Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020207
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
JOB #1 FOR LAWMAKERS: JOBS
LAYOFFS AND CUTBACKS are prompting some state lawmakers to take new political risks and question the local status quo. They're betting the voters will approve.
Roanoke Valley legislators increasingly are taking leading roles in efforts to land new business and industry - thanks to the one-word platform for the '90s:
Jobs.
Lost jobs and the need to replace them is revising the political calculus of valley lawmakers in Richmond, who until now have generally left economic development battles to local governments.
For Del. Victor Thomas, the Roanoke Democrat best known for championing causes for hunters and gun owners, it took becoming the chairman of an influential subcommittee to make him a player in Roanoke Valley economic development efforts.
For state Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, it took a newspaper story and chats with a few key confidants - including his former campaign manager, Mary Carter, and Senate colleague Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo - to hit upon an idea he thinks might make sense: unifying the valley's economic development offices.
And for Trumbo, it took a wake-up call from Westvaco Corp. - a $500 million investment that promised to net only 50 new jobs for Alleghany Highlands workers - for him to engineer the creation of a state economic development authority for Covington, Clifton Forge and Alleghany County.
What's happening here?
The quest for new jobs "has more immediacy now because we're still in a mini-recession," says Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke. The closing of Grumman Emergency Products Corp. cost 270 jobs. Gardner-Denver Mining and Construction cut 400 jobs. Dominion Bankshares Corp. plans to lay off 850 people. The Sears Telecatalog closing put 1,300 full- and part-timers out of work.
Even though plans for 2,000 new jobs have been announced in recent months - including 400 by First Union and 170 by Transkrit Corp. - anxiety over the region's future economic health is becoming a hot-button issue.
"There's a sense we've got to wake up and see where we can help," says Bell, who gained political prominence in 1989 for his outspoken support of government consolidation in the Roanoke Valley.
The changing economy is forcing changes in politics. Indeed, uncertain times appear to be prompting political risk-taking by lawmakers eager to make a difference and ensure their re-election at the same time.
Consider these possible consequences:
Thomas recently grabbed for $3 million in state training money to entice Norfolk Southern Corp.'s 400-worker customer service center to the Roanoke Valley. The bid failed when railroad officials decided to locate the center in Atlanta.
Roanoke lost the center and the money. Thomas - chairman of the commerce and economic development subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee - conceded defeat.
He was successful, however, in landing $200,000 for a state economic development office in Roanoke, something he says is badly needed for a region stretching from Roanoke to Radford.
Bell's trial balloon calling for unifying the valley's economic development efforts seemed filled with lead - if reaction from officials in the city and county are any indication.
Said one municipal economic development official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, "It doesn't make any sense. It shows a total lack of understanding of economic development. It shows a total lack of understanding of local government in Virginia, like it or not.
"It's a nonissue. There's absolutely no thought given to what in the world these people are going to do. The level of intelligence in this discussion has been zero."
Bell's not surprised at such denunciations.
"I fully expected the response that came back," he says, making no apologies for failing to consult local political leaders before unveiling his idea. He's more interested in how voters will respond as he continues to float the idea in speeches and informal discussions.
Trumbo, R-Fincastle, concedes that his drive to create an Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Authority - mandating the participation of Covington, Clifton Forge and Alleghany County - could backfire.
Officials in Covington, Trumbo's political base, strongly oppose the legislation because it mandates their participation and earmarks tax money flowing into city coffers. The authority would use new tax revenue collected from Westvaco's planned expansion to recruit industrial prospects and promote business expansion in the Highlands.
Clifton Forge and Alleghany County officials support the measure. Tuesday, Gov. Douglas Wilder amended the bill, striking Covington from participation. Trumbo says he's not sure whether he will try to marshal enough votes to override the amendment.
"All I ask is that you people give it a shot," Trumbo told a legislative forum last month, according to an account in the Virginian Review of Covington. "If it doesn't work within four years, it's dead. And if I run for re-election, defeat me."
Like Roanoke and its historic reliance on the railroad, Highlands localities have depended on Westvaco for jobs, tax revenue and civic leadership. But times are changing, and the $500 million expansion is netting only 50 new jobs while others continue to disappear.
That's why Trumbo took a chance and shepherded his plan for the authority, patterned after the 7-year-old Coalfield Economic Development Authority, through the General Assembly.
"I grew up here," Trumbo says. "I knew what was going to go down" when plans for an authority were publicized and then denounced by some local officials. "I also talked to enough people on the street to know there was a concern" about the economic future of the Highlands.
Highlanders aren't alone. Roanoke Valley residents appear to want more attention paid to job creation, according to the most recent Roanoke Valley poll, and they're looking to local and state officials to make a difference.
"Once you get to Richmond, you realize Richmond ain't gonna come out here and help you," Trumbo says. "If we don't do it, nobody else is going to do it."