Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9412020008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ELIZABETH OBENSHAIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Sterling, the man responsible for wooing major industries such as BMW to South Carolina before moving to Virginia this summer, told more than 130 Montgomery County business and industrial leaders Thursday that he is dramatically increasing the state's marketing effort. That should increase the flow of industrial prospects throughout the state and in the New River Valley, he said.
Sterling also spoke of his office's new focus on retaining and expanding existing industries.
"Just call my office," he said, and his newly created Existing Industry Division will help with expansion, productivity efforts or other needs. He reminded the local manufacturers that incentives for new industry apply equally to existing industries that are expanding.
Owners and managers from many of Montgomery County's 48 industries, ranging from large manufacturers such as Wolverine to small high-tech firms, joined government leaders, bankers and others to listen to Sterling at the Montgomery County 1994 Industry Recognition Dinner.
"We want to be more help to you than we've been in the past," Sterling said. He praised local economic development officials, such as Don Moore with Montgomery County and Franklyn Moreno with the New River Valley Alliance, whom he described as doing a "better job than the state."
A lawyer and economist, Sterling says he's "just an old country boy" from Magnolia, Miss. But business leaders already seem impressed with his effort to reorganize and refocus the state's economic development efforts as well as his interest in Southwest Virginia. In his first four months, he has made four visits to Southwest Virginia.
Rather than targeting one particular industry to recruit for Southwest Virginia, Sterling said he focuses on industries that are growing that year.
Tom Johnson, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, told the business leaders that industries in Montgomery County are getting leaner and meaner, which may mean fewer jobs but also means they are well positioned to compete globally in the 21st century. Many jobs spun off by local industries are actually remaining here in the community as smaller industries spring up to supply parts to major manufacturers.
Because of this interdependency among local industries and businesses, a new job in the New River Valley spreads more dollars and therefore more new jobs throughout the local economy, Johnson said.
Although the county has seen a sharp decline in manufacturing employment in the past five years, it should be well positioned in the next several years to attract new industry and grow and nurture its own small companies, Johnson said after his speech.
by CNB