Inside IALR

Transforming the Region for 20 Years - Building an Anniversary Special Series

• Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

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2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) main building. To celebrate, we will feature several guests who have been integral to the operation of this iconic facility over the last twenty years.

For the fourth and final anniversary episode, guest host Daniel Dalton is joined by two important guests who are vital to driving economic transformation: IALR President Telly Tucker and Linda Green, Vice President of Economic Development and Executive Director of the Southern Regional Alliance (SVRA).

There aren't many facilities that serve such a multi-purpose function as the main IALR building, which offers a full-service conference center, on-site café, educational classrooms, research labs for different purposes and a high bay, all in one building. The building has hosted visiting international patrons and guests, governors, various ranking military officials, regional representatives and educators. As economic developers, Telly and Linda have also used the building (and now the IALR campus as a whole) as one of the primary selling points for companies interested in locating in Southern Virginia. 

  • Background and early career (00:45)
  • Reactions to the construction of IALR (05:13)
  • Catalyzing economic transformation (08:39)
  • Since day one (15:30)
  • Evolution of IALR (16:30)
  • The building as a tool for economic development (27:41)
  • IALR as a host (35:32)
  • Flexing to meet demands (44:51)
  • Hopes for the next twenty years (46:33)
  • Parting thoughts (51:12)

For more history and information and to view photos of the construction of 150 Slayton, please visit https://www.ialr.org/history/.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.

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Daniel Dalton:

Welcome to another special episode celebrating the 20th anniversary of 150 Slayton Avenue, also known as the IALR Main Building, which opened in 2004. This is the fourth episode and final of this special series. Joining us are two very important guests who are vital to driving economic transformation. ILR President Telly Tucker and Linda Green, Vice President of Economic Development and Executive Director of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance. I certainly want to thank both of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be with us. Telly and Linda, please introduce yourselves and give a little bit of your background and career before joining ILR.

Telly Tucker:

Thank you, Daniel Sure. So Telly Tucker, President of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. My background, I'm a Virginia native, graduate of James Madison University, Go Dukes. My background, ironically, started in education when I graduated from JMU in 2004. I spent three years in secondary education teaching middle school students. The irony is that I never wanted to be an educator because my parents and grandparents were educators, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. But as you know, karma would have it, I would start out as a teacher and then three years later would transition into economic development in the city's Lynchburg City's Economic Development Office. And fast forward 20 years, spent um time at both the local and state level and economic of different economic development organizations. Really fascinating the diversity of the local economies and regional economies throughout Virginia and how each community has its own priorities and goals in terms of economic development. But it's been a I've been blessed with a fortunate career to work with a lot of really talented professionals. And of course, no community that I've ever worked in has been more collaborative and more forward-looking than Southern Virginia. And so I'm I'm delighted and honored to have been able to come back in 2022 to take over the helm at IELR. So thank you for the opportunity.

Linda Green:

I'm Linda Green. I'm with the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in a very fortunate position because they merged that with the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to take in that man the management of that partnership. So I get the opportunity to work not just with IELR but with all of the economic developers across our region under that umbrella. I have a varied career. I was a Goodyear quality engineer, and from Goodyear with over a decade there, I went to the Center for Innovative Technology doing technology-based economic development. I was the state's director for manufacturing and then entrepreneurial and federal funding. From there, I went to the business incubator here in Danville, the Dan River Business Development Center. We had helped to form that, to start it up. And I went back to help them in a time when it was down and hit a very great spurt in Danville where camaraderie between the city and county took off. And during that time, they started a lot of dual initiatives. The first was the Dan River Business Development Center. They placed it in the county because they were already planning for the placement of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville. So you can see they started strategically, let's do something in both areas and unite the two. I spent seven years at DRBDC on a two-year promise and loved every minute of it. We worked during a time when a lot of industry was coming, it's starting to come into town working with the new vision. It was the same time that the institute was coming out of the ground and then built. So when I started at the Business Development Center, the Institute was actually housed in that building just for that interim while they were building this facility. So I would like to say that I've been here since the birth and uh enjoyed every second. I then worked for Congressman Hurt for the six years that he was in Congress, loved that, and then got the call from Jerry Gualtney saying, Would you consider coming back to the Institute to run the Economic Development Office? Probably the best move I've ever made in my life because I was able to connect all those dots, coming back here to a campus I already loved. It wasn't a campus then, it was one large building, and I remember the night of the grand opening, and everybody around came, black ties and all, celebrating that night and how important this organization was going to be. Little did they know what was going to happen.

