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Roanoke Valley office occupancy increases by 1%
The Roanoke Valley office market saw a 1% increase in office occupancy in 2020, ending the year with an 88% occupancy rate, according to Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group’s 34th Annual Office Market Survey. These figures are a promising sign “in one of the most challenging years in recent memory,” Poe & Cronk states, […]
A diversified portfolio
From tea to trucks to technology, an eclectic blend of industries settled into the Roanoke/New River Valley region in 2020. Some companies brought new operations to the region, while others expanded existing facilities. Traditional Medicinals kicked off 2020 with its January announcement of a new facility in Franklin County, man[...]
Rolling forward
Once a big economic development is announced, it can be years before it comes to fruition. But that wasn’t the case with Mack Trucks Inc., one of North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, which took only nine months from announcement to starting full production of medium-duty trucks in the Roanoke Valley. In Ja[...]
Roanoke College taps alumna for resource development VP
Roanoke College announced this week it has appointed an alumna to become its new vice president of resource development. Kimberly P. Blair, a 1993 graduate, will join the college on May 22 and serve in President Michael C. Maxey’s Cabinet. Blair is currently Virginia Tech’s assistant vice president of advancement for[...]
First Bank to acquire The Bank of Fincastle
Strasburg-based First National Corp. (the bank holding company of First Bank) announced Thursday it will acquire The Bank of Fincastle. Financial terms of the transaction were not released, but the combined bank is expected to have approximately $1.2 billion in assets, $868 million in loans, $1 billion in deposits and 20 branch offices across Virginia. […]
SML Chamber names member relations, events manager
The Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that it has hired Erin Stanley as its member relations and events manager, effective March 1. Stanley has previously worked in advertising, marketing, sales and business development with The Roanoke Times, Laker Media and WSLS-10. In the chamber’s newly[...]
Virginia Tech Innovation Campus director named to National Academy of Engineering
Virginia Tech announced Monday that Lance R. Collins, vice president and executive director of the university’s Innovation Campus, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2021. The former Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University was named as head of Tech’s Innovation Campus in February 2020. He[...]
Virginia Tech professor named as engineering fellow
Virginia Tech announced Monday that biomedical engineering and mechanics professor Raffaella De Vita has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. The institute’s membership includes more than 2,000 fellows who are recognized leaders in the medical and biologi[...]
Appalachian Power issues RFP for solar, wind projects
Appalachian Power Co. on Monday issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for up to 300 megawatts of solar and/or wind generation resources. This is the first in a string of RFPs that the company will issue this year to comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires that the company achieve 100% carbon-free energy […]
Radford’s Brian Hemphill named new ODU president
Radford University President Brian Hemphill has been hired as Old Dominion University’s ninth president, ODU announced Friday. He will succeed John Broderick, the Norfolk university’s president of 13 years, who is retiring this year. Hemphill, who has led Radford since 2016, will join ODU this summer, according to a [...]
Carilion Clinic to form diversity, equity, inclusion office
Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic announced Monday it will establish an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and has named Nathaniel L. Bishop, the former Jefferson College of Health Sciences president, to lead it. The office will work with community leaders to address equity and social justice as it relates to health care in t[...]
Christiansburg industrial building sells for $6.5M
The former Dish Network call center in Christiansburg sold for $6.5 million, Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group announced last week. The 101,500-square-foot industrial building sits on more than 19 acres in Falling Branch Corporate Park at 400 Technology Drive. Motion control manufacturer Moog Inc. purchased the property in order[...]
