A few words on the Snakeheads or Fredlings or whatever Fredericksburg’s future Minor League Baseball team will be called if all the pieces fall into place:

Stability. What are the chances that, if we build a stadium and lure the Suns from Hagerstown, the Geckos or Rapphannock Rappers will stick around for a few years? A concern in making this kind of commitment is that we’ll have a quick romance, short marriage and long divorce. Nobody relishes the idea of a stadium with tumbleweeds blowing across the infield.

There is good news here. Of the 14 teams in the South Atlantic League for the 2013 season, 13 were there 10 years ago. The only newcomer is the Greenville (S.C.) Drive, and there’s a story there. Greenville wouldn’t build or improve its stadium enough to suit the Atlanta Braves, who were the parent club of their Double-A team there. So, the Double-A team moved and, as so often is the case, the city then did build a stadium and lured another South Carolina-based SAL franchise, the former Capital City Bombers, from Columbia.

From the Savannah Sand Gnats to the Kannapolis Intimidators (only minor league team named after a deceased stock-car driver?) to the Lakewood BlueClaws, franchises tend to stick with the SAL.

Odds are, if Fredericksburg builds the stadium and they come, they’ll stay awhile.

The substitution effect. That’s where one kind of spending merely replaces another. It’s very popular with people who try to sell a locality on a new convention center or performing- arts facility or ballpark.

If a couple spends $60 at the ballpark for tickets, parking, hot dogs and beer, but they were going to blow that 60 bucks anyhow, maybe on a movie and a pizza, there’s no net gain for the economy as long as both activities took place in the local area.

A Brookings Institute study back in the 1990s said a minor league baseball team’s impact on the local economy was equal to that of a large pet shop. Convention centers tend to have a greater impact, the report stated. Don’t confuse economic activity with economic impact.

And, the smaller the city and the lower the level of play, the less likely you are to bring in those out-of-town high rollers. The Silver Dollars will have to be pretty good on the field to bring people in from outside the area.

Those lovely intangibles. However, having a pro baseball team isn’t all about the bottom line. People talk about the bottom line because it is a solid number, but there are things that can’t be weighed or measured.

Having an RGIII come in and quarterback your favorite pro team out of ineptitude or seeing an anonymous mid-level college basketball team like Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rams reach the Final Four puts a spring in the step of an area or a city. It gives people something to talk about, something in common. It adds to the glue that makes a locality a community. It adds a little cilantro to the burrito, a little zest to the quality of life.

So bring on those Fightin’ Free-Lancers. They probably won’t be the economic boon true believers claim, but we’ll gain in ways that can’t be seen on a profit-and-loss statement.

 hBusiness Editor Howard Owen writes this semiweekly column on business and the economy. He can be reached at 540/ 374-5539 or howen@freelancestar.com

Regis Keddie II learned an important lesson years ago when he asked his father why he was so upbeat about an uptick in the stock market.

Keddie, senior vice president of investments for The Keddie Group of Davenport & Co. in Fredericksburg, said his father didn’t even own stock. All his money was tied up in the inventory of the car dealership he owned in Pittsburgh.

His father’s answer opened his eyes to the larger financial picture, something that Keddie never forgot. He told his son that people feel good when the market is up, and when they feel good they buy cars.

“People think the market and finances are a very quantitative endeavor,” Keddie said, “but in reality it’s a very emotional thing.”

Fathers are often a son’s first—and sometimes most influential—teacher about business, finance and the power of money. In celebration of Father’s Day, he and several other area men shared what they’d learned from their fathers.

Keddie said his late father’s advice and example helped tremendously both times the bottom dropped out of the stock market and his clients feared for their investments.

The first was the day after the Dow fell 508 points on Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, a date often referred to as Black Monday. His father told him not to worry because President Ronald Reagan wouldn’t let that sink the country, and not to let his clients know he’d been worried because that’s not what they paid him for.

“Within 10 minutes, a lot of corporations announced corporate buybacks, which was the support [the stock market] needed at that point,” Keddie said. “It turned on a dime.”

