Roanoke County Business Partners Newsletter |
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February 2022: Volume 22, No. 2
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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Roanoke Valley is New Home to Pro Cycling Team |
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Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge and Virginia Tourism Corporation recently announced that Team TWENTY24, a diverse team of female professional and junior cyclists, will officially relocate their base of operations from Idaho to Virginia’s Blue Ridge, now being named Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 (VBR TWENTY24). For more than 17 years, the team has consistently developed a pipeline for talented athletes, earning 14 Olympic and Paralympic medals, 17 world championships, and countless national championships. The 2022 roster consists of six professional athletes racing road and gravel, five Zwift eSports athletes, and 27 junior athletes, led by USA Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Valente.
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Watch the announcement recap and learn about the VBR TWENTY24 |
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BoomTown CrossFit Opens in the Town of Vinton |
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BoomTown CrossFit held its grand opening last month in the Town of Vinton hosted by the Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce. BoomTown offers classes and workouts for all ages, skills, and abilities with the goal to "make a fun, fit, family-friendly community that welcomes everyone, no matter your fitness level." You can find BoomTown CrossFit at 703 Tinker Avenue in Vinton and you can learn more on the February episode of Roanoke County Business Partners.
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Building Roanoke County's Future at BCAT |
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Wood Haven Receives Site-Readiness Grant |
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The Wood Haven Technology Park recently received a grant award in the amount of $75,000 as part of the Virginia Business Ready Site Program. Administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the grant will help to continue develop and prepare the site to help attract a technology tenant(s) to the area. Wood Haven is a 111-acre planned technology park located at the junction of interstates 81 and 581, and within close proximity of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.
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P1 Technologies Completes Trade Accelerator Program
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Roanoke County business P1 Technologies completed the Virginia Leaders in Export Trade (VALET) program administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. VALET is a two-year international business acceleration program that offers a combination of capital resources provided by the Commonwealth and professional services from private-sector partners. P1 is one of 15 Virginia companies that recently completed the program to develop strategies to expand into global markets. VALET has assisted more than 300 Virginia companies establish international exporting as a growth strategy. Congratulations P1 Technologies!
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Virginia Career Works - Blue Ridge is hosting an in-person hiring event on Thurs., Feb. 17 at the Virginia Career Works Roanoke Center (3601 Thirlane Rd. NW, suite 2) from 1 - 4 PM. Get your career started by speaking with local employers excited to bring on new staff.
Employers can register for the hiring event Here
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Registration is required. Learn more about DARS Job Shadow Month Here and register here:
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Virginia Tourism Corporation Announces New Funding Programs |
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Virginia Tourism Corporation opened three funding programs on February, 1, 2022. These are the VTC Recovery Marketing Leverage Grant Program, and two new programs: the Virginia Special Events and Festivals program, and the Virginia DMO Marketing Grant Program. All three funding programs will close on March 8, 2022. Awards should be made by April 15, 2022. Preliminary information on these funding programs can be found Here.
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Roanoke Regional Chamber - RoCo Officer of the Year |
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Officer Taylor Carter is the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce's 2021 Roanoke County, VA Police Department Officer of the Year! Officer Carter excels at traffic and criminal investigations with an excellent work ethic.
Congratulations Officer Carter!
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Transportation Updates - CORTRAN & Road Closure Change |
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CORTRAN has a few updates for 2022 including the addition of vehicles to their fleet which will allow individuals with larger mobility devices to utilize the program. Read More Here
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VDOT is rescheduling the previously announced road closure with a detour needed to replace the Diuguids Lane bridge until this summer. Read More Here
Click the map to zoom in.
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Construction Begins on 'The Williamson' |
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The Greater Williamson Road Area Business Association (GWRABA) has begun construction work on the space that will soon become The Williamson, a new shared workspace and incubator center to serve a multi-lingual, multinational population of highly-motivated entrepreneurs hoping to open businesses along the Williamson Road corridor in both the County and City. The anticipated ribbon cutting for The Williamson and opening is May 2022.
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VWCC Short Term Credential Programs for Manufacturing |
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VWCC Career and Corporate Training offers Festo, Snap-On, AWS and NIMS credentials. Upskill your employees with training from VWCC.
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Learn more about the G3 Program and how to enroll Here.
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International Trade and Innovation Resources for Businesses |
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Export Readiness Assessment
The Export Readiness Assessment is a custom-programmed quiz that is designed to provide feedback to a company to let them know where they are on the export spectrum and to provide an easy way for our own International Trade team to “qualify” companies for our programs/services.
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International Trade
The Virginia SBDC International Business Development Program works with Virginia-based firms to enhance their global success. Our Certified Global Business Professionals provide confidential counseling, training, and customized research to help companies mitigate risks, prioritize markets, identify financing, and grow export sales.
Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP)
ICAP helps Virginia-based technology and innovation-driven startups on their path to success. ICAP works with startups to provide support along their entire journey towards scaling – from the early idea stage, all the way through working on Series A level of funding.
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Applications Now Open for Spring 2022 Cohort
The Spring 2022 cohort will be focused on Health and Life Science startup companies.
RAMP will select up to five companies for the 12-week cohort that provides:
- Expert 1:1 mentoring with the region’s top entrepreneurs and executives
- Free office space with high-speed internet
- Access to venture capital and equity-free funding
- More!
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The GAUNTLET 2022 Program Applications are Open
The GAUNTLET includes business training, mentorship, scaling strategies, and much more! Applications are still open for a limited time - apply soon!
Share your expertise and become part of the Mentor Network Here
Want to support local entrepreneurs? Become a sponsor Here
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Return to Earn Program Update - No Match required
The Return to Earn program now offers eligible small businesses the $500 employee hiring incentive award without requiring a match from the company.
Funding for this program is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Learn more about Return to Earn and apply Here
Read Return to Earn FAQs Here
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Blue Ridge Parkway Winter Conditions and Closures
Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) personnel are currently conducting winter maintenance activities in multiple locations along the 469-mile route, with work continuing into the early months of 2022. Winter weather conditions and seasonal road maintenance activities can cause temporary closures along the Blue Ridge Parkway, so plan ahead for traveling the BRP.
Click Here to view upcoming events in Virginia's Blue Ridge
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Events, Workshops, and Resources
Upcoming Roanoke Regional SBDC events include:
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Virginia Tech Roanoke Center Courses
Save The Date: Virginia Tech’s Annual Lean Conference will be held Feb. 23-24, 2022, at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center
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Roanoke County Business Partners on RVTV |
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This month, we visit BoomTown CrossFit for their grand opening in Vinton. Then we speak with leaders at the Burton Center for Arts & Technology to hear how businesses, students, and our community benefits from their workforce development. Finally, we hear Partner Perspectives from our business community about various resources available to Roanoke County businesses.
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(540) 772-2069
P.O. Box 29800, Roanoke, VA 24018-0798
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