Neither tornado, nor fire, nor loss of jobs seems to flatten the town of Pulaski, Virginia, recently called "resilient" by the Roanoke Times. 

In Episode Six of Save Our Towns, Reed Kennedy of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business talks about how his students learned of Pulaski's fortitude and helped write real business plans for a Pulaski entrepreneur.

The "Examples of Awesome" segment – reported in the field by Virginia Tech student Jessica Snead of Roanoke, Virginia, a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences – profiles downtown Pulaski. 

Mayor Jeff Worrell says, "To know that no matter what adversity we face, we’re going to stand side by side and deal with it, I think breeds an atmosphere of hope and courage." 

Episode Six also checks in with Mayor Kyle Fletcher of St. Paul, Virginia, chronicling his latest effort to bring jobs to his town.

The expert tip comes from Virginia Tech's Bob Stripling, professor of practice in the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Episode Six is posted at Save Our Towns or can be viewed in this YouTube video:

Save Our Towns is Virginia Tech's monthly Internet video series that is distributed to mayors and town managers in 80 Virginia towns and independent cities in 25 counties.

Episode Seven, due out in February, is scheduled to focus on the City of Bristol and how city leaders have turned history into a tourist attraction.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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