News

Nominations Open for 2020 Ashby Award

August 5, 2019

Nominations of area nonprofits are now being accepted at Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) for the next B. R. Ashby, M.D. Award for Outstanding Community Service. This award, in the amount of $50,000, is a general operating grant named in appreciation of the exemplary service and selfless leadership of B. R. Ashby, M. D., a founding Board Member and first Chairman of the DRF.

Three Big Lessons from One Small Town

July 18, 2019

Here is another look at the far-southern-Virginia town of Danville: once a thriving tobacco-and-textile center, now trying to figure out what to do after all the mills have shut down.

In keeping with the previously announced intention to keep drawing connections, parallel themes, and lessons from the communities we visit, here are three aspects of Danville’s story worth noticing elsewhere, as boiled down as I can make them. A summary:

• First, Danville’s civic renewal shows the importance of a relatively new form of philanthropy.
• Second, it shows the importance of creative use of a onetime historical event—in this case, the “tobacco settlement,” which directed billions of dollars from the tobacco industry to local institutions. (This naturally leads to questions about whether a comparable “opioid settlement” might have similar transformative effects.)
• Third, it shows the importance of public investment in infrastructure, specifically in broadband capacity.

Fourth Economy to Produce Casino Impact Study

June 4, 2019

DRF announced today that it has entered into a contract with Fourth Economy Consulting, a national community and economic development consulting firm located in Pittsburgh, PA to produce a study of the potential impacts of a proposed gambling casino and entertainment complex on Danville and the surrounding communities. 

Clark Casteel Selected as Next President and CEO

May 31, 2019

The Board of Directors of Danville Regional Foundation announces that Clark Casteel, DRF’s current vice president of programs, has been selected as the foundation’s next president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2019.  

In his current role at DRF, Casteel has overseen the management of over 170 grants and initiatives totaling $55 million, and has been integral in long-term efforts such as the Dan River Region Workforce Collaborative, Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania and the foundation’s other assorted investments in economic and workforce development.

Danville Science Center Opens New Exhibit

May 2, 2019

At Danville Science Center, new exhibit encourages learning through playing.