The City of Roanoke engaged the group and will be responsible for administering the year-long project. The group will accept applications from members of the community who are willing to commit four or five hours per week for the next year. From that group of applicants, they will tap 30 emerging leaders to become “Creative Connectors.” According to the City they will represent a diverse cross-section of the community as defined by background, industry, age, race, orientation, and experience. The team’s task will involve working with the community to build a more authentic and prosperous region through the creation of sustainable projects. Furthermore, this group will encourage the entire community to support these projects, which will be aimed at fostering a creative base for Roanoke.

The project kicks off with a two-day seminar for the selected leaders on March 30 and 31, where the Creative Class Group will work with them to build an understanding of the creative economy. The proprietary framework is based on Richard Florida’s 4T’s of economic development: Talent, Technology, Tolerance and Territory Assets. They also prepare a tool kit and playbook equipped with the latest community-building practices and the most current regional economic demographic information.

Roanoke will prove to be an interesting case study for the Creative Class Group. In his latest book, Who’s Your City?, Richard Florida chronicles the “Rise of the Mega Region.” His research shows that talent tends to cluster around the cities where innovation occurs. This creates a virtuous cycle that causes successful cities to grow and become connected with other successful cities. For example, the largest of these Mega Regions, “Bos-Wash,” stretches from Boston through New York to Washington, D.C. Another, “Char-Lanta,” clusters around Raleigh’s Research Triangle, stretches through the banking center of Charlotte, and down through Atlanta. Roanoke happens to exist in the void between those Mega Regions.

It will be interesting to see how this reality factors into the assessment of Roanoke’s long-term prospects. We’ve got to consider how our neighboring Mega Regions will contribute to our success. The issue of regionalism has been front and center for many years in Roanoke. Our economic development authorities continue to consider regionalism a key to progress. The moving target has been the definition of our region. While the City is sponsoring the project, the Creative Class Group will need to think about issues in a regional and mega-regional context.

Regardless of what that the 30 Creative Connectors end up implementing over the next year, our new affiliation with the Creative Class Group will yield enough exposure to put Roanoke on the radar, if not on the map. As the author of two bestsellers, Richard Florida brings a following that is made up of the very people we are trying to attract. The members of the Creative Class who read his books and blogs will see that Roanoke “gets it.” That alone will generate more buzz than any media buy.

The buzz will also put us on the hot seat to make the most of the opportunity and produce some positive results. That means we’ll need to attract creative talent, support the development of new technologies, promote tolerance and leverage our territory assets. And, we’ll need to do it in a way that’s measurable. To provide a comprehensive empirical understanding of the region, the Creative Class Group employs multiple economic models, quality of place frameworks, and a broad range of variables, including over 30 economic indicators.

The process promises to be inclusive and transparent. It will not be a plan developed behind closed doors by an exclusive group and carried out by an inner circle of supporters. The Creative Connectors will be charged with bringing community members to the table, working with organizations to build consensus and actually carrying out the plans. The entire process will be open and accessible through public meetings, alternative media and blogs. And, the group will be connected to other communities around the country that have been through the process.

As a participant from Tallahassee described the Creative Communities Leadership Project, “I’m very excited about the project and in fact, feel as if this is not going to be another ‘white paper’ no one will ever read, but rather actions that will definitely impact this area for years to come.” For those of us in Roanoke who take on the commitment, let’s plan to support their efforts and help turn this project into a better quality of life.

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Basically, social networking means interacting with other people over the internet. People sign up for an account and complete a profile that tells people who you are, where you’re from, what you like, what you do for a living and what you’re doing right now. Then they look for other people they know or people they don’t know who share something in common. But, pretty soon you have a group of “friends” on facebook.

Some are people you haven’t seen since high school. Others are people you’ve worked with. There may be neighbors, members of your community organizations, or members of your family. There will even be a fair number of people you think you may have known at some point, but you’re not sure. And, you’ll even get a few who are pretty sure they’re not your real friend but insist on being your facebook friend. For them, facebook provides you with a convenient little “ignore” button. You can even seek out people who fit that profile and forever block them from finding you on facebook.