Daniel Dalton:

That's very interesting to hear about your backgrounds. Uh Linda, you just you just spoke about being able to see the building come out of the ground. Uh, with you being in the area for so long and seeing this the construction of the building, what did you think of of the building as it was being constructed?

Linda Green:

We had no idea what the grandeur of the building was going to be like. And when you said it's gonna be the building on the top of the hill, you little did you imagine. Um I have to commend Larry Hansen with Dewberry. It's a brilliant design. It's um you you see the steel beams raising from the ground. We'd never seen anything like that here. Um and while you drove to high towers in big cities, this was different. This was in on a hill in the middle of a region that didn't have a university, it didn't have a four-year university of state making. So to see this come from the ground, um, like I said, when they opened it and people got to walk into that great hall, um, there was a sign of glee. But the funny thing lay is that all these years later, I watched people walk in with the very same expression on their faces. Um, but it it was shocking to people to have this in their neighborhood with something that changed the mindset of people and has continued to change their mindsets.

Daniel Dalton:

Now, Telly, you've came to the area later on, but what were your first impressions of seeing this building?

Telly Tucker:

Um so I came to Danville in 2014 as economic development director for the city, and uh vividly remember um Joe King, who was the city manager at that time, personally doing a tour around the community um through all the industrial parks and um kind of showing me the lay of the land. Uh and I remember, you know, when we got to the institute, I think I I remember looking at it going, I've always wondered what's in this building, because you know, as a as a Lynchburg native and driving up and down the 29 corridor, it's you know, it's very visible from the bypass going around Danville. And it's a beautiful building that sits at the top of the hill with with glass and flags flying high, and and you kind of always wonder what goes on there, right? And so, um, like Linda mentioned, I think my my first perception was kind of the wow factor of this is really incredible. This is something that most people don't expect to see when they come to Danville, Virginia. And uh as I, you know, entered the building, kind of the the the grand atrium and the um technology that allows, you know, at that time was one of the probably the largest flat screen monitors I'd ever seen. Um it makes an impression. And I think uh I would agree with Alinda 100%. Uh when many guests come in today, um they are blown away by that building and it's it by the building and by just how well it's preserved. And when we tell people it's 20 years old, most people go, but this doesn't feel like it's 20 years old. Uh and I think that's a testament to the leadership that's been here through the years, and certainly um the facilities team that takes care of this building. Um, they've done a fantastic job.

Daniel Dalton:

Yes, they have. We've on previous episodes we've had the uh former maintenance uh Jeff Forlines and current um facilities manager Stuart East uh talk about the maintenance over the years, uh, as well as uh the architect and designer uh Larry Hassan of Dewberry. Our mission statement is driving economic transformation. What does that mean to Southern Virginia?

Telly Tucker:

It's interesting. People will ask us what you know what we do here, and we start out by reciting our you know our mission statement and um catalyzing regional economic transformation. Um it it's very broad, I recognize um just if you listen to those words, but I think it's intentionally broad to give us the flexibility to respond to what industry needs are and what our um you know constituency needs are in terms of residents who live in this region. So when I think about economic transformation, um we think about I think I'll start from a macro level. Um we think about what industry has been here historically, what has happened in terms of its characterization and and in many ways um legacy industries um downsizing or leaving the area, and then what is going to sustain future generations of Southern Virginians in terms of um good paying jobs that allow them to support their families uh going forward. And so I think naturally one tends to think about um how do we utilize this asset that is the institute to help influence positive economic growth, meaning attracting new companies to the region, helping our existing um industry grow, helping them find solutions to challenges that they're having, whether that's talent, um, technology, uh research, or education, whatever that may be. And we have always, I think, been a very nimble organization and organizations that was designed to be able to respond very quickly to whatever the needs were in the community, um, and to hopefully help plug and fill gaps that may not be met by some of the other entities that that already exist. Um so we try to sit in that space where we ask ourselves every day, does every program that we offer um is it making a difference in terms of economic transformation? Are we helping improve the lives, the regional economy, um, the local economy by a number of ways? You know, that could be visitors, it could be jobs, it could be economic development, recruitment, um, it can certainly be tourism and hospitality and and you know, with the folks in our conference center. Um certainly is is um the awareness and the I I would say even national and international notoriety we've gotten for some of our groundbreaking breaking work in um controlled environment agriculture and applied research. Uh and um and of course with the you know rapidly growing manufacturing advancement visibility now with um our United States Department of Defense and and uh and the Navy certainly as a partner. Um we uh just recently I had a I heard an anecdote from someone who was traveling in Wisconsin at a manufacturing um summit and it was about technology and and the presenter on the stage who is not from this region asked everyone in the room to raise their hand if they'd ever heard of Danville, Virginia. And they said like three-quarters of the room hands went up. Uh so for someone in Wisconsin to talk about to mention a Danville and what's happening um, particularly on this campus at ILR, and uh to have three-quarters of the room recognize that, I think in many ways that validates and speaks volumes to um the awareness that now the entire nation has of what's happening here and the impact that it's have having. And so that's a kudos to the leadership who envisioned um this type of entity to be able to drive transformation, and certainly to all of the employees who have worked and are continuing to work here every day to make that economic transformation mission a reality.

