Spencer Frantz has the distinct pleasure of being Roanoke born and raised, and he has called this area home for all his 76 years. Spencer named for his maternal grandfather and a Roanoke banker, is the middle of three boys born to Virgil and Elizabeth “Dollie” Spencer Frantz.  Before they could understand the world, the boys would be acclimated to entrepreneurship and forever tied to the business savvy of their grandfather Graham White Manufacturing Company produced some of the most intricate and important equipment to keep train locomotives on the move. 

In 1914 when Mr. White, a pipefitter for N & W railroad and an idea man, plus Mr. Graham, an investor, formed a partnership with James Frantz, Spencer’s grandfather.  James Frantz was the glue for the team, and worked behind the scenes (obviously because the Frantz name never became a part of the company name) at White American Locomotive Sander Company.   The company produced the first-ever sanding device from its location at 316 South Jefferson Street in Roanoke.    This apparatus distributes sand onto the rails to create the much-needed traction under the wheels of the trains still today.   The sanding device patent was not issued until 1918, at the same time railroads hit a “freeze” because the government took over the lines while World War One waged.

 In a 1917 business listing of Roanoke’s incorporated businesses, Mr. White is listed as President, and Mr. Frantz as Secretary-Treasurer.   Mr. James Frantz ran the business from its inception and the business hit tough times with the new government-run rail lines.   It wasn’t until 1921 that the business could resurrect.  Reorganized in 1925 under the name of Graham White Sander Corporation, Mr. Frantz was the V.P/ Treasurer and Graham and White had dropped out of the business.  His son, Virgil (Spencer’s father) had an illness that forced him from Washington & Lee in May 1924.  The ensuing Great Depression required Virgil to stay with business.   When the business took another blow, however, the Frantz family fell back on the family orchards to survive. 

In the early 1930s the orchards yielded 50,000 -60,000 bushels of apples and almost 30,000 bushels of peaches.  The manufacturing business started to rebound in the early 1940’s and around 1942 James Frantz took ill and the leadership of the company now belonged to Virgil Frantz.  The annals reveal that James Frantz was an entrepreneur running an automobile dealership in Roanoke before running G-W.   James Frantz was a proponent of education graduating in 1898 with a strong grade point average and serving as editor-in-chief for Roanoke College’s first annual.  His majors in Greek and Latin from Roanoke College provided his first job teaching the same languages as an instructor at Botetourt Normal College. 

The three Frantz grandsons Lanier, Spencer, and Bouldin all were intrigued with the business as tikes because they knew it helped to make trains run, and what could be more exciting than to hear and see up close those glorious steel work horses.

Spencer too would appreciate education attending Roanoke City schools until 5^th grade, then 6^th grade through 10^th grade he attended Andrew Lewis High School and completed his junior and senior years in a New York boarding school.  Young Spencer learned firsthand the meaning of a work ethic by rising early during the summers to work on the family’s farm and orchard in Salem located where the current Hanging Rock golf course exists.  The farm was important during the volatile economic times of the depression and impending wars.  The Frantz family had cattle, pigs, and an orchard that was plentiful with peaches and apples.  In the mid 40’s Spencer, his brothers and parents raised and trained Tennessee Walker horses that were placed in many horse shows in the area.   It is the memories of working the back break hours in the orchards that made Spencer appreciate education and the opportunities that he would be afforded.

Spencer returned to Virginia after boarding school and spent four years at Washington and Lee graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce.   He was also active in the college’s ROTC program.   Like many men of the time from 1955-1957 Spencer served on active duty with the Army, going through basics at Fort Eustis and then assigned to Thule, Greenland as a member of the Transportation Arctic Group for a year and finishing out his commitment at Fort Eustis for the remaining year.   That one-year experience in Greenland is recounted in an article “Men Against the Icecap”.  Spencer and his unit were the first to experience continuous movement over an 1,800-mile Greenland icecap trail during the winter blackout.  Crevasse detection, blizzards, and bridging were major concerns along with temperatures that froze engines.  Their trek taught a lot particularly new ideas on arctic clothing and gear were born.  Spencer and his unit have remained friends for over 50 years, gathering frequently for reunions throughout the nation.

Personally, after several social events and chance meetings in 1950 and ‘51 with the lovely Joy of Charlotte, North Carolina, Spencer through the insistence of a close friend took Joy on a date in 1952. They married immediately after Spencer’s college graduation.  Joy knowing, she had met the man of her dreams gave up college in her sophomore year to marry and travel to Greenland, and the newlyweds have remained together, this year celebrating 55 years of marriage. 

