Roanoke Business- Sept. 2015 by Virginia Business

SEPTEMBER 2015

The changing of fortunes farming Virginia’s biggest industry is evolving

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

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CONTENTS SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION

September 2015 F E AT U R E S COVER STORY

The changing fortunes of farming

Virginia’s biggest industry is evolving. by Mason Adams ‘About as high-tech as it gets’

Red Sun Farms may be agriculture’s future under glass. by Mason Adams

MEETINGS & EVENTS Unique retreats

Business meetings don’t have to mean gray walls and headaches.

by Kathie Dickenson

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Age and opportunity

Aging population drives development of more senior housing and rehabilitation facilities. by Jenny Boone

POLITICS Power in balance

This region’s races could determine which party controls the Virginia Senate.

by Mason Adams

27 HIGHER EDUCATION

Serving the underserved

Students at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine learn to care for the whole patient — and to serve the community. by Shawna Morrison

31 COMMUNITY PROFILE Growing and evolving

Radford, once a manufacturing and transportation center, turns to tourism and higher education.

by Michael Abraham

SEPTEMBER 2015

24 E

34 NEWS FROM THE CHAMBER • Chamber Champions • Event sponsorships • New members • Member news & recognitions

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FROM THE EDITOR

The gig economy by Tim Thornton

SERVING THE ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG/ NEW RIVER VALLEY REGION Vol. 4

en. Mark Warner gave a speech in June — followed up with an op-ed in The Washington Post, an adaptation of the speech on the Huffington Post and a series of television appearances — about the changing nature of work and careers. He says policymakers should restructure laws, regulations and policies to reflect the realities of the 21st-century workplace. About the same time, Roanoke Business published an article saying one firm connecting businesses in the region with temporary workers had 33 percent more companies on its client list than it did last year. Another had 10 percent more placements than a year ago. Many people revel in the evolving gig economy — moving from assignment to assignment, free to choose which projects to take and when to take a break. In the old days, we called that freelancing. Most freelancers will tell you things don’t always run so smoothly. Freelancers sometimes take assignments they’d prefer not to. They need the work. They sometimes take on more assignments than they should to build up reserves against dry spells. And, of course, they do without those quaint things called benefits. As Warner pointed out, “temporary workers and consultants cost a lot less than full-time workers with full benefits.” A good deal for companies, but not necessarily for workers. Warner said as many as one-third of American workers are part of the gig economy. That’s not far off a 2000 estimate from the General Accounting Office of up to 30 percent. Warner posits the gig economy includes “a lot of millennials … middle-age professionals downsized at midcareer and baby boomers hit with a premature end to what they thought were solid careers … [and] a lot of folks for whom working multiple jobs is nothing new: It’s just how they’ve always gotten by.” The truth is we’re not sure how many people are in the gig economy or who they are or why they’re there. There’s not even a consensus about what the gig economy is. That GAO report says some studies count only temporary and on-call workers. Others include independent contractors, part-timers and self-employed workers. The McKinsey Global Institute, whose report Warner references, limits the gig economy to “contingent work … transacted on a digital marketplace.” This may actually be one of those paradigm shifts consultants used to jabber about. But can people, businesses and governments adjust to it when we can’t even agree on what it is?

SEPTEMBER 2015

President & Publisher Roanoke Business Editor Contributing Editor Contributing Writers

Bernard A. Niemeier Tim Thornton Paula C. Squires Michael Abraham Mason Adams Kathie Dickenson Shawna Morrison

Art Director Contributing Photographers

Adrienne R. Watson Sam Dean Christina O’Connor Don Petersen Natalee Waters

Production Manager Circulation Manager Accounting Manager Vice President of Advertising Account Representative

Kevin L. Dick Karen Chenault Ashley Henry 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 Woody Crenshaw with Riverstone Organic Farm Floyd County Photo by Sam Dean

SEPTEMBER 2015

No. 9

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Out About &

This monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Out & About features photos from the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Roanoke greenway (photos 1-4) as well as photos from the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer Social and TechWorking event (photos 5-6).

Share photos of special events at your company with Roanoke Business. E-mail photos and identifications to editorTim Thornton at tthornton@roanoke-business.com.

5 6

SEPTEMBER 2015

Photos courtesy City of Roanoke and the Roanoke - Blacksburg Technology Council

Calender of events September

Items on the calendar are a sample of Roanoke/New River Valley business events this month. To submit an event for consideration, email Tim Thornton at tthornton@roanoke-business.com at least one month before the event. Sept. 17

Small Business Awards 2015 Roanoke

The accomplishments of the region’s small businesses, small business advocates and not-for-profit organizations will be recognized in front of more than 500 attendees at the 29th Annual Small Business Awards Dinner to be held at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

Uniquely Yours

For more information, call 540-983-0700 x104 or email communications@roanokechamber.org

Custom clothing and shirtings, a specialty at Davidsons.

Sept. 17

Fall Business Horizons Career Fair

Squires Commonwealth Ballroom Virginia Tech Blacksburg Hundreds of employers gather in this annual career event for students seeking internships and full-time employment. Sponsored by the Pamplin College of Business. For more information call 540-231-0482.

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27th Annual Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival LakeWatch Plantation, Moneta

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

COVER STORY

The changing fortunes of

farming Virginiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest industry is evolving by Mason Adams

SEPTEMBER 2015

Photo by Sam Dean

ore than 400 years after English settlers began growing tobacco and other crops on the shores near Jamestown, agriculture remains Virginia’s biggest in-

dustry. The state has 46,000 farms covering 8.3 million acres, or about a third of its total land area. The market value of Virginia agriculture products sold in 2012 was $3.75 billion. According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, agriculture has an annual economic impact on Virginia of $52 billion and provides nearly 311,000 jobs. Yet farming looks very different today than it did in the 1600s. Tobacco, which for centuries served as the cornerstone of Virginia’s agricultural economy, has lost much of the market power it once held as societal attitudes toward smoking have dramatically shifted. The bulk of food production moved during the 1800s from the East Coast to the Midwest, and technological advances have enabled farmers to grow and harvest food on a massive scale. Some of those changes have their roots in western Virginia: Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper (a tool for cutting and gathering crops at harvest) in Rockbridge County — solving a problem that had confounded farmers for centuries — before moving his company to Chicago to take advantage of the growing market in the Midwest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) five-year Census of Agriculture serves as the most recent snapshot in national agriculture, though the figures already were two years out of date when released last year. Still, the numbers from the 2012 census demonstrate trends that hold today. Put briefly, there are fewer farms yet more farmland in production than five years ago. The

value of products sold ticked up sharply — increasing from an average of $61,334 per farm in 2007 to $81,540 in 2012. Government payments to Virginia farms increased by an even higher percentage. Another troublesome trend? Farmers are getting older. Although a new crop of younger farmers continues to enter the industry, many who are approaching retirement age are finding it difficult to find someone to take over their farms. “We’re trying with some success to find potential farmers that are young and don’t have resources, and match them up with people with resources who don’t have help,” says Gordon Metz, a Henry County beef cattle and hay producer who is serving his 10th term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. His region includes Alleghany, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, Henry, Patrick and Roanoke counties. More modern operations In his area, he notices a few younger farmers using high-tech equipment on an ever-growing amount of land. One of his Southern Virginia neighbors was succeeded by two sons, he says, who do a good business growing corn and other crops on more than 1,200 acres spread out in 10- and 20-acre parcels. “It’s one of the most efficient agricultural operations I know, absolutely pristine,” Metz says. “What they’ve done is, since there’s just a couple of them, they have modernized to do twice as much work today as the average person did 20 years ago. Why do all these farms today have such big tractors? It’s because they don’t have the help.” In the 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Charlottesville south to Danville, the biggest product by sale value was cattle/calf operations ($143 million), followed by cow milk ($104 million). ROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story

Gordon Metz, a Henry County beef cattle and hay producer, is serving his 10th term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. Virginia agriculture has been the commonwealth’s biggest industry since the founding of Jamestown.

In the 6th District, which goes north from Roanoke and includes the Shenandoah Valley, poultry rules the roost ($820 million), followed by cattle/calves ($172 million) and cow dairy ($144 million). In the 9th District, which stretches from Roanoke to the southwest corner of the state, cattle/calf farms are tops ($314 million), followed distantly by cow dairy ($54 million). Cynthia Martel, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent, works with dairy farms around the region. She’s based in Franklin County, which ranks just behind Rockingham County as the second largest dairy county in Virginia. The dairy industry is going through tough times because of a cyclical downturn in milk prices, Martel says. “Milk prices are real low, but nothing else is low,” Martel says. “Feed, electricity bills, vet bills, you name it — everything else is expensive. It’s hard for dairy farmers.” Although history shows those prices will eventually rise again, the dip may prove to be the tipping point for some older farmers with uncertain futures. Whether they 10

SEPTEMBER 2015

have heirs to whom they can pass the business depends in large part on culture. In particular, German Baptist farmers, who are part of the Anabaptist tradition that also produced the Amish and Mennonites, are more likely to have children willing to continue farming. Tenley Weaver employs a staff of administrators and farmers-market vendors at Good Food – Good People, a Floyd County-based food aggregator.

