Raymond Smoot was born January 21, 1947, in Lynchburg, an only child to parents Raymond Dillard Smoot and Gladys Masencup Smoot. Ray attended Bedford County schools through 5^th grade and then went to Lynchburg public schools (E.C. Glass High School). At 10 years old Ray’s first job was cutting grass for neighbors.  His mother stirred his artistic blood with piano lessons on an old upright that was replaced with a prize piano.  As the story goes his mother was in the Roberts’ Piano Company store in Lynchburg and placed her name in a drawing for a piano.  Her name was pulled along with a couple others and the question they had to answer was “who were the first two colleges to play against each other in competitive football?”  Ray’s mother cringed because she knew nothing about football, but blurted out the only colleges that came to mind, “Harvard and Princeton”.  Mrs. Smoot won the piano and young Ray continued his lessons through elementary school and he perfected the organ.  This made Ray the perfect stand in for any church services that had an absentee pianist or organist.  The Roberts’ piano still is being used by Ray today in a special place in his home.   In High School he managed the basketball team and was the Sports Editor for the school newspaper, along with being a representative to Virginia Boys State. 

Ray was the first generation of his family to attend college.  He was first attracted to Virginia Tech because he wanted to be an engineer.  However, he got his Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1969 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (VT) with the idea that he would be a teacher.  After getting his Master of Educational Administration he worked at Virginia Tech for two years before going to get his Doctorate degree at Ohio State University. 

In 1964 during high school, he began working for the Department of Agriculture measuring tobacco allotments.  He would literally measure each row of tobacco to see how many plants were growing.  This was a very interesting job because it allowed him to meet a variety of unique people.  Many of the farms were family owned and operated in Amherst County.    In 1965 – Ray had a job in construction digging foundations for commercial buildings.  He was paid $1.25 an hour.  This job helped motivate him to stick with college.

In obtaining his English Degree Ray originally wanted to be a teacher but he met Marshal Hahn, President of VA Tech who got him interested in University Administration. During college Ray was very involved with the Student Government and was president his senior year and later interned in the president’s office. This allowed him a front-row seat to the ever able and aggressive vision of Hahn.  For fun Ray joined a fraternity who had very productive fund raisers and his passion for music placed him in the glee club not to mention he had become an accomplished pianist.  While working on his doctoral degree at Ohio State Ray worked for the Ohio State Legislature.  This job focused on Education and policy matters (his office space was the size of a phone booth).  This job was very eye opening and exciting letting him see the political aspects that play a role in Educational Administration.  Ray worked with a state representative who was very responsive to his constituents.  There were multiple requests from local schools and businesses to acquire an Ohio state flag that had flown over the state capital.  Every so often Ray was sent up to the state capitol dome to wave an Ohio flag back and forth and then pack it up to be shipped to the constituent.   He learned to be truthful!

In 1975 he came back to Virginia Tech and became involved in the University financial operations.  He was the assistant to the VP for Administration (Stuart Cassell, former school business manager).  This job involved him working on various projects with the Virginia Tech Foundation which then had assets valued at $10 million.  Mr. Cassell passed away unexpectedly just one year after Ray had been working there.  With his death Ray was given some of his boss’s responsibility and took the reins of the foundation at the age of 29. 

2003- Ray becomes the full time Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Tech Foundation. This role makes him responsible for managing investments, acquiring, and managing real estate and large/unique gifts, communication with the foundation board and managing a large staff plus foundation projects.

Over the years, the foundation also acquired and developed real estate for use by the university. The foundation now owns 17 properties around the state, including the 130-year-old Hotel Roanoke, the Virginia Tech Research Center-Arlington and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg plus the Virginia Tech Center for European Studies & Architecture housed in a 275-year-old villa near Lugano, Switzerland.

Changes since 1975:

• Student enrollment in 1975 was 11,000 and today the University boasts of 30,000 students.
• Funded research has grown to $450 Million (and has a major economic impact on our region.
• Virginia Tech Foundation assets have grown to $1.3 billion.
• Research enterprise is focused on areas of interest of public needs (ex. Energy, Cyber-Security and Transportation)
• How VT is funded- State funding has become smaller creating higher student cost.  The Virginia Tech Foundation now provides over $100 Million annually to students at the university.
• Increasing outreach of Tech across the state.  Examples are Hotel Roanoke, WVTF, The Pete Dye River Course (golf), Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, VT Seafood research center in Hampton, Virginia Tech/Carilion school of Medicine and Research Institute, the Corporate Research Center, the Equine Medical Center in Leesburg.
• Blacksburg and Roanoke are more united as a region.  Ray travels at least 3 times a week to Roanoke and described it as not going to another town but just going across town.  On occasion or two he has come to Roanoke three times in a day.
• More cooperative ventures and research initiatives are on the horizon, this includes the soon to be completed Turner Street project in Blacksburg in support the new Performing Arts Center.

Ray’s advice to young people is to determine what you enjoy doing and steer your volunteer work and education toward that goal.  Understand what you like to do!  Always prepare for unforeseeable events and circumstances that can arise. Ray stated that he always believes in Virginia Tech and his staff. They have taken up new and risky projects because they have confidence in each other’s ability to make their dreams a reality.

In looking back on the work, he has done his greatest project has been the reopening of The Hotel Roanoke. There was a lot of skepticism about whether that thing was going to work or not.  We bring about $600,000 or $700,000 a year out of that project now to help fund Virginia Tech. More important has been establishing the university in a very prominent way in Roanoke and bringing together the Roanoke and Blacksburg communities.

Another dream to reality venture was taking a cow pasture in 1985 and transforming it into the Corporate Research Center that houses 140 companies and approximately 2,400 workers. The Center has nurtured new businesses that are utilizing the research programs that originated at Virginia Tech.  This is the type of economic driver that had been speculated but now is responsible for the quality of life in Blacksburg and all of Western Virginia.  Ray has seen the increased number of dedicated VT alumni who are retiring and returning to the NRV to purchase condos leading to new services for the mature population.

As a board member of Warm Hearth Village, a 220-acre comprehensive senior living complex Ray has seen new facilities added and the resident population grow from 100 to 550 residents coming from all income levels.  Ray jokes that he is preparing a place for himself in those twilight years.

It is said you are known by the company you keep, well in Ray’s case the company is quite illustrious and dedicated to sustaining VT well into the future.  In his undergraduate class of 1969, there were the following orange and maroon proponents Frank Beamer/ VT Head Football Coach, Dr. Charles Steger/VT President, Joe Meredith/President of VT Corporate Research Center, and Tom Tiller/Vice President of Alumni Relations.  If it had not been for these five and their roles to put VT on the national map this valley would have a completely different look. The truth is that none of us were friends when we were undergraduates.  It’s not like we sat around at night thinking about how we could eventually go to work at Virginia Tech.  We knew each other, but back then, heck, Tech was a fourth the size of what it is now.  But yes, we’ve all had a good ride here. Ray has done his part to make the University, and the region an economic force and to complement this initiative comes the development of the natural assets.

Ray recently joined the board of directors of the Mountain Lake Conservancy which is repositioning this property as an outdoor recreation venue.

Ray enjoys life. He considers himself blessed to be a Virginian and American, to have been brought up by loving and Christian parents of modest means who worked hard and felt entitled to little.  Ray is thoroughly engaged in his community, feeling an obligation to give back and help advance its civic and economic life.  He is fortunate to work with talented people who are also committed to accomplishing positive things.  He can’t sit still and enjoys being with people who are similarly active and purposeful.  And he is proud of his family and is married to the love of his life.

Special awards and recognitions include:

• Meritorious Service Award – United States Army Reserve
• 2005 – National Community Leadership Award- American Association of Research Parks
• 2006 – Professional Leadership Award for Community Service- Blacksburg Christiansburg Rotary Club
• 2011 – Named among 25 Best Connected Virginia Business Leaders-   Virginia Business Magazine
• Distinguished Volunteer Service Recognition- Warm Hearth Retirement Community
• President’s Award- Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center
• 2012 Virginia Business Hall of Fame

Dr. Raymond Smoot was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2012.

George B. Cartledge Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Grand Home Furnishings, Inc., was born in Atlanta on August 8, 1941. He moved to Roanoke with his family in 1952. His father, the eldest of five children, was from Ila, GA. His mother was from Thomaston, GA. His parents married in 1932 and his sister, Pat Bennett, was born in 1934.  His father went into the furniture business during the Depression.  After proving his ability to a furniture store in Atlanta, he became the best furniture salesman in Atlanta and eventually a partner in that business. In 1952, George Sr. made a deal with his employers to take over their new store, Grand Piano, in Roanoke.

When his family moved to Roanoke from Atlanta, Cartledge Jr. went into the sixth grade at Crystal Spring Elementary and later attended Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg.  He then applied to Hampden-Sydney and was graduated with honors in 1963 with a B.A. in Economics.  In 1961, following his sophomore year at Hampden-Sydney, he married his girlfriend, Mary Ann James.  They have a son and daughter and nine grandchildren. Son, George Cartledge III, was born in 1963, is married to Barbara and has four children. Daughter, Ann, was born in 1965, is married to Joe Hoff and has five children.

While Cartledge was still a boy in Atlanta, he started his sales career by selling Cokes. At first, he stood on a corner and sold the Cokes, much like a lemonade stand. Then he figured he could sell more if he put the Cokes in a wagon and took them to apartment buildings – which he did with great success!  In Roanoke, he first went to work for Grand Piano in the warehouse at the age of 13. He made $10 a week. His father let him keep $1 and made him put $9 in the bank.  He has served as a truck driver, salesman and, later, buyer.  As of this year, Cartledge has been at Grand full-time for 50 years.

In 1951, Grand Piano began to expand outside of Roanoke.  At one time, Grand had 23 stores. Largely because of consolidating several stores within a community into a single store, the total number was reduced to 17. Recently, the company acquired four stores in West Virginia. Grand has stores in most college towns and in all instances except Lexington stores have been moved out of the city center.

Grand is a family-owned business which treats employees like family and the company’s policies toward customers are family-friendly. The business also has a 30-day return policy and, to ensure satisfaction, calls every customer after a delivery is made.  The key corporate focus is on not only attracting but also keeping customers.  “We get a lot of repeat business,” Cartledge said. “We sell to second and third generations.” Attention to each customer is one-way Grand keeps and grows its customer base. “The customer’s experience needs to be excellent, Cartledge stressed, whether they buy anything.  In 1997, the company dropped “piano” from its name.  Cartledge discussed the difference between the furniture industry and other industries, which he attributed largely to long-time working relationships. “One thing about the furniture business, the principals of companies are directly involved in buying – picking the merchandise – and in marketing. You’ll find this across the country,” he said.

When the company celebrated its 100^th anniversary two years ago, every current and former employee and their spouse were invited to a dinner at Hotel Roanoke. “We take care of them, and they take care of us.” He also said that the company promotes from within. “The executives who make the decisions have come up through the ranks,” he explained.  Son, George III is President and nephew, Robert, is Executive Vice President of the corporation serving as “co-chiefs” for operating the corporation.

Cartledge has served on numerous boards of local corporations and non-profit organizations. He has served on Roanoke Memorial’s and Carilion Clinic’s board for almost 40 years. He currently is the chairman of the board for Center in the Square and was a key figure in the Center’s recent capital campaign. He is vice-chair and a charter member of the Hometown Bank board. He was president of the Rescue Mission when they funded the main building that houses most of the mission’s activities His service has garnered several awards and recognition. Hampden-Sydney College, where he is a trustee emeritus, presented him with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award. He also has received the Multiple Sclerosis Society award, the Excellence in Governance award from the Virginia Hospital Association and the Red Triangle Award from the YMCA. His key passions are traveling with family, reading, photography, fishing, golf, and cars which even led to the Woods Brothers and Nascar involvement.

George B. Cartledge, Jr. was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2013.

Donald Edward Lorton, Sr. was born January 7, 1948, in Radford, VA to Sally Alberta Williams Lorton and Willard Norman Lorton.  Both of Don’s parents came from large families, however Don was an only child who was surrounded by cousins and good buddies.  He was educated in Radford city schools until 6^th grade when he and his family moved mid-year to Pulaski where he remained until high school graduation.   Don had a great passion for competition and was a member of the football, wrestling and track teams.  When asked about his grades Don admitted they were strong because they were a factor in his ability to join the school sports teams.  With a father, grandfather, and several uncles being mechanics or carpenters it was natural for Don to enjoy tinkering with most machines and building things.  Don had a brief stint in the Civil Air Patrol that led to summer camp at Langley Air Force base to learn the particulars of search and rescue training, creased pants, and spit shine shoes.  

Based on his love for sports Don always dreamed he would have a degree in Physical Education and become a coach.  However, life changed as he became a teenage dad and married while in high school and then the birth of his son, Don Jr. occurred in 1965.  From his early teens he held a job, starting first as a farm hand and while in high school he became a bagger at the local Kroger store.   It was there that Mr. Palmer the local Kroger Manager and neighbor to the Lorton’s made a great impression on young Don.  He realized that if you had a management job that it also meant opportunity to make a difference for the employees and the customers.

 As a young breadwinner, Don headed off to National Business College in Roanoke to obtain his associate degree in business.  To supplement the cost for his college he was able to be transferred to the Kroger at Crossroads Mall and was able to live with his brother-in-law.  It was upon the insistence of his accounting instructor Richard Adams at National Business College that Don changed his degree from business to accounting.  Mr. Adams realized Don’s ease with numbers would open doors and increase his options with an accounting degree and sitting for the CPA exam.   Upon graduation from National Business College Don returned to Pulaski and sought work with a local CPA, who referred him to Pulaski Community Hospital for an accounting position.  The advent of Medicare in 1965 forced hospitals to implement new and better accounting and financial management systems.  It was apparent that each hospital needed to build a solid team of number crunchers to keep pace with Medicare regulations and payments.

Don describes the management of health care industry finances in the late 1960s as being reminiscent of the “wild west”; compared to his National Business accounting classmates who were hired by Norfolk Western, or Appalachian Power who had very structured jobs.  Hospital financial jobs were fluid and developed definition after Medicare had been in place for several years.   Don began as the controller for Pulaski County Hospital covering payroll, preparing financial statements, tax returns, typing up refund checks and all other duties as assigned.  By the time he had completed three years with PCH he was departing as the Chief Financial Officer to start his career at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.  The growth in his career was complemented by his membership in the Hospital Financial Management Association (HFMA).  HFMA is a professional association focused on the continuing education of its members and serving as a trade association in matters of hospital financial management.  In the very year Don started work with PCH he was called upon by the association to give a 45-minute overview of the Ameriplan Bill, a version of healthcare reform.  This was a stretch for young Don because while he had studied the bill thoroughly presenting it to a crowd of more than a hundred of his peers was a bit intimidating.  Don describes this presentation as “45 minutes of agony for him and his audience”.

In addition to the CFO position at Pulaski Hospital Don was holding down a weekend job that he started working in 1967 at Burlington Industries. The job consisted of loading freight, and they were pushing him to obtain his CDL so he could drive a big rig and make more money than he could at the position of CFO; however, at Burlington there would be no growth.  The time spent working both jobs helped him pay off two loans, one for his first car and the other for school.

