Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120039
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Sign Design Inc. of Roanoke is expected to deliver the signs by Nov. 7, said Barry Matherly, Pulaski's new economic development director. The town's Economic Development Board is spearheading the project.
The company has made signs for more than 20 communities in Southwest Virginia, including Roanoke and Salem, Matherly said.
Two signs measuring about 8-by-8 feet will be erected at entrances on U.S. 11 and Virginia 99, with a smaller 6-by-6 foot sign on Bob White Boulevard. They will have dark green backgrounds with their letters and a drawing of the clock tower from Pulaski County's restored Old Courthouse in white and gold.
Mike Jenkins, the town's public works director, will secure the necessary measurements so stone bases can be prepared before the signs arrive. Plans are also under way for elaborate flower plantings around the signs in the spring.
The signs have been seen for a year or more as a key part of the continuing revival of downtown Pulaski and a mark of community pride.
The board also got a favorable report on how Count Pulaski Day went last weekend, with a view toward longer-term preparations for the event next year.
This year, the annual event got tossed into the laps of the economic development staff less than two months before it was to be held. Now, both Count Pulaski Day festival and the town's other annual celebration, Depot Day in June, have become the responsibility of the town's economic development arm.
"The groundwork has been laid," said board Chairwoman Sybil Atkinson.
Both the signs and the Count Pulaski Day activities came in below their budgeted costs. A large number of last-minute Count Pulaski Day sponsorships from local businesses helped there. Town employees worked into the early morning hours before the festival erecting tents for vendors. "We did get a lot of community support," Matherly said.
The festival in downtown Pulaski also benefited businesses, with local restaurants that participated in a food court often selling out and having to restock their goods. Board Vice Chairman Wayne Carpenter said the focus on children's activities helped make the day a family affair. "I think that made a lot of difference in the atmosphere," he said.
Churches and civic groups were able to sell their cooking and crafts products to help fund their projects. Extra proceeds from food sales went to Pulaski's Youth Emergency Shelter.
Matherly also reported on the towns of Pulaski and Dublin and Pulaski County using Virginia Tech's Economic Development Assistance Center to study the feasibility of seeking foreign trade zone status for the locality.
Such a zone allows businesses to bypass many customs hassles when raw materials from other countries are imported, Matherly said. The study will pinpoint whether savings to local businesses would be substantial and, if so, would supply data for the massive amount of paperwork required to seek the designation.
"If the savings are as big as we think they are, then it's going to be worth having a zone," Matherly said.
by CNB