ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 26, 1996 TAG: 9611260077
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
Using a robot as a prop, economic developers Monday unveiled a $50,000 promotion, tagging the Roanoke and New River valleys and Alleghany Highlands as "Virginia's Technology Corridor."
The slogan will appear in a disk or CD-ROM being planned with words, pictures and sound describing the region's claimed technological edge. When completed next year, the promotion will be mailed to corporations and consultants who select sites for branch plants.
As a strategy to bring investment and good-paying jobs to Western Virginia, the need for a regional slogan was part of discussions two years ago by the New Century Council to chart the region's economic future. Developers came up with the slogan or advertising tagline by tinkering with citizen suggestions.
The state liked the sound of it well enough to contribute $25,000 to the project. Another $25,000 will come from the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, in Roanoke; New River Valley Economic Development Alliance, in Dublin; and Alleghany Highlands Regional Economic Development Authority, in Covington.
The communities will continue individual promotions, while sharing the Virginia Technology Corridor name as a regional identity. It will be placed on stationery and brochures next time they are reprinted.
The disk project represents the first cooperative venture by the three agencies.
At a press conference called to announce the grant and slogan, a 6-foot robot wheeled itself unassisted into the room and declared in a clipped artificial voice, "Welcome to Virginia Technology Corridor." The robot's maker, Cybermotion of Roanoke, provided space for the event and is an example of a local business relying on specialized technology.
In coming up with the slogan, officials didn't bother to count the technology companies in the area. Beverly Fitzpatrick of the New Century Council stopped Monday after he named 10 - involved in making communications equipment, computers, transportation and night vision devices - and said there are "many others."
These specialized companies, coupled with the presence of Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg Electronic Village, are what Fitzpatrick and others said justifies the use of the technology slogan. Corridor refers to highway and rail corridors that cross through the region, he said.
The slogan would fit Northern Virginia as well, said Jerry Gordon, executive director of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority in Vienna. But his group isn't in the market for a catch phrase, already using "The 21st Century Is Here."
"I do think Roanoke has a legitimate claim to at least be the corridor for some technology applications," such as fiber optics, he said.
"We did it first and that makes it right," said Glynn Loope of the Alleghany Highlands development authority.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: logo - Virginia's Technology Corridorby CNB