Facebook includes a growing number of applications that allow you to do things like throw virtual snowballs at friends or give virtual gifts. You can share photos, videos and music with friends. You can put a friend’s name on a photo so that all of his friends can see your photo. It really is an amazing way to interact with people. If you think about it, there probably has never been anything in Roanoke that has brought 63,603 people together in one place. And, there’s certainly never been anything that’s given those 63,000 Roanokers direct access to another 90 million people all around the world. But that’s how many people are members of facebook.

For the type-A personality and those of us who have to work for a living, there’s the more practical social network for professionals, called LinkedIn. 9818 Roanokers have taken the time to build a business profile on that site. LinkedIn allows you to seek out people in your profession to share ideas. It gives you an easy way to identify potential customers and make contact with them. And, it’s just beginning to deliver some real business applications that allow professionals to share files, make presentations and collaborate on projects. It’s also not a bad place to look for a job or find a new employee.

Just like facebook connects you to friends of friends, LinkedIn actually tracks the number of people that you are ultimately connected to indirectly. For instance, you may have 200 direct business contacts on LinkedIn. But, if you add two degrees of separation, you may be connected to more than 2 million contacts that are only a couple of introductions away. That’s a long way from the old style Rolodex.

Stuart Mease has been advocating social networks as a way to attract young professionals to the Roanoke Valley since he was tasked with that job by the City. It’s hard to argue with the fact that social networks are an incredibly cost-effective way to reach people in a meaningful way. Let’s say that the 63,603 Roanokers on facebook each has an average of 50 friends. That’s more than 3 million people with a personal connection to Roanoke. Unlike traditional direct marketing, social networks give you the ability to combine the power and credibility of word-of-mouth marketing with the exponential reach of a viral marketing campaign. And, there are no printing or postage expenses.

Price Gutshall has been developing a presence for the Roanoke Region of Virginia on facebook and LinkedIn since he was hired by the Partnership to bring a younger perspective to their marketing. So far 527 of the 63,000 Roanokers on facebook have become “fans” of his group. Other businesses and organizations in Roanoke have also developed a presence on facebook and LinkedIn as integral tactics in their marketing plans. The use of social networks as a primary media strategy is still in its infancy. But, as more and more businesses, organizations, independent professionals and ordinary people sign on, the potential grows just as exponentially as the latest viral video that got passed along to you.

In the past year, this writer has seen several Fortune 500 clients cut their television advertising budgets and steer money toward social networking and viral marketing projects. In almost every case, the return on investment was greater percentage than they were achieving through traditional media. If it works for some of the biggest brands in America, it will certainly work for Roanoke’s local brands. And, it doesn’t cost a heck of a lot to give it a shot.

So go out there and explore these two social networks and the dozens of others that are cropping up. If you haven’t done it yet, you’ll be amazed at how many people you’ll run across that you may have never seen in your daily life. And, you’ll be equally amazed at how much those virtual worlds reflect your own real world.

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Back in the day, the same held true for the railroad. If the railroad had never come through this area, a small few of us would be living in a little place called Big Lick. In fact, Roanoke was an original railroad boomtown. We don’t necessarily think in terms of interstate boomtowns. But, there are cities all over America that would not exist as they do today if they weren’t near an interstate exit.

As Roanoke became less of a railroad town, I-81 took the rail’s place. Today, a substantial percentage of our local economy depends on the distribution and freight industries that run on that interstate. Unlike larger cities that have multiple interstates feeding into an interstate beltline, Roanoke’s I-581 operates like one long off ramp that runs right through the middle of the city. Unfortunately, no matter which direction you drive out of town on an interstate, you don’t hit a major metropolitan area for about three hours.

Well, that could all change sooner than we thought. We’ve all now heard the term “shovel-ready.” Obama’s new New Deal, is promising to fund these types of public works projects as soon as he can get another injection of cash pushed through Congress. That could mean new investments in everything from high-speed rail to hybrid fuel cells. But one thing it’s always meant is more spending on highways and bridges, which we affectionately call our crumbling infrastructure.

It’s not wishful thinking to hope that some of that money will land in our valley. If you look at the Federal Highway Administration’s top five priorities for interstate development, two of those new interstates run right through Roanoke. If you recall, a lot of people in Southwest County were trying to dodge the route when planners debated the point several years ago. Now, Interstate 73, which will essentially follow Route 220 to the North Carolina Triad, is fifth in line for construction. At number two on the list is an East-West Transnational Corridor that connects Hampton Roads on the east to San Diego on the west.

