ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050009
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
The New Century Council is dozen or so small, independent teams working to complete projects designed to improve living standards in Western Virginia.
Some of what's been accomplished: Radford University opened a small business center. Top school officials, from grade school on up, formed a council to debate common concerns. Hughes Aircraft Co. in Arlington is hooking some rural schools to the Internet with satellite technology. A CD-ROM is planned to market the region to industry. Roanoke's star will burn red whenever anyone is killed in a drug or alcohol related accident in the region.
How it all began: Worried by a pattern of layoffs, the Roanoke and New River valleys and Allegany Highlands agreed in 1992 to write strategic 20-year vision. More than 1,000 people gave input on 150 initiatives to improve schools, government, health care, safety, the economy, infrastructure and community life.
Bold ideas that await attention later: Build a 25,000-seat stadium in Elliston. Reduce personal property taxes for volunteers. Open a distribution terminal that accommodates trucks and trains. Entice college instructors to help with economic development, in return for money or credit toward tenure. Create a "peer court" in which youths under age 18 mete justice to first-time juvenile offenders.
What's next: An official progress report is due this fall.
The people in charge are Tom Brock, a former official at GE Drive Systems in Salem, chairman of the board of directors; Taylor Cole, senior vice president of Central Fidelity Bank branch in Blacksburg, vice chairman; Jill Barr, Radford's economic development director, secretary; Doug McAllister, a vice president at Virginia Tech, treasurer.
Other board members are Paul Torgersen, president of Virginia Tech; Tom Robertson, president of Carilion Health System. During Brock; Bruce Blaylock, dean of the College of Business and Economic at Radford University; Robert Crockett, public affairs director of Westvaco in Covington; Jim Rakes, president of National Bank in Blacksburg; Dan Carson, the Roanoke-based Virginia state president of American Electric Power; and Robert W. Glenn Jr., a self-employed management consultant in Roanoke.
The committees are headed by seven more board members who include engineer Ken Anderson of Anderson & Associates in Blacksburg, infrastructure; John Williamson, vice president of rates and finance at Roanoke Gas Co., governance; Ed Barnes, president of New River Community College, leadership; Jim Sears, president of Center in the Square in Roanoke, quality of life; Ron Chaffin, chairman of the industrial technology division at New River Community College, education; Bill Bales, a vice president at Norfolk Southern, economy; Judie Snipes, senior vice president of quality management at Cariliion Health System, health and safety.
Where to call: The New Century Council is at (540)982-3720 or by e-mail at nccorldnet.att.net
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