Here is the press release from Chateau Morrisette.

Floyd, V.A., May 21, 2013 – Chateau Morrisette Winery, located at milepost 171.5 on Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, Virginia, announces all four wines entered in the 2013 Tasters Guild International Wine competition won silver awards.  The winning wines are the 2011 Chardonnay, 2011 Chambourcin, 2008 Merlot, and 2011 Vidal Blanc.  In addition, as part of the winery’s first-ever Asian export agreement, the winery shipped 1,150 cases of Merlot to China.

Established in 1987, the Tasters Guild consists of more than 30 active chapters; the 26th Annual Wine Judging took place in April 2013.  For this year’s competition, Chateau Morrisette competed against entries from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Italy, Canada and throughout the United States.

“Chateau Morrisette is proud to be recognized for the world-class wine we produce,” says David Morrisette, president of the winery. “While we are well- known for our signature and orchard series wines, our Virginia varietals are of the highest quality and consistently perform well against varietals from around the world.”

“Given our recent contract to export Chateau Morrisette wine to China, this international accolade only enhances our reputation on the world stage,” observes George Weldon, general manager at Chateau Morrisette.  The agreement to export Chateau Morrisette wine to China is a five-year contract between the winery and Tianjin Commodity Exchange Company Limited (TJComex).
Most recently, in-house sommelier Will May has focused entries heavily on west coast wine competitions, and has been pleased with how well Chateau Morrisette wines have performed against what he calls the “varsity teams.” May says, “We put our Virginia varietals up against premier California varietals from Napa, Sonoma, and the Russian River area on their home turf, and we held our own.”

At the San Diego Wine Competition, the 2011 Chardonnay and 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon both took silver awards; the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon took silver at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition as well.  At the Monterey Wine Competition, among 681 wines judged, Our Dog Blue received a gold medal, and the 2011 Chambourcin and 2011 Cabernet Franc took silver awards.
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While winemaker Rick Hall is proud of Chateau Morrisette’s honors, he believes, “Our continuing success is really a testament to our great wine grape growers across the Commonwealth of Virginia.  We are fortunate to work with a variety of Virginia vineyards each year, and are committed to ensuring our wines continue to reflect the excellence of our wine-growing region.”

About Chateau Morrisette

A fun day trip from Roanoke, Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Christiansburg or the Piedmont Triad, or a great weekend away from Washington, DC, Richmond, Hampton Roads, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Knoxville or Charleston, WV, Chateau Morrisette is located at Milepost 171.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, Virginia. Wine tastings are $8 per person. For more information, including winery events, visit www.thedogs.com, call (540) 593-2865, or follow us on Facebook.

The Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition’s landscaping features native plants that do not need permanent irrigation.

The total of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified buildings on Virginia Tech’s campus has increased with the recent certification of the Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. The building has received the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver certification. Seven buildings on Tech’s campus now hold a LEED certification.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., May 21, 2013 – The Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine has received the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.

That brings the total of LEED-certified Virginia Tech facilities to seven, the third so designated this year.

The 30,000-square-foot building on Virginia Tech’s campus opened last fall and now serves as the main entrance to the veterinary college.

“We are excited to have not only a quality, state-of-the-art building for our veterinary students and faculty, but also this recognition for the architectural, design, and construction team’s hard work to build this facility with sustainability in mind,” said Mike Harness, associate dean for finance and administration at the veterinary college.

The building earned certification points for a number of sustainable features, including

*   Natural swales and gardens to filter groundwater;
*   Native trees, shrubs, and groundcover that do not need permanent irrigation;
*   Low-flow water fixtures that reduce interior water use by 37 percent;
*   Reduced energy use through increased insulation, efficient grading systems, a variable air volume heating and air conditioning system, occupancy sensors, light heating, and a radiant floor on the second level; and
*   Carbon dioxide air monitoring to protect air quality.

The project’s design team chose not to include new parking in order to protect the surrounding land, including a nearby historic oak grove.
Construction crews prevented 90 percent of construction waste from entering landfills and used recycled and regional materials for more than 20 percent of the project. The pillar of Hokie Stone that now welcomes visitors to the veterinary college came from a local quarry and is one example of regional products used on the facility.

“Since the new building opened its doors, our students have benefited from its attractive and modern teaching and learning spaces,” said Dr. Jennifer Hodgson, associate dean for professional programs at the veterinary college. “The building’s LEED Silver rating gives us another reason to take pride in this world-class facility for our Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program.”
The Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition includes a 7,400-square-foot surgical space for second- and third-year veterinary students as well as new faculty offices, student seminar space, small conference areas, and an outdoor patio overlooking college grounds. Construction began in the summer of 2011 and the building opened in time for the arrival of the new class in August of 2012.

