elcome to the modern "Market Square" of Hampton Roads, a unique blending of business resources, products and services, news and opinion...and history, all promoting Southeastern Virginia businesses and organizations and providing a forum for ideas, projects, and knowledge.

The region's largest selection of info and links for Hampton Roads is right here, accessed on the left column of each webpage!  From business, organization, and government facts to education, real estate, events, volunteering, and more.  See what resources are new or expanding.



Some of the stories we're covering:

      (click here to access these stories)



~ HRTimes' first public forum for Hampton Roads businesses and organizations to be held May 26 at Va. Beach Central Library. ...

~ Our fitness columnist announces his Fat Loss Boot Camp coming to Virginia Beach! ...

~ In his new blog, Marcus Calabrese begins attempting to make sense of "Community and Politics in Hampton Roads." ...

~ Nora Firestone reminds us how gratitude assures people they're making a difference. ...

~ A call goes out for people with opinions as our On the Soapbox blog prepares to provide a (virtual) forum for debate in Hampton Roads. ...

~ A local aspirant for U.S. senate candidacy exits the race, but his ideas still resonate. ...

~ Hampton Roads Partnership reports on recent job layoffs in the region. ...

~ Eric Thingstad continues his painting-a-day throughout Hampton Roads. ...

~ Hampton Roads Writers is holding open-mic reading & critique events. ...



      Click here to access all those stories (and more).


HRTimes now offers some of the most interesting ways for the people of Hampton Roads to find (or advertise) businesses.  Advertisers now can include not only a listing in our Gallery of Hampton Roads Businesses & Organizations, but also a write-up of the business's history, bios of employees, and even a custom-designed website.  (more)
     And to create the employee bios, we're utilizing ShortBios.com, whose informative bios are excellent for anyone who wants to promote themselves on websites, job applications, press releases, etc. 


HRTimes has teamed up with Norfolk-based Writers SuperCenter, one of the first and most successful writing / business / creativity software stores on the Internet, to offer an array of software and writing/editing services to produce excellent written and spoken communication for business as well as personal use.  See the top-selling software programs.


There's lots of Hampton Roads history material at HRTimes, much of it accessed from the "History" link on the navigation bar atop each webpage (and our "Store" link gives access to our local history books, such as Norfolk, Virginia: A Jewish History of the 20th Century, sold through our Partner site, NorfolkHistory.com).  See what history material is new or coming.

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All our general Hampton Roads "Resources" — from business, organization, and government facts to education, real estate, and events — are accessed from links along the left column of this and every page.



Ethics is Core of Hampton Roads Business
Hampton Roads Times promoting codes of ethics for all area businesses

 he success of Hampton Roads, indeed the success of any region, is dependent in large part upon the strength of its business community. And what makes it strong is largely dependent on one attribute above all others: honesty. That's why we have an entire section devoted to business ethics. Click here to learn about how to write your own business's code of ethics. (We're also promoting the creation of codes of ethics for every Hampton Roads business's website through the use of the logo on the right.)

Latest Resources Becoming Available  Numerous resources added;  Eventful.com gives us access to Hampton Roads-area events;  City Directories will soon be online too
We've made significant additions to our Resources (left column, each page).  There's now extensive access to a host of Hampton Roads-related resources, covering transportation, safety, health, natural resources, art, music, military, and more.	Courtesy of eventful.com, we've added to our Resources a "More Events" section, which presents an extensive listing of events in Hampton Roads arranged by category.
We're constantly expanding our Resources section. Look for a list of links to complete city directories from the 1800s of some Hampton Roads cities in subsequent issues.

Volunteering is for everyone!

Whether you're a busy businessman or businesswoman or a "stay-at-home" mom or dad, there should always be time for volunteering. That's why Hampton Roads Times has an extensive, and ever-growing, list of organizations in this area that often need and welcome volunteers.

Throughout the history of Hampton Roads, businessmen have frequently joined fraternal organizations, none of which was more popular than that of the Freemasons. The Sargeant Memorial Room (Norfolk Public Library) holds this rare Masonic certificate of membership of Walter Herron Taylor, dated 1877, for the Masonic Mutual Beneficial Association of Norfolk, Va. (from Walter H. Taylor Papers). Click on it to enlarge, and see its remarkable detail, especially in the picture of the Masonic headquarters, one of Norfolk's great architectural gems no longer extant.

