ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704110015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BEVERLY T. FITZPATRICK JR.
LAST MONTH, Western Virginia lost one of its greatest leaders. With the death of George B. Cartledge, we have suffered a major wound to our energy, our compassion, our entrepreneurial spirit and our greatest need - leadership. Leadership is the most crucial virtue we all need to set the course for a successful future for the region.
In past years, great leaders like Cartledge, Jack Hancock, Frank Clement, Ed Mattern, Gordon Willis and others have steered a courageous course for this region, risking their privacy and subjecting themselves to unwarranted and unjustified criticism. We all owe leaders like Cartledge and his peers a great thank-you for wonderful community achievements that have given each of us a better life.
This milestone also suggests a much more fundamental issue that the citizens of Western Virginia must consider very seriously. In the past, there was always someone with influence, leadership and money to help move the region along. With corporate and individual support, many great things were accomplished that benefited each of our citizens.
This milestone begs us to ask: Who will lead this region in the 21st Century? We already know that the old-style, decisions-by-a-few process is not the way leadership will be in the future.
First, we don't find the same level of corporate wealth in Western Virginia any more.
No longer do we have large, locally owned and headquartered companies and their leaders who considered civic responsibility as a part of their community efforts. We now have a global marketplace with thousands of our citizens working for companies headquartered outside the region and the state, taking their profits and leadership to other communities. When our local companies sell to outside firms, we lose both local income and the leadership the community expects and needs from corporate leaders.
Second, the way we make decisions is dramatically changing.
In the new century, we need people from all walks of life, economic levels and opinions coming together to create a new way to make decisions. The citizens of the New Century Region have already taken a lesson in leadership from former leaders like Cartledge. Over the past three and a half years, more than 1,000 citizens have collectively created a citizen vision and, for the past year, they have been making it come true. They realize that leadership in the future will require involvement by all citizens, and that this is the leadership that can truly carry us into the 21st century.
As we continue to lose the wonderful statesmen and leaders of the past, let's not forget that we already have a leg up on the future. If you want to be remembered, as the John Hancocks and the George Cartledges are remembered, if you really want to make a difference in the region's future (and yours), remember these great leaders of the past and and let us join together as new leaders to create the future.
From now on, leadership will require lots of people, diverse interests, collaboration on issues and prioritizing those things the region needs most.
We need leaders with vision, energy, an unflagging commitment to this region and an understanding of how we fit in a global economy. We must learn to think less about cities and counties, and more about the region's people and their needs. We must think about growing local companies so they become the Grand Pianos of tomorrow, providing community leadership and community wealth. We must remember that, with limited resources, governments must work together using assets wisely and ending all duplication. After all, we are the government and it is our money.
The New Century Region faces some very difficult challenges as we approach the new century. There is nothing we cannot accomplish, however, if we give thanks to people like Cartledge who have shown by example what we all need to do in the future. Let's do it for our children and grandchildren so they will have a chance to remain in the region with jobs and opportunities that will give them the best quality of life ever.
George Cartledge helped make it that way for us. We must make it that way for those who follow us. George would have had it no other way.
BEVERLY T. FITZPATRICK JR. of Roanoke is executive director of The New Century Council.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB