buildings have escaped rehabilitation. Those exceptions remain in part because their owners have priced them for their poPhoto by Don Petersen

Roanoke developer Faisal Kahn (right) talks with consultant Doug Chittum inside what will be a loft apartment in the former Church Avenue YMCA. The original basketball goals and wood flooring will remain.

tential, but the higher costs so far have put off developers who might otherwise be interested. That doesn’t mean there’s no activity; it’s just more surgical and has required additional creativity and incentives. Developer Faisal Khan redeveloped the former Crystal Tower building into the Ponce de León, the name being a callback to its former life as a hotel. The rehab into 90 apartments involved working with two conjoined buildings with a long history of renovations, resulting in floors that didn’t exactly match up. Still, the Ponce worked pretty straightforward compared with the former YMCA building on Church Avenue, which Khan is reworking into a 56-unit apartment complex

called The Locker Room. Khan is tapping into the building’s past as a recreational center, which requires keeping unorthodox features to qualify for historic tax credits, while building a marketing strategy aimed at active residents who are willing to pay for athletic amenities. With a shrinking inventory downtown, are developers in Roanoke now set to plow new ground in other parts of the city – and if so, where? That depends on who’s talking. Blanton cites the Salem Avenue Historic District, as well as portions of Williamson Road. Walker says there’s “lots and lots and lots” of work left to be done, especially in lower-income neighborhoods: “Until we get northwest and ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story southeast in this so-called renaissance, it hasn’t been a renaissance.” Townsend says city staff has identified additional areas outside Roanoke’s urban core that are eligible for listing as historic districts but haven’t been formally listed yet. Those areas tend to be more residential and have smaller numbers of game-changing commercial structures, but, as he points out, that doesn’t mean they won’t be hot spots in the future.

“The last 15 years, downtown living and urban living have generally been on an upswing from the ’70s and ’80s, when the mood was more, I want to get out to the suburbs. Now it’s more focused on convenience and proximity,” Townsend says. “The question is how long will that trend last? Will that last the next 15 or 20 years? I don’t know. Times change and trends change.” Another question deals with perceptions of the historic tax cred-

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it in Richmond — not among developers, but in the General Assembly. Criticism tends to focus on not just the tax credits’ effects on state revenue but also on the potential for fraud and abuse. In the last few years, developers from Richmond and Chesapeake have been sentenced in high-profile cases on federal charges for inflated costs used to obtain historic tax credits for rehab projects. Advocates, however, point to the cases not as examples of what can go wrong but as proof that people taking advantage of the system get caught and charged. Republican Del. Tim Hugo of Centreville introduced legislation in Virginia last year to end various tax-credit programs, including for historic rehabilitation. He wanted to fold the savings into a reduction in the corporate income tax rate. That bill died in committee and wasn’t filed again this year. North Carolina lawmakers ended that state’s historic tax credit at the end of 2014, but there’s already a bill this year to reestablish the program. A 2011 study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission rated the historic tax credit at the top of the heap when it came to achieving its goals, suggesting it’s a good investment compared with other types of tax credits. The study acknowledged the ongoing fraud cases, adding, “It is unknown what, if any, effect this misuse will have on the credit.” A more recent study by VCU’s Center for Urban and Regional Development found that since tax credits were created in 1987, more than 2,350 projects have been completed, generating 31,000 full- or part-time jobs and attracting nearly $4 billion in private investment. “It’s a very effective program,” Blanton says. “It more than pays for itself, just in the quantifiable numbers side of it. If you throw in quality of life and appreciation for our history and what that does to revitalize historic areas, and bringing up a whole new generation, the benefit goes well beyond the numbers.”

HEALTHCARE

Immunizations matter Some schools and businesses were offering shots before measles spread from a Disney theme park.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone traveling outside the U.S. get a Hepatitis A vaccine. by Sandra Brown Kelly

ast year, the New River Health District investigated 32 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) among adults and children in Floyd County. The illnesses became so widespread that one restaurant posted a sign, saying: “If you are coughing, please don’t come in.” The sick included public school children, but the outbreak didn’t begin in public schools, says Dr. Molly O’Dell, director of the New River Health District, which covers Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the city of Radford. Three years earlier, in 2011, her office identified 30 cases of Photo by Natalee Waters

whooping cough in Floyd County linked to a private school where 40 students had not been immunized against the disease. Only two states, Mississippi and West Virginia, do not allow parents to opt out of vaccinations of their children for any reason. Other states allow medical or religious exemptions; Virginia allows both. “Across the state there are little clusters of communities more or less opposed to children being immunized,” says O’Dell. A lack of immunizations also was linked to an outbreak of measles that began in late 2014 and affected people in seven states. From Dec. 28, 2014, through March 13,

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 145 cases of measles most likely linked to an 11-year-old visiting a Disney park in late 2014. Those infected ranged in age from 6 weeks to 70 years. Among the 110 California residents infected by Feb. 13, about 49 were unvaccinated. In all of 2014, the U.S. had 644 cases of measles, the largest number since 2000 when the country declared that measles had been eliminated here. The 2014 data included 383 cases among unvaccinated Amish communities in Ohio. No cases occurred in Virginia. The recent Disney outbreak prompted concerns about what imROANOKE BUSINESS

health care

Dr. Molly O’Dell, director of the New River Health District, says parents who don’t immunize their children often believe natural immunity is enough, or that alternative remedies work just as well, or they don’t trust the government.

munizations are needed and why. The new battle cry isn’t just about immunizations for babies or schoolage children but for people of all ages and for people traveling outside the country. That conversation includes discussion about why people choose not to have themselves and their children immunized. History is on the side of vaccines, despite some parents’ concern that childhood vaccines can cause autism. Andrew Wakefield, a former surgeon and medical researcher in the United Kingdom, started the controversy surrounding the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, linking it to autism in a Lancet article in February 1998. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the journal rescinded the article in 2010. O’Dell says parents generally offer three reasons for opposing vaccines: “They don’t believe what’s told to them by the government; they believe in natural immunity from getting the disease; and they 16

MAY 2015

believe alternative remedies are just as good.” The religious exemption allowed by the state has become liberally interpreted as philosophical beliefs, she says. The number of exemptions at each school is posted on the Virginia Health Department website, although results are based on selfreporting. In the 2014 reporting related to two groups, pre-kindergarten and sixth-graders, of the number of students who had opted out for religious reasons 10 were in Roanoke, 18 in Roanoke County, 10 in Montgomery County and seven in Salem. Sometimes, though, it isn’t a case of parents objecting to vaccinations; they just have not taken their children to get them. “When I was a kid, I got vaccines at school,” O’Dell says. She and her staff are partnering more with the schools. Schools in Floyd and Montgomery counties have invited the health department to offer immunizations to fifth-graders before they can be ad-

mitted to the sixth grade. The clinic will provide influenza, the required booster to the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (Tdap), and Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine (HPV). Pulaski County school officials were to discuss similar projects in March. Last fall, the Virginia legislature passed a law requiring sixthgraders to have the Tdap booster, but not all parents were aware of the change. Pulaski County Schools told news media that some 40 sixthgraders were unable to enter sixth grade on time because they had not been vaccinated and that only 41 of the 339 fifth-graders had received the booster by January of this year. In the past year, the RoanokeAlleghany Health District offered vaccinations at more than 100 sites, says Dr. Stephanie Harper, district health director. While a large part of the Roanoke Valley community “embraces vaccinations,” especially childhood vaccines, the health department has been getting more calls about measles vaccines. The health department also runs clinics at any business that requests one. Businesses cannot legally require immunizations for employment with one exception: health-care workers who come in contact with “potentially infectious materials.” They need the hepatitis B vaccine, according to the Virginia Health Department website. For example, staff and students at Virginia Tech’s veterinary school must meet guidelines for vaccinations. Each fall, the health services department sees a crush of students in animal science and environmental health and safety programs who need the rabies vaccination, says Dianne Weiss, allergy and immunization nurse. Tech also operates a travel clinic as part of its health services. The person traveling must look up the suggested immunizations on the CDC website and make an online appointment for the vaccines. This needs to be done early so the medication can be on hand, says Weiss. “If Photo by Natalee Waters

we are going to order malaria medication, we need to know which one.” Many frequent destinations for Americans, including England, France, Germany, India, the Philippines and Vietnam, have had more recent cases of measles and pockets of unvaccinated people, according to the CDC. Employees at Gala Industries in Eagle Rock in Botetourt County travel widely, including to Vietnam, South and Central America and Malaysia. Workers routinely check the CDC information for their destinations and schedule the vaccines at company expense, says Kevin Hepler, human resources manager. The CDC recommendation for Vietnam, for example, includes measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), diphtheriatetanus-whooping cough (Tdap), chickenpox, polio and the regular flu shot. The CDC also recommends that all travelers get the Hepatitis A vaccine. The measles outbreak not only made parents take a second look at immunizations for children, but it also prompted health professionals to consider how to better distribute information on diseases, says Dr. Tom Kerkering, infectious disease chief at Carilion Clinic. He has treated Ebola patients in Africa but notes that the American population has little experience with infectious diseases such as measles. “It’s almost an imaginary disease, but it can be devastating,” he says, noting how the films once shown to school children about diseases, safe sex and car wrecks made those things real. “Maybe we can find some old films that actually have measles in them. We need better visuals.” Kerkering also emphasizes the importance of adults in keeping up their immunity to whooping cough. While pertussis can be mild in an adult, adults can transmit the disease to a child under the age of 1, where the disease is serious. The recommended way to maintain this immunity is to get the Tdap vaccine instead of the 10-year tetanus booster, he says.

Vaccines help All U.S. residents born after 1957 should check to see whether they have received the MMR vaccine or have serologic evidence of measles immunity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Carilion Clinic operates a Wednesday afternoon travel clinic at its Crystal Spring location. Call 981-7715 for reservations at least a month before you travel. To learn more about who needs a vaccine and when, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules

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The Roanoke Higher Educatio

he Roanoke Higher Education Center, the region’s premiere education and training facility, offers more than 200 degree, licensure, and certiÀcate programs from our 14 member institutions. Classes are conveniently scheduled and learners have access to comprehensive student services including a full service library, state-of-the-art computer labs and an educational testing facility.

• Earn your GED • Finish your degree • Enhance your skill set with a certiﬁcate • Take classes online, face-to-face or a combination of the two • Host your next business meeting or training class

MAY 2015

on Center

SPONSORED REPORT

Join us for our summer 2015 Open House Thursday, May 28th, 2015 4:00-6:00 p.m. Room 212 Register to attend at: www.education.edu

The Roanoke Higher Education Center â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Where learning means business Featuring Degree Programs in: Business Administration Counseling Culinary Arts Education Nursing Public Administration Social Work & many more Center Members: Averett University Roanoke College BlueĂ&#x20AC;eld College TAP-This Valley Works Florida Institute of Technology University of Virginia Hollins University Virginia Commonwealth James Madison University University Mary Baldwin College Virginia Tech Old Dominion University Virginia Western Community Radford University College

Thomas L. McKeon - Executive Director 540-767-6161 tom.mckeon@education.edu www.education.edu ROANOKE BUSINESS

HIGHER EDUCATION: Roanoke Higher Education Center

From GED to Ph.D. Roanoke’s Higher Ed Center serves business, community and a variety of students

by Shawna Morrison

n its 15th year, the Roanoke Higher Education Center continues to add new partners and hone its mission of providing students an alternative way to obtain a degree. From a GED to a Ph.D., students can take classes from 13 educational institutions in a centralized location in downtown Roanoke. The center opened in August 2000 in a 150,000-square-foot building on North Jefferson Street, next

MAY 2015

to the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. The 1930s art deco building had served as the corporate headquarters of Norfolk and Western Railway until 1992, when the railroad’s offices moved, leaving the building vacant. Five years later, as talks to open a higher education center were taking place, then-owners Norfolk Southern donated the building to the Roanoke Foundation for Downtown.

The building was gutted, allowing the colleges and universities partnering with the Higher Education Center to configure their own classrooms as part of a $19 million renovation project. Today, the center has 14 partners: 13 colleges, universities and workforce training organizations, and the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board. “We offer courses day and night Photo by Sam Dean

Nearly 15 years after hosting its first classes, the Roanoke Higher Ed Center has 14 partners, with another due to join next year.

on a schedule that enables adults who are working to take part in a variety of educational opportunities,” says Tom McKeon, who has served as the center’s executive director since its opening. The center offers more than 200 programs. It is in the process of adding a new partner and expanding one of its most popular programs. It just finished an 18-month renovation project aimed at essentially waterproofing the leak-prone building

with work that included the addition of a new roof, the repair of more than 600 windows and the replacement of sealants. Florida Institute of Technology signed on as a partner in March and should be offering classes next year, says Carla James, the center’s director of academic and student services. The institute serves several military bases and therefore has been operating in Virginia for some time.

In about two years, the Al Pollard Culinary Arts Institute, a Virginia Western Community College program held in the higher education center’s Claude Moore Education Complex just across the alley, will be able to double its numbers as a new wing is added. McKeon says architects and Virginia Western Community College have already begun the design process. The culinary arts program is so ROANOKE BUSINESS

Roanoke Higher Education Center

In two years, Virginia Western Community College’s Al Pollard Culinary Arts Institute should be able to serve twice as many students when a new wing of the Claude Moore Education Complex is completed.

popular that it has had to limit enrollment because of limited facility space. “They have a terrific placement record for the graduates coming out of the program,” with about 86 percent of graduates reporting job placement, McKeon says. Considering that some students take the courses not to find a job but simply to hone their cooking skills, that number is very high, McKeon says.

Another program reporting high enrollment is the nursing program offered by Radford University, which holds full-time classes. Many people also come to the Higher Education Center seeking initial teacher licensure, James says. “Lots of folks in our valley want to be teachers and maybe they started in a different career and they’ve decided that they really want to teach, so The Roanoke Higher Education Center is home to more than 200 programs.

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they’re able to take advantage of the initial teacher licensure programs we have here,” which are offered by four of the center’s partners, James says. Radford, Virginia Tech and Averett University offer Master of Business Administration programs that also are quite popular, McKeon says. “All three are very well-subscribed, so we’re serving the business community through that and through other programs,” he says. “I think that most of our students are adult students who are working with families, and so they’re looking for a more flexible option than the traditional residential college experience,” James says. “We’ve designed a center here to meet the needs of those adult students.” Because of that, McKeon says, the way classes are offered has changed over the years. When the center first opened, students always came to the center for McKeon their classes. Now, a “hybrid approach” is often offered. In a 16-week semester, for example, students may attend eight classes at the center and complete the other eight online. That way, James says, students are able to get face time with faculty and other students – something she says they want – but the time they must spend away from home or work is significantly reduced. James said she is often asked how the center works. Students want to know whether they can take classes from Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, for example, at the same time. How it works, she says, is students talk with counselors who help them choose the program and the institution that best fits their needs. They then become students of that particular school, pay that school’s tuition and earn a degree from that school. Many programs allow students to take tests to earn credit for coursework they may have completed in the past. One institution, Mary Baldwin College, takes this concept a step further, James says, conducting what are Photos by Sam Dean

called portfolio assessments, sometimes awarding credits for work experience. The Higher Ed Center also has features of a traditional college or university, including a computer lab, wireless connectivity and a full-service library with staff members to assist students, as well as an educational testing center for assessments or licensing exams. Not all of the classes offered at the Higher Education Center are college classes. TAP — This Valley Works — offers programs that include Fathers First, which addresses family issues such as parenting responsibilities. Another program is YouthBuild, which provides training for the construction trade for people ages 16-24 who have dropped out of school. Approved clientele for those programs attend at no cost and don’t necessarily have to live in the Roanoke area. There are about 50,000 people in the Roanoke Valley who have attended some college but haven’t earned a degree, James says. “What people may not realize is they can take that ‘some college’ that they have, they can bring that here to the Higher Education Center. We have multiple programs here in place that can help them complete that degree,” she says. The center also serves many students who want to earn degrees to advance in their careers. James Madison University recently reported that each of about 30 students who completed its Master of Public Administration program at the center got a promotion or a more substantial job, James says. “A lot of people are looking for career development,” James says. “This is an opportunity for somebody who didn’t get a chance to finish a bachelor’s degree or to try to attain one. Folks who have a bachelor’s degree go after a master’s degree, and so forth. It’s really an opportunity for both a second chance for an adult to further their education or to move up. And it’s a great way for people in the valley to get a degree from U.Va. without having to go up to Charlottesville or from Virginia Tech without having to go across the mountain to Blacksburg.”

Roanoke Higher Education Center Opened in August 2000 Building dates back to 1931 and was the former headquarters for Norfolk & Western Railway 1,726 students enrolled in Spring 2014 70 classrooms Programs offered range from GED to Ph.D. level Partners include: Averett University, Bluefield College, James Madison University, Hollins University, Mary Baldwin College, Old Dominion University, Radford University, Roanoke College, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, Virginia Western Community College (each offering undergraduate and graduate level courses), TAP – This Valley Works (offering job-training programs) and the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board Sources: Roanoke Higher Education Center, education.edu

Tyler Azucena Pace Roanoke, VA Radford University ‘16 Major: Nursing

“I AM BETTER PREPARED TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS.” THE REASON IS RADFORD Tyler Pace sought a top nursing education and this is the reason she chose Radford University. “When I got to Radford, I saw how the professors, simulation labs and clinical settings prepared students for everything. Coming to Radford was the best decision I could have made for my future career.” Learn more reasons why Radford might be right for you.