The second time his father’s advice and example came to mind was in 2007 and 2008 when Wall Street went on what seemed like a never-ending slide. By that point, Keddie had been in the investment business for 38 years and knew that scary times pass.

“People have a tendency to think that things are never going to get good again,” he said. “Seeing my dad weather an awful lot of stuff that was tough, it really helped.”

Larry Silver said his father, the late developer Carl D. Silver, “set the best example that any father could. I miss him every day.”

The elder Silver was known as a hard-charging businessman with a philanthropic side who did more than perhaps any other individual to put the Fredericksburg region on the map for economic development.

“He taught me to be honest and always do what we tell someone we’re going to do,” said Larry Silver, CEO of the Silver Cos. “He said to work hard and try to make a deal where both people are happy.”

Silver said his father also gave him specific financial advice on various deals over the years, but his main point was always that the key to success is to treat people the way you’d want to be treated.

“If you don’t go about your business that way,” Larry Silver said, “you’re not going to be successful.”

Lloyd B. Harrison, president and COO of Virginia Partners Bank in Fredericksburg and its Maryland division, said his father taught him two valuable lessons about money when he was growing up.

“At a very young age, I started getting an allowance—a dime a week. I also got a book with dime-sized slots in it,” Harrison said in an email. “I got a dime each week, but I was supposed to save it, not spend it. It held about $3 worth of dimes. So he taught me the savings habit in first grade.”

Twelve years later, Harrison said his father showed him about the power that money can have when Harrison was deciding where to go to college.

“He said, ‘Son, you can go to any school you want to, but if it is north of the Mason–Dixon Line, you have to pay for it,’” Harrison said. “I went to U.Va.”

Greg Branner, the University of Mary Washington Foundation’s director of finance & administration/treasurer, said he had no intention of following in the footsteps of his father, Robert Branner, and becoming an accountant—until his father pointed out that he was acing all his accounting classes in college.

“That’s how I ended up in the career that I have,” said Branner, who had been lamenting that he couldn’t afford the tuition for law school or an MBA.

He became a certified public accountant instead, and found that the continuing education involved in keeping his certification was better than getting an advanced degree.

“I’ve enjoyed it over time,” Branner said of his career.

It has included a 16-year stint as comptroller of Potomac Hospital, then a position at the University of Virginia Health Services Foundation before accepting his current post at UMW.

“Every business needs an accountant,” Branner said. “It allows you to pursue a lot of options.”

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407

cjett@freelancestar.com

NEW YORK—Stocks surged on Wall Street Thursday as investors focus on positive news about the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 180 points, or 1.2 percent, at 15,176.

The market got off to a weak start, then rose steadily throughout the day. The advance accelerated in the last hour. The Dow is coming off its first three-day slump since December.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 23 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,636. The Nasdaq composite rose 44 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,445.

Five stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gannett agrees to buy TV broadcaster

McLEAN—Gannett said it reached a deal to buy Belo for about $1.5 billion in cash, significantly boosting its presence in television broadcasting.

Under the agreement announced Thursday, Gannett will buy Belo, which is based in Dallas, for $13.75 per share. That represents a 28 percent premium over Belo’s closing price on Wednesday.

Gannett, one of the largest newspaper publishers in the U.S., also will assume $715 million in debt.

In premarket trading, Belo Corp.’s shares jumped 28 percent on the news. Gannett Co.’s stock rose 21 percent.

Gannett President and CEO Gracia Martore called the acquisition an “important step” in Gannett’s diversification and said it will significantly improve the company’s cash flow and financial strength.

The acquisition will make Gannett, based in McLean, one of the country’s largest owners of major network affiliates, reaching nearly one-third of U.S. households. It nearly doubles Gannett’s portfolio from 23 to 43 stations and gives it 21 stations in the country’s top 25 television markets.

Gannett expects the deal to boost its adjusted earnings by 50 cents per share within the first 12 months and generate $175 million in annual cost savings within three years after closing.

Mortgage rates rise for 6th week in a row

WASHINGTON—Fixed U.S. mortgage rates rose for the sixth straight week, putting the average rate on the 30-year loan just shy of 4 percent.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.98 percent. That’s up from 3.91 percent last week and the highest since April 2012. The average rate was last at 4 percent or higher in March 2012.

