Harold Wright receives Chamber’s annual citizenship award

Harold B. Wright, Jr., founder of Virginia Broadcasting Company, WVIR/NBC-29, Greater Charlottesville’s first local television station, received the prestigious Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award from the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce at their annual dinner, Wednesday, November 28.

“Harold Wright came to our community nearly 50 years ago and as a citizen and businessman,” said Cathy Smith Train, President of the United Way – Thomas Jefferson Area, Past Chairwoman of the Chamber Board of Directors and Chairwoman of the Chamber Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award Committee. “He has been, and remains, a force for success in business and for many important civic and charitable efforts.”

The Chamber’s news release notes that Mr. Wright’s community involvement is both “extensive and focused.” He is a founding member of the Blue Ridge Rotary Club and has served on the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital Committee and the UVA Health System Community Relations Committee. He was an active member of the Jaycees and he and his business are active in many aspects of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber.

Mr. Wright has been particularly focused on the continued success of NBC-29’s “Children’s Miracle Network Telethon” to benefit the UVA Children’s Hospital and pediatric patients throughout Central Virginia. In 1983, the first telethon raised $23,000; this past year’s telethon total topped $2 million. Over the 24-year run the NBC-29’s Children’s Miracle Network Telethon has raised more than $20 million.

The Chamber of Commerce established its Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award in 1975 to recognize outstanding citizen contributions to the greater Charlottesville area.

Entrepreneurs: The “hot list” for 2008

Entrepreneur Magazine has posted their 2008 Hot List, their “crystal ball” on the hottest industries predicted for 2008. The article is a bit cumbersome to get through on-line. But if you are a trend-watcher and/or would-be entrepreneur, then you may well find the data interesting and potentially valuable. Authors interviewed industry experts on where they think their particular industry will be strong. Areas covered range from “food & beverage” to “tech,” “boomers” to “kids.” The hot list indicates how many years running certain categories have been on the list. Two industries noted as “new” on the hot list for 2008, Green Business Services and Solar Energy Products.

US Chamber Chairman Paul S. Speranza Jr. to keynote annual Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce dinner

Paul S. Speranza Jr., 2007-2008 Chairman of the Board of the United States Chamber of Commerce, will deliver the keynote address at the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce 2007 Annual Dinner. Mr. Speranza is Vice Chairman, General Counsel and Secretary for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., a 70-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Founded in 1916, the family-owned company today employs 35,000 workers generating more than $4 billion in annual sales.

“Our Chamber and our community are eager to hear from Mr. Speranza,” said Mary Loose DeViney of Tuel Jewelers, 2007 Chairwoman of the Chamber Board of Directors, “to learn more about the efforts and services of the United States Chamber of Commerce, particularly the Chamber’s national initiative to help build a more dynamic, globally competitive American workforce.”

At the dinner the Chamber will also award its annual Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award.

The Chamber dinner will be held on Wednesday, November 28th, at the Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville. For more information contact the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Monticello VP to leave for position in Montana

Kat Imhoff, Vice President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello, will leave on January 31, 2008, to become executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Montana. Ms. Imhoff was appointed the Foundation’s chief operations officer in February 2000 and was named a vice president in 2005. Prior to joining the Thomas Jefferson Foundation staff, she was executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Virginia.

During her time at Monticello, Ms. Imhoff has played a leadership role in a number of major initiatives, including directing the planning and ongoing construction of the Thomas Jefferson Visitors Center and Smith History Center, organizing Monticello’s observance of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and coordinating the placement of more than 1,300 acres of Foundation property under protective easements. She also has represented Monticello on boards of a variety of local, state and national organizations, several of which she has chaired.

“We will miss Kat’s energy, vision, creativity and team spirit, and we will remember her as a caring colleague and dedicated professional,” said Thomas Jefferson Foundation President Daniel P. Jordan, who will also be leaving the Foundation in 2008. “She leaves with our gratitude and very best wishes.”

New talk show will explore the people and places that define Charlottesville

Premiering on Thursday, November 8 at 8:30 pm local singer-songstress Terri Allard will host Charlottesville Inside-Out, a new talk show on WHTJ-PBS looking to explore the “people and places that define Charlottesville.”

WHTJ station manager D.J. Crotteau explains that the title of the program, Charlottesville Inside-Out, comes from the format of the show itself. Host Terri Allard introduces the guest from inside WHTJ’s studio on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, and then she heads out to interview the guest on location.

“Interviews are conducted anywhere the subject takes us,” says Mr. Crotteau. “It’s great fun for our whole production team to be out in the woods one minute, then in a classroom, then in the kitchen of a gourmet restaurant. There’s just no end to the list of cool people doing cool things in this area.”

Interviews have been conducted at the Charlottesville Pavilion, Innisfree Village, the Free Clinic, along the 250 bypass for Art in Place, Walker Elementary School, Zocalo restaurant, SOCA’s South Fork soccer fields and in the Dome Room of the Rotunda.

Guests include African drummer Darrell Rose; Monticello’s executive director Dan Jordan; world- champion juggler Mark Nizer; City Schools Superintendent Rosa Atkins; University of Virginia President John Casteen; and Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner.

The first episode airs on Thursday, November 8 at 8:30 pm. Subsequent shows will air weekly on Thursdays at 8:30 pm. on WHTJ (channel 41, cable 7). Each thirty-minute show features two interview segments.