Posted on 5/4/18
Torc Robotics Drives Away With Top Award From Regional Technology Council
Torc Robotics was named Company of the Year by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council on Thursday evening, capping off a whirlwind year for an autonomous vehicle business . . .
Posted on 5/1/18
Billion-Dollar Tractor Giant Opening Blacksburg Office, Taps Virginia Tech To Help Develop Robotic Equipment
One of the world’s largest tractor manufacturers is planting a flag in Blacksburg, opening an office in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and moving senior . . .
Posted on 4/18/18
Floyd County's Crenshaw Lighting Plans To Double In Size – Again
A Floyd County-based lighting manufacturer known for building ornate fixtures for buildings like the U.S. Supreme Court has doubled in size over the past few years . . .
Posted on 4/16/18
RAMP Startup Accelerator Looks To Second Cohort With Funding To Expand
Roanoke’s startup accelerator program, RAMP, gave its first cohort of burgeoning businesses a boost last year with free training, mentorship and office space.Now, as it gets . . .
Posted on 4/13/18
NRV's Aeroprobe Launches New Company With Novel 3d Printing Technology
Montgomery County’s newest tech startup was launched on Thursday after scientists here have spent more than a decade designing what they say is a bigger and . . .
Posted on 3/29/18
Montgomery County Chamber To Move Into New Building In The Middle Of NRV's Main Commercial Corridor
The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce announced plans Wednesday for a new office to be built off Peppers Ferry Road between the Gran Rodeo Mexican restaurant . . .
Posted on 3/21/18
Microsoft To Expand Investment In Southside With New Civic Programs
Microsoft is doubling down on its investment in Southside Virginia, announcing plans to use its corporate clout to help pull the region into the digital age.The . . .
Posted on 3/19/18
Empty Walls And Big Ambitions: Inside Block.One, The $1.5 Billion Cryptocurrency Startup Taking Shape In Blacksburg
Dan Larimer was broke, living in his parents’ house, driving his mom’s 2001 Nissan Altima and dealing with a messy divorce when he first discovered bitcoin . . .
Posted on 2/27/18
Localities Get To Work As Company Considers Large Facility In Pulaski County
There’s renewed hope for more jobs at the New River Valley Commerce Park, as local leaders work to land a company considering a facility there.Crews plan . . .
Posted on 2/15/18
West Virginia Company To Relocate To Giles County, Bringing 60 Jobs
Cogar Manufacturing announced Wednesday it will relocate a factory from Beckley, West Virginia, to Giles County.The company will bring 60 workers into the former Caterpillar plant . . .
Posted on 1/18/18
New Company Moving To Pulaski, Bringing 40 New Jobs To Stalled Factory
Falls Stamping and Welding has so far come up well short of the economic boon the company promised Pulaski in 2013, but an upcoming expansion is . . .
Posted on 12/20/17
Volvo Trucks Secures Enough Land To Almost Double Footprint Of Dublin Plant
Volvo Trucks has secured an additional 221 acres adjacent to its Pulaski County plant, paving the way for one of the region’s largest employers to expand . . .
Posted on 12/12/17
Volvo Trucks To Hire ‘Several Hundred’ At Dublin Plant
Pulaski County’s Volvo Trucks is gearing up for a hiring spree that will add “several hundred” new employees to its ranks, according to company spokesman John . . .
Posted on 12/8/17
Charlottesville Startup Gets $8.5 Million Via Tech/Carilion Venture Group, Russian Company
TearSolutions, a Charlottesville-based biotechnology startup just received an $8.5 million shot in the arm, courtesy of the VTC Innovation Fund and Pharmstandard International, one of Russia’s . . .
Posted on 12/7/17
Christiansburg Marketplace Under Contract; Buyers Have Talked To Trader Joe's
A pair of investors with a long history of bringing dying shopping centers back to life have signed a contract to purchase the increasingly desolate Marketplace, . . .
Posted on 11/27/17
Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center Looks To Add Luxury Apartments
The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center has joined forces with a local landowner to build professional housing within the business park.The upscale apartments are designed to . . .