The rate on the 15-year loan advanced to 3.10 percent from 3.03 percent. That’s also the highest since April 2012.

Concerns that the Federal Reserve will scale back its bond purchases have pushed rates higher. Still, mortgage rates remain low by historical standards.

Cheap mortgages have helped sustain a housing recovery that began last year, encouraging more Americans to buy homes or refinance existing loans.

Honda recalling more than 100,000 cars

DETROIT—Honda is recalling 104,500 cars in 49 countries worldwide to fix problems with the brakes.

In the U.S., the recall covers more than 18,000 Acura RSX compact cars from 2006 and the Honda S2000 sports car from the 2006 and 2007 model years. About 70,000 of the recalled cars were sold in Japan. Outside the U.S., the recall includes the 2006 and 2007 Honda Edix, the 2006 Honda Mobilio, the 2006 Honda Spike, the 2005 and 2006 Honda Air Wave, the 2006 Honda Stream and the 2005 and 2006 Honda Integra.

Honda says some power brake booster parts weren’t made to specifications.

Business stockpiles increased in April

WASHINGTON—U.S. businesses increased their stockpiles in April, but their sales fell for a second straight month. The mixed report suggests economic growth could be slowing.

The Commerce Department says business stockpiles rose 0.3 percent in April from March. That followed a 0.1 percent decline in March from February.

Sales slipped 0.1 percent in April following a sharp 1.2 percent drop in March. It marked the first back-to-back sales declines in nearly a year.

More restocking helps boost economic growth because it means companies are ordering more factory-made goods. But the decline in sales could signal a slowdown in restocking in the coming months.

—Associated Press

Condo project gets commission approval

Fredericksburg’s Planning Commission recommended approval of the proposed One Hanover downtown condominium project Wednesday night.

The 64,000-square-foot building at the intersection of Hanover and Sophia streets, which is diagonally across from Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site), needs a number of city approvals before it can proceed.

The proposed five-story, 18-unit riverfront building is 56 feet high. It needs a special-exception permit for being taller than the city’s 50-foot limit and a special-use permit for construction in a flood plain.

The project is expected to be before Fredericksburg City Council on July 9. Council will have the final say on the requested permits. Mike Adams and Tommy Mitchell are developing One Hanover. They hope to start construction late this fall and have it completed by the end of 2014.

Popular wash closes in North Stafford

A popular car wash in North Stafford has closed, and it’s unclear if it will reopen. The 610 Car Wash is at 389 Garrisonville Road. Many customers have recently contacted The Free Lance–Star to ask about the closing. The business reportedly closed because of a disagreement among the owners. It’s unclear if the business will reopen.

—Bill Freehling

Resilience Awards entries accepted now

Entries are being accepted for the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards. The competition honors and supports Virginia businesses that demonstrate sustained vitality and commitment in areas characterized by high unemployment, high poverty and low entrepreneurial activity.

The city of Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, Culpeper and Westmoreland are among localities that qualify for the competition.

To determine if an area qualifies by ZIP code, contact Nancy Price at PriceN@darden.virginia.edu or 434/989-3562.

The deadline to apply or recommend a business for the 2013 application is July 31. Semifinalists will be chosen by a panel of judges in August. Finalists will be named in September and invited to the award ceremony Oct. 15 at the Darden School, where the winners will be announced.

—Howard Owen

Richmond-based Union First Market Bankshares Corp. will acquire Charlottesville-based StellarOne Corp. in an all-stock transaction, the two banking companies announced Monday.

The merger will create the largest Virginia-based community bank, Union said in a news release. The banks’ combined assets will be $7.1 billion, with deposits of $5.8 billion and loans of $5.2 billion.

Union and StellarOne are each among the bigger banks in the five-locality Fredericksburg area, with combined local deposits of about $820 million and 19 branch locations.

The combined entity could rival BB&T—which had about $830 million in local deposits and a 24 percent market share in the FDIC’s most recent Summary of Deposits report—as the biggest bank in the Fredericksburg region.

The combined entity’s headquarters will remain in Richmond, and the company will retain the Union name. Back-office operations will remain in the Carmel Church area of Caroline County; that center will likely see job growth, said Union CEO Billy Beale.

The combined entity will have 146 branches and more than 210 automatic teller locations. Beale said more than 10 branch locations will be closed as part of an effort to cut expenses.

Beale didn’t say exactly how many or what branches would be closed, but said the closures would occur in areas where there are Stellar branches near Union ones. That dynamic exists in Fredericksburg as well as Richmond, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, Beale said.

The deal, which has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company, is expected to close in late 2013 or early 2014 if it receives regulatory and shareholder approvals. The two operations will be fully integrated in May 2014.

The combined bank would have the fifth-largest branch network in Virginia.

Beale said the negotiated transaction, which Union initiated, came together over the past six weeks. He said Union doesn’t anticipate making any additional deals for a couple of years.

Beale called the deal “a great day for Virginia banking” and said it will create the largest Virginia-based bank in 20 years. He noted that it gives Union a larger presence along the Interstate 81 corridor and singled out Roanoke as a market where there are particularly strong growth opportunities. He said customers will now have more branches at which to bank and expanded products.

The deal is expected to save the combined entity $28 million in expenses, due in part to branch closures and layoffs. Beale hopes that many of the job losses can come through attrition over the next year.

StellarOne CEO O.R. Barham Jr. called the merger a “significant milestone for banking in Virginia” and a “natural fit.”

Union’s current executive management, led by Beale, will form the core of the combined company’s leadership team, according to the announcement. The combined company’s Board of Directors will expand to 19 members—11 from the current Union board and eight from the StellarOne board.

Current StellarOne Chairman Raymond D. Smoot Jr. will serve as chairman of the combined company, and current Union Chairman Ronald L. Hicks will serve as vice chairman. Barham will retire, as previously announced, with his retirement effective upon closing of the merger.

StellarOne shareholders will receive 0.9739 shares of Union common stock for each share of StellarOne.

Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405

bfreehling@freelancestar.com

What’s more Virginia than a Smithfield ham? Along with blue crabs, peanuts and fall mountain apples, the salty, dry-cured delicacy is on the short list of products you’d be proud to offer to a French gourmand.

“Here,” you’d say with your best imitation of a Gallic smirk. “This is what ham is supposed to taste like.”

So now Smithfield Foods is going to be sold to the Chinese, pending government approval. What’s next? Maybe some mogul from Mumbai would like to make an offer on Monticello. (Natural Bridge already is for sale.) We could have a yard sale along Richmond’s Monument Avenue, auctioning the statues of Lee, Stuart, Davis, Jackson, Maury and Ashe to the highest bidders.

OK. End of rant. It’s a world economy. Stuff gets bought, stuff gets sold. Move on.

But what are the real repercussions of Smithfield’s sale?

At first blush, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that we finally have something the Chinese want: pork. A lot of what the company formerly known as Smithfield will produce will cross the Pacific.

Smithfield CEO C. Larry Pope said on Wednesday, “This is an export deal.”

When you think of China, you might think of huge, lock-step farming conglomerates run by the bureaucratic Communist government. In actuality, U.S. pork operations are much more efficient. China is still a country of small, family-style farms and all kinds of logistical problems that drive up prices.

In addition, the Chinese prize American food products, partly because there are controls over what goes into them. Apparently, there’s not a lot of oversight in China’s meat industry.

Last month, Chinese police busted a crime ring that was selling rat and small mammal meat as mutton. In March, more than 16,000 pig carcasses were discovered in one of Shanghai’s main water sources. In recent years, the country has seen a bird flu outbreak and the infamous case involving tainted formula that caused the deaths of several infants.

Plus, there’s a shortage of arable land.

At a time when Americans are eating less pork and China’s yen for meat is on the rise, there are few U.S. exports that have more potential.

Then, there’s the bad news.

Like everything else in China, the potential market for pork is huge. We’ll need more hogs. And if you think American hog farms are big, smelly environmental land mines now, just wait.

There are pork-producing counties in the South and Midwest where large areas are offensive to the olfactory. To put it plainly, the smell would knock a buzzard off a fence post.

It’s hard to believe, with foreign demand soaring, that those farms and their waste containment pens won’t get bigger and bigger. Don’t buy downwind or below the dam.

Plus, we’d better start growing a lot more corn to feed those China-bound porkers. More demand will drive corn prices up, whether it’s for ethanol or hog exports.

The parties in this deal say nothing will change with Smithfield’s operations here, which is good news for a lot of workers.

What will change is the size of hog farms. If the U.S. is going to bring the bacon to Beijing, the pig pen’s going to get a lot bigger.

Business Editor Howard Owen writes this semiweekly column on business and the economy. He can be reached at 540/374-5539 or howen@freelancestar.com.

Shenandoah Spice Company’s aromatic spice blends and flavorful rubs are the key ingredient in a new restaurant in downtown Culpeper.

Josh and Megan Burrows, who own Shenandoah Spice Company with Nick Crabill, have teamed up with William and Tanya Hale to open The Restaurant at Shenandoah Spice Company at 110 E. Davis St.

“We use several of our spice blends in our cooking, from potato salad to fries to burgers,” said Megan Burrows. “Our most recent blend is adobo, and we use it in our taco du jour.”

The restaurant, which had its grand opening on May 22, is a comfortable space with a country-meets-industrial vibe. Shelves stocked with Shenandoah Spice Company products line a wall near the entrance.

Josh Burrows, who has worked as a chef at a number of restaurants, does the majority of the cooking. The latest lunch menu includes a chicken breast seasoned with Shenandoah Spice’s Island Jerk rub and served over seasonal greens with chopped mango, fruit chutney and citrus honey vinaigrette for $8.95. At dinner, a 10-ounce strip steak prepared with a choice of three of the company’s steak rubs is the highest-priced item at $18.95.

But Josh Burrows isn’t averse to coming up with something unique on the spur of the moment. When his wife said she was going across the street to Knakal’s Bakery for some doughnuts, he asked her to pick up two dozen. It was National Hamburger Week, and he’s just decided to make a doughnut bacon cheeseburger.

“It got a lot of attention on our Facebook page, especially since it was two doughnuts and not one sliced in half,” Megan Burrows said. “It was the real deal.”

The doughnut bacon cheeseburger proved so popular, in fact, that it stayed on the menu all week and may occasionally reappear as a special, she said.

The Restaurant at Shenandoah Spice Company also has a number of healthier options, such as the Greek yogurt parfait and seasonal fruit plate served at Sunday brunch. The menu also includes a sandwich prepared with scrapple that Crabill, who owns a butcher shop in Toms Brook, makes.

Scrapple, which is traditionally made from pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, is one of Josh Burrow’s favorite dishes.

“He swears by Nick’s scrapple, and says it’s the best in the world,” said Megan Burrows, who’s been amazed at how many fans the Pennsylvania Dutch dish has.

The majority of the meat served at The Restaurant at Shenandoah Spice Company comes from Crabill’s butcher shop. And most of the specials depend on what’s available at the Culpeper Farmers Market, where the company has been selling its spice blends and rubs for several years.

Its tins of Blackening Bayou Blend, Sweet Heat Seasoning, Cul–Pepper Steak Seasoning and other creations are also available online at shenandoahspicecompany.com and at several other locations. They include The Frenchman’s Corner in Culpeper and Charlottesville and at the Whole Foods in Charlottesville, Short Pump and Annapolis, Md.

Josh Burrows and Crabill came up with what would become The Shenandoah Spice Company while floating down the Shenandoah River several years ago. Crabill wanted to offer some unique rubs at his butcher shop. They created three, and have been adding new blends and rubs ever since.

Megan Burrows said it’s hard to pick just one favorite, but the Dry Rub—an all-purpose blend of paprika, salt, herbs and spices—is a staple at their house and goes with everything. She also likes the new salt-free Germanna Seasoning, which she described as an herbal, German mustard blend with onion and garlic.

“It’s light. There’s nothing overpowering in it,” she said. “It’s crisp and refreshing.”

Megan Burrows said the company will continue to expand its offerings, possibly into condiments or prepared foods. The menu at the restaurant will keep changing as well.

“We’re just going to see where this takes us,” she said. “It’s fun. We’re going to run with it.”

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407

cjett@freelancestar.com

We AT&T customers here in the Greater Fredericksburg Area finally became first class-connectivity citizens this week.

The carrier announced it has rolled out super-fast fourth generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) in Fredericksburg, almost all of Stafford County, in most of Spotsylvania County and in the town of Culpeper.

You don’t really want to know what LTE is. It’s boring. Boring, but good. Suffice it to say that 4G LTE is up to 10 times faster than 3G. It allows us to stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.

It’s the crack cocaine of connectivity.

At long last, we can kiss goodbye those 20 painfully disconnected minutes a weekend we actually spent talking to our families. Well, we could use 4G LTE for some quality-time video chat with them.

AT&T launched 4G LTE in Northern Virginia in October 2011.

Last spring we watched enviously as Verizon Wireless rolled out 4G LTE service in the area.

Later, we bought the 4G LTE-capable AT&T iPhone 5, which mocked us for living in a 3G town.

If we were in Northern Virginia or Washington or San Francisco or New York, we were riding in the 4G fast lane. But back home, we AT&T customers remained seated at the back of the bus, poking along at 3G speed.

And it stung.

Sometimes we even had to endure buffering when streaming baseball games on our phones. This passes for genuine hardship in today’s constantly connected world.

It’s a world where we walk the streets, eat meals in restaurants and visit sick relatives in the hospital with smartphones connected to our noses. We shouldn’t have to wait three seconds for that fantasy baseball Web page to download on our phone as we ignore grandma’s wheezing plea to go find a nurse.

Now, when we take our phone away from our noses, we can look down them at towns in Montana, North Dakota and Alabama that only have 3G.

“We’ve seen positive response from customers on our 4G LTE launch, and we’re continuing our rollout of fast 4G LTE speeds to more areas of Spotsylvania County and Stafford County,” J. Michael Schweder, vice-president of AT&T Mid-Atlantic, said in a statement.

Last spring Verizon Wireless deployed 4G coverage in the city of Fredericksburg, the majority of Stafford, portions of Spotsylvania, and portions of King George and Westmoreland, and extended the company’s footprint to Dahlgren, Colonial Beach and Fairview Beach. And it was good—for Verizon Wireless customers.

In November, Consumer Reports ranked AT&T’s 4G LTE service the best, based on reader responses. That just made the wait more difficult.

It was slow in coming. But AT&T has finally speeded Fredericksburg up.

Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163

mikez@freelancestar.com

Blue & Gray Brewing Company’s recently released Virginia Hefeweizen more than lives up to its name.

Not only is the German-style wheat beer brewed in Spotsylvania County, but master brewer Aaron Emory’s recipe for his latest batch includes barley grown in Northumberland County and malted in Sperryville.

Barley, like the grapes used in wine, reflects the geography, geology and climate of the place where it’s grown. So Virginia barley has its own taste, he said.

In addition, the malted barley he gets from Copper Fox Distillery has a slightly smoky note because the distillery smokes a different type of barley that it malts for use in whiskey.

“It turned out really well,” Emory said. “It’s a little bit earthier, I think, because it has those smoky notes.”

Blue & Gray is the first craft brewery to use Virginia-grown and

-malted barley in its beers, a trend the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says is encouraging.

“It turned out so well in the Hefeweizen that we’re going to use it in our second summer beer, Kirkland’s Kölsch,” said Blue & Gray owner Jeff Fitzpatrick. “It should be ready on June 15 in time for Father’s Day.”

Virginia farmers have long grown barley for animal fodder and, more recently, as an ingredient in ethanol and fuel pellets. But growing the types of barley used in beer and whiskey has been tricky due to the state’s mild, wet winters. They cause the plants to be more susceptible to disease.

Virginia Tech researchers have been developing new strains for the craft brewery industry, which has been booming since the state passed a law this year allowing breweries to sell pints on site. Currently, there are about 40 craft breweries across Virginia, and more are expected to open.

