Marketing 2010: Let the Neighbors In On It

Bob Fetzer shows Lucy Ellett the geothermal plan.^

Lucy Paige Ellett (left) and Kerrigan Chaney play in an area where a new room is marked.^

The builders get their instructions directly. Surgeons: take note!^

Sandy Murray shows off the inside plan to Hal and Gerry McGrath.^

As a marketing tool, it’s just this side of genius. Fact is, you’re almost certainly going to see more of it in the future.

Building Specialists marketing director Sandy Murray explains it this way: “In the tradition of Building Specialists last minute fun, we decided to ask our clients John and Darcy Chaney if we could have a ‘wine and cheese/meet the neighbors party’ at their home before we started knocking down the walls.”

That would be a big “yes,” and the game was on.

Building Specialists is doing a complete renovation to the home on Cornwallis Ave. in the high-end South Roanoke neighborhood. The Chaney family has owned the home for many years, but Darcy and John will be moving into it for the first time.

John is an engineer with AECOM and Darcy is an architect there. The house’s makeover includes geothermal heating and, says Sandy, “Of course they are doing all the other eco-friendly things with the appliance selection, insulation, windows etc.”

Bob Fetzer, who owns Building Specialists was especially glad the neighbors got the opportunity to see what’s going on. “You know neighbors,” he says. “They all want to know the details. We’re planning on having them back when the work’s done.” For a little more marketing, perhaps.

--DAN SMITH

Looking To Buy Locally: Roy Lax Has a Solution for You

Roy Lax: Locavore goes to the 'net.^

By DAN SMITH

Roy Lax has been chasing the dream job for years now and may have finally found at least the direction his pursuit needs to take.

It’s a modest beginning—a Web site—but it offers all kinds of possibilities, he believes. Roy, who is 37 and grew up in the Roanoke Valley (William Byrd High, Virginia Western), worked for Varney Inc. as the manager of the sheet metal shop for 12 years, segued into insurance sales (“I didn’t much like that”), opened a cleaning business, coached girls soccer (winning a state title at Hidden Valley High) and now has put his focus on ChooseLocallyOwned.com.

The interest germinated as he watched friends’ and colleagues’ businesses—all of them solid and worthy—struggle against outside forces that were often bigger and full of the advantages size brings.

“It’s about helping my friends,” he says frankly. It’s also about keeping more money in the local economy, “maintaining the unique character of specific areas” (he pointed to Grandin Village), keeping money going to local non-profits and “seeing that decisions are locally-made.”

The local shopping trend has gained considerable momentum in recent years, especially with shopping for food grown close, but there’s considerably more to it than that. Blogcatalog.com lists these reasons to keep it local: Dollars kept local have three times the impact on the community than money spent at corporate chains.

Local focus helps strengthen the employment market and “locally owned businesses may often be motivated to give workers better wages and benefits.” Independent locals pay more taxes and keep the taxes local. Chains drain taxes. Local owners are more invested in local growth and planning and their shops often require smaller spaces to operate, diminishing sprawl.

There’s something social about shopping locally. Many small companies, rather than one or two large ones, create innovation and competition. Service at specialized local companies is often far, far superior—and more knowledgeable—than that at large companies (think: lawnmower repiar or buying a hardware specialty item and being shown how to use it).

“Many chain supermarkets have appalling ethics, particularly in their relationships with third-world farmers.” If you buy locally, store owners often know suppliers by first names. Local shops often reduce fuel use and eliminate monopoly pricing. That pricing is often attractive at the end, but consider how it got there. Much of it is the result of predatory practices.

When Valley Business FRONT started a bit more than a year and a half ago, one of the first points of emphasis was its local ownership by people who care about this community. That continues to be a point of emphasis, along with the company’s leadership in community issues and the inside knowledge \of its institutions and leaders that leads to informed reporting.

FRONT is one of many, many scores of stories that are similar and Roy hopes to get a buy-in (as advertisers) from small, local companies that want to offer alternatives to those whose default shopping buttons are set on the big boxes, the national chains and owners who don’t even know where Mill Mountain is.

