Looking to build a better peer or entrepreneurial network? Consider applying to the VT KnowledgeWorks Presidents’ Council.
VT KnowledgeWorks offers Presidents’ Councils in Roanoke and Blacksburg. Presidents’ Councils are private networks of experienced executives working together to provide peer group mentoring. The groups meet at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center or at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.
Since 1994, the Presidents’ Council has provided its members with the time, atmosphere, and structure to become more effective leaders. Through a time-tested and unique process of sharing with and learning from one another, the Presidents’ Council develops group synergy that facilitates significant self-discovery and professional growth. It is a serious, ongoing, mutual commitment to success, becomes your informal Advisory Board, strengthens your leadership skills and knowledge of best practices, and exposes you to a broad range of solid strategies to increase growth and minimize risk.
VT KnowledgeWorks is now accepting new members into the Presidents’ Council. Contact Ken Ferris, Presidents’ Council Moderator, to discuss membership.
VT KnowledgeWorks encourages and enables creative entrepreneurship world-wide, through innovative curriculum, local business resource centers, and a global network of cooperating regions, all focused on three essential contributors to success: clear understanding of fundamental business principles; access to timely, relevant information; and meaningful personal and corporate relationships. It is a subsidiary of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, supported by the continuing confidence and enthusiasm of its clients, sponsors and friends, both corporate and individual.
Entrepreneurs and creative minds will be taking over Meridium in partnership with the Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council for Startup Weekend on September 27-29 in Roanoke. Organizers and volunteers of Roanoke’s Startup Weekend have been working behind the scenes to ensure that this event provides not only inspiration, but the resources required for building and launching a company.
Whether you have a business idea or a skill that is necessary in building a successful startup, this event is one that aspiring entrepreneurs should not miss. Concept pitching and team building will take place on day one; teams will be formed around concepts and various skills that are brought to the table leaving the remainder of the weekend to mind mapping, strategizing and building a real business.
There will be knowledgeable and successful entrepreneurs in attendance to inspire, share, and help the teams throughout the weekend. The final day teams will have the opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of judges where real prizes and services can be won.
Startup Weekend Roanoke is an intense 54 hour event where a community of entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketing gurus and anyone interested in building a business will come together over the course of a weekend to share ideas, form teams, and launch a startup. No Talk, All Action. Launch a Startup in 54 hours.
About Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.
Creating new business is not just for seasoned veterans.
You can learn from some great young entrepreneurs in upcoming screenings of The Startup Kids in Roanoke and Blacksburg, hosted by The Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council.
The Startup Kids is a documentary about young web entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe. It contains interviews with the founders of Vimeo, Soundcloud, Kiip, InDinero, Dropbox, Foodspotting and many others who talk about how they started their company and their lives as an entrepreneur.
The RBTC regional premiere of The Startup Kids -- a must-see documentary about young entrepreneurs -- is coming in February. Join us for of networking and the premiere at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke on Feb. 21 or in Blacksburg on Feb. 19 at The Lyric Theater.
Register now to reserve your seat at one of the two showings.
A new Virginia program that encourages localities to think strategically about how they can better support and integrate agriculture and forestry-based industries into their community’s overall economic development efforts is open.
The Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund includes money for planning grants of up to $20,000 for localities (or $35,000 for multijurisdictional applicants) to carry out some type of ag- and/or forestry-focused economic development planning or project implementation.
These AFID Planning Grants give local governments the flexibility to undertake the kind of planning, study, or local initiative they think best to grow and support agriculture and forestry-based businesses in their community and region. The planning grant program also provides a greater voice in local economic development to agriculture and forestry stakeholders by requiring that any grant funded program be implemented by a board, committee or working group representing agriculture and/or forestry interests in the locality.
The competitive grant program allows individual localities to apply for up to $20,000 in matching funds, or up to $35,000 for multi-jurisdictional applications, to undertake efforts that support their agriculture and forestry-based businesses. These efforts might include developing a strategic plan for agriculture and forestry economic development, creating new local policies and zoning ordinances that better support these industries, or funding feasibility studies and predevelopment work for new facilities that bring significant and lasting benefits to the local agriculture and forestry sectors.
