Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Home News Regions Roanoke County, Va. Tech team up for strategic plan

Roanoke County, Va. Tech team up for strategic plan

Published April 29, 2021 by Beth JoJack

Ashley Posthumus with Virginia Tech (left) and Roanoke County Director of Economic Development Jill Photo by Don Petersen Loope
Ashley Posthumus with Virginia Tech (left) and Roanoke County Director of Economic Development Jill Photo by Don Petersen Loope

In a first for the locality, Roanoke County has partnered with Virginia Tech to develop a five-year county economic development strategic plan.

“We want to benchmark where we are today with goals that we hope to achieve in five years and then revisit it to see if we’re keeping up with what we said we wanted to do,” explains Jill Loope, director of economic development for Roanoke County.

Last summer, Loope approached Virginia Tech’s Office of Economic Development for help developing the plan, now dubbed Elevate 2026.

A grant from Appalachian Power and federal CARES Act funds received by Virginia Tech covered the $30,000 cost of creating the plan. “So, I’m getting this plan done with no local financial participation from the county coffers,” Loope says. “I’m particularly proud of that.”

Early in the process, officials from the county and Tech worked to build a survey designed to gauge how area business and government leaders, as well as members of the public, felt about the county’s business climate and other matters.

As of the survey’s April 2 deadline, Ashley Posthumus, an economic development specialist at Virginia Tech who is helping with the project, said she had received about 200 completed surveys from stakeholders in the region and another 150 from the public.

A 12-person steering team also meets regularly to help guide the creation of the plan. “It’s not just Virginia Tech. It’s not just me,” says Loope. “It’s members of the business community and leaders in the community that are helping steer the course.”

The Virginia Tech team is also scheduling interviews with Roanoke County industry leaders as well as education, workforce initiatives and tourism stakeholders. “This is just our initial round of interviews that we’re doing to kind of gain what kind of perspectives they have on the region and what they think are strengths,” Posthumus explains.

Late last year in the county, Mack Trucks Inc. opened its new medium-duty truck plant, which is expected to produce 250 direct jobs and 600 spinoff jobs. Tanglewood Mall also is active, with a $30 million Carilion Clinic children’s outpatient center set to produce 300 jobs.

This is the first time Roanoke County’s economic development office has developed a formal strategic plan since Loope joined the office in 2000. A public presentation is scheduled for November.

Subscribe to Virginia Business. Get our daily e-newsletter.

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

Former DISH Network operations center sold

Virginia Business logo

Store’s customer service rewarded with enduring loyalty

Virginia Business logo

Bedford shopping center sells for $8.4M

Tenants include Dollar Tree, Tractor Supply

Trending

13th annual Best Places to Work

Making strides

It’s back!

After the crisis

Fort Monroe development moving forward

Sponsored Stories

Working at Pinnacle Financial Partners

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

13th annual Best Places to Work

Making strides

It’s back!

After the crisis

Fort Monroe development moving forward

Sponsored Stories

Working at Pinnacle Financial Partners

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk