
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993                   TAG: 9308200095
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE                                LENGTH: Short

BETTER N.C. LURES `EATING OUR LUNCH'

Virginia Economic Development Director April Young said Thursday that North Carolina obviously is offering more incentives than Virginia to attract new industries.

"We're not doing as well as we'd like. . . . North Carolina, to put it frankly, is eating our lunch," she said. "Half of our active prospects we lose to North Carolina. . . . We'd like to figure out what's going on in North Carolina that's so attractive."

But existing industries may be more important for new jobs, she told the Grayson Business Association.

"The glamorous part of economic development is being associated with capturing the new company," she said. "But the simple fact is, 85 percent of the new jobs in Virginia last year were created by existing industry."

Young said one initiative that has succeeded is the Governor's Economic Opportunity Fund, approved by the General Assembly two years ago to provide financial incentives to new or growing companies.

"There's about $7.5 million in the fund and it's basically spent. I think it's been a great opportunity for Virginia to tip the scales."

A big problem for Virginia now is finding new products for companies that have relied on defense contracts, Young said.

"So far we've got the peace, but we've got no dividend," she said. "Virginia is the single most dependent state in the nation on defense spending."

by CNB