Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240094
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
That's the consensus from a group of panelists Wednesday at a Blacksburg Federation of Neighborhood Associations-sponsored forum on the Blacksburg economy.
"The present overall business climate in Blacksburg at this particular time is scary," said Arnold Saari, a member of the Downtown Merchants Association. Pedestrians walking downtown streets seem to be fewer these days; whether that's because of too little parking, the growth of food joints on the Tech campus or what - who knows? he said.
And the town has lost businesses to the continuously expanding retail mecca surrounding the New River Valley Mall.
"There is no better way to encourage ... the business environment in Blacksburg than for citizens to shop at home," Saari said. "When the doors [of former stores] are locked, you don't have a downtown."
Still, some panelists said the perception that the town's business life is being killed by the mall-area growth is worse than it really is.
"The growth in Christiansburg is not a negative thing," said the president of the Greater Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce, Todd Halwas, who portrayed economic growth anywhere in the region as a boon for all communities.
The town has benefitted from that growth, Town Manager Ron Secrist said. Since 1987, when retail expansion took off at U.S. 460 and Virginia 114, the town's sales tax receipts are up 25 percent. That's because Blacksburg gets a cut of the sales tax taken in by the county. Inside the corporate limits, Secrist said receipts also have risen, but only by 6 percent.
And Secrist pointed to a resurgence of Gables Shopping Center - now locally owned - as a sign that with the right motivation, business owners can succeed in town. The town needs more local business owners, who see how their operations are supported by and benefit the community at large, unlike out-of-town managers whose outlets here are "just a pin on a map," he said.
Minnis Ridenour, Virginia Tech executive vice president, cited Tech's 5,900 employees, $261 million payroll and 23,000 students as examples of how it supports the town, although budget cuts in recent years have forced the school to cut positions and raise tuition, leaving students with less money to spend.
Halwas characterized these times as a "watershed" period in the town's development. "The strategies must come from within," he said.
by CNB