Cory Donovan and the NCTC are really doing great things for the RNR. He came up with a neat way to promote Demo Day on Sept 18 in Roanoke using Twitter (It’s gonna bea like a grown up Science Fair!).

This is a contest that encourages people to tweet and retweet to friends and family about the tech communitiy in the RNR. Each week the NCTC will give out one of four gifts – $100, free booth at the event, two night stay at the Hotel Roanoke and two tickets to the Virginia Tech – Nebraska football game.

Please tweet about it and include #NCTCDemoDay to qualify.

Over the past 3.5 years, I have been fortunate to serve our community as an employee of the City of Roanoke working on a variety of issues aimed at serving others.

Later this month, I will be leaving the City to take an opportunity with a private sector firm in the region.

The position with the City of Roanoke has been a blessing. I will always be loyal and grateful.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve. If I can help you in any way, then please contact me.

The next edition of JobQuest will air on Tuesday, August 4 at 7 pm on BlueRidge PBS. In case you are unfamiliar with the show or missed last month’s episode you can view it here. If you are looking for a job, tune in as 60 jobs will be annouced. There will also be job tips and news pieces to help the viewers. Follow the show on Twitter.

July JobQuest from Carol Jennings on Vimeo.

The City of Roanoke’s Office of Economic Development partnered with Chmura Economics to offer its JobsEQ suite to Roanoke businesses and job seekers. The robust tool pulls current data from multiple sources and packages it for easy use to make better informed business decisions and job search strategies.

There are three access points to the system.

BusinessEQ provides real-time labor and employment data, as well as, access to over 1100 current job seekers information in the region.

For job seekers, Career Concourse connects the individual to the same data (supply/demand by industry and occuaption, assessment tests and job postings) to create a more strategic job search.

JobsEQ is the entire package with data points and tools not available with the other two access points. It’s only viewable to the Office of Economic Development, however, private tutorials can be requested. Open demonstrations will be held the 4th Tuesday of every month at 8:30 a.m. at 117 Church Ave. The first demo will be Tuesday, July 28.

There is no charge for any of these services. Please come July 28 at 8:30 a.m. to 117 Church Ave for a tutorial. If you cannot make it July 28, then the next one will be August 25.

View WDBJ7′s segment

The Richard Florida-inspired Roanoke Creative Community Leadership Project was held on March 30 and 31 at 22 Kirk Ave in downtown Roanoke. Thirty Creative Connectors work tirelessly over two days creating initiatives around the 4 Ts of economic development – talent, tolerance, territory assets and technology. The Sunday Roanoke Times article written by Duncan Adams offered this account.  

• CNR 2030: Growing a Carbon-Neutral Region – The plan is to partner with others in the region to engage, educate and employ the community toward the achievement of sustainable living. The initiative will position the region as a proving ground for sustainable technologies.  As progression toward the goal occurs, the region will attract new businesses, generate new jobs and become a model community for sustainable living. The ultimate goal is for the region to be carbon neutral by 2030. For more information and to participate, contact Mike Dame mdame68@yahoo.com.
  
• 81 Reasons to Connect – The purpose of this initiative is to connect the Roanokeand Blacksburg MSAs through three key areas – economic development, attraction and retention of creative professionals, and leveraging its natural resources. This effort will be seeking feedback from at least 40 identified regional organizations and the general public. The group is also planning a regional economic summit in 2009. For more information and to participate, contact Krisha Chachra kchachra@aol.com.
  
• The Spirit of Tolerance and Art in the Region – STARis a movement towards inclusion. This is an umbrella initiative building upon existing events and organizations, as well as, creating new initiatives such as BridgeWalk, the Open Doors Series, and the STAR event. The STAR movement will create a website and an online calendar. The aim is to have at least one event per month, ongoing with a kick-off event as LOCAL COLORS in May. For more information and to participate, contact Sharon Rapoport at sharon@thefarm.com.
   
• YEA! Youth Experiencing the Amenities – The mission of YEA! is to grow Roanoke’s Creative Class, by encouraging youth to work, play, live and stay in the region. Many of the region’s youth lack significant opportunity to experience the region’s amenities and economic opportunities. Plus, a new, expanding audience for cultural and recreational amenities is needed. To this end, volunteerism will be promoted by working with local arts and entertainment amenities to offer incentives by donating excess capacity at their events and venues. For more information and to participate, contact Gordie Zeigler at gz.1868@gmail.com.

Now we need your help. Please contact each of these group leaders and get involved. They will be meeting weekly over the next year to carry out these initiatives. Your assistance is appreciated.