April 24, 2006
Volume 6, No. 1, 2006
This is the E-newsletter of the Roanoke County Economic
Development Department designed to showcase the
investments and achievements of our existing business
partners. For additional information about doing business
in Roanoke County, visit our website
www.yesroanoke.com.
Two Visionaries
Roanoke County gratefully remembers two of our business partners
who were visionaries in their respective industries, Alvin Fink and Al
Pollard. These men were leaders in the valley and the void created by
their absence will be felt for years to come.
Al Pollard with Catawba District
Supervisor Butch
Church and former Cave Spring District
Supervisor
Fuzzy Minnix at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
for
419 West restaurant in 2002.
A driving force behind Roanoke's flourishing restaurant scene, Al
Pollard, with business partner Roger Neel, operated Corned Beef & Co.
in downtown Roanoke, 419 West in Southwest Roanoke County and two
locations of their signature Frankie Rowland's Steak House, one in
downtown Roanoke and one in Winston-Salem, N.C. A native of Erie,
Pennsylvania, Al fell in love with the Roanoke Valley while a business
administration major at Roanoke College. After graduating, Pollard
remained in the valley and became involved in the revitalization of
downtown Roanoke, the Roanoke Express hockey team, and originated the
Quality of Life Scholarship for the Miss Virginia Pageant. On March 6,
2006, the Virginia General Assembly offered House Joint Resolution No.
476 celebrating the life of Frank Alan Pollard II.
Alvin Fink and his son, Marc, cut the
ribbon for the opening of their
signature store and
corporate
headquarters in 2004.
On March 27, 2006, the Virginia General Assembly offered House
Joint No. 5005 celebrating the life of Alvin Barnett Fink. Alvin Fink,
was born in Selma, Alabama, but grew up in Roanoke, graduated from the
University of Virginia and served as a medic in World War II before
returning home. In 1960, he became president of Fink's, the company
that his father, Nathan Fink, founded in 1930 by selling watches on
credit for 50 cents a week on Roanoke's Campbell Avenue. In the late
1980s, his son, Marc, took over as president of the company, though
his father stayed on as chairman and CEO until the 1990s. Alvin Fink
also served as a former president of the Jewelers of America and on
numerous local board of directors. He helped expand Fink's to a
multi-city enterprise with 15 retail stores across Virginia and North
Carolina, including locations in Lynchburg, Richmond, and Charlotte
and Durham, N.C. Fink’s, the largest jewelry retailer in the
Roanoke Valley, is headquartered in Roanoke County.
Synchrony, Inc. is awarded $5,000,000 in
Venture Capital
(L to R): Mike Wray, Chairman, Roanoke
County Board of Supervisors; Dr. Victor Iannello, President,
CEO and Founder, Synchrony Inc.; and Elmer Hodge,
Administrator, Roanoke County.
At a February 21st media conference, NewVa Capital Partners, LP,
and affiliates of Third Security, LLC, a private equity/venture
capital fund, announced that Synchrony, Inc. has closed a $5,000,000
Series A round of investment. The funding will be used to help
Synchrony transition from being primarily a research and development
firm to a company focused on launching new products developed from
intellectual properties to the commercial market. Synchrony
specializes in the development and production of magnetic bearings,
power, and control systems.
Dr. Victor Iannello being interviewed by
the local
media about the venture capital award to
Synchrony.
"This investment is an incredible opportunity for us to scale up
our operations and leverage the technology to reach its full market
potential. Our mission is to be the global leader in magnetic control
technologies” said Dr. Victor Iannello, President, CEO, and Chairman
of the Board of Directors of Synchrony, Inc. In addition to Dr.
Iannello, Synchrony's Board of Directors will include John Williamson,
President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of RGC Resources, Rob
Patzig, Senior Managing Director of Third Security, Ted Melnik,
President of Novozymes Biologicals, Dr. Dan Sable, President and CEO
of VPT, and Matthew Crisp, Business Development Associate of Third
Security."
Synchrony began as a home-based business in the Roanoke County home
of its founder, Victor Iannello, in 1993. As the company matured, the
operation moved to a Bent Mountain location. In 2000, company growth
prompted the owner to build a company headquarters in Southwest
Industrial Park. Synchrony currently has eleven employees and expects
to double its headcount in the next several years. It has begun a
construction project to expand its existing facility to 11,000 square
feet, where development and production activities will occur.
