Join the Charleston Area Alliance for Business After Hours with Pickering Associates and O.V. Smith & Sons 5-7 p.m. Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 318 Lee Street, West. The outdoor event will feature music by Bob Thompson and catering by Bridge Road Bistro and Smith's Foodfair.  

Pickering Associates is a well-aligned team of professional architects and engineers that serves clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic/Appalachian region. Since opening its doors in 1988, Pickering Associates has overseen more than 10,000 projects. 

With over 50 years in business, O.V. Smith & Sons focuses on real estate development and leasing of buildings and land with properties statewide.

The event will be held at Pickering Associates' Charleston office at 318 Lee Street, West on the corner of Lee Street and Maryland Avenue.

BAH events, hosted by Charleston Area Alliance members, are fantastic opportunities to network with friends and colleagues and connect with business and community leaders in a relaxed setting.

The cost is $15 for Alliance members and $25 for future members who register online before 5:00 p.m. on June 7.

Prices increase after 5:00 p.m. on June 7 to $25 for Alliance members and $35 for future members.

Invoicing available for 10 or more; no refunds within 48 hours of event.

West Virginia became the 29th state with a comprehensive medical cannabis law in April. Learn more about the Mountain State's medical cannabis law, how it compares to legislation in other states and the potential impacts to the business community from Matt Simon, Marijuana Policy Project New England Political Director.  He will offer insights into what the program is likely to look like when fully implemented and answer any questions relevant to medical cannabis policies at this Lunch & Learn Wednesday, June 14 at the Charleston Area Alliance, located at 1116 Smith St.

Simon was born in Parkersburg, graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1994, and earned an M.A. in English from West Virginia University in 2002. After teaching English for several years in West Virginia and Kentucky, he moved to New Hampshire in 2006. In 2007, he began working to reform marijuana laws in the “Live Free or Die” state, and in 2011, he was hired by the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to marijuana policy reform.
 
Since 2011, Simon has visited Charleston several times to advocate for medical cannabis legislation. In 2013, he was invited to give a presentation to the Joint Health Committee. He also lobbied in support of New Hampshire’s medical cannabis law and Vermont’s decriminalization law, both of which passed in 2013. This year, he worked with New Hampshire legislators to pass a decriminalization bill and several bills advancing the state’s medical cannabis program, and he worked with the Vermont Legislature to pass a bill that would make marijuana legal for use by adults 21 and older (these bills are in the process of being transmitted to the governors of those states).

Registration is $15 for Alliance members and $20 for future Alliance members and includes a boxed lunch. Seating is limited. 

This Lunch & Learn is the first in a series about West Virginia's medical marijuana legislation, its implementation and the local business impact. 

Celebrating its 15th year, Downtown Charleston ArtWalk is a free self-guided walking tour of Charleston’s shops, galleries and businesses featuring regional art and performances. This special FestivALL edition of ArtWalk will feature musical performances and theatrical presentations along the sidewalk and Musical Easels, a rotating artists exhibit. 

For details about this month's ArtWalk, visit the Downtown Charleston ArtWalk website for the monthly participating venue map. Participating shops are located in Downtown Charleston and feature a variety of art – from paintings and sculptures to photography and music.

Attendees can stroll along at their own pace, dip in and out of stores and stop off along the way for a bite to eat at a downtown restaurant. This well-loved family-friendly event takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. and attracts art aficionados as well as folks who just want to get out and try something new. 

For more information, visit www.artwalkcwv.com. ArtWalk is sponsored by the Masters Law Firm. 

The Charleston Area Alliance will present Go to Hale, a FestivALL block party event, 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24, 2017 along Hale Street. Enjoy cold drinks from Mountain State Beverage and Oskar Blues. 

LIVE MUSIC

• Mike Pushkin & the Loyal Opposition
• The Carpenter Ants
• Blue Yonder
• Vinyl Village

Go to Hale is sponsored by Brewer & Company, Mountain State Beverage, Oskar Blues and the American Federation of Musicians Local 136.

Dr. Anne Fischer, program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will present "DARPA: Creating Breakthrough Technologies for National Security" at the Charleston Area Alliance Elevations Professional Women’s Network Luncheon at noon Monday, June 26 at Embassy Suites. 

​DARPA developed the Internet and shepherded inventions like pocket-sized GPS, Siri, night vision goggles, self-driving cars and countless other technologies. Fischer will discuss her journey to DARPA and explore DARPA’s innovations and its impact on national security and our everyday lives. 

Presented with title sponsorship from Dow Chemical, the Elevations luncheon and workshop series supports the economic enrichment and empowerment of women in the Kanawha Valley. 

A Charleston native, Fischer is pursuing creative applications of chemical approaches, methods and tools to advance a wide range of technologies. She is working with researchers from fields including chemistry, computer and information science, mathematics and chemical and electrical engineering to discover opportunities for the use of molecules in information storage. 

The June 26 Elevations Luncheon coincides with the 2017 Women & Technology Conference, hosted by TechConnect West Virginia. The conference addresses the under-representation of women in fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and aims to encourage women involved in technology education and research, private enterprises, the public sector, investing, and entrepreneurship. Click here for additional information or to register for the full one-day Women & Technology conference, which includes the Elevations Luncheon. 

Prior to her appointment as program manager, Fischer served as a senior-level science adviser with the consulting firm Strategic Analysis. She also spent two years as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) science and technology policy fellow at the National Science Foundation and completed a National Research Council postdoctoral research associateship at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. 

Fischer graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from The College of Wooster and completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry at Michigan State University. 

Invoicing is available for groups of 10 or more. No refunds are issued within 48 hours of the event. 

Elevations with DARPA's Dr. Anne Fischer is presented with supporting sponsorship from Appalachian Power.