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine is a leading biomedical teaching and research center, enrolling more than 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students, master of public health, and biomedical and veterinary sciences graduate students. The college is a partnership between the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland. Its main campus in Blacksburg, Va., features the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and large animal field services which together treat more than 55,000 animals annually. Other locations include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Gudelsky Veterinary Center in College Park, Md.

Here is a press release from Dollar General.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – May 20, 2013— Today, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation announced the award of $8000 to Blue Ridge Literacy in Roanoke to support literacy programs.

“At Dollar General, we are passionate about our mission of Serving Others throughout the communities we serve,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “It’s exciting to see the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s outreach in action as we partner with organizations to further education and literacy and make a real difference in people’s lives.”

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $81 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 4.7 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.

A complete list of grant recipients may be found online at www.dgliteracy.org.

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is also currently accepting applications for youth literacy grants through Thursday, May 23, 2013. Applications may be completed online at www.dgliteracy.org.

About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for nearly 75 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. With more than 10,000 stores in 40 states, Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com. For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and its grant programs, visit www.dgliteracy.com.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., May 20, 2013 – Chao Wang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech, has received a three-year Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) grant for up to $510,000 to develop methods and software tools that can detect security vulnerabilities in concurrent software that runs on a modern multi-core computer.

The young investigator grant is the most prestigious of the ONR grants for faculty members early in their careers. Awardees are noted for their exceptional promise for doing creative research. ONR made only 16 awards in 2013.

According to Wang, “seemingly simple software defects, such as buffer overruns, have led to numerous security exploits in the past.” With the use of multicore processors, where the multiple cores can run several instructions at the same time, “concurrency related software defects may become the new buffer overruns,” he added.

As software takes advantage of the multicore processors, it becomes increasingly difficult to detect its vulnerabilities. Concurrency vulnerabilities can sometimes be discovered as program bugs, but some show no sign of their presence until a hacker maliciously attacks them.

Wang stressed that it is inherently difficult to reason about concurrent programming. Because there are so many areas where different program threads interact, “multiple runs of the same program may exhibit different behaviors even for the same input,” he said. “Furthermore, the number of overlaps is often astronomically large.”

Wang explained that current methods for detecting vulnerabilities either identify only specific sets of overlaps in software, or they “over-approximate the impact of threading and report too many false positives.”

Wang proposes to use a model-driven program analysis framework that automatically generates models from existing software code. These models will reduce the complexity of the program analysis problem. Wang explained that with this approach, “we won’t have to enumerate all the interleavings.”  Interweaving is a term computer scientists use to describe a particular order in which the computer executes instructions from the concurrently running threads.

“Instead,” he said, “we concentrate on only the discrepancy (if any) between the intended program behavior and the actual program behavior.” This will work for a wide range of security vulnerabilities, whether known or unknown.
“Although automated model generation has been used or at least envisioned in other settings … it has never been fully explored for mitigating concurrency vulnerabilities,” Wang noted. “This research will fill the gap.”
Wang joined Virginia Tech in August 2011, after serving seven years as a research staff member at NEC Laboratories in Princeton, N.J. He received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award in 2012.  He was also named an Outstanding New Assistant Professor by the Dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech in 2013.

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peking University, China in 1996 and in 1999, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree in 2004 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

Here is the press release from SiteVision.

Roanoke, VA May 17, 2013: The Rotary Club of Salem, Virginia has a new web presence. (www.rotaryclubofsalem.org/). The firm’s updated presence implements a content management system (CMS) designed to allow publishing, editing and modifying content from a core interface. Users will find an attractive, more interactive experience utilizing the site.

The new CMS eliminates complex coding and creates client control over HTML-based content, files, documents, and the like. One or multiple users at various permission levels may change content easily within a familiar word processing environment. SiteVision’s role was to provide the design structure, tools and training to get the site up and running with the Club providing content. The new site is also responsive, meaning it is automatically optimized for the device being used such as mobile phones and tablets. A handy “Events” feature lets members see upcoming meetings at a glance and get a recap of any they missed.

The Rotary Club of Salem is a civic organization of over 130 active individuals located in the Roanoke Valley of southwest Virginia. Its members include community leaders such as business professionals, non-profit administrators, entrepreneurs, and government officials all of whom share a dedication to the Rotary ideal of Service Above Self. Through its fundraising the Club makes substantial contributions to charitable and community enhancements in the City of Salem, the Roanoke Valley and around the world.