No one to take over the farm? “The majority of the farmers in Franklin County are German Baptist,” Martel says. “It looks good for them because they generally have kids who will take over. For the non-German Baptists, there’s a lot whose kids have moved out of Virginia, or they don’t have kids to take over. That’s the hard part – they’re getting up there in age and there’s no one to take over the farm.” Martel’s seen about six farms go out of business in the last two years, all smaller dairy farms. That’s not to say there are no young farmers coming up. Most regional high schools maintain branches of the Future Farmers of America (FFA), a national youth organization founded at Virginia Tech in 1925. Plenty of other young people enter the industry by interning or working at a farm or in one of the many related businesses that fall under the wide umbrella of “agriculture” such as a winery or aquaculture facility. Red Sun Farms, a tomatogrowing operation that in 2013 became the first tenant in the New River Valley Commerce Park, plans to invest $30 million and create more than 200 jobs growing greenhouse tomatoes. (See story on Page 13.) Tenley Weaver employs a staff of administrators and farmersmarket vendors at Good Food — Good People, a Floyd Countybased food aggregator. When she founded the cooperative in 2003, it received local produce from five suppliers and maintained about eight accounts. Today, the company channels local products from 40 farmers and nearly 30 other suppliers to restaurants, farmers markets, wholesalers, and a retail outlet. Then there’s about 385 people who paid at the beginning of the season for regular deliveries through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Photos by Sam Dean

Weaver’s been in farming long enough that she attributes that growth — just like the rise and fall of prices — to the cyclical nature of the industry. There’s no doubt, however, that the demand for locally grown produce has been on the rise for the last decade, sparking a growth in farmers markets, farmto-table restaurants and retail outlets that aim to get local food to consumers. The belief that there’s enough momentum in that new market to support a different kind of farm is what’s driving Riverstone Organic Farm, also based in Floyd. The farm is owned by Woody and Jackie Crenshaw, who previously owned Crenshaw Lighting and the Floyd Country Store before selling both in the last couple of years. “Especially here in Floyd County, we see that farming and farmland is diminishing year by year, and we wanted to try to affect some small change in that pattern,” Crenshaw says. “Keeping Floyd County an agricultural community for the future is important to many of us, and if we cannot develop a new generation of farms and farmers, we might lose that battle and become primarily a bedroom or secondhome community … Developing an organic farm in Floyd was the best thing we could think of to do that allowed us to feel like we were participating in some kind of a solution.”

Woody Crenshaw of the Riverstone Organic Farm in Floyd says keeping Floyd County an agricultural community is important to him.

Organic/local farming Riverstone grows organic vegetables on 14 acres. It also produces other products, including meat sheep, eggs, pork and flowers. It grows on contract for an organic salsa company and the Blue Ridge Clinic of Chinese Medicine. Initially, Riverstone sold its products through a CSA and farmers markets, but it’s since shifted toward niche markets and on-demand CSA businesses such as the Charlottesville Food Hub and Backyard Produce, a Cary, N.C.-based busi-

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cover story Riverstone Organic Farm in Floyd has opened a New England-style farm store.

ness that delivers in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond and the Carolinas. This year Riverstone opened a New England-style farm store and added signage to try to at-

tract tourists from the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway, as well as Roanoke and Blacksburg. It will eventually offer workshops and other events, following a path already laid out by its neighbor, Spikenard Farm and

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Honeybee Sanctuary. Spikenard maintains a small footprint but an outsize, international reputation for sustainable and biodynamic beekeeping. The Crenshaws clearly are investing in Riverstone at a level not feasible for many other farmers, but they’re hoping to provide training and a model. Still, the question remains of just how transformative the local and/or organic food movements will prove to be. With companies like Kroger now producing an in-house brand of organic products, it’s clearly moved beyond traditional farmers markets and CSAs. Traditional farming vs. the local/organic movement presents a tricky proposition for an organization like the Farm Bureau, which seeks to advocate for all farmers. “There seems to be a little disconnect between traditional agriculture and the new wave of agriculture, which is more about local, organic, natural,” Metz says. “That’s unfortunate, because as I told people in meetings a few weeks back, we don’t need to say that one’s good, one’s bad. One produces food to feed the world. The other produces a local food that’s fresher. You know where it came from. That is a growing market, but it won’t feed the world.” The trend toward local and organic farming products could prove another piece of an ongoing cycle, or it could prove to have more staying power. The farms that not only survive but also thrive over coming years will be the ones that tap and respond to market demand, locally or overseas. Ultimately, says Weaver, “Diversity rules. Everywhere you go, if you are not broad-based and stable and solid with a number of things, you’re going to go under quickly. And the flip side of that is being too scattered.” Or, as Martel puts it, as a farmer “you always have to be three steps ahead.” Photo by Sam Dean

‘About as high-tech as it gets’ Red Sun Farms may be agriculture’s future under glass by Mason Adams

egardless whether Red Sun Farms actually represents where farming is headed, it sure feels futuristic. On 12 acres beneath 26 feet of greenhouse glass, tomato plants grow from pipes in tightly regulated rows. Each plant climbs 10 feet or more, using vertical space to maximize the acreage. Across a corridor, six more acres of tomatoes grow from organic soil in narrow planters. The company can cram 10,000 plants into each acre, with about 180,000 tomato plants growing in what is the first phase of development. Looking out at row after row from a wheeled lift 10 feet in the air, John Secker, Red Sun’s master grower and technical director, says, “This is about as high-tech as it gets.” These 18 acres of greenhouse and a related distribution facility represent only the first phase of Red Sun’s plans. During the next few years it will invest $30 million to expand greenhouse operations to cover about 45 acres. It eventually expects to employ more than 200 people. The Dublin plant, announced in 2013, represents two firsts. Red Sun Farms became the first tenant in the New River Valley Commerce Park, a nearly 1,000-acre site in Dublin jointly operated by 13 western Virginia localities. And the NRV Commerce Park became home to Red Sun Farms’ first U.S. facility on the East Coast, joining six additional distribution plants in Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Ontario, Quebec and Michoacán, Mexico, home to the company’s corporate headquarters. In other words, the company maintains a presence in the three North American countries. The parent company is pleased with the progress so far in Dublin, says Jay Abbott, the facility’s general

Photo by Sam Dean

A year-round growing season keeps workers busy harvesting tomatoes at Red Sun’s greenhouse in Dublin.

manager. “We’ve been very happy with our choice of area, both from a climatic standpoint and from employment standpoint,” Abbott says. “To be in an area with no greenhouses, we have found people who show a lot of interest and aptitude in what we’re doing. We’re happy with the industrial community as well. We’re getting involved with other companies to improve the workforce and improve the employment education of the people around here. We’re integrating ourselves into the business and industrial community as a whole.” Last year marked Red Sun Farms’ first year of production. Between its greenhouses and distribution center, it currently employs about 100 people. The company’s hydroponic, or ganic products appear in stores from Atlanta to New York City, with some shipments to Canada as well.

The bulk of its product gets sold in Kroger, Food Lion and Harris Teeter stores in four states: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia. If you’ve bought an organic tomato from a name-brand grocery in Roanoke or the New River Valley in the past year, it probably was grown by Red Sun Farms. “That was a short season, but it was a good one,” says Abbott. “We finished up in late January. We replanted the hydroponic side the 29th and 30th of January, and we replanted the organic side on the fifth and sixth of February.” Harvesting through January and replanting months before the regional frost date? Welcome to the year-round growing season made possible by greenhouse glass and a tightly regulated growing environment and nutrient regimen. This is the reason Red Sun Farms’ tomatoes are flooding reROANOKE BUSINESS

cover story gional grocery shelves. It’s also why the company gives traditional farmers reason for concern. After all, it’s tough to compete directly with a producer whose growing season is twice or three times as long. Red Sun produces about 8 million pounds of tomatoes a year from the 18 acres currently under glass. And it will soon expand. Red Sun already received bids on phase two, which will add another 12 acres. Construction is expected to begin next year, says Abbott, a Virginia Tech graduate who grew up in Covington. Right now, Abbott and his team are focused entirely on tomatoes, but they may eventually expand their range of offerings. As a company, Red Sun Farms also produces organic grapes, sweet bell peppers and long English seedless cucumbers, as well as additional varieties of tomatoes. Its biggest sellers in the U.S. are tomatoes on the vine. All are grown in climate-controlled conditions beneath greenhouse glass.

Jay Abbott, general manager for Red Sun Farms in Dublin.

