Billy H. Branch, a native of Bells, Tennessee was one of four children born to E. H. Branch and Grace Mae Colvett.  Mr. E. H. Branch worked as a railroad clerk for the GM & O lines.  The Branch grandparents had been agrarians in West Tennessee.  Bill’s schooling took place during the depression and World War II and as a starter for the Jackson high school basketball team which had no coach.  Bill was able to convince the principal they needed to have a team and Bill helped to find uniforms for everyone who wanted to play.  Despite the challenging conditions his team went to the state tournament hitchhiking the whole way.   He graduated high school in 1946 and then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech.

His first job after college was with Southeast Underwriters, an arm of Fire Insurance Companies, which offered him a chance to transfer to Roanoke as an inspector.  While he was getting acclimated to the work world and Roanoke, he had his eye on Betty McAlister whom he met at Roanoke Church of Christ.   She was beginning her college career at David Lipscomb College but set those plans aside to marry Billy in 1952.   Betty later finished her college education at Hollins University.  Soon after the marriage Bill was drafted for the Korean War and his tour took him to the Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C. for two years.   The short-term war assignment ended, and Bill accepted a Management position with South Wire Company – this new start up industry was a manufacturer of transmission wire. 

With the family growing, fortunately Bill’s career was ramping up and growing as well.  His management position morphed into starting a construction company with his Father-in-Law.  A highway construction company named McAlister Construction Co.  He bought out his Father-in-Law in 1964 and continued the business as Branch & Associates.  VDOT Highways were the bulk of the construction jobs being completed by the company at that time.  Bill moved into construction including estimating, accounting, and supervision of a highway job in Hurley, Virginia, changing his life forever.  He and his family took on a modified nomadic existence living in Virginia in such places as Grundy, Virginia before settling in Roanoke in the 1960s.

What started out for Bill as a highway/site grading business, later expanded into commercial and residential land development because Bill had insight of just what would work with parcels that he has purchased.   As a result, in the early years at Branch & Associates from the late 1960s – 1986 the workers were a part of three divisions: building, highways and mechanical.   Branch & Associates diversified into four companies: The Branch Group as the holding company, Branch & Associates- General Contractors, Branch Highways – highway construction, G. J. Hopkins – mechanical, HVAC each growing to be the largest company in their specialty in the region, and E.V. Williams (in Virginia Beach) – paving and grading.   There have been times when the four businesses have been involved in a total of 100 projects at the same time.  The four companies evolved at the same time Bill Branch had the vision to create an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program).  Bill Branch’s business profits provided for this program to all 800 employees and was 100% ESOP funded by the corporation.  This business decision has generated retirement benefits and a new sense of pride and responsibility for all its employees.  

It is safe to say that most office complexes and a sprinkling of retail spaces on the 419 corridors from Brambleton Avenue to Franklin Road have been crafted by Bill Branch and partners.  He also developed some housing areas like Canterbury Park and Windy Gap Mountain Village which was the first “green” development on 600 acres and using all natural materials dating back to 1976.   In addition, The Branch Group engaged in the construction of many significant buildings such as a prison in Buckingham County, and buildings on Radford University, Virginia Tech and UVA campuses.

The proudest accomplishment outside of his family and business success has been the time and love that he put into developing a 150-acre site for Young Life.  This non-denominational religious retreat is in Rockbridge County amongst the lovely tree covered hills.  This site has 20,000 young people annually coming together on the well-manicured grounds, lovely sleeping lodges, dining hall, and meeting areas.

Bill Branch reflected on the many projects that he has had a hand in from the first highway site to the excavation for Community Hospital and building at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia, he has developed “Branch Philosophy” that he freely shares with those who are looking to succeed in business.  

• When starting up a business, know every job.
• Overhead is part of the cost of doing business.
• Don’t panic when hearing bad news.
• Don’t take risks greater than you can afford.
• Have a goal to improve your company each year.
• A textbook education is great … but common-sense trumps.

A factor in Bill’s life has been the willingness to learn and this has led to a nine-week program on the campus of Harvard enrolled in the Small Business – President’s Course.  In addition to the strong spiritual life that has melded with the entire Branch clan, Bill attended religion courses at Roanoke College, and attended two summers in Vancouver BC for seminary courses.

