Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 29, 1994 TAG: 9405270074
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Those people think Roanoke wouldn't care about the four counties and one city in the New River Valley were it not for Virginia Tech. But there's more south of Ironto than a major research university: The New River Valley is one of Virginia's manufacturing beacons.
But as an industrial center, it is rife with contradictions.
Though the nearly 30 percent of the labor force employed in goods-producing industries is about twice the national and state averages, the New River Valley lost 6,400 manufacturing-related jobs from 1988 to 1993. From 1991 to 1993, the valley showed a net loss of more than 1,100 manufacturing jobs, according to a labor force analysis performed by Tech's Economic Development Assistance Center.
Michael Hensley, director of the assistance center, says the best the New River Valley can hope for is to keep its manufacturing labor force around 30 percent.
``I think manufacturing will always be a significant factor in the New River Valley economy,'' Hensley said. ``I think it has declined all it's going to. I think it's at a point where it can be sustained.''
On the other hand, the Roanoke Valley is barely hanging onto the number of manufacturing jobs it has, but its percentage of goods-producing jobs is declining. In 1974, for instance, 23 percent of the jobs in the Roanoke Valley were in manufacturing.
While the total number of manufacturing jobs then - 22,400, according to the Virginia Employment Commission - has dropped by 3,000 today, that means only 14 percent of the Roanoke Valley's population now holds a goods-producing job.
Bill Mezger, senior economist with the VEC, says the shrinking of manufacturing jobs in the Roanoke Valley is only natural for Western Virginia's largest metropolitan statistical area.
``Most of the MSAs are where your trade and service industries are concentrated,'' Mezger said. ``Of course, Roanoke is a trade and service area for most of the western third of the state.''
Despite Hensley's relative optimism about the New River Valley, he said there are some potential pitfalls on the horizon. The Environmental Protection Agency's toughening stance with Hoechst Celanese, which employs more than 2,000 people, could mean job losses in the future.
And Hercules Aerospace, which runs the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, has laid off 2,300 workers since 1991, when its employment level topped 4,000.
Yet, the upcoming $200 million expansion at Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp. in Dublin offers hope. Hensley said local economic development organizations are trying to sprout local companies to supply parts to Volvo GM.
``One of the best things we could do is make sure every subcomponent that is used at Volvo GM is manufactured by another company in this region,'' Hensley said.
by CNB