REGIONAL VIEW shenandoah valley


Shenandoah University hits ‘start’ button on esports by Don Harrison


oey Gawrysiak knows he is moving into uncharted territory in preparing stu- dents to manage the business of esports. “This is all extremely


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new,” says Gawrysiak, direc- tor of sports management at Shenandoah University. “People liken it to the Wild West.” Starting this fall, the


Winchester-based univer- sity will be one of the first higher-education institutions in the United States to offer multitrack bachelor’s degrees in esports. These competitive, multiplayer video games are played by nearly half a million people worldwide, accord- ing to games market analyst Newzoo, which predicts the industry will generate $152.1 billion globally this year.


Even though video games


are fun, the business is serious, Gawrysiak says. “There’s a real miscon-


ception. This is not a degree FOR THE RECORD


In August, Artisan Packaging purchased the Graham Packaging plastics plant in Harrisonburg, an approximately $5.3 million deal that includes the land, the building, and all of the equipment and assets of the facility. Workers at Graham Packaging received notice in June that the factory would close and lay off all employees on Sept. 4, but Artisan says it will retain all of the plant’s employees and hire about 15 more. Jay Veenis, an owner of Artisan, has been the plant manager for five years. (Daily News-Record)


The former Beverley Hotel in downtown Staunton reopened as the 28-unit, five-story Beverley Apartments in August, after $4 million in renovation work.


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or a major where we are teaching kids how to play video games. But because [the degree program] is so new, some parents think that their student is going to be in a classroom learning how to play video games.” Instead, he explains,


Shenandoah will prepare students to enter the new and growing industry, not so different from sports manage- ment in the early ’70s. Profes-


Richmond developers Robin Miller and Dan Gecker purchased the condemned property in 2017 for $165,000, and they also renovated buildings on the old Western State Hospital campus, including the Villages at Staunton apartments and the Blackburn Inn. The devel- opers received historic tax credits through the state and federal governments. (News Leader)


Cranberry’s Grocery and Eatery, a mainstay business in downtown Staunton, is under new manage- ment after owner Joseph White died suddenly in August. The store’s approximately 20 full-time and part-time employees are keeping it going, and White’s son, Harry White, now owns the store and Staunton Coffee Co. Right now, the goal is to keep Cranberry’s up and running, its manager says. (News Leader)


OCTOBER 2019


Shenandoah University’s esports degree will prepare students for future sports management careers, says Joey Gawrysiak.


esports arena with comple- tion scheduled this fall. The university also sponsored a two-day esports summit in September with the Vir- ginia High School League, which is introducing a pilot esports program in high schools statewide. Basically, it’s a group of


sional esports players now earn millions of dollars in contracts and prize money, “so it needs people who are trained to run it like a business,” Gawrysiak says. “It’s one [business] that really doesn’t have anybody working in it … [who has] studied it or been trained.” Along with the new


degree program, Shenandoah is in the process of retooling the Winchester Armory, turn- ing it into a state-of-the-art


Frederick County purchased the Sunnyside Plaza shopping center for $2.1 million for extra office space. The county govern- ment was running out of room at its administrative building in Winchester, officials said. The 70,614-square-foot shopping center is home to five tenants, and the county says it plans to honor their leases. (The Winchester Star)


In Harrisonburg, Ridgeview Moulding and Millwork of Luray announced plans to open a new showroom in the historic Wetsel Seed building in late September, expanding its marketing to homebuilders in the Harrisonburg- Staunton-Charlottesville area. The cabinetry company has been in operation since 1993, and its cur- rent owners bought the business in 2015. (Daily News-Record)


students playing video games in classrooms after school. Darrell Wilson, VHSL’s assistant director for activities, says it’s not “fully sanctioned,” but schools will be able to give feedback on the program. “There have been a few


schools over the years with [videogaming] clubs, and there are about 30 right now, but we felt that this was the right time to strike,” Wilson says. “It’s an opportunity to have this in a supervised, nurturing, educational envi- ronment where they can learn and grow, using an activity that they love — just like a basketball team or debate team.”


The new Weyers Cave Library Station is expected to open in late winter or early spring, says Augusta County’s library direc- tor, who hopes to lease part of the Franklin Street building that formerly housed the Super Save Food Market, which closed in June. Augusta County supervisors approved $169,200 in funding for the new station, which would provide service to residents north of Route 250, where there is no library. (News Leader)


The longtime downtown Winchester Dollar General store is closing, the Tennessee-based company con- firmed in September. No date was announced for the shutdown of the store, which has been a fixture on the Loudoun Street Mall for 50 years and employs six workers. It’s cur- rently the only store on the pedes-


trian mall that sells groceries, and other grocery stores are not within easy walking distance for downtown residents. (The Winchester Star)


PEOPLE


Eastern Mennonite University named three new academic deans, all of whom started their new posi- tions this fall. David Brubaker is now dean of the School of Social Sci- ences and Professions; Sue Cockley is dean of the School of Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts; and Tara Kishbaugh is dean of the School of Sciences, Engineering, Art and Nursing. All three have worked at EMU for more than a decade. Also, Andrew Miller, who has taught at EMU since 2012, is the new director of EMU’s MBA and M.A. programs in organizational leadership, taking over for Brubaker. (Press release)


Photo courtesy Shenandoah University


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