Before the green contingent among us gets too upset, let’s consider the economic impact. Or better yet, let’s imagine that Roanoke rises up and tells the Federal Government that we will have none of it. After all, they could just as well run 73 up through Lynchburg. And, they could run that awful East-West road along Highway 58 to help out Southside. Where would that leave us? Pretty much right where we are right now, only more economically depressed.

However, if we drag ourselves kicking and screaming into this 21st century and ponder the possibilities, we can quickly conclude that no other city in the United States would benefit as much as ours from these new interstates. The boom would arise from three major sources: tourism, service businesses and freight. So, let’s briefly look at each one of those economic drivers and try to find it in our hearts to embrace change.

We can say with a fair degree of confidence that Roanoke is not a tourist destination. It is certainly a pass-through destination. But, it’s not on many families’ top ten list for summer vacation. Even for hikers on the Appalachian Trail and caravans on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Roanoke is a stop-off on the way to other scenic wonders. However, if we combine those two great pathways through the Great Valley with an interstate that connects to the old Route 66, Roanoke really does become an American crossroads. Add to that Interstate 73, which will end up in Myrtle Beach, and you’ve got a whole other stream of Yankee tourists passing through on their way to the Grand Strand. Now, if we had some passenger rail, we’d really be cooking.

If you think about all of the service businesses that pop up along interstate highways, it may not conjure up visions of scenic beauty. But, neither are hotels, restaurants and retail stores the bane of our existence. The additional tax base that these businesses bring allows cities and counties along the interstates to fund better education, more attractive amenities and raise the standard of living. Best of all, the money isn’t coming out of our own pockets. It’s being passed along as people pass through.

Then there’s transportation. We probably all agree that more interstates jammed with 18-wheelers is not what we want. However, with intermodal hubs like the one being built in Elliston, we can identify outlying areas where we can transfer freight from truck to rail. These new interstates will connect Roanoke directly to the ports in Norfolk and manufacturers from Michigan to South Carolina. The firm that conducted the feasibility study for I-73 concluded that the corridor would support a major new distribution center and would attract new manufacturers from a range of industries.

If government spending kicks in this year and these projects get accelerated from their anticipated start dates of 2012, the last thing we need to do is shuffle our feet and wring our hands. If we do, our kids will look back twenty years from now and ask, “What were they thinking?” There’s a balance we can strike between conservation and development. But when the government wants to funnel a few billion tax dollars our way to link us more directly with the rest of America, we shouldn’t look that gift horse in the mouth.

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Our state’s capital has been hit very hard by the financial downturn. There couldn’t be a worse concentration of industries in these times than financial services, real estate services and retail. Some companies are laying off employees. Others are filing bankruptcy. And a few have seen their stock prices sink so low, so quickly, they were gobbled up by larger competitors and simply disappeared. When the new economy dawns on Richmond, the landscape will look very different.

In the meantime, markets like Richmond are crawling with talented people looking for new opportunities. Not to minimize the anxiety and havoc that accompany losing a job, but there’s a new energy on the street as all of these people make new connections. Before long, those big empty buildings will fill back up with smaller companies hatched during the downturn. Companies that weather the storm will emerge leaner and more focused.

On this side of the state, we are more insulated from the collapse of public companies. But, that doesn’t mean that we should just ride out the financial crisis and wait for things to pick back up. Instead, it’s a time to make new connections in the broader valley and pursue them as if our livelihoods depended on it. If thousands of people were suddenly out of work in our area you would see people you know out searching for new opportunities. And, you would be thinking about how you could make referrals that would help them out. Just because we’re not losing as badly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t play like it’s the fourth quarter.

When things do begin to rebound, those who benefit most will be the ones who built new relationships during the downtime. The natural inclination is to circle the wagons and look for anything that will pay the bills. Of course, the bills do have to be paid. What we miss is that every company is trying to find more efficient ways to do what they do. The innovators during downtimes find those solutions that help other companies retool and emerge stronger and more profitable.

What’s different about such a broad recession is that it’s not just companies that will be retooling. It’s the whole economy. National policy will drive innovations to make our overall economic infrastructure more efficient. How do we transport goods and people more fuel efficiently? How do we retrofit a power grid to incorporate alternative energy? How do we lower the cost of healthcare by introducing new technologies?  There’s an entirely new economy waiting to bud and our region can be positioned to provide the solutions to make it happen.

