May 2009
Volume 9, No. 5

Cory Donnovan, NCTC Executive Director; Optical Cable Corporation President and Leadership Award Winner Neil Wilkin; Mary Miller, President, NCTC; Elaine Carver, Roanoke County CIO and Master of Ceremonies Peter Jobse, President and CEO, CIT.

Citizens in the Roanoke Region can observe Optical Cable’s success when watching a PGA tournament, an NFL sky cam video or a Formula One car race. So, who is the architect of OCC's success? Neil Wilkin.

Henry David Thoreau said that "we were born to succeed, not to fail."

A barrage of challenges faced Neil Wilkin his first day on the job into the next year,. First, about 85 percent of the cable fiber industry disappeared with industry leader Optical Cable seeing 25 per cent of its business dissolve. Then, the damage began to escalate: the company was $8.1 million in debt; the company stock dropped to a historic low; the negative impact on the entire U.S. business community from the tragedy of September 11th; a securities fraud lawsuit against the company and the scandal resulting from the past president’s actions; a class action lawsuit from the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for discriminatory practices that resulted in a $1,000,000 fine; and a class-action suit naming the company, immediate past president and board of directors by the shareholders over dubious business decisions. Wilkin’s job position changed as frequently as the problems he encountered. By April of 2002, he had held the positions of Senior Vice President, CFO, Acting President and finally was appointed President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. As 2003 began, the above critical issues had been addressed, the majority of issues had been solved and the company was looking forward.

Click here to read more.

occfiber.com

thetechnologycouncil.com

(L to R) NCTC Executive Director Cory Donnovan, NCTC President Mary Miller, Educator Award Winner Molly Bullington, Novozymes President Ted Melnik and CIT CEO Peter Jobse.

Molly Bullington of the Burton Center for Arts & Technology was one of two K-12 educators in the NewVa Corridor Region to receive the NCTC Educator Award sponsored by Novozymes Biologicals. This award recognizes an instructor that promotes math, science and/or the use of technology in creative ways to transfer knowledge and help develop future technology leaders.

www.rcs.k12.va.us/arbtc/index.html

(L to R) Vinton Mayor Brad Grose and Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Altizer join Vinton Kroger Store Manager Bruce Molnar in celebrating the Grand Re-Opening.

The Kroger store in Vinton held its Grand Re-Opening on Thursday, May 14th with store manager, Bruce Molnar, serving as Master of Ceremonies. Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Altizer and Town of Vinton Mayor Brad Grose presented a joint Certificate of Appreciation for the capital investment in the expansion/renovation project. Afterward, a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held and a Vinton Fire Truck sounded the alarm as the ribbon was officially cut and customers were invited into the store.

The Vinton Kroger now has an additional 30,000 square feet for a total of 88,426 square feet, a new Pharmacy with a drive-in window, an expanded wine department, a new floral department and an expanded Nature's Market. Not only is the location one of the largest grocery stores in the area, but it is the only store to host a new and unique department - home furnishings. The department includes name brand furniture such as Ashley, Sauder or Kroger's private label brands such as HD Designs and Everyday Living for couches, bar stools, entertainment centers, bookshelves, lamps, etc. The Vinton Kroger is the only store in the mid-Atlantic region with this distinctive merchandise section.

Congratulations to Bruce Molnar and his colleagues!

kroger.com

Business assistance programs provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia is the newest feature show on Roanoke County Business Partners. The program provides an overview of two timely programs in the current economic climate:

The International Trade Division
Virginia Economic Development Partnership
Interview with Paul Grossman, Director of International Trade

and

Virginia Jobs Investment Partnership
Virginia Department of Business Assistance
Interview with Debbie Melvin, Project Manager

Also featured in the program were Optical Cable Corporation for developing trade relationships in 60 foreign markets and ITT Night Vision for its training investment of 800+ employees.

Join Roanoke County Business Partner's hosts, Melinda Cox, Doug Chittum and Jill Loope as they explore assistance programs available to county business partners by the state of Virginia. Roanoke County Business Partners airs every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on RVTV Channel 3. For additional programming information, please click here www.rvtv.org.

Virginia Tech seniors in the Pamplin College of Business have developed The Online Business Guidebook that will be distributed to business professors and students nationally. Dr. Alan Abrahams' class formed a non-profit organization to serve as the book’s publisher and divided the roles of planning, management, budgeting, accounting, content, and distribution etc. to produce a 40-page manual for e-biz start-ups. The course project is part of the Business Analysis Seminar in Information Technology that focuses on a comprehensive web search. The book retails for approximately $10.