Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995                   TAG: 9511240037
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEW CENTURY COUNCIL TO FIGHT DRUGS WITH STAR

The council's new leader is Thomas Brock, the former executive in charge of General Electric's Drive Systems plant in Salem and past chairman of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Brock and newly appointed Vice Chairman Taylor Cole, senior vice president of Central Fidelity Bank in Blacksburg, will usher in a new strategy for making the New Century Council's far-reaching goals a reality, Executive Director Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. said Wednesday.

In July, the Roanoke-based council released a 150-point vision for the Roanoke and New River valleys and Alleghany Highlands area, listing initiatives to improve schools, the economy, health care and public safety, government, roads and utilities, community leadership and quality of life.

Wednesday's announcement described for the first time a framework for achieving the objectives.

The state is committed to paying $600,000 for administration of the 2-year-old council, which counted about 1,000 volunteers at goal-setting meetings.

Under the new plan, seven members of the council's steering committee will head implementation committees, each one addressing a different facet of the report. The committees will request help from chambers of commerce and other business groups, universities and organizations.

The committee heads are: Ken Anderson, Anderson & Associates, Blacksburg, infrastructure; John Williamson, vice president of Roanoke Gas Co., government; Ed Barnes, president of New River Community College, leadership; Jim Sears, president of Center in the Square, quality of life; Ron Chaffin, director of industrial technology at New River Community College, education; and Bill Bales, a vice president at Norfolk Southern Corp., economy. The seventh committee head, to oversee health care and public safety issues, was not announced.

Longtime steering committee co-chairmen Paul Torgersen, president of Virginia Tech, and Tom Robertson, chief executive officer of Carilion Health System, will remain members of that body but no longer will be officers, Fitzpatrick said.

The council's 14 new priorities are:

Turning the Mill Mountain Star red for 48 hours each time someone dies in a drug- or alcohol-related traffic accident in the region.

Persuading federal authorities to designate one metropolitan statistical area for the region.

Creating a body to support higher education, to be named the New Century President's Council (two priorities).

Opening an institute for small businesses and entrepreneurs (two priorities).

Creating a positive regional identity.

Expanding the Blacksburg Electronic Village regionwide.

Holding a meeting to coordinate legislative needs.

Supporting the ``smart'' road proposal, the fate of which may hinge on Monday's Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Bringing together representatives of the region's 14 local government agencies to foster general cooperation. The group would be called the New Century Regional Council.

Establishing the New Century Technology Council.

Writing a ``vision plan'' for each school district.

Writing an agenda of regional issues and raising it at state and federal government levels.