This year brought significant news to Southwest Virginia's business world.

From a revamp at Carilion Clinic that is planned to include a new medical school and research institute to approval of the state's first commercial -- and controversial -- wind farm in Highland County, varied events could further shape the region's economy in 2008.

The Roanoke Times business staff has captured 10 of this year's important news happenings and reflected on what's to come in the new year.

Development begins on new Carilion complex

Carilion Clinic, the region's largest employer, moved forward on several new projects in 2007, including starting construction on a new $70 million office building to serve as a hub for its speciality physician practices.

The building, which will be located in the Riverside Center near Roanoke Memorial Hospital, is part of a larger blueprint to remake the hospital system into a physician-led clinic that emphasizes research and medical education. That conversion began in 2006 and will cost about $100 million over seven years.

Carilion also unveiled plans in 2007 for a new $59 million medical school and research building to be located in the same business park. The medical school would be jointly operated by Carilion and Virginia Tech, and both are seeking funding from the state for construction costs.

In December, that funding request was included in a $1.65 billion higher education bond package proposed by the governor's office. The taxpayer-supported debt package must be approved by state voters in fall 2008.

Also in 2007, Carilion completed a four-year, $105 million consolidation and merged inpatient services at its two Roanoke hospitals under one roof. In September, Carilion completed the last of the patient transfers from its downtown Roanoke Community Hospital to the newly-expanded Roanoke Memorial Hospital in South Roanoke.

Community Hospital will become the new home of Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

-- Christina Rogers

Patrick Henry Hotel's doors shut for good

After more than a decade of warnings from the fire marshal's office, the Patrick Henry Hotel in downtown Roanoke was forced to close its doors indefinitely in 2007 because of an outdated sprinkler system.

Owners of the downtown icon have tried for years to finance a renovation project aimed at converting the 10-story landmark into senior living apartments.

In the fall, the building's New York owners had planned to start construction on the upper floors while keeping the event spaces open for business. The guest rooms were already closed.

But their efforts came too late. The fire marshal's office condemned the building in September. Not even a last-ditch effort through litigation to stall the closure was enough to keep the building open.

By then, most of its long-term tenants, such as Dot's Salon and interior design firm, Dora's of Roanoke, had either moved out or closed shop, bringing an era of commerce at the hotel to a close.

-- Christina Rogers

State approves wind farm in Highland County

Virginia approved its first commercial wind farm this month along with a mandate that the operator pay to protect bats and raptors from a series of spinning turbine blades now pegged for a Highland County ridgetop.

On Dec. 20, Highland New Wind Development LLC received authority and a certificate of public convenience and necessity to install and operate up to 20 turbines and associated electrical equipment as a private, for-profit business venture.

The project, which would take nine months to build, could begin operation late next year if not held up by court appeals, backers said.

The site picked for the wind towers, which will be up to 400 feet tall, is visible from U.S. 250 west of Monterey. Critics, including area residents, tried to block the project based on aesthetic considerations, the risk the turbines posed to wildlife and other issues.

They can appeal the Dec. 20 decision to the state Supreme Court.

The court would offer a venue for any claims that the State Corporation Commission erred or violated regulatory procedures if the opponents have such evidence, said Ken Schrad, commission spokesman.

-- Jeff Sturgeon

Market makeover could stir up change downtown

Controversy about what to do with a coveted space in downtown Roanoke -- the Farmers Market -- erupted in March.

Downtown arts organization Center in the Square revealed that renovation concepts for its building could mean change for some businesses and farmers market vendors. Potential effects included displacing the Roanoke Weiner Stand from its historic spot inside Center's building, eliminating a number of outdoor spaces used by vendors and related affects on small retailers leasing space from Center in the Square.

For several months, differing groups met to seek consensus about what to do with the Market Square area. More meetings are planned through 2008.

Center in the Square, in the meantime, is finalizing renovation plans that likely won't be unveiled until March, said Jim Sears, president of Center.

Also, as a gleaming and architecturally-controversial art museum rises nearby, the City Market Building begs for renovation. City officials, while weighing related options, created a stir by considering the possibility of selling the building to a foundation or other buyer.

On Jan. 7, the city council will discuss in a work session the future of the building, which sits at the corner of Market Street and Campbell Avenue and houses local restaurants in a food-court arrangement as well as retailers facing the street.

-- Jenny Kincaid Boone

NRV becomes home to many new retail options

The bulldozers were busy in the New River Valley this year as developers began construction on several large developments.

One of the first to be completed was a strip center addition to the New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg. The expansion brought stores including Best Buy, Staples, PetSmart and Old Navy to the valley in October. Panera Bread joined the mix earlier this month and a much-anticipated Olive Garden is expected to open in mid-January.

The mall isn't the only thing luring in the national chains.

Ohio-based Fairmount Properties broke ground in September on First & Main, a controversial, 40-acre "town center" project that promises up to 335,000 square feet of retail space in Blacksburg. Some of the project is expected to be done next year.

Fairmount has said Talbots, Ann Taylor Loft and Coldwater Creek will be among the development's tenants.

But they're keeping mum about what may fill 186,000 square feet of retail space along Country Club Drive -- it's widely thought to be a Wal-Mart Supercenter -- and developers, along with officials and activists, are waiting on a court ruling on Fairmount's right to build a big-box store on the site.

Across town, work is under way to complete construction of the $50 million Smith's Landing.

