Captains and queens.

…female merchants fit the models of references to males. So there’s nothing in these tax receipts, in these inscriptions, that really calls attention to the fact that they’re women. For me, the takeaway here is the fact that female merchants could exist and weren’t singled out as something that’s special or remarkable means perhaps that’s the way it was looked on in antiquity. It wasn’t necessarily common, but it wasn’t something that was taboo or extra special to the degree that people go out of the way to comment on it.

“It’s time to tell a different story about Virginia’s Southwest,” Payne said in a statement. “This course in blockchain technology, put together through a remarkable partnership, is another step in a better direction for developing the region’s economy – yet it also taps the strengths of generations of entrepreneurs and industrialists who shaped this region and delivered benefits to the entire world.”

The course will be aimed at blockchain neophytes who want to understand how to incorporate it into their business, said Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County.

“The whole point is to sort of open this up so that everyone understands it, regardless of your experience level,” said O’Quinn, an Emory & Henry alumnus and a cofounder of InvestSWVA. “And then understand, ‘Hey, how can this work for me?’”

State Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Abingdon, said the region is “uniquely positioned to emerge as a key player” in the race to produce critical minerals used to manufacture devices and items in our everyday lives.

“Currently the market on these minerals is dominated by China, which presents a national security issue,” Pillion said. “Working with House Majority Leader Del. Terry Kilgore, this session we sent a bill to Gov. Youngkin that declares the removal of waste coal from previously mined sites in the coalfield region as a matter of public interest. The Commission on Electric Utility Regulation may review information on the approximate volume and number of waste coal piles present in the coalfield region and options for cleaning up such waste coal piles. This is a major public health, conservation and economic opportunity for the region that aligns with the goals of this research initiative.”

Net promoter score (NPS) is a numerical metric used to measure the level of customer satisfaction and enthusiasm for your brand. Developed by Bain and Company in 2003, it is used by businesses to measure customer loyalty. 

NPS measures customer satisfaction and brand loyalty by asking just one question:

On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend this product/service to a friend or colleague?

So they invented a person. For her first name, Betty. “It was really nice and sweet, and everybody knew a Betty,” says Marks. Crocker was the last name of a well-liked company executive. The advertising department sought out female employees to respond to the letters, and eventually staffed an entire department with women who knew their way around a kitchen. “It all grew rather quickly from there,” Marks says.

Ever since, the image of a brunette white woman has stared out of advertisements, food packaging, and the pages of cookbooks. She was fictional, a marketing tool used to sell Gold Medal Flour, Bisquick, and other American staples. But at a time when women were discouraged from working outside the home, the real women behind the dozens of cookbooks, hundreds of advertisements, and thousands of letters emblazoned with the name “Betty Crocker” turned an illustration and a name into a corporate powerhouse.