Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006290604
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
More than 100 Roanoke Valley business and community leaders took a bus tour of the town's Farmers' Market, new factories, schools, subdivisions and two golf course sites in the expanding community of Vinton and eastern Roanoke County.
They started with breakfast and a slide show describing the town's position in "the Center of Progress" at the Vinton War Memorial. It was the town's first such event in 19 years.
Vinton Mayor Charles Hill and George Nester, town manager, told the visitors they want people to think of Vinton as a larger community.
Although its population is about 8,000, they estimate that Vinton draws more than 37,300 people in its market covering eastern Roanoke County and parts of the Smith Mountain Lake area, the city of Roanoke and Bedford County.
Potential traffic into Vinton is up to 135,000 vehicles a day, the town's boosters said. Its officials call Vinton "the gateway to Smith Mountain Lake and Explore."
David Holcomb, a Charlotte shopping center developer, referred to the "town of Roanoke" and "the city of Vinton" in his promotion of the River Park center, owned by his company.
Holcomb, listing the community's features, told the business leaders Vinton is "98 percent white." He spoke to a busload of people while standing beside a bus driver and near Roanoke Mayor Noel Taylor, who are black.
Afterward, Taylor had no comment on Holcomb's statement. The mayor did say he "appreciated the forward thrust" of Vinton.
Del. Richard Cranwell, who is a Vinton resident, told the leaders in a luncheon talk that Vinton is "a great place," not for its traffic count or other assets but because "we know and care about each other. If there's anything missing today, it's that."
In Vinton, he said, "most of us call each other by our first name . . . We have a responsibility to our neighbors, our friends and those less fortunate. We do that."
Ali Khan, general manager of Precision Fabrics, said Vinton is "a great place to live, work and have fun."
His plant, once known as Vinton Weaving, has 650 employees, the largest work force in Vinton. The plant ships 1.4 million yards of processed nylon fabric a week.
In addition to computer and typewriter ribbons, the company makes gym shorts, window shades, flags and shirt labels. The DuPont plant at Martinsville is one of its largest suppliers.
A Progress Day report prepared by the town staff said one of the most impressive labor factors in Vinton is its low cost of living, well below state and national averages, which translates into "lower wage requirements for employees."
Production and maintenance workers earn 87 percent of the state average; material movement and services workers make 89 percent; clerks average just over 91 percent and those in managerial, professional and technical positions make less than 96 percent of the state average, the report said.
Since workers earn less, wages are very competitive, living and operational costs are low, according to the report.
Cranwell, summing up Vinton residents' sentiments about their town, said he and state Sen. Granger MacFarlane, D-Roanoke, had to make a trip to Washington last Thursday. "If anything can ruin a day, it's having to leave Vinton and go to Washington," he said.
by CNB