Linda Green:

I think Tally stated exactly what I would think of economic transformation here because it was all inclusive of a lot of different things. Being in economic development, people almost off or often confuse economic development and economic transformation. Economic development's the process of bringing in and retaining existing employees. And believe me, it's a process. It deals with a lot of different things that are more on the side of permitting, zoning, building, site development. Economic transformation takes it that extra step. It's that step that says intertwining all the partners, all the communities, and I love the catalyzing and collaborating with partners because I think the economic transformation here is all about how we work with the people around us. We couldn't do the work that we do were it not that we were catalyzing. So we're not doing it all on our own. Sometimes it's Telly and Jason working to catalyze Department of Defense projects and to bring alive something that they want to do with the flexibility and skill sets that are here at the Institute. And what a pleasure to be doing something like that on a national scale. Sometimes catalyzing economic transformation is Julie's work when she's working with GoTech and spreading that across the Commonwealth, changing the cultural awareness at a middle school level of what you could do in manufacturing and in a skilled education environment. Sometimes it's us calling on Scott Lohman and Scott working with everything that he does in RD, and believe me, he's an ace in anything agricultural, but we also call on him for polymers and for machining and other topics because they have equipment and characteristics and capabilities that allow them to connect with universities and research partners, bring them into the campus of the institute. So when I think about economic transformation, I think about breathing new life into this community, completely transforming what people think they can do. When we bring a new prospect in today, we tell them that whether they want to do research with the university, whether they need skill workforce, whether they're worried about the pipeline 20 years from now from now, we're going to show them something unique and different in the way IELR has worked with this region. And it takes one walkthrough to change mindsets.

Daniel Dalton:

It certainly does. Now, with our mission statement, has that always been the mission statement since the inception of this organization, or has that evolved and been refined over the years?

Telly Tucker:

That's a great question, Daniel. And I don't actually have the answer to that question today. I'd have to go back and look to see if it's but I think that there certainly has been an economic development focus for the Institute from the very beginning. Linda, you may know better than that.

Linda Green:

I do. It's actually in the code, so not written identical to where we are right now, but if you look back at the original code around us, um economic transformation has been the idea since day one. So, and I don't know that people always understood that. I've heard people say it's economic development, and I think we're quick to say it's much bigger than that. Economic development helps to transform, but it cannot do it on its own. And so it it has been a continuum that it was thought of as this grander vision. Definitely that's evolved in in how we implement it.

Daniel Dalton:

How has ILR evolved over the last 20 years as far as the programs, the staff, and the campus?