Through HFMA meetings he came to know Thomas (Tom) L. Robertson, Financial Officer of Roanoke Memorial Hospital.  Tom was revered by many as a gentleman that had a strong knowledge and command of hospital finances.  Roanoke Memorial, like other hospitals of the era, had a trusty CPA firm conducting the day-to-day books prior to the formation of a controller and staff.  Tom offered Don a job as Assistant Controller at the Roanoke Memorial and he loved the idea of working for a bigger hospital. However, he still had to study for his CPA exam which he took two times to pass.  Tom was most supportive of Don trying to acquire his CPA license along with the mandate to perform services in a CPA firm.  Don’s early time on the job at Roanoke Memorial was filled with long hours as he and Tom worked to bring the financial and management reporting system up to speed.  Don did not bring his family to Roanoke until late in 1972 because his second son John was born in February of the same year.  At the end of his workday Don would spend his free time running the track at Patrick Henry High School.  Don’s diligence did not go unnoticed by Tom Robertson in his three-year stint.  Don went to Tom in 1975 and shared his desire to complete 18 months with a CPA firm as required by the Board of Accountancy to obtain his long-desired CPA license.  Tom encouraged Don who had planned for a smooth transition with the hiring of Curtis Mills to be budget director. 

In 1976 Don was rehired by Tom Robertson to Roanoke Memorial as the Vice President of Finance.    In the hospital arena Don returned to more exciting times with exploration into tax exempt debt to lower costs of capital for not-for profit hospitals.  Traditional loans had been taken out for expansion.  Yet new ideas were percolating for financing capital needs like CT scanners and operating room equipment from an innovative investment banker at First Merchants in Richmond.  Don gained a mentor in “Ham” Sherra who he describes as one of the most innovative thinkers he has ever met.  Harnessing Mr. Sherra’s creativity, Don began implementing a series of debt issues leveraging both the tax-exempt status and yield curve.  This put RMH at the forefront of capital financing which would later attract New York investment bankers.

In our nation during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s health care was experiencing run-away costs.  Virginia implemented a voluntary rate review program that was later replaced with a legislated program administered by the Virginia Health Services Cost Review Council.  Its mission is to “promote the economic delivery of high quality and effective institutional health care services to the citizens of the Commonwealth”.  Don Lorton was appointed to the Council as one of three hospital representatives where he served two (2) three-year terms.  Ultimately the concept of a rate setting agency proved unsuccessful in controlling healthcare costs. 

To identify an alternative solution Virginia’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Howard Cullum called together business leaders, hospital leaders, insurance executives, physician and State agency heads.  Don’s contribution at that meeting landed him a seat on a special task force to create a vehicle to share pricing and cost information to drive competition and innovation.  From that work came the Patient Level Database Act and Virginia Health Information, a public private partnership.  Don served as a founding board member and Treasurer of VHI.  Today, VHI remains Virginia’s home for cost, quality, and efficiency healthcare information, with links to nursing, health insurance, physicians and long-term care/nursing homes and hospital patient information.   

Debt issues at RMH got the attention of a group of New York investment bankers and one individual Rondy Jennings.  In the early 1980s he was an innovative investment banker for J P Morgan who made multiple trips to Roanoke to explore financing options with Don.  It was Rondy’s “servant” attitude towards his clients that cemented a bond with Don and the hospital that has lasted close to three decades.  Don recognizes Rondy and others like local bond attorney Al Knighton as valuable mentors. 

In this same decade Roanoke Memorial Hospital evolved into Carilion Health System and took on the management of several smaller community hospitals.   Don and his finance team were assigned the task of performing due diligence and the developing of financial improvement plans.  Growing up in Pulaski, Don felt at home as his team worked from motels in Big Stone Gap, Wytheville, and Lebanon. 

In 1982, Roanoke Memorial Hospital was reorganizing and adopted a new name, Carilion Health System.  By 1986 new administrators evolved by pulling existing personnel up through the ranks.  In 1986 Thomas Robertson is named CEO and Don is named CFO.  Don now has a deeper pool of talent for his Finance Department.  And they were focused on reducing cost and providing new forms of revenue to support Carilion’s mission.  The use of prepackaged surgical trays was adopted to reduce costs in the OR.  Carilion leadership recognized the growth potential for companies producing these trays.  Carilion purchased a small Richmond based producer, Sterile Concepts.  Carilion grew this $3 Million company to more than $100 million in sales before diversity through an IPO.  The proceeds of this sale boosted Carilion’s investment fund and contributed to Don’s Treasury Department being a significant source of funds to support Carilion’s mission.

In the 1990’s two new trends were developing for hospitals, the formation of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO’s) and the employment of more physicians.  Don’s familiarity with deal making and business structure made him a natural to take on these tasks.  Don was attracted to the fundamental concept of the Health Maintenance Organization; accept a fixed payment in exchange for keeping patients well.  In contrast the old fee for service model provided an incentive to treat patients for illness but nothing for keeping them well.  Don pulled together physician investors, a management team, and obtained a license from the Bureau of Insurance for Carilion to operate an HMO.  In a little over two years Carilion had gone from concept to having the largest HMO market share in the region. 

Unfortunately, many HMOs across the country were more focused on managing costs, through obstacles to care and limiting access to hospitals and physicians.  By the late 90’s a national backlash to these tactics had undermined the real intent of Health Maintenance Organization and members began to move back into more traditional forms of insurance like PPO’s.  With falling volume and rising overhead, Carilion closed its HMO in 2002. On the physician front Tom Robertson and Don structured Carilion’s acquisition of a large regional primary care physicians’ group.  Many of the original 81 physicians remain with Carilion today and were an important part of the core around which Carilion Clinic was formed. 

HFMA served as an industry advocate, but its primary goal was the professional development of hospital leaders.  Each state chapter held periodic conferences with speakers covering a variety of topics.   Tom Robertson was very active in the association.  During his term as the President-elect, he was to lead the development of four conferences for the year.  However, Tom was very resourceful and created a programs committee and appointed Don to head up the work.   Once Tom Robertson became the Association chair, he advocated having programs be independent of the chair-elect and it was approved once again with Don now appointed Programs Chair.  By the time Don was elected chair-elect several years later programs were once again the responsibility of that position.  This equated to Don establishing twelve programs for the statewide membership and getting on a first name bases with many state and national health care experts.  Today the whole staff in Carilion’s finance department is enrolled and active members of HFMA.

The Virginia Health and Hospital Association (VHHA) was another place Don was always willing to volunteer his time.  He served on many committees, Task Forces, and Study Groups across 4 decades.  He credits his appointments to the Virginia Health Services Cost Review Committee and Virginia Health Information to his work at VHHA.  He was the first recipient of VHHA’s Meritorious Service Award. 

In the 1990s, Carilion’s Vice President of Human Resources Tony Bongiovanni realized not only that Don was great at taking on challenges to create a fiscally sound hospital, but he rarely said no when it came to assisting others.  Tony’s wife Jane was the Volunteer Coordinator of Junior Achievement (JA) and convinced Don to teach a William Fleming class of High School seniors the fine points of running a business. This one JA classroom experience led to meeting some bright students who were in their last high school semester and most had all been accepted to college.  This was a JA program that had 16 lessons built around setting up a student run business.  While Don was attempting to teach them about organization, leadership, and finance they were teaching him the virtues of a sales driven organization.  The company was a financial success, paying a 2 to 1 return to its investors, nice bonuses to its top salespeople and administrative leaders and a franchise tax to JA.

Don was asked what advice he would give young people preparing for the world of work and he shared he realizes there are a lot of pressures on young people to pick a college and course of study.  He continued that frequently individuals find careers not directly related to their degree.  His advice is that a good education provides one with options.  Seek a good education and you can adapt it to meet your career and life goals.  It is good to plan even though it may not work out the way you envisioned.

