BLAIRS — Work has officially begun on a rural internet project in Pittsylvania County after a groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning at the base of White Oak Mountain.

Pittsylvania County Economic Development Director Matt Rowe hosted the groundbreaking next to Bojangles on U.S. 29 in Blairs.

“Rural internet availability is a priority for Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors,” Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Warren said. “Today’s groundbreaking is not only the beginning of fiber construction, it’s for the new jobs and investments that will be made in the rural areas of the county due to improved internet services.”

The president of the company praises the hub’s access to a plethora of local advanced manufacturing and research organizations near Danville.

One year after the acquisition of SGS Tool Co. by Kyocera Corp., Kyocera SGS Precision Tools has broken ground in Danville, Virginia, beginning work on the Kyocera SGS Tech Hub. Representing a $9.5 million investment and partnership with The City of Danville and The State of Virginia, the Tech Hub is projected to create over three dozen jobs supporting next-generation engineering and manufacturing of cutting tools serving the automotive, aerospace, medical and power generation industries, among others.

MARTINSVILLE — For the fourth consecutive year, the entire industrial electronic technology cohort at Patrick Henry Community College passed the Level 1 Siemens Mechatronic Systems Certification Program exam — a critical credential for job placement in that field. Together, the average score of the class was 82.9 percent.

“A 100 percent passing rate, especially with these high scores, is very impressive. This is an especially challenging certification exam that nationally only 85 percent of students pass,” said PHCC’s industrial electronic technology faculty member Daniel Edwards.

The Virginia-based seed fund adds a new company to its investment portfolio: a startup making significant headway in the home automation industry.

The Launch Place, a nonprofit organization in Danville, Virginia, that provides support and funding for startups in the Dan River Region, recently announced it would be adding a new company to its portfolio. TiO, a home automation startup that has expanded to Raleigh from its headquarters in Florida, became The Launch Place’s thirteenth investment.

This $250,000 seed investment is the fund’s first partnership with a startup within the home automation industry, and it provides enough backing for TiO to expand operations in the Dan River Region (one requirement of The Launch Place investment) and bring at least five employees to the new office.

TiO, short for “Turn it On,” creates hardware and software products that allow for wireless control of the home through a single app on a homeowner’s phone or tablet.

Local officials and Kyocera SGS Tech Hub LLC — which announced in September it was bringing 35 jobs and $9.5 million in investment to the Dan River Region — broke ground Monday morning for its planned facility at the Cyber Park.

Company President Jason Wells — speaking to attendees at the event — called the groundbreaking a “monumental milestone” and a representation of progress and opportunity for the region.

Business leaders, Kyocera representatives and elected officials from Danville and Pittsylvania County attended the ceremony across from the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

Local farmers soon will see new technology specifically designed for agriculture, thanks to two separate entities.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension was granted $104,000 from the Tobacco Commission for a “SOVA Agribusiness Information Technology Program.” The program hopes to increase productivity on farms by incorporating information technology.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville is working with technology for agriculture, but its focus is more research-based.

Blue Ridge Fiberboard plans to invest $2 million to improve efficiency at its Danville plant.

The Danville Office of Economic Development announced the investment Thursday at the former Masonite plant.

Blue Ridge Fiberboard employs 119 people at its plant at 250 Knight Celotex Way, the news release said. The company makes roofing, soundproofing and exterior sheathing products.

“The Tobacco Commission recently invested $75,000 in the form of a Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund grant to help with the current expansion,” Del. Danny Marshall said in a news release.

After more than eight years of work by regional officials and years of wrangling with bureaucratic regulations, leaders finally broke ground at the 3,500-acre Berry Hill Industrial Park on Thursday afternoon.

The groundbreaking ceremony was for phase one development — grading — of a 133-acre site at the park.

For local, regional and state officials who attended the event in southwestern Pittsylvania County, the moment was a long time in the making, arriving after years of struggle against a “Catch-22” rule from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps would not issue a permit for the site if there were no committed industries, but the park could not attract committed companies unless it already was permitted and ready for development.

Tunstall High School was named a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School Sept. 28. by U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King, Jr.

Of the 329 public and private schools receiving the honor, only 54 were high schools, making the feat more impressive, said Tunstall High School Principal Brian Boles.

Seven schools were nominated in Virginia, and Tunstall was the only high school selected. The nominees were tapped in February and each had to fill out an extensive survey and application process.

According to Boles, qualifiers were not only about academic excellence, but also about connecting the school to the community. He said THS’ accomplishments were 16 pages long.

Boles said he is ”extremely proud of faculty and students,” saying the accomplishment is “a testament to their dedication. We set the bar pretty high and I’m confident we’ll meet or exceed our mark.”