Linda Green:

I will start as the long timer in this from the standpoint of being a lot older than Telly. But with that, um, when when you looked at the evolution of ILR, it was fantastic that we now had a place for conferences. So from the first ribbon cutting where people walked into the atrium and saw the magnificent Great Hall, saw the atrium and the grandiose conference center rooms, their imaginations went there. But then instantly the teaming with Virginia Tech, bringing in research partners that fill the halls of the research, that happened in the inception. The advanced learning has evolved over the years, finding where the gaps were. I think Julie Brown's been fantastic in that role overseeing that department, but it's looking at where the gaps were and where we needed to make a difference to transform the region. And always that transformation was part of it. So in the early days it was very different. So the initial, I remember the eight-post rig and some of the automotive work that was going on, but now I see that carried on to Virginia International Raceway and some fantastic spin-off work that's being done by Frank Delapia there as the part of the GCAP Center, the Global Center for Automotive, I'm gonna say it automotive performance and simulation. So they do fantastic work on behalf of Virginia Tech. So I see the transformation bringing in research from Virginia Tech that now lives owned for companies around the world who are working there at VIR doing research. Then I look at the education and I see those programs not just all around Virginia, but people asking for them for other states and other countries. So that's definitely evolved from where are the gaps to fill in the gaps, and they're filling them and filling them fast. I think the buildings are one part of it, but I think when you look at why the buildings sprung up, you see what was the Hawkins building spring up to do research because there were more research needs. Then you see launch bays added because tele was bringing in industry so fast that there was a need to look at where they launched when they come into the U.S. or where they launched if they were doing a new operation and needed a bay to do that. So we've seen companies move their headquarters from Greensboro to Danville and start out in those launch bays. We've seen international companies come here, get their ISO certifications in Telly's Bays while they were preparing to take the next step into industry. But I don't think any of us envisioned the buildings that are here today and the different purposes from ATDM, working with Department of Defense. We saw one building that had conference facilities, research and was going to work with education. We didn't know that it was gonna be so transformative that agencies around the country were gonna come to do their work here.

Telly Tucker:

You know, I think about previous leadership here, um, the Tim and Nancy Franklins of the world, the Jerry Qualtneys, as Linda mentioned earlier, uh Mark Janak as well, um, and others who've been at the helm of leadership here. And I you know, it's when it when you build something like an institute, I don't know that anyone has a crystal ball can say exactly what it's going to be doing five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now. But I think the the lessons that you learn along the way help refine it and prepare it for future success. So I have to give credit where credit is due and to attribute some of today's success to the leaders who've come before me. Um because there are things that they have learned only by being a pioneer, pioneering some of those ideas and trying them. Some of them work, some of them maybe not as successful as we would have liked for them to be or as impactful, but that's part of learning, right? That's part of the the advanced learning purpose of um engaging in new ideas and new challenges and figuring out how to refine something. Anyone who's in manufacturing will tell you you probably learn far more from your failures than you do from your successes, and you learn how to improve those processes and optimize them. So I think we are a microcosm of that and in that analogy in many ways, where we have, you know, in the earlier years, we um uh I know there was a large focus on connecting to universities, and we've always had a partner, great partnership with uh Virginia Tech, certainly, and um our local university at Averett and uh and Danville Community College, but I think those relationships have shifted and morphed into something that is more sustainable and more um long-term effective for the for the for the vision of the institute and and the value that we bring. Um I think about one example, I talked to to Dr. Scott Lohman, who leads our applied research team, and he talks about how um research has changed. And he's really looking at you know, it's interesting that the application of the research. It's not research for the sake of I'm just curious and thinking about what a particular um, you know, endophyte or beneficial bacteria or some some agriculture, agricultural concept might be. Um, but I'm really focused on research for the sake of how do I help um drive economic development, recruitment of industries who are in the ag space? How do I help entrepreneurs who might be aspiring to grow their own agriculture business? How do I move the needle in terms of um cleaning or helping create um and promote cleaner foods by not having to use insecticides and pesticides, herbicides, et cetera, um, because the future of the Earth's population will need to be supported by controlled environment agriculture, and that's a critical benefit of controlled environment agriculture. So it's it's been a shift in even within um divisions like applied research who've been around from the beginning, and their focus is is much more on applied. How do we how do we do research and development for the sake of helping drive um growth and impact tomorrow? Um not not 50 years, just 50 years from now, but how do we really help companies and entities that we work with benefit, hopefully in the next six months, a year, um two years? Um when I also think about that naturally anyone who drives through our campus goes, wow, this has really grown over the last 20 years in terms of the physical structure of the buildings. Um thanking Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, for its investment in the Center for Manufacturing Advancement, um, which we cut the ribbon, I think Governor Youngton cut the ribbon on in October of 22. Um that was a testament to um an investment the state made in IELR to help think about the future of manufacturing in the region. And how do you help manufacturers optimize processes so that they're more efficient, more effective, more profitable, that they never have to consider leaving the region, right? They always maintain that competitive advantage. That's a that's a different focus that hadn't existed in the past for ILR. Um and the irony behind manufacturing advancement division being our newest division and our youngest one, but also being our fastest growing and now our largest one, um that's that's really, I think, uh a testament and underscores the value that they're bringing and the need for the services and technology development that they're providing. Um whether you're talking about workforce development or technology development, there's just a tremendous amount of um demand for that type of service and thought leadership. So those are some ways that I think that uh ILR has grown over the last 20 years. Um we continue to keep our you know the boots to the ground and keep our ear to the ground in terms of listening, um watching and learning and being responsive to what industry needs, and I think that's what'll carry us through the next 20.