Outside of building a strong reputation in hospital financial management, Don also served on Family Services of Roanoke Valley board, and he continues to serve on the national board for the Alliance for Children and Families in Milwaukee, WI and the Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia where he has the distinction of serving 22 years and two times as board chair.  Don does not have a bucket list but in his newfound hours of leisure he vows to spend more quality time with his family.  Plus carving out time to do more than write a check for the less fortunate and put in some sweat equity.

Don was an integral part of the team that led Carilion through its transition to Carilion Clinic.  The anticipated financial burdens of this transition were amplified by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  Dealing with huge financial losses was a new experience for Don and his team.  Don realized the losses were not sustainable but that too abrupt a response could damage the young clinic with its focus on coordinated, integrated, patient centered care.  Don feels that helping Carilion maintain a balance approach to turning around its finances while continuing to grow the clinic is the most significant accomplishment of his career.  “Yes, I retired from Carilion after it once again achieved profitability but more importantly, with Carilion being a leader in developing a patient centered, integrated model of care bent on improving the health status of its patients.”

Donald E. Lorton was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2013.

Nancy Howell Agee, a native of Roanoke, was born in the very hospital that she now leads. The only daughter of Jo Ann Oney Howell and William Edward Howell, Nancy was born in 1952 at the then Crippled Children’s Hospital. Later there would be two brothers Richard William (Rick) and Gary.  Nancy’s mother was a native of Williamson, West Virginia.  Her father’s parents were from Harlen, Kentucky, moving to Roanoke so her grandfather could work for the railroad.  Her dad worked as a meat cutter for Mick or Mack Grocery Store, as did her paternal grandmother, Rena Kennedy Howell, a strong force in her life.  

 Nancy’s attended Virginia Heights Elementary School and Mt. Vernon High School for 7^th grade graduating from Cave Spring High School in June 1970. Nancy remembers her high school experience as a Junior Achievement student in the Company Program creating a box from rubber bands that could be reused as a bank. She was offered a full scholarship to the University of Virginia, the first-year women were admitted. Her parents were uncomfortable with the idea, so she enrolled in the Roanoke Memorial School of Nursing in the fall of 1970.  After completing the three-year diploma program, she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1973.  She went on to earn a BS in Nursing from University of Virginia in 1979.

 While a student at UVA, Nancy worked her summers in Roanoke writing a National Institute of Health (NIH) grant to support the then- novel idea of cancer care in non-university settings.  The award, one of only twelve, was made while Nancy was a student in the Master of Science program at Emory University that she earned in 1981. Upon completion of her Masters, she was recruited and served as the director of the newly NIH funded cancer grant in Roanoke which served all the hospitals in the region.

 In 1983, Nancy wed her high school friend, Steve Agee, at Grandin Court Baptist Church in Roanoke.  At the time of their marriage Steve was a Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly and in 2003, Judge Agee was elected to the prestigious Supreme Court of Virginia by a bipartisan vote by both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly.  The couple became parents in 1987 with the birth of their son, Zachary Steven.

Before becoming CEO of Carillion Clinic, a nearly $2 billion not-for-profit integrated health system headquartered in Roanoke, Ms. Agee served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. During this time, she oversaw day-to-day procedures and practice “servant leadership” combined with “ego strength” while stewarding the $1.5 billion operation.  Of the numerous facility and service expansions and technology innovations that she has witnessed, aided or orchestrated in her many years of service to Carilion Clinic, there are a few standouts such as  the advent of cardiac catheterization and cardiac surgery, electronic medical health records, developing an educational arm for the health professions locally through the Jefferson College of Health Sciences, and the monumental development of evolving from a hospital system to a clinic model with a large physician group, hospitals and other business lines.  Nancy is proud of the accomplishments and opportunities of the newest economic development engine for the Roanoke and New River Valleys:  the Carilion/Virginia Tech School of Medicine and Research Institute is bringing world-renowned physicians, researchers, and staff into our region to pursue the highest levels of complex patient care, medical education, and research.  

During her tenure as COO, she co-led Carilion’s reorganization from a collection of hospitals to a fully integrated, physician-led clinic. The reorganization resulted in a partnership with Virginia Tech to create an allopathic medical school and research institute. Carilion Clinic now includes seven hospitals ranging from the third largest in Virginia to mid-sized community and small rural or critical access hospitals. Carilion also operates complementary business lines, including home health, imaging services, pharmacies, and freestanding surgical clinics; and has a large physician group with more than 1,000 employed physicians.

Ms. Agee is a nationally recognized leader in health care, perennially named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare and the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare. Ms. Agee has served on the Board of Commissioners for The Joint Commission (an international hospital accreditation organization) and is a past chair of the American Hospital Association (a membership organization representing the nation’s 5,000 hospitals), the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association and the Virginia Center for Health Innovation.

Nancy unwinds by reading health care and education papers, novels, and biographies.  She reluctantly admits to picking up the weekly People magazine as soon as it hits the stores.  In her quiet times she is always accompanied by her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Henry, and will travel whenever she has the opportunity.  She serves on numerous Boards and emphasizes her commitment to action not just a title. 

Nancy Agee was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2014.

Abney Boxley III was born February 21, 1958, in Roanoke, Virginia. Ab III attended Crystal Spring Elementary.  His 7^th grade year he was a student at the brand-new James Madison Junior High which opened in January 1971. His high school years were at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA. As far back as Ab can remember he spent his youth on Little League teams.  He enjoyed camping and recalls his first leadership roles as the president of the 4^th grade class, another time in 5^th grade he was a safety patrol at the intersection of Willow Oak and Edgehill.   This important role also included his pal John Parrott who was a bus patrol.  Ab recalls his first experience with elections in Junior High when he was drafted by one formidable young lady, Harrison Hagan, who was running for student council and her strategy was to have a campaign manager in each grade, Ab was the manager for 7^th grade. When asked if his candidate won, he noted “with a landslide vote.” 

Ab’s love for sports led to his being on a state championship football team that was a part of the rec leagues and coached by Bill Andrews and Stan Comer.  Another rec football coach who influenced Ab was Bob Linkous of Linkous Supply Company.  He was always impressed with the patience of these men and how they promoted team spirit and a strong work ethic.  This led to Ab being on the high school varsity Football team and the Track and Field team, throwing the shot put and discus. 

Sports solidified Ab’s leadership abilities and he was appointed a monitor of a dorm on the Episcopal School campus.  Ab went on to Washington & Lee University (“the second-best school in Lexington” according to his VMI alum father) graduating in 1980 with a major in Economics.  One of his summer jobs at Boxley was driving a truck from the quarry to a primary site.  September of 1981 he was 23 years old and worked with his dad at the family business based in Greenville/Skippers and Emporia Virginia.  For 15 months as a Trainee and Project Coordinator, Ab experienced every level of the business working as night shift driver, welder, and management trainee.  He worked on the rate structure for mileage and eliminated single car shipments to promote unit car (=80 cars of same product) shipments.  His co-workers fondly called him a STUMP – ‘stupid trainee under management protection.’

Ab was restless and entered the MBA program at Colgate Darden School of Business University of Virginia where he completed his grad work in 1983. Ab had job interviews around the country during his last year of grad school, but there was one that was most memorable and led to his position today.   The best salesman from Boxley Company, Bobby Watts, made an appointment with Ab and shared with him that the company is changing and with its anticipated growth new leadership would be needed and, of course, who would know what the best of the company had been than Ab III.

He was hired as the Manager of New Product Development.  Ab is quick to add that his father never implied that he was expected to work for the family business.  However, as he looks back on the time, he spent with his father on hunting trips to South Carolina and fishing trips where the conversations often led to the family business.   Ab’s observation is “family business – you do to your kids not for your kids”.  As Manager of New Product Development, he promoted their riprap for securing shorelines.  He was over sales in Martinsville and Superintendent of a quarry in Lynchburg.  These strides were made in five years’ time.  His father’s friendly advice was “if you are any good you will probably keep your job, but’s not a guarantee.” 