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

Thomas C. Gates comes to Roanoke County after working in Northern Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia.

MAY 2015

INTERVIEW: Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator, Roanoke County

‘What’s not to love?’

Roanoke County’s new administrator focused on economic development by Gene Marrano

ast November the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors chose Thomas C. Gates to replace County Administrator Clay Goodman, who had retired several months earlier.Then-board chairman Joseph McNamara praised Gates for his “forward-thinking abilities to guide Roanoke County into the future.” Gates had been serving as deputy city manager and chief of staff for Alexandria, where he began as the assistant city manager for management improvement. When he assumed his Roanoke County position in late December, Gates said that holding Roanoke County employees to higher standards and making them more accountable for their jobs and to taxpaying county residents was a major objective. Before joining Alexandria in 2009, Gates served as the assistant county administrator in Spartanburg County, S.C. He also had been the management and budget director there and in Greenville, S.C. A public service career that began 30 years ago in Montgomery County, Md., also includes stops as city administrator in Loris, S.C., and Garden City, Ga. It was in Gar-

Roanoke Business: Where does regional cooperation end — and where does the county compete on its own for new businesses and jobs? Gates: None of us can really afford to go at it alone. I don’t really think about it in those terms. We do have to make sure that we are all working on complementary economic development strategies, and I think we are.The regional cooperation in this area is fantastic. When they do well, we do well. There is no stark line. Together we’re much stronger ... I’m happy when the city of Roanoke does really well [and] Salem and Botetourt. We all want to bring more jobs into the area, provided they are the right kinds of jobs – high quality, well paying. RB: Does Roanoke County need to spend more money to prepare sites that could accommodate major businesses looking to locate a new plant or office building? Photo by Sam Dean

den City where Gates got to know Chris Morrill, Roanoke city manager since March 2010, who was then working next door in Savannah as the assistant city manager. Gates earned a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland (after first considering a career in journalism) and then a master’s in public administration, jointly awarded by the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. He relocated to the Roanoke Valley with his wife, Laura, and twin sons. “What’s not to love?” he tells Roanoke Business about coming here from more populous Northern Virginia. The former adjunct professor at University of South Carolina Upstate also says economic development, particularly attracting biotechnology companies, was a focus for him early on in Montgomery County. Like other localities, Roanoke County is looking to shake off the declining tax revenues brought on by the Great Recession, with real estate property values beginning to creep upward again. Despite other issues, including a sometimes-fractious board of supervisors, economic development remains near the top of Gates’ to-do list.

Gates: I think that certainly is an issue. We need to make sure that we have places businesses [want to go] and timelines [to accommodate them]. That can’t be the only strategy that we have. We have to make sure all of the infrastructure is there. We should also invest in things like Explore Park as a destination for people to come and explore this community — hoping that they’ll want to come back and live here, and work here. There can’t be one sort of investment strategy. That’s part of the larger discussion we need to have. RB: Is it dangerous to rely too much on retail as a way to grow the tax revenue base? Gates: Retail has the upside of providing a lot of sales tax revenue, but you can be too heavily invested in any one segment. Retail sales tend to be very elastic. RB: Compared with more popu-

lous regions like Northern Virginia, are there particular challenges for a place like the relatively isolated Roanoke Valley? Gates: I’ve thought about that a little bit. I think the biggest challenge we have is just getting the word out about Roanoke County and the surrounding area. I think we have a notoriety issue more than anything. We have fantastic schools, a great quality of life, a big university that’s heavily invested in this area, great regional partnerships, a good workforce, educated [residents]. Our biggest challenge is making sure we get people here to think about us in that way. We need to do a lot of work to get that buzz started and sustained. RB: How can we draw Virginia Tech and the New River Valley’s high-tech community closer to the Roanoke Valley — and the county? Is that important? ROANOKE BUSINESS

interview Gates: We have a good working relationship with Virginia Tech. But in some sense [Tech] is also a business; like with other businesses we sort of have to cater to their needs and find those areas where they meet our interests, and we meet theirs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that. They are continuing to invest; this is a growth area for them. They bring a lot of resources and people to the [valley]. I think they recognize it’s better when we all work together. RB: What’s your philosophy on tax breaks and other incentives being offered by local governments to promote economic development? Gates: They are a good tool to have available, but you have to be judicious and careful in how they are used. They certainly can provide the incentive necessary for businesses to come to your community, but we do them because we expect some type of return on our investment. You have to be wise when you apply them because the expectation is whatever you do upfront, you’ll get a return. We do have limited resources to invest, so we have to make sure all the things we invest in create a return on investment as quickly as we can. [It] really depends on the kind of business you’re trying to attract. It’s very much like a business consideration. Sometimes you invest for the long haul; sometimes you invest for the short term. You need a good, balanced strategy. There are no guarantees. There’s always an element of risk. But the issue for us is … we’re doing that with public money. RB: So, should Roanoke County be in the business of building recreation centers that compete with private business facilities or state-of-the-art public libraries? Is it a quality of life and keeping up with other localities issue? Gates: I think we can quickly get wrapped up in the argument on public versus private. I don’t necessarily think like that. Exceptional libraries, quality roads, transportation systems and qual26