(L to R) First Row: Mike Wray, Chairman and
Supervisor, Cave Spring District; Rob Patzig, Senior Managing
Director, Third Security, LLC; and Elmer Hodge, County
Administrator. Second Row: Dr. Ed Murphy, President and CEO,
Carilion Health System; Dr. Raymond Smoot, COO and
Secretary/Treasurer, Virginia Tech Foundation; Joe McNamara,
Supervisor, Windsor Hills District; and Mike Altizer,
Supervisor, Vinton District.
For more information, please click on
www.synchrony.com.
Cox Communications to Double Size of Its
Facility
Cox Communications Inc., a Fortune 500 and multi-service broadband
communications company, (NYSE: COX), announced on January 20 that it
will expand and renovate its Roanoke County facility on Fallowater
Lane. Once complete, the new structure will contain more than 50,000
square feet. The new addition will account for 27,000 square
feet of the total facility. The building construction and equipment
investment is expected to reach more than $5 million and Cox
anticipates increasing its workforce up to 240 full-time positions by
2010.
Chairman Mike Wray (left)and County
Administrator Elmer Hodge (far right) co-present a Certificate
of Appreciation to Marilyn S. Burrows, Vice President and
General Manager of Cox Communications Roanoke, at the
expansion announcement press conference.
(L to R) County Administrator Elmer Hodge
with Mike Pedelty, Community Relations
Director for Cox
Communications Roanoke
Cox Communications Vice President and General Manager Marilyn
Burrows praised the County Board of Supervisors and administration for
its efforts to help the company expand its operation. Burrows added
the new building reinforces Cox’s commitment to the Roanoke Valley.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge said “Cox Communications Roanoke is
one of the area’s leading communications companies and a superior
business partner for their dual role in technology and community
leadership."
Cox Communication Roanoke's employees
observe the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the
building
expansion.
The company plans to enhance its service capabilities through
building expansion and renovation, state-of-the-art equipment and an
increased, skilled workforce to better meet customer demand. These
improvements to service are on top of recent product launches like Cox
Digital Telephone and Cox Digital Video Recorder (DVR).
A Groundbreaking Ceremony for the expansion project was held on
March 9th with all three of Cox Communication service areas
participating. The company expects to have the project complete in
late 2006 or early 2007. More information about Cox Communications can
be accessed on the Internet at
www.cox.net.
Participants in Cox Communication
Roanoke's groundbreaking ceremony on Fallowater Drive.
ITT Names New General Manager at Night
Vision Facility
ITT Industries, Inc. has announced that W. Michael (Mike) Hayman
has been named President & General Manager of its Night Vision Value
Center. Hayman succeeds Gary Aicher who recently was named President
of ITT’s Advanced Water Treatment business.
Hayman comes to Night Vision from ITT’s Aerospace/Communications
Division (A/CD), where he most recently served as Vice President &
Director of Operations.
“Mike is the perfect person to continue Gary’s strong leadership at
Night Vision, ” said Steve Gaffney, president of ITT Defense. “Mike
has a broad spectrum of management and operations experience and
helped lead A/CD successfully through a significant capacity ramp-up,
so he is well-positioned to lead Night Vision through its current
expansion, as our nation’s protectors need this life-saving technology
more than ever.”
Hayman has 33 years of service with various production and
development divisions including North Electric Co., Alcatel N.A. and
ITT Telecom. Prior to serving as Vice President & Director of
Operations at A/CD, he served as its Value- Based Six Sigma Program
Champion, spearheading cost reduction and process improvement programs
for the division.
County of Roanoke Commercial Corridor
Grant Program
The purpose of this program is to encourage site improvements to
business properties along commercial corridors in Roanoke County. This
is accomplished through a matching grant program, providing grants
ranging from $500 to $15,000, for beautification projects that are
undertaken in accordance with established design guidelines. The
approved corridors are Hollins Village, Route 11/460 West, and
downtown Vinton.
Any property owner or business owner (with owner’s permission)
within these corridors may apply for grant assistance. If the
application is completed, the applicant is eligible for up to 50%
reimbursement of qualified expenditures. The maximum grant amount is
$15,000 and the minimum amount is $500. All grant applications must be
a Roanoke County real estate tax paying entity. All projects must meet
the appropriate Design Guidelines.
For more information, please call 772-2069 or 772-2185.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies
BASKETS FULL OF BLESSINGS, INC.
