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 .

(L to R): Larry Curfiss, VP-Director, Development, ITTNV; Richard Flora, Supervisor, Hollins District; Mike Wray, Vice Chairman and Supervisor, Cave Spring District; Michael Schewel, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade; Butch Church, Supervisor, Catawba District; Joe McNamara, Supervisor, Windsor Hills District; and Mike Altizer, Chairman and Supervisor, Vinton District.

On September 26, 2005, ITT Industries Night Vision Division, the world's leading developer, producer and supplier of night vision goggles and technology, announced an award of up to $40 million of facilitization funding from the Army Contracting Agency of White Sands Missile Range. As a result, the total planned investment of $51.8 million for capacity expansion at its Roanoke County facility will create 250 new high paying jobs including 50 management-level positions.

The company plans to enhance its production capabilities through building renovation, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and site development of its production facility in North Roanoke County. "The support of the Commonwealth of Virginia and Roanoke County has been instrumental in achieving our mission to outfit U.S. and allied warfighters with life-saving technology," said Gary Aicher, ITT's President and General Manager. Congressman Bob Goodlatte elaborated that "the work that ITT does is essential to ensuring that the United States military is technologically prepared to face whatever challenges face our nation. We owe our men and women in uniform the highest quality equipment, and ITT Industries is prepared to provide that."

Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Mike Schewel presented Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Mike Altizer and County Administrator Elmer Hodge with a $700,000 check which is a grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund will be matched by Roanoke County. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance's Workforce Services Program will provide up to $150,000 as a training grant that will provide training assistance for the new employees.

For more information, please click on http://www.itt.com/.

Tecton Products, LLC, a manufacturer of pultruded composite products, held a ground breaking ceremony on September 28th for its new 75,000 square-foot facility in the Roanoke County Center for Research and Technology (CRT). "Today is significant in the growth and development of Tecton Products," said Robert Plagemann, General Manager for Tecton. "As we break ground for our second facility, the CRT will make an outstanding new home for the future success of our company." Tecton plans to open its facility and begin manufacturing by June of 2006.

The project, which was announced in April, will create 58 new jobs with a $9.5 million investment in the first phase of the project. The company will invest an additional $3.5 million and create 93 more jobs in Phase II by 2011. In total Tecton plans to invest $13 million within the next five years.

Headquartered in Fargo, N.D., Tecton Products began in 1990 as a partnership between Marvin Windows and Doors and the company's president, John Jambois. Tecton's initial charter was to work with Marvin to develop a high performance window and door product line using pultrusions for the framing components. During Tecton's pultrusion process, glass reinforcements are impregnated with a proprietary liquid resin and pulled through a heated die. The resulting composite profile is strong, thermally stable, insulating and resistant to corrosion, chemicals and moisture. Today Tecton Products has become the world's largest manufacturer of thin walled complex shaped pultrusions.

For more information visit: http://www.tectonproducts.com/.

Award nominees and winners from Roanoke County are listed by award category. Congratulations to each of our business partners for this well-deserved recognition of their contributions to small business.

Congratulations to David Wallenborn and his colleagues at Plastics One for being name the Roanoke Regional Small Business of the Year for 2005! Plastics One will represent the Roanoke Region in the award competition at the state level.

Mark Franck (left), Koppers Inc. Plant Manager, with The Honorable Tayloe Murphy, Jr., Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources.

The 10th Annual Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards for Manufacturing was held on September 14th in Richmond, VA. Koppers Inc. received the Bronze Award for Environmental Program. This award program encourages excellence in environmental management by recognizing achievements that go beyond compliance toward stewardship. Since the inception of this program, The Virginia Manufacturers Association’s Outreach has facilitated the awards and competition and hosted the presentation of the awards. This year was unique because the Virginia General Assembly codified the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards as part of the Commonwealth’s Environmental Excellence Program.

Koppers Inc. is very interested in the education of local students in environmental stewardship. Students are invited to community meetings at the plant, provided plant tours, and the Plant Manager has spoken to all 6th grade Science classes on the plant operation and how the environment is protected. Every year, the students from Glenvar Middle School team up with the Koppers’ employees to participate in the Virginia “Adopt A Stream” program cleaning litter from the Roanoke River.

Only 17 awards were presented this year across the Commonwealth by the Governor’s Environmental Excellence program. Past winners in Roanoke County are Novozymes Biologicals and Southern States Cooperative.

For more information, please click on http://www.koppers.com/.

Architectural Wood and Closet and Storage Concepts have been asked to participate in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which is an ABC Television show that airs each Sunday at 8:00 PM. Closet & Storage Concepts will build and install custom closet storage systems configured by the professional television team. The installation is scheduled for 9:00 AM on Friday, December 9th. Woodworkers and volunteers from Architectural Wood will be onsite to assist the production crew in a variety of last minute projects. The house location will be on Ardmore Street in Blacksburg, Virginia, and is the home of Carol Crawford Smith. The world-class ballet dancer contracted multiple sclerosis about five years ago and now has trouble walking. The television show will air approximately 8 weeks after production.

Congratulations to Bruce Cody and his colleagues at Architectural Wood on the company's 20th Anniversary which was celebrated on November 1, 2005.