The unexpected death of Abney Jr. at the age of 56 in 1988 led Abney III to examine his options for keeping the company viable.  In sync with Ab III was his father’s brother, Frank, who called together a business meeting at a local McDonalds which included the two Boxley’s and Jim White, a retired Boxley VP.  It was decided over a ham biscuit and coffee that Ab III would be the new president and the other two men would serve as business advisors, Mr. White agreed to come out of retirement and work with young Ab for one year.  Uncle Frank was running his own successful business SW Construction, but he made three visits weekly to Ab’s office to provide any support that Ab would need.   “Ab picked up the company and ran with it in a time of crisis in 1988 and has never looked back, “says Frank.

Drawing upon his graduate work Ab decided to create a board of directors that would include two outside members.  Spencer Frantz, CEO of Graham White, and Bill Sandy Senior Sales Executive for Caterpillar accepted. They all poured over monthly expense reports and investments each time they met.   Scheduled within weeks of Ab Jr’s funeral was a customer party, and staff wanted to cancel to respect their former boss.   Ab III insisted on going ahead with the party plans to assure all customers “we have a job to do and we are here to stay.”  Ab felt strongly that because his father knew of the celebration that he would want to have it held.  Ab III became the president of Boxley Company at the age of 30 and is the fourth generation at the helm.

In his first year – 1988 as President/CEO of W.W. Boxley Company Ab acquired two Virginia businesses:  a quarry in Piney River and in Stuarts Draft.  Ab has continued to oversee acquisitions and these days mergers are its key focus. That year, the Blue Ridge plant participated in furnishing material for the Roanoke Regional Airport expansion, a $25.2 million project, equating to 150,000 tons being shipped – Boxley’s largest single job to date.   By 1999 Ab is elected Chairman and CEO of Boxley Company and he is adding quarries that can provide downstream business-like asphalt and paving, this product is 95% stone, plus concrete and that composition is 80% stone and 20% sand, limestone.

Ab has led the company to create a marketing initiative and he was responsible for creating a new brochure for customers. There is a new emphasis on using computer technology to forecast and manage sales, expenses, and production.  Beginning in 1991, Boxley Company’s core beliefs were amended to include “be responsible stewards of our environment.”  Today there is the added concern of the impact business must ensure our environment and its creatures are here for many generations to come.   For instance, Mr. Puckett at Boxley oversees the “greener production” and the mission statement avers “Boxley is in business because of the community buy- in”.  Time is spent to ensure that the company is sound and adding to the economic development of the community.

In 2002 the corporate/formal name of the company is Boxley Materials Company and has been for 20 years.  The trade name was Boxley Quarries. Ab is concerned about Boxley being a good neighbor and image. His own observation is that the “company trucks on the outside should tell you what the company looks like on the inside.” This is nonnegotiable – his business is about cleanliness right down to preventing dust from flying over the byways located near his quarries.

While the business continues to expand and support the surrounding communities Ab’s personal life is grounded by a large and loving family.

Ab has actively contributed his time and talents to over 30 organizations in his efforts to better our community, his industry, and this region.  He currently serves on the Boards for Virginia Aggregates Legislative Committee, Young President’s Organization (YPO), RGC Resources, Inc. Valley Bank/Legislative and Loan Committees, Roanoke Valley Development Foundation, Carilion Health Systems /Investment Committee, Art Museum of SW Virginia, Center in the Square, and The Business Council/New VA Region. In addition to coaching three sports for the Greater Southwest Athletics in Roanoke City.

In terms of businesspeople who have set the pace for Ab, he first mentions his father, next is his Uncle Frank Boxley who tirelessly gave the time and counsel to young Ab while running his own thriving company.  The third man who exudes leadership in business is George Logan of Salem. George now serves on the faculty for the Darden School of Business at University of Virginia.  George also paved the way in serving as the chair of Valley Bank prior to Ab taking that position in 2000??? The last mentor that Ab mentioned is a mutual friend Dr. John Colley who Ab describes as an “ethical, clear thinker”.  Dr. Colley, over the past four years, has received honors of distinction from the UVA/ Darden board of visitors and accolades from his undergraduate university for his multiple contributions and discoveries that have enhanced Industrial and Systems Engineering.   Currently Dr. Colley resides on the hallowed “Lawn” at UVA because of his servant leadership style. He embraces the Jeffersonian way of gathering students on the “lawn” to learn. 

Ab states his management style is getting across to every employee their value to the entire operation.  Staff meetings are opened with a pre-assigned employee ready to quote the company mission and what it means to them personally.   The next person to speak is someone who can publicly declare the fine attributes of another co-worker who exemplifies the brand/mission.   For Boxley to continue to prosper, each employee must understand and appreciate the skills of the line man, driller, flag man, and front office.   A testament to noticing the talent and taking the business from the bottom up are the long-term employees:  Bill Hamblin, and two hires from 1988 in addition to Vada Sarsfield who has worked for two generations of Boxley’s now 40 years at the company and has the distinction of being an assistant to Ab III.

Ab was, in fact, a Junior Achievement classroom volunteer in 1988 at his alma mater, James Madison Middle School. He taught the program, Project Business, and used a Michael Jordan basketball analogy for his lesson on supply and demand.  The best advice that Ab shares with our young people: “the golden rule is still important in doing your work.  Everyone’s first name is important. Do what you say you are going to do, and back it up! Work with people you respect, you want to be around, and that you have fun.  If you articulate what you want, you can go far. Show up every day and do your job as best as possible.

Abney Boxley, III was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2014.

Bruce Farrell received his first set of mechanic’s tools from his mother, Alma L. Farrell, when he was 14.  She may have regretted that when he eventually had car engines hanging from trees in their yard near Boston, MA, where he grew up. 

After starting his career at a Chevrolet store, he worked for the Chevrolet Motor Division, working from Virginia Beach, VA, and traveling extensively as a Field Service Representative.  He moved his family to Roanoke in 1976 to work for Donald Berglund’s Chevrolet store where he was quickly promoted to General Manager and became part owner.  This move allowed him to be home each night with his beautiful wife, Lucy, and three children, William, Virginia Brooke, and Michael. The Farrell family obtained full ownership of the dealership when Mr. Berglund passed away in 1987.  Eventually, Bruce’s son William took the lead of the company, becoming the President while his father remained CEO. The Farrell family’s hard work and determination have played a major role in the Berglund Automotive Group becoming one of the largest and most successful dealerships in Virginia.

Bruce Farrell is a great American entrepreneur success story.  Mr. Farrell began his career as a mechanic and today, along with his son William who is now President of the company, built an organization that owns and operates 31 automotive brand franchises in 12 locations throughout Southwest and Central Virginia.  The Berglund Management Group’s name, which now has more than 700 dedicated employees, was recently awarded the naming rights for our region’s premier Coliseum, Hall and Performing Arts Center, the Berglund Center.

A private man, Bruce and his wife Lucy have been silent donors to countless charitable organizations in our region for many years.  Mr. Farrell’s commitment to keeping things simple, focusing on his customers and employees and what affects the bottom line the most in business, and in life, are the principles he lives by.  

Bruce Farrell was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2015.

Kent Steven Greenawalt was born December 1, 1952, in Dubuque, Iowa, the only child of Jean Audrey Cross and Monte H. Greenawalt. The couple had married in 1950. 