Primarily using social media to spread the word, Roy was up to 30 sponsors on his site recently and was thinking, “This is looking like more than a side venture.” He’s ready to extend the scope to communities that are nearby and make it a little more regional in scope, but a 50 mile radius is still local. And local is what it’s all about.

IDD's Mary Miller Named to Academy

Barbara Ryder (left), head of Virginia Tech’s Department of Computer Science; Richard Benson, dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering; and Mary Miller, founder of Interactive Design and Development.

Mary Miller, president and founder of Interactive Design & Development in Blacksburg, who earned her master’s degree in computer science from Virginia Tech in 1985, is a 2010 inductee into Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Academy of Engineering Excellence. She joins an elite group of 97 individuals out of more than 55,000 living engineering alumni.

The Academy of Engineering Excellence was founded in 1999 by F. William Stephenson, past dean of the college of engineering, and the College’s Advisory Board. This year marked the eleventh anniversary of the first induction


When Mary Miller showed her father the letter informing her of her nomination to the Virginia Tech Academy of Engineering Excellence, the 89-year-old retired engineer from McDonnell Douglas had tears streaming down his cheeks as he told her, smiling, “You came from good genes.”

She agreed, saying she inherited her father’s mathematical abilities, and she had strong role models who encouraged her along the way. Miller entered Virginia Tech in 1968, when women were less than a tenth of the student population.

As a female in a predominantly man’s world, she was sidetracked for a while before truly finding what doors her talents could open. She sought her first degree in elementary education because she knew women could get teaching jobs. Certified to teach in K-12, she landed her first full-time position as a sixth and seventh grade teacher in Pulaski County.

She took a sabbatical after three years to have her two children, Matthew and Mandy. Her traditional route was about to stop. In 1979, after she had returned to work, teaching math through the Marion Job Corp., she decided to take a class in programming at Wytheville Community College.

She arrived at the fully enrolled class with an attitude. “I planned to force add (the course) even though the professor, Bill Durham, a retired NASA programmer, said no one could be added," she says. "I stayed after class, and told him that he wanted me in his class, and that I would be his best student, and I would even help the others."

Her tenacity worked, and she credited him with inspiring her “to think more, to do more, and to return to Virginia Tech for my computer science (CS) degree.”

Virginia Tech was just beginning to move its faculty into computing, and the Provost at the time, David Roselle, was requiring two faculty from each department to take Dr. J.A.N. Lee’s CS course.

Since Miller was Lee’s assistant, she taught a good number of these classes, and by the end of the term, she had four job offers from within the University. Fortuitously, she selected the one from Mitch Giesler who was the Dean of Extension.

“It was a life-changing job," she says. "I had one year of a guaranteed salary, and then I needed to fund myself with grant money. Interactive video was just taking off,” she says, and she entrenched herself in the new arena.

In 1986 her work in computer interactivity netted a $1.3 million grant, and the lab called Interactive Design and Development (IDD) at Virginia Tech was born. IDD was soon picking up some significant projects such as a grant to produce a CD Rom of agricultural information for the National Agricultural Library.

She earned her PhD at Tech in 1996, the same year IDD was named one of the top 100 media developers in the U.S.

She was the first woman to serve as the president of the Blacksburg Rotary Club, and she is currently the president of the NewVa Corridor Technology Council, representing some 208 companies in the region. She is a former member of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Advisory Board and is currently on the University’s Computer Science Advisory BoardShe was chosen as an Outstanding Woman Alumna at the 75th Anniversary of Women at Virginia Tech in 1996.

Carilion Giles Hospital Dedication Tuesday

Carilion Giles Community Hospital's new facility will be dedicated tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. on Va. 636 in Giles County. The dedication will include a ribbon-cutting and cornerstone ceremony and the unveiling of a mural by artist Robert Tuckwiller.

Celebrating 40 Years at Ideal Cabinets

Showroom demonstrates some of Ideal's cabinetry.^

When Ken Rakes first opened the doors of Ideal Cabinets in 1960 in Christiansburg, Formica countertops were the rage and cabinets came in a wide variety of options—so long as you wanted birch or knotty pine. Today’s customers want more choices in their kitchen décor, says Rakes.