As companies downsize and even disappear, we look for a silver lining. Then we talk about bailouts in amounts we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago, and all we can see are massive clouds of doubt. But when we look closer to home, we see pockets of talent, capital, and intellectual property that have an incredible amount of value. As it happens, these pockets are ideally situated to take advantage of new investments in the technologies that will drive a major shift in our economy.

If you connect the dots of companies already doing business in the broader valley that deal with alternative technologies, you would think that someone had planned it that way. Add to that a higher education system that is educating a nice mix of engineers and entrepreneurs, and you have a valley of a different sort. Then there’s a burgeoning presence of healthcare technology interests supported by a new, research-oriented medical school. This place seems ideally suited to benefit from the financial rebound.

Our legislators will be looking for new sources of funding to support any innovations that will create jobs. Our universities and healthcare systems will be looking for ways to commercialize new technologies and bring investment dollars to the area. And, a whole new crop of engineers and entrepreneurs will be entering a workplace where the traditional job is in short supply. The building blocks are there to create a bright spot that breaks through the clouds of recession.

While it may not be time to whistle away the fact that our nation made some bad errors of financial judgment, it is time to accept the new ground rules and move on. And, it’s a great time to do some digging and find the hidden opportunities in the broader valley that will be real gems in the new economy. As you dig, bookmark what you find and share your discoveries with other business contacts who may have an interest. The more you share, the more opportunities will come back your way.

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If there’s one thing that makes the markets crazy, it’s uncertainty. Not knowing whether a company’s earnings will meet expectations makes it difficult to know whether to buy, sell or stay away. Wondering whether the Fed will raise rates may keep you from refinancing. But waiting out the last days of a lame duck President can feel like torture– especially when your 401k is tanking, your friends are losing their jobs, and your nation’s in an endless war.

Knowing who the President’s going to be for the next four years removes a lot of uncertainty from the picture. While fundamental issues like the recapitalization of the credit markets will not be solved by an election, some psychological issues will be. After all, the wild swings in the stock market are not purely logical. Mass psychology plays a major role in the fear and greed that move the markets. If you look at the recent drop in stock prices, there is simply no way that the fundamental value of American companies has dropped by more than $8 trillion in one year.

No matter who the President-elect may be as you read this, you have a choice. You can either spread the message of gloom and doom or you can encourage your colleagues and clients to peek around the corner and see the road ahead. It’s amazing how contagious either massage can be.

That’s not to say that we should strike up the band as the Titanic sinks. Blind optimism is not a strategy. Instead, spreading a positive outlook does work to combat uncertainty. Simply telling all of your clients or customers that you expect the economy to rebound soon and reassuring them that your company is building for the future can actually result in positive outcomes.

Mass uncertainty is like a virus. The media often seeds the virus by reporting negative economic news in a sensational fashion. Then, the word spreads of impending doom and causes everyone to reign in spending and sit on their hands. It’s a ripple effect that reaches down to individual households.

Taking a step back from the global economic crisis, the role uncertainty plays in individual communities and companies follows the same dynamic. In these smaller settings, negative news travels like wildfire. Very quickly, morale drops, compounding the effect of the initial problem. This compounding effect can be completely avoided by injecting some level of certainty by managing the message.

Our region shares a tremendous amount of potential that is waiting to be realized. Yet, in conversations on the street and online, you consistently hear discontent over the lack of opportunity. Part of this negativity comes from a shared uncertainty about the future direction of the region.

Getting everyone who lives here to agree on a common direction may never happen. However, if a common direction is clearly defined and effectively communicated to the citizenry, a framework develops that guides progress. When the direction is nebulous to the public, it’s as if we are all involved in a game with no rules and no clear way to win.

So, as we face down the next four years with the certainty of a new President, let’s urge our local leaders find common positive ground and encourage each other to pursue a common destiny of progress. Otherwise, we’ll remain mired in the uncertainty that holds us all back and keeps us from realizing our collective potential. With 2009 right around the corner, make it a point to share a positive outlook and find new ways to win in this new economy.

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In a lot of ways, community succession planning is a function of the businesses that make it up. As business owners identify the next generation of leadership in their companies, they place these individuals in positions of influence within the community. They may sponsor these young professionals’ participation in community leadership programs. They may nominate them for various community board positions. However they choose to tap these new leaders, their motivation is largely the same: securing a say in decisions that will affect their businesses in the future.