Jean was born in 1920 and Monte in 1923, both Dubuque natives. Jean worked at the Pentagon during World War II in the purchasing department. Monte, like other brave men of his era, enlisted to serve in the Navy after the horrific bombing of Pearl Harbor. In his preparing to deploy, a tainted batch of vaccinations left Monte paralyzed. He was forced to live inside an iron lung for six months. As Dr. Monte would tell his son later, I prayed that I would die, but that didn’t work. So, I prayed that whatever would make me better, I would devote my life to it.   His mother finally said “enough” to her son’s situation. “We are going to try a Chiropractor.”  Monte was carried in. With help, he walked out. Monte’s path was now clear, and by 1948, he had earned his degree from Lincoln Chiropractic College in Indianapolis.

Kent attended Marshall Elementary School, Jefferson Junior High and the newly opened Hempstead High School, a member of its first graduating class in June 1971. By seven, Kent was helping at the family’s then-small company, located in a garage, assembling “casting kit” boxes, which were used to create molds of patients’ feet.  Kent was always an entrepreneur, shoveling snow and mowing lawns. In high school, he started a car waxing business. The business grew quickly, thanks to its free pick-up and delivery service, and some savvy marketing.  Kent’s strategy was simple: look for executives who wanted a clean car but didn’t have time to take care of it. At Dubuque Packing Company, one of the city’s largest employers, a young and persuasive Kent talked his way into a board meeting.  Not only did he earn the right to offer his service to plant employees, but every single member of the board also signed on.

While at Hempstead, Kent became a participant in Junior Achievement, a decision that would help to mold his future success and lead him to his first “real” job—as a home appliance salesman at Sears. After organizing a successful carwash fundraiser for J.A. outside the local Sears store, Kent approached his contact for a job.  He was just 17, the first high school student to ever work in the all-adult, highly competitive, and commission-based sales department. Soon he was outselling more seasoned adults; needless to say, he wasn’t winning any popularity contests among his colleagues. Kent was also busy honing his speaking skills through the J.A.  Speakers Corps, sponsored by the Dubuque Toastmasters Club, where he was dubbed “Mr. J.A.” His hard work and commitment led to being elected President three years in a row of the student-run enterprises. He was also and President of the Achiever’s Association, the equivalent of the J.A. Chamber of Commerce.  Kent earned the distinction of representing Dubuque at the National Junior Achiever Conference in Indianapolis, where his company was one of the top ten in the nation.  In addition, in a J.A. sales competition, he won best salesman at the local level; again, he won it at the regional level; and nationally, he won second place out of 156,000 competitors.

After high school, Kent attended business school at the University of Iowa pursuing a double major in Marketing and Finance. As head resident of his dorm, earning free rent and a small stipend. To cover the rest of his education expenses, he launched Kent’s Midnight Stereo, his latest business venture, from his dorm room. Drawing from the lessons he learned in J.A.; Kent struck a number of savvy deals with stereo wholesalers.  His “advertising” was minimal, but effective word of mouth and a bed sheet painted with “Kent’s Midnight Stereo Saves You a Ton” hung inside the campus rotunda. Orders poured in, and soon the loading dock of the dorm was jammed with giant stereo boxes.

Stereo retailers in town complained about Kent’s Midnight Stereo.  One stereo retailer sent an angry letter to the college—they did not like losing market share—and Kent soon found himself sitting face-to-face with a flustered administrator, faced with expulsion for running a business on university property. By the time the meeting ended, Kent had the administrator’s OK to continue his studies and his business—after all, Kent would graduate in a few months and the problem—meaning Kent—would go away.  And it wasn’t long before Kent had talked the gentleman into a brand-new stereo for himself.

Toward the end of Kent’s college career, he wrote his father a letter.  I want to join the family business, it said, but I would be totally useless to you unless I get some real-world business experience under my belt. He set his sights at R. H. Macy in Kansas City. The Macy’s recruiter was coming to campus, but all the interview slots were taken. Kent found out the recruiter’s name, called every hotel in town until he found her, and asked if he could meet her for a cup of coffee.  It worked Kent was her first interview at University of Iowa and he got the job. He spent a year as Department Manager over China, gifts and housewares and then three years working as Macy’s Men’s Suit Buyer.  Later he joined Connecticut General Life Insurance selling coverage for private and corporate businesses. He enjoyed putting together buy/sell agreements and stock purchase agreements between closely held businesses and establishing ESOPs for privately held companies. In 1979 he married, moved back to Dubuque, and began his adult career at Foot Levelers.  In 1981 Jamie was born. In 1987, his second daughter, Kelsey, arrived.

Meanwhile in Dubuque, demand for Foot Levelers’ custom-made orthotics was growing. Kent’s father, Dr. Monte, had purchased a dairy building and moved Foot Levelers out of the old garage. As was his dream, Kent was working at Foot Levelers, and he started at ground level, learning the businesses from the bottom up. Yet Kent steadily took on more responsibility, modernizing and systematizing company operations.  He developed an H.R. handbook, budget, systems and procedures for daily operations, and computerized records and order systems. A major factor in Foot Levelers’ growth was Kent’s work in establishing an Education Division. Speakers were recruited to cover topics like radiology, orthopedics, biomechanics, and sports injuries. Through partnerships with colleges, Chiropractors could earn continuing education credits while learning about the role orthotics played in injury prevention and treatment, and in improving biomechanics and overall wellness. Today Foot Levelers’ Education Department holds over 200 events a year.

By the early 80s, Foot Levelers were outgrowing the dairy, and the time was right to expand. Now company President, Kent launched a ten state, 100-city search. He created an exhaustive checklist of what to evaluate in a new city home—potential workforce, unemployment versus underemployment, tax rates, crime rates—the standard statistics an executive examines when starting a new business. Kent went further. He scrutinized SAT scores; looked at the number of churches; checked out the airports; counted the number of bowling allies and other recreation opportunities; he interviewed locals when he came to town. Out of 100 cities spread across 10 states in the running, Roanoke won. Plans were made for the big move. Kent and his staff initially put in many 18–20-hour days to get ready to produce the first custom orthotics in Roanoke, and the effort paid off. The first day of business was January 4, 1988.  Foot Levelers has been growing ever since, with customers in over 73 countries and counting.  In Kent’s words, he wants to “bring the world to Roanoke.”

Philanthropy is an important part of Kent’s life and of the Foot Levelers’ mission. Under Kent’s leadership, Foot Levelers has built libraries, student centers and cafeterias for Chiropractic colleges, in addition to endowing Chiropractic research, scholarships and faculty chairs. Two of this country’s bleakest moments spurred Kent to create a challenge among his Chiropractic network, pledging to match up $200,000 to aid 9/11 families and relief efforts. The results were fantastic! Not only was the gift matched; it topped out at $600,000. Again in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Kent put out the same challenge, again raising close to $600,000 toward relief efforts. In 2016, Foot Levelers donated over $75,000 worth of shoes to victims of the massive wildfires in Canada and to the flood victims of Greenbrier County, West Virginia.

Locally, Kent has served on the boards of the Roanoke Symphony, Mill Mountain Zoo, the Taubman Museum of Art and Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia and is an active philanthropist in the Roanoke region. He has also served on the advisory board of St. Francis of Assisi and is a generous supporter of the SPCA, 4H Club and other worthy organizations. The adage that shape Kent’s philanthropic mindset is “you can’t give yourself into poverty.”

Kent and his wife Boska have partnered with three other couples to endow a conservation fund in Tanzania, Africa. The fund promotes anti-poaching practices, environmental preservation, clean water initiatives and job growth.  An early initiative was educating locals on the rewards of not poaching and setting up a nature refuge for animals.  The fund also underwrites job skill training in hospitality, spa services, culinary arts, animals and environmental conservation and more. All these initiatives are leading to greater prosperity in the area.