Although greenhouse conditions require a fine touch, they also dramatically increase production. According to a display shown during the facility’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in November, tomatoes grown in a traditional field setting yield 8.6 pounds per square meter. Red Sun’s greenhouse conditions yield 139 pounds per square meter. Because Red Sun Farms specializes in organic tomatoes, it can’t use

pesticides or chemical fertilizer for that product. Meredith Pratt, the company’s integrated pest management coordinator, says it doesn’t use pesticides for its hydroponic tomatoes either, but employs a variety of other pest control management techniques instead, such as finding biological controls and natural predators for problem species. The growing techniques require heavy use of organic amendments, the vast majority of which Red Sun Farms buys local from Floyd County’s Seven Springs Farm. All of it combines for a quickly growing product that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe joked at the facility’s ribbon-cutting is a pleasure to sell. He had just returned from a trip to Asia where he ate bowls of chicken feet and fried cicadas in pursuit of a trade deal. “I’ll eat anything if it’ll get business to Virginia,” McAuliffe said. “Let me tell you, I’d be glad to eat any one of these tomatoes any day of the week.”

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Photo by Sam Dean

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Unique retreats Business meetings don’t have to mean gray walls and headaches

Crimper’s Climbing Gym can accommodate 100 people for social gatherings or up to 30 people for a climbing experience. by Kathie Dickenson

hen groups hold meetings at Crimper’s Climbing Gym in Christiansburg, owner John Johnson can’t help but notice the group dynamic. “They come in, try the climbing, laugh together – I think that’s where the magic happens.” The “magic” may be what meeting planners are looking for when they choose what the industry calls a “unique venue.” These places offer something more than just a place to meet. It might be beautiful scenery, a rustic setting or city view, hiking trails or a climbing gym, a historic building, live music or a quaint theme. The Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website lists 10 pages of unique venues, and the New River Valley is abundant with them. Crimper’s is a 7,800-square-foot gym with a training area, a large

Photo courtesy Crimper’s Climbing Gym

bouldering wall – for climbing without ropes – and top-roping walls. In top roping, a climber straps into a harness attached to one end of a rope that is looped over a bar at the top of the wall. On the floor, a partner keeps tension in the rope to limit how far the climber can fall. Crimper’s also has equipment that controls tension in the rope for beginners. Groups of 10 to 30 can climb, but the space accommodates 100 people for a social gathering. A separate meeting room holds 20 to 25. Crimper’s has hosted organizations ranging from a research group to medical professionals, sports teams and church groups. “Having the physical aspect is what makes it unique,” says Johnson. Other entertainment venues, such as the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, NRV SuperBowl and

Blacksburg’s new Frank Cinebowl and Grille + IMAX offer groups recreational and team-building activities as well as meeting spaces, says Lisa Bleakley, director of tourism for Montgomery County. Agri-tourism sites also are growing in Montgomery County, says Bleakley. They represent a type of experience not readily available in larger metropolitan regions. Beliveau Estate and Winery, for example, is hidden among the hills of Blacksburg’s Catawba Road area. The quiet estate includes a Great Hall that holds up to 100, on-site catering, a five-guest-room bed and breakfast and, of course, a winery. Meeting breakout areas include a veranda, an outdoor pavilion and the Great Hall’s mezzanine. Owner Joyce Beliveau says the open, secluded property is what corporate meeting and retreat attendROANOKE BUSINESS

meetings & events

Primland offers the great outdoors and intimate meeting spaces such as the Constellation Room.

ees seem to enjoy most. On-site hiking is available, sometimes with wine and cheese served along the way, and people often walk down to the pavilion or throw a Frisbee on the grounds during meeting breaks. “A couple of years ago we had a gal, at the end of

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ism in the New River Valley include Christiansburg’s Attimo Winery and Sinkland Farms, Floyd’s Chateau Morrisette Winery and Restaurant and Elliston’s Firefly Hill Winery. For those who like city lights, downtown Roanoke has plenty. Blue 5, a blues-and-jazz-theme restaurant and night club, recently opened the second floor of its building as The White Room, an airy space boasting 12-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows with views of downtown. “Blue 5 is now a four-story restaurant, with three unique banquet rooms and spaces for meetings and events,” says General Manager Angela Natt. “We host three to five private events each week for customers looking for a downtown venue.” Events have been held in Charter Hall, on the third floor of the historic City Market Building, since the building’s renovation in 2011. The space, which in the 19th century was the Roanoke Opera House, can be leased for meetings of up to 460 people or formal dining for 300. Although smaller venues without comprehensive services primarily attract a local, “in-market” clientele, they can play a role in bringing larger, out-of-market conferences to an area, says Bleakley. Event planners are typically “not just looking for dates and rates, they’re also looking for something special to draw attendees” who like to get out into the community. She adds that large conferences often include smaller social gatherings or group events, and organizers can choose unique venues for those occasions. An example is Roanoke’s Taubman Museum of Art, which hosts receptions, banquets and meetings for local groups as well as special events associated with large conferences. University campuses such as Virginia Tech and Radford University serve large groups as comprehensive conference venues but can be considered unique, says Bleakley. Organizations looking for cost-effective accommodations and meals can usually find them in campus residence halls and dining facilities. A campus location usually means diverse types and Photo courtesy Primland

sizes of meeting rooms and affords a variety of recreational and cultural opportunities. Radford University’s Selu Conservancy includes 380 acres of forest and meadow seven miles from campus on the Little River. At the conservancy is a retreat center, with meeting rooms; the barn, for dining, conferences and events; and the observatory. Guests can take advantage of hiking trails – including a native grasslands wildlife trail and an accessible river trail and overlook – as well as canoe rentals and a challenge course. Simple, affordable lodging, comprehensive services and lots of outdoor options can be found at some camp facilities. In Fincastle, Camp Bethel’s 470 acres, adjacent to the Jefferson National Forest, is open year round. The summer months are for camps, but September through May the facility hosts conferences, retreats and special events. With seven meeting rooms in six buildings and 234 bed spaces, the camp has a

Photo courtesy Virginia Tech

The W.E.Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center in Wirtz can lodge more than 400 people.

theater capacity of 500, banquet capacity of 400 and reception capacity of 975. The grounds include ropes courses, hiking trails, ponds, streams and forests. The W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center in Wirtz at Smith Mountain Lake can lodge more than 400 people in dormitory or hotel-style rooms and offers 23,000 square feet of meeting space and a large dining hall. Hiking trails, recreation areas and the lake itself provide a setting for team-building challenges and relaxation.

Not all unique venues in the region are either rustic or small. Primland, which has appeared on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List of Best Hotels and Resorts, includes 12,000 acres in Meadows of Dan. The resort offers meeting packages and, it seems, nearly everything else: a LEED-registered mountaintop property with luxury accommodations, a spa and an array of activities: biking, horseback riding, fishing, geocaching, kayaking, wild game hunting, golf, tree climbing and star gazing.

ROANOKE BUSINESS

meetings & events

Meeting sites: sample guide

Traditional venues

Venue

Location

Conference space in square feet

Banquet capacity

Guest rooms

Telephone

ROANOKE VALLEY Baymont Inn & Suites

Salem

2,400

200

120

(540) 562-1912

Holiday Inn-Valley View

Roanoke

11,500

370

153

Holiday Inn-Tanglewood

Roanoke

9,000

500

190

(540) 362-4500 (888) 465-4329 (540) 774-4400 (866) 774-4401

Roanoke Civic Center

Roanoke

110,000

2,000

N/A

(540) 853-5483

Salem Civic Center

Salem

40,000

2,000

N/A

(540) 375-3004

Sheraton Roanoke Hotel & Conference Center The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center

Roanoke

17,000

500

320

Roanoke

63,000

1,100

331

(540) 563-9300 (800) 325-3535 (540) 985-5900 (800) 222-TREE

137

(540) 552-5005

NEW RIVER VALLEY Hilton Garden Inn

Blacksburg

1,276

Inn at Virginia Tech & Skelton Conference Center

Blacksburg

24,000

700

147

(540) 231-8000 (877) 200-3360

Radford University

Radford

Many classrooms & auditoriums seating 10-1,500

1,000

Dormitory rooms for up to 2,000 people (in summer)

(540) 831-5800

Unique venues Venue

Location

Meeting spaces

Lodging/on-site catering availability

Telephone

ROANOKE VALLEY Bent Mountain Lodge Bed & Breakfast

Copper Hill

3 rooms, totaling 3,500 square feet

10 suites with private baths

(540) 651-2500

Blue 5

Roanoke

3 banquet rooms and meeting spaces for 10-160

On-site catering

(540) 598-2174

Blue Ridge Institute and Museum

Ferrum College

1,080-squarefoot classroom accommodates 40

Camp Bethel

Fincastle

7 spaces in 6 buildings, total of 10,300 square feet

Center in the Square

Roanoke

Banquet capacity: 220 Reception capacity: 500

(540) 224-1251

Charter Hall

Roanoke

460 people or formal dining for 300

(540) 342-2028

Grandin CoLab

Roanoke

Reception space for 200

(540) 524-2702

SEPTEMBER 2015

(540) 365-4416 3 lodges, 324 beds (twins & bunks.) On-site dining

(540) 992-2940

Venue

Location

Meeting spaces

Lodging/on-site catering availability

Telephone

Natural Bridge Park & Historic Hotel

Natural Bridge

6 meeting venues, 10,000 square feet. Outdoor spaces for catered functions

155 rooms in historic hotel; part of Virginia Green Lodging program; full-service dining options

