Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005150483
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Long
And like a good neighbor, McComas' message throughout the day was that Virginia Tech is willing to lend a helping hand in the county's economic development efforts.
The Tech president offered the county use of its personnel, technology and facilities as it strives to attract new industry and build a better economic development base.
McComas' day-long visit began with breakfast with Eastern Elementary School children and ended with a towns-and-county meeting in Pembroke.
In between, McComas saw most of the county. He went through Eggleston, visited the landfill, had lunch with the Narrows Chamber of Commerce, met about 50 people for a social at the newest shell building in the Mountain View Industrial Park off Virginia 100, and had dinner at Castle Rock Recreational Area.
Darrel Martin, special assistant to McComas, said earlier this week that McComas' visits to different localities of the state were part of Tech's job as a public service agency. As a land grant university, Martin said, "Our responsibility is to make a difference in the geography of the commonwealth."
These visits, Martin said, have become "especially important" as Tech stresses a revitalized extension department and a renewed commitment to public service.
McComas said about 400 Tech employees live in Giles County, and that number is likely to increase as people take advantage of attractive land prices and housing bargains.
And while some people in County may consider Tech a long drive away, "we're close enough where we can use the resources of each other," he said.
"We want to be an asset and a resource to the county," McComas said after the reception at the shell building. "If they need help in attracting industry, we'll help."
In the past two years, new government officials throughout the county and veteran supervisors and town officials have stressed the need for countywide cooperation in economic development efforts and other issues.
Pearisburg Mayor Clarence Taylor stressed the renewed sense of togetherness in brief remarks at the Pembroke meeting. Quarterly meetings of the five towns' and the county's governments have started something that can mean a lot, he said.
"I look forward to a lot for Giles County," he said. "If we work together, there's no limit to what we can do."
At the evening meeting, McComas suggested that the local governments may want to look at a 10-year plan for economic development that would address quality of life, schools, streets, recreation and other factors that all come into play when industries consider locating.
"Here in this county, you have a chance to help to nurture the communities and the towns, and it seems to me that you have a good vehicle with these series of meetings to plan together and share resources and still maintain the integrity" of each community, he said.
McComas said cooperation could extend to fire and police protection and water and sewer projects.
"We need all the help we can get and he's volunteered," said Bobby Compton, chairman of the Giles County Board of Supervisors. "He's really made some good suggestions for us."
Compton and other supervisors said they appreciated McComas' offer to use the Virginia Tech Airport when industrial prospects are coming to the area.
"He told us just exactly what we needed to do," said Supervisor Ted Timberlake. "What we need to do is carry out his suggestions."
Compton sees McComas' visit as another in a long list of firsts for the county lately.
Besides the countywide quarterly meetings, the supervisors also had their first meeting with Montgomery County in the past year. And Giles County has more to offer than a brand-new, 50,000-square-foot shell building, he said.
"We need to market our industrial building, of course, but we need to market the beauty of Giles County as well."
The 356 square miles of the mountainous county is rich in natural beauty, such as the New River, the Appalachian Trail and the Cascades.
Timberlake and Pearisburg Town Manager Ken Vittum liked McComas' idea of promoting area craftspeople through a regional arts and crafts center. Timberlake said this ties in with the county's recent emphasis on tourism as a good way to increase economic development in the county.
As the day-long tour wound down at 8:30 p.m., Pembroke Councilman Garnett Atkins said McComas "was telling us to be visible in the community and I think that's the only way you're going to be successful."
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 15, 1990\ During a recent tour of Giles County, Virginia Tech President James McComas had lunch with the Giles County Chamber of Commerce. Because of an editor's error, the group was misnamed in a story on the cover of Friday's New River Current.
Memo: Correction