The whole idea of succession planning is setting up a leadership structure that will continue to increase your wealth after you have let go of the reigns. This principle holds true whether you’re talking about a small business, a large corporation, or a community. The ideal scenario is one in which the younger generation recognizes new opportunities that will grow the business or community beyond the founders’ imaginations. And, in a lot of cases, that means a new leap of faith for the stakeholders.

A true passing of the torch involves a new vision that will be more sustainable than the previous one. It involves creating that vision within the context of a world yet to come– one that includes new technologies, new modes of communication, and whole new economies. Sometimes, that means embracing a vision that you might not fully understand. But, that is the nature of risk.

At its worst, a succession plan gets tied up with the ego and a spiral of ill-conceived plots are hatched. Leaders attempt to pass the responsibility for the future without passing the rewards of the future. The fear of relinquishing control gets in the way of providing the kind of real opportunity that shapes new leaders. The end result is usually an exodus of real talent to competitors. In which case, the leaders are left with a less talented pool from which to choose their successors. And, in grasping for control, the leaders compromise their own futures.

At its best, a succession plan becomes a shared vision that provides a new rallying point. Leaders take an active, collaborative role in defining the vision. They identify the merits of future leaders and give them challenges that will be most rewarding for the individual and the company or community. In doing so, they engage younger talent, incorporate new possibilities, and secure a bright future for generations to come.

For leaders that hang on without a plan, the results rarely do much for posterity. Aside from alienating the very people who hold the key to the future, they further alienate their company or community from more progressive-minded partners. This is the point at which the torch begins to burn the fingers of its bearer.

In this region, tenure is something that is not taken lightly. Carilion Clinic boasts more than 500 employees in their Quarter Century Society, who have more than 25 years of continuous service. Railroad and utility jobs are equally coveted. In the Valley, these kinds of jobs mean security for life if you can just roll with the changes. That’s not to say that loyalty is something that shouldn’t be valued. It’s increasingly rare.

However, when a community relies so heavily on a few large employers, the collective vision can become fairly shortsighted. We need only to look to the coalfields to our west and the mill towns to our south to see examples. There is no real shift in vision when your job is to extract coal from the ground or weave cotton into fabric. There is only the security of another day’s wage and the promise of a pension.

In these instances, succession planning is fairly autonomous. Those who have reaped the rewards and held the responsibility pick people who will continue the status quo. They pick people who won’t rock the boat and upset the natural balance of the working poor and the privileged few.

We face similar succession issues at the national level, the state level and the local level. The question on each of those fronts is whether or not the vision of the future is compelling enough to justify the risk. None of us know exactly what the outcomes of our decisions will be. But, given the choice, we can either embrace new possibilities and proceed with optimism, or we can grasp for some level of acceptable stability and preserve the status quo. If we choose the latter course, we have to accept the risk that the torch will burn our fingers because we were unable to pass it.

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Now, the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership has changed its name to the Roanoke Regional Partnership, complete with a new logo and new executive director. This time, the organization is shooting for a happy medium that encourages cooperation without a merger and encourages regionalism without a formal alliance. The Partnership also boasts a new $7 million, five-year budget that matches private sector donations with public funding.

The Partnership will continue to spend more than half of its time and money recruiting new businesses to the area. However, these efforts will include a new emphasis on retail recruitment. As the Partnership focuses more on attracting young professionals, good retail is a critical amenity. The remainder of the Partnership’s budget will be spent on building the region’s image, awareness and infrastructure.

The leadership at the Partnership freely admits that the Roanoke Region is simply not on the radar for the majority of prospects, be they companies or independent professionals. The first major investment the Partnership made was in a new Web site that will give prospects a 360-degree view of the region. Along with the launch of the new Roanoke.org Web site, the Partnership will be spending money on Web banners and search engines to drive traffic. Investing in a better Web presence will certainly guide the first-impressions of interested parties. But what, if anything, puts Roanoke on the radar of interested parties in the first place?

