ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997 TAG: 9703170007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Company producing business guide
BLACKSBURG - A local company, Personal Technology Innovators, is using new technology to create a free business directory for area shoppers to use.
Twenty thousand New River Valley Lifestyle Guide CD-ROMs will be distributed through local stores and the chamber of commerce. The CD-ROMs will feature web pages of local businesses that can be viewed without accessing the Internet. For those with Internet access, the CD-ROM will allow for faster viewing of web sites and will contain links to on-line web sites with the latest information.
The company has already launched a Blacksburg Business Locator CD, which was distributed mostly to college students. The new CD-ROM will cover a wider area and be directed toward a wider audience of consumers.
The business directory is funded by a fee charged to businesses whose web sites are featured on the disk. The company is still seeking businesses for the directory. It can also create web sites for businesses that do not already have them, but wish to be included in the directory.
For more information, call PTI at 231-7020 or visit their web site at http://www.ptiweb.com.
Vehicle registration coming closer to home
It's not exactly a house call, but it's close. The Department of Motor Vehicles has a mobile office making stops in Blacksburg, Floyd, Narrows and Pearisburg.
The Mobile Customer Service Center is 40 feet long and comes loaded with computers, testing equipment and everything else needed to offer all the services of a regular DMV facility, including driver license tests, road tests, original driver licenses, renewal licenses, vehicle registration, photo ID cards and driving record reports.
There are three of these mobile service centers, which stop in about 50 towns around the state. Locally, the mobile center will stop at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium March 19 and Aug. 29; Floyd County Courthouse April 15, June 6 and Aug. 4; at the Narrows Municipal Building May 14 and Aug. 6; and at the Giles County Public School Administration Office in Pearisburg May 15 and Aug. 7.
Blacksburg chamber to hold annual banquet
BLACKSBURG - The Blacksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual banquet and seminar at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Custom Catering Center in Blacksburg.
The banquet's guest speaker will be Bob Alexander with the Zig Ziglar Corp.
Alexander will also give a seminar titled "How to make your personal, family and business life G.E.L." from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Custom Catering Center in Blacksburg. The cost of the seminar is $10 for chamber members and $20 for nonmembers.
For more information, call 552-4503.
Purchasing group to discuss computers
The New River Chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Management will hold a meeting with the topic "Current Computer Technology" at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at Anchy's in Blacksburg.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Rabun, Shawhan, Businessby CNB