ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180026
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
Virginia Tech, announcing a new push into economic development, unveiled plans Thursday for its first outreach office and a panel of high-profile business advisers.
University President Paul Torgersen said he has named 19 business and economic development officials from across the state to form the Virginia Tech Economic Development Advisory Committee.
The committee will meet annually, or more often if members wish, starting early next year. It will advise a new economic development council of administrators headed by Torgersen.
The new committee marks the first time any state university has agreed to listen to people from around the state on the subject of economic growth by seating a permanent board, said Gordon Davies, who directs the State Council on Higher Education.
In addition, Virginia Tech will establish a new point of contact for the public in economic development information and services, likely to be in the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center on campus.
"Students interested in Virginia Tech have one point of access. Research sponsors have a single point of entry," Torgersen said. "This reorganization now creates a 'front door' for businesses or governments needing our help. We need to make this shift to be more accessible to the business community."
Tech has been criticized for leaving company representatives, government officials and others to find the help they need on their own. The university has 1,500 faculty members, 900 laboratories and 85 research centers. They share 7,300 phone lines, not counting data-only lines.
Torgersen said people outside the university community can find seminar information without much trouble from the university's Public Service Programs office.
But industry doesn't have it so easy. Imagine a hypothetical team of factory supervisors who are battling rust on machinery and want to consult with Tech's faculty. Though that was not Torgersen's example, it is representative of the type of call the university gets.
"People outside the university, they don't know how to call into the university," Torgersen said.
"They may not get to the source of information. They may get discouraged after making three phone calls and they finally get to the right guy and he's out of town and doesn't return the call immediately," Torgersen said. "I think [we] have got to be responsive."
Meanwhile, Tech will get fresh advice on what services and projects to perform for the public, while continuing to teach and research at current levels.
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