To get “on the radar,” it takes a compelling story that will be picked up and passed along. Right now, the Roanoke Region’s story is a lot like a hundred other mid-sized metro areas in America. It’s difficult to say what sets the Roanoke Region apart from its competitors. In fact, it’s difficult to establish a set of competitors. Based solely on data like size, growth rate, and geography, the Roanoke Region is similar to places like Kingsport, Tennessee or Columbus, Georgia. Quite frankly, virtually every city of similar size in the Southeast can claim a decent quality of life and scenic landscapes.

Part of the problem with defining and branding the Roanoke Region is just how fragmented it is. The Partnership represents the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke, the cities of Covington, Roanoke and Salem and the Town of Vinton. Each municipality has its own set of priorities and its own organizations to pursue economic strategies. The members of the Partnership also compete with one another for development and tourism. One would think that the first order of business would be to get all of those entities on the same page.

However, the Partnership is already more than a year into a five-year program of work. Trying to build consensus among nine municipalities would take valuable time. So, the Partnership will not be spending the next year trying to convince its members to present themselves using the new Roanoke Region identity. For instance, the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, which represents the same group of municipalities, will not be marketing the “Roanoke Region” as a destination brand.

Having learned from the pitfalls of the past, the Partnership will not be proposing the consolidation of economic development groups within the region. While it enjoys a good relationship with Virginia Tech, it will not be attempting a broader partnership, like NewVa, that reaches into neighboring regions. Most of the region’s administrators, including the Partnership’s new Executive Director, Beth Doughty, were directly involved with both of these failed consolidation efforts. This time around, the Partnership seems more focused on results and less on symbolic alliances.

According to the Partnership, the values statement that guides its efforts has been met with general acceptance:
The Roanoke Region offers the best balance between outdoor recreation and urban amenities of any area in the eastern United States. Residents and visitors have easy access to some of the best cycling, fishing, water sports, and hiking in North America. The region also offers a diverse arts community, acclaimed higher learning, desirable retail, a commitment to “green” improvements, and a favorable cost-of-living. All this, paired with the scenic beauty of the mountains and a mild-temperate climate, make the Roanoke Region an exceptional place to visit, work, live, and invest.

Again, the difficulty will be making the Roanoke Region stand out by creating a story that is unique. It’s no surprise that the value statement is agreeable. If you took the words “Roanoke Region” out of it, the people in Kingsport would probably nod in approval too. Maybe it’s because every city in America with less than a half-million residents is desperately seeking an influx of young professionals. Maybe it’s because every economic development study tells us that young professionals like expensive mountain bikes, martini bars, boutiques, art galleries, higher salaries, lower housing costs and green living. Whatever the reason for the parity among America’s mid-sized cities, the Roanoke Region’s story has to be different to be memorable.

If the Partnership spends the next four years increasing population growth rates and household incomes, the initiative will be considered a success. However, the larger success will come when educated young professionals can move here and enjoy the opportunities and relative income they have worked so hard to earn. Until the Roanoke Region can compete on that level, any gains will be purely statistical.

To be clear, the Roanoke Region’s current situation is not the result of anything that our economic development authority has failed to do in the past. The Partnership’s strategy is valid, with clearly defined goals and a new level of accountability. No doubt, it’s good to have responsible, concerned business people involved in promoting smart growth. Let’s hope the effort attracts more smart people who will find a community that values their ideas, gives them a unique place to apply their skills and is able to offer them competitive compensation.

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The green economy is creating opportunities that weren’t there before. Whether it’s a market for carbon credits or a certification program for paper products, a lot of the new revenue in the green economy is being created out of thin air. The majority of this new green wealth will do little to save the planet. But, the very existence of this new economy is based on the fact that there’s a crisis. It’s a lot like 1999, when computer software companies created a market around the fear that January 1, 2000 would bring mass calamity. The difference with the climate crisis is that we’re talking about saving the world several thousands of years from now. It’s a sustainable market.

About a year ago, Citibank announced it would be investing $50 billion over the next ten years in green technology and green business models. In a world where we follow the money, that’s a pretty difficult signal to ignore. If you look at Gore’s Plan, Exxon’s Plan and the Pickens Plan, each one is designed to take advantage of the new green reality. Gore’s “WE” campaign will capture the fastest growing segment of consumers and voters by appealing to their sense of social responsibility. Exxon will spend just enough on green R&D to justify its $50 billion profits until the oil runs out. And, T. Boone Pickens wants to appeal to our national pride and convince the government to buy into his wind farms and natural gas caverns.