(540) 291-2121 x7809

Primland

Meadows of Dan

Spaces accommodating up to 200

Private rooms in the Lodge and Fairway Cottages. On-site catering

(866) 960-7746

Taubman Museum of Art

Roanoke

Banquet capacity: 200 Reception capacity: 500

Vinton War Memorial

Vinton

5 rooms, totaling 5,080 square feet

On-site catering available

(540) 983-0645

W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center

Wirtz (Smith Mountain Lake)

23,000 square feet of meeting spaces

Hotel-style rooms and dormitory-style lodges accommodate 400+ people

(540) 721-2759

Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing

New Castle

indoor and outdoor spaces available

3 “elegantly rustic” lodges for 82-97 guests; On-site food service. Overflow camping and bathhouse available

(540) 864-6792

(540) 204-4139

NEW RIVER VALLEY Attimo Winery

Christiansburg

Indoor and outdoor spaces

On-site catering

(540) 382-7619

Beliveau Estate Winery and Recreational Venue

Blacksburg

On-site chef

B&B (5 rooms with private baths)

(540) 961-0505

Chateau Morrisette Winery and Restaurant

Floyd

Indoor and outdoor spaces

On-site catering

(540) 593-2865

Christiansburg Aquatic Center

Christiansburg

2 multipurpose rooms can accommodate 200+

Warming kitchen available for rental

Crimper’s Climbing Gym

Christiansburg

Groups of 10-30 for climbing

CrossPointe Foursquare Conference Center

Christiansburg

Large meeting room for 350 (120 for banquet seating)

Fully furnished apartments (2-3 bedrooms) for daily, weekly or monthly rental; On-site catering

(540) 382-7100

Custom Catering Center

Blacksburg

Formal seating up to 500; informal, 800

On-site catering

(540) 951-8295

Firefly Hill Vineyards

Elliston

Patio seats 175

The Vineyard House: 4-bedroom, 4.5- bath home accommodates 9

(540) 588-0231

Frank Theatres Cinebowl & Grille + IMAX

Blacksburg

Hahn Horticulture Garden

Blacksburg

Indoor space for up to 50

Historic Smithfield

Blacksburg

Outdoor spaces for up to 300

Hotel Floyd/ Floyd Eco Village

Floyd

10,000 square feet; serves from 8 to 250

40 rooms and suites; on-site catering, free wireless, member of Virginia Green Lodging Program

(540) 745-6080

Inn at Pepper’s Ferry

Christiansburg

2 meeting rooms for up to 20 people

Efficiencies and apartments (1-2 bedrooms) accommodating up to 70 people

(540) 553-1700

Mountain Lake Lodge

Pembroke

12 event spaces

100 units housing up to 250 people

(540) 626-7121

NRV SuperBowl

Christiansburg

Small meeting/party room

Cafe

(540) 382-5525

Sinkland Farms

Christiansburg

5,000-square-foot barn

The Event Centre

Christiansburg

Newly renovated facility for up to 360

(540) 251-3040

Restaurant

(540) 381-7665, x3104

(540) 750-4588, x4

Kitchen available

(540) 231-5970 (540) 231-3947

(540) 382-4647 On-site catering available

(540) 381-8429

ROANOKE BUSINESS

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Age and opportunity Aging population drives development of more senior housing and rehabilitation facilities

Friendship Health & Rehab Center South in Roanoke County will be a 73,000-square-foot, 120-bed facility. by Jenny Boone

n aging population is sparking a wave of new health-care and residential projects in Southwest Virginia and across the state. From the Roanoke Valley to the New River Valley and other parts of Virginia, senior housing and development companies based in Roanoke are expanding with new rehabilitation facilities and independent living units. Plus, they’re refreshing existing properties with additions and upgrades. The push is an effort to keep pace with an ever-growing population of people age 65 and older. While many seniors want to age in place, others will need assistance with the activities of daily living. This

SEPTEMBER 2015

demographic increased by about 16 percent in the Roanoke Valley from 2000 to 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Some people are members of the baby boomer generation, born in the post-World War II period between 1946 and 1964. Nationally there were 76.4 million baby boomers in 2014, once considered the largest generation, peaking at 78.8 million in 1999, according to the Census Bureau. By 2030, more than 20 percent of U.S. residents are projected to be 65 and older, reports the bureau. “The first baby boomers are just now reaching the age when they may need our services,” says William Fralin, president and CEO of Medical Facilities of America, a Ro-

anoke-based company that develops skilled nursing care and rehabilitation centers in Virginia and North Carolina. Medical Facilities is one of a cluster of senior living and healthcare development companies based in the Roanoke Valley. The region houses a notable number of these companies, compared with other parts of Virginia and some larger cities, says Larry Rouvelas, a principal at Senior Housing Analytics in Washington, D.C. The companies include Smith/Packett Med-Com and American Healthcare LLC. To be sure, Southwest Virginia is no stranger to the senior living scene. The region is known as a popular retiree hub, with numerPhoto by Don Petersen

ous mentions in lists of top national retirement havens through the years. Smith Mountain Lake in particular attracts retirees from northern locales for lakefront living. Also, in 2014, Forbes magazine named Blacksburg among the 25 best places to retire in the country, citing low crime, a mild climate and a low cost of living. In the Roanoke Valley, high occupancy rates and strong demand from mostly senior adults for independent living led Friendship Retirement Community to build 34 additional apartments at its Wellington community Barksdale in 2014. Now the development has 106 apartments, with monthly rents ranging from $930 to $1,630, says Russ Barksdale, president and CEO of Friendship. The company is moving some of its rehabilitation services to Southwest Roanoke County, where construction is in full swing for its new

An artist’s rendering shows what Friendship’s new rehab center will look like.

Friendship Health & Rehab Center South on Starkey Road. This 73,000-square-foot, short-term rehabilitation center is slated to open in mid-December, housing 120 beds that will move from Friendship’s main facility on Hershberger Road in North Roanoke. The shift will leave 253 beds at the North Roanoke location. That facility offers rehabilitation, long-term nursing care and services for people with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other memory conditions. Barksdale says the $13.5 million

rehab center has a two-fold purpose. It is a closer drive for Friendship’s patients who live in Southwest Roanoke County. Also, 80 percent of its rooms will be private and 20 percent semi-private. Industry research indicates that hospital re-admission rates and infections are reduced when patients have private rooms, Barksdale says. “It’s more focused on the clinical aspects of what is the best standard of care that you should be providing patients in therapy,” he says. Friendship’s Hershberger Road

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Rendering courtesy Friendship Retirement Community

ROANOKE BUSINESS

commercial real estate

Brent Russell, chief operating officer for Harmony Senior Services, which manages Smith Packett’s senior centers, says they are starting to see their first wave of baby boomers.

facility currently has 30 private hab services is split three ways with rooms out of a total of 373. By shift- long-term care and support for Aling beds to the new Roanoke County zheimer’s and dementia patients, rehab center, Friendship will have says Barksdale. Even as the aging population about 50 percent private rooms at its North Roanoke facility, which will demands more services, Friendship continue to offer rehabilitation ser- is bursting at the seams, with a 98 vices. percent occupancy rate at the HerTurner ad:AD Turner Long 8/7/15 9:44 AM Page 1 The need at Friendship for re- shberger Road site. “We can’t take

on much more capacity,” Barksdale says. Growth has been particularly robust for Smith/Packett Med-Com, another Roanoke-based developer of more than 150 senior housing and care facilities in various states, from Virginia to South Carolina and Pennsylvania. In April, it opened The Crossings at Blacksburg, a private-pay retirement center with 91 assisted living and memory care apartments. The 67,000-square-foot facility houses one- and two-bedroom apartments and studio units. Monthly rates range from $3,195 to $4,895 for assisted living and $4,095 to $4,595 for memory care. “We are starting to see our real first baby boomers coming into our communities,” says Brent Russell, chief operating officer for Harmony Senior Services, which manages Smith/Packett’s facilities. Smith/Packett also plans a 56unit memory care facility adjacent to its current Pheasant Ridge independent living units in Roanoke.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

Photo by Don Petersen

Construction will begin on the $8.9 million, 36,589-square-foot facility this fall, says Court Rosen, vice president of strategic initiatives for the company. In addition, Smith/Packett is moving forward with plans for new facilities in the Tidewater region, an area with a strong retiree population, Russell says. The company has opened several facilities in South Carolina, and it is considering sites in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Rosen says. Most of Medical Facilities of America’s new health centers are outside the Roanoke Valley. In April, the company opened a 69,883-square-foot Princess Anne Health & Rehabilitation Center in Virginia Beach, with a 4,000-squarefoot therapy gym and 120 beds total. Estimates on resident prices were not available. In many cases, the state health department must determine public need for additional beds when a health provider proposes an expansion. The new Princess Anne center combines beds from two other Medical Facilities centers in the Virginia Beach area. It also offers updated amenities, including semi-private rooms with walls between beds, rather than shared rooms, Fralin says. The company’s older centers have mostly shared rooms. Altogether, Medical Facilities has 41 total locations. The company plans several new facilities in the next year, with sites in Albemarle County and Huntersville, N.C., Fralin says. The company recently added new rehab space to its Springtree Health & Rehabilitation Center in Roanoke. “The critical mass of nursing facilities hasn’t been routinely updated for a while,” Fralin says. “There is a need to re-establish our inventory. We are updating our facilities to a new generation.” As for future growth in the Roanoke Valley, where the company has four facilities, “The demand is going to increase,” Fralin says, “but at the same rate it is increasing everywhere else.”