Leadership is innate and for Bill Branch starting with helping his high school basketball team to State, to working in his start-up grading company to Chairman of the Board of Branch Management Corp., it has had its rewards.   Recognition in the Engineering News Record magazine as one of the top 400 construction companies in the United States and various safety awards.

Personally, Bill has served the community as Chair of the Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County and charter member of the Roanoke Regional Partnership.   Plus, board members of Downtown Rotary Club, Central Fidelity Bank, Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, David Lipscomb College, James River Limestone Company, Habitat for Humanity, Roanoke Rescue Mission, and Young Life.

Officially, Billy H. Branch retired in 1994, but his son Tom had other thoughts for Dad, and in Bill’s words, “I am back in debt”.   At age 80 Mr. Branch reports to work five days a week as Chairman of the Board and volunteers his time on construction projects for non-profits.  It is his Christian based faith that has kept him balanced between his family and career.  Bill is physically active playing tennis and golfing weekly.  His hours of “leisure” include riding his tractors while mowing and enjoying the peaceful scenery at his Cow Pasture River and Smith Mountain Lake properties (the family get-a-ways).

Billy Branch was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2008.

Stanard Lanford, Jr. was born December 1933 in Martinsburg, WV.  The year was 1951, Stan entered the University of Virginia and four years later received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree.  He was active on campus as a member of Tau Beta Pi and Omicron Delta Kappa and the president of the Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.  June 1955, another milestone was accomplished Stan became a commissioned Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and.  Sadly, in October 1955, Stan, Sr. dies from stomach cancer, the Lanford brothers had to rethink their roles in the family business and they decided to purchase the company from their father’s estate.

Stan was a recent college graduate running the family business until his brother Jack’s return from the service. He then did his tour of duty in the US Air Force.   Once both brothers reunited to run the business it was clear to them as part owners of the company it must be run based on their book knowledge and the lessons they had learned at the hip of their father.   If it hadn’t been for their experiences working full time in the construction business in their summers during college, the business would have failed after their father passed away.

Soon afterward the brothers bought out Ted Slater.  Slater was a mechanic who had gone to work with Gilbert Construction in 1930.  The brothers needed a huge amount of capital needed to replace the excavation equipment and how rapidly the equipment became obsolete.  This predicament led them to look for new types of work using their recently acquired civil engineering degrees.  In 1960 the family business became incorporated as Lanford Brothers Company and it was determined by the brothers that they would change from excavation, drainage, and stone based roads and turn all resources towards bridge and box culvert construction with the onset of the construction of the interstates system in the country. In the five years of operating the company under their leadership they had gained important on the job training. They also realized they did not have adequate cost information to properly bid on new work. The most valuable lessons learned in revamping the business were generated from working as subcontractors in 1963 with English Construction of Altavista, VA.  English’s wealth of knowledge in setting up construction cost accounts and implementing a labor distribution system was shared with Jack and Stan and added to the business acumen of Lanford Brothers. 

In hindsight 1963 was indeed the toughest year on record, as one of their partners in a joint venture defaulted on a job in Florida and went bankrupt, causing Lanford Brothers to finish the project in the red.  Thanks to their integrity they finished what they had started and clearly developed a strong dislike for future joint ventures.  This now three-year-old company was growing with increased interstate projects being created to cover the Commonwealth and the increasing grading, road and bridge construction work. Having a strong relationship with English Construction helped Lanford Brothers to obtain subcontracts in making box culverts and bridge work.  In the beginning years of Lanford Brothers, English put the brothers on their payroll and bought materials needed for the work. 1971 marked the first year that Lanford Brothers’ contracts expanded beyond Virginia into West Virginia for bridge jobs, a few years later work was extending into North Carolina along Interstate 40 and then South Carolina. 

When the brothers entered the bridge and road repair business their mother served as the office manager up until 1970.  Headquarters for the business were in a humble office they kept in their mother’s basement. As the company grew, they moved headquarters to an 8’ x 20’ office trailer off Route 11 near Tinker Creek in Botetourt County where they had purchased land and eventually built an office and shop. The flood of 1985 destroyed the office and led to the staff being airlifted out of the rising flood waters.  As a result, a better location high above the flood plain became available in the Botetourt Industrial Park complete with 3 acres where in 1989 they located their current office and shop building.  These astute businessmen had learned from the first days of riding with their father on his equipment how to create work and learning how to work smarter versus harder.  The company has been an open shop since its infancy and relied on word of mouth, posters, advertising, and interviews to build up their staff. 

