Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995 TAG: 9504180114
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Representatives of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola rejected the area after several visits last year coordinated by the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, said Beth Doughty, the partnership's executive director.
Last week, the Illinois electronics giant said it favors land on the outskirts of Richmond for its semiconductor manufacturing plant that may ultimately employ as many as 5,000 workers.
The company's decision is a reminder that the the mountainous topography of Western Virginia limits the number of large tracts available for industrial development.
Motorola rejected as too small the largest piece of vacant, developable flat land the city of Roanoke could offer.
Roanoke officials told Motorola representatives the proposed plant could fit within a 60-acre tract at the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology, a city-owned industrial park.
The company needed several hundred acres, however, to allow for expansion, said Phil Sparks, the city's acting economic development director. Even though the 60-acre tract was immediately west of another 80 vacant acres, the two parcels still didn't add up to what Motorola wanted and represented all the city had to offer.
"I just could not put together enough acreage for them," Sparks said. "That's the only drawback I knew that we had."
A tract in Botetourt County, where flat land is more plentiful, met Motorola's space requirement, but lacked sufficient water, Doughty said.
Motorola is evaluating a 230-acre site it has an option to buy in a 3,500-acre business park in Goochland County, about 15 miles west of downtown Richmond.
In other ways, Motorola and the Roanoke region were a match, Doughty said. She expressed confidence that Motorola could have found enough qualified workers in the valley for its factory, which the company said will employ 1,000 at the start and grow to 5,000 employees.
It would have also found support from Virginia Tech, which ranked as a top reason for considering the area, Doughty said.
Virginia Tech still may benefit from Motorola's presence in Virginia, with its engineering graduates being hired by the company, its faculty consulted and the university perhaps winning research grants.
The Roanoke and New River valleys could attract support industries Motorola will need to produce its electronic circuits, which go in computers, pagers, cellular phones and microwave ovens, analysts agreed.
The loss of Motorola, Doughty said, is a rare case of the land crunch deterring the type of "super project" that only occasionally comes along and requires 100 or more acres for facilities for hundreds or thousands of workers. Companies more often need smaller parcels which are more plentiful in the region, Doughty and Sparks said.
"We succeed in our niche. Our niche is smaller projects" in the range of 200 employees, Doughty said.
Economic development officials said they are resigned to work within the constraints imposed by mountains. In one example, the city is grading 19 acres at the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology to increase its attractiveness to prospects, Sparks said.
In addition, the city watches for land to come on the market for another industrial park, Sparks said.
by CNB