Lisa Kornegay and Kenna Buck (center) are joined by their
husbands, Town Manager Kevin Boggess, Chamber representatives
Tammy Vaught and Judy Cunningham and friends to celebrate the
opening of their business at 1121 Washington Avenue, Suite B
on February 8, 2006.
DR. NEAL S. JESSUP, OPTOMETRIST.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new office building at 600
S. Pollard Street owned by Dr. Neal (pictured in white jacket)
was held on December 14, 2006. Mayor Brad Grose, Vinton
Chamber President Anthony Conner and Vice President Tammy
Vaught were present to celebrate with Dr. Jessup and his
medical staff.
PATRIOT DRUG & DNA TESTING, INC.
The staff and friends of Patriot Drug & DNA Testing celebrated
the grand opening of their new business on September 22, 2005,
with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5346-C Peters Creek Road.
Husband and wife owners, Nancy Harms and William Holmes
(center), are joined by Hollins Magisterial District
Supervisor Richard Flora (right) and American Medical
Compliance Testing Inc. President, Gene Elwell (left).
Microsoft Quarterly Road Show Visits Roanoke County
The Roanoke Valley .NET User Group (RV.NUG) along with the
International .NET Association (INETA) and other corporate sponsors
hosted the Microsoft Community Launch of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL
Server 2005. The event was held on February 7th at the Roanoke County
Public Safety Building. In addition to the County of Roanoke, local
sponsorship was provided by Advanced Logic Industries Inc. (ALI),
Books-a-Million, Virginia Western Community College, and Virtual IT,
Inc. National sponsorship was provided by O’Reilly and APress book
companies along with Component One.
Launch team members were Robin Edwards and
Harold Buckner from the County of Roanoke, Adrian Lanning from
Virtual IT, Inc, Brian Johnston and Paige Kanode from Advance
Auto Parts and Brian Lanham, also from Virtual IT.
Volunteer members of the RV.NUG committed to learning the new
products prior to the official release. Self-paced training was
provided by Microsoft via .NET Meeting and training DVDs. The RV.NUG
Launch team then delivered three presentations from the Visual Studio
2005 / SQL Server 2005 World-wide Launch Tour .
76 attendees (105% of those registered)
from 20 different organizations within the Roanoke Valley
attended the RV.NUG Community Launch.
The Roanoke Valley .NET User Group
www.rvnug.org was founded in the Roanoke Valley shortly after the
first release of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET in 2002. A new SQL
Server User Group www.rvssug.org
was spawned as a result of the huge interest shown at the RV.NUG
Community Launch. The County of Roanoke provides use of the
technologically advanced Emergency Operation Center (which boasts
projection screens and public wireless access) to both groups. RV.NUG
meets the first Thursday and RVSSUG meets the third Thursday of each
month. Visit each group’s individual web site for more information.
Microsoft Live events are held quarterly in select regions and on
January 31st they chose the Carmike Cinemas in Roanoke County. Live
Events connect you with handpicked presenters who have extensive real
world experience. These events are the perfect opportunity to get
valuable technical content with lively demonstrations and lots of time
for discussion. With over 300 in attendance, this day long event
exceeded all of Microsoft’s expectations. Look for Microsoft to host
more events in the area as a result of this fantastic showing.
NSA Coming Back to Roanoke Valley - July
22-29, 2006
Roanoke County will join other jurisdictions in the Roanoke Valley
to host of hundreds of girls softball teams this year as the NSA Girls
Fast Pitch Softball Class B World Series makes its second appearance
July 22-29, 2006.
More than 250 teams are expected to attend the week-long
tournament, with an economic impact of millions for Roanoke County,
City of Salem, and Roanoke. Roanoke County will provide five of the
seven athletics facilities needed to host the tournament, including
softball fields at Arnold R. Burton, Northside Softball Complex,
Vinyard Park, Green Hill Park, and Darrell Shell Park. At least 18 of
the 25 game fields will be in Roanoke County facilities.
This tournament is just the latest success of the Regional Sports
Marketing Committee, a joint effort led by Roanoke County, City of
Salem, Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Regional Sports Marketing Committee recruits sporting events as
economic engines for the various localities within the Roanoke Valley.
More information can be found at
www.nsa- youthworld.com/salem/salem.shtm.
RVTV's Roanoke County Business Partners
The current Roanoke County Business Partners is the second "Best
Of" program featuring abbreviated segments that highlight business
partners from the original 2003 television shows.
The television program airs every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and
8:00 p.m. on RVTV Channel 3.
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