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ity education — all of those things are part of the infrastructure that would go into making a great community and a great quality of life. Ultimately, that will help us attract more people here to this area. If I contemplated all of this just in simple terms of whether that’s a private sector engagement or a public sector engagement — where is that boundary? — we may miss the larger question. What is that infrastructure necessary in our community to make us attractive to people who would want to live, operate their businesses here? Let’s build that infrastructure so that we have everything in place. RB: Speaking of infrastructure, what about regional broadband? Roanoke County has been hesitant to sign on with the Regional Broadband Authority that wants to install fiber optic lines to provide better access to highspeed Internet. Are there other ways to ensure the high-speed services that certain sectors of the business community are looking for? Gates: Broadband, to me, is part of the infrastructure we potentially have available to offer. As we think of the kinds of businesses we want to have in the future, we have to consider the infrastructure needs. If we want to market ourselves and grow our healthcare services or our information technology base, or the financial services base — those three things have at least one [need] in common — they all have to move high volumes of data quickly. Broadband is potentially a solution. It’s not a question for me of who delivers that service — it’s whether that service exists and if the kinds of businesses we would like to see here have access to that. Those types of businesses want those kinds of services, at the highest quality, the highest volume and least possible price. There’s where we get to the question, ‘What is the most effective way to deliver that service?’ Broadband is as much infrastructure …as the roads out there. RB: Regarding another type of

pipeline, if the proposed Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline were to come through the area would you like an option where Roanoke County could tap into it for business purposes? Franklin County, also on a proposed route for the controversial project, has asked for a connection. Gates: That’s a good question that I can’t answer. I don’t know enough about it. We are struggling to have an effective communication with [the Mountain Valley Pipeline consortium]. We can’t get to the potential consequences of the pipeline until we have a working knowledge of exactly what they intend and how that’s going to come about. It’s a little bit too far down the road. We can’t have that conversation until they’re fully front and center [and are] very clear about their intentions. We’re still learning secondhand. RB: Some have said Roanoke County is not the easiest place to do business with. What have you seen so far? Gates: I’ve heard that repeated. I’ve been here for [a few months now]. I have not had one person tell me that it is difficult process for them to go through in order to work in this environment. I’ve had many people tell me the opposite. I think we have made significant strides in our community development department and with the staff in changing attitudes towards businesses here and providing the systems to allow [prospective companies] to move through this process readily. We watch that very closely. The perception of that is an important part of people’s willingness to do business in the county. We’re very cognizant of that. RB: Is Roanoke County facing many of the same challenges other localities grapple with? Are there advantages that give the county a leg up? Gates: We have great schools, a great quality of life. We have natural beauty here, terrific regional cooperation, and a great university just down the road. What’s not to love about all of that?

MANUFACTURING

Magnet magnates Roanoke Valley company marks 25th anniversary with a new facility. Magnets USA president Alan Turner (left) and his brother Dale Turner, company founder and vice president of sales and marketing, say they never considered moving the company, even though Dale commutes from Tucson, Arizona.

by Beth JoJack t’s a rare business that counts both the American Quilter’s Society and Kid Rock on its client roster. Republican or Democrat. Middle-class or one percenter. Crafter or Southern rocker. All have refrigerators and filing cabinets waiting to be adorned. All are clients of Vinton-based Magnets USA. The company got its start selling magnetized business cards. Company founder Dale Turner got the idea for these cards after doing a soso business in peddling cards made from photographs. After 25 years in business, Magnets now offers an expanded menu – producing 20 million magnetized promotional products a year. Annual sales range between

Photo by Natalee Waters

$9 million and $12 million annually, according to Laura Weeks, Magnet’s marketing communications manager. With so many orders being placed for sports schedules, calendars and notepads, Magnet USA’s 26,000-square-foot office in Northeast Roanoke was bursting at the seams. “We’ve been out of space for at least three or four years,” says President Alan Turner. “It got to the breaking point.” Turner works with his brother, Dale, who is vice president of sales and marketing. They decided to move Magnets into the old Grumman Emergency Products plant in Vinton, where Grumman once built fire trucks. “This turned out to be the spot that fit our needs,” says Alan.

Dale lives in Tucson, Arizona, and commutes to Roanoke regularly. Neither brother considered moving the company. “We have some great employees and they’re all in Roanoke,” says Dale. “It’s easier for me to come back every month than it is for them to move out here.” With 60 employees, Magnets USA easily ranks as one of Vinton’s largest employers. Chris Lawrence, Vinton’s town manager, couldn’t be happier the company moved to his ZIP code. “It reinforces what we think we are in Vinton,” he says, “a good place to do business.” While the renovated Vinton facility smells of new carpeting and freshly painted walls, visitors can still get an idea of what it might have ROANOKE BUSINESS

manufacturing

Henry Wyatt uses a dye cutter at Magnets USA, helping to create some of the 20 million magnetized products the company churns out each year.

looked like when it first opened in the late 1960s. Old fire truck paint bays now house offices. A vault, which once safeguarded the gold used for lettering on fire trucks, now makes a handy place for storing IT equipment. Magnet’s staff of graphic artists took several lights once used to dry paint on fire trucks and transformed them into decorative mirrors that hang throughout the facility. “We tried to keep a lot of the character of the building,” says Sales and Marketing Director Donnie Martin. Ask one of the 60 workers at Magnets what they like about the new building, and they’ll likely mention the spaciousness. At 45,000 square feet and with an open production area, employees no longer have to fear that if the company bought a new piece of equipment it 28

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might get stuck in their office due to a lack of space. “The flow of everything is much better here,” says Graphics Manager Susan Gordon. “We have more room to spread out.” The new facility sits on more than four acres, which leaves Magnets USA with room to expand down the road; although that’s not something Alan wants to think about any time soon. “We can grow a lot in our sales without needing more space,” he says. The executive also hesitates to forecast the company doing much hiring in the near future. “You’ve got to stay lean.” “Alan’s two words are planning and efficiency,” adds Martin. “You hear that over and over.” That mentality helped Magnets survive com-

petition by companies selling magnets made in China around 2004. That was the first year the company didn’t see an increase in annual profits since it opened in 1990, according to Dale. “They were basically dumping their magnets, hoping to put us out of business,” he explains. “We had to lower our prices to compete with them, and they did this for several years.” Better quality products and quick turnaround helped Magnets USA hold on to their customers, Alan believes. “We’re more nimble because we can do it all here and do it more quickly,” he says. The company hit another speed bump during the crippling recession. After the housing bubble burst, real estate agents, who make up the bulk of Magnets’ client base, were Photo by Natalee Waters