SiteVision, Inc. (www.sitevision.com) is an Internet application development, consulting, design and hosting firm providing solutions for a broad spectrum of markets and industries, as well as for state, federal and international entities. Expertise includes custom, back-end dynamic applications, consulting to achieve unique goals, geographic information systems (GIS), content management systems, hosting services including, map and GIS application hosting, as well as custom and dedicated hosting solutions.

SiteVision, Inc. participates in, or is available through, the following state and federal contracting vehicles:
 Virginia VITA CAI Supplier, Managed Staff Augmentation Services Contract (VA-051123-CAI)
 Virginia VITA Supplier, Hosting Services Contract
 Virginia eVa Procurement as a sub-contractor to various state and federal private contractor entities
 State and Federal Sole-source Contracting
The firm has its home office in Roanoke, VA, with sales offices in Charlottesville, VA and Miami, FL.

Here’s the press release from Community Housing Partners.

Christiansburg/Richmond, Va. – Community Housing Partners (CHP) was recently named to a list of the nation’s top 50 affordable housing owners by Affordable Housing Finance magazine, as presented in the periodical’s April/May, 2013 issue.
“For 38 years, CHP has worked to create economically, environmentally, and socially-sustainable homes in communities across the Southeast.  We are pleased to be recognized by Affordable Housing Finance magazine for our ongoing efforts to offer homes people can afford in  previously underserved areas,” said David Schultz, CHP’s Vice President of Development.

CHP’s portfolio of owned affordable units has grown from 31 in 1988 to almost 5,500 in 2013 — extending across Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Florida.  The types of properties include conventional and tax-credit properties, Section 8-eligible developments, and housing complexes designed to serve elderly and/or disabled people.

About Community Housing Partners
Community Housing Partners (CHP) is a 501(c)(3) community development corporation established in 1975 to serve the needs of low-income  and low-wealth individuals in the Southeast. Our mission is to create affordable, green, sustainable housing opportunities and services for the people and communities we serve. CHP’s activities include real estate development, architectural design, construction, energy services, homeownership, property management, and resident services.  We are a chartered member of NeighborWorks America, and a member of both the Housing Partnership Network and the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE).  To learn more about CHP, visit www.communityhousingpartners.org.

Here is a press release from Dollar General.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.—May 14, 2013— In its effort to hire 10,000 new employees in May, Dollar General will host a career fair at Dollar General located at 2312 Orange Ave. NE # 4 in Roanoke, Va. on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to attract new store candidates to join its thriving and growing organization.  This event will be one of approximately 170 nationwide career fairs held on Saturday throughout the 40 states the retailer serves.

Dollar General representatives will be present to discuss opportunities, receive resumes and educate candidates on long-term growth and development opportunities at one of America’s fastest-growing retailers. Candidates are also encouraged to visit the Dollar General career website for information on current vacancies before attending the event, as well as bringing a resume copy to the event.

“With the long term career opportunities Dollar General provides its employees, we take great pride in being an employer of choice for external candidates,” said Bob Ravener, executive vice president and chief people officer for Dollar General. “Exceptional talent and internal promotions continue to fuel Dollar General’s growth and we look forward to the skills these 10,000 new hires will bring the company.”

A full list of nationwide career fairs on Saturday, May 18 is available at www.dollargeneral.com/careers.

Candidates interested in joining the Dollar General team who are unable to attend a career fair may apply for available positions online at www.dollargeneral.com/careers.

For additional information, please contact the Media Relations Department at 615-855-5210 or via email at crystal.ghassemi@dg.com.

About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for nearly 75 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. With more than 10,000 stores in 40 states, Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.

Here is the press release from the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the 27th Annual Small Business Awards. The nomination deadline is June 24, 2013. Businesses must be at least three years old to qualify for the awards. Chamber membership is not required.

To receive a nomination form to nominate an outstanding small businesses, small business veteran or small business advocate, call 540.983.0700 x228, e-mail business@RoanokeChamber.org or visit www.RoanokeChamber.org.
All nominated businesses that complete the application process will be recognized in Chamber publications and at the Small Business Awards Dinner and Program on Thursday, October 3, 2013, at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

Awards will be presented in the following categories: Small Business Advocate (presented to an individual who supports small business); Construction/Real Estate; Manufacturing; Micro-Business (five or fewer employees); Technology; Business-to-Business Services; Business-to-Consumer Services; Wholesale/Retail; Legacy (continuously operating for 50+ years); Not-For-Profit Arts & Culture; and Not-For-Profit Health & Human Services.  An overall winner will be named the 2013 Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year.  This business will move on to statewide competition sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, established in 1889, has nearly 1,100 member firms.  The Chamber serves its members with advocacy, networking, information and business assistance programs that maintain a strong business climate in the Greater Roanoke Region.

