Photo courtesy of Shirley Gillispie

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center held its fourth annual annual Invitational Golf Tournament on June 10 at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Fairlawn.

First Bancorp inc., parent company of First Bank & Trust Co., has again made U.S. bankers' top 200 community banks list.

Favorable credit quality and performance earnings ranked First Bank & Trust a ranking of no. 15 in the nation. findings from the national report resulted in First Bank & Trust Co. being ranked the No. 1 bank in Virginia and Tennessee.

The report was published in the june issue of u.s. banker and was based on banks and thrifts with less than $2 billion in assets as of Dec. 31.

Rankings were based on a three-year average return on equity and reflect first bank & trust's earnings performance.

Child care centers participate in state program

Three child care centers and preschool programs in the new river valley are among the state's first programs to receive a star rating as part of the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a quality rating and improvement system for early-learning programs.

They are Rainbow Riders Childcare Center and Valley Interfaith Child Care Center, receiving three stars, and the Virginia Tech Child Development Center for Learning and Research, which received four stars.

The Virginia Star Quality Initiative is voluntary. If a child-care center participates and earns a two-star rating, for example, this signals a commitment to continuing quality improvement and distinguishes the program for going beyond the required standards. If a program earns additional stars, the number of stars reflects their additional achievements in their commitment to quality.

For more information and a list of rated early-learning, visitsmartbeginnings.org/QRIS.

CRC holds banquet, golf tournament

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center's 17th annual banquet honoring tenant leaders was June 3.

Comfort Inn of Blacksburg was awarded Sponsor of the Year. Presentations followed by David Denny, hub director at i3 Network and owner of David W. Denny LLC; Elizabeth Obenshain, executive director of New River Land Trust; and Stefan Duma, head of Virgina Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.

CRC director Joe Meredith also noted Building 26 has been completed, the design stage of Building 27 has started, the Rainbow Riders' Childcare Center is currently under construction and updated plans are available for the Phase II expansion of the CRC.

The CRC held its fourth annual Invitational Golf Tournament on June 10 at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Fairlawn. After the tournament was called because of inclement weather, all teams were invited to an awards social.

Prizes were given for first place, second place and the longest drive along with an array of golf-oriented raffle items.

Warm Hearth to use online staff training

Warm Hearth Village recently implemented the online Healthcare Academy to provide an educational resource to all staff.

The academy was started in 1995 by a group of medical training and technology experts as a way for health-care professionals and related staff to complete in-service training requirements on the job site while reducing training costs. At Warm Hearth, the online training will be used for ongoing staff development and job training requirements and has been customized by department.

Venessa Coake, director of staff education and quality assurance, was responsible for implementing the program and will track employee progress and learning.

-- The Roanoke Times