Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994 TAG: 9401270210
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Higher education.
Ten percent of the region's 400,000 residents are students, said Council Chairman and Carilion Health Systems President Tom Robertson. Higher education has an economic impact of more than $1 billion.
"If we focus on education . . . it offers a very good starting point," Roberston said.
While about 100 people turned out for the council's public hearing at Virginia Western Community College on Tuesday night, only about half that many came Wednesday evening to the one at New River Community College.
Even Director Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. was unable to attend after being fogged in at Richmond's airport, Robertson said.
The council, a coalition of business people, politicians, academics and industry leaders, formed five months ago and gave itself the task of molding a common vision for 12 localities between Botetourt County and Radford.
Just last week, after five sessions struggling to define that vision, the council revealed its work: seven far-reaching goals that it hopes will take the region to the forefront of technology, education and economic success within two decades.
It has identified such admirable, generic goals as making the region one of the safest, healthiest and most desirable places to live and work; establishing it as a model for leadership, regional identity and 21st century opportunity; and diversifying its economy and making it globally competitive.
It also wants the region to be one where governments work together; the infrastructure links the region and the world; and perhaps most adamantly, where public and private education is among the world's best.
Wednesday's hearing, though, like Tuesday's, was a night for the regular Joe to have his say.
NRCC President Ed Barnes began the hearing by telling the crowd not to forget the community colleges when it considers the impact of higher education on the region.
"We want to be in that ball game," Barnes said. "We'll even bring you a bat."
As the discussion of the seven goals progressed, education became the most-discussed topic, with educators doing most of the talking.
Bob Giles, a Virginia Tech professor, found himself apologizing to the crowd for talking too much, but called upon the council to incorporate the idea of promoting the region as a center for competency-based training on everything "from how to run a chain saw . . . to how to run a software program."
With Radford University, Virginia Tech and New River Community College, as well as Virginia Western and Hollins, Roanoke and Ferrum colleges, he also suggested that the region promote a philosophy: figuring out how each dollar spent on education translates into behavioral change.
Sheila Reyna, a Radford professor, said the region needs to promote tolerance and diversity. And if the region is to really connect with the world, it needs to educate its people - its children - in foreign languages, she said.
As the discussion progressed to economic issues, Ray Smoot, Tech's vice president for finance and treasurer, said the council needs to look at ways that businesses can get investment capital more easily.
"We've got to create greater access to that in Southwest Virginia," Smoot said.
Blacksburg developer Ray Alcorn emphasized a strategy urging business and government to cooperate. "Government needs to unleash the private sector," he said.
But Hiwasee residents Jason Wilson and Debbie Lineweaver sounded a more cautious note.
As they near retirement, they said, they are deciding whether to stay in the region and hope that environmental issues would not be forgotten in the council's work.
"It's a rare community . . . that can expand and hold it to a point" where they don't lose the quality of life, Lineweaver said.
Robertson, the chairman, said that when the council's consultant interviewed residents about what they thought was important, "quality of life was the first thing they mentioned."
by CNB