Innovate LIVE coming to Staunton this weekend

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Get ready, Staunton … Innovate LIVE is heading our way this weekend, April 24-26. Staunton is stunning this time of year — spring flowers and blossoming trees, soft warm breezes, and the historic downtown area just waiting for visitors while the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains surround the Shenandoah Valley.

A full agenda will begin Friday morning and last through Sunday.

Roanoke-Blacksburg tech corridor and the Millennial factor

By Lynn R. Mitchell

There was a summit over the weekend in Roanoke showcasing the city as Millennnial-friendly and a great place to work and live (see Our View: The young and the restless — and Roanoke):

It’s hardly a news flash that the economy is changing. The Roanoke and New River valleys have a small but interesting base of technology companies to build on, usually ones you’ve never heard of because the products they sell aren’t ones for the general market.

One problem they face, though, is finding enough workers. That’s hardly a Roanoke phenomenon; a recent survey by the Technology Councils of America found that 74 percent of executives at tech companies say they face a labor shortage, with about one-third calling it “significant.” Both those numbers are up from the last survey two years ago.