Photo by Aila Boyd
By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Last Friday, the Botetourt County Chamber of Commerce hosted a business roundtable at the Boxley Materials Company Support Center in Blue Ridge. The event focused on nine areas of interest including workforce development, export/foreign trade zones, aviation, healthcare, the Virginia Department of Transportation/transportation, water/sewer, agriculture, power grid, and broadband. Participants were able to sit at the tables that highlighted the topics that they were most interested during several 15-minute rounds.
Del. Terry Austin, who represents the 19th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, provided the opening remarks. He spoke about his work on the Interstate 81 Committee, of which he is the chair. He also discussed the upcoming 2020 legislative session.
The experts who lead the roundtable discussions included Morgan Romeo (workforce development), Wayne Strickland (export/foreign trade zones), Tim Bradshaw (aviation), Ken McFadyen (healthcare), Ashley Smith (Virginia Department of Transportation/transportation), Mike McEvoy (water/sewer), Kate Lawrence (agriculture), Bill Rogers (power grid), Tom Woodford (power grid), and Frank Smith (broadband).
Sponsors for the event included The Reserve at Daleville, Century 21 Wampler Realty, Appalachian Power, and the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority.
Del. Terry Austin, who represents the 19th District in the House of Delegates, provided the opening remarks at the event.
Photo by Aila Boyd
Photo by Aila Boyd