Roanoke County Business Partners Newsletter
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March 2020: Volume 20, 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
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First Team Automotive Group
has announced the opening of a brand new, state-of-the-art Volkswagen Sales and Service facility. This 15,000+ sq. ft. facility will be located at 6614 Peters Creek Road, at the former Stritesky's Florist location beside the Hollins Library.
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This all-new VW facility designed with electric vehicle capabilities is currently under construction with completion expected in the fall of 2020. Read the full press release
here
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General Inquires
P: 540-772-2069
F: 540-772-2030
Address
5204 Bernard Drive, SW
Room 421
PO Box 29800
Roanoke, VA 24018
Contacts
Director
Manager
Specialist
Specialist
Administrative Assistant
Mission Statement
To attract and facilitate the growth of innovative businesses, jobs and population that increase taxable investment and ensure sustainable world class community resources.
QUICK LINKS
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Bridging the Talent Gap for Local Business
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This month, we coordinated tours for Roanoke County business,
Trivium Packaging
(formerly Ardagh Group), at the Burton Center for Arts & Technology and Virginia Western Community College. These tours connected Trivium associates with faculty and students in the respective mechatronics programs, which provide the qualifications needed for a manufacturing career.
We look to facilitate these connections regularly with the goal of retaining valuable talent and building up the local business market. If your business is interested in connecting and engaging with the workforce of tomorrow, please contact us at the
Economic Development
office.
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Business News and Announcements
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Virginia Western Community College has received a $140,000 grant to expand its Registered Apprenticeship Program, which provides students with on-the-job training and preparation for their careers
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More info >>
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Hollins University announced that Mary Dana Hinton will serve as its next president. She will start on August 1, becoming the 13th president of the university. On February 21, she will be on campus to greet students, faculty, and staff. We wish a warm welcome to Dr. Hinton!
More info >>
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Now Accepting Applications!
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Fill out the needs assessment to be contacted by an Innovation Mill expert. Applications for the next cohort are due March 16.
More info >>
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What's New in Economic Development
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This month, we participated in Eggs and Economic Development, a discussion about regional economic development highlights and trends. This event was hosted by the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce.
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With support from Roanoke County Economic Development and others, the Associated General Contractors of Virginia brought together representatives from construction, economic development, workforce agencies, CTE leaders and more at a Workforce Solutions event.
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The Economic Development Department is working with businesses and Roanoke County Public Schools to help leverage the Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program for the benefit of local companies and students.
Learn More
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With a focus on Career & Technical Education, we participated in meetings with school officials, elected officials economic development partners and industry partners to provide input to consultants working on the Go VA-funded CTE Regional Study (see below).
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Passenger Traffic Continues to Grow at ROA
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The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport continued to see 2019 traffic increase with December traffic up 17.7% on a year over year basis. December 2019 saw 61,827 passengers fly via ROA compared to 52,498 in December of 2018 an increase of 9,329 passengers. For the year, passenger traffic was up 8.9% versus 2018 with 719,707 passengers served this year compared to 660,836 in 2018.
Read More >>
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We Want to Hear from You!
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Virginia's 2020 SWaMmy Awards
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The 2020 SWaMmy Awards are a way to recognize great SWaM (small, women-owned, and minority-owned) businesses that contributed to the growth of Virginia's business environment. Nominations must be made by
March 20, 2020.
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Building the Future Talent Pipeline Through CTE
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The Western Virginia Workforce Development Board is conducting a regional study to assess current operations, future plans, demands, and needs of career and technical education and workforce development (CTE) programs.
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A New Step for Broadband Availability
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The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority announced a new broadband initiative to deliver Fiber to the Home, in partnership with ISPs. Results from the survey below will help RVBA determine priority areas to start the Fiber to the Home initiative.
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Virginia International Trade Events
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Registration is now open for VEDP - International Trade's new calendar of events!
Face-to-face meetings are critical to international business. We help Virginia companies meet potential customers and partners through trade missions and trade shows.
Trade Missions
Trade Missions are customized visits of business meetings arranged on your behalf. These meetings are pre-qualified based on your export market objective. Our schedule of upcoming Trade Missions includes:
Trade Shows
At select international Trade Shows, Virginia's booth provides the ideal base for co-exhibiting companies, allowing you to exhibit products and services and network with prospective customers. Our schedule of upcoming Trade Shows includes:
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Coming soon! The draft Hollins Center Plan will be available online for public comment beginning this Friday until March 27. The draft plan presents implementation strategies for the next ten years, as well as comprehensive recommendations for the next twenty. The Roanoke County Planning Commission will discuss and hear comments from the public on the draft plan on Tuesday, March 17. CORTRAN + STAR service will be available.
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2nd Annual Blue Ridge Sales Conference
Wednesday, March 11
8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Radford University, Hurlburt Student Center
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Organizational Branding
Wednesday, March 18
4 - 5 p.m.
Roanoke Higher Education Center
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The 2020 Carilion Clinic IRONMAN 70.3
Sunday, June 7 (all day)
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Roanoke County Parks, Recreation & Tourism
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Explore Adventure Expo
Saturday, April 4
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Blue Ridge Kite Festival
Saturday, April 18
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Roanoke Regional Partnership
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Confidently Making Decisions
Thursday, March 19
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
The Green Goat
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The Talent Solutions Summit
Wednesday, March 25
8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
The Hotel Roanoke
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Experience Conference 2020
June 4-5
The Hotel Roanoke
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Roanoke County Business Partners on RVTV
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On this month's show, we start out at P1 Technologies where Sales Manager, Drew Bratton, tells us about P1's recent name change and its participation in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership's VALET program, which supports businesses in expanding to an international market.
Next, we meet with Nate Day, International Trade Manager with VEDP, who explains how the organization helps companies find international opportunities, as well as its work with P1 in the VALET program.
Lastly, we attend the Roanoke County Public Schools Apprenticeship Showcase to speak with Jason Suhr, Director of Career and Technical Education. He shares more about the efforts made by RCPS to prepare students for the workforce through apprenticeship opportunities with local businesses.
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yesroanoke.org
econdev@roanokecountyva.gov
P.O. Box 29800, Roanoke, VA 24018-0798
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