ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609300023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
The New River Valley Economic Development Alliance added a focus on tourism Friday to its efforts to boosting the economy of the region.
Tourism had never been part of the alliance mission, which is geared to attracting industry to the region. But at a daylong strategy session organized in July by Stuart Gilbert, the organization's new executive director, tourism got a surprising boost.
"Over 50 percent of the participants to our public planning session wanted the alliance to support tourism as an important component of economic development," alliance President Danny Hardy said Friday at the organization's annual meeting.
Hardy named an ad-hoc tourism committee to work with local governing bodies and the private sector toward a tourism program for the New River Valley. The idea is not to make the alliance a regional tourism organization for the valley, but to seek ways of bringing in additional tourism development and money.
Visitors spent more than $102 million in the New River Valley during 1995, according to figures from the Virginia Tourism Corp.
This included more than $51 million in Montgomery County, $20 million in Pulaski County, $15 million in Giles County, more than $8 million in the city of Radford and more than $7 million in Floyd County.
The alliance effort will get funding support from the New River Valley Hosts, a nonprofit tourism development organization, as well as a mailing list to blanket the region's public and private tourism leaders.
"We have printed thousands of copies of the New River Valley tourism brochures and have brainstormed to identify a number of potential tourism events, brochures and activities," said Karen Hedge, of Pro Media Inc. and president of the Hosts organization. "It is now time to find out which action plans our local government and business leaders will support."
"Tourism development does not require millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements," said Radford Economic Development Director Jill Barr. "Tourism dollars benefit both the private sector and increase the community's sales-tax generated revenues."
The summer strategy meeting also called for more support of existing industries in the valley. "Technology came out really strong," Gilbert said, as did the need for a dependable financing source for alliance activities.
The alliance has hired First Community Corp. from Atlanta, Ga., to make a comprehensive feasibility analysis of potential financial support and what the philosophy of the alliance should be.
Steve Dorough said First Community would schedule confidential interviews with some 75 corporate and community leaders on what they think about the alliance, its marketing plan and economic development generally. The plan already has been studied by the alliance's executive committee and prospect team and also will be presented to key leaders in the valley for comment.
Hardy said the executive committee is considering a major fund-raiser, which would be the third in the alliance's seven-year history. "A lot of the people we compete with are funded entirely by the public sector," he said.
Alliance officials are considering a return to 50 percent public and 50 percent private funding, he said.
"We have seen the need for increased public awareness of what we do," he said, which is to be a support mechanism for economic development in communication with other agencies. "I don't think there'll be an instance where the alliance takes total credit for anything," he said.
"We've got a lot to do," Hardy said. "I believe we've just broken the outer wrapping of the total package of the New River Valley."
In addition to Hardy, Gilbert and Hedge, tourism committee members include Barbara Stafford, a director of the Virginia Tourism Association from Giles County; Charlotte Reed, a Virginia Tech tourism specialist; Nancy Bowman, Pulaski County chamber executive director; Barbara Capozzi, Evergreen Bed & Breakfast; Lee Chichester, Floyd County chamber; Shawn Hash, Tangent Outfitters & Java River Coffee Co.; Bonnie Maccubbin, Farmhouse Restaurant; David MacTavish, Giles County; Kathy Mantz, Christiansburg-Montgomery County chamber; Barry Matherly, economic development director for the town of Pulaski; Rosemary Middleton, Radford chamber; Dave Rundgren, New River Valley Planning District Commission executive director; Harvey Shepard, Blacksburg chamber; Pat Therrien, The Jacksonville Center; and Janice Thomas, Giles County chamber.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB