Business

An 11th hour deal will keep the Peaks of Otter Lodge—operated by Virginia Peaks of Otter Company under a contract with the National Park Service—open.

Ann Wood received this year’s Athena Award at the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Women of Influence luncheon, Friday.

    According to Athena International’s Web site, the Bedford area is one of 500 communities around the world where this award is presented.
    The Bedford Area Chamber presents the award, but doesn’t choose the winner. A committee is set up for that purpose and chooses the winner from women who are nominated. The criteria for selecting the winner is that she must have:

As Christmas approaches, Barbara Hurt, Bedford Memorial Hospital’s manager of volunteer services, wants to call attention to the hospital’s gift shop. Hurt said that the shop’s merchandise goes beyond gifts for patients — it’s stocked with the general public in mind.

Getting a lay-off notice can be the nudge a person needs to make a positive change.

    Carol Patterson, a Bedford County native, had worked as an administrative assistant and executive assistant for 30 years. She had been wanting to do something more fulfilling and had thought about massage therapy for a year. Leaving the security of an existing job, however, kept her from doing anything beyond thinking. Then, her job was eliminated and, with job security gone, she “ took a leap of faith.”