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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991                   TAG: 9104190700
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE SELLING OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

ECONOMIC-development gurus often talk about building "bridges" between robust businesses in urbanized Northern Virginia and the less-than-robust economy of rural Southwest Virginia. So far, there's been more talk than action. The recent economic slowdown hasn't helped.

Still, a number of people in the public and private sectors are concentrating intensely on the concept. A new report, "Southwest Virginia - Our People Mean Business," could help provoke more businesses to give thought to moving to Southwest Virginia or opening satellite operations in the region.

Published by C&P Telephone Co., the study focuses mainly on the huge pool of available office workers in the 17-county area west of Roanoke. It counts not only the unemployed but the underemployed and the yearly infusion into the area's labor force of new high-school graduates.

The study reflects the changing organization of office work - in telecommunications, for example - as a result of which not all employees need to work in centralized locations. Back-office, computer and service operations offer an economic-development opportunity for Southwest Virginia. C&P's phone-book-length study advertises a productive, ready, willing work force.

The basic spin is that employers in high-wage areas can dramatically cut their labor costs by doing business in this region, because people here are prepared to work for relatively low wages. Some Southwest Virginians may resent the seeming Third-World slant.

But the reality is that the high cost of living in Washington's suburbs has driven up wages in Northern Virginia, and could eventually force more employers to consider relocating all or part of their businesses.

If the considerably lower cost of living in Southwest Virginia translates into lower labor costs for prospective employers, so be it. Jobs are jobs, and Southwest Virginia needs them badly as the ratchet to climb out of its economic slump and begin catching up with more prosperous areas of the state.

Much has been written, for instance, about disparities in public education between Southwest Virginia and other sections of the state. In large part, these are tied to local contributions for public schools. They lag other areas' contributions because the economic base lags. Improved job opportunities could help promote greater support for education and a generally enriched quality of life. These factors, in turn, should help to improve the wage base for Southwest Virginians. But first must come the jobs.

And before the jobs must come consciousness-expanding. Florine Graham, formerly of Radford and now a vice president at George Mason University, says a major problem is that many Northern Virginia businesses do not know Southwest Virginia exists. "They think the state ends at Roanoke; many think it ends at Richmond."

Graham is among GMU leaders who have joined ranks with leaders at Virginia Tech, at New River Community College and with a coalition of business leaders headed by Lt. Gov. Don Beyer to promote partnership bridges between Northern Virginia and Southwest Virginia. This project should reinforce efforts by others, including the state's Department of Economic Development and the Coalfield Economic Development Authority.

So far, there isn't much to show for the effort. But people are visiting back and forth; they're making contacts, connecting, talking. The payoffs will come. The new C&P study, now being widely distributed, should prove a handy reference and sales tool for those trying to get more bridges out of the talking stage and under construction.

by CNB