So on May 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Ideal Cabinets will welcome the community to an open house to view the latest in kitchen design. Sixteen kitchen and bathroom displays—featuring everything from hand-rubbed traditional cherry cabinets to sleek contemporary models with underlit glass countertops—will inspire those dreaming of design options for their own kitchens.

The grand opening of Ideal Cabinets' newly renovated 1,700 square foot showroom at 103 N. Franklin St. celebrates 40 years of service of the family-run business, says Rakes. Despite a floundering economy, Ideal Cabinets has continued to grow, he says.

“We started small in a rented facility with no showroom space,” says Rakes. “Five years later, we moved into our Christiansburg location and have been blessed with continuing growth and a dedicated staff, two of which have been with us for more than 25 years.”

The new showroom features WoodMode cabinetry and the latest in under cabinet lighting, dazzling tile backsplashes and custom storage options. There are options for eco-friendly design, from recycled quartz countertops to LEED-certified cabinetry. “People want kitchens that are durable, design styles that are timeless, and materials that are sustainable,” says Rakes. And knotty pine? “It’s not a big mover, but we’ll custom-design anything,” he says.

For more information about Ideal Cabinets, visit here.

Belltone Opens New Roanoke Site

(From left) Carl McCurdy, president of Beltone-Roanoke; Lisa Soltice, economic development specialist with Roanoke; Kevin McCurdy, audiologist with Beltone-Roanoke; Barb Vansomeren and Steve Brinkman from Beltone Corporate cut the ribbon.

Beltone Audiology and Hearing Aid Center executives helped Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill (in his first ribbon-cutting) clipped the ribbon on their new headquarters in downtown Roanoke May 1.

The manufacturer of hearing instruments has been represented in Roanoke since the mid 1940s. Carl McCurdy became the authorized Beltone dispenser in January 1967. McCurdy has grown the Roanoke-based Virginia headquarters to encompass 50 counties in Virginia and 2 in West Virginia, with 7 full-time offices in Martinsville, Lynchburg, Salem, Roanoke, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg.

National Better Hearing Month, an annual event designed to raise awareness of communication disorders and to promote treatment to improve quality of life for those with hearing difficulties, began today. Beltone’s Roanoke location will be open to customers and visitors daily offering complimentary hearing tests and opportunities for education and door prize drawings.

Roanoke Designated Bicycle Friendly

The League of American Bicyclists has named Roanoke a Bicycle Friendly Community. Roanoke joins Alexandria, Arlington and Charlottesville as Virginia's only Bicycle Friendly Communities.

Bicycle Friendly Communities are designated twice each year based on feedback from cyclists in the community and an extensive application that audits a community's efforts to provide a more bicycle friendly environment.

The audit reviews engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation and planning efforts for bicycling. Roanoke's application was prepared by its volunteer Bicycle Advisory Committee made up of bicyclists, driving educators, transportation professionals, concerned parents, engineers, and regional planners, in consultation with city staff.

"Roanoke is a great place for biking, with its combination of smooth greenways, challenging hills and trails, and low traffic, bike friendly neighborhood streets," says Mayor David Bowers. "Our biking community has worked hard to achieve this award. We thank the League for recognizing the efforts the city has taken to improve the quality of life for our citizens by supporting safer biking, walking and running. Our expanding greenways and off road trails, and our bicycling and running events are making Roanoke one of the best outdoor cities in the country. This designation is exciting and puts Roanoke on the national biking map."

David Harrison, who chairs the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee says: "[The designation] will help the region's economic development efforts. Increasingly, employers and workers look for recreational opportunities in deciding where to locate. Bicycling is also a family activity that encourages an active, healthy lifestyle. We now need to capitalize on the momentum from this award by increasing our efforts to improve our bicycle facilities and to educate the public about how cars and bikes can safely share our streets, so that more people feel comfortable riding a bicycle to work or school, and to shop, as well as for recreation."

The Bicycle Friendly Community program includes five designations: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and honorable mention. Roanoke was granted the bronze-level designation for four years. The League of American Bicyclists will provide the city with feedback on how the city can become more bicycle-friendly and eventually receive those higher designations.

There are only two Platinum cities: Davis, Calif. and Portland, Oregon. The League will present the award, and a highway-quality road sign, at a local ceremony in the near future.