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ROANOKE BUSINESS

POLITICS

Power in balance

This region’s races could determine which party controls the Virginia Senate

GOP candidate David Suetterlein talks with Kelley McCall as he campaigns door-to-door for his boss’s old seat.

by Mason Adams

his fall, Virginians will determine the balance of power in the state Senate – and thus in the General Assembly – for the next four years, and the Roanoke and New River valleys will play a crucial role. Democrats hold the governor’s mansion and will continue to do so until at least 2018, while Republicans have an overwhelming majority in the House of Delegates that’s highly unlikely to change with this fall’s elections. Most western Virginia incumbents in the House of Delegates face no opposition this year. The exception is Republican Del. Jo-

SEPTEMBER 2015

seph Yost, who is running for a third term. He faces Democratic challenger Laurie Buchwald, a former member of Radford City Council. That leaves the Senate, where the GOP holds a 21-19 majority. All 40 seats are up for election this fall. Gaining one seat would put Democrats in control, since Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam would hold the deciding vote. As is the case in national races, not every Senate seat is considered in play. Demographics and gerrymandering have rendered many of them safe for one party or the other. Because of that, a mere

handful of races will decide the partisan tilt of the General Assembly until 2020. In the 21st District – which includes Giles County, Roanoke and parts of Montgomery and Roanoke counties – 20-year incumbent Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat, already faced a heated challenge from Republican Nancy Dye before longtime Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell – a longtime Democrat now running as an independent – entered the race. The resulting three-way campaign has become a focal point in the statewide battle for the Virginia Senate. Photos by Natalee Waters

Next door in the 19th District – which includes Floyd County, Salem and parts of Bedford, Carroll, Franklin, Montgomery, Roanoke and Wythe counties – Republican Sen. Ralph Smith, a former Roanoke mayor, announced this spring he would retire after two terms. That race for an open seat also has turned into a three-way contest involving Democrat Michael Hamlar, independent Steve Nelson and Republican David Suetterlein, Smith’s legislative aide. The district’s demographics and past voting patterns make Suetterlein the frontrunner, but the unpredictability of campaign politics and the fact that the race is for an open seat create a fair amount of uncertainty. The candidates represent different philosophies on a variety of issues, as well as links – or not in the case of independents – to political parties that represent different alliances and potential benefits for Southwest Virginia. Most of the General Assembly’s work involves wonky policy tweaks that don’t split along party lines. On the few issues that do, however, the election of a Republican or Democrat makes all the difference. Perhaps the biggest ongoing issue of contention is whether to expand Medicaid to cover 400,000 uninsured Virginians with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $23,850 for a family of four. The federal government would cover most of the cost, estimated at about $2 billion a year in Virginia. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and state Democrats favor the plan, which would bring federal funding as part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Republicans think the plan has too many strings attached, plus they don’t want anything to do with President Barack Obama’s signature law. That partisan dichotomy extends to the regional Senate races: Democrats Edwards and Hamlar, as well as independent Caldwell,

Democrat incumbent John Edwards has been in the Virginia Senate since 1996.

support Medicaid expansion. Republicans Dye and Suetterlein, along with independent Nelson, oppose it. State lawmakers don’t have much influence over the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas transmission line that could travel through the 19th and 21st districts as it connects the Marcellus Retired physician Nancy Dye, a Republican, has made opposition to regulations part of her campaign.

Shale formation to a growing customer base in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic U.S. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will approve or deny the plan. However, the General Assembly can affect a number of related issues, such as how utilities interact with landowners along the route. Independent Nelson supports the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Dye initially supported it but has backed away from that position. She said in late July she has “no position” on the pipeline at the moment and is waiting for answers on a final route and other questions. Democrats Edwards and Hamlar actively oppose it, though they are vague about what they can do to stop it. Republican Suetterlein skirts the question, saying FERC has the ultimate authority but does say he’d be open to laws requiring more of utilities wanting to use the government’s power of eminent domain to claim private property. Caldwell, an independent, says the pipeline should be routed along the existing interstate but provides few details about how he could make that happen. In the 21st, Edwards is running as a longtime incumbent with seniority. He talks up his work helping to make the Roanoke Higher Education Center a reality in the ’90s and more recently enticing Amtrak to return passenger rail service to Roanoke, which is due to begin in 2017. He also lists the opening of Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute as a regional victory in which he played a part. Dye, a retired surgeon who with her husband also designed and manufactured medical devices, has brought a high level of energy and enthusiasm to a campaign based on her business experience. She wants to cut government regulations she sees as an obstacle to entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Dye lives in Rockledge, in a mansion on Mill Mountain that ROANOKE BUSINESS

politics was Smith’s home when he was Roanoke’s mayor and served as the site for numerous GOP fundraisers in the 1990s and 2000s when the Virginia Republican Party was ascendant. Caldwell, appointed as Roanoke’s commonwealth’s attorney in 1979 and who’s won every re-election campaign since, is a wild card and potential spoiler. One theory posits that should Caldwell cost Edwards his seat and Democrats a chamber majority, Republicans will reward him with a judgeship. While it’s true Caldwell previously sought a judgeship through Edwards, Caldwell denies that theory and says he’s running because an independent will wield considerable power as a swing vote in what’s likely to be a closely divided Senate. In the 19th, Suetterlein is running as a legislative veteran with Smith’s endorsement. He’s spent

Don Caldwell, who’s running as an independent, has been Roanoke’s commonwealth’s attorney since 1979.

SEPTEMBER 2015

Democratic candidate Mike Hamlar played linebacker for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

his working life as an aide to Smith and, previously, Ken Cuccinelli, a former senator and gubernatorial candidate. Suetterlein says a career in the General Assembly, especially as an aide handling detail work, gives him an edge when it comes to working the legislative system for the benefit of his constituents. Michael Hamlar is the nephew of Lawrence Hamlar, who cofounded Roanoke’s Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home. Michael was brought into the business by his uncle and now owns it, along with a business brokerage firm and a real estate firm. He’s running as a pragmatic, locally grown businessman with a fresh perspective on politics. Nelson entered the race because he didn’t like the fact that Smith announced his retirement and his endorsement of Suetterlein only two days before the GOP’s deadline for candidate filings, essentially denying anyone else a chance to compete for the Republican nomination. Nelson, who spent most of his career as a revenue enhancement analyst with Piedmont Airlines before it was acquired by U.S. Air, is running

on a platform that prioritizes improvements to U.S. 220 south of Roanoke. Campaign finance reports through July 15 show Dye with a slight lead over Edwards for cash on-hand, $117,560 to $116,535, with Caldwell lagging behind at $9,523 (most of which was funded by a $10,000 loan to himself). In the 19th, Suetterlein had $58,242 in cash on-hand compared with Hamlar’s $46,804, while Nelson had yet to file a report. In 2011, 23 of the 27 contested Virginia Senate races went to the candidate who raised the most money. The 19th was one of the four districts that went to the candidate with less cash. General Assembly campaigns don’t tend to gear up until after Labor Day, and both the 21st and 19th could see an infusion of cash from Democrats and Republicans as the competition for the state Senate heats up.

Independent Steve Nelson wants to improve U.S. 220 south of Roanoke.