Linda Green:

Daniel, it may be slightly off our course, but I would love to hear Telly comment on the importance of leaders that have been here from the inception and a board that has allowed us to flex and grow.

Telly Tucker:

Sure, Linda. Um as I mentioned previously, um folks who are here from the very beginning, like Tim and Nancy Franklin, um they're they're you know, being pioneers of something that's new and helping shape the infrastructure, build a culture of an organization that um exudes um leadership, confidence, professionalism, um respect from um, you know, not only locals, but in Richmond and in Washington, D.C. and um and then having each one of the leaders I think that have come before me each have their own unique talents, experience that they've brought to the table that have continued to add. So if you think about um uh I like using a maybe a cooking analogy, right? Everybody's got an ingredient that adds to um the finished product. And every ingredient, every leader's ingredient that gets added to it makes the the entree taste that much better. And so the success we're having today um has to be attributed to to those leaders that have come before me and shared their expertise and help the organization grow. Um my only hope is that I don't disappoint and I can continue doing the same thing and knowing full well that one day someone will come after me and hopefully we'll build on on what I've been able to bring to the table in terms of leadership. And certainly um we have an amazing leadership team here. Linda's just one of about 13 or 14 people who sit on our executive leadership team. Uh they each are subject matter experts in different areas. Um and I I think one of the characteristics of a of a good leader is putting people around him or herself that in many ways are smarter than they are, trusting them to lead and to use their expertise and giving them the tools to to be effective leaders and uh and giving them the autonomy to make those decisions. And so I think that's been um a trait of ILR as well, and that helps us remain nimble and responsive and helps us have impact at the end of the day.

Daniel Dalton:

I know both of you have had your fair share of meetings in this building, especially in the various boardrooms uh that we have. Uh one of the most impressive boardrooms that I've seen is boardroom 206. Talk about you know using the main building as a tool for economic development over the years.

Linda Green:

I I would love to. Um when prospects come into the region or existing industries come in and use this facility. When they walk in, at first they're in awe if they've never been in the building before. So, first it's not something that they expected to see in this region. And it opens their minds to what they can do here. It opens their minds to what can be here when they see that the leaders of this community have invested and supported this region with this facility. It changes their mindset instantly. But then when they go up to the boardroom, is usually their first meeting room. Um it's a great room. Um, from confidentiality, being able to lower the shades during key presentations. There's not one bit of thought that has been missed in planning for the room for the building. So when they're sitting there, it's as though they were in a metro city in a major boardroom. It has all the amenities and acoustic microphones, everything that they would expect in a modern boardroom. But it's bigger than that. It's raising the shades during a boardroom and someone staring out and us sitting in the room and thinking, maybe we placed him on the wrong side because he's looking outside. And then it's a site consultant. So at the end of the meeting, he says, the site that I just saw on the big Megatron in your atrium, where is that site and what is it? Which led to his next prospect visit with the prospect for the mega site. It's them seeing those skills flashing on a big screen that shows the child's excitement when they're working with Legos or when they're doing 3D coding or robotics or welding. All of that simulated in a quick way. I'll give Telly a lot of credit for this because in some of our early economic development projects, he would say, We're gonna have to move fast. Why don't we put it on the screens as we walk around? It's gonna be there for them everywhere they go. And that's kind of the epitome, Institute Conference Center. They bend over backwards to make sure that that experience. Gives them the impression of a five-star meal when they're eating. It's the impression of the best conference facility they could be in, knowing they could utilize that themselves for their company if they come here. It's walking by the smaller rooms or scheduling the smaller conference rooms so that they can go in and do private calls with their corporate headquarters back, usually in another country. It's all those pieces. And then they walk down the halls for the research and they hear the stories of Scott working with agriculture and controlled environmental agriculture and learning that we've got Air Farms, the world's highest integrated vertical growth facility in the world. That no person touches those greens from the time they're put in the soil to the time they're harvested. This is the work that's going on, the RD that's going on here that leads to these kind of companies locating here. And then they walk through the campus, they see GoTech, they see those students and interacting with labs across the country from this building. So this building all of a sudden gets much larger than just the surface here. So then we walk them across to the Center for Manufacturing Advancement. From there they walk through the halls in the Hawkins Building, they see across the hill what the building's going to be, but they walk through training for the Department of Defense, and they'll ask questions like, How can you assure me that you could customize a program that's unique for our business? And it's really easy for Telly and I because we show them what has been customized for the Department of Defense here in the facility. So it's the magic, the magic of an organization that sprung from one building that gave a vision to the community to what it is today. And I think as fast as the visions emerge, you see them implemented. And that doesn't happen normally in education. So it's a special place.

Telly Tucker:

The design of that is it's magnificent in the sense that that it allows you to see both um the beauty of the region that makes this region beautiful. So you look out out of the front glass windows and you see rolling hills and you see beautiful trees and you see nature that makes a rural area like ours um really attractive. But then you kind of spin your chair a little bit and then you see the technology that Linda referred to in terms of the the large screen. Um and of course the room has been regularly updated and equipped with latest technology that enables for video conferencing and um, you know, virtual connections um with people all over the world and um, you know, numerous flat screen monitors that allow for for visibility um during any presentation. And of course a room that's large enough to I can't even recall what the capacity is, but probably 30 plus people in the room. Um and and I, you know, the the to have it sitting in the front of the building and being able to see, have a glimpse outside, but also inside, and then seeing, you know, every morning about 11 o'clock, seeing about 150 to 200 high school students, governor school students, and academy for engineering technology students come out of the you know the educational wing and go down the stairs. And and anyone who's sitting in that room can see that, right? But that's in that's not a distraction, that's actually impactful in terms of making an impression on this is our future, right? These young people are here on this campus. Um this is not just something that sits on the hill that looks pretty, but it's actually being used for the purpose for which it was built to help inspire the next generation of leaders. Um and so I think strategically our conference room 206 is is placed in the right place for you to kind of get a glimpse of a lot of what's going on on this campus. And whether that was intentional by design or we got lucky, um we'll just say it was intentional and that um our friend Larry and and Duberry. And I my understanding is I think there were some Virginia Tech architecture students that had some input on the design of this building too. So kudos to them for the entire team that worked on the design because I I think it's fabulous and it continues to serve us well.

Daniel Dalton:

Oh yes, we'll have to get Larry back on the podcast to ask him about that. But that's a great observation about the about the boardroom 206, executive boardroom. Over the years, we have we have hosted a number of economic development announcements and conferences, as well as international speakers and VIPs. Can you speak on hosting these events and people here over the years?

Linda Green:

I'd love to, and I think it's easy because we had one yesterday that brings it to mind, but thinking back through the years, it's been special. I think one of the things that make this building so special for the announcements are the leaders who've been behind us since day one. And it's kind of the foundation of this building, I think, is built on the strong leadership of the people who serve on Telly's board today. There's been continuous commitment from that group. And I say that only because for every event we've held, we had the full support of the Institute, and they knew that they could support us fully because their board knew exactly why we were doing it and stood behind them. So for a lot of people, there may have been a concern how the board feels. We never have that concern. We've had that leadership always. And I say that because they're going to be the first ones to greet companies. When we need leaders to come and meet them, they're going to be part of it. And when they walk into the Great Hall, it will completely transform anything they could imagine when they're speaking to their company employees and making them feel a part of the community, but a special part because the entire leadership shows up. So when we do announcements here, it's the building, it's walking in and having on the big screen their video running on the screen. It's having the governor come in and make a speech in the front of an audience with all the governor school and AET students up on the traverse around the rails looking down on the speech and having them look up at them, or it's that whole hall being filled with ATDM people. When we use it for an economic development announcement, they know that the whole community is supporting them and that they're going to succeed here, and that this building is going to be part of their future too. So it's their building from day one. When we do the announcements in the atrium, I've seen them stand, fill the atrium with the big screen showing their presentation, the governor and the executive team of the company in the front of the room. Or like the groundbreaking yesterday, they did a great groundbreaking on the site of the megasite. Wonderful announcement. What was the first thing the company asked for? We would like to do the follow-up luncheon for our employees and all the leaders in this community at the institute. So they walk into the atrium again, see in their video the skills that their employees are going to have to have, walk into the the Great Hall, and the Great Hall is equally special. When that is fully utilized from the standpoint of the stage in, the IT is unbelievable, the support that companies have when they want to use the Institute, and they always do. Having the IT to support every element of what they need to show makes their presentation easier. So I think that's the one thing I would say that's unique and different. We've worked with a lot of different organizations, a lot of different hotels and conferences that we work with with those.