Posted on 11/27/17
Rural Internet Access Often Is Slow, If It's Available At All. Halifax County Might Have The Solution
Television producer Ken Peade was born and raised off the beaten path, where he says the U.S. Postal Service is often faster than the region’s internet . . .
Posted on 11/27/17
Virginia Tech Tapped To Reimagine Industry Standards For Self-Driving Future
If cars of the future drive themselves, will they need headlights anymore? How about windows, steering wheels or turn signals? Will seats still need to face . . .
Posted on 11/14/17
VTTI Expands Smart Road To Simulate City Street; Rural Test Track Coming Next Year
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute will launch its new urban test track Tuesday, the first in a string of expansions planned to grow its research capabilities . . .
Posted on 11/13/17
Halifax County Tired Of 'Bandwidth Exhaustion'
Television producer Ken Peade was born and raised off the beaten path, where he says the U.S. Postal Service is often faster than the region's internet . . .
Posted on 10/26/17
Tech Builds New FutureHAUS After Fire Destroyed First Vision For Next Generation Homes
Researchers at Virginia Tech are building another prototype for the next generation of homes after the first so-called FutureHAUS was destroyed in a fire earlier this . . .
Posted on 9/8/17
New Internet Provider Option Arrives In Roanoke Aboard Municipal Broadband Network
A new internet service provider is coming into downtown Roanoke aboard the municipal broadband network that localities pitched in to bring online last year.Virginia Beach-based ABS . . .
Posted on 7/17/17
The Meadows Golf Club To Be Auctioned
One of the New River Valley’s oldest golf courses is set to be sold at auction later this year, creating the possibility that The Meadows Golf . . .
Posted on 7/12/17
Volvo Trucks Motoring Ahead With New Truck Line, Rehires And Finished Showroom
Scandinavian accents filled Volvo Truck’s new customer center at the Virginia plant on Tuesday, as the company welcomed top executives and media from around the world . . .
Posted on 6/9/17
Aldi Plans To Open Christiansburg Store In First Half Of 2018, Will Be Next To Lidl
Aldi, a discount German grocery chain, has confirmed plans to open a new store beside the former Kmart building on North Franklin Street.The company previously said . . .
Posted on 5/23/17
Union Votes To Ratify Contract With Hubbell Lighting, Despite Few Concessions
Hubbell Lighting has reached a contract agreement with its unionized workers in Christiansburg, ending a monthslong stalemate and weeks of picketing.Penny Franklin, president of IUE-CWA Local . . .
Posted on 5/19/17
Lowe's Taps Virginia Tech To Build Futuristic Suit To Help Employees Lift Heavier Loads
Retail giant Lowe’s imagines a day when hardware store employees will walk up and down aisles in robot-style suits, making it possible to move heavy boxes . . .
Posted on 5/15/17
As Airbnb Grows, So Does Enforcement Challenge For Zoning Officials
There are nearly 100 Roanoke properties listed on Airbnb right now, but just seven are sanctioned by the city.Those are owned by the few who, like . . .
Posted on 3/17/17
Roanoke Business Accelerator Opens
Roanoke’s new business accelerator was unveiled on Thursday, as the public was invited to tour a facility that local leaders hope will soon house some of . . .
Posted on 3/3/17
Tilt Closes Blacksburg Outpost After Airbnb Acquisition
Tilt has shut down its small Blacksburg office after the Silicon Valley tech firm was bought by Airbnb last week, according to the company’s landlord. The . . .
Posted on 2/28/17
Virginia Tech And Carilion Form $15 Million Venture Capital Fund
Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic have formed a new $15 million venture capital fund designed to catapult the startups taking root around Blacksburg and Roanoke’s so-called . . .
Posted on 2/9/17
Rackspace Cuts 6 Percent Of U.S. Workers; Some In Blacksburg Report Being Affected
Rackspace has laid off 6 percent of its U.S. workers, company CEO Taylor Rhodes announced in a Tuesday blog post. A company spokeswoman declined to disclose . . .
Posted on 1/13/17
Local Leaders Fear Proposed Bill Could Derail Roanoke Valley Municipal Broadband
A state House bill could limit municipal broadband initiatives in Virginia and derail expansion in the Roanoke Valley less than a year after the local authority . . .