Photos by Natalee Waters

HIGHER EDUCATION: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Serving the underserved

Students at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine learn to care for the whole patient – and to serve the community

VCOM students work with underserved populations in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador and Appalachia. by Shawna Morrison

he Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg opened its doors to students in 2003, with a goal of addressing a shortage of physicians in the Appalachian region and other medically underserved areas. The school — commonly known as VCOM — appears to be meeting that goal. Of the students who graduated from 2007 to 2014, more than half were placed in a residency in a medically underserved area. Twenty-nine percent went into a residency in Virginia or the Carolinas, with 20 percent of those placed into a residency in the Appalachian region, according to

Photo courtesy of VCOM Marketing

information on the school’s website. “They recognized the need for physicians in rural and underserved areas and wanted to focus on physicians who would impact those areas, who would be dedicated to going back and serving in those kinds of places,” Natalie Brown, VCOM’s assistant director for communications and marketing, says of VCOM’s founders. The school got its start after a study of health-care needs in Virginia showed that the Southwest and Southside areas had an extreme health-care shortage. More than 70 Virginia counties were considered medically underserved, with 30 counties considered to

have critical shortages, according to VCOM’s website. A second branch opened in 2011 in Spartanburg, S.C., where Brown is based. Its first class graduated this year. A third branch opened this year in Auburn, Ala., and will begin classes in September. That development occurred after Auburn University representatives began in 2011 to talk about establishing a medical school. At the time, the state was listed as 46th in the country for the number of physicians per 100,000 residents. While most doctors carry an M.D. — doctor of medicine — degree, VCOM graduates receive a D.O. degree — doctor of osteoROANOKE BUSINESS

higher education

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Opened in 2003 in Blacksburg Operates with a collaborative agreement with Virginia Tech for education, research and student activities Accepts 180 students per class Has opened branches in South Carolina and Alabama Named for Edward Via, the son of the late Roanoke philanthropist Marion Bradley Via, who was instrumental in funding the initiative. Marion Bradley Via established foundations to benefit Virginia Tech and Southwest Virginia. Number of applicants has grown from 3,053 in 2012 to 5,370 in 2015 Almost equally split by gender: 51% female, 49% male (both Virginia and South Carolina campuses) Sources: Natalie Brown, vcom.edu

pathic medicine. The degrees are equivalent in terms of practicing medicine, but the approach is different. Osteopathic doctors focus on

hands-on diagnosis and treatment with the use of a therapy known as osteopathic manipulative medicine and focus on health promotion and VCOM students focus on holistic medicine, described by Natalie Brown, VCOM’s assistant director for communications and marketing as “treating … the whole person, and not just their illness.”

SEPTEMBER 2015

disease prevention, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Twenty percent of medical students in the United States are training to be osteopathic physicians, according to the association. “In addition to coursework, labs and clinical experience, students at VCOM learn about the natural ability of the body to heal itself, the patient-centered model of care, and the holistic balance of body, mind and spirit in healing and wellness,” Brown says. “The meaning of the term ‘holistic’ is sometimes distorted, but essentially it means a course of action or treatment of the whole person, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease. This is exactly what our students come to VCOM to study, and to practice throughout their careers – treating the whole patient, the whole person, and not just their illness.” VCOM students complete 200 hours of osteopathic manipulative medicine work, learning about the workings of the musculoskeletal system. According to Brown, the Blacksburg campus accepts 180 students per class, with about 720 students enrolled at a time. A student’s first two years are spent on medical education on campus. Here they are exposed to lab work and simulation experiences through which they can practice on $80,000 robot-like dummies that can bleed, cry and speak. Actors sometimes come in and play the part of patients as well, Brown says, helping students develop a bedside manner. Students spend their third and fourth years working in clinical rotation. Kai Turner of Richmond enrolled at VCOM in Blacksburg in 2012 and will graduate next year. “I am looking forward to living my dream of becoming a pediatrician,” Turner says. “I foresee myself as a resident training at a program that prides itself on serving a diverse children population and staffing culturally diverse physicians who mirror the patients that they service.” Photo courtesy of VCOM Marketing

She is completing clinical rotations at health-care facilities and teaching hospitals with programs where she would like to apply for a residency. She wants to stay close to family so Turner is rotating in Virginia; the Washington, D.C., area and along the East Coast. Turner chose VCOM because the school’s mission aligns with her personal goals as a future physician “and strongly mirrors some of the principles that were instilled in me as a child even when I was too young to appreciate them.” “As a young girl and throughout my life, I admired my father for his discipline to live a healthier lifestyle, after suffering from his first heart attack,” she says. “He, too, believed in the body’s ability to heal itself and was a firm advocate of not solely relying on medication to achieve wellbeing.” She says that when applying to VCOM, she was impressed with its local and international mission work. “Our students have a heart of service. You see it in everything they do,” Brown says. “They’re so involved. They’re always studying, but they help in local clinics; they’re at health fairs; they’re helping out in the community; they’re teaching hand-washing to little kids; they’re always doing something.” Students also work in free clinics and homeless shelters, adds Brown. And they can go on outreach trips to the school’s three clinical sites in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and El Salvador. One of the most rewarding experiences for Turner has been experiencing different cultures while providing medical care to underdeveloped countries. “Completing VCOM medical mission trips gives students not only the chance to give back to others, but also provides the opportunity for students to grow as individuals. Although the patients in these areas show so much gratitude to us for providing health care, the experiences that we gain are truly priceless and forever memorable,” she says. Photos courtesy of VCOM Marketing

Before they meet real patients, VCOM students work with life-like dummies that simulate symptoms and reactions to treatment.

Turner acts as a VCOM student ambassador, speaking to students at Virginia Tech and other colleges and high schools who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine. “Our students really do want to make a change and to push preven-

tion and to encourage people to make better choices throughout their lives,” Brown says. “That’s the kind of physicians and the kind of health-care providers that they want to be. And that’s really what osteopathic medicine is all about.”

The White Coat Ceremony marks a significant step on the way to students becoming doctors. It signals they’re ready to begin clinical study.

ROANOKE BUSINESS

WHO READS ROANOKE BUSINESS?

SUCCESSFUL DECISION MAKERS WHO ENGAGE DEEPLY WITH OUR MAGAZINE Roanoke Business is a young publication, but we already have built a loyal following. Our readers say they look forward to every issue. Plus, we get high marks for quality with 65 percent of our subscribers rating Roanoke Business as either one of their favorite magazines or being a very good publication. WHEN WE DESCRIBE SUBSCRIBERS AS SUCCESSFUL LEADERS, WE CAN POINT TO SUPPORTING DATA FROM A RECENT READERSHIP SURVEY. IT SHOWS THAT: 42 PERCENT of our readers occupy C-suite or higher positions in their companies. 64 PERCENT have an annual household income of more than $100,000. 35 PERCENT have a net worth in excess of $1 million. OUR DATA ALSO SHOW THAT THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN BUYING GOODS AND SERVICES FOR THEIR COMPANIES. OUR SURVEY SHOWS THAT: 29 PERCENT have been involved in a purchasing decision worth at least $100,000 during the past 12 months. 42 PERCENT of these executives were involved in ﬁnancial purchases. 58 PERCENT were involved in IT/telecommunications purchases. 60 PERCENT were involved in meeting/travel arrangement purchases. Advertise in Roanoke Business, if you want to get your company noticed in the Roanoke/Blacksburg/New River Valley region. No other publication covers this area’s commercial activity as comprehensively as we do. And, no other regional publication delivers the high-quality readership that we do. For business-to-business advertising, Roanoke Business is the area’s premier medium – one that can help you succeed.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW ROANOKE BUSINESS CAN SUPPORT YOUR PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS. CONTACT

LYNN WILLIAMS (540) 597-2499 lwilliams@roanoke-business.com Roanoke Business 210 S. Jefferson St. Roanoke, Va. 24011

advertising in Learn more about advertisting inRoanoke RoanokeBusiness Businessonline onlinein inthe the media kit for Virginia Business, our parent publication, at: www.vabusinessmedia.com www.vabusinessmedia.com Visit us online at www.roanoke-business.com. www.roanoke-business.com.

Roanoke Business. It works.