Telly Tucker:

We transformed the atrium into effectively a stage. And it it was just a really special moment. Um that I don't know when we designed the atrium whether we thought that it would be a place where you would, you know, host um governors to provide keynote addresses, or even our sitting president today um who um also spoke from that atrium years and years ago when he was um a candidate for vice president. Um I think that that's just the fact that they that people will see the atrium particularly and w and want to have that caliber of an event here. Um it it really does speak to kind of the the the feel of the space, the ambiance of the space, um just the I guess the intangible, like you know, when you have a special moment and you you kind of have that euphoric moment and and it's it's it's just really it's hard to put into words, but it's really special. Um we we've certainly had numerous conferences and um in the Great Hall. Um and even we we've thought about that in our newer buildings too, the Center for Manufacturing Advancement. When we cut the ribbon on that building and we announced the United States Navy Center of Excellence for additive manufacturing, um, we did much of that in the Center for Manufacturing because similarly they have an atrium, um, they have a conference center with with glass that overlooks um, you know, the kind of eastern side of campus where you can see the new construction that's happening there on the new HDM National Training Center. But you also have um these incredible high bays um where uh you can see very large equipment. Um you can see it both from the office above and through those glass windows, but we also had that that ribbon cutting ceremony, and we had the likes of um the United States Secretary of the Navy, um Carlos Otoro, um in that space. Um we've had, you know, two and three-star admirals speaking in those spaces about the mission of what they're doing to support our our Navy and our military and the submarine industrial base. Um these things are happening right in Southern Virginia. Um, these very important leaders and people that have a lot of responsibility for work that's going on to protect our nation and to lead our nation have set foot in this community first and have set foot on our campus and in our buildings and chosen that as a platform where they want to deliver key messages. Um yeah, we couldn't be more proud of the fact that we're able to support that kind of effort and those those kinds of interactions on our campus. So we will continue to use this facility um for that purpose to drive inspiration, and I hope that it motivates the next generations of not only Southern Virginians but Americans in general to um you know to make a difference in the in the country and the world that we want to see.

Daniel Dalton:

Yeah, this building is is truly inspiring, not only from its architecture design standpoint, but also just how this building is laid out, the thought process of what what is in this building. I know both of you have traveled all over the world. This building is so unique because you know we have not only a full-service conference center with a great hall, auditorium, various boardrooms, we have a cafe, there's an admin wing, there are educational classrooms, there are research labs for different purposes. There's also a high bay, that's all in just one building, as well as having international guests and prospects, um, visiting governors, as you mentioned, a the vice president years ago, to local officials, regional representatives, educators, and and various ranking military officials. What other building in the world could have and serve such a multi-purpose function? Very few.

Linda Green:

I think it's a great point. It it says a lot about Flexon to meet the demands of the region. It's been able to grow with the region's growth, to create the region's growth, but then to comp to accommodate, accommodate anything that the region has needed as that happens. Um I think about when we used the parking lot to land four executive helicopters because we only had 30 minutes with the company for the site meeting, and they flew over the mega site, landed in the parking lot here. Facilities met them with golf carts. Um they exited right on the front lawn so they could go straight through the doors and right up to 206. We had 30 minutes to show them how great this facility was. This building did it. So it makes a difference. It makes a tremendous difference. And like you said, it's the flexibility, but it's the flexibility of the building, the genius of the design, and the flexibility and commitment of the people that really makes it work.