The amount of an AFID Planning Grant and the terms under which it is given are determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and approved by the Governor. Factors used in determining grant awards and conditions include the project’s expected impact on the locality’s agriculture and forestry related industries, and the extent to which the effort will improve local capacity to support these industries’ development beyond the life of the grant.
To find out more about the grant program, check out the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer virtual application workshop Jan. 16 at 1:30 p.m. The workshop will be a review of the program guidelines, application document and a chance for potential applicants to ask questions via conference call. To register, contact Stephen Versen, AFID Program Administer, at Stephen.Versen@vdacs.virginia.gov.
The day-long event is designed with business executives, HR professionals, in-house counsel, and management personnel in mind to keep them up-to-date with ever-changing rules and challenges.
Darrell E. Graham, Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Richmond office, is the symposium’s featured speaker.
Registration is open online with a discounted rate of $125 through Jan. 31. (The rate is $150 after Feb. 1.) Rates include parking, complimentary continental breakfast and lunch, and all materials. This program has also been pre-approved for 6.0 (general) credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute.
This year’s topics include:
What Does the Obama Re-election Mean for 2013? (Todd Leeson)
ADA & FMLA; Managing Employee Absences (Paul Klockenbrink)
Obamacare – 2014 is Knocking on the Door (Christen Church)
EEOC: New Initiatives (Guest Speaker Darrell E. Graham, EEOC)
Looking to start a new business venture? Test your skills in an upcoming entrepreneurship challenge.
VT KnowledgeWorks is presenting the Entrepreneurship Challenge again this year on April 10 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg.
There are two ways to enter the competition.
Virginia Tech faculty, staff, students, and/or alumni are eligible to compete in the Tech Transfer Challenge. Hoping to establish a new venture in Blacksburg using their Virginia Tech owned technology, the teams will compete to win $100,000 worth of mentorship and business support services. The Tech Transfer Challenge registration deadline is Feb. 22.
Virginia Tech student teams will compete in the Student Business Concept Competition for $10,000 in scholarships, start-up services, and the opportunity to compete on a world stage next August for the $25,000 VT KnowledgeWorks Global Challenge Award. The Student Business Concept Competition registration deadline is Feb. 8.
Cost to attend the full-day event including the competitions, luncheon, and reception on April 10 is only $30 for students and $50 for non-students. Register online.
VT KnowledgeWorks encourages and enables creative entrepreneurship world-wide, through innovative curriculum, local business resource centers, and a global network of cooperating regions, all focused on three essential contributors to success: clear understanding of fundamental business principles; access to timely, relevant information; and meaningful personal and corporate relationships. It is a subsidiary of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, supported by the continuing confidence and enthusiasm of its clients, sponsors and friends, both corporate and individual.
The Virginia Tech Catawba Sustainability Center is offering the fourth annual Growers Academy, a series of courses specifically designed to help new and transitioning agricultural businesses succeed. An eight week learning series focused on low input, small scale production and starting your own agribusiness. Instructors include resource professionals and farm business owners.
Topics include:
Planning for Success: Setting Goals and Establishing Targets
On Sept 14-16th entrepreneurs and creative minds will be taking over the Rackspace office (755 University City Boulevard Blacksburg, VA 24060) for Startup Weekend Blacksburg. Organizers and volunteers of Blacksburg's Startup Weekend have been working behind the scenes to ensure that this event provides not only inspiration, but the resources required for building and launching a company.
Whether you have a business idea or a skill that is necessary in building a successful startup, this event is one that aspiring entrepreneurs should not miss. Concept pitching and team building will take place on day one; teams will be formed around concepts and various skills that are brought to the table leaving the remainder of the weekend to mind mapping, strategizing and building a real business.
There will be knowledgeable and successful entrepreneurs in attendance to inspire, share and help the teams throughout the weekend. The final day teams will have the opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of judges where real prizes and services can be won. Visit the Blacksburg Startup Weekend site to learn more about the event and to register.
Weekly online video sessions will begin Sept. 5 and continue at noon each Wednesday.