COMMUNITY PROFILE: Radford

Growing and evolving Radford, once a manufacturing and transportation center, turns to tourism and higher education

Basil Edwards, economic development director for the city of Radford.

by Michael Abraham

riving into Radford from the east on old U.S. Route 11 and seeing the activity at Radford University, a person might think the city’s official bird is the construction crane. There’s plenty of construction underway, mostly around Radford University. “Under President Penny Kyle’s leadership, RU continues to grow. [The university] recently acquired an abandoned knitting mill building on the east end of town and demolished it to build athletic fields. Construction on the expansion of the science building and the humanities building is ongoing,” says Basil Edwards, Radford’s economic development director. Since Kyle became the university’s president in 2005, RU has completed or initiated more than

Photo by Christina O’Connor

$330 million in new construction and renovation, including projects begun before Kyle came to the university. Kyle says she will retire at the end of June 2016. Radford was formed as a railroad center, with a depot to serve the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad that arrived in 1854. Now, according to Edwards, “Radford University is the city’s largest employer. There are around 1,700 employees now, and total enrollment is at almost 10,000 students. The university fuels the city’s growth.” Besides higher education, the city also is looking to tourism to grow. Radford’s longtime Mayor Bruce Brown says the city works hard to host community events, both to spur the economy and to enhance the quality of life. “We’ve

made a concerted effort in the last four or five years to promote location-based events. We are hosting sports tourism events from February to November. Baseball tournaments. Concerts. Train excursions. We are working with other local municipalities to bring Amtrak to the Valley by 2020. When Brown was elected back in 2002, the meals and lodging tax brought in less than $200,000, he says. “Now it’s approaching $1.5 million. That relates to having eight or nine seminal events in the city. That’s been huge in compensating for losses resulting from other variables in the economy.” The mayor was quick to point out and applaud partnerships with neighboring counties. “We have a regional jail, a regional landfill and a regional wastewater facility. ROANOKE BUSINESS

community profile

Radford by the numbers Area Population estimate 2014 Percentage of age 25+ with at least a high school diploma Median household income (2009-13) Persons below poverty level (2009-2013)

Transportation amenities

9.87 square miles 17,646 (Virginia’s 26th largest city) 86.7% $30,714 37.7% Radford was founded as a transportation hub, with the Wilderness Road crossing the New River in the city’s present boundary. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad arrived in 1854. Interstate 81 was completed near Radford in 1965, bypassing the city. The TransAmerica bicycle route (originally BikeCentennial), passes through the city. • •

Notable Radfordians

•

John Dalton (1931-1986), governor of Virginia 1978-1982 James Hoge Tyler (1986-1925), governor of Virginia 1898-1902 Sonya (Adams) Curry, wife of former NBA player Dell Curry and mother of current NBA MVP and World Champion Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, city of Radford, Virginia Economic Development Partnership

The days of each locality having its own amenities are long gone, from an economic feasibility standpoint. So we need to partner. “We are looking at how to position our community for the millennials and the boomers. Recreational facilities. Mass transit. Transportation. Stuff for retirees. The old manufacturing model with companies hiring 400 people is good, but it’s extremely tough to do today. With Radford University and Virginia Tech in our backyard, with our energy resources and transportation systems, if people work together we can have positive outcomes.” Brown says he’s tried to bring, “a sense of civility and cooperation. If you lose a vote, you get over it and go on to the next one.” Like many small communities across Southwest Virginia and in much of the country, the retail core moved from the historic downtown to shopping malls. In Radford, 32

SEPTEMBER 2015

that means the Fairlawn community across the New River in Pulaski County. But Radford has seen the redevelopment of several downtown buildings. Edwards says, “If someone left Radford a generation ago and

came back to see it now, they’d see tremendous growth at the university. They’d see commercial development in the Tyler Avenue area to serve the students, with lots of new off-campus housing. They’d see great parks and recreational trails. But the quaint, small-town feel of Radford is still there. Traffic is seldom a problem.” Paul Pallante is bringing youthful energy and innovation to his hometown while pursuing a dream. He and three partners acquired the venerable Radford Theater in the heart of downtown, one of the few single-screen, first-run theaters in Virginia. “I grew up in Radford, going to the theater since I was a boy. I saw my first movie there. The theater is an anchor for downtown, and when I heard it was going dormant, I knew it would be a devastating thing. In 30 days, we did a full rehab, renovating the lobby and bringing new energy into the space,” he says. None of the partners had any movie experience, but what they lack in experience, they make up for in marketing savvy and creativity. The team did a premier grand reopening May 13, 2013, with “Man of Steel,” the Superman remake. “There are no hard-and-fast rules. We’re always figuring out the terrain, on the business side. But I can’t imagine any business that is

Paul Pallante, owner of Radford Theatre in downtown Radford.

more fulfilling in being part of the community, both with shoppers and with fellow business owners. With the theater as a hub, we’ve always tried to highlight the talents and services nearby,” says Pallante. To replicate the old-school magic of going out and seeing a movie, his team puts on live pre-shows. They’re tried juggling shows, Batman in costume, live music concerts, even flying in drones, to bring magic to the theater. “When we showed ‘Cinderella,’ we turned the entire theater into a ballroom. We want it to be a memorable experience for a kid seeing her first movie. Or for older folks to see something more connected to their community’s roots than the generic box where you sit in front of a flashing screen. People love it!” Pallante sees good things coming to downtown Radford. “We all want more people to experience what downtown Radford has to offer, an experience you can’t get anywhere else. It’s a pleasure and honor to be able to do that.” When self-described military brat Laurie Buchwald arrived in Radford in 1998, she hit the ground running. “I was recruited here to work in an ob/gyn practice.” She is nationally certified as a women’s health nurse practitioner, a family nurse practitioner and a menopause clinician. She quickly became involved in developing the bikeway, walkway and trail network in Radford and was a founding member of the advocacy organization, Pathways for Radford. “Radford is unique in that it has an extensive border with the New River. In fact, Radford is the only city located right on the river’s banks. Also located within the city is a 57-acre urban forest called Wildwood.” Buchwald recalls that when Mary Hall, the first leader of Pathways for Radford, learned of plans to put a road through Wildwood, she organized opposition to prevent the road from being developed and to revitalize the park. A collaboraPhotos by Christina O’Connor

Laurie Buchwald, founding member of the advocacy organization Pathways for Radford, at Bisset Park and the bike trail she helped establish.

tion among city officials and Pathways for Radford led to federal and state grants, which financed the Riverway, the city’s hiking and biking trail system. “I’ve lived lots of places,” Buchwald says, “but I’ve now lived here longer than anywhere else. I love

the life I lead in the New River Valley, which has afforded me a great place to raise my son, earn a living and become an active member of the community. The roads make for pretty great riding on my motorcycle as well. I’ll not be leaving anytime soon.”

ROANOKE BUSINESS

SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce 2015 CHAMBER CHAMPIONS Brown Edwards Cox Business Gentry Locke LifeWorks REHAB (Medical Facilities of America) MB Contractors Pepsi Bottling Group rev.net

The Roanoke Times Rockydale Quarries Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC Trane Valley Bank Woods Rogers Attorneys at Law

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

NEW MEMBERS The following members joined the Roanoke Regional Chamber from June 11 to July 2, 2015: 419 West Restaurant Co. LLC Back Resort Blue Ridge Interactive City Dogs Boarding & Playcare Corned Beef & Co. Inc.

EVENT SPONSORSHIP

Covenant Real Estate Services

Thursday Overtime – July 2

Drs. Moore & Stockstill PC

Taubman Museum of Art

Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC

Enterprise Holding Fetch Virginia LLC

Member news & recognitions Representatives from Advance Auto Parts and Building Homes for Heroes rang the NYSE Closing Bell to highlight the 4th Annual Building Homes for Heroes Honoree Dinner on June 22. Darren Jackson, CEO of Advance Auto Parts, and the Advance Auto Parts team were honored for their philanthropic initiatives in support of Building Homes for Heroes’ mission to assist wounded veterans. HomeTown Bank has recently opened the HomeTown Bank Operations Center on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke County. Twenty-four employees are now working at the new space, including the bank’s deposit and loan operations groups, credit administration and risk management. HomeTown Bank has announced that William Farrell, president of Berglund Management Group, Farrell has joined the bank’s board of directors. Jefferson College of Health Sciences was among 24 institutions across the state that took part in Virginia Private College Week July 27-31. The pro34

gram included campus tours and information on how to apply for admission and financial aid. Sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia, the annual event gives high school students an alternative to squeezing in campus visits during the hectic academic year. Richfield Living has named Elizabeth “Libby” Green, R.N., director of nursing for the Richfield Green Recovery & Care Center and The Rehab Center. Green has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years and has extensive clinical and management experience in acute care, long-term care and rehabilitation facilities. In June, the Roanoke County Parks Leisure Legacy group implemented a new program allowing the public to purchase commemorative trees and benches to beautify Roanoke County parks. The nonprofit group dedicated a bench in memory of Onjelique Stevens at Green Hill Park on June 25. For more information concerning the program and how to participate, visit www.LeisureL-

SEPTEMBER 2015

egacy.org. The Roanoke County School Board has named Chuck Parker as the new assistant principal at Cave Spring High School. Parker first joined the school system in 2003 as a special education teacher. He has also served as a social studies teacher, the athletic director at Hidden Valley High School and an assistant basketball coach for Hidden Valley. Valley Metro and the Roanoke Public Libraries are teaming up to launch the Books on Buses program to promote reading to young children in the City of Roanoke. Three bus routes have been chosen to participate in the program launched in June. Parents with children were invited to select a reading bag located at the front of the bus. Each reading bag contains five books, with various reading levels. Parents are encouraged to take a book home with them or return it to the reading bag as they exit the bus. More than 10,000 square feet of new retail space recently opened at Valley View Mall with Altar’d State and Christopher & Banks Missy Petite Women opening in June. Other