Once the Army obligation ended Spencer became a part of the Graham White operation from 1958-68, Spencer was learning the fine points of running a company by working in purchasing taking on the benefits program and several other departments before becoming the company treasurer.  Spencer’s older brother, Lanier, was already putting in full days working in managerial positions of their father’s new acquisitions.    This work experience helped him appreciate his father’s philosophy of supporting the “Graham White family” with respect.  Many of the G-W employees have worked for 30 years.

Graham-White was strictly a manufacturing company until 1956 when key salespeople from another firm very familiar with G-W products created the Graham-White Sales Corporation. It was during this time that The Salem Boats Division of Graham-White Manufacturing was formed in 1955 because of Virgil Frantz’s passion for boats. Semi-finished boat hulls were imported from Germany.  The engines and other equipment were installed in Norfolk and at the Graham-White plant.   Eventually the whole manufacturing process was at Graham-White until it closed in the early 60s.   Some of the buildings used for boat manufacturing now house the Graham-White foundry.

Spencer’s increased knowledge of the company and stints in the leadership role while his father conducted business around the nation only to be curtailed by his father upon his return to the plant proved to be daunting. 

Spencer along with financial backing from his older brother and a business partner pursued their entrepreneurial yearnings and he started the Tread Corporation in 1968.  Spencer served as President.  Spencer led this business for nineteen years.  The company distributed high explosives and later produced storage containers for high explosives used in excavation work.  This successful business led to a subsidiary, Treadlok, the first manufacturer of a gun safe for the shooting sports industry.

The Graham White Company was also growing as its engineers were designing and getting new devices patented to make the rail industry safer and speedier.  Four new items have become standards from the Graham White line of quality products.

1. Air dryers – a device that compresses air removing moisture.  First designed for the rail industry, they are commonly used today for buses and light rail in large cities.
2. G-W solenoid valves are designed with pipe brackets to permit easy maintenance as required. As a result, no air connections need to be disconnected. This reduces out-of-service time for equipment and saves money. A unique duplex solenoid valve is available for one inlet connection and two outlets for dual operation.
3. Bell ringer – the warning device for locomotives as they back up, this air motor makes a bonging sound when in use, and it’s the casting of the clapper that GW does.  In the last couple of years, the bell ringer has evolved to become strictly electrical, and it creates the same “bong” sound.
4. Parking brakes for locomotives were manual and were being phased out in favor of an electronic brake.  This evolution eliminated the variable of equal pressure being applied based on the strength of each engineer that had concerned the rail industry.

The development and patent of these many railroads related devices involved working with foundries, and companies that eventually were acquired by Graham White because of their ability to turn out quality products.  These successes led to the physical G-W plant outgrowing its space in Roanoke and forcing the company to its current Salem site in 1949.   The two-acre site boasted a new plant that was built from scratch using a lot of G-W’s own people, Lanier Frantz remembers welding on the roof.  This new facility doubled the workforce, and production space and customer base.    This growth was pleasing to Virgil Frantz who had the uncanny ability to find people that could translate his mechanical mind mapping into a real product.  Virgil did not believe in the words “it can’t be done”, because he would prove the nay sayers wrong.  It was this forceful and creative man that traveled to many parts of this country to try to learn from the best that also cramped the management style of his sons and led to their own entrepreneurial ventures.

In 1988 Spencer came back to Graham White as President/CEO to succeed his father’s leadership and provide the transition for Lanier Frantz to become chairman of the board.  One of the first steps Spencer took in his new position was the transformation of the engineering department and he introduced strategic planning to ensure future growth.  Spencer is credited for creating a team-oriented approach to get most of the talented workforce.  In the mid 1980’s the company was experiencing growing pains and luckily there was an empty plant across the street that made for the perfect solution once it was renovated, and the company moved in 1987.  This great move resulted in a 309,000 square foot facility located on 20 acres.

 Like the generations before them, 1993 saw another change in leadership with the 4^th generation taking the helm with Jim Frantz, Spencer’s son taking over as president of Graham White.  The other striking change for Graham White that guaranteed a strong work corps was the creation of an ESOP that includes the Frantz family members and 20 stockholders.