More Millions for Hollins University

It’s been a pretty good month for Hollins University’s bottom line. The Virginia institution of higher learning with the best record in managing its endowment last year received a $1 million gift in March and now has been promised a $5 million matching grant.

Hollins grad Jean Hall Rutherfoord and her husband, Thomas made a gift of $1 million to support Hollins’ study abroad program in Paris in March and now alumna Jane Parke Batten of Norfolk has challenged Hollins to raise $5 million by December 2013 in order to receive a matching grant of the same amount.

Successfully meeting the challenge build scholarships for students who want to attend the university’s Batten Leadership Institute; scholarships for current Hollins students who want to earn a certificate in leadership studies; and scholarships for other deserving students.

The Batten family has had a close relationship with Hollins for more than 80 years. Dorothy Martin, the mother of Jane Batten’s late husband, Frank (who served as chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications, Inc., from 1967 to 1998), attended Hollins in the early 1920s; Jane Batten is a member of the Class of 1958; and the Battens’ daughter, Dorothy, graduated in 1985.

Frank Batten served three terms on the Hollins Board of Trustees between 1969 and 1991. Frank and Jane Batten gave $2 million to Hollins in 1995 to establish the Batten Scholars program, and in 2002, they funded the creation of the Batten Leadership Institute, which provides a diverse array of initiatives that focus on students’ personal, interpersonal, and intellectual development; four years later they gave Hollins $2 million to further endow the Institute, and in 2008 added a $3 million gift to support its mission. In 2003, the Battens gave Hollins over $2.2 million to fund an endowed chair in leadership.

Blue Ridge Autism Center Opens

The Blue Ridge Autism & Achievement Center has opened its new facility off of Peters Creek Road in North Roanoke. April is Autism Awareness Month and Executive DirectorAngie Leonard, along with Craig Balzer and George Young, Co-Chairmen of the center, said the venture is a labor of love.

Declining State Support Leads to Another Tech Tuition Increase

The Virginia General Assembly's declining financial support of higher education in the Commonwealth has led to yet another tuition increase at Virginia Tech, where students will face a nearly 10 percent hike next year. This will be slightly offset by the Obama Administration's tax credits.

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors Executive Committee has set total tuition and mandatory fees for a undergraduate students at $9,589, an increase of $854, partially offset by a $130 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant.

President Charles W. Steger says, “State support for higher education has slipped significantly in recent times. Virginia Tech receives $37 million less today for instruction than 10 years ago. During that time, undergraduate enrollment of Virginia students increased by more than 2,000, resulting in significantly less support per student from the commonwealth. Indeed, once adjusted for inflation, state support per Virginia student is about half today than at the beginning of the decade.

“Accordingly, students carry a larger percentage of the overall cost of education than in prior years. This cost shift to students and families is unfortunate but unavoidable. After decades of cuts, simple belt-tightening is not an option. In order to continue to provide the quality expected from Virginia Tech, tuition must rise.”

Non-Virginia undergrad students not living on campus will pay $23,217, a $1,339 increase. Total average annual costs for a Virginia undergraduate student living on campus will rise from $14,559 to $15,879. Out-of-state undergrad students will see this figure rise from $27,702 to $29,507. (There are several rates for room and board; individual costs will vary. The university uses an average to calculate suggested room and board for this demonstration.)

Graduate tuition and fees for Virginia residents will increase from $10,228 to 10,933 and move from $17,928 to 19,957 for out-of-state students. Tuition and fees for Maryland and Virginia residents attending the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will be $19,675, up from $18,415. Non-resident veterinary students will pay $42,704 annually.

Invision Opens New Salem Office

Invision, an eyeware and eye examination practice, has opened its new office in a brand new building on 4th Street in Salem. The ribbon-cutting was yesterday with members of the staff and Salem City officias in attendance.

Invision is owned and operated by Drs. Scott and Becky Mann and Dr. John Gudeman.

