Biz Talk - Business Blog Roanoke and Beyond

Biz Links - Business, Community, Government and a little on marketing…

• More news on New River Valley email hosting company, Webmail.us. GigaOM reports that Rackspace has acquired Webmail.us.   Pat Matthews is President of the Blacksburg company.  Webmail.us was recently named as One of America's Fastest Growing Companies by Inc. Magazine.
• Another New River Valley business (New River Pharmaceuticals) was recently sold putting it's owner in the same ranks as Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg.  All four recently made the Forbes 400, an annual list of richest Americans.
• Don't forget about the Roanoke Arts Festival scheduled for Oct. 4 - 7.  For a complete list of events check out their website.
• And finally for you newbies to Biz Talk, I found this interesting artcle from Darin Rowse about What is a Blog?

Biz Links - Business, Community, Government and a little on marketing…

• Real Estate Kiosk is up and running at Valley View Mall.  Realtors see this as a way to supplement traditional advertising.
• Tiki Barber returns to Roanoke to provide keynote address for Valley Forward's Forum for the Future.  Mike Stevens talks with Tiki Barber.
• Many in the valley headed to Blacksburg on Sept 6 to enjoy A Concert for Virginia Tech.  As a time for remembering the April 16 tragedy, music filled the air from big names such as John Mayer and Dave Matthews.
• Wonder why there was so much controversy regarding the New Drivers Fee's imposed by our Virginia legislators?  Ira Kaufman explains why Social Media will impact your business.

Biz Links - Business, Community, Government and a little on marketing…

• Connecting People recognizes local company, Webmail.us for making the Inc.com 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies list.
• As Roanoke City revisits it's downtown re-districting plan, two other Downtown Roanoke establishments closed their doors. 
• The heat has been on in the Roanoke Valley for the past several weeks.  Record breaking temperatures combined with the lack of rain and it could affect your reservoir. Here are the numbers on Carvins Cove.
• Roanoke Times reports on the City's approach to retain area's young professionals.  Official’s Job is to make friends - Roanoke hired Stuart Mease to attract young people.
• Lawmakers are no strangers to driving infractions reports the Washington Post.  Virginia bad driver fees could snag officials according to records.
• What is an RSS feed?  Check out EvolvePoint's Beginner's Guide to RSS Feeds.  Be sure to watch the video, RSS in plain English.

Even though I scan the web frequently to stay abreast of local business news, many times I miss an important article or event.  I recently read a posting by Andrew Cohill about Community Web Portals and realized we could include a weekly links posting on Biz Talk. Biz Links will be a weekly feature to recap local business news, community happenings and government issues.  So here we go, the first weekly Biz Links.

Business, Community, Government and a little on marketing…

• Check out an article in Business Week about Roanoke Business Owner, Chris Nininger,  Bug Man Exterminating and how he uses a PEO for outsourcing payroll and HR responsibilities.  Payroll Solutions Plus was also mentioned in the article. 
• Tom Markiewicz posted that Forbes Ranks Virginia the Best State for Business. 
• Emerging Leaders Program was held in Roanoke this weekend at Hotel Roanoke.
• iRealEstate, LLC will be placing an interactive real estate kiosk in Valley View Mall.
• Virginia retailers prepare for second tax free holiday weekend.
• Virginia "abusive drivers fee's" ruled unconstitutional by second Judge
• Ira Kaufman explains why youth demand an integrated marketing strategy.