Freeda Cathcart Gentle Shepherd Hospice Grandin Road Barber Shop Greenbrier Classic, The Heavenly Hands Nursing LLC J and J Fashions Inc. Main Street of Virginia Inc. dba Templeton-Vest Milan Tobacconists Inc. nTelos Wireless, Authorized Retailer Ostrom Electrical & Plumbing Paint Nite Roanoke Proactive Health and Life Insurance Quick Fix Real Estate LLC Roanoke Cell Phone Repair Rodan + Fields Santillane LLC Savoy Lee Winery Scrambled Spartan IT Consulting Streamline Office Strategies LLC The Welcome Basket Valley iRepair

Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce | SPONSORED CONTENT shops that have opened this year include US Cellular, Claire’s, Chick-fil-A, Sibarro, Leatherhous, Kay Jewelers and Footlocker. William “Mac” Babb III, formerly with the Roanoke Police Department, has been named deputy chief of police and assistant director of security at Virginia Tech. He began his new position July 1 and Babb will assist Chief of Police Kevin Foust in leading the 75-person Virginia Tech Police Department and oversee its operations and administrative divisions. Frances Dowd and Elli Travis have been named economic development specialists in Virginia Tech’s Office of Travis Dowd Economic Development. They will work with communities, industries and institutions to promote community development throughout the state. Weiguo “Patrick” Fan, professor of accounting and information systems and director of the Center for Business Intelligence and Analytics in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, was Fan recently named L. Mahlon Harrell Senior Faculty Fellow in Accounting and Information Systems by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee. Greg Jenkins, professor of accounting and information systems in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, has been named the William S. Gay Senior Faculty Fellow by Virginia Jenkins Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee. The Virginia Tech Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, in conjunction with the Office of University Development, has announced the hiring of Bill Lansden as senior associate athletics director Lansden for development and executive director of the Hokie Club. In this role, Lansden will be responsible for the leadership of all facets of a comprehensive athletic development program and charged with the continued growth and evolution of the Hokie Club. Tom Martin, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named the Bradley Faculty Fellow of Education by the Virginia Tech board of Martin visitors. Martin has been a member of the Virginia Tech community since 2001.

Andrew McCoy, associate professor and assistant director of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech, has been reappointed Preston and Catharine White Fellow by VirginMcCoy ia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee. The fellowship is funded from the Preston and Catharine White Endowment for the Myers-Lawson School of Construction. Virginia Tech’s J.P. Morgan was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society. Morgan is a professor of statistics, as well as Morgan associate dean for strategic initiatives in the College of Science and director of the college’s Academy of Integrated Science. Saied Mostaghimi, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Virginia Agriculture Experiment Station at Virginia Tech, Mostaghimi has been reappointed the H.E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee.

Rafie

Carlin Rafie has been appointed assistant professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech and adult nutrition specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Peter Rim, professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was reappointed the Joseph H. Collie Endowed Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering. Rim has Rim held the professorship since his arrival at Virginia Tech in 2010. M. Joseph Sirgy, professor of marketing in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, has been named as the Virginia Tech Real Estate Professor by the Virginia Tech board of visitors. Sirgy Sirgy has been a member of the Virginia Tech community since 1979.

Sontheimer of visitors.

Harald Sontheimer, who joined Virginia Tech in June to direct a universitywide neuroscience initiative, will hold the I.D. Wilson Chair in the College of Science. The appointment was recently approved by the Virginia Tech board

Sparks

Rick Sparks has been named university registrar at Virginia Tech. Sparks most recently served as interim director of Student Centers and Activities for the Division of Student Affairs at Virginia Tech.

John E. Taylor, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named Preston and Catharine White Professor by the VirTaylor ginia Tech board of visitors. The professorship is funded from the Preston and Catharine White Endowment for the MyersLawson School of Construction. Tom Tillar, who has served as interim senior vice president for advancement since February and vice president for alumni relations at Virginia Tech for the past 20 years, has announced his plan Tillar to step down from his current post in December. Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands lauded Tillar, a member of the Virginia Tech Class of 1969, for his long career and service to the university. Richard Veilleux, professor of horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been reappointed the Julian Haden Gary and Margaret Savage Gary Professor of Veilleux Horticulture by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee. G. Geoffrey Vining, professor of statistics in Virginia Tech’s College of Science, will receive the Box Medal by the European Network of Industrial and Business Statistics at this year’s annual Vining congress in Prague, Czech Republic, in September. The annual award is named after George Box, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, and recognizes an extraordinary statistician who has made remarkable contributions to the development and application of statistical methods in business and industry. Zheng (Phil) Xiang, an assistant professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, presented his research at the Biennial Conference of the Xiang International Academy for the Study of Tourism in Rhodes, Greece. Xiang was invited to the conference as an emerging scholar.

ROANOKE BUSINESS

SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce Virginia Transformer has named Marc Schillebeeckx executive vice president of sales, services and marketing. Schillebeeckx has more than 30 years of experience in global management, business Schillebeeckx development and corporate strategy within the power generation sector. The Willard Companies, owner of the Water’s Edge, a private 712-acre development that includes an 18-hole PGA Championship course and a private 36,000-square-foot country club nestled along 13.5 miles of the Smith Mountain Lake shoreline, has announced plans to move forward with selling the project. The golf course and country club will also be packaged with a 12,000-square-foot gated estate and primary residence of Ron Willard Sr., president of the company. According to Willard, the sale will not affect the golf course and country club operations, which currently employs approximately 75 staff. The Virginia law firm Woods Rogers PLC has announced that 32 of its attorneys are featured on the 2016 list of “Best Lawyers in America.” The Woods Rogers 2016 “Best Lawyers in

America” are: Thomas R. Bagby, employment law – management, labor law – management, litigation – labor and employment; D. Stan Barnhill, commercial litigation, construction law, litigation – First Amendment, professional malpractice law – defendants; Neil V. Birkhoff, tax law, trust and estates; Victor O. Cardwell, employment law – management, labor law – management; Claude D. Carter, real estate law; Francis H. Casola, commercial litigation, litigation – antitrust, litigation – intellectual property, litigation – real estate; Agnis C. Chakravorty, employment law – management, labor law – management, litigation – labor and employment; George J.A. Clemo, administrative/regulatory law, corporate law, project finance law, public finance law, securitization and structured finance law; Nicholas C. Conte, commercial litigation, corporate law; Bradley W. Fitzgerald, transportation law; Frank K. Friedman, appellate practice; Anthony J. Gambardella Jr., administrative/regulatory law, energy law; H. Allen Glover Jr., administrative/ regulatory law, energy law; James W. Jennings Jr., commercial litigation, personal injury litigation – defendants, product liability litigation – defendants, railroad law; R. Neal Keesee Jr.,

corporate law; Talfourd H. Kemper Sr., corporate law, real estate law, trusts and estates; B. Webb King, employment law – individuals; Alton L. Knighton Jr., employee benefits (ERISA) law, project finance law, public finance law; Mark D. Loftis, commercial litigation, insurance law, product liability litigation – defendants, technology law; Heman A. Marshall III, antitrust law, health care law, litigation; Richard C. Maxwell, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights / insolvency and reorganization law, litigation – bankruptcy; Anthony H. Moniousdis, insurance law; J. Lee Osborne, trusts and estates; Thomas T. Palmer, health care law; Elizabeth Guilbert Perrow, medical malpractice law – defendants; Matthew P. Pritts, transportation law; Alexander I. Saunders, corporate law, tax law, trust and estates; Christopher W. Stevens, insurance law; Daniel C. Summerlin III, labor law – management; Paul R. Thomson Jr., criminal defense, white collar, environmental law, litigation – environmental, timber law, water law; Thomas M. Winn III, employment law – management, labor law – management, litigation – labor and employment; and Dudley F. Woody, employment law – management.

Sharp Top was long thought to be Virginia’s tallest mountain, when in fact, it’s not even the tallest of the Peaks of Otter. A three mile hike, or bus-ride, leads visitors to a 360 degree overlook.

Photo courtesy Virginia Tourism Corp.

SEPTEMBER 2015

Are You Considering Medical School?

Building on a Tradition of Success I

f you are thinking about attending medical school, the Edward Via

College of Osteopathic Medicine has been building on a tradition of

success since opening its first campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 2003. Now, with three campuses across the southeast, VCOM has expanded not only in size and location, but has also grown in its ability to educate more medical

students. VCOM will continue its successful history of educating physicians to serve in the areas where they are needed most, and providing collaborative

medical research to benefit southwest Virginia, as well as advancing scientific research for our nation and around the globe.

Please visit our website to find out more about VCOM, where medical students learn to provide patient centered care as future physicians, from experiences extending far beyond the classroom.

www.vcom.edu or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/vcomvirginia Campuses in Blacksburg, VA • Spartanburg, SC • Auburn, AL Visit www.vcom.edu/outcomes to view a copy of our Outcomes Report. ©2015 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. All rights reserved. VCOM is certified by the State Council of Higher Education to operate in Virginia.

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. Choosing Radford was the best decision I could have made for my future career.” Learn more reasons why Radford might be right for you. Radford.edu