
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 24, 1990                   TAG: 9006280547
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

BEYER BOOSTS EDUCATION AT CENTER OPENING

Lt. Gov. Don Beyer told about 30 business and government officials Saturday that he has not forgotten Southwest Virginia - and that he's more worried Southwest Virginia will forget about him.

"Lieutenant governors tend to get swallowed up," he said, spinning a tale about a man with two sons: one a seaman and the other a lieutenant governor. "Neither one was heard from again," he said.

Beyer helped celebrate the grand opening of the Radford Industrial Center by cutting a ribbon and joking with the locals.

"Why, if this is the second-oldest river in the world, is it called the New River?" he asked Radford Mayor Thomas Starnes when Starnes presented him with a scenic, poster-size photograph.

Beyer also gave the small crowd a short but serious pitch for education during his five-minute speech.

"Don't forget to put money into our children," he said. When dollars go toward teachers and education, economic development will follow, he said. "Education and industry need to work together."

A good education, tied in with "good people and a good mountain work ethic," will lure companies to Southwest Virginia, he said.

Starnes said Saturday that the new industrial center, atop a hill just off Interstate 81, also should lure companies here, along with jobs for residents all over the New River Valley.

"You'd have to look hard anywhere in the New River Valley or Southwest Virginia to find a nicer small industrial park," he said. "We look forward to expanding."

New River Building Components, which produces wall panels for the housing industry, was the first industry Radford attracted to the 50-acre industrial park. The facility employs 40 people.

Radford recently mounted a national advertising program to promote awareness of the Industrial Park, as well as to attract prospects, said David Ridpath, economic development director.

by CNB