To celebrate their 20th Anniversary, the Architectural Wood staff received a “2005 Inaugural AWI Standards of Excellence Award" for outstanding woodwork projects. Architectural Wood scored first place in the Sports Facility category for work done at Cassell Coliseum at Va. Tech. This award is significant as it was 1 of 12 NATIONAL awards recognizing architectural projects across the country. The company also won the CAN "Zero Lost Time Accident Achievement Award" for woodworkers. Both awards were presented at the Architectural Woodwork Institute's annual meeting in San Diego on October 26, 2005.

For more information, please click on http://www.archwoodonline.com/.

Robert “Bob” Jones, Vice President Manufacturing, recently transferred to RR Donnelley’s Roanoke Manufacturing Plant from the Willard, Ohio plant where he spent the last two years as VPM. Bob brings the experience of an extensive 30-year operations career. Before joining RR Donnelley in 2003, Bob was vice president of operations at Sheridan Books, Inc., with responsibility for operations over multiple plants. He has held operations leadership positions at Pinnacle Partners and Mead Packaging in Atlanta, Ga. Bob has experience managing and improving safety, quality and productivity, including successful application of Continuous Improvement and ISO Methodologies.

Bob and his wife, Sue, have 4 children.

For more information, please click on http://www.rrd.com/.

Dave Jones, Mill Manager, makes an adjustment to Southern State's newest acquisition, a robot named "Ole Bill"

Southern States Cooperative, Inc. in Vinton has purchased a robot for loading pallets with feed sacks in the warehouse operation. The robot, which has been affectionately named “Ole Bill” after several human predecessors, can do the work of four employees. With the new warehouse racking system, the automation, and human ingenuity, the Vinton feed mill can supply 50 stores from Gate City, VA to Williamsburg Road in Richmond and from Keyser, WV, to Calverton, VA. Looking for new ways to be productive is the plant’s motto which is impressive since all product in the mill is made to order for individual customer orders.

For more information, please click on http://www.southernstates.com/.

The Workforce Development Services and Lifelong Learning Division of Virginia Western Community College was recently certified to teach Command Spanish®, Inc., an on-site, job-specific Spanish language and cross-cultural training program for the nursing, law enforcement, dentistry, public safety, construction, hospitality, banking, office management, warehousing, manufacturing and retail sales industries."

Command Spanish® is not grammar based and courses are low-stress, direct, and last between 8-24 hours. Previous Spanish experience is not necessary to enroll in the program, which was developed and produced by a team of experts. Command Spanish®, Inc. combines the expertise of language and curriculum design specialists with the knowledge and experience of real world practitioners including police officers, physicians, paramedics, probation and correctional officers, counselors, social workers, nurses, teachers, dentists, business persons, and supervisors.

Survival Spanish is learning only the Spanish phrases, questions, and commands needed for specific purposes. There is not an attempt to teach the whole language. For example, nurses learn how to assist and treat patients in Spanish, not discuss the weather. Police officers are taught how to arrest criminals in Spanish, not to order a meal in a restaurant.

To learn more about the availability of Command Spanish® classes, contact Dr. Chuck Terrell, Vice President of Workforce Development Services and Lifelong Learning at 540-767-6126 or e-mail cterrell@vw.vccs.edu.

Ranny Grubb, Managing Consultant and CIO for Virtual IT, provided the TEK Camp participants with an "up close and personal" interaction opportunity with a robot named Spybot. The Spybot model is a demonstration type of robot for security technology and surveillance.

Twenty selected middle and high school students from Roanoke County and Salem were invited to take part in the charter Technology Education for Kids (T.E.K.) Camp held June 20 - 24 on the campus of Hollins University.

A camp upper classman served as
anchor for the mini newscast that was
filmed at the Hollins University television
station by RVTV-Channel 3. All students
participated in the newscast and used the
video as a camp evaluation tool.

T.E.K. Camp is a collaborative project between Hollins University and the County of Roanoke and was sponsored by Carilion Health System, Virtual IT, and Access. Classes and interactive programs challenge the youth to discover how technology impacts their daily lives and how it is creating future job opportunities for Generation X. Classroom instructional topics ranged from the basics of digital photography, photo editing, web page design, Internet surfing safety, and how to find the best online resources for homework and other personal use.

Students also attended demonstrations on autonomous vehicles (robots) from Virtual IT, Roanoke County Police Department’ s Assault Vehicle and a radio controlled airplane, and a chemistry laboratory challenge with Dr. Dan Derringer, a Hollins University professor. The County Fire and Rescue Department demonstrated thermal imaging technology on their emergency response vehicles. Instead of completing written evaluations, students created a program in the Hollins’ television studio where the student anchor and roving reporters interviewed students to obtain the student experience feedback for planning next year’s camp.

Digital Photography was an integral part of the TEK Camp’s curriculum and students were provided personal cameras and required to photograph each learning experience.

T.E.K. Camp concluded with a graduation picnic for students and their families on Friday, June 24. Program graduates received technology-related gifts donated by area businesses and organizations and congratulatory remarks by Richard Flora, Roanoke County Board of Supervisors member, Hollins District.

Roanoke County Battalion Chief, Charlie King, demonstrates thermal imaging technology to students and explains its application in a fire situation.

The current Roanoke County Business Partners is the first "Best Of" program featuring abbreviated segments that highlight business partners from the original 2001 and 2002 television shows.

The television program airs every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on RVTV Channel 3.