Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090182
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wilder told the annual meeting of Roanoke Valley Industries at the Airport Marriott that the conference of educators, farmers, small-business people, corporate and government officials and state leaders will explore ways to maintain quality of life while developing needed jobs.
Building blocks for economic growth are adequate transportation and a healthy and well-educated work force, he said, but the environment must be protected as the economy is stimulated.
Earlier in the day, Wilder helped launch National Tourist Week, May 13-19, by announcing the move of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau to the new Marketplace Center at Market Street and Campbell Avenue in August.
The state Department of Economic Development will review ways to help boost tourism in Western Virginia, Wilder said. He was backed by Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, who said he expects the department to spend more to advertise travel attractions in Western Virginia.
Of the $7.1 billion spent for travel in Virginia in 1988, Cranwell said, $6.1 billion was spent in the urban crescent of eastern Virginia, while only $1 billion went to the area from Charlottesville west.
Wilder told a Convention Bureau news conference he was pleased to see legislators working together in the Roanoke Valley. The governor said he does not see such cooperation in all parts of the state. "It can do nothing but reap continued benefits," he said.
Wilder said plans for the Dominion Tower, Norfolk Southern office building, Hotel Roanoke improvements and a trade and convention center "are closely watched in my office and in Washington."
Tourism, now bringing Roanoke Valley more than $200 million annually from travelers and generating nearly $39 million in wages for more than 4,200 jobs, is projected to be the top industry in the nation by 2000, Wilder said.
Jim Hinson, bureau president, said its new quarters will give the organization convenience and greater visibility. He told of a national travel writing contest about Roanoke with a $1,000 prize.
Hinson said a training program for employees who meet the public will be held on Monday and Tuesday and a public forum on the importance of tourism in economic development will be Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the Science Museum's Hopkins Planetarium.
Wilder said he tells companies planning to relocate "what other manufacturers already know" - that Western Virginia "has many attributes which well suit it for economic expansion."
The organization voted to change its name to Management Association of Western Virginia because it has a regional membership.
by CNB