Spencer’s sons, Jim Frantz and Robert Frantz have grown up with a fantastic legacy both were graduates of Washington & Lee like many of the Frantz men of the generations that preceded them.  Both young men went on to obtain MBA degrees: Jim received his from Wake Forest and Robert received his from Thunderbird in Arizona.  Robert spent a couple of summers in odd jobs at Graham-White but has spent most of his adult years working in the banking industry.

Today Spencer is the Vice Chair of the Graham White Manufacturing Company and comes to work every day he is in town.  His wealth of knowledge about the business provides perspective for expanding Graham White’s footprint- which now includes locations in Carson City, Nevada, and Shreveport, Louisiana.

Spencer’s business savvy is equally matched with his interest in the community.  He provided leadership in 1998 to the Roanoke Valley YMCAs in securing a superb campaign team that met and exceeded their goals to provide new sites in Roanoke city and Salem.  His fundraising success has led to positions on the Salem Historical Museum board, YMCA Youth outreach drive, and the Blue Ridge Boy Scouts Council.  Spencer’s love of the outdoors has served him well on board the River Foundation. 

Graham-White under Spencer’s administration donated 22 acres of its previous plant location to the City of Salem and that is now known as the Moyer Sports Complex.   The complex features four playing fields and is home to many tournaments that generate a large revenue stream for Salem.

When Spencer was asked what his best accomplishment has been in life, he responded being married to Joy.  The couple enjoys travel, and their favorite places are Switzerland, Nepal, and Africa.  When in town the two are very active as elders for Salem Presbyterian Church and have served the church in many roles as lifelong members.   They are also the proud grandparents of three and the oldest grandchild Jim Frantz, Jr. makes the fifth generation to attend Washington and Lee University.

Reflecting on his life professionally and personally, he admits that the Golden Rule has always served him well.  In addition to upholding his father’s belief in the Graham White employees and creating an environment that would support their best interest.

Spencer Frantz was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2009.

During his time at Virginia Tech, Samuel L. Lionberger was a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and the Commandant’s staff, the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, the Scabbard and Blade Society, associate judge in the Cadet Honor Court, and served as class president.

Following graduation, Lionberger served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, where in 1964 he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after his service, Lionberger returned home to his native Roanoke and joined his family’s construction business, Lionberger Construction. He served as president and then chief executive officer from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. His loyal service and devotion to his beloved alma mater culminated in membership and active participation on wide-ranging boards and foundations including: the Virginia Tech Foundation Board of Directors, the national Campaign Steering Committee of the Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future, the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center at Smith Mountain Lake Board of Trustees, the Virginia Tech Alumni Board, and the advisory boards of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and the School of Building Construction.

With his wife, Lorinda, Lionberger also holds membership in the President’s circle of the Ut Prosim society which is dedicated to recognizing the leaders of philanthropy in their generous giving to the university. Further, in keeping in line with the university’s motto, Lionberger’s community outreach includes service of the Roanoke Corps of the Salvation Army, the Military Family Support Center, and numerous other college and business boards. Lionberger’s dedication to the university culminated in 2012 when he was awarded the Ruffner Medal, Virginia Tech’s highest honor for distinguished and honorable service.

Samuel L. Lionberger was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2008.

Lorinda Thomas was born on August 7, 1945, in Roanoke, VA. She graduated from Patrick Henry High School there in 1963 and from Mary Baldwin College in 1967, where she was Vice President of her senior class. She taught in the Frederick County school system for 34 years, mostly at Frederick County Middle School. She taught computers there and was named “Teacher of the Year” for that school twice. Later she worked in computers at Shenandoah University, where she had received her master’s degree in 1992. She served on the boards of Shalom et Benedictus and Head Start for several years each. She served two terms on the Christ Episcopal Church Vestry Board where she achieved the breakthrough of being the first female usher in church history.

Lorinda “Rindy” Lionberger was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2008.

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.

David Ronald Goode was born in Jefferson Hospital in Roanoke VA, on January 13, 1941.  He is the older of the two Goode children, having a younger sister Martha. They grew up in Vinton, where they learned important business and life lessons from their hard-working parents Otto and Hessie, (better known as Martha) Goode.