The work ethic of the brothers led to creating improved tools of the trade, the first product was the idea of Superintendent Clarence “Casey” Slater.  He had an innate ability to build things and did not have much formal education.  His years of working on projects led to the company acquiring a steel form panel system for pouring concrete that created modular box culvert sections. The forms were fitted with wheels that allowed the wall and top form to easily roll forward for the next section to be built. These finished box culverts are essential for carrying streams under roadways instead of building bridges.  

Additionally, the brothers pioneered in 1972-73 the use of Rapid Set Latex Concrete overlays.  This new product was the answer for VDOT to extend the lifetime of concrete bridge decks up to 25 years.   Dow Chemical worked with the duo to get the product on the market.  The latex is spread out in a 1-1/4-inch layer, essentially placing a new surface on the old bridge deck.  This material cures and hardens faster than regular concrete, reducing the amount of time bridges and roads were closed to traffic.

In 1979 to diversify the company operations the first milling machines were purchased to “mill” off or grind asphalt existing irregular asphalt and concrete surfaces. Over the next five years more milling machines were bought.  “Waste not, want not” could be the idea behind Lanford’s’ asphalt recycling effort in the region, the product often used for residential jobs.  Amazingly the company recycles 150,000 to 200,000 tons of asphalt a year, more than Cycle Systems takes in during the same time frame. Lanford Brothers also led the industry with its use of cathodic protection devices on concrete structures to prevent the bridge reinforcing steel decks from rusting.

In 1984 Lanford Brothers put in place an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) allowing employees with one year of service and up to have a wonderful retirement package and participation in the growth of the company.   Many other construction companies have also used ESOPs to reward their employees for years of faithful service. The brothers developed a tool for measuring success 1) Satisfaction 2) Profit 3) Money/Salary.  They worked for the satisfaction of seeing things being built, especially when you consider that transportation infrastructure is a basic building block of a healthy economy.  They know that for a company to be strong and able to retain its workers, it has to make a fair profit.  They also wanted to make a good salary for themselves and their workers.

Stan, Jr. served as President of Lanford Brothers Company from 1985- 2003 and was named Chairman of its board of directors, and position still held today. Lanford Brothers Company has been in place for 47 years and started with eight employees.  Today the company has over 240 employees and completes about $25 million of work each year repairing and replacing bridges, roadways, guardrails, and signs.  The company is being led by the third generation and destined to defy the odds and continue with the integrity, and respect for its employees that is a mainstay in the Lanford legacy. 

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

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.

Fredrick Krisch Shaftman was born on April 9^th, 1948, as the only child of Sydney and Rosalie Krisch Shaftman.  Fred’s Grandfather and grandmother, Sam and Miriam Krisch owned United Pawnshop on the corner of Jefferson St. and Salem Avenue. Both grandparents, both parents and both Uncles worked in the Pawnshop and shared the office above the business. Fred’s family had a strong work ethic with an incredible will to succeed. They were always looking for ways to enhance and grow their business and worked countless hours each week doing so. It is this work ethic and desire to succeed that taught Fred, at an early age, that giving up was not an option.  

His family’s history of entrepreneurship instilled a work ethic and a desire in Fred that he has carried forward and used to achieve the business success he has had. From an early age, Fred began to work in the family business.  On Saturdays he worked at his family Pawnshop doing menial tasks while learning the basics of business. When the first Holiday Inn motel in the area opened in 1956, Fred would go with his uncles on the weekends to work there. He later became a bellboy in the summers. Fred didn’t like the manual labor associated with his position and he always aspired to have a bigger role in the management of the business.  It didn’t take him long to figure out he needed to work his way to the top.  It was here that he realized the value of hard work, respect for the individual, and the desire to win.  