FRONT All Over the VPW Conference

(Doubleclick on photos for enlargements)

View from my table of keynote speaker Sharyn McCrumb. At the table (from lower right, clockwise), Keith Ferrell, Catherine Fox, Cara Modisett, Joe Tennis, Julie Campbell, Stephanie Hardison and Mollie Bryan.^

FRONT contributors (from left) columnist Anne Clelland and writers Bonnie Cranmer and Jill Elswick.^

Niche Writing panel was moderated by Sally Harris (standing) and (from left) Joe Tennis, Tristen Perry, Anne Clelland and Molly Bryan.^

Editor-Writer Faceoff featured (from left): Julie Campbell of Washington & Lee University, Dan Smith, Keith Ferrell and Deborah Huso.^

Anne Clelland does a little work during a talk.^

The Virginia Press Women state conference at the Taubman Museum of Art had "Valley Business FRONT" written all over it today.

Whether directly or indirectly, your favorite regional magazine's writers and editor were much in evidence and even FRONT-sponsored Roanoke Regional Writers Conference participants were in the lead ranks or presenters.

Among the presenters were editor Dan Smith and contributing writer Keith Ferrell talking about the editor-freelance writer relationship; columnist Anne Clelland discussing niche writing; and freelance contributors Jill Elswick and Bonnie Cranmer talking about Twitter. These discussions constituted three quarters of the breakout sessions.

Additionally, Mollie Cox Bryan of Charlottesville, who writes cookbooks and is a columnist, took part in the niche writing presentation. She will be among the presenters at next year's FRONT-sponsored Roanoke Regional Writers Conference at Hollins. Others on the bill for that event include conference organizer and panel moderator Cara Modisett of Blue Ridge Country magazine, Clelland, Cranmer and Ferrell.

FRONT editor Smith points out that even the keynote speaker for the statewide event, novelist Sharyn McCrumb, has a direct link: she is a distant cousin of his and was the keynote speaker at the Writers Conference two years ago.

Homeowners Benefit from Rebuilding Together

The Roanoke Chapter of Rebuilding Together will be helping 34 local homeowners rebuild damaged homes they cannot handle themselves on Rebuilding Day--Saturday, April 24.

Local volunteer groups, church members, contractors and others will do the work with materials either donated by local businesses or purchased with grant money from various sources. More than 500 volunteers provided the labor for last year’s event.

“We are active year round,” says local chapter President Ed Murray. “But one day every April, on Rebuilding Day, we pull out all the stops and do many, many houses in one day. It’s so inspiring to see so many volunteers helping people who have no other way to maintain their homes.”

Murray said the repairs include everything from leaky roofs, to falling down porches, to interior problems. “Once we were helping a woman with a leaky roof and discovered she had no way to cook because her stove had been broken for years--but she was too ashamed to tell anyone,” he says.

Adding that by the end of the day the woman had a new stove and a smile--free of charge. Although the repairs will happen at homes across a wide geographic area in western Virginia, there will be a special focus on 11 homes in Roanoke’s Hurt Park neighborhood.

Rebuilding Together has been helping the area for several years, including construction of new homes, renovation of vacant properties and repair and rehabilitation of others.

Rebuilding Together receives money from various groups in order to complete the work, which is always done by volunteers. Recent grants include: $100,000 from Foundation for Roanoke Valley, $10,000 from Wachovia Bank, $10,000 from SunTrust and $15,000 from Carilion Foundation. Since its inception in 1998, Rebuilding Together has renovated, built or restored Over 300 homes in the Roanoke area.

“We allow people to accept help with dignity,” says Murray. “Often times the people who receive our help are on fixed incomes, and they are fine until something bad happens to their homes. Then they are unable to keep up. That’s where we come in.”

Work on April 24 will begin at 8 a.m. and continue until complete. For more information on Rebuilding Together, including a photo gallery of before and after photographs, go here. For information on activities on April 24 please dall Ed Murray at (540) 798-0901 or John Carlin at (540) 815-0669.

Tech Transportation Institute Topic of Pulitzer Piece

Tech's Smart Road is part of the Transportation Institute.^

Last week, the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for national reporting was awarded to Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times staff for their July 18, 2009, front page story that highlighted research study results from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

The article , which Pulitzer judges noted as “incisive work, in print and online, on the hazardous use of cell phones, computers, and other devices while operating cars and trucks, stimulating widespread efforts to curb distracted driving,” was based on several large-scale, naturalistic driving using cameras and instrumentation in participants' personal vehicles conducted at the Virginia Tech research center.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has completed several large-scale naturalistic studies over the past several years to provide a clear picture of driver distraction, cell phone use, and general driving behavior under real-world driving conditions.