Otto Goode came from a coal mining family in Wyoming County WV.  As a young man, Otto’s potential was seen by the owner of the coal mine, who sent him to Virginia Polytechnic Institute.   Unfortunately, this financial help ended when Otto decided not to return to the coal fields and was honest enough to tell the mine owner who sent him off with his blessing but no financial aid.  He moved to Roanoke, entered Roanoke College, and began his business career at Sears Roebuck selling and repairing radios and appliances and taking classes at Roanoke when he could. According to his son, Mr. Goode took classes for years at Roanoke College.   During this busy time, he met Hessie Maxey, a Bedford County native and graduate of Jefferson High School and Radford College.   She taught school in Moneta and Stewartsville until she and Otto were married.  

Mr. Goode took his profit sharing from Sears and bought a store on Lee Avenue in Vinton, opening Goode’s Department Store.  Goode’s Store was a mainstay in the Vinton community well into the 1970’s.   The whole Goode family worked in the business.  Everyone in Vinton knew Otto and Martha Goode.  David remembers working with his parents well before he could reach the keys of the cash register.  David learned what it took to be successful in business at Goode’s Store, treating work seriously, working hard, always doing the right thing, and dealing fairly with everyone.  David recalls his father’s advice on the importance of customer service “…every person who walks through our door is our customer and deserves service and respect.”  Developing this work ethic as a child would serve him well as CEO of the Norfolk Southern Corporation and would culminate with him being named Railroader of the Year in 2005 and 1998.

It should be noted that Otto Goode became a licensed real estate broker in his 50’s and worked until he was 94.  Not only was he a well-known business leader in Vinton, but also as a civic leader.  Mr. Goode was one of the founders of the Vinton Dogwood Festival, in addition to serving on the committee that built the Vinton War Memorial in 1944 as a salute to the area’s WWII veterans.

David Goode humbly states that his time in high school was unremarkable.  He played the trombone in the band, but “not well”.  This “unremarkable” man graduated from William Byrd HS in 1958 as valedictorian.  He went on to Duke University where he began as an English major, later switching to accounting.  An early venture into business was as Business Manager of the Duke Chronicle.  “We operated independently, and the Editor and I put in a profit-sharing plan which was very popular.”   During his summers he worked as a park ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  While at Duke he met and fell in love with the former Susan Skiles at fraternity mixer, she was a history major from Wilmington Delaware. 

After graduating from Duke, Mr. Goode went to NYC where he worked as an accountant for Price Waterhouse.  He decided within a year that he really didn’t like accounting.  Once again, he humbly describes himself as a “failed accountant”.  He entered Harvard Law School and he and Susan married in 1964 while he was still in law school.  She worked at New England Telephone to pay the bills.During law school, David worked for the law firm Martin, Hopkins, and Lemon in Roanoke.  He was on his way back to New York but before he graduated Linwood Holton interviewed David to come to work for him in Roanoke.  As fate would have it, both Bill Hopkins and Linwood Holton asked him if he knew anyone at N&W as there were several Harvard Law School graduates working for the railroad.  Even though David had promised Susan she would not have to live in his hometown, David decided to see what was available at the railroad.

He met Jack Fishwick at the N&W on a Saturday morning.  Fishwick introduced him to Bob Claytor, then VP of the N&W law department.  The RR was setting up the tax department and Claytor pointed him to the new Tax Counsel Jim Carr who decided David Goode had just the qualifications needed.  Also, his salary with the RR was the same as what he could expect in NYC.  He told Susan coming to Roanoke would mean they would have “all the money in the world”.  He is proud to say that lucky Saturday led to a lifelong job at the RR.   Bill Hopkins and Linwood Holton encouraged him to cast his lot with the RR and they became lifelong friends.

David joined the railroad as a tax lawyer in 1965 and by 1971 he was appointed director of taxation.  With the creation of Norfolk Southern he remained in Roanoke and became Assistant Vice President of Taxation and devoted his efforts to civic causes.  He was President of the Roanoke Valley Council of Community Services, Mill Mountain Theater, the then Roanoke Art Museum at Cherry Hill and was one of the groups who created Center in the Square.

In 1991, then Norfolk Southern CEO Arnold McKinnon gave Goode the opportunity to move to Norfolk as Executive Vice President, Administration as it turned out preparing for the CEO job.  Successively, he became President, and the Board elected him Chairman, President, and CEO on McKinnon’s retirement in 1992. One of Mr. Goode’s first activities after accepting the role of president was visiting the railyards and offices of those, he would lead spread all over the railroad.   From those visits one gentlemen’s statement that replayed in Mr. Goode’s head as he made important decisions was: my father and grandfather worked for this railroad and I have been an engineer for 20 years, “I hope you’ll see to it there’s a job here for my grandson, too.”   That reaffirmed for David that the obligation and responsibility that goes with the opportunities of leadership. 