Fred went to Crystal Spring School and had the same 6^th grade teacher, Mrs. Forbes, as his mother. From there, he went to Woodrow Wilson for one year and then entered Patrick Henry High School as a member of its first class. While at Patrick Henry Fred became very mischievous and began to desire fun over scholastics.  As a result, his grades began to suffer. The last straw was when he decided to drive his father’s brand-new car from South Roanoke to Salem. The only problem with this was he was 13, had no license, and ran into a tree, which totaled the car. Enough was enough, and in December of 1963 he was on his way to Staunton Military Academy. Upon his arrival, he quickly learned what being at the bottom really meant. He was a rat, sweeping floors, and doing the bidding of the upperclassmen. He realized that he had to work hard to get to the top, which he did.  He became the first cadet in the history of the school to be in the top four in rank, even though he had not been at the school for 6 years. He graduated as the Brigade executive officer and went on to the University of Alabama, his mother’s Alma Mata.

At Alabama, he became President of his fraternity, very active in student government and ran the entire freshman orientation program in the summer of 1965. He was chosen as Jason’s Senior Men’s Honorary, one of only 16 that year. Jason’s recognized leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. While in Law School, Fred continued to work in the family business learning all he could about being an entrepreneur. He clerked for the company’s general counsel, Ben Richardson. Upon graduation from Law school, he returned to Roanoke to become the General Counsel of UCS.

In 1973 when Fred arrived at UCS, the company was generating $9 million in revenue.  UCS was still a young company with all the problems of a normal startup operation.  In addition to being an entirely new business, there were many people who didn’t even think the business was legal. No one imagined that a little startup such as UCS could compete with “Ma Bell”.  As a small business that was undercapitalized everyone wore many hats. Fred quickly became a part of all phases of the business, not just the legal area. Robert Goldstein, a bright, capable, and aggressive businessman was leading the company and he taught Fred a great deal about business and life.

The competitive nature of the business, the constant legal and regulatory battles this new industry faced convinced Fred to join with several of his competitors around the nation. He was a founding member of the North American Trade Association, which was a group of companies, who were all in the fight against AT&T.  At the time AT&T constantly used its power and financial clout to try and put small fledgling businesses under control. Fred fought in court and in the legislature and won a permanent place for this industry in American commerce. In 1984, Fred was awarded the highest award given by the Association, The Distinguished Service Award, for his help in founding the association and leading the fight for the industry.

In 1979 Fred became President and COO of UCS. In 1980 Fred lead the company team that took UCS public, selling 16% of the company. This was Fred’s first experience with Wall Street and one which made a very large impact. In 1983 Robert Goldstein died an untimely death of Cancer, which thrust Fred into the CEO position. When Bob died the company was at $20 million in revenue. Fred continued to grow the business along with the wonderful team of leaders in the UCS family.  In 1985 Forbes Magazine named UCS as a member of the 200 best small companies in America. In 1987 the company operated in 44 states and was making over $130 million in revenue with the highest profit margins in the entire industry.

It was in 1987 that Fred decided that the company had to become part of a much larger business that could fund the growth and give it the clout it needed to succeed. He approached BellSouth and sold them on the national presence and growth potential of UCS. BellSouth had a similar equipment business in the same market as UCS, but it only operated in the 9 Southeastern states. The equipment business of BellSouth never made a profit. In 1992 the Chairman of BellSouth called on UCS to merge with the Southeastern BellSouth Company and try to save it.  That merger made UCS a $400 million company with 2600 employees.  The combined company was losing lots of money.  This was just the type of challenge Fred and his team loved and they began an all-out effort to make it profitable. No one in BellSouth in Atlanta thought it could happen.  Quit wasn’t in Fred’s vocabulary. In 1992 the company lost more than $75 million and in 1995 it made a $3 million profit.

Fred’s home and roots were in Roanoke, so he managed to keep the headquarters of Universal Communication Systems (which in 1989 became BellSouth Communications) in Roanoke. While in Roanoke, Fred was responsible for running other BellSouth subsidiaries, in addition to BCS.  He ran DataServ headquartered in Minneapolis MN, which was a nationwide computer maintenance company doing $250 million, BellSouth Government Systems, headquartered in Washington DC supplying services to the Federal Government, BellSouth Pay Phone division, headquartered in Birmingham AL doing $400 million, BellSouth Advanced Networks which was a research and development business in Atlanta.  This required Fred to travel often, but he never wanted to leave the Roanoke Valley where he and his family were very active outside of their own company responsibilities.  In 2000, BellSouth promoted Fred to become one of 34 corporate officers out of 75,000 BellSouth employees and asked him to move to Atlanta and run the Large Business Division of Bellsouth. This division at that time had 14,000 customers and made $4.5 BILLION in revenue. It was responsible for design, sales, and service of voice and data equipment and network services for Bellsouth’s largest customers.

