THE ROANOKE REGION OF VIRGINIA

Nearly 250 projects across the state will be constructed thanks to Recovery Act funding

Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that more than $1 billion in American Restoration and Recovery Act funding has been allocated for infrastructure projects in Virginia.

The announcement included $2 million in funding for the Roanoke River Greenway. The money will be spent to connect the Tinker Creek and Roanoke River Greenways in the City of Roanoke and to complete sections of the Roanoke River Greenway around Salem’s Moyer Sports Complex.

"These projects are beginning at a time when we are facing a national economic crisis, and they are putting Virginians to work," Governor Kaine said. "The projects also will pay long-term dividends to all of us, in the form of improved bridges and highways, railways and other transit, sewage treatment and drinking water."


Roanoke Region of Virginia

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The Roanoke Region was mentioned on CNNMoney.com.

Cave Spring is a slow-paced, family-oriented community adjacent to the city of Roanoke, a bustling industrial hub. Carillion Health Care, Advance Auto Parts, GE, Toshiba, and ITT have large operations in the area. Virginia Tech is less than an hour away, and several high-tech companies have a presence here too.

Before it hit the charts, Dave Matthews Band put in 200 hours of work -- on the q.t. -- at Salem's Flat 5 Press and Recording Co.

Rewind to 1993, and Dave Matthews Band was playing college fraternity parties, and had played the Barrel House in Salem (site of All Sports Cafe's Salem location). But the buzz was building, and by the end of the year, a major record label bidding war was on to sign the act, Ohmsen remembered.

He had just moved the studio out of his Salem home and into town -- "My wife told me to move it," he said, with a grin -- and the business was "limping along." He was also working at Stage Sound, where Matthews' group had been renting gear for shows.

Band manager Coran Capshaw asked Stage Sound owner Reid Henion about local studios. Capshaw wanted something relatively close to DMB's Charlottesville home base, but not so close that the band couldn't get any peace. Henion suggested Ohmsen.

The band came to hang out, liked the vibe and made plans to record. Ohmsen was sworn to secrecy.

"I agreed not to reveal they were here," he said. "I did get calls -- from the media, from girls."

The band came in for five days a week, two weeks out of each month. It spent the rest of the month playing shows. The arrangement worked like it often does for young bands.




Roanoke Region of Virginia

Thanks to Roanoke.com

– Governor Kaine highlights national ranking by U.S. News & World Report for Virginia's "favorable and innovative climate" for entrepreneurs –

Governor Timothy M. Kaine today highlighted Virginia's ranking among the "Five Best States to Start a Business." The recognition by U.S. News & World Report this week comes on the heels of the Commonwealth's sixth number one ranking for its pro-business environment.

"The latest accolades accorded the Commonwealth demonstrate that Virginia remains a power player among business-friendly states," said Governor Kaine. "As we work to get our economy back on track, it's great to be recognized for continuing to attract innovative businesses to Virginia."

"Virginia makes a great effort to assist in the establishment of small businesses with programs that streamline the startup process and connect entrepreneurs with resources," said Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Patrick Gottschalk. "Our business one stop electronic business formation system is continually growing in popularity with Virginia's entrepreneurs."


Roanoke Region of Virginia

PixelOptics, a small Roanoke County-based technology company, provided additional evidence this weekend that the growing company could be moving toward a fortunate future.
PixelOptics announced that the Panasonic Venture Group has become an apparently enthusiastic investor and shareholder. PVG is the venture capital arm of global electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., better known as Panasonic. The investment amount was not disclosed.
PixelOptics executives, including optometrist, inventor and entrepreneur Ron Blum, suggest that the company's successful launch of high-tech lenses for vision correction could benefit the region's economy.
To date, most of the product development information shared cautiously by PixelOptics has focused on its electro-active lens -- a microprocessor equipped lens designed to focus automatically on objects near, far and in-between. Blum said a different lens will be introduced in early October at the International Vision Expo West in Las Vegas.
He said PixelOptics wants to make a big splash by first introducing the lens to industry insiders at the event. The product PixelOptics will tout is a fixed-focus, composite lens, said Steve Holt, the company's chief financial officer.
Neither he nor Blum would provide additional details.
According to PVG, based in California's Silicon Valley, it serves "as a gateway for companies to partner with Panasonic on technology and product development." The group said it invests in companies that present a "strategic competitive advantage to Panasonic."
Blum has said the lenses being developed by PixelOptics could have a profound impact on the optical industry. The company's lenses are designed to treat presbyopia, a condition that begins to affect the vision of many middle-aged people and is generally corrected now with bifocals or progressive addition lenses.
Holt said PVG's investment does not necessarily mean Panasonic will license or buy the small company's lens technologies.
"It's a good sign that they're interested in the product but I wouldn't read too much more into that," Holt said.
Patrick Suel of PVG said he discovered PixelOptics during a discussion with a friend. One discussion led to another, he said.
He said the group believes PixelOptics' electro-active lenses could spur the first real revolution in spectacle lenses since 1784, when Benjamin Franklin is said to have invented bifocals.
Brad McManus, PVG's director of investments, said the group also was impressed by the management team PixelOptics has recruited to Roanoke, a team that includes high-level veterans from optical lens companies such as Essilor.
Blum, the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the recruitment to Roanoke of these executives has helped the local economy. PixelOptics recently moved from cramped offices on Hershberger Road to a much larger space in the Valleypointe business park in Roanoke County. It has about 30 employees.
"I believe PixelOptics has already made a positive contribution to the Roanoke Valley by way of new jobs, bringing new talent and families to the valley and exposing others from outside the valley to the Roanoke Valley," Blum said in an e-mail.
"Admittedly, the more successful PixelOptics becomes the more it will impact the valley," he added. "I have learned that with a young start-up company momentum and credibility are everything. Having a global giant like Panasonic invest in PixelOptics provides both."
Cory Donovan, executive director for the NewVa Corridor Technology Council, said that Panasonic's investment in PixelOptics provides "another example of how the region is now appearing on the radar screen as a place that is home to innovative, successful technology companies."
Blum has a track record of success in the spectacle lens industry. In 1997, he sold his company, Innotech, and its lens technology to Johnson & Johnson for $135 million.
Blum's innovations played a role in the Definity eyeglass lens later sold by J&J. Local officials celebrated when the Fortune 500 company announced it would manufacture the lens in Roanoke. However, in 2005, J&J announced it had sold the lens to competitor Essilor, which moved production out of Roanoke.
In 1999, Blum founded the Egg Factory, an innovation-focused, privately held company. In 2005, PixelOptics spun off from eVision, a spinoff of the Egg Factory.
On the net: www.pixeloptics.com and www.vcpanasonic.com.

