Alumni News - May 2022

Alumni News for May features an alumnus who has made a successful foray into the world of eclectic, flavored spirits.

After graduating from Roanoke College in 1992 with a B.A. in psychology, Jeff Grimm worked for several years at the University of Pittsburgh, splitting his time between the athletic department as an assistant basketball coach, and the Admissions offices.

When interviewing Admissions applicants, Grimm often shared what he learned during his years at Roanoke, “that a well-rounded undergraduate degree simply demonstrates a broad capacity to learn,” said Grimm, a student-athlete and member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in college.

Since then, much of Grimm’s career has been spent in “the Information Technology Services space,” work that eventually led to his current position as strategic account executive with Piper Companies, a McLean, Virginia-headquartered elite staffing agency.

In addition, through a personal friend, he became an investor in — and now equity owner of — a small batch, hand-crafted spirits company called Dr. Stoner’s.

“I was drawn to Dr. Stoner’s through a personal friendship with their national VP of sales,” Grimm explained. “I was impressed with the product mix, their business plan and pro forma, so I became an investor in 2019.”

Dr. Stoner’s (named for one of the founders, Dr. Craig Stoner, a retired dentist from Winchester, Virginia) is a four-year-old, small-batch brand of flavored spirits, distilled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and distributed in 22 states and a select number of locations in the Caribbean.

Products carry eclectic descriptions such as smoky herb whiskey, fresh herb vodka, island bush herb rum, several varieties of tequila and, soon to market, “a fresh-charred, ghost pepper varietal for those who like a bit more heat in their cocktail glass,” Grimm said. Ready-to-drink canned cocktails are scheduled to be launched this summer.

“It’s been fun to see the company grow so quickly, as our brand is now the number-one-selling Virginia-made craft spirit in the Commonwealth,” Grimm said. “Rumor has it that a second distillery, tasting room and merchandise headquarters are all in motion for Las Vegas next year.”

Grimm’s experience as a student-athlete and the opportunity to join Pi Kappa Phi, provided “experiences that were invaluable,” he said. Pi Kappa Phi’s Ability Experience, a philanthropic initiative that promotes a greater understanding of people with disabilities, “easily was one of the most impactful and challenging things I’ve ever done.”

In all, “Roanoke had and has so much to offer — the memories are just incredible,” said Grimm, who lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with wife Lori and children Lucas, 16, and Avery, 11. “It’s easy to talk about my time at Roanoke!”

More Alumni News

Erica Gudino ’21 has been selected by the Virginia Library Association to receive a travel grant to attend the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color in St. Petersburg, Florida in October.

The Joint Council of Librarians of Color, formed in 2015, is a nonprofit organization that advocates for and addresses the common needs of the American Library Association ethnic affiliates. The travel grant will provide Gudino $1,500 to be used for conference registration, travel, meals, and accommodations at the conference hotel.

Gudino is a library assistant at the William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library's Peabody Special Collections at Hampton University.

“I am extremely excited to have received the JCLC Travel Grant from the VLA,” Gudino said in a news release announcing the JCLC grant award. “As a library professional new to the field, I look forward to attending the JCLC Conference to better serve my patrons. With this opportunity, I plan to learn how other HBCU libraries, and other predominantly minority serving libraries, are working to better connect with their patrons and expand their collections."

Gudino, who holds a B.A. in sociology from Roanoke, will pursue a Master of Library and Information Science degree at Old Dominion University this fall. After completing her degree, she plans to continue her career in librarianship at a community college library in Virginia to help patrons from all walks of life continue their education.

“I am primarily interested in any new outreach initiatives for more user engagement, both digitally and in person, since the pandemic has drastically impacted our patron traffic," Gudino said.

Russell Hertzberg ’95 and his company, Ticket Spicket, received a Rising Star Award from the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. The award, presented May 19 at the Council’s TechNite event, recognizes an early-stage technology company, emphasizing the importance of small firms on the region’s technology economy.

Ticket Spicket, of which Hertzberg is co-founder and CEO, is a no-cost digital ticketing platform for schools, districts and associations. In just two years, the tool has grown to 1.4 million unique users, conducting 2.7 million transactions.

Hertzberg holds a B.S. in computer information systems from Roanoke.

Have news to share? Send it to us at rcmagazine@roanoke.