Is the Roanoke Valley region growing as it should?

The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia reported last month that the state’s population had started growing again for the first time since the beginning of the recession, and that the fastest-growing localities were all in Northern Virginia.

When we posted the report on our Web site, a reader named “Ted” posed this question:

“How can some of these Northern Virginia locations sustain such enormous growth rates while the Roanoke Valley’s growth is anemic? Can’t Virginia do more to encourage higher wage earners to move here? By far, Roanoke is the best place to live in Virginia! Should it remain a secret?”

We thought that was a pretty good question, so we put it to this panel of local business people and community leaders.

Here’s what they had to say:

Nancy Gray is president of Hollins University.

When people are asked to cite Virginia’s college towns, Blacksburg and Charlottesville are often what come to mind. But with two liberal arts colleges, a community college, a college of health sciences, a higher education center and a new medical school, shouldn’t the Roanoke Valley strive for similar recognition? Together, these institutions represent a powerful resource for economic growth and community development. Yet, they are largely underutilized.

Our local colleges and universities already contribute much to the quality of life in the valley. Hundreds of area residents earn their livelihoods working for our institutions. Many of our students, faculty and staff actively give back to the community, volunteering their expertise as teachers, artists or musicians. But there is much more we can do if given the opportunity, such as:

• Bringing together local professors and entrepreneurs for research and support. This will enhance the valley’s reputation as a business incubator.

• Offering more internships and part-time employment to area undergraduates. In the short-term, companies get capable, enthusiastic work for a semester or a summer while the students gain hands-on experience. The long-term benefit is convincing local students that the valley is a great place to work and live, encouraging them to stay here following graduation and helping alleviate the “brain drain” that the region has suffered for several years.

• Giving local college students the ability to travel more easily about the valley. With expanded public transportation options (provided in an environmentally responsible way), students will have greater access to shopping, dining and other goods and services offered by local businesses.

Making “Roanoke Valley” and “college town” synonymous will happen only if we earn it. Let’s have the “town” and the “gown” work in tandem and capitalize on the intellectual and creative talents, diversity of thought and potential economic windfall from our institutions of higher education.

Stuart Mease works in recruiting/job placement in Blacksburg and is the former special projects coordinator in the Roanoke office of economic development.

Investing in a mix of traditional, place- and people-based economic development initiatives creating a diverse, transparent regional economic strategy is the first step. Our competition is not local or regional, it is national and global. If we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always gotten. Consider the reality:

• We have not been successful attracting enough companies to the region that pay acceptable wages.

• Existing businesses are not growing at the rate we want and are just trying to survive in this economy.

• State and local government budgets are contracting.

• We are not allocating appropriate resources to create profitable businesses through entrepreneurship.

Where is future job growth? According to Chmura’s Business EQ portal the city unveiled in 2009, future regional job growth is contained to two industries: health care and information technology. Unfortunately, everyone cannot work in education, government and health care. We need a fourth leg, and that leg is clearly technology start-ups.
As talk centers on job creation, people must realize there are jobs here. The ultimate question to job seekers is will they acquire skills necessary to perform high-demand jobs and are they willing to practice humility and do jobs employers cannot fill or are “beneath” them?

Companies are not in the business of creating jobs. Companies are in business to create profits. Job creation is a byproduct of profitable companies. If companies can be more profitable with fewer employees, they will. Until we focus on creating more profitable companies, job creation will be stagnant.

Hypothetically, if I am betting on which organizations will significantly impact future growth of the region, I would invest in three buckets: Virginia Tech, Carilion and the NCTC [NewVa Corridor Technology Council] and its members. These groups will drive future growth of the region. Invest in them and we’ll grow the region.

Beth Doughty is executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership.

The Roanoke region certainly wants to drive that growth rate. A recent study indicated that the compounded annual population growth rate of the Roanoke region is 0.6 percent from 2004-08. That’s quite an improvement from the early part of the decade, when the growth rate was 0.
Progress is being made and there’s room to continue that growth. The key to improving the population growth rate is to continue to build strong communities within the region.

People are attracted to assets such as good schools, arts and culture, and outdoor recreation. In today’s economy, low costs of living are more important than ever and the Roanoke region is well below the national average. We have all the assets to enjoy the quality of life that attracts people.

But we also have an obligation to tell the region’s story and garner the attention of people we want to attract.

Cory Donovan is executivedirector of the NewVaCorridor Technology Council.

In the 10 years from 1998 to 2007, the Roanoke and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) combined lost nearly 4,000 jobs. Companies not headquartered in the region reduced their workforces by more than 14,000 jobs, many of which were manufacturing jobs that have moved overseas and may never return.

The good news is that 9,500 jobs were added in that same period of time by small companies with fewer than 10 employees and headquartered here in the region. Small companies like those spawning weekly in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center are responsible for much of this growth. Often these entrepreneurs and small companies are trailblazers, creating new technologies and leading industries that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

These companies are relatively small now, but they are the seeds of our economic gardening. These companies hold the potential to employ dozens, even hundreds of people as they grow in the coming years. They will provide challenging and interesting jobs with better-than-average pay and they’ll likely do it right here in Southwestern Virginia, where they make their home.

Knowledge economy entrepreneurs will be a catalyst opportunity for our regional economy moving forward. These individuals and small companies will help us recover from this current economic nosedive and will continue to be the lifeblood of our prosperity.

