OUTLET: Inside Business

When Daniel Heatwole moved to Virginia Beach for the summer after college, he planned to stay for only three months. Now, nine years later, he’s not only made a life in Hampton Roads, he’s become a leader in the region.

The 31-year-old is vice president of CBDX, a young leaders group within the Central Business District Association, and he recently received the organization’s inaugural Founder’s Award. The group, which launched in June 2009, has 69 members and the award program was designed to recognize a CBDX member who has made significant contributions toward the success of the organization. (more…)

OUTLET: Triangle Business Journal

Judy Fourie, a recently-retired Towne Insurance of Raleigh executive, is poised to reinvent herself in the insurance industry.

In what she calls her senior years, she’s heading out with her own practice for the second time in her career. She’s founded Fourie Group, a private consulting agency with a focus one Medicare Supplement plans, Prescription Drug plans, Life Insurance plans and Long Term Care insurance. (more…)

OUTLET: Inside Business

Students lined up in front of Seatack Elementary in Virginia Beach early on July 21, eager to shake hands with teachers and administrators. Shaking hands with teachers, administrators and military personnel from NAS Oceana will be a part of students’ new daily routine.

These handshakes marked the beginning of a two-week intersession, designed to prevent summer learning loss and acclimate students to their new classrooms and teachers. (more…)

VIRGINIA BEACH

Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay, 2:30 p.m.

Coal colliers bob in gentle green swells on a gray afternoon, but it’s bright and sunny 11 stories up.

The walls and carpets of Ty and Penny Brown’s apartment are pristine white, and a shaggy round orange rug fills the living room with sun. Windows provide a glimpse of the scenes below: condominium rooftops, a sandy shoreline and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel disappearing into low-hanging clouds. (more…)

OUTLET: Calgary Sun

The Calgary Zoo’s African-themed loo is in the running for a privy prize.

A visitor nominated the luxurious lavatory nestled in the attraction’s Destination Africa exhibit  for the Cintas Canada Best Restroom contest and it has made the cut to be among the nation’s top five finalists.

In its fifth year, the online contest combs the country for the best bathroom experience, ranking its cleanliness alongside user experience. (more…)

OUTLET: Calgary Herald

Among all the attractions at the Calgary Zoo, the facility is being lauded for one of its more underrated features – the bathrooms. The Herald’s Manisha Krishnan reports the zoo is one of five finalists in the fifth annual Canada’s Best Restroom contest hosted by Cintas, a company that supplies businesses across North America with restroom cleaning services. Last year’s winner was the Valleyview Shell Super Station, a truck stop in northern Alberta. Voting is open at www.bestrestroom.com/canada until Sept. 30. (more…)

Recently, the woman known worldwide as the Spice Goddess perched on a dining room chair, a panorama of the Chesapeake Bay at her back, and said something seemingly blasphemous.

Bal Arneson – the author of three Indian cookbooks, the James Beard award finalist whose television shows air in 40 countries worldwide, the woman who dishes accessible recipes for zucchini paneer and samosas to the masses – believes that the highest use of spice is not for flavor.

Rather, it’s for health. (more…)

OUTLET: Inside Business

Jerry Miller, center, CEO of Fairlead Integrated in Portsmouth, which specializes in metal fabrication, stands with Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright and Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas as the three celebrate the announcement of the company’s new name. Fairlead is smaller and more focused than its predecessor company, Earl Industries, which Miller helped found 30 years ago. Two years ago Miller sold the ship repair operations to General Dynamics and now focuses on technology and manufacturing at Fairlead.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Second-grader Diamond Godfrey beamed as she slid into the chair her classmate had pulled out for her. She thanked him, sat up straight and scooted toward the table.

Around her, words like “please” and “manners” dotted the walls. (more…)

OUTLET: Richmond BizSense

By: Michael Schwartz

Another big Virginia bank is zeroing in on Richmond.

Suffolk-based TowneBank, one of the three largest community banks headquartered in the state, has a plan in the works to make its first move into Richmond with a veteran local banker leading the charge. It marks the $4.8 billion bank’s first major step west outside the Hampton Roads market, where it has grown to more than two dozen branches since its founding in 1999. (more…)