I think we have a serious problem in our region. Good bright people who want to stay are too often leaving. I have had dozens of friends and acquaintances – particularly young professionals – leave the Roanoke and New River Valleys over the past few years. Most of these individuals are holdovers from their time as college students in the region – the very same educated people we all know we need to better retain if we are to prosper. I fear we are losing our future leaders. When I hear of a new case, I now ask these folks for a list of things that would keep them here. Here are some key pieces of what I have heard in response:
1. Integrate meaningful local internship programs into higher-ed curriculums.
These programs are win-win solutions for everyone. They provide students with experience to make them better job candidates; they provide universities with outreach opportunities in the community; and they offer local businesses and organizations additional help along with a working relationship to a major university.
2. Job fair for college graduates.
A common perception of college students is that there are no jobs for college graduates in this area. The reality is that there are opportunities. Our unemployment rate is comparatively low, but we do have far too much under-employment—people working in jobