ADVERTISING

S&K Famous Brands Inc., the Richmond-based operator of S&K Menswear with 220 stores in 26 states and 2,000 employees, has kicked off a new television and radio advertising campaign created by Richmond-based marketing agency RightMinds. Currently, two television spots and two radio spots are running in a number of S&K's key markets. The ads, which were shot entirely in Richmond and include several S&K employees as background talent, feature a sportscaster and the father of a bride solving their fashion dilemmas at S&K Menswear. The ads take a tongue in cheek look at the challenge men have in keeping their wardrobes up to date and ask the viewer, "So... what are you wearing?!"

EVENTS

Schmooza Palooza, the Greater Richmond Chamber annual picnic, is right around the corner. Schmooze with more than 1,100 Richmond business leaders and groove to great music at this popular Richmond event. Schmooza Palooza happens from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 15 at University of Richmond's Westhampton Green. Individual tickets range from $20 to $30, but chamber members can acquire an event table for $375, which includes two tickets, tabletop space, all food and beverages, wine tasting and music. Attendees can also participate in a silent auction. For more information, contact Stephanie Phillips at 783-9350. For silent auction information, call Katina Lancaster at 783-9346, or for marketing information call Antony Coukos at 783-9328.

HEALTHCARE

Bon Secours Richmond Health System has been named in the National Association for Female Executives' 10th anniversary list of "Top Nonprofit Companies for Executive Women." This is the third year NAFE has acknowledged Bon Secours Richmond Health System. This year, NAFE awarded Bon Secours "above average" scores in three of it four criteria, and the highest possible mark in the fourth area – compensation. NAFE's mission is to encourage women's advancement by honoring companies that demonstrate strong numbers of women in top positions. Bon Secours Richmond has received other recognition. The most recent includes placement in the 2007 "Top 100 Companies for Working Mothers" in Working Mother magazine, and in the top 15 of AARP's "50 Best Employers for Workers Over 50." Both rankings access companies throughout the entire country. Bon Secours has been on the Working Mother list for nine consecutive years and the AARP list for five consecutive years.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The University of Richmond has been named to the 2008 Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine list of the 50 "Best Values in Private Universities" for the second year in a row. The list ranks private colleges and universities based on outstanding academics, overall cost and amount of financial aid awarded to students. The rankings appear in the April issue of the magazine. Richmond was ranked 22nd on the list of the top 50 private universities, the only school in Virginia to make the private universities list. Selected from a pool of more than 1,000 private institutions, Kiplinger's ranked the schools in two categories: private liberal arts colleges, which offer mostly undergraduate programs, and private universities, which offer undergraduate as well as graduate degrees.

LAW

Troutman Sanders is pleased to announce that it has been named a Go-To Law Firm for Leading Technology Companies based on a recent survey by American Lawyer Media. For the survey, ALM asked general counsel at leading technology companies which outside law firms they turned to for assistance and legal support. ALM's research department also investigated and gathered independent data on these outside firms from various public record resources, such as court dockets and securities filings, key publications and well-respected commercial databases. The surveys and research focused primarily on a firm's litigation, corporate transactions/mergers and acquisitions, labor and employment, intellectual property, securities, Canada and international practice areas.

NEW BUSINESSES

Welcome Table Northside Restaurant and Catering at 110 E. Brookland Park Blvd. recently celebrated its grand opening. Co-founders Chet Gordon and Cheryl Russell opened the company with assistance from the city's Department of Economic Development, which operates the Commercial Area Revitalization Effort (C.A.R.E.) rebate program. The program provides rebates, loans and technical assistance to businesses located in each of the city's 10 designated revitalization areas. In the past two years, 390 CARE incentives and 304 Enterprise Zone incentives have been granted to businesses that have invested more than $29 million in the city. The Welcome Table Northside Restaurant also provides lunch delivery as well as special event catering. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and all major holidays.

PARTNERSHIPS AND MERGERS

Red Hat, a leading provider of open source solutions, announced the acquisition of Amentra, a Richmond-based provider of systems integration services for business process management, systems development and enterprise data solutions. The acquisition of Amentra provides a solution-oriented depth to the JBoss middleware business. Amentra has more than 140 employees in locations including Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Charlotte, Tampa and Richmond and will operate as an independent Red Hat company.

ISP, a major collegiate sports marketing company, has acquired the assets and existing collegiate contracts of College Comfort, a company with offices in Richmond that specializes in the season and game day rental of stadium chair back seats at more than 30 major universities across the country. College Comfort will be integrated into ISP as "College Comfort Sports Properties." All current company personnel will remain in their current locations in Charlotte, N.C. and Kenbridge and Richmond, Va. In the past year, ISP merged Sports Business Solutions' operations and business into the company to create a Collegiate Services Division which provides sports marketing consulting and sales training for schools who are interested in that service. Last month in a joint venture with Learfield Sports, ISP acquired Action Sports Media to further consolidate multimedia rights at existing partner schools as well as obtaining rights at additional new properties. College Comfort was founded in 1998 and has experienced phenomenal growth since its launch with initial clients Virginia Tech and East Carolina University.