The market for locally produced and malted barley is small but growing, according to Matthew J. Lohr, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services commissioner. So far, demand is outstripping supply.

Blue & Gray sources the majority of the barley and hops used in its beers from across the United States, Canada and Europe. But the difference in taste between the fresh, Virginia-grown barley and out-of-state barley “is like night and day,” said Fitzpatrick. “If you chew on it, you can tell right away.”

He said that he was motivated to find sources in Virginia for the malted barley and hops that go into Blue & Gray’s beers because his staff seeks out locally grown ingredients for his adjacent brew pub in the Bowman Center.

When a regular customer mentioned that Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville was malting small batches of barley for its whiskey, he was intrigued and drove over for a sample.

“I tasted it and it was delicious,” Fitzgerald said.

Word of what Copper Fox is doing is getting around, and other Virginia breweries also have expressed interest in the barley and requested samples, said master distiller Rick Wasmund. They include Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, Lost Rhino Brewing Company in Ashburn and Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria.

“We’re feeling out the market,” he said.

Wasmund became interested in malting barley for whiskey and flavoring it with smoke back in 2000 and approached researchers at Virginia Tech. They were excited, he said, because they’d been developing strains of barley suited for malting, but no one was using them.

“In 2005, we started malting our little hearts out, and now our whiskey is going around the world,” he said.

Copper Fox malts Virginia-grown barley by hand in small batches, and can customize orders by adding different types of smoke. Because it handles much smaller orders than major malters in the Midwest, distillers and brew masters can “play around with it and put out specialty stuff,” Wasmund said.

He orders his barley from Bay’s Best Feed. Owner Billy Dawson has grown corn, wheat and other grains on his 1,200 acres in Northumberland for more than 30 years. Most goes into animal feed, but he’s always looking for ways to add value to his crops.

At Wasmund’s request, he raises, harvests, processes, bags and ships malting barley to Copper Fox.

“The guys that are starting these small microbreweries like using a local product,” Dawson said. “It’s a good sales tool. People like to buy local. It’s become a very trendy thing to do.”

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407

cjett@freelancestar.com

BY CATHY JETT / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Amanda Fircetz and Jeff Mccroskey rarely went into the old Food Lion store in Fredericksburg Shopping Center after the retailer converted it to a Bottom Dollar.

The selection was limited, the Fredericksburg couple said, and they didn’t like having to pay for bags or use the boxes Bottom Dollar provided to cart their groceries home.

But Fircetz and Mccroskey have started doing most of their grocery shopping at the store ever since it was switched back to a Food Lion in February, and the company gave it new look, reduced prices and made other improvements.

“It’s actually better than Walmart,” said Fircetz.

Food Lion, which has long reigned as king of supermarket sales in the Fredericksburg region, has paid attention to feedback from customers like the Fredericksburg couple.

This past week it celebrated improvements to 178 stores, including one in Fredericksburg Shopping Center and 15 others in Colonial Beach and the counties of Culpeper, Stafford and Spotsylvania. The first 50 shoppers at each store Wednesday through Saturday received a free bag of groceries.

The biggest change—besides turning stores that had been Bloom and Bottom Dollar back into Food Lions—can be found in the produce department, said spokeswoman Christy Phillips–Brown during a tour of the Fredericksburg Shopping Center store on Wednesday.

The supermarket giant launched a “Fresh from the Field” initiative after hearing that customers wanted fresher produce. It is seeking out better-quality fruits and vegetables in a wider variety, shipping it to stores more frequently and giving employees additional training on handling it. Food Lion also added signs in some sections that offer storage tips.

“We feel that it will last longer in the home,” said Phillips–Brown, adding that Food Lion produce now comes with a double-money-back guarantee.

The revamped department has a look of a farmers market with chalkboard-like signs with color-coded edges. Yellow trim, for example, signifies that that particular item is on sale. The signs also carry the prices in large type and are in clear line of sight so customers don’t have to hunt for them.

Produce prices have been lowered 10 to 20 percent. Some items are available in shrink-wrapped packages so customers can tell at a glance how much they’ll have to pay before they check out. And one item each week will be offered in plastic tote bags. This week it’s Vidalia onions priced at 99 cents per pound.