Franklin County’s innovative approach to the use of technology in improving government services and efficiency has been recognized with one of the Commonwealth’s highest honors. Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine awarded Franklin County the prestigious Technology Award for Excellence during his remarks at the 10th annual Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS) in Williamsburg on Monday. Only eight projects statewide received this coveted prize.

The award came in the category of Innovative Use of Technology in Local Government for the County’s wireless broadband project. Franklin County’s winning project utilized a public-private partnership between the County and B2X, a private sector wireless Internet service provider. The partnership built a redundant, wireless mesh network that expanded the County’s wide-area network to all remote county offices including fifteen fire and rescue stations. This enabled the County to provide better emergency services response to the outlying areas of the community and to streamline government operations County-wide. In addition, the project brought high-speed internet options to citizens throughout the community, many for the first time. The project targeted those rural areas that were identified as most lacking in broadband availability. The partnership made innovative use of existing County infrastructure and utilized creative financing to expedite the network build-out while limiting the investment of the County’s general funds and impact on taxpayers. The availability of high-speed internet service is a prerequisite to many businesses looking to locate in the area and is viewed as a major quality of life issue for citizens.

The Governor's Technology Awards recognize innovation and ‘big picture thinking' put into action by government entities. In receiving the award on behalf of Franklin County, Director of Information Technology Sandie Terry said, “this award is very gratifying in that it recognizes the County’s efforts to deploy broadband services for Economic Development and quality of life enhancements in a very cost effective and collaborative way. This award demonstrates Franklin County’s leadership in the state in addressing the challenges facing local governments with innovative solutions.”

For further information on Franklin County, go to www.franklincountyva.org.

Cory Donovan, Executive Director of NCTC, wrote an interesting Op-Ed for the Blue Ridge Business Journal describing the opportunities for high tech business and high tech jobs in the region.


I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Even before I started thinking about college and career, I always knew I’d wind up leaving my hometown because there just wasn’t much opportunity. Unless you really don’t get along with your family, I doubt most of us enjoy the prospect of moving away from our loved ones. But, we all do what we have to do, right? Had I grown up in today’s NewVa region, which includes Roanoke, Blacksburg, and surrounding counties, I would have had a lot more options. Our region is home to a budding community of fast-growing technology companies. Many have current job openings for software developers, hardware engineers, biotechnologists, research technicians, material scientists, as well as, supporting positions in human resources, marketing and accounting to name a few.However, finding those qualified professionals is a big challenge that could restrict the growth of those young technology companies. And it’s not just a challenge for this area – tech companies throughout the country are facing the same problem because there’s a shortage of workers in almost every technology field.

This presents an opportunity for us here in the NewVa region - a unique prospect that other regions in this country cannot offer. Our children can grow up here, get a quality education nearby, pursue exciting careers in advanced technologies, and be well compensated without having to make the difficult decision to move away.

The NewVa region is frequently recognized as a great place to raise a family, and enjoy a high quality of life - not to mention the spectacular outdoor amenities. The region also includes a strong base of successful entrepreneurs with a zealous commitment to the region’s future. Plus, there are six institutions of higher education, including Virginia Tech, which operates a research park home to over 100 companies.

Many of the growing tech companies in our area will be exhibiting at the NewVa Tech Expo on September 5th at the Roanoke Civic Center. So, if you have a son, daughter, cousin, other family member, or friend who moved away to pursue jobs elsewhere, please spread the word about the opportunity that exists here. Come out and learn more about the companies creating the economic growth that will employ the future generations in Southwest Virginia. For more information, please visit our website at www.TheTechnologyCouncil.com/TechExpo.

Cory Donovan
Executive Director
NewVa Corridor Technology Council