The results of the most recent research study released in July 2009 garnered wide-spread national and international attention. Within a few weeks of the 2009 release of the university’s research study results, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a distracted driving summit to bring national attention to the growing problem of cell phone use and texting while driving.

Many others have since initiated “no-texting” campaigns to increase awareness of this deadly secondary driving task.

Oakey's To Hold Seminar on Death, Mourning

Oakey’s Funeral Service & Crematory in Roanoke will sponsor the seminar Death, Grief & Mourning: Essential Caregiving Principles and Practices with Alan D. Wolfelt, Thursday, May 20, 29 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Vinton War Memorial.

Wolfelt is a past recipient of the Association for Death Education and Counseling’s Death Educator Award. Wolfelt is director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition in Colorado. He is known for his educational contributions in the areas of both childhood and adult grief. Says Sammy Oakey, III, president and chairman of the board of Oakey’s, “The workshop content targets members of the caregiving community and individuals wanting to enhance their knowledge and skills related to supporting people experiencing grief and loss.”

Seating is limited and registration for the program is being held through April 28, 2010 at 540.981.2100. Cost of the program is $44 which includes lunch and handout materials.

Senior Expo Draws Big Crowds in Salem

This was the scene from overhead of the crowd.^

Seniors crowd in tight to register at Crowning Touch.^

John Hamm of Friendship Manor talks to Alta Conner (right).^

Oakeys' John Wilson and Randy Gleason (dark suits) hand out information.^

David Crews and Steve Jamison (left) instruct visitors about In-Home Screening.^

Salem Civic Center's Maryann Jones hands out free detergent samples.^

Lotz Funeral Home's Wayne Lovelace looks at the long line waiting to get information.^

Ken King (left) of the King Law Group discusses his firm's services.^

Kitty Richardson (left) and Ruth Mollette pose with an antique hearse.^

A fashion show was a popular attraction.^

PreCare Home Care was all the way at the back of the Civic Center, sitting by itself, but it still drew good crowds.^

The Salem Civic Center was elbow-to-elbow old people this morning for the Senior Expo, which also drew a full house of vendors whose products and services are aimed at this demographic.

Cycle Systems Buys Virginia Can Company

Jonna McGraw (with paper) reads the particulars on the property as the sale begins.^

Auction caller Russell Seneff gets a response to up the bid.^

Bruce (left) and Neal Brenner find out from auctioneer Jonna McGraw of Woltz & Associates that they're the new owners of the Virginia Can Company.^

Story, Photos By DAN SMITH

Cycle Systems, the largest private recycler in the region, is the new owner of the historic Virginia Can Company (later Heironimous Warehouse) buildings on Albemarle Ave. in Roanoke, paying more than $100,000 less than its assessed value of $377,000.

Brothers Bruce and Neal Brenner will pay $273,000 ($260,000 for the property, plus a five percent add-on) for the 50,000-square-foot building(s) and property located under an Interstate 581 bridge and in the flood plain. Design agency owner Katie Wallace, who owned the property, paying nearly $310,000 six years ago, had wanted to create an arts center there, but the economy killed her plans.

Bidding was slow and not enthusiastic, taking only about 10 minutes before Woltz & Associates auctioneer Jonna McGraw declared a winner.

Neal Brenner says Cycle Systems will move its warehouse operation from Walnut Avenue to the Can Company. Architect Mark MacConnell estimates it will require about $250,000 to shore up the buildings sufficiently to create warehouse spaces, but that "it will be a good use for the space."

At the Chamber Business Expo

Robert Turcotte of Entre Computer Center shows Cox Businesses' Russell Decker a 1972 digital computer. It still works, but is more a curiosity than what we know as a computer.

