RTR SoVA

Danville has been placed on the Intelligent Community Forum’s 2010 Smart21 list that includes 21 communities in 13 countries recognized for broadband growth.

The city is one of three Virginia communities that made the list. The others are Arlington County and Bristol.

The Intelligent Community Forum’s Web site notes Danville’s response to its decline in textiles and tobacco, including its open-access fiber network, nDanville, which brings “world-class connectivity to business and government.” The site also mentions the network’s 125-mile length and its government and school facilities and 150 businesses hooked up to nDanville.

The site also pointed to the city’s partnership with Pittsylvania County to form a business incubator and joined with Virginia Tech to construct the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research.

“These projects have begun building an entrepreneurial base of new employers, while business attraction efforts have brought into Danville IKEA’s first North American manufacturing plant and a new data center housed in an old mill building,” the site states.

The Intelligent Communities Forum is a think tank that studies the economic and social development of communities in the 21st century, according to its Web site. The forum “seeks to share the best practices of the world’s intelligent communities in adapting to the demands of the broadband economy, in order to help communities everywhere find sustainable renewal and growth,” the Web site states.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/danville_earns_ranks_on_smart21_list/14768/

Reuters News

First White Spaces Network Brings Broadband Internet to Rural America over Unused TV Broadcast Airwaves

Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:00am EDT

Industry Leaders, Including Dell, Microsoft, Spectrum Bridge and the TDF Foundation, Join to Improve Education, Economic Opportunity and Quality of Life for Claudville, Va. Residents

WASHINGTON–(Business Wire)–

For the first time in the U.S., unused TV broadcast channels freed up by the transition to digital TV are being used to wirelessly deliver high-speed Internet connectivity to business, education and community users. These unused frequencies are commonly referred to as TV white spaces. Under an experimental license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Spectrum Bridge designed and deployed a wireless TV white spaces network to distribute broadband Internet connectivity in Claudville, Virginia. To ensure that Claudville residents can make the most of this new high-speed connectivity, Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation contributed state-of-the-art computer systems and software applications to the local school, as well as the town`s new computer center. As a result, Claudville residents have already begun to reap the benefits of joining the online community.

“Earlier this year, Jonathan Large, a member of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors, testified before the Subcommittee I chair about the need for broadband service in rural communities like Claudville,” said Congressman Rick Boucher, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. “I am pleased that Spectrum Bridge, Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation are presenting an innovative and promising solution by providing high-speed Internet services to the residents of Claudville through white space

technology. I hope that Claudville will become a model for delivering broadband services to more rural communities in a cost-effective manner in the future.”

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Soon, in Martinsville there will be a big old chair as a centerpiece– big enough for Godzilla, Paul Bunyon and every other type of folk legend and mythical monster imaginable.

This chair, made out of solid ash was built for Bassett Furniture’s 100th anniversary in 2002.  This chair, which I reiterate the fact that it is huge, will be put on display in uptown Martinsville as a tribute and testament to the area’s unique assets.  The chair is in fact nearly 5,000 pounds, over 20 feet high and more than 8 feet wide. 

The chair will be dedicated with a ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday at 4:00pm.  Other chairlike activities such as a showing of the documentary “With These Hands, The Story of An American Furniture Industry,” (showing Thursday at the Rives Theatre at 6:30)  will take place. To get free tickets for the documentary, call the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation.

Well guess what? I think this is awesome!  I love it when an area can boast its traditional assets such as furniture making or agriculture.  I love that Martinsville is owning its heritage in such a…big way

Karl Rozemeyer 

Actors know that body language speaks volumes, and the good ones use it subtly to persuade the audience.Poses, positions and postures tell the audience what to think about the character.A job interview is no different, said Jodie Bentley, owner and co-founder of The Savvy Actor, a firm that coaches actors on the business of acting and teaches them how to market themselves. Your body language tells the interviewer things about you.”I think it is important to have body awareness before you go into an interview,” she said. There are many actions and habits that we should consider doing or avoid doing to tell the right story during the interview setting.  Actor John Treacy Egan, featured in such Broadway hits as “The Producers” and “The Little Mermaid,” demonstrates some of the body-language tricks he uses and avoids on stage. “Practice these, and you will take it over,” he said. “It’s like muscle matter,”

1) Wardrobe

Bentley emphasized the importance of wearing clothes that show you in your best light during an interview. “I really think that the clothes that you wear impact who you are, and if you wear something that makes you feel fabulous, your body language is going to be so much more comfortable in the moment.”

2) Hold onto a talisman

“Wear a piece of jewelry or a scarf or something that has meaning to you and can ground you in the moment,” Bentley said. “If I get nervous, sometimes I will look at my wedding ring and think of my husband who supports me, and I realize I should be doing this and I am on the right path. When we get nervous, we feel ourselves being removed from our bodies slightly. I think that having that talisman is a great way just to keep us grounded and present in the moment.” (more…)

Last Thursday, it was reported that Monogram Food Solutions, LLC is acquiring a plant in Martinsville that will add up to 120 jobs.  In the announcement, it was said that Monogram plans to invest $13 million in the plant to expand its production capacity.

Monogram is in the meat snack business, producing the much loved favorites like Jeff Foxworthy Jerky Products and Team Realtree Pork Nuggets…Okay, I threw the latter in for kicks even though it’s a real product. 

Anyway, I think this is great!  There is a lot of money to be made from individually wrapped pickled items and jerky and cheese stick combos!  I’m glad to see that Martinsville will be able to share in the service station snack food wealth!

Ever since I was young, I dreamt about going to the White House. I imagined roaming the same hallways as Honest Abe and JFK, sitting in the oval office, and dining with the great diplomats and dignitaries of the day (aka Backstreet Boys). But as it turns out, the White house is a very difficult place to merit an invitation- unless of course you are a musical prodigy.

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Phyllis Karavatakis, a local banker, recently became the first woman to receive the Heck Ford Award, the highest honor presented by the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber awarded Karavatakis for her “leadership, commitment and dedication toward this region’s economic well-being.”

Karavatakis is a senior executive vice president of Carter Bank.  She is also president of the board for the Southside Business Technology Center and treasurer of the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority.  (more…)