struggling to stay in business. Alan says the company worked to diversify and recruited clients from other industries, like pizza shops. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a great set of customers in that market,â&#x20AC;? he says. The last few years have been a time of recovery. Alan is optimistic and says the company is once again poised for growth. According to Weeks, sales were 7 percent higher in 2014 than 2013. Most people wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t describe trade shows as inspirational, but Dale says he gets a lot of ideas talking to customers and potential customers at the exhibitions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of the tweaks we do with our products come from suggestions from our customers,â&#x20AC;? he says. Listening to what customers like and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like is how the business got its start. The Turners grew up on a farm in Laurel Fork in Carroll County. Dale had a degree in forestry from Virginia Tech but realized sales was his calling while hawking books door-to-door during his summers off from college. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d worked as a salesman, pitching a variety of products, for about a decade when, in the late 1980s, he decided to buy pieces of magnets cut the same size as business cards and attach the magnets to the cards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was such a simple idea,â&#x20AC;? Turner recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I was thinking about it, I was just always wondering, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t people just do this themselves?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Dale drove up and down Peters Creek Road showing business owners his creation. He watched carefully to gauge their response. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People liked it, so thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how we got started.â&#x20AC;? Turner says. A few years later, a client showed Turner a magnetized calendar. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I looked at it and decided I could do it myself and make it a whole lot better,â&#x20AC;? he explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I did.â&#x20AC;? Business grew every year. By 1995, Turner asked his brother Alan, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d gotten a degree in engineering and a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of business administration, to run Magnets USA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It took me a while to get the Photo by Natalee Waters

Real estate agents make up the bulk of Magnets USAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s client base.

company going so I could afford my brother,â&#x20AC;? Dale says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was working for IBM making good money. I wanted to be able to match his salary.â&#x20AC;? The brothers share a similar philosophy about work. Both Turn-

ers talk at length about the importance of Magnets USA maintaining a positive, employee-friendly environment. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of the reason Shelby Wyatt, warehouse operations manager, has stayed at the company for 17 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alan and Dale are very caring people,â&#x20AC;? she says. Alan sounds like a proud grandfather when commenting that 10 babies have been born to his employees over the last five years. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why Magnets is in the process of rolling out a college savings plan for employees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a lot of young parents who are thinking about those kinds of things and trying to plan for the future,â&#x20AC;? Alan says. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to keep employees happy, adds Dale, because businesses are only successful when workers are dedicated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No business survives because of one person,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It takes a group. I like for other people to enjoy their jobs. I just like for other people to be happy.â&#x20AC;?

June 1-2, 2015 The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center Roanoke, Virginia An innovative team approach to economic development training in the arena of local government to include elected RĎ&#x201E;FLDOV SURIHVVLRQDOV DQG FLWL]HQ ERDUG PHPEHUV Conference topics: ( How Economic Development is Changing ( The Virginia Economic Development Ecosystem ( Financing Economic Development in Virginia ( Community Case Studies For More Information Visit our website at: www.cpe.vt.edu/brc or contact: Robyn Smyth 540-853-8259 or robyn@vt.edu Endorsed by:

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

COVER STORY

Mayor Ron Rordam, outside the Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg, said the city envisioned being an arts and cultural center for Southwest Virginia.

MAY 2015

COMMUNITY PROFILE: Blacksburg

B Planned community Blacksburg uses culture to attract companies and build community by Michael Abraham

Photo by Christina O’Connor

lacksburg’s success as a community isn’t by accident. “You’ve got to have a plan,” says Mayor Ron Rordam. Blacksburg’s plan, developed 15 years ago by many of the town’s stakeholders, envisioned a town with cultural, educational and business amenities, but with arts as the centerpiece. “We asked, ‘What do we want Blacksburg to be?’” Rordam recalls. “We wanted to make Blacksburg the arts and cultural destination of Southwest Virginia.” Doing so involved zoning changes, physical changes such as the streetscapes on North Main and College Avenue, collaboration with Virginia Tech on the placement of the new Moss Arts Center and recruitment of like-minded businesses. In the development of the Moss Center, Rordam said three criteria were paramount: the center needed to be downtown, without parking, and without restaurants so visitors would be involved in the overall downtown experience. “These decisions were significant in achieving the goal of Blacksburg being a destination spot.” For Rordam, arts amenities make the town a better place to live. A new addition to the town is the Alexander Black House and Cultural Center that bills itself as “Blacksburg’s Living Room.” Once the home of a prominent businessman who was the great-greatgrandson of Blacksburg’s founder, it features historic displays, Friday night music jams and other events. As it becomes fully developed, Rordam says, “It will give people an opportunity to see what downtown Blacksburg is really about.” ROANOKE BUSINESS

community profile: Blacksburg Rhonda Morgan is executive director of the Blacksburg Museum and Cultural Foundation that oversees the Alexander Black House & Cultural Center. The Black House was moved to make way for Kent Square, then restored and repurposed.

Rhonda Morgan is the executive director of the Blacksburg Museum and Cultural Foundation that oversees the Black House.

Jim and Robyn Dubinsky have been hosting concerts in their home for five years.

MAY 2015

Events and exhibits have showcased area music, quilts and conventional arts, all celebrating regional and local artists. “We build community

through arts, culture and history of Blacksburg,” she says. “We had our grand opening last August and since then we have had over 4,000 visitors come through. There is an openness of [arts] organizations to work together for the common goal of the community.” Residents Jim and Robyn Dubinsky have been hosting house concerts in their home for five years, bringing musicians from across the country and around the world to small audiences of about 40. Their motto is “Building community one house concert at a time.” Jim describes the new Moss Center as acting like the mother ship for the local arts scene by “enabling other smaller arts activities” such as his house concerts. “More and more venues are having music events,” he says. “Restaurants are hosting musicians for breakfast regularly, and that’s not something that happened even three years ago. It’s wonderful!” Jim is the faculty adviser to the student-run radio station at Tech, WUVT. As the Friday morning DJ, he’s intimately involved with music and artists. “What was appealing to [house concerts] was the idea that we could bring people together around the music and share with each other in a venue that honors the musicians and their work and gives them a listening space that is unique. “It is much like the troubadour tradition and chamber music of centuries past. It’s a warm, intimate space where people gather around food and drink with a common desire to enjoy something together. It helps to build connections. We have hosted almost 1,700 people in my basement great room.” Culture can attract companies. “For younger companies,” says Rordam, “you have to have the cultural base because that’s what people want.” The arts, though, represent only one area of activity, says Town Councilman John Bush. “The Photos by Christina O’Connor