As president of this division, Fred quickly realized it was time for another turnaround. This was a turning point in the telecom industry and the team of 3900 employees that Fred inherited was a strong one but not used to the competitive marketplace. They were used to being the “telephone company” which was a monopoly. Fred knew they could not make it in this competitive environment, so he went about changing the way they did business and changing the entire culture of the business. This work took several years but now this division has the strongest sales and service team in the Southeast.

Fred has often stated that what he learned at UCS was all he needed to get him to where he needed to be. As he rose in the ranks of this major corporation, he never forgot his roots or lost his entrepreneurial spirit. He said that $4.5 BILLION was just more zeros, people were still people, and all business was the same. Take care of the employee first and then the customer and the company will prosper. 

Fred served on the Board of North Cross School, Roanoke College, The Red Cross, The Egg Factory, The High Museum of Atlanta, and a founding member of the North American Telecommunications Association.  Fred’s service to the community replicates his parents’ appreciation for the Roanoke Valley they have provided for the Shaftman Performance Hall at the Jefferson Center.  In addition, the Shaftman family has donated collections to the Art Museum of Western Virginia and have been long time contributors to the Roanoke Valley SPCA.  After 32 years, Fred retired in December 2005.

Fredrick Krisch Shaftman was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2006.

Lawrence Harrison Hamlar, also known as L.H. Hamlar or Larry Hamlar was born on November 27, 1921, and was the fifth of nine children born to Robert and Maude Hamlar in Virginia. He was a prominent African American civic leader, businessman, and philanthropist in Roanoke, Virginia.

Hamlar attended Roanoke public schools, graduating from Lucy Addison High School in 1939. He matriculated to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) graduating with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a minor in business. Lettering in football, Hamlar was a member of the Virginia State University Football Hall of Fame.

Hamlar apprenticed at Citizens Undertaking in Roanoke. He became a certified licensed mortician after completing the Gupton-Jones School of Mortuary Science degree in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1952, Hamlar established the Hamlar and Curtis Funeral Home with his co-partners Cecil and Marilyn Curtis.

As Lawrence worked to build up his business in the 1950s and 1960s, he worked with others in the community to end segregation and bring on peaceful integration. Hamlar led a biracial committee of twelve white and black Roanoke business leaders to peacefully desegregate Roanoke, Virginia. Most notably, Hamlar worked with city leaders to quell civil disturbance after the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hamlar was the first African American to serve on the Roanoke City School Board as a member and as its school board president. In October 1959, Hamlar co-founded the Pine Valley Golf Association during Jim Crow segregation, becoming a member of its Pine Valley Golf Association Hall of Fame. He was also the first African American member accepted to Roanoke’s elite Shenandoah Club.

An outspoken advocate of higher education, Hamlar served on the board of Virginia Western Community College for 8 years and as its board’s president for 2 years. Hamlar established the Constance J. Hamlar Memorial English Major Scholarship for minority students at Virginia Western Community College to honor his late wife Constance who taught English at the community college for 11 years. In 1994, this endowment exceeds $250,000. In 1983, Hamlar established another memorial scholarship in his late wife’s name at Roanoke College. Hamlar also co-founded the Pine Valley Golf Association during Jim Crow segregation in October 1959, and was a member of its Pine Valley Golf Association Hall of Fame. He was also the first African-American member accepted to Roanoke’s elite Shenandoah Club.

Hamlar was a co-founder of Valley Bank in Roanoke, Virginia. He was also the Chairman of Explorer Park during its formation. He was also a member of Destination Education and helped establish the Roanoke Higher Education Center in May 2001. Hamlar also served as campaign manager for former Roanoke Mayor Noel C. Taylor, widely considered one of the most influential leaders in Roanoke, Virginia’s history. Hamlar was awarded the Noel C. Taylor Distinguished Humanitarian Award in 1993 and the City of Roanoke Citizen of the Year in 2001. Hamlar served on numerous boards including the Roanoke Ballet, Roanoke College as a trustee and 15-year board member, Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Roanoke Symphony Society, and the Roanoke Science Museum.

