Here’s a round-up of briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org.
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Logistics company opens operations in three cities, including Roanoke
A. Duie Pyle, a warehousing and transportation company, has opened a new logistics service center in Roanoke, one of three new centers in Virginia. The others are in Manassas and Richmond. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership said the business could create 75 jobs in all, 20 of those in Roanoke.
“We have been planning to add locations in the Commonwealth of Virginia for some time, and we are thrilled to gather here today with our customers, local officials and business leaders to commemorate our expansion into Roanoke,” chairman and CEO Peter Latta said in a statement. “Extending Pyle’s footprint into Roanoke and the greater Virginia area positions us to reach key metropolitan areas along the East Coast and fully support our customers’ growth, while opening up new economic opportunities for the City of Roanoke.”
City of Roanoke Mayor Sherman P. Lea said in a statement, “The City of Roanoke appreciates A. Duie Pyle’s significant new investment in our city. For 98 years, this reputable, family-owned company has provided significant services in the transportation and logistics arena, and we welcome them to our great city.”
After officials cut the ribbon with a giant pair of scissors, a Pyle truck plowed through to commemorate the Roanoke location’s opening.
The company said that with Roanoke’s long history as a transportation hub, it was an optimal location.
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Yard Bull Meats opens in Roanoke
Yard Bull Meats, Roanoke’s only whole animal butcher shop, opened Tuesday in the South Roanoke neighborhood.
The butcher shop is opening in the former Goldsmith Jeweler location. The co-owners and butchers, Tyler Thomas and Elliott Orwick, met three years ago and quickly realized they were both working toward the same goal of opening whole animal butcher shop in Roanoke.
Thomas, known locally as the executive chef at the highly regarded River and Rail Restaurant, located next door to the butcher shop, was previously at Stock Provisions in Charlottesville.
Elliott Orwick moved to Roanoke after spending over a decade honing his craft of butchery at well- known establishments including Sierra Nevada and Hickory Nut Gap in Asheville, NC. He was looking for a mid-sized mountain town that was both affordable and trending upward to start a business,which led him to Roanoke, according to a release.
Yard Bull Meats offers all cuts of pork, beef, chicken, a variety of seafood, five rotating flavors of
sausage, dips, cured meats, deli meat, caviar, grilling and smoking supplies, spices and rubs, and
butchery and cooking classes.
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Candidate forum for Roanoke council candidates on Sept. 22
The Raleigh Court Neighborhood Association will host a candidate forum for Roanoke City Council candidates on Sept. 22 at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. The doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the candidate forum starting at 7:30 pm. Kianna Price of WFXR will moderate.
Each candidate will provide an introductory statement followed by a question and answer period when each candidate will answer three to five questions, time permitting. The candidates will then have the opportunity for brief closing remarks.
If you would like to submit a question for the forum, email it to tarpleyparkfriends@gmail.com. Please limit the questions to city-wide issues and due to time constraints, all submitted questions may not be included in the forum.
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Virginia Department of Foresty to hold fire training at Breaks Interstate Park
The Virginia Department of Forestry’s Western Region Incident Management Team holding the agency’s Fall Wildland Fire Academy at Breaks Interstate Park. This four-day event, which starts Thursday, will teach new first responders the skills they need to fight fire safely and effectively, and hone the skills of existing firefighters to become leaders on the fire line.
This academy will feature classes such as Wildland Fire Chainsaws and Engine Operator, which typically fill quickly at the agency’s summer wildland fire academy at Longwood University, due to their intensive instructor-to-student focus on safety and instruction. The Basic Firefighter Training Field Day will challenge new firefighters to put into practice learned skills through a series of stations designed to test their knowledge of the tools and techniques used to suppress wildfires. The Crew Boss, or Single Resource, course will build upon the knowledge and training of experienced firefighters as they progress into positions of leadership and increased responsibility.