Posted on 1/11/17
Blacksburg's Qualtrax Raises $3 Million From Local Investors, Anticipates Speedy Growth
Roanoke’s newest investing firm is betting millions on its first local company: a 23-year-old software firm with a swanky new office and plans to finally shed . . .
Posted on 12/22/16
Facebook Inks Research Agreements With Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech and Facebook have signed an agreement that will remove barriers and make it easier to work together on future research projects. It’s one of . . .
Posted on 12/12/16
Lawyer Buys Blacksburg's TechPad
TechPad, the coworking space that has housed dozens of Blacksburg startups since 2010, has been acquired for an undisclosed sum. Buyer James Creekmore, a Blacksburg lawyer, . . .
Posted on 12/5/16
Broadband Authority Rehires Firm Caught In Bristol Scandal; Presents Clean Audit
The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority voted unanimously Friday to rehire a controversial contracting firm that laid its original 47 miles of broadband fiber for an upcoming . . .
Posted on 11/28/16
Radford Organization Gets $6 Million To Train SWVa Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor has set aside $6 million to fund a Radford-based organization promising to help disadvantaged workers across Southwest Virginia get the training . . .
Posted on 11/17/16
Women Are Far Outnumbered In Technical Roles
“What makes you think you can learn computer science?” The question has echoed around inside Mary Miller’s head for decades, she said.It first came from a . . .
Posted on 11/17/16
RAMP Startup Accelerator Lands $40,000 Grant To Train Entrepreneurs
Roanoke’s burgeoning startup accelerator has figured out another piece of its funding puzzle, landing a $40,000 state grant to help train the entrepreneurs who will be . . .
Posted on 11/16/16
Disabled Vet Raises $100,000 For Her Startup At Star Tank Pitch Event
Kerry Prater raised $100,000 for her Salem-based clothing startup in just over 40 minutes at the annual Star Tank pitch event Tuesday. She walked a little . . .
Posted on 11/7/16
McAuliffe Deems New River Valley Commerce Park 'Business Ready'
The New River Valley Commerce Park, which has sat mostly unused since its inception two decades ago, received its latest marketing tool this week as it . . .
Posted on 11/1/16
Roanoke's Startup Accelerator Launches Crowdfunding Campaign For Furniture
Roanoke’s new startup accelerator is calling on the community for financial support for the first time, launching a crowdfunding campaign to furnish RAMP’s Jefferson Street facility. . . .
Posted on 10/12/16
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Opens Blacksburg Engineering Office With 'Limitless' Growth Possibilities
Technology giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise has quietly opened a Blacksburg office with a “small, elite team” of engineers — and “limitless” growth possibilities. The $36 billion . . .
Posted on 10/11/16
Jonathan Whitt Resigns As Tech Council CEO
Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council CEO Jonathan Whitt submitted a letter of resignation Monday, setting Nov. 4 as his last day with the nonprofit that aims to bolster . . .
Posted on 10/3/16
Blacksburg Startup Stays Lean, Surviving From One Pitch Competition To The Next
A pair of recent Virginia Tech graduates are bootstrapping a nascent tech company out of a one-room office that looks more like a tinkerer’s garage than . . .
Posted on 9/30/16
All Points Broadband Acquires New River Valley Unwired
New River Valley Unwired, a 13-year-old Christiansburg-based Internet service provider, has been acquired by All Points Broadband. The new owner says existing customers don’t need to . . .
Posted on 9/21/16
TechLab Acquired By Private Equity Firm With Plans To Grow
TechLab, a medical device company founded by a group of Virginia Tech researchers in 1989, has been acquired by a private equity firm with plans to . . .
Posted on 9/16/16
Virginia Tech Planning To Build Its Own Hyperloop Test Track
Virginia Tech is planning to build its own Hyperloop test track, offering students a chance to experiment with the technology scientists say could one day transport . . .
Posted on 9/15/16
Blacksburg Web Design Firms ACI And IDD Merge After 20 Years
Two 20-year-old Blacksburg web design businesses announced a merger Wednesday as Automation Creations acquired Interactive Design and Development. IDD’s employees are now working at the ACI . . .