Leslie Coty (right) introduces members of the social media panel: (from left) Lynda McNutt Foster, Diane Geller, John Lusher and Janeson Keeley.^

John Nettles and Norma Davenport of LBM Office Solutions pause for a photo.^

Jamie Clark of Premier, a moving company, talks to Richard Key and Pat Cousins at her booth.^

Stephanie Anderson watches as Larry Norman spins the prize dial at the Commonwealth Home Health Care booth.^

FRONT columnist Janeson Keeley (left) and feature writer Susan Ayers made the rounds.^

FRONT ad executives JoLynn Siefert (left) and Jane Dalier present a good, uh, front at our booth.

The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo was a bit smaller than usual today, but no less busy. Here are some scenes from the expo at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Tech Team Looking for Better X-Ray

Researchers from Virginia Tech and GE Global Research Center are developing unusual cardiac computed tomography (CT) architectures and methods, including a newly patented approach to a long-standing challenge in local CT image reconstruction.

With funding from the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the research team will also evaluate the performance of various cardiac CT system designs to determine the most promising designs and demonstrate their clinical feasibility and utility.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally and a large burden on the healthcare system. Better detection of hardening or clogging of arteries and other blood vessels before symptoms occur is needed. Better image quality at lower radiation dose is the immediate need being addressed by the research project. The project is led by Ge Wang, director of the Biomedical Imaging Division of the Virginia Tech–Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, and Bruno De Man, a CT authority at GE Global Research Center.

Faster, dynamic imaging to capture the beating heart and algorithms or computations that can present the most exact images from X-ray projections are also among project goals. "Cardiac CT technology needs major improvements to capture a fast beating heart with better clarity at lower risk," says Wang.

In traditional X-ray CT imaging, data is recorded behind the patient. Everything is superimposed along the X-ray path through the patient. In other words, an X-ray projection of the heart includes the bone and muscle along the way to the detectors. With current CT, the X-rays probe the patient along multiple wide beams focused on the patient including a region of interest, such as the heart, from various orientations. That is, the source of the X-rays rotate around the individual as he or she lies inside a large aperture, then a computer program reconstructs images from the exposures.

This CT process increases radiation exposure but generates a lot of different views to be analyzed by physicians for diagnosis. In many cases, like cardiac CT, the area of interest is just a relatively small region within the larger body. "It was realized long before that one could reduce the radiation dose by sending X-rays just through the region of interest from different directions, and then reconstruct that region from resultant local data," says Wang.

Depending upon the algorithm used, the resulting images can, to different degrees, portray sharp borders or edges from tissue or bone within the region of interest but cannot show X-ray linear attenuation coefficients accurately. "This has been known for decades as the 'interior problem'," says Wang. A method known as lambda tomography addresses the interior problem by producing changes in the density of the image.

"However, physicians need quantitative images, and hence lambda tomography has not been clinically used," said Wang. His group at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with Professor Yangbo Ye at the University of Iowa, developed the now patented "interior tomography" method for interior reconstruction of a region of interest image to replace lambda tomography.

"We assume a known sub-region within the region of interest – such as an air gap, a blood area, or an implant in the heart. With a known sub-region, we can solve the interior problem in a theoretically exact and mathematically stable fashion – we can produce an accurate image!" says Wang.

Interior tomography is a theoretical breakthrough, and Wang and colleagues as well as peer groups have been developing it and publishing results. The patent application was filed in 2007.

National Bank 'Phishing' Victim

The National Bank of Blacksburg appears to be the target of what is commonly called a "phishing expedition," in the world of bank fraud.

Officials at National Bank, which has 25 offices throughout Southwest Virginia, say they have been the target of several phishing attacks: fraudulent e-mails and text messages using the bank’s name, logo and website are being sent to area residents.

The messages are asking for confidential customer information and James G. Rakes, National Bank’s chairman, president & CEO, says, “National Bank does not solicit or provide customer information by e-mail, phone or text message, except in direct response to a bona fide customer request. We encourage any of our customers who may have responded to these fake messages to contact the bank immediately.”

Rakes says, “The bank’s own computer system has not been compromised. Cyber criminals obtain personal e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers from a variety of legal and illegal sources and are skilled in creating sites that appear to be authentic in an attempt to try to trick people into providing confidential information. We are working diligently with our technology security consultants to respond to these phishing attacks. However, the best defense against them is customer education.”