Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010073
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At Tuesday's groundbreaking for the region's new industrial park, economic development officials touted its location between Roanoke and the New River Valley as a smart one for researchers working on the proposed experimental highway.
There aren't any tenants yet, but Roanoke County has high hopes for its new park, which is the largest industrial tract in the county.
Utilities and roads are to be finished in September, although sites are ready now for construction, said Brian Duncan, assistant director of economic development for the county and newly named park manager.
The park has the potential of creating 2,500 jobs and attracting more than $100 million in investment, Duncan said. He said corporate prospects have been looking at the park at the rate of about one a week.
"This will help us attract the high-tech, nonpolluting business that every community is looking for," said Lee Eddy, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors. "I believe this park will provide a very attractive return for the taxpayers."
Located in Glenvar close to Interstate 81, the 177-acre tract was proposed in 1990 as the site of a $31 million Allied-Signal Inc. disc-brake factory, but the recession put the skids on that in 1991. The land then reverted to the county's Industrial Development Authority, which had purchased it as part of a public-private partnership.
"We're planning to do things here in a big way," said county Administrator Elmer Hodge.
Representatives from Roanoke, Salem and Botetourt County attended the groundbreaking.
"They're breaking ground here [in Roanoke County], but economically, it's all one economy," said Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.
She said the lack of ready-to-go industrial sites in the valley hinders recruiting when prospective businesses visit the area. Valley TechPark will help, by providing 13 parcels ranging in size from less than 3 acres to 20 acres.
Proximity to Virginia Tech is becoming more and more a factor for companies her group talks to, Doughty said, so "it's really good for this park to be that close."
"We're not waiting for industry to find us," said keynote speaker Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. "We're taking on ourselves in this region [the task] of knocking on corporate doors."
Boucher said corporations working on smart-highway research with Tech will be looking for industrial parks for their manufacturing plants.
Boucher also said he and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, had co-written legislation that could make it possible for the park to qualify for federal money.
by CNB