May 2008
Volume 8, No. 3
The E-newsletter of the Roanoke County Economic Development Department is
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.
Business Appreciation Week
May 11 - 17, 2008
ROANOKE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PROCLAIMS
2008
BUSINESS APPRECIATION WEEK
(l to r) Tracy Smith, VP & CFO: John Ferguson, VP & CIO;
Neil Wilkin, President & CEO; Teri Nelson, Director of Operations; Bob Booze, VP of Sales & Marketing; Debbie
Stokes, Executive Assistant; Richard Flora, Chairman, Board of
Supervisors; and Ted Leonard, VP of Technology & Engineering.
The Honorable Timothy M. Kaine, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
has declared the week of May 11 through 17, 2008 as Business Appreciation Week. This week
commemorates all business community partners for their daily contributions to the Commonwealth and
their leadership throughout four centuries of commerce. The week’s theme for 2008 is The State
of Small Business.
Neil Wilkin, President & CEO of Optical Cable Corporation, accepted the proclamation in appreciation and recognition of the Roanoke County business community
accompanied by members of his executive team. Mr. Wilkin is also President of the NewVA Corridor Technology Council.
CENTURIES OF BUSINESS IN VIRGINIA HISTORY
Once Upon a Business Dreary West Point dropout Edgar Allan Poe
returned to Richmond, his boyhood home, in 1835 to join the staff of The
Southern Literary Messenger. During the time that Poe wrote for and edited
the Messenger,
its circulation increased from 700 to 5,000. Despite his stellar performance, Thomas White, owner of the Messenger, never raised Poe’s pay. The now world-renowned poet, fiction writer, and editor left Richmond seeking more opportunity in 1837. Had Thomas White known about profit-sharing or pay for performance, Virginia might never have lost this literary giant to the 12 years he spent in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Ye Olde Factory
A glass-blowing production shop in 1608 Jamestown is generally accepted to be the first manufacturing industry in the New World.
Reynolds Rocks Reynolds Aluminum in Richmond, now Aloca, produced the first aluminum siding in 1945 and aluminum foil in 1947 (“Reynolds Wrap”). In 1975, they would produce the first aluminum can with a “stay-on” tab. A brief history of Reynolds by BAW Breakfast speaker Paul Levengood can be found
here.
To read more click here.
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