“You don’t have to go through produce on a table. You just grab and go,” said Patrick Thurman, Food Lion’s execution and implementation specialist for 25 stores from Fredericksburg to Manassas.

That’s not the only way Food Lion has made shopping at its revamped stores less costly and more convenient.

It’s reduced prices on 6,000 items in its stores and has a machine near the entrance where customers can swipe their store loyalty cards to get discount coupons good for that day.

“It’s all focused on making that total basket price lower for the customer,” Phillips–Brown said.

Displays have been removed from the center of each aisle, so two shoppers pushing carts can pass each other with ease.

“I think it’s real nice,” said Julia Harris of Fredericksburg, who was at the Fredericksburg Shopping Center store on Wednesday. “You can stand in any of the aisles and see everything on the shelves.”

Checkout service also has been improved. Cashiers have been retrained to scan items and bag them as they go according to a new system. Frozen items, for example, are bagged together so they stay cold longer. Produce and meat go in separate bags to avoid cross-contamination.

There’s also a service leader on duty during peak times who will direct shoppers to the least busy line and can get an additional cashier if more than two shoppers are waiting in line.

“All the comments we’ve gotten from customers so far have been positive,” manager Randy Tiller said of the changes at the Fredericksburg store. “We’ve been showing a sales increase.”

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407

cjett@freelancestar.com

It’s been said many times, and it’s just plain common sense. But prepare to be reminded over and over this summer that texting while driving is reckless and stupid.

A massive ad campaign set to launch Monday via TV, radio, and even blimps will reportedly wag a finger of blame primarily at teenage drivers.

But whether we’re 16 or 60, whether we’re texting or changing the radio station or putting on makeup, we all need to be reminded from time to time just how dangerous distracted driving is.

Next week AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T–Mobile will join forces to lead the ad blitz against texting while driving.

That’s a good thing. But let’s recognize that much like drinking and driving, distracted driving is a problem that spans generations.

In an area like ours, where so many people are commuters who spend three or four frustrating hours a day on the road, the temptation for 30-, 40- and 50-year-olds to check email, text or check the weather and traffic via their phones while driving is great.

AT&T in particular deserves a lot of credit for its “It Can Wait” campaign, inspired when a friend of an AT&T employee died in a crash while texting and driving.

Still, AT&T, like most of us, should broaden its focus when it comes to distracted driving.

“We have young people being injured, we have young people being killed by not being responsible in terms of how they use this technology,” Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, says in an anti-texting-and-driving YouTube video.

Really? “Young people?” Just young people?

An AT&T survey published in USA Today in March showed 49 percent of adult drivers and 43 percent of teen drivers admitted to texting while driving. And 98 percent of the adults surveyed said they knew it was dangerous.

Granted, that’s just one study, and the numbers are reversed in others.

Let’s hope the barrage of lecturing ads helps. But I doubt it will make a lot of difference. As the AT&T survey showed, people already know it’s a bad thing to do.

An NBC News online poll found that nearly half of those responding said it would take anti-texting-and-driving tech built into cellphones to stop the practice.

Only 1 percent said advertising campaigns would do the trick.

I agree. The phone carriers paying for this ad campaign should require all phones they carry to include anti-texting-and-driving tech like AT&T’s DriveMode app right out of the box. A few phones already do come equipped with such apps.

I also agree its going to be tough to come up with something that’s sensible and works.

Some have suggested that GPS could be used to turn off texting when drivers reach 25 miles per hour. But why that speed? And what about passengers who want to use their phones to text?

The Virginia legislature enacted an anti-texting-and-driving law this year that increased the fine from $20 to $125 for a first offense and $250 for a second.

But drivers can dodge a ticket by claiming they were dialing a number or setting the GPS on their phone. Those things are still legal. Again, the problem isn’t just texting and driving, it’s distracted driving in general.

Technology has created this problem. And technological innovation will probably be needed to solve it.

We can’t count on common sense, no matter how old drivers are.

Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163

mikez@freelancestar.com