October 2009
Volume 9, No. 8

(L to R) Roanoke County Administrator Clay Goodman, VA Senator Ralph Smith, Roanoke City Councilwoman Gwen Mason, Roanoke County Supervisor Charlotte Moore, Bill Elmore, Coca-Cola Consolidated President and Chief Operating Officer, Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Altizer, Robert R. Altice Vinton Town Council Member, Bob Mietz Manager of Regional Sales for Virginia and Robert Chambless Senior Vice President for Sales jointly cut the ribbon for the grand opening.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated announced the opening of its new warehouse and logistics center during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Valley Gateway Industrial Park in Roanoke County.

“We are excited to expand our operations in the Roanoke Valley,” said Bill Elmore, Coca-Cola Consolidated President and Chief Operating Officer. “This investment of more than $9 million includes a new bottling line at our downtown Roanoke manufacturing plant on Shenandoah Avenue and the opening of our new warehouse and logistics center at Valley Gateway.” The expansion will create 10 jobs.

The Charlotte, N.C. based company also announced a partnership with the Western Virginia Land Trust and donated a Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle to the trust organization. To read more, click here.

www.cokeconsolidated.com

R&D magazine has named Synchrony’s Fusion® magnetic bearing as one of the 100 most technologically significant products of the past year. For 47 years, the prestigious R&D 100 Awards have been recognizing the most advanced products in their industries, judged by their advances in technology and their impacts to their markets and the world around them. The winning of an R&D 100 Award provides a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and academia as proof that the product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year. Fusion® greatly improves the performance and simplicity of using magnetic bearings in rotating equipment such as motors and pumps. Synchrony is an industry leader in improving the performance and reliability of high performance rotating machinery and power conversion systems.

To read more, click here.

www.synchrony.com

Jill Loope, Assistance Director
Roanoke County
Economic Development Department

JILL LOOPE
SOUTHERN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL'S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC), the oldest and largest regional economic development association in North America, is pleased to announce Jill Loope as the Virginia state director to serve on the SEDC Board of Directors. Ms. Loope was elected at the SEDC Annual Conference held August 15-18. The state director will serve a two-year term on SEDC's board. Ms. Loope is the Assistant Director for Economic Development for the Roanoke County Office of Economic Development in Roanoke, Virginia. Jill will take the seat in January 2010.

To read more, click here.

 

Doug Chittum, Director
Roanoke County
Economic Development Department

DOUG CHITTUM
VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Virginia Economic Development Association (VEDA), the state’s professional development organization for Virginia economic developers with a membership of over 500, appointed Doug Chittum as a board of directors member in January of 2008. Mr. Chittum also served on the Scholarship Committee. The director position is a two-year term which will end on December 31, 2010. Doug Chittum is the Economic Development Director for Roanoke County and recently co-chaired the Virginia Economic Development Association’s 2009 Fall Conference at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center with co-chair Jill Loope.

www.sedc.org

www.goveda.org

www.yesroanoke.com

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VINTON HAS A NEW VOICE

The first issue of Vinton Voice debuted on August 25th and is the brainchild of Vinton native, Chris Manning, who serves as the paper's publisher. To celebrate this milestone, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the paper's new office at 116 S. Poplar Street, Suite #1.

Vinton Mayor Brad Grose presented Chris Manning and the Vinton Voice staff with a certificate of appreciation for its contribution to economic development. Chamber President Hal Mabe congratulated the Vinton Voice and welcomed the new business to the community.

Three thousand copies of the paper will be printed weekly in Woodstock, VA, and will highlight stories of local interest, school events, sports, and Virginia news. The paper is focused on the Town of Vinton and East County and will also have a blog archive.

www.vintonvoice.com

BURGER IN THE SQUARE

On August 24, Burger in the Square opened at 3904 Brambleton Avenue. Owners Anita and Louis Wilson bought the business in the Roanoke City Market Building from the original owner in 1999. When the Wilsons made the decision to expand into Roanoke County, they choose the former Pitt Boss location and remodeled the entire restaurant and expanded their menu. Burger in the Square is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday. The restaurant's motto is "Your Belly's Best Friend". To reach Anita Wilson (pictured above), call 540-400-8645.

PITT BOSS

The Pitt Boss has relocated and opened its doors on July 27, 2009 at a new and expanded location at 4301 Brambleton Ave. in Roanoke County. The smokehouse owners, James and Nickki Tedesco renovated the 6,100-square-foot building at 4301 Brambleton Avenue. The new restaurant carries a smokehouse theme with stained exterior logs and a red tin roof. The bar area is complimented by 14 televisions with surround sound speakers. Customers will enjoy the same menu and the owners hope to open an outdoor dining patio behind the restaurant in the near future for the mountain views. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday and call (540) 400-6645 for more information.

DUNKIN' DONUTS

Dunkin' Donuts is the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world and has been in the coffee and baked goods arena since 1950. On July 1, 2009, franchise owner Andy Rod opened the store located at 5044 Keagy Road at 5:00 a.m. Rod, a native of New Jersey who has lived in Charlottesville for 11 years, took the plunge in an agreement to open at least 14 Dunkin' Donuts shops between Southwest Virginia and the Charlottesville area.

The Keagy Village store is open Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 am - 10:00pm and on Friday -Saturday from 5:30 am - 11:00 pm. Store phone is 540-772-3951 and the website is http://www.dunkindonuts.com. One unique feature about the Keagy Village Dunkin' Donuts is its drive-through window. As high as 50 percent of sales can be attributed to the drive through clients and supports the company's slogan of "America runs on Dunkin'."

FIREHOUSE SUBS

On April 27, 2009, Firehouse Subs was the second retailer to open its doors at Keagy Village in Southwest Roanoke County at 5044 Keagy Road. Carla and Chris Wissemann are the franchise owners. Firehouse Subs also caters and will deliver the catering order. Kids eat free after 4:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. To reach Carla Wissemann, email her at carla.wissemann@firehousesubs.com or call 540-204-4471.

The company was founded by firemen, and in 2005, the Sorenson family established the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to give back to the community through emergency service programs. For more about this retailer, go to www.firehousesubs.com.

Click for more information and agenda.

Entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial companies and the local/state agencies that assist these ventures is the theme of our current feature show on Roanoke County Business Partners.

Tom Tanner, Professional Business Counselor from the Roanoke Regional Chamber's Small Business Development Council, shares an overview of services his organization provides to entrepreneurs. www.roanokechamber.org

Jamal Millner, President of M3:GRAFIX, tells how he started his business while recovering from an accident based on advice from his father to expand his business again. www.m3grafix.com

John Lewis, President & CEO of DaProSystems, celebrates his 25th anniversary and a new office expansion in his story of how he started his business and recruited his family. www.daprosystems.com

Mike Tesoro, Chief Operating Officer of Keltech, Inc., introduces how Keltech was founded in a chicken coop, became an ESOP organization and how they keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive company wide. www.keltech-va.com

Pat Green, President of Intergrity Burial Boxes, LTD., and a partner in Green & Associates, relates how his first entrepreneurial experience lead him to his second business which is only made in Virginia.

Sandy Ratliff, Business Services Manager with the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, addresses how her organization works with entrepreneurs and provides assistance from one-on-one counseling to workshops. www.dba.state.va.us

Join Roanoke County Business Partner's hosts, Melinda Cox and Doug Chittum as they explore entrepreneur assistance programs available to county business partners on the local and state level. 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.