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Featured Posts in HRTimes Blogs [more] is location (permalink) of the specific post; [home] is home page of the blog.
	• In Editor's Thoughts Blog: In "I'm Certain...I think," Irwin Berent looks at the phenomenon of certainty...and wonders whether there's too much of it...maybe. [more] [home]   • In Meetings in Hampton Roads Blog: HRTimes' first public forum for Hampton Roads businesses and organizations to be held May 26 at Va. Beach Central Library. [more] [home]   • In Issues & Topics Blog: A local aspirant for U.S. Senate candidacy exits the race, but his ideas still resonate. [more] [home]         and... Hampton Roads Partnership reports on recent job layoffs in the region. [more] [home]   • In On The Soapbox Blog: The Soapbox Editor calls on people with opinions as our On the Soapbox blog is now open and ready for action. The blog will provide a (virtual) forum for debate in Hampton Roads. [more] [home]   • In Writers of Hampton Roads Blog: Hampton Roads Writers's open-mic reading/critique events. [more] [home]					• In Community & Politics in Hampton Roads Blog: Marcus Calabrese, former Norfolk City Council candidate, will ask, Is this making sense? in his first HRTimes blog. [more] [home]   • In Fitness in Hampton Roads Blog: Chris Otto, our personal fitness trainer, announces the launch of his Extreme Fat Loss Boot Camp, coming to Mount Trashmore next month [more] [home]         and... Chris unveils his "fastest workout in the world." [more] [home]   • In Gratitude in Your Personal & Business Lives Blog: Nora Firestone reminds us that gratitude is the way to let people know that they're making a difference. [more] [home]   • In Painting-A-Day Blog: Eric Thingstad continues his almost daily paintings of businesses, residences, industry, and landscapes throughout Hampton Roads. [more] [home]

FEATURED VIDEO Portsmouth flag factory U.S. Flag and Signal, producer of the Hampton Roads Flag as well as numerous U.S. flags, is featured on WAVY-TV. Access the video here.

Encyclopedia of Norfolk Soon to be Available
Volume 1 is first of a 20-volume work as 7-year project nears completion

 he mammoth project of the geographic history of Norfolk is coming ever so close to completion, and the first volume of this astonishing 20-volume Encyclopedia of Norfolk, Virginia is about to be released as an e-book, which will be available for purchase for the very first time at our prestigious Partner site, NorfolkHistory.com.

This is a great opportunity to secure a copy of this resource that promises to be an instant collector's edition. Those who order will receive an instant discount for the purchase of all subsequent volumes as well as future print editions. Here's a sneak peak at the cover of the first volume.  (Click here for more details, including a listing of titles of all 20 volumes.)

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Hampton Roads Businesses & Organizations Have New Ways to Promote
HRTimes Aims to Make Discovering Businesses Easy & Entertaining.

Hampton Roads Times now offers some of the most interesting ways for businesses to get discovered by the people of Hampton Roads.  Advertising now can include not only a listing in our Gallery of Hampton Roads Businesses & Organizations, but also a write-up of the business's history, bios of employees, and even a custom-designed website. 
       For its employee bios, HRTimes will be utilizing its biography-writing/editing Affiliate, ShortBios.com, whose informative bios are excellent for anyone who wants to promote themselves on websites, job applications, press releases, etc.
       The novel approach of the HRTimes' advertising is to offer, inexpensively, a completely flexible range of advertising options, so that a business might have an article write-up, a link on particular webpages (especially those that deal with the industry being promoted), biographies of employees/managers, a short history of the business, or a custom-designed website, and/or traditional display ads, and so on — while welcoming creative suggestions from the advertiser.  All of this is geared towards furthering the Times' goal of promoting all the region's businesses and organizations, great and small, in the most effective, entertaining, and enlightening ways.  (See Advertising for more details, ad rates, etc.)

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Top-Selling Business and Personal Writing & Creativity Software
Internet's Leading Seller of Writer's Software is an HRTimes Affiliate Based in Norfolk.
Also offers extensive writing, ghost-writing, proofreading, and editing services.

 riter's SuperCenter, headquartered in Norfolk, is one of the most successful writing / business / creativity software stores in the country, and when it began in 2003 it was the first online store devoted specifically to software for writers.  Now it has teamed up with HRTimes.  Its software (as well as its numerous editing and writing services) is available at its online store at WritersSuperCenter.com — now the official software store of HRTimes — and can be purchased either online or by phone (757/589-1022).
       Some of its most popular software programs, described below, include software not only for writing and developing fiction, novels, and screenplays, and formatting and editing almost every kind of writing, but also for developing inventions, business plans, presentations, press releases, marketing plans, coaching, consulting, and much more.

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Hampton Roads Billheads Collection is Growing
Will total more than 400 when completed

 ur collection of 19th-century billheads from Norfolk businesses is growing. We've just completed making available more of this fascinating selection of billheads, receipts, and letterheads of businesses (currently displayed are businesses beginning with letters "a" and "b"). The one below, for instance, is one of the oldest extant copies of a printed billhead of a Norfolk business. Dated 1825, this billhead of the Brettes, Sautejau wholesale and retail store located on the Market Square was found within the Myers Papers (Old Dominion University Library, Special Collections); by that time, as revealed by the scratched-out name ("Vincent"), an original partner in the firm had apparently either left the company or died. Moses Myers, the buyer, was a prominent shipping merchant whose house still stands today on Freemason Street. Check out all the billheads displayed thus far here.