So, what’s the Valley’s Green Plan? Recently, Councilwoman Gwen Mason teamed up with Stan Breakell, who recently put his construction company through a green makeover, to form the Roanoke Business Environmental Leadership Coalition. More than a dozen of Roanoke’s largest employers endorsed a plan to make the city “cleaner and greener.” Meanwhile, the Roanoke Valley-Allegheny Regional Commission is just beginning to develop a comprehensive environmental plan for the broader area.

While these efforts may be a step in the right direction, how can the Valley position itself to take advantage of the tidal wave of green investment? When you’re looking at a line of coal cars stretching as far as the eye can see, it’s difficult to be objective. And, when you pull out of town and enter the flow of diesel engines on I-81, you’re not exactly feeling environmentally inspired.

In that wonderful world of potential, there are hundreds of marketable green technologies being developed in conjunction with Virginia Tech right now. We’ve got a functional partnership between the University and Carilion Clinic to develop medical technologies and educate medical researchers. The same opportunity exists to leverage partnerships between the University and companies like Novozymes, Meridium, or Luna into a green story.

Remember, in this new economy, crafting your green story is just as important as minimizing your carbon footprint. The great thing is that it doesn’t matter what your current green profile is. If Exxon can make you believe that they’re saving the environment, then our Valley can be the greenest place on earth.

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In 2006, the counties enlisted the assistance of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission to study tourism infrastructure and economic impact. Using this data, teams of community stakeholders developed the plans. All shared strengths that were led by natural beauty and weaknesses including limited infrastructure, data and funding. The plans also included detailed tactics including destination branding, tour packaging, websites and associated marketing materials.

The Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) also markets the counties as part of its comprehensive plan. Botetourt and Franklin Counties pay about $10,000 annually into the fund that supports the Bureau. Craig County has not contributed the fund for the last several years. One might ask why the counties would need to market themselves when the Bureau already markets the region. Part of the answer may lie in the fact that the Roanoke Valley CVB operates on a budget that is roughly 20% of what Asheville spends. When the pie is too small to slice up, sometimes you have to make your own pie.

The structure of tourism marketing is a lot like automotive marketing. The Virginia Tourism Commission spends a great deal of money marketing the state as a destination to a national and international audience, much like the Ford brand would run national television ads to promote its products. The Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes a group of regional destinations, the way the Ford regional dealer group pools advertising dollars. Finally, our individual municipalities try to attract visitors like an individual dealership would on local television.

The trick is maintaining brand consistency from the top down. Using the same analogy, Ford national advertising sets the tone for the brand. Regional promotion, while consistent, rarely fits perfectly with the slick brand image established on national television. And, when you get down to your local dealer yelling from his parking lot you rarely, if ever, get a message that supports the brand.

If you look at the current campaign that the Virginia Tourism Commission is running, it tells visitors to “Live Passionately” and depicts dramatic historical scenes. The Roanoke Valley CVB uses the line “It’s in Our Nature” to promote the natural beauty of the area and generally uses slice-of-life outdoor recreation scenes to support it. Botetourt’s new efforts encourage visitors to “Start Exploring” and uses items like compasses overlaying scenes of attractions.

This is not to say that any of these approaches are wrong. However, there are synergies and economies of scale that are lost when the messages and media are out of synch. In fact, there is cooperation from the state down to local destinations. As members of the CVB, each county is fully aware of the direction the region is taking and contributes to the fund that promotes them collectively. Likewise, the state provides grants to regions and municipalities to develop tourism infrastructure and promote it.

The question still looms whether or not tourists have a compelling reason to choose Virginia and then narrow their choice to our region. However, with most of Botetourt, Franklin and Craig visitors coming from a short drive away, and with limited attractions in each place, the counties efforts are somewhat standalone. In a lot of ways, they are competing amongst themselves for our “staycationers.”

Unless a destination has a signature attraction with a national draw, it is very difficult to build a viable destination brand. Let’s face it, there aren’t many families in the Midwest discussing their summer vacation to Botetourt County to see the Roaring Run Furnace. Again, this is not to slight the counties’ efforts. Each county has seen an increase in inquiries and tax revenues from tourism. The results would be compounded if that same family in the Midwest were planning their summer vacation to experience one of our regional attractions. The problem is that our region lacks an identity in tourists’ minds.