A former Roanoke School Board member, Hamlar has served on community boards including those at Roanoke College, Virginia Western Community College, the Science Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Virginia’s Recreational Facilities Authority, the Roanoke Ballet, and the United Negro College Fund. He has also been a member of the Henry Street Revival Committee, Design ’85 Steering Committee, and the State Advisory Council of the Small Business Administration. He is a life member of the NAACP. In May 1999, Hamlar received a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Roanoke College. He also received a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Virginia Seminary in Richmond. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity and a member of the Beta Phi boule of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.

He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1999 and passed away in Roanoke on December 31, 2003.

Lawrence Hamlar was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1999.

Elizabeth Thomas Bowles spent much of her professional life working for the betterment of Roanoke as a locally elected official and in numerous civic activities. Her desire to make Roanoke a better place began when she observed that a vital commercial section of the city, the Williamson Road corridor, was not prospering. She and her husband, Ralph, co-owned several bakeries (Bowles Bakeries), including two on Williamson Road, for 38 years. In working with local government to revitalize the area around her family’s businesses, Elizabeth Bowles decided to run for City Council to influence the many civic improvements she felt were needed. She served for 20 years, including time as Vice Mayor, and was the second woman to hold a council position.

As a businessperson, Elizabeth Bowles recognized that wise and carefully thought-out capital investments could reap large rewards for a municipality, but she realized that the results of some decisions made by local government may take years to achieve. The vibrancy apparent in downtown Roanoke today is due in large part to choices the City Council made during her tenure.

Elizabeth has a long list of contributions of her time and dedication to her family, church, and community. She was a long-time member of Huntington Court Church where she was on the official board and honored in 1996. She was on the board of Total Action Against Poverty for more than 22 years and  was on the advisory board for the Salem VA. Hospital, Secretary and Treasurer for Roanoke Valley Chapter American Ex-Prisoners of War, State Commander for the Commonwealth of VA, American Prisoners of War, Mayor’s committee for the disabled, Chairman of the Virginia Municipal League and National League of cities, Committee Charter Member of: Roanoke Crossroads Lions Club, Williamson Road Action Forum, American Business Women’s Association, Williamson Road Women’s club, and the Oakland Garden Club, where she served as president for three years, where she encouraged the construction of landscaping and beautification projects throughout Roanoke.

Other special awards include: 1962 – Mother of the year award, 1976-78 – First woman vice mayor for the City of Roanoke, 1981- Outstanding woman of the year for Southwest Virginia. 1996- First Woman of the year, Miss Virginia Pageant, and 2000- inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame. She passed away on December 10^th, 2013, in Roanoke.

Elizabeth Bowles was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

Paul Torgersen was born in Staten Island, New York. He earned a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University in 1953. Subsequently, he went to Ohio State University, where he received an M.S. degree in industrial engineering in 1956 and a Ph.D. degree in 1959. Torgersen came to Virginia Tech as a professor and the head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in 1967. In 1970, he was named the dean of the College of Engineering and served as the president of the Corporate Research Center until 1990. Torgersen was also interim vice president for development and university relations.

In the Fall of 1993, Torgersen was named the 14th president of Virginia Tech and served until January 2000. During his presidency, Virginia Tech made major advances in both its academic and athletic departments. According to a press release, during this time the “Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine received full accreditation and U.S. News & World Report ranked the engineering and business colleges among the nation’s top 50.”

The Virginia Tech football team also had multiple post-season bowl victories during Torgersen’s presidency. Every year the football team awards the Paul E. Torgersen Award to the individual who best exemplifies commitment, hard work, and great effort every day. Torgersen was a “tremendous leader” and supporter of the athletics department, said football head coach Frank Beamer. 

While Torgersen was the dean of the College of Engineering, it advanced from the bottom 10 percent in rankings for research to the top 10 percent. The university’s Advanced Communications Information Technology Center building was named Torgersen Hall after him in 2000.