We should adopt and improve our policies, as a region and at the state level, to encourage entrepreneurship and strengthen the small companies already in our own backyard. Investment credits, favorable tax incentives and support services can make the difference for small businesses that are the job creation engines of local economies. It may not be sexy to support steady incremental growth but over time it is a wise investment of taxpayer dollars and results in the creation of quality jobs that stick around.

Wayne Strickland is executive director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission.

We hear over and over again that Roanoke is just an old, blue-collar railroad town. However, the time of the “old railroad” town has faded away and our region has entered the postindustrial era or the new service economy.

To be a player in this economy requires creative thinking about how best to use our assets to expand business opportunities and create jobs. We can request that the state provide more support in terms of resources, but there is also much we can do on our own.

One avenue for us to pursue in terms of better using our assets is to focus on building stronger partnerships among organizations (i.e., economic development organizations, educational institutions, the business community, local governments and state agencies). Here are a few suggestions.

Organizations should partner more effectively to create an environment that will promote small business creation and encourage more entrepreneurs (example, the Corporate Research Center).

Our community colleges, working with the business community, should be designated as regional green job training centers, which will provide our citizens an opportunity to capture the skills needed to be on the forefront of these emerging jobs. 

Public and private sector organizations should work cooperatively to expand career coaching in our middle and high schools, which will encourage students to consider alternatives for future career goals. Do all students need a four-year college degree, or would stronger career and technical education programs in our high schools, coupled with additional training beyond high school, help our young residents obtain a good living?

Our workforce development organizations should work closely with our local school systems, our community colleges and the business community to ensure that we are preparing our students for the skills required to address the changing needs of business in the evolving new economy.

Joyce Waugh is president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

First, keep in mind that we’re a very stable community and tend not to have those highs and lows of other areas. Actually we are growing; however, the pace is more measured and more evident in the suburban areas and areas near Smith Mountain Lake.

We can grow by:

1) Strengthening our region’s business climate (part of what we do at the chamber through legislative advocacy).

2) Helping small businesses (who are more than 90 percent of our businesses) find the resources they need to grow, including technical assistance, training, access to capital, etc. This includes creating a place that is attractive to all types of entrepreneurs.

3) Spreading the word about how truly wonderful our region is. Where else can you raise a family with excellent educational offerings for all ages, make lasting and real friendships, enjoy beautiful scenery every day, including mountains and streams, enjoy entertainment, nightlife, hiking trails, and worry little about crime? Normally I’d add enjoying four moderate seasons, but this year (I pray) is an anomaly. We truly have a unique, high quality of life both for work and play.

Jay Foster is president of Roanoke-basedSoftSolutions Inc.

If we continue to be myopic and limit our boundaries to just the Roanoke Valley, then I personally do not see much optimism for any significant growth. Adjusting our current stagnant growth upward will be a serious challenge if these are the boundaries we choose to work within.

Population growth, like business growth, results when attractive assets align with high demand and low supply. Richard Florida, a renowned economist, has identified the “creative class” professionals as a key asset in today’s economy. These engineers, researchers and software developers serve as the fuel for growth. Where the creative class choose to live often correlates with higher growth and prosperity. 

What attracts the creative class? Certainly the urban amenities of world-class art museums, live theater, great restaurants and a vibrant music scene are important. In addition, these professionals, and their spouses, are also attracted to top research universities, high-tech business opportunities, greenways, outdoor adventures and availability of capital for start-ups. 

If we draw a circle around just the Roanoke Valley — or just the New River Valley — we capture some key attractions that may be necessary, but not sufficient for fueling growth. If we expand our boundaries to include both the New River Valley and the Roanoke Valley, the basket of highly attractive assets hit a tipping point. And we end up with a region that few others can duplicate.

Therefore, one answer to growth is simple: implement a regional strategy. Unfortunately, this won’t be easy. Some executive directors and elected officials will see regionalism as a threat. It will be imperative that business and community leaders step forward at the board level to communicate crystal clear expectations: We have the regional assets; it is high time for those responsible to leverage them more effectively — or we will keep getting what we deserve.

Matt Bullington owns the Texas Tavern in Roanoke.

REGIONAL COOPERATION! Let me say it again for those who didn’t hear it … REGIONAL COOPERATION!

Now that I got that out, I will attempt to elaborate. Regions compete against regions for economic development and jobs. The greater Roanoke and New River valleys — “RNR” (yes, we need to start thinking of ourselves as one region) — compete against areas like Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Northern Virginia,  Piedmont Triad, etc., for jobs. There is strength in numbers. The more unified our region is towards growth initiatives, the more impact we will have with our endeavors.

Many people in metro areas commute one hour each way to work. Blacksburg is about 40 minutes away from downtown Roanoke. Virginia Tech is the single largest economic driver in the region and an important key to growth in both valleys. The upcoming Carilion-Virginia Tech school of medicine is a great example of our two valleys collaborating. NCTC (the regional council of technology companies) is another. Even the Smart Way bus (Blacksburg to Roanoke) is a good start. We need more of these examples.

We have great quality of life here … but if someone can’t find employment (or successfully self-employ), they will be moving elsewhere. Many kids who grow up here and leave for college would like to return at some point later in life; however, our lack of growth as a region has made this a difficulty for many former residents.
Our local governments, chambers of commerce, planning commissions, etc., in both the Roanoke and New River valleys — “RNR” — need to coordinate on regional planning, regional branding and regionally based economic development projects. 

This cooperation will ultimately lead to cost savings, increased job creation and more rapid regional growth.