Kent is passionate about the benefits of Chiropractic care. To that end, he created The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress in 2003, a not-for-profit organization which “educates the public about chiropractic care through POSITIVE PRESS.” When clinical studies come out that speak to Chiropractic’s benefits, the Foundation’s Public Relations team makes sure it gets into the right media hands.  They also distribute real-life Chiropractic success stories, including endorsements from major celebrities like NFL Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice.  Last year alone, the foundation’s efforts have resulted in over 31 billion positive impressions in media impressions in the likes of Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and countless others.

Along Kent’s business journey he has shaken hands with heads of state, elected officials, and top executives.  He has also earned several awards and accolades recognizing his philanthropy and contributions to the Chiropractic profession. To name a few: the Lifetime Philanthropy Award from Parker College of Chiropractic, Dynamic Chiropractic magazine’s “Person of the Year,” the American Chiropractic Association’s Humanitarian of the Year award, the highest honor the organization can bestow upon a non-Chiropractor, the American Chiropractic Association’s President’s Award, Northwestern Health Sciences University’s “Brilliant Star” award, and the World Federation of Chiropractic’s Honor Award, and the Institute for Healthcare Consumerism’s CEO Leadership Award. (And the list goes on). Kent takes business inspiration from luminaries like Jack Welch and Ram Charan, who is also a friend, among others. He is an avid reader and student of business and the world—every day is an opportunity for growth.

The future for Kent and Foot Levelers is bright, and he has no intention of slowing down.  Today the company serves healthcare providers in over 73 countries, with satellite offices in Canada and Australia. Kent also sees a greater presence in Europe and Asia, where plans for more satellite offices are already underway. 3D and digital technology are playing a growing role in new products, from “smart” orthotics to new ventures entirely.  And while “Foot Levelers” is a household name in the world Chiropractors, having served tens of thousands of doctors and millions of patients, Kent wants to see his products help as many people as possible, in the Chiropractic realm and beyond.  Foot Levelers and its subsidiary companies have a growing presence in Physical Therapy, podiatry, family medicine, massage therapy, acupuncture, and plans to reach consumers directly are in the works.

Kent has several words of wisdom that he shares with aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders:

 “Ask yourself: What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

Kent Greenawalt was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2016.

William Jacob Lemon was born October 25, 1932, in Covington, VA.  He was one of six children born to James Lemon of Botetourt County, and Elizabeth Wilson Lemon of Wayne County West Virginia. When Bill was young, his father moved to Covington to work at the Low Moor Iron Works.  Later he would move the family to St. Albans West Virginia and eventually, in 1941 back to Allegheny County, where he became an equipment mechanic at the paper mill, where he worked until retirement. Young Bill began working part time jobs as young as seven, splitting wood, and carrying in coal for an elderly neighborhood widow. As he grew so did the odd jobs like mowing lawns, delivering the local paper, and caddying on the Westvaco six-hole golf course. 

One of the men he caddied for was an attorney who told him he should go to Washington and Lee and become a lawyer.  That comment planted a seed in Bill’s mind that would guide him through his early adult years. “Bill” was educated in Covington schools.  He began his studies in the general curriculum, but on the advice of a teacher, switched to college prep. In high school Bill was elected each year to a school wide office in student government. At the end of his junior year, he was selected by the faculty to attend Boys State.  He was president of his senior class and participated in intramural sports. Bill says he attempted sports but was “too skinny” and without talent.

In September of 1951 all that studying paid off and he began his college career at Washington & Lee.  He had worked at the paper mill that summer and saved enough for his first year’s tuition and fees – About $500.While the Korean conflict raged on overseas, Bill hoped to return to the paper mill the summer following his freshman year, but a strike prevented him from working. His plan B was to enlist in the Army.  So, college had to wait.  Yet, Bill knew the GI bill would pay for his remaining education and allow him to purchase a home.

With the Korean war winding down, soldiers were being assigned to Europe and Bill was sent to Salzburg, Austria where he worked as an ordinance clerk in an infantry regiment as a corporal. 

Weekends and evenings were typically free, allowing young Bill to pursue his early interest in travel and experience Salzburg. By 1957 he had completed his undergrad degree in history and then his Juris Doctor degree in 1959.No stranger to hard work, during college he took jobs in a Lexington men’s clothing store six days a week, and during the summers of 55-57 he once again worked summers in the paper mill.

During college he met and courted New York native Barbara Boyle.  She had come to the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house to assist in the freshman rush. Bill finished law school while Barbara taught at Parry McClure High School in Buena Vista and Lee Junior High in Roanoke, until the birth of their first child, Sarah. Before all those great success stories could take place, Bill had to launch is law career! Which he did in Roanoke in 1959 when he took a job with the firm Martin, Martin, and Hopkins in Roanoke.

Early in his career, Bill engaged in general practice, with cases running the gamut from general district court to estate planning and health care law. When William Hopkins was elected to the State Senate, where he would serve for 20 years, Bill took over some of his caseload and became exposed to a more sophisticated type of legal work. In 1964 he became General counsel to a mortgage originating and servicing company. That same year, a client in the nursing home business came calling and wanted local participation.  Bill and Barbara borrowed some money and became founding stockholders in Liberty Nursing Homes. Bill was just six years out of law school. He would later buy out the interest of one of the other partners. 

From 1965 to 1972, Liberty operated four nursing homes in Virginia and two in North Carolina.  During these years, Bill was in on the ground floor navigating the newly formed Medicare program.   In 1972, Lemon became the sole shareholder in Liberty Nursing Homes Inc. which grew to 11 facilities in VA and NC. In 1981 Bill sold Liberty to a public company.  But the sale did not include other nursing homes owned by Bill and Barbara. He has kept one assisted living facility in Winchester, VA – The Willows at Meadow Branch that he maintains to this day.

The Lemon family are investors, for instance in the Wells Fargo Tower in Roanoke, among other many other projects. Bill’s love for real estate has been driven by the similarities to law, working with principles, and understanding issues. In describing his legal journey, he is quick to add “people should not be afraid of work, you must be dedicated, and most times the hours are beyond 9-5pm.   Bill likes to share an idiom that was repeated in the farming communities “The harder you work the more successful you become.”  Bill worked so hard that his whole law career has been sustained with what is now Martin, Hopkins, and Lemon PC.

Bill is Emeritus Trustee for Washington & Lee University, The George C. Marshall Foundation, and North Cross School and the Explore Park board.  He is a past president of the Roanoke Bar Association in 1983, and a recipient of the Frank “Bo” W. Rogers, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the Virginia Bar Association, he is still a part of the Virginia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  Currently he is a board member for the Taubman Museum of Art and the Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation.

Over the years, he, and Barbara, who passed October 7, 2014, were trustees at Second Presbyterian Church.  Barbara was present at the founding of the Center in the Square, she was past president of Western Virginia History Museum, Children’s Theater, Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and founding president of Western Virginia Land Trust now the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy.   Barbara was founder of the Shedd School which assisted children with specific reading and learning difficulties, she was a Trustee of Randolph Macon Women’s College and Union Presbyterian Church, and she was a founding member of the Foundation for the Roanoke Valley.   As Bill shared “we like to give back and help build the community.” The Lemons were among the first to have their “Briar Oak Farms” certified organic under the USDA National Organic Program.  Their farms in Botetourt and Craig counties raise certified organic grass for as many as 1200 head of Black Angus Cattle. For good measure, they started bee keeping in 1975.

Growing up in Covington did not provide much opportunity for travel.  As a teenager, sometimes he would hitch hike in any direction just to see what was on the other side of the mountain.  Later in life vacations were family focused, and he always reminded his children that he was taking them along on his vacations.  His travels have taken him to every continent except Antarctica.  He and Barbara most enjoyed the Italian Alps, Salzburg, plus some villages in Germany.    He continues to venture to Argentina with close friends.  Bill enjoys hunting upland birds in the States and Argentina, Mexico, and Scotland.

