Just a reminder to everyone about the Clean Commute Day, May 18. 

Jeremy Holmes, Program Director for the RIDE Solutions regional alternative transportation program, announced today that the Board of Supervisors at their May 8 meeting declared Friday, May 18 as Clean Commute Day in Roanoke County, and May 14 – 18 as Bike to Work week.  Roanoke County has been an active participant in the regional Ozone Early Action Plan, an effort to reduce emissions and improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley.  In recognition of the efforts of RIDE Solutions and the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, the County has encouraged its employees to take the Clean Commute Pledge to use alternative transportation such as carpooling, biking, walking, or public transit instead of driving alone.

Be sure top check out their video on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/ridesolutions

We recently posted about an job fair, Roanoke and New River Valley Career and Lifestyle Fair, that was to be held at Virginia Tech.  In light of the tragedy that event was cancelled.  Stuart Mease, event organizer with Roanoke City and the sponsor, MyHometowJobs.com, have thought outside of the box by planning an electronic job fair on the very popular college student social networking site called Facebook.com beginning this Friday, May 11 and concluding on Friday, May 18.

Businesses interested in listing career opportunities, especially internships, in the Electronic Job Fair on the Facebook group page should contact Stuart Mease by midnight, Thursday, May 10.  The listings will include a snapshot of your employment opportunity with a link to your email.

Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, the presenting partner on the fairs, will be promoting the group and eFair within the Facebook communities at Virginia Tech and other local colleges and universities.

MyHometownJobs.com will also offer a special discounted rate to companies participating in the job fair.  For more information contact Tom Fraticelli at tomf@wdbj7.com or 540-985-3642.

We encourage local businesses to help retain young adults in the area by participating in this unique online event.  For more information contact Stuart Mease  stuart.mease@roanokeva.gov or 540-853-2384.

The Roanoke and New River Valley Career and Lifestyle Fair hosted by the City of Roanoke, sponsored by MyHometownJobs.com, and presented by Delta Sigma Pi, scheduled for Wednesday, April 18 at Owens Banquet Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech has been canceled due to the series of on-campus events in Blacksburg this morning.No re-scheduled date has been set at this time. For more information about the fair, visit http://www.roanokeva.gov/fairs.

Roanoke Connect is using viral marketing to bring young people and college graduates back to the Roanoke and New River Valleys of Virginia. The City of Roanoke, entrepreneurs and businesses are putting forth efforts to retain young people in the region. Roanoke Biz2Biz will be hosting an event May 11, at Salem Civic Center, focusing on Grow Roanoke and New River Valleys.  More details will be published in this blog.  For information you can email info@roanokebiz2biz.com.

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This week I spent a special hour listening to Fahad Hassan, VA Tech senior, addressing business people and entrepreneurs from Roanoke and New River Valley at the Roanoke Entrepreneur Express Workshop. Fahad, the founder of Daylert.com shared his experiences of building his business acumen since he was 14 years old. Coming from the poor country of Bangladesh, he shared his gratitude and for the opportunities that he has received. He shared his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and the ability to listen and observe. He comes from a tradition that respects their elders. He focused much of his talk on these elders, mentors in his life and that they serve as a foundation and support base in his personal and business life.  He termed his "network" as his competitive advantage and encouraged entrepreneurs to take every opportunity to build and develop their personal network.  

Working for 30 years with the business community I could not agree more! But, Fahad did not share his "secrets" to building the network. It was the special qualities that his mentors were attracted to - His enthusiasm, faith and humility. These qualities will help to guide any aspiring entrepreneur onto to the road to success. Of course it takes time and perseverance but at the core the entrepreneur needs to be rooted in these strong values. Fahad was a refreshing testimonial to a new generation of business people.  He is a valuable addition to the Roanoke and New River Valley Business communities and I encourage him to plant his roots in the region.

Please refer to the event summary Workshop all about takin' care of business on Roanoke.com.  I would like to thank Stuart Mease, Roanoke Connect, and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance for a great workshop.

Roanoke Biz2Biz would like to let you know about an event coming to the Roanoke Valley.  Best-Selling Author, Kenneth Gray, will be speaking at Virginia Western Community College on Tuesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in the Whitman Auditorium.

Today's young people can choose a number of pathways to success besides a four-year college degree, but many parents, students and educators don't realize there are… Other Ways to Win.

For more details, contact Western Virginia Workforce Development Board at 540-767-6149 or info@westernvaworkforce.com

Need something to do this weekend?  The City of Roanoke is celebrating it's 125th anniversary this year.  The kick-off will begin Saturday, March 31, at the Roanoke Civic Center from noon until 4:00PM.  The event will include a procession from Hotel Roanoke to the Roanoke Civic Center, an opening ceremony in the coliseum, exhibits in the new exhibit hall and family fun activities in the old exhibit hall.

For more information, visit http://www.roanokecelebrates.com/.  

The best part about this is it is FREE entertainment!  There will also be free shuttle service to and from the Elmwood Parking Garage on Williamson Road.

The City of Roanoke and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance are hosting a FREE Entrepreneurship Expo sponsored by WACHOVIA and LECLAIR RYAN on Wednesday, April 4 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibit Hall. You must register by March 29 and spaces are limited due to a successful response.

Many folks have been to a job fair, but when was the last time you went to an entrepreneurship fair? If you have ever thought about starting a business, then this free one-day workshop is for you.

Roanoke native and 12-time serial entrepreneur, Cameron Johnson, will be speaking on his entrepreneurial success at the age of 22. He will also be highlighting his new book - "You Call the Shots".

For more info, contact Sandy at sandy.ratliff@dba.virginia.gov.

From a government perspective of connecting communities to the creative class of workers, a couple of sites quickly come to mind as useful tools in capturing best practices from other region.

First, Richard Florida author of the Rise of Creative Class and the Flight of the Creative Class has a great blog on the topics relating to his two books. A person of his stature, he and his staff are quite accessbile and update the blog several times a day. You will find very provocative material at CreativeClass.org.

Second, CEOS for Cities is another interesting blog. This organization was instrumental in contracting with Joe Cortright to produce the Young and The Restless in the Knowledge Economy piece that has garnered a ton of exposure over the last 24 months. It is a consortium of larger cities tackling greater problems they all trying to overcome.

Third, Suzanne Morse puts out a nice blog post daily about some current topic. Her credentials are spectacular based on her wonderful book - Smart Communities.

There are many others, but these are good reads to get you going.