business climate in Blacksburg is focused on opportunities. This is about the best time there has been in Blacksburg in a long time. There’s development at Tech, at the CRC [Corporate Research Center]. The synergies we have with the county and the Roanoke Valley, the downtown arts district, College Avenue promenade and the Black House. We’re trying to set the stage for the next 15 to 20 years. At First and Main and University Mall area, there is a lot of opportunity in Blacksburg business-wise.” In the past, there has been a perception that Blacksburg hasn’t been that friendly to business, adds Bush. “We have ordinances, zoning and guidelines. Bush Blacksburg is a smart, intelligent community. We have said things about how we want to be and how we want to grow ... When developers come to town, we want them to do things in the right way, the legal way. We are devoted to our comprehensive plan.” When there are differences of opinion about development and quality of life issues, “the quality of life issues will be paramount,” says Bush. “We know we need good businesses. Good businesses need good residents. That’s what makes a town a community.” Blacksburg is proud of its schools, a strand of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. School Board member Joe Ivers represents Blacksburg. In the eight years he’s been on the board, he is most proud of a system he instituted to make sure no child came to school hungry. “Micah’s Backpack,” in collaboration with St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, provides free food for needy kids. “I feel strongly that a hungry child can’t learn,” Ivers says. The program is moving throughout the county. Five years ago, Blacksburg’s High School’s gym collapsed. The school has been replaced with

Blacksburg Founded

1798

Area

19.8 square miles

Population

43,609 (2013)

Government

Council-manager

Largest employer

Virginia Tech

Fast facts

•

The Eastern Continental Divide skirts Blacksburg’s eastern town limits.

•

Blacksburg is the largest town in the commonwealth.

•

Nearly 70 percent of the community has a bachelor’s degree or higher, yet 44.7 percent of the town’s population lives below the poverty line.

Sources: Town of Blacksburg, U.S. Census, Virginia Employment Commission.

a new, modern facility. “I feel the new schools have really turned the students around and moved into the 21st century,” Ivers says. If someone left Blacksburg 20 years ago and returned, Rordam says, he or she would be surprised.

While there’s been a lot of new construction, “the feeling hasn’t changed. We have done an excellent job at keeping the heart of Blacksburg as it is. We are neighbors. People know each other. We are a connected community.”

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

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

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MAY 2015

Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce | SPONSORED CONTENT

Member news & recognitions Advance Auto Parts has announced that Todd Greener has been appointed senior vice president, supply chain. Greener will lead the company’s supply chain function in its efforts to support Advance’s stores and customers.

with Carilion Services. The accelerator, to be operated by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Innovation Network, will be a major milestone in the public-private partnership between the city and the network and will serve as a single focal point that connects early-stage companies to peers, mentors and investors in an environment that offers a host of services and programs.

Dominic Boamah has been named vice president of academic affairs – information technology at American National University. He has been an instructor for the University of Fairfax Boamah since 2009 and has taught design, development and evaluation of security controls to graduate students.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, recently recognized the city of Roanoke’s LEAN Management program as part of the 2015 Bright Ideas program. This year’s cohort includes 124 programs from all levels of government-school districts, county, city, state and federal agencies, as well as public-private partnerships that are at the forefront in innovative government action. Through a partnership approach with Virginia Tech, Roanoke implemented the LEAN Management Program to find efficiencies for local government operations.

Greener

B2C Enterprises announces that they have become marketing communications partners with Wagner Food Equipment, ReBath of Chattanooga, Tech Squared and Bank of Botetourt. Blue Ridge Autism and Achievement Center’s board of directors has announced that Christina Giuliano has been named the new executive director. She will be responsible for the Giuliano administration of the center’s three schools and program development for the organization. Carilion Clinic has renamed its patient transport center after George B. Cartledge Jr., in honor of his nearly 40 years of service as a member of the Carilion Clinic board of directors. The Carilion building, located at 431 McClanahan Ave. in Roanoke, is now known as the George B. Cartledge Jr. Center for Transportation. The transportation center houses the administrative offices for Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation and is the home base in Roanoke for Carilion ambulances and helicopters. On March 9, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the award of a $600,000 Industrial Revitalization Fund Grant to the city of Roanoke. The grant money will be used to create a regional business accelerator in the former Gill Memorial Hospital Building at 711 S. Jefferson St. in downtown Roanoke. The city will acquire the building in a creative property exchange

Firefli recently won a silver American Advertising Award (ADDY) at the 2015 Western Virginia Advertising Awards Gala for the Roanoke Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF). The agency received the award in the business-tobusiness website and digital advertising category for the development of Upbound Edition for Davis Brand Capital, a branding consultancy that Fortune 100 companies around the world depend on for original thinking about branding. Nina Zanella has been hired as the first director of development for Good Samaritan Hospice. She has nearly 30 years of experience in funds development. Good Samaritan Hospice is Zanella the only community-based, not-for-profit hospice serving the Roanoke and New River valleys. The Jefferson College of Health Sciences Master of Healthcare Administration and Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management degree programs have been ranked among the top 20 programs in the nation by the website Healthcare Management Degree Guide. The two programs were paired and ranked #17 among all other colleges and universities in the country that offer similar types of degrees. To further support its client-driven busi-

ness strategy, the law firm LeClairRyan has announced its expansion into Atlanta under the leadership of former Troutman Sanders partners John P. Hutchins and Christopher A. Wiech. As the office leader, Hutchins will oversee the ongoing operations and growth of the firm’s Atlanta office. LeClairRyan has announced that James Patrick Guy II was elected 2016 president of the Virginia Bar Association at the association’s 125th Annual Meeting in Colonial Williamsburg. He will Guy serve as president-elect until his installation at the association’s annual meeting in January 2016. He will be the 128th president of the association. Magnets USA recently opened an expanded and renovated facility in Vinton. Founded in 1990 by Dale Turner, Magnets USA produces more than 20 million magnetized marketing products annually. The renovated facility was once the home of Grumman Fire Truck Corp.