ROANOKE, Va. (August 27, 2012) –16 West Marketplace in downtown Roanoke will host weekly TEDTalks, carrying on a tradition begun two years ago by Katherine Walker in The Shadowbox which became a popular lunchtime activity for downtown residents and professionals. The talks, free and open to the public with no registration necessary, will be hosted every Wednesday at noon.
“Locally hosted TEDTalks have become a launching pad for discussion about our collective vision for Roanoke and how all of us can work together to move this city forward,” says John Garland, owner of 16 West Marketplace. “We’ve heard comments from so many people about how much they enjoyed this event and hoped to see it continue in another location. 16 West is an ideal location so it was an easy decision to make to continue to host the TEDTalks here in the heart of downtown.”
The first TEDTalk at 16 West will be held on Sept. 5 and will feature Stephen Ritz, a teacher in New York’s South Bronx who grows gardens with his kids for food, greenery and jobs. He will discuss the many ways to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off.
New TEDTalk topics will be chosen each week, moderated by the owners of 16 West and other members of the community, with group discussions to follow a video presentation of the original TEDTalk. Food will be available for purchase at Café 16, which opened in late April and offers organic, gourmet fare including tea, coffee, smoothies and lunch items such as wraps, sandwiches and salads.
TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online, rapidly attracting a global audience. Since 1984, TED has grown from a single conference to two conferences, bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design, and includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site.
16 West Marketplace, scheduled to be complete in October, aims to cater to the healthy, innovative, and savvy tastes of those who live, work, and frequent Downtown Roanoke. The marketplace offers one-stop shopping for many daily routines and needs. Located in the former S&W Cafeteria, at 16 West Church Avenue, just off Jefferson Street, the historic building has been restored to its original art-deco splendor. The building is currently comprised of Carilion’s RAC Xpress, Fleda A. Ring Artworks, Core Chiropractic and Wellness Center, Café 16 and eight apartments.
For more information about the TED Talks, contact John Garland at 342-6001 or jgarland@spectrumpc.com.
HAMPTON, Va. (July 19, 2012) – The Center for Innovative Technology has launched the GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards, a new statewide entrepreneur award program, designed to identify and celebrate Virginia’s next generation entrepreneurs in the areas of life sciences, technology, and energy.
Seeking nominations from all corners of the Commonwealth, CIT wants to honor innovative entrepreneurs creating high-growth companies.
Nominations for the GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards can be submitted online. Nominations will be accepted through Sept. 20.
Nominating criteria:
Individuals who are most likely to found a high-growth tech, life science or energy venture in the next 5 years.
Individuals both with or without current involvement in a start-up.
Individuals with strong ties to Virginia (but not required to be Virginia residents).
Individuals must exhibit substantive involvement in Virginia’s technology or entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In order to qualify for final voting individuals must be nominated by three people.
CIT Board members and employees are not eligible.
Final GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards recipients will be determined through a peer voting process. CIT will send an electronic ballot to nominees to vote. The final 2012 GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards recipients will be honored at an award banquet in McLean on Oct. 18.
“Virginia is known nationally for its vibrant and visionary entrepreneur community, which fuels growth in almost every business sector statewide,” said Tom Weithman, Vice President and Managing Director of CIT GAP Funds. “We look forward to promoting the Commonwealth’s next generation leaders through the GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards and celebrating Virginia’s ‘Year of the Entrepreneur’ with this prestigious group of visionaries.”
CIT GAP Funds is the driving force behind the entrepreneur awards. They provide seed-stage equity investments in Virginia’s top life science, technology and energy enterprises, propelling economic development and bolstering innovation statewide.
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Looking to build a better peer or entrepreneurial network? Consider applying to the VT KnowledgeWorks Presidents’ Council.
Entrepreneurs and creative minds will be taking over 
A new Virginia program that encourages localities to think strategically about how they can better support and integrate agriculture and forestry-based industries into their community’s overall economic development efforts is open.
Stay on top of the changing labor and employment landscape.
Looking to start a new business venture? Test your skills in an upcoming entrepreneurship challenge.
The Virginia Tech Catawba Sustainability Center is offering the fourth annual 
ROANOKE, Va. (August 27, 2012) –
HAMPTON, Va. (July 19, 2012) – The Center for Innovative Technology has launched the 