For the Record – Shenandoah Valley, May 2013

CarMax, the nation’s largest used car dealer, officially opened its Harrisonburg lot in late March. CarMax moved into the space formerly anchored by the now-shuttered Dallas Hollar Ford on South Main Street, marking the Richmond-based company’s first foray into the Shenandoah Valley. Its nearest location is about an hour from Harrisonburg in Charlottesville. CarMax hired 11 people from the area to work at the dealership, which is its 119th. (Daily News-Record)

Harrisonburg City Council approved an ordinance creating regulations for business gardens, freeing residents to sell homegrown produce. The regulations allow urban gardeners in residential and central business districts to profit from fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers grown on their property. Homeowners and renters can acquire a free home-occupation permit for a business garden, which can operate outside a main building or an accessory structure. (Daily News-Record)

Winchester-based GearClean Inc., named employer of the year by The Arc of Virginia Northern Shenandoah Valley Chapter. GearClean Inc. specializes in industrial cleaning, environmental services and emergency restoration services. (Northern Virginia Daily) 

The Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce honored a number of companies and nonprofit organizations at an awards banquet in March.  They include: Community Organization of the Year: Blue Ridge Area Food Bank; Tourism Business of the Year: Frontier Culture Museum; Small Business of the Year: Dixie Gas and Oil Corp.; Agriculture Business of the Year: The Augusta Co-Op Farm Bureau; Industry of the Year: PGI (Polymer Group Inc.). (News Leader)

Hollister Inc., a manufacturer of medical devices, will invest $29.6 million to upgrade machinery and expand its Augusta County factory. The project will include 50,000 square feet of additional warehouse space and new equipment to automate processes, enhance products and increase production volume. Hollister has operated in the Stuarts Draft area of Augusta since 1979. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Rosetta Stone Inc., an Arlington-based language-learning technology company, is eliminating 57 Virginia-based employees in its products division as it opens two additional U.S. offices. The move is part of the company’s plans to reshape its product organization. The layoffs include 48 positions in the firm’s Harrisonburg office, nine jobs in its Arlington headquarters and six in its Boulder, Colo., office. The company announced that it would open offices in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco. Most of the layoffs are associated with Rosetta Stone’s legacy products. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Staunton Downtown Development Association and the city of Staunton were presented with Virginia Main Street Milestone Achievement Awards for the contribution of over 80,000 volunteer hours dedicated to downtown revitalization and for fostering more than 500 building improvement projects in the city’s historic commercial district. The awards were presented at Richmond’s historic Hippodrome Theater. (News Leader)