Becher

Thomas Becher, senior vice president with Neathawk Dubuque & Packett, has been named to the Public Relations Society of America’s national nominating committee. Stefanie Brown has joined Neathawk Dubuque & Packet as strategic communications account executive.

Brown

The Virginia Small Business Development Centers Network has selected Cmdr. Michael W. Leigh, USN (ret.) and CEO of OpX Solutions, as the 2014 Virginia Small Business Veteran of Leigh the Year. The Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center nominated Leigh for the award, which was presented at the Veteransin-Business Conference in Arlington in March. Leigh is the founder of OpX Solutions and coowner of Kaizen Healthcare Innovations. ROANOKE BUSINESS

SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce

Child

The Richfield Living board of directors has announced the selection of George L. Child as chief executive officer. Child began his tenure in March and replaces George “Skip” Zubrod, who had served as interim CEO since October 2014.

Roanoke County Administrator Thomas Gates has announced that Deputy Chief Joey Stump will serve as acting fire and rescue chief. Richard Burch, the former fire and rescue Stump chief, retired March 31. Stump will act as chief until a permanent chief is hired. Source4Teachers, a leading provider of educational managed-service solutions for kindergarten through 12th-grade school districts, has entered into an agreement with the Roanoke city school district to recruit, screen, train, hire and manage applicants looking to be part- or full-time teachers in Roanoke City schools. The district has 27 schools in which Source4Teachers will place substitutes, instructional aides and clerical personnel. From pick-your-own strawberry operations and winery tasting rooms to pumpkin patch fields and cut-your-own Christmas tree farms, agritourism is growing in the commonwealth and across the country. A recent statewide study by Virginia Tech found that it’s not just a pleasant way to spend a Sunday – it’s also a viable way for farmers to supplement their income. The commonwealth’s top two industries, agriculture and tourism, were evaluated using a survey-based study by a team from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Virginia Cooperative Extension. In Virginia, both the number of midsize farms and the revenue of those farms have been declining. The study found that agritourism could be a viable option for farm managers to diversify and augment income. Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering has climbed to its highest ranking in the National Science Foundation’s report on engineering schools’ research expenditures. The new survey, reporting on figures for fiscal year 2013, shows the college rising to ninth place with $214.48 million in research expenditures. The college had placed 10th in the six years prior to fiscal year 2013. 36

MAY 2015

Dorman

Virginia Tech has appointed Rachel Dorman as an annual giving officer in the Office of University Development. Dorman previously served as a grant coordinator at the University of Florida. Dr. Daniel Harrington, senior dean for academic affairs at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, has been named the school’s new vice dean.

link university expertise and resources with the commonwealth’s business sector. Virginia Western Community College has announced the launch of a medical laboratory technology program in the fall semester. The program will fill a growing need in the Roanoke Region’s health-care industry and provide students opportunities to begin strong careers in the medical field.

Harrington

Helmick

Mary W. Helmick, former director of procurement at James Madison University, has been named director of procurement at Virginia Tech. Helmick succeeds Tom Kaloupek who retired after 20 years of service to the university.

Theresa Johansson has been named director of the Global Education Office, which includes Virginia Tech’s study abroad program, part of Outreach and International Affairs at VirJohansson ginia Tech. She will lead the office in guiding study abroad as well as collaborating with academic units to integrate global education experiences into the curriculum. Angela Kates has been named chief of staff for Virginia Tech Vice President of Administration Sherwood Wilson. In her new position, Kates will manage the business and adminisKates trative operations of Virginia Tech’s Administrative Services Division, including budgeting and financial management, planning, reporting, personnel administration, information technology and communications.

Lyon-Hill

Sarah Lyon-Hill has been named economic development specialist in the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development, where she was formerly a graduate assistant. In her new role, Lyon-Hill will work to

Minter

Ryan Minter has been appointed annual giving officer for Virginia Tech’s Office of University Development. Minter will work with donors and prospects to benefit the university’s annual giving program.

The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation has established a new scholarship fund in honor of Richard (Rich) Gaynor, a professor of mental health technology from Salem who served the college for 33 years and died in February. The RichGaynor ard J. Gaynor Memorial Scholarship was created through an initial gift of $10,000 by family members. Gaynor joined the faculty at Virginia Western in 1977 and retired in 2011. The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation has awarded its new Workforce Credentials Scholarship to the first two recipients, Marvin E. Jennings of Boones Mill and Harold A. Young of Roanoke. The winners recently received financial assistance in pursuing certification in the college’s industrial maintenance technician program. The Workforce Credentials Scholarship was established in 2014 to support Virginia Western students seeking noncredit, industry-recognized credentials in fields such as welding and maintenance, mechanical systems, hydraulic and pneumatic systems and electric control systems.

TOP 125 ORTHOPEDIC PROGRAMS

Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission

Becker’s Healthcare Leadership Award— Nancy Howell Agee N Na a 3

TOP 100 HEART PROGRAMS

3-t 3-time 3 -tim -time me Magnet me M Designation for Nursing Excellence

Leading nationally, serving locally We don’t need awards to know we’re providing the highest quality care, but it’s an honor when national organizations agree. It reinforces our commitment to deliver on our promise: keeping Virginians healthy and strong. We consider it our greatest privilege to serve you.

Inspiring better health. ™

Carilion Medical Center and Carilion Tazewell Community Hospital, 2014; Becker’s 3 4 Hospital Review, 2014; Becker’s Healthcare, 2015; Becker’s Hospital Review, 2014; 5 Carilion Clinic’s Roanoke Campus, American Nurses Credentialing Center.

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