We need to ask ourselves how tourists identify our region. It seems we are constantly grasping for an identity that will make everyone in Roanoke happy. The Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership recently changed its name to the Roanoke Regional Partnership to be more inclusive. The CVB, on the other hand, promotes our collective tourism product as the Roanoke Valley. Are we to assume that out-of-state tourists plan vacations to the Roanoke Valley and businesses consider sites that are in the Roanoke Region?

The fact of the matter is that the only real national draws in our region are the pathways that run through it. None of those scenic or historical routes have the name Roanoke in them. For most tourists who pass through on the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Appalachian Trail, Roanoke is a stop along the way with a quaint downtown market, an interesting rail heritage, a funky new art museum and a neon star on a mountain. So, in a lot of ways, the counties’ efforts are dead on target, offering a unique respite for tourists passing through and raising awareness of local attractions for day-trippers.

The sooner we realize that people are coming through, not coming to, the sooner we can start “Living Passionately” and encouraging our guests to do the same.

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While the County is currently updating its plan, the one put together in 1995 outlines a vision for 2010. One of those vision statements reads, “In 2010, Roanoke County has enacted ordinances and programs to preserve the integrity of the surrounding mountains and open space. These include mountainside, ridgeline and natural resource protection. That seems at odds with the development of Slate Hill, West Village and Keagy Village. Each of these developments scraped trees off of natural inclines and involved extensive earth moving.

Another vision statement reads, “In 2010, Roanoke County continues to support the educational efforts of Explore Park and includes environmental education in the public school curriculum.” Now it seems that vision may have to be modified to say that Roanoke County will support the entertainment efforts of a theme park after the property was placed in the hands of an outside developer.

Both Slate Hill and Explore Park seem to be stuck in a state of limbo. Part of that perception is the incredible number of hoops these developers have to leap through to make their visions fit with the County’s. In a lot of ways, the County is allowing development that is outside the scope of their plan, but remaining sticklers about environmental impact. It’s almost like developers pay penance to absolve the County’s guilt over compromising their vision. The final vision statement in the plan states, “In 2010, Roanoke County has taken the lead to preserve our most valuable natural asset,
the scenic environment and natural ridge lines of the mountains surrounding the Roanoke
Valley.”

However, if you look at the impact of tax dollars that these developments and other industrial developments in the County have generated, it’s hard to argue that economic development efforts have been successful. The County announced dozens of company expansions and relocations, retail developments and other investments that have contributed to a high quality of life in the area. These developments may be accomplishing the County’s other goals at the expense of strict adherence to the stated plan.

The County’s Comprehensive Plan involved the requisite community involvement. And, the key values expressed do no differ greatly from those of surrounding municipalities. They read as follows:

COMMUNITY-WIDE THEMES
1. Regionalism - The County must take the lead in finding new and innovative ways to look beyond its political boundaries for solutions to the challenges of the next century.
2. Sustainability - Recognizing that our natural systems are vital to providing both economic needs and quality of life for all citizens, sustainable development has been incorporated into County planning — meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
3. Community Identity - Roanoke County citizens identify very closely with their neighborhoods and school districts. Efforts must be made to preserve the elements of community identity that provide gathering places for the exchange of information and support.
4. Scenic Beauty - The mountains that surround the County provide a sense of place and are a source of beauty, recreational activity and inspiration. Steps must be taken to develop sound conservation policies for our dwindling farm lands, mountainsides and ridges, rivers and streams, soil and air. These resources are considered by many to be our region’s greatest asset.
5. Quality of Life - The citizens of Roanoke County recognize that there exists a fragile balance between economic growth and prosperity and the preservation of a way of life that is cherished by many. Proactive steps must be taken to manage growth in a positive way - to act conservatively and with deliberation when making decisions that will affect our high quality of life and that of our children’s children.

Regionalism, sustainability, community identity, scenic beauty and quality of life pretty much sum up the same values that all of us are after. The question is whether or not the municipalities that prosper through development will be compromising the scenic beauty by developing hillsides. Are the developments best for future generations, or do they create sprawl? Do we lose our community identity as we become more targeted on attracting retirees as our primary new residents? And, will the intersection of all the development at 419 and 220 ultimately improve our quality of life or create traffic jams and flooding?

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