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In anticipation of the Quad County Business Summit next month, Rose Deal, director of Orange County Economic Development, issued a press release last week announcing the keynote speaker.

“The Louisa County Chamber of Commerce, with the Orange County Economic Development Office and the Quad County Business Summit Planning Committee, are pleased to announce the October 12, 2022 Quad Summit at Shenandoah Crossings Resort featuring keynote speaker Dr. Kelli Palmer, Chief Diversity Office at WillowTree.”

WillowTree is a full-service digital product consultancy that began in 2008 with three employees making mobile apps, and today has grown to over 1,000 employees making digital products for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500.

The summit will also include a panel of local business owners, including Wesley Chiles, owner of Chiles Enterprises in Louisa, André Xavier, owner of several tourism businesses in Orange and Charlottesville, and Katherine Morris, co-owner of Performance Signs & Wraps in Greene County.

The event is a collaboration of Orange, Louisa, Fluvanna, Greene and Madison counties. If you counted five counties there, and you’re wondering why a “quad-county” event covers five counties, Deal said they kept the name after Madison County became the event’s fifth member because of a popular college slang term.

“A ‘quad’ is a central area on a college campus where students meet and assemble, so we thought it was a suitable name regardless of how many counties are in attendance,” Deal said. “It also rolls off the tongue better than ‘penta-county.’”

This year’s summit will again include the “QuadTank” pitch competition, which is in its fourth year. The event is a take on the popular “Shark Tank” reality show, where local businesspeople and entrepreneurs can make a pitch to a panel of judges for a shot at prizes that include $5,000 cash and an evaluation for a “micro loan” to turn their business idea into a reality.

Residents who are interested in making a pitch must schedule a meeting with the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center. The deadline to apply is Sept. 16. Contact Client Services Coordinator Mesa McMurtrey at contact@cvsbdc.org or by calling (434) 295-8198.

Attendees who are not entering the pitch competition can register online at www.qcbsummit.com.

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