Goode’s priorities were 1) safety 2) customer service (exceed expectations) and expanded financial goals.  Faced with dramatically changing business in the 90s, his leadership emphasized technology to increase efficiency and performance and the development of new business models like intermodal systems to improve the rail product.  Norfolk Southern became the fastest growing intermodal system.  The railroad’s financial performance improved steadily while the nation’s industrial economy shifted to consumer-based services.  The test of the 90s for Norfolk Southern was moving a large company with 150-year roots into a radically changed economic environment.  One part of that mission was improving the geographic scope of Norfolk Southern. 

Some say, Goode’s greatest challenge to his leadership occurred in October 1996 when CSX announces a merger with Conrail.  This deal would dwarf Norfolk Southern – so Goode countered CSX’s offer with a better one and engaged in an epic corporate battle for dominance in the Eastern transportation business.  In the end a split of Conrail left Norfolk Southern positioned with geographic coverage through the eastern half of the country and significantly larger.  This deal landed Goode honors and named 1997 Logistics Executive in Distribution Magazine and Railway Age named him Railroader of the Year.  Virginia Press named Goode Virginian of the Year –1999.

Never before had a major corporation been dismantled and divided between two other corporations.  Even the best planning of this merger could not have anticipated the complexity of the deal.   Execution of the merger was difficult – leading to service problems, financial losses, and a significant recovery challenge.  Goode believes that challenges like this are the true test of organizations and businesspeople.  Norfolk Southern came out of the trough stronger and more successful than ever and Goode is credited for his leadership in bringing Norfolk Southern and the rail industry into a new “Rail Renaissance”.

The test of business leadership is to do well in good times and bad.  Persevere, make sure your values are sound and never compromise your values.  That’s the business ethic that leads to long term success — things like fifteen straight Harriman Gold Medals for safety and ultimately record stock values and business growth.

Even though Susan had not wanted to live in Roanoke, Roanoke and the railroad were very much their home.  Susan taught fourth grade at Cave Spring Elementary School and became very involved in the community.  Among her interests are the League of Women Voters and the Junior League of the Roanoke Valley.  She served on the Roanoke City Planning Commission, becoming the first women to chair it.   During her tenure the first comprehensive plan for Roanoke since the 1900’s was completed.  She also led Mill Mountain Theater, and was active with the Symphony, Roanoke Valley Chorus and sang with the South Roanoke Methodist Choir.  She now serves on the Virginia Museum of Art Board and the Virginia Historical Society.

David Goode truly believes that “business is the business of life” and is troubled by the lack of understanding and distorted view some young people have about business.  Early in his railroading career David understood the importance of passing an understanding of how business works on to the next generation.  In the late 60’s, David served as an advisor to a JA company sponsored by the N& W; one of JA of Southwest Virginia’s founding companies.  He was also very involved with the Jaycee’s.  David believes through Junior Achievement young people learn basic business principles, that being in business is a very satisfying and useful thing to do.  Young people need to get a sense that “business is the world”, and that “business makes things happen”. 

It troubles Mr. Goode that young people get a distorted view of business from TV, movies, and newspapers, and that many of them view business as evil.  Those in the corporate world must work to put respect back into the business.  He knows that most people in business are good, hard working, serious people.  These are traits that businesses and Junior Achievement are striving to build in the workers of tomorrow. He thinks that the first thing future workers need to know, to be successful is “first show up”!  Be there, stick with it, be available for the hard jobs, understand that there will be ups and downs in every job.  If you aren’t there, you “will never know when opportunity arrives”.

David Goode believes that the basic tenets of business are the same he learned at Goode’s Department Store, in Vinton.  Take care of the customer, serve them crisply and efficiently, with honesty, integrity, and fairness.  A good business focuses on the customer’s needs and always does the right thing.  “If you focus on the money you will fail, focus on integrity and people and success will follow.”  David Goode has lived with this code of ethics and has based how he conducts business on this code.  Following what he learned from his parents has brought great success to this humble man.

Civic Roles: Director on the boards of Caterpillar Inc., Texas Instruments, Delta Air Lines, Russell Reynolds Associates, Chaired the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Business Committee for the Arts.  Vice Chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, Hollins University, The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.  Member of the Business Council and Business Round Table, he served three times as chair of the Association of American Railroads.

David R. Goode was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2007.

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.