In reflecting upon the important milestones in his life, he mentions the people and schoolteachers who gave him advice and encouragement.  His meeting and marrying Barbara, and his education at Washington and Lee. Also, his time spent at Martin, Hopkins and Lemon, his opportunity to become a part of the long- term health care business at its beginning, growing the business and then selling it to provide the capital to invest in new ventures.  From the day he caddied for that attorney in Covington who planted the seed that Bill would attend W & L, to the successful legacy he has today – the journey has been buoyed by humble beginnings in Alleghany County — to hard work and wonderful connections to people interested in success and ethics.

William Lemon, Sr. was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2016.

Susan K. Still was born May 15, 1953, to Mabelle S. King and Smithey C. King the middle child of three girls.  Susan graduated from Martinsville, HS in 1971.   Her greatest joy growing up came from reading books about individuals who needed saving, she dreamed of being an attorney or helping others by becoming a social worker.  Her father was quick to instill in her that she needed a profession that would help her generate a solid income and let her love for math lead her. 

Susan realizes it was her family members that shaped her career choice beginning with her maternal grandmother.   Her grandmother started a bakery “The Mixing Bowl” on Broad St. in Richmond, VA during the depression – the year was 1926 and her specialty was yeast breads, the bakery still exists today in a new location in the city.  Susan grew to cherish her grandmothers’ fortitude, creativity and vision to begin a business in the worst of economic times and make it work.   Susan’s mother was a gregarious woman who served as the Director of Social Service in Martinsville after earning her sociology degree.  Again, at the age of 60 her mother completed a nursing degree to fulfill her desire to become a registered nurse at the Stratford in Danville.  Susan gained an appreciation from her mother about the work-life balance and raising children – “if Mom’s happy everyone is happy”.   The other person she cites for giving her direction was her father Smithey a University of Virginia electrical engineering graduate who became an engineer for Dupont’s Nylon plant in Martinsville.  The King family were among the first to arrive in 1951 and established a solid middle class in the area because of the plant’s opening.

Susan’s early family influence led to a love for music, during middle school she was on the choir and took enough piano lessons to work part-time as a piano teacher while in high school.  Susan also enjoyed competitive swimming in her pre-teen years.  Coming from a family of leaders in high school Susan was involved in student government, she served as freshman class treasurer and junior class president.   In addition to Susan’s time teaching piano, she was as a clerk at a local department store.

 Susan attended University of Richmond from 1971-73 and completed her undergrad work at Virginia Tech from 1973-74 earning a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting.  Susan pursued graduate work at UVA in banking completing that degree in 1982. The banking career path started with Dominion Bank shares as a credit analyst and then to operations in Blacksburg. She then began working with Dominion Bank in the commercial side of the house for ten years. Beginning in 2003 Susan took on a position with SunTrust bank for two years, she then was tapped in 2005 to become the CEO of HomeTown Bank Shares.  Susan is the second female bank CEO in Virginia and the first female CEO in Southwest Virginia.

Sitting at the helm of this five-branch banking system Susan remarks that automation has changed the way banking is done with digital clearing of checks, mobile banking, proof machines that encode the amount.  Community bank growth is a result of technology, along with changes in interstate banking beginning with 1990 in Virginia.  HomeTown of course was bold in creating lengthy operation hours of 7am – 7pm the board made that conscious choice to match retail store hours to catch people who are wanting to do their banking after hours.  Susan knew banking was the right fit for her because it allowed her to work with numbers, help people individually and finance businesses that produce jobs.  Basically, it comes down to strengthening the community and making it a better place to be.

The success of this banking system has led to Susan being appointed to the Virginia Federal Reserve she is one of nine members of this esteemed board.  The composition of this board is four women and five males, three bankers and the rest presidents or CEOs of large corporations and Goodwill Industry.   She comments that she never felt like she encountered barriers in her banking career because she was a woman.   She does enjoy the occasional compliments she receives from young women who thank her for being a role model and pursuing her career with a great confidence.  Susan has also served on the American Bankers Association board and the Virginia Bankers Association board of directors.

When asked to define HomeTown Bank culture, Susan shared it’s about “servant leadership/being a good citizen in the community”.  Asked how this is accomplished Susan believes it comes from being customer focused, friendly, her staff will fight for their customer to be financially successful.

When asked what advice, she would share with young people it was earnest and came to mind quickly – “love what you do when you go to work!”

Susan has been very involved in the community over her forty years of banking and networking.  She is currently on the board of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, North Cross School, the Business Council and a Past Chairman/Governor Emeriti of the Foundation for Roanoke Valley and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Roanoke Valley. 

Past board membership has been for the American Bankers Association’s Community Bankers Council in Washington D.C., Virginia Association of Community Bankers Board of Directors in Richmond, VA, Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia, United Way of Roanoke, Center in the Square, Roanoke Symphony, Science Museum of Western Virginia, and Shenandoah Club.

In summarizing her success, it in part comes from the support provided by her board of directors – she remarks on four of the charter board members:  former Dominion Bank shares President Warner Dalhouse who used as his measuring stick “the customer comes first.”  In his banking role, he came to know Susan and her work ethic so as the HomeTown bank was being established, Warner was an advocate for recruiting Susan to take the helm. Today HomeTown cherishes its work associates and the promotion of local events as it celebrates over a decade of experience from Smith Mountain Lake to the New River Valley. 

Susan Still was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2017.

John Clayton “Jack” Lanford was born on June 13, 1930, in Cumberland, MD. He was raised mostly in West Virginia, where his father worked in highway construction. The seeds of Jack’s future career were sown as he accompanied his father to job sites. He started to work in the summer of 1944 when he was 14 years old, working on railroad relocation jobs in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. The family later moved to Roanoke where Jack played football for William Fleming High School. He received a football scholarship to attend Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where he recalled many wonderful football stories and made lifelong friends.

Jack received an engineering degree from VMI in 1952 and served as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean conflict. He joined his father’s construction firm in 1953 when they had a contract to build a portion of the original West Virginia Turnpike. Upon the death of their father, Jack and his brother, Stan, took over the company and with the help of their mother and other loyal employees began to grow the business, changing its name to Lanford Brothers Company in 1960. Jack and Stan were not only brothers and business partners, but lifelong best friends who enjoyed each other’s company immensely. It was part of the reason Jack said that going to work never felt like a job to him. He loved the work and the friends made along the way. He and Stan jointly authored a book about their company and the people who made it a labor of love. In 1985, they bought an interest in Adams Construction Company of Roanoke, where Jack served as CEO until his retirement in 2006.

He served in the leadership of the transportation industry in various capacities over the course of his career. Jack was president of the Virginia Road and Transportation Builders Association in 1977 and president of the contractors’ division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) in 1981. In 1991, he served as chairman of ARTBA, as well as of The Road Information Program (TRIP), both based in Washington, D.C. That year, he also served as president of the Virginia Asphalt Association, based in Richmond, Va. A year later, Jack received the ARTBA Award, the association’s highest honor, for his work toward passage of landmark highway investment legislation.

As part of his service to ARTBA over the years, Jack and his brother, Stan, created a scholarship to fund education for children of parents killed on the job during construction projects. To date, nearly $600,000 has been awarded to 80 students, and the scholarship continues. In recognition for all that they had done for the industry, in 2004 ARTBA named both brothers to its list of America’s Top 100 Private Sector Transportation Design and Construction Professionals of the 20th Century. Jack also found time to render service to his alma mater. From 1994 to 2002, he was a member of the VMI Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He also endowed a scholarship to be awarded to a member of VMI’s football team. In 2005, he was awarded the VMI Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award in recognition for his service to the Institute. He passed away on February 21, 2020.

John “Jack” Lanford was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2007.