Developed by former Hokie and NFL star Bruce Smith, the project will add 284 apartments, a 140-room hotel and 5,000 square feet of commercial space to Plantation Road in the summer of 2008.

-- Angela Manese-Lee

Jefferson Motor Lodge torn down, office building coming

In November, Roanoke College sold the Jefferson Motor Lodge property in downtown Roanoke to a Northern Virginia developer for about $1.3 million.

Developer Damon Harwood plans to construct a three-story building on South Jefferson Street that will house Social Security Administration offices, which will move from the Stone Printing building several blocks away on North Jefferson Street.

Demolition immediately began of the Jefferson Motor Lodge, which had come to rely on renting rooms to low-income people for extended stays. Until the sale, Roanoke College had leased the property to the National College of Business and Technology, also in Salem, which operated the lodge on a long-term lease set to expire in 2014.

Construction of the federal complex is expected to start in early 2008. The building will house about 70,000 square feet of office space and likely be ready for use in mid-2010. City officials said the new building will keep federal employees working downtown and enhance economic development along that stretch of Jefferson Street.

Upon the building's completion, Harwood plans to retain ownership and lease the offices to the government. He declined to reveal the length of the lease but said it will be long term.

-- Duncan Adams

Green building movement gains steam in 2007

A strong year has ended for the construction and restoration of buildings that use energy efficiently and respect environmental resources.

But there's a lot of growth left in the green building movement, which some say is gaining a rapid, early foothold in Southwest Virginia.

During 2007, crews finished the Claude Moore Education Complex at the Roanoke Higher Education Center for entertainment and culinary arts instruction, featuring vegetation and solar panels on the roof and the use of captured rain water in toilets.

Madison Field, a seven-home subdivision embracing sustainable development practices, began going up at Brambleton Avenue and Overlook Road. The Preserve at Two Ford, a similar project, is a planned 26-unit subdivision under way in Southwest Roanoke County.

Also this year, the U.S. Green Building Council, which sponsors a rating system for environmentally friendly buildings, awarded a high gold rating to a Gatorade bottling plant in Wytheville.

A rating is pending for the State & City Building, a 101-year-old office building on Campbell Avenue that underwent extensive renovation for condominiums.

Nell Boyle, director of sustainable business practice at Breakell Inc., a Roanoke general contractor, said Southwest Virginia is getting recognized for embracing the green building concept -- with both government and the private sector involved. And the movement is still gaining steam.

"Green building is a huge, huge conversation," Boyle said.

-- Jeff Sturgeon

Imports, mortgage crisis hurt area manufacturing

Regional furniture importers/manufacturers cut back domestic manufacturing operations, with production woes affected both by increased reliance on low-priced imports and by sluggish market conditions tied to the mortgage crisis and housing slump.

This year, Hooker Furniture of Martinsville -- as well as Stanley Furniture of Stanleytown, Ridgeway Furniture and Bassett Furniture Industries, all in Henry County -- each closed a manufacturing plant, with related layoffs.

Thus, traditional manufacturing jobs in Martinsville and Henry County, in furniture, textiles and apparel, continued a long decline.

Meanwhile, high-tech manufacturers in the Roanoke and New River valleys worried about finding employees with the aptitudes and skills required by increasingly sophisticated production methods.

Manufacturing executives say their growth will be reined in if the region lacks an adequate pool of skilled workers.

Virginia Western Community College, the Arnold R. Burton Technology Center and others have responded to these concerns with training programs designed to ready people for high-tech manufacturing jobs.

And manufacturers, in strategy meetings, have concluded that a regional manufacturing association and better marketing about contemporary production jobs could help match supply with demand.

-- Duncan Adams

Advance Auto names new CEO; future of home office unclear

Advance Auto Parts' new chief executive officer plans to work primarily out of an office in Minnesota, a move that raises questions among business leaders about whether this automobile parts retailer will keep its corporate office in Roanoke.

Darren Jackson, who lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, was appointed Advance's leader in November. But he said he will commute to Roanoke for the first six months of his job, which begins Jan. 7, until a new executive office in Minnesota, the company's sixth such office, is created.

Jackson said Advance's home office will remain in Roanoke, but some local economic development leaders expressed concern that Jackson's move could lead to Advance's eventual exodus from Roanoke. Advance is the only Fortune 500 company based in the Roanoke Valley, and it is one of the largest employers in the area.

-- Jenny Kincaid Boone

Sites under consideration for NS intermodal facility

While a massive Norfolk Southern intermodal facility was announced in 2006, it continued to make news in 2007 as possible sites for the $18 million project were added and subtracted.

At last count, there were three sites under consideration for the facility, which would be a part of the Heartland Corridor.

Land near Glenvar in Roanoke County, in Salem and near the Montgomery County community of Elliston are still under consideration for the Roanoke Regional Intermodal Facility. The announcement could come any day.

It's been nearly 21 months since Gov. Tim Kaine and NS officials announced plans for a freight yard where cargo containers can be moved between trains and trucks.

"This is the biggest economic development announcement in the last 20 years for Roanoke," Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, said when Kaine made the announcement at downtown Roanoke's O. Winston Link Museum.

The Heartland Corridor plan, which aims to move freight rail traffic between Columbus, Ohio, and Norfolk faster and more efficiently. About two-thirds of the project's $249 million cost will be borne by federal and state governments.

-- Chris Winston