Daniel Dalton:

That's what we need to see more of is helicopters landing on our campus.

Linda Green:

I think Tele does need a helicopter pad, but being two miles from the airport helps us out too.

Daniel Dalton:

Well, we do have a landing pad out back, but I don't think it's ever been used. We've already talked about you know how modern this this building looks for 20 years old, and we continue to have people that that come in here and and are in awe of how this building looks. Um they think it's just a couple years old, and certainly not 20 years old. But what are your thoughts on the next 20 years?

Telly Tucker:

I'll begin um by um first thanking the city of Danville and Pennsylvania County, who actually own the building. Um this is owned by um the Regional Industrial Facility Authority and the City and the County who used their many of their resources um with the Tobacco Commission to help construct this building. And for giving, for believing enough in the institute to continue to reinvest and allow us to operate and exist in this space. Um I I I have to give a head nod to that leadership because that wouldn't happen in every community. And I think the next 20 years, to answer your question, the the next 20 years will require that same thought leadership. Um that selfless um I guess leadership that says this is what's best for my for our community, and this is what's help helping change the future and positive growth for our community. And it's not about you know I want to put my office or or how much money can we make off of a off of a conference or putting somebody in a space. It's how do we use this asset, um, this this building, this campus, to continue to drive growth for the entire region and beyond. Um we are a political subdivision. As such, this is not a taxable entity. Um and I say that because it would be very easy for the CD County to say, let's put a company there that pays taxes in the region. But what they have have really um continued to underscore is by allowing an uh political subdivision that's non-taxable entity to continue to grow and to flourish and support economic transformation in the region, it actually generates, helps generate tax base and jobs and economic growth in the entire region. And so that's an investment. That's what we describe as an investment in something that on the front end costs money but certainly delivers in terms of return on investment on the back end. And what I look forward to is, you know, as we come up in a few years on 25 years of existence, I really look forward to telling the story of the economic impact that that the institute and this campus has had over a period of 25 years. Um, because I think it's gonna be remarkable. Um I think it it's it's I think a lot of people who've come before us and even those of us who've been around for quite a while forget sometimes because we're in it every day. Um but when we have a moment to to look back, I think we're gonna people are gonna be completely blown away by what this asset has had, um, the effect this access has had on asset has had on the region. And hopefully um we will continue to do that over the next 20 years.

Linda Green:

I think Tally said it well. I think whatever the building needs to be, whether it's autonomous, whether it's artificial intelligence that's worked the research going on inside it, uh, whether it's industries that are in it launching new and innovative new approaches so they can work with DOD in the campus that's here. I don't think we know exactly what it's gonna be, but we know it's gonna flex and meet the moment. I think what has been set is a trend where our elected officials, where our leaders are not thinking about the glory that's in it for them today. They're thinking about what a difference it'll make for the next generation. And that's a mindset change that happened with this. It's planning for things that won't necessarily give them accolades during their term, but what when it comes full spin, it's gonna make a difference for generations. And that's the way they're thinking now, and that's the way I think about what this campus will be 20 years from now. It will be what it needs to be to be a step ahead of the rest of the nation.

Daniel Dalton:

Yeah, those are all very good thoughts, and I hope that we are all around to see what comes in the next 20 years, not only for the for the main building and the campus, but for the organization. And that's all I have for you today. Uh, do you have any parting thoughts?

Linda Green:

I just say thank you for what you all are doing with the podcast, highlighting this building, this campus, and the leaders that brought it about is critically important.

Telly Tucker:

I'll echo those sentiments. Thank you for for giving us a platform to share um just a little bit about what's happening here on our campus. And I always like um giving a charge to our listeners, to those in the community to be active, become a part, um, get engaged with what's happening, uh, not only here at the institute, but in the community, um, and be part of the positive change um that this region is seeing because the people make the difference. And um so that's my my call to action for the listeners out there. But thank you. Thank you again for having us.

Daniel Dalton:

Well, certainly thank you for again taking time out of your busy schedules to to be with us. And Caleb, I want to thank you for uh giving me the opportunity to be a part of this series and and discuss the the history of and the anniversary of ILR, the main building of one fifty Slayton Avenue. Thank you.