Torgersen was good at everything but retirement, He taught at Virginia Tech for more than 50 years, even during the time of his presidency. “Every year some student in his class would write him a very nice note talking about how meaningful his course was and how much it meant to them, and every year he’d come back and make that sacrifice and come teach again,” Taylor said. Torgersen taught and pioneered the Theory of Organization class for industrial and systems engineering students, a course focusing on the theory of cooperative behavior in formal organizations, including the structure and elements of formal organizations.

To this day, Taylor said that alumni and peers on his advisory board speak fondly of Torgersen’s course, some of which took it 40 years ago, saying that it helped them more than any other class they had taken at Virginia Tech. Torgersen gave his final lecture at Virginia Tech on May 7, 2014, to his Theory of Organization class.

Richard Benson, the dean for the college of engineering praised Torgersen for his ability to educate his students.  “He was an exquisite educator – I’ve never known a better one – who loved his students, loved his colleagues and loved Virginia Tech. He was the embodiment of Ut Prosim spirit of service that we cherish so much,” Benson said. 

He was a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education. In 2001 he received the Institute’s highest recognition – the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Award and earlier, in 1991, had received ASEE’s Lamme Medal. He received Tech’s first Affirmative Action Award, its 1992 Sporn Award for Teaching Excellence and was named Virginia’s Engineering Educator of the Year in 1992. He served from 1979-81 as chairman of the engineering Deans’ Council (the national organization of engineering deans).

He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2000 and passed away in March 2015.

Paul Torgersen was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

McNeil Drive is named in honor of Samuel P. McNeil, the leading sponsor and founder of WBRA and educational television of Roanoke and Southwest Virginia. Mr. McNeil served as Chairman of WBRA for 25 years from its beginning in 1966 until he retired in 1992. He was a co-founder of the local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He also served as Chairman of the Roanoke City School Board from 1970 to 1976.

Blue Ridge PBS is comprised of WBRA-TV/DT in Roanoke, WSBN-TV/DT in Norton, and WMSY-TV/DT in Marion, VA. Founded in 1967, it is the sole public multimedia enterprise serving 2.5 million individuals in portions of five states. The station’s 26,000 square-mile coverage area includes southwestern Virginia and bordering counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina. As the region’s storyteller, Blue Ridge PBS offers informational, educational, and cultural programming, along with an award-winning local production team devoted to regional issues and interests.

Over 200,000 schoolchildren and their teachers benefit from the station’s education services that provide a safe, trusted environment for innovative on-air and online learning. Sam McNeil was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2001.

Sam McNeil was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2001.

Thomas Robertson became chief executive officer of Roanoke Hospital Association, which is now Carilion Health System, in 1986. He joined the company in 1969 as an accountant and later as executive vice president oversaw much of its growth as a regional network of healthcare facilities. Robertson is a native of Roanoke and a graduate of National Business College. He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2001.

Tom Robertson was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2001.

Walter Feucht Rugaber was born on November 29, 1938, in Macon, Georgia. After earning his degree from Northwestern University, Rugaber started his distinguished career in journalism with a stint at the Atlanta Journal in 1961, then moved on to the Detroit Free Press and the New York Times in their Detroit, Atlanta, and Washington bureaus.

In 1978 he became the executive editor of the Greensboro Daily News & Record, and in 1982 made the move to the Roanoke Times where he oversaw a staff of nearly 500, produced three Pulitzer Prize nominees, recorded three of the best financial years in the newspaper’s history, and helped establish the Roanoke Times as Western Virginia’s major newspaper. From 1995 to 1998, Rugaber served as president of the Landmark Publishing Group, parent company of the Roanoke Times.

In 2001, the Roanoker Magazine selected Rugaber as one of the Roanoke Valley’s 50 most influential people. In addition to his professional achievements, he has been an advocate of the arts–serving as President of the Roanoke Symphony Society and supporter of the Mill Mountain Theatre. He served as chair of the Roanoke Valley United Way Campaign, served on the Board of the Center for Innovative Leadership, and was a Trustee on the Hollins University Board, most recently serving as Hollins University’s interim President from May 2001 to June 2002. He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2002.

Walter Rugaber was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2002.