Business4Breakfast seminar series expanding to Lawrence County

SOUTH POINT — Huddleston Bolen and the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce are partnering to expand the popular Business4Breakfast seminar series to Lawrence County, beginning in October.

The first seminar will be held on Oct. 19 at the Chamber Offices, 216 Collins Ave., South Point. The topic will be Social Media for Business.

Rebecca McPhail Randolph, assistant vice president at the Marshall University Foundation will be the guest speaker. Business4Breakfast seminars are held 7:45 am – 8:45 am. Guests may register at www.huddlestonbolen.com/events.

Future Business4Breakfast seminars in Ohio will be held quarterly. This development expands the popular business seminar series, which is currently held on alternating months in Huntington and Charleston, W.Va.

Business4Breakfast seminars are designed to help professionals understand and navigate the breadth of opportunities and challenges in today’s business world. They are free and open to the public. A free continental breakfast is also provided. The seminars present topics on a variety of areas of interest to business people, including sales and marketing, advertising, HR, and improving cash flow.

“We were overwhelmed by the interest expressed by the business community,” said Tom Gilpin, chair of the firm’s management committee. “We believe this is an outstanding way for Huddleston Bolen and the Lawrence County Chamber to provide great value to our clients, members, and friends. We’re very pleased to partner with the Chamber and to begin offering these outstanding programs in Southern Ohio.”

Celebrate family history month in October

ASHLAND, Ky. — Boyd County Public Library is highlighting the history of Boyd County during October, which is Family History Month.

A free showing of the movie, “History of Boyd County,” will take place Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m., at the Main Branch, 1740 Central Ave. A discussion with local historians will follow. Movie refreshments will be served.

The movie was produced about 25 years ago, for the opening of the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center, according to Jim Powers, a genealogist at BCPL. It includes footage and discussion of the 1937 flood, and lasts about an hour.

Family History Month is a time when libraries and other organizations promote the importance of genealogy and tracing your family roots.

More than 80 million Americans are believed to be actively searching for information about their ancestors. This explosion of interest is due, in part, to the Internet.

For more information, call the genealogy department at (606) 329-0518, ext. 1500.

To find out more about BCPL, visit www.thebookplace.org.

Research program receives $20M grant

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A state research initiative is getting a $20 million federal grant to expand infrastructure and add positions at West Virginia, Marshall and West Virginia State universities.

Marshall University President Stephen Kopp and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission announced the grant from the National Science Foundation on Monday.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller called the funding seed money for economic development.

WVU will use its nearly $10 million share on projects designed to enhance public and environmental safety, prepare a work force for new high-tech jobs and improve high-performance scientific computing.

WVU researcher David Lederman said his work will fuse nanotechnology and biology to develop technology that could help detect environmental threats.

Projects could eventually include sensors that detect contaminants near industrial areas before they become a public threat, for example.

The universities and the state each will provide $2 million in matching funds.

Manga Mania Oct. 5 at BCPL

ASHLAND, Ky. — Kids and adults can learn more about manga and find out what others are reading in that genre on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at the Main Branch of Boyd County Public Library.

Manga Mania is geared toward middle school students, but is open to any age. The program starts at 4 p.m. at the branch, located at 740 Central Ave.

Manga is the Japanese word for comics. It is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all comic books and graphic novels that were originally published in Japan.

Manga is also considered an artistic and storytelling style that can encompass non-Japanese works.

In Japan, manga is either read in serialized form in monthly magazines or comic books, or in graphic novels, which are book-length comics.

Both manga and graphic novels are increasingly popular at BCPL, and new titles are being added to the library’s collection all the time

For more information, contact the youth services department at (606) 329-0518, ext. 1300.

To learn more about the library’s many programs and services, visit the online branch at www.thebookplace.org.