Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502230006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID R. GOODE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This is what my four years in Norfolk has done for me. I'd like to begin my remarks with some observations gained from that perspective - by acting as a mirror, if you will, to reflect some of Roanoke's light back on itself and illuminate some features that I think valley natives often take for granted. Then I'll talk about some things of mutual interest to Norfolk Southern and Roanoke and answer questions, if we have time, since I remember how sacred the time limit is.
As I came to know Hampton Roads - which, make no mistake, is a wonderful region - I also came to know Roanoke better, in the sense of a growing awareness of what's unique about it. Roanoke has many strengths you don't find elsewhere that combine to make it a great place to live and to do business.
But I also perceived a singular weakness that works against those strengths, and that is a tendency toward excessive self-criticism. This sometimes leads to a failure to recognize - and to promote - its own strengths. As a result, the valley has a vast reserve of untapped potential and all it may take is just a little more self-knowledge to release it. I've never known a city quicker than Roanoke to doubt the value of its assets.
What strikes me most vividly four years later is the quality of life here. There is a sense of community - of neighborliness - that you should never doubt. When Susan and I moved to Roanoke, - I was moving back and she was moving here for the first time - Until Norfolk Southern required it, we never thought of moving more than a block or two. After all, we had dogwood and redbud in the spring, leaves in the fall, unbelievable sunsets in the evening. We could walk to Lipes drugstore, Tinnell's, the fire station, and work was five minutes away. And I can hardly mention the people in Sherwood Forest without a smile.
When you look around the valley, you see that spirit replicated in neighborhood after neighborhood.
There's also the openness of its people to newcomers and strangers. Many people throughout the Norfolk Southern system have remarked on this to me after visiting or moving to Roanoke. A newcomer walking up to a golf course is going to be invited to play. It seems such a simple thing, but it doesn't happen everywhere.
You won't find anything like the City Market anywhere else. The accessibility of Center in the Square, the art museum, the science museum, Mill Mountain Theater - all in one place - this is a unique asset. The transportation museum, the symphony, the parkway, the lake - you have it all.
You have here in the valley a rare combination of wonderful places to live within five or 10 minutes of pleasant places to work and shop. Once you leave Roanoke, you realize how much it added to your life to be able to live, work, shop, play golf or tennis or walk in the mountains, all within 10 minutes of where you live - and you realize how much you miss it.
Especially the mountains. I still get a little catch in my throat when I drive or fly into the valley and get that first glimpse of the mountains. The advantage of the physical beauty of this location is something that we take for granted when we live with it.
Another strength is education. Other cities struggle to develop the kind of public education system that Roanoke city and county have taken for granted.
This is truly a great place to live. But is it a great place to do business? Yes, and in large part for the very things that make it a great place to live. Quality of life is an extremely important consideration for businesses looking for a new location, because they want to attract and retain the best people.
You have a stable, well-educated work force with an excellent work ethic.
You've got good roads. You've got both Hollins and Roanoke colleges and Virginia Tech.
And, of course, you've got a great rail transportation system - the very best.
So Roanoke has what it takes to play in the big leagues. What it now needs is enough self-knowledge to capitalize on these assets and promote itself as a premium place to live and work. And, I suggest, some self-confidence.
The most important thing about Roanoke for me, of course, is Norfolk Southern. And I'm well aware that Norfolk Southern is important to Roanoke., with our new building downtown, our car shops and locomotive repair facilities that are second to none in the world. Our purchasing system is run from here, and this is headquarters for our safety and environmental departments. Most of our marketing department is here, as well as the nation's premier coal transportation group. And then there's our tax department - world-class, where I "toiled in obscurity" for years. This is home also to important parts of our information technology and accounting operations, employee benefits, and many other critical functions. Three thousand employees are lucky enough to call this valley home, and I don't know how many retirees live in the area. We are deeply involved in the community both on the individual and corporate level, consistently and continuously.
You don't have it all, but you've got a big part of a company that ranks in the top 100 U.S. corporations.
I recognize that certain things are expected of Norfolk Southern as a prominent corporate citizen. We assume the burdens cheerfully. Not everything I've done in the recent past has pleased everybody in the valley - and I don't think our cancellation of the steam program pleased anybody here - but I am convinced that the most important thing Norfolk Southern can do for this area is to remain a strong, vibrant company. As chairman, my principal responsibility is to see to the ongoing well-being and future of our employees, retirees and stockholders - which include many valley residents - and, of course, our customers.
