ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180034
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV9   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: NEWBERN                                LENGTH: Medium


PULASKI COUNTY NEEDS JOBS MOST, GROUP SAYS/

The most pressing problem in Pulaski County these days is lack of employment opportunities, according to a group of about 60 business, government and community leaders.

The group gathered at the Valley Pike Inn for a legislative forum Tuesday morning to discuss the county's problems and to meet candidates running for town councils in Dublin and Pulaski. The forum was sponsored the Chamber of Commerce.

"The best way to find a solution to the [employment] problem is to actively support the [New River Valley] Economic Development Alliance," said David Stanley, who is running for Dublin Town Council as an incumbent. Stanley was spokesman for one of seven roundtables asked to identify problems in the county's communities and search for solutions.

"Education is the next-most pressing problem and also is the solution to the problem," Stanley said. "We need to support the School Board and the GED [General Educational Development] programs."

According to the 1980 Census, 53 percent of the county's residents over the age of 25 don't have a GED or high school diploma.

Phyllis Hug, who works at Pulaski Community Hospital, said the county has an image problem. "There are negative attitudes within the community and in surrounding counties," she said.

Hug's group agreed that the best way to combat that problem was to continue efforts to invoke community pride.

"A lot is being done to make people aware that we exist," she said, citing brochures at visitors' centers and posters in airports as examples. But she said the county could do more. "We have shopping, low taxes, friendly attitudes - we need to advertise that."

Don Holycross, Pulaski town manager, said a campaign should be started urging county residents to buy locally.

"We need to educate the public on the cost of taking each dollar out of town," he said."

Holycross also said officials should try to develop Peak Creek, which runs through downtown Pulaski, to attract more people to the area.

Some groups said problems with pollution and recycling need to be solved. Others said there is a communication problem between governments and residents that needs improvement.

But all groups said the county has potential - they just need to make other people realize that it's there.



 by CNB