Can Do Award Shot (L to R): Suzanne Barnette, Dr. Matthew Marry, Eric Johnsen, Dr. Ray Tuck, Nathaniel Tuck, and Dr. Jennifer Rathmann

Tuck Chiropractic Clinic earned several awards by participating in The Can Do! food drive held during the Fork and Cork Festival in Blacksburg April 27. The clinic collected 1,107 cans of food and constructed an Etch-A-Sketch for the competition. Awards won by the staff include  Most Cans Collected, Most Nutritious, People’s Champion and Jury’s Champion.

Here is the press release from Tuck Chiropractic Clinic.

BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA (May 8, 2013) – Doctors and Staff Members from Tuck Chiropractic Clinic participated in The Can Do! on Saturday, April 27, 2013.  Tuck Chiropractic Clinic staff members collected 1107 cans of food and built an Etch A Sketch featuring the Can Do! slogan.  The Tuck Chiropractic Team won the awards for Most Cans Collected, Most Nutritious, People’s Champion, and Jury’s Champion.

Can Do Finish Group Shot (L to R): Eric Johnsen, Suzanne Barnette, Elicia Heilbron, Dr. Ray Tuck, Laura Gilbert, Nathaniel Tuck, Mark Gilbert, Dr. Matthew Marry, Phil Cumbia, Bonnie Tuck, Dr. Jennifer Rathmann, Jack Johnsen, and Dr. Logan Brooke

“We are very grateful to all of our patients and the grocery stores across the New River Valley who generously donated food to our cause.  We are very thankful for these food donations that went directly to Feeding America, Micah’s Backpack, and Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program after the building competition,” stated Dr. Matthew Marry of Tuck Chiropractic Spinal Sports Injury Clinic in Christiansburg and the Team Captain for the competition.

The Can Do! event is held in conjunction with the Fork and Cork Festival in Blacksburg.  Local teams are encouraged to design and build structures using canned and boxed food items.  This is an annual event that greatly benefits food pantries in need of supplies.

The mission of Tuck Chiropractic Clinic is to make a positive impact on every life we touch.  Tuck Chiropractic Clinic’s strong commitment to the community is essential in furthering our goal to make a significant, positive impact on as many lives as possible.  Visit us online at www.tuckclinic.com.

Lavery Hall has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification for design, construction, operations, and management.

Another Virginia Tech building has been awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification. Lavery Hall is the sixth building on Virginia Tech’s campus to earn a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The building is home to a dining center, classrooms and offices.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., May 2, 2013 – As innovative as it is inviting, Virginia Tech’s Lavery Hall has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification, as established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Lavery Hall joins a growing list of university facilities that have been LEED certified.

LEED certification is a performance-oriented rating system designed to address specific environmental impacts inherent in the design, construction, operations, and management of a building.

“Even on a campus as committed to sustainability as Virginia Tech, this recognition stands out because it involved so many partners,” said Patty Perillo, vice president for student affairs. “Student and academic affairs and administrative services staff, including architects and designers, all collaborated to create this state-of-the-art facility that serves so many, in so many ways. LEED Silver certification for Lavery Hall is just another example of what a diverse group of committed people can accomplish when they share a common vision,” Perillo said.

Lavery Hall was opened in fall 2012. The three-story building has 77,301 gross square feet and includes Turner Place at Lavery Hall a trend-setting dining center; six general-assignment classrooms; and office space for Services for Students with Disabilities. It is named Lavery Hall in honor of the university’s 12th president, William E. Lavery.

“During construction, we diverted 94.65 percent of waste from landfills,” said David Chinn, project manager for Lavery Hall. “This began with the removal of the existing parking lot asphalt which, instead of going into dumpsters and then to landfills, was sent to a different plant where it was ground up and reused. Similar activities continued during construction, and items were reused and recycled as often as possible,” Chinn said.

The Lavery Hall project received LEED certification points for use of low-emitting adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, carpet, and composite wood. It was also recognized for using recycled products and regional materials in construction, for water use reduction, and for use of certified wood.

To date, Virginia Tech has received LEED certifications for five projects on the Blacksburg campus: the Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center the Theatre 101/Henderson Hall renovation, the football locker room addition, and ICTAS  II a facility of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science

In addition, the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington is LEED certified Gold for core and shell and has Silver certification for the interior.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 215 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 30,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $450 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.