We have a vision at Norfolk Southern - to be the safest, most customer-focused and successful transportation company in the world. If we are faithful to that vision, Roanoke cannot help but benefit, in terms of:
High-quality jobs preserved and created.
The high-caliber people that a successful company attracts and retains. We don't just bring you a work force. We bring one of the highest average pay levels in industrial America.
Corporate and individual contributions to the community.
And all the multiple economic benefits that result from these factors.
If we are distracted from our vision, Roanoke will suffer accordingly. So it's important to both Norfolk Southern and Roanoke that Norfolk Southern stays focused on the things that will enable us to achieve our vision.
When you think of Norfolk Southern's actions such as discontinuing the steam program, think about them in that light - that is, making decisions or undertaking activities in support of the vision. When activities begin to impinge on our ability to achieve our vision, we have to take a hard look at them.
I know many people disagreed, and still disagree, about this decision. I'm certainly not going to suggest that we're infallible. I do suggest, however, that the home team deserves your support - and I hope you think of us as the home team.
On a different subject, but one that keeps coming up, Norfolk Southern has been characterized as being opposed to passenger service in the valley.
Since this seems to be coming up again, let me take this opportunity to tell you what our view of passenger service here is. It's the same as our view of passenger service everywhere.
We'd be delighted to allow passenger service, if we can get a fair return on it like we can on freight service. We are not negative about passenger service. It's just not our business. If there is a demand for passenger service, fine. We just won't subsidize it. Somebody must pay.
We're in the freight-hauling business - as the Roanoke Times & World-News says we "remind people of needlessly." Well, I'm not so sure it's needless. Perhaps there is a need to discuss exactly what passenger service on freight lines means to us and to Amtrak, so that people will have a better appreciation of the position we're in.
In the competitive jungle of freight transportation, the difference between staying on top and being eaten alive is service quality. More and more of our trains run on rigid cycles. If they don't run on time, service deteriorates and costs increase and the places we serve - such as Roanoke and Southwest Virginia - are placed at a competitive disadvantage for industrial and business development.
At the same time, we cannot afford a lot of redundancy in our fixed plant. Just laying a passing track or a second main line on an existing roadbed costs over $2 million a mile - and more to maintain. We can't add track for passenger service - unless someone is willing to pay.
Our success depends on striking the right balance between just enough - but not too much - track and rolling stock to meet the demands of the marketplace and our customers' expectations.
Running reliably and close to the edge has major implications for our ability to handle passenger trains.
First, our main Iines do not have surplus capacity. The lines through Roanoke are some of the busiest in the nation.
Second, we don't have much wiggle room to adjust freight schedules. Coal and grain trains need to move on a predictable cycle to keep costs down. Automotive, steel, chemical and paper customers - really, most customers - demand just-in-time service, or they will put their business back on the interstates. That would not only be bad economics, but bad news for motorists. Intermodal absolutely depends on a reliable schedule.
Third, we are in partnership with our customers. We are part of their cost of doing business, and to the extent we keep their transportation costs low, we are helping them - and the nation as a whole - be competitive in the global economy.
Now, this does not mean we don't want passenger trains on our lines. What it means is that passenger trains must be able to do business in the real world. If the studies show that there is sufficient demand for passenger service here, and somebody is willing to invest in the high-quality equipment, roadbed and facilities that passenger trains demand, then an agreement must be reached, presumably with Amtrak, to provide the service.
We will then be happy to negotiate. But any agreement must satisfy our requirements for safety, capacity, financial compensation and liability. In short, it must enhance the company's value for our shareholders.
We're in the business of running trains. If passenger trains provide a fair return on all the cost of running them, then there's no problem. But somebody has to pay. If the taxpayers are willing, that's fine. Don't ask for a subsidy from an investor-owned, customer-focused railroad that makes money hauling freight and has a responsibility to its employees, shareholders and customers.
The best thing Norfolk Southern can do for the Roanoke Valley is provide the world's finest freight transportation system. That's what will really contribute to the Roanoke economy.
I love Roanoke. Rudyard Kipling expressed my sentiment well with these lines:
God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man's heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot
Beloved over all.
Roanoke is that spot for me. As long as I am blessed with the chance to do this job - one of the best jobs in the world - I will always strive to do what's best for Norfolk Southern and for Roanoke, and I believe those goals are entirely compatible. I hope one day to make Roanoke see those goals as compatible.
David R. Goode is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern Corp. This column is adapted from a speech he gave last week before the Roanoke Kiwanis.
by CNB