Honoring Leaders in Business and Innovation
Save the Date: May 7, 2026
Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center
This coming May, join RBTC at the 26th annual TechNite as we celebrate the incredible people and businesses that make our region special.
Every year, awards are presented to innovative individuals and companies doing exceptional work throughout the Roanoke Blacksburg region.
How to Participate
Awards Nominations
With awards for all areas of technology and innovation, these honors are designed to help celebrate the leaders shaping our community. Nominations for the 2026 TechNite Awards are now closed.
Hart of the Entrepreneur Award
The Hart of the Entrepreneur Award recognizes an outstanding entrepreneur in the region who demonstrates high impact through their work. The honor is chosen by committee and presented annually at TechNite. Nominations for 2026 are now closed.
2026 Nominees
The nominees are in! The winners will be announced at the event on May 7.
Leading Tech Company (Large)
KlariVis (Roanoke, VA)
Novonesis (Salem, VA)
TechLab (Blacksburg, VA)
Qualichem (Salem, VA)
Integer (Salem VA)
Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, VA)
Leading Tech Company (Small)
Narro Trucks Inc. (Dublin, VA)
QlutchQMS (Roanoke, VA)
Lymphavibe (Roanoke, VA)
Advanced Machining Solutions (Roanoke, VA)
Tight Technologies (Cave Spring, VA)
Rising Star
Mova Technologies (Pulaski, VA)
Spencer Marsh, The Tiny Cargo Company (Roanoke, VA)
Eric Pauley, Terrace Networks (Blacksburg, VA)
Jenny Munson, Cairina Inc. (Roanoke, VA)
Carilion Clinic Usability Works (Roanoke, VA)
Leah Thomas (Roanoke, VA)
Regional Leadership
Jon Hagmaier (Roanoke, VA)
Emily Reburn (Roanoke, VA)
Don Halliwill (Roanoke, VA)
Drew Bratton (Roanoke, VA)
Kevin Byrd (Radford, VA)
Christopher Williams (Blacksburg, VA)
Ken Nicely (Roanoke, VA)
Innovator of the Year
Connor Hale (Roanoke, VA)
Huginn Sono (Roanoke, VA)
Empo Health (San Bruno, CA)
The Tiny Cargo Company (Roanoke, VA)
Eli Vlaisavljevich (Blacksburg, VA)
Drew Bratton (Roanoke, VA)
Bryan Hsu (Blacksburg, VA)
Entrepreneur of the Year
Kim Snyder, KlariVis (Roanoke, VA)
Narro Trucks Inc. (Dublin, VA)
Connor Hale (Roanoke, VA)
Urban Reblok’d., Inc. (Roanoke, VA)
Webster Santos, S1P Therapeutics (Blacksburg, VA)
Jessica Gilbertie, Qentoros, Inc. (Blacksburg, VA)
STEM Educator (Higher Ed)
Tom Martin (Blacksburg, VA)
Tabitha James (Blacksburg, VA)
David Salzberg, MD (Roanoke, VA)
Peter Apel, MD, PhD (Roanoke, VA)
Center for Educational Networks and Impacts, Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
Leah Thomas (Roanoke, VA)
Jamie Lau (Radford, VA)
STEM Educator (K-12)
Kim Bradshaw (Roanoke, VA)
Branden Wells (Salem, VA)
Zack DeMoss (Roanoke, VA)
Danielle Williams-Agee (Narrows, VA)
Jason Suhr (Roanoke, VA)
Previous Winners
See the list of 2025 winners here.
Sponsorships
This event is made possible thanks to our sponsors, members, board of directors, and staff. We are grateful for the generous support of event sponsors. Please contact Suzanne Gardner at Suzanne.Gardner@rbtc.tech.
We Thank Our TechNite Event Sponsors
We Thank Our Annual Sponsors
