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Va. Tech gears up to produce PPE for Carilion
Although the Roanoke and New River Valley health districts are seeing fewer confirmed COVID-19 cases than health districts in Northern, Eastern and Central Virginia, the Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic health care system has asked Virginia Tech to help it stockpile personal protective equipment (PPE) in the event of a surge in cas[...]
The show must not go on
Abingdon’s Barter Theatre – the nation’s oldest Actors’ Equity Union theater – has closed the curtain on its spring season. The theater, which opened in 1933 during the Great Depression, announced March 19 it would furlough 87 of its employees, then days later furloughed six more. This left a skeleton crew of 11 to fun[...]
Contura Energy temporarily closing several Va. mines
The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) was notified Friday morning that Tennessee-based Contura Energy is temporarily closing nearly all of its coal mines in Virginia in response to coronavirus, DMME spokesperson Tarah Kesterson says. Contura has affiliate mining operations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Its Virginia facilities including 88 Strip, Long […][...]
Va. coal mines closing due to COVID-19 concerns
Five Virginia coal mines announced Monday they they shutting down operations to stop the spread of coronavirus, but continuing to fulfill weekly orders from current stockpiles. The Buchanan Mine No.1, which employs 543 workers in Southwest Virginia, has closed as of Monday, Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy spokesperson Tarah Kesterson says. The mine is […]
Hometown college
On the town of Wise’s website, information about the University of Virginia’s College at Wise sits behind an appropriately labeled tab: “Our College.” When U.Va. Wise was founded in 1954, it was called Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia, and it was the commonwealth’s first public college west of Radfor[...]
Crossing the line
A city famous for birthing country music and straddling the Virginia-Tennessee state line, Bristol, Virginia, has spent the last decade struggling to recover from the Great Recession and the coal industry’s steep decline. However, a new surge of economic life is reenergizing Bristol as it enters the 2020s. More visitors are fl[...]
Opportunity Appalachia hopes to match investors, projects
A group of Southwest Virginia community leaders are helping regional entrepreneurs market their ideas to investors as part of Appalachian Community Capital’s multistate Opportunity Appalachia economic development initiative. Through the initiative, Appalachian Community Capital is seeking to match investors to 15 “shovel-rea[...]
Va. Tech student tests positive for COVID-19
A Virginia Tech student living off campus in Blacksburg has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an email sent out Friday by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. The student is believed to have been exposed to the virus during international travel and is in self quarantine. “The Virginia Department of Health, working with our own […]
1901 Group expanding into Washington County
Reston-based information technology services company 1901 Group will invest $1.15 million in Washington County to establish its third Virginia operations center, creating 150 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. The new center will be located at the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator in Abingdon, where small busin[...]
Moving beyond coal
In 1923, the number of people earning a living mining coal in the United States peaked at 862,536. Now, that number is around 52,000, and many people and companies who relied on coal for income have fallen on hard times. That’s one reason the 2019 expansions of Paul’s Fan Co., which has been tied to […]
A multifaceted strategy
Catching the big one matters, but a lot of little successes can mean a lot, too. In Southwest Virginia, small triumphs have accumulated over the past year, in addition to larger announcements. Last April, Polycap LLC, a Toronto-based manufacturer of specialty caps and closures, announced it would invest $7.7 million in Lebanon[...]
Roanoke office park sells for $3.2M
The Northpark Business Center in Roanoke County sold for $3.2 million on Feb. 17, Roanoke-based Waldvogel Commercial Properties Inc. announced this week. The 34,318-square-foot office park is located at 6701-6711 Peters Creek Road and was sold by Mechanical Development Co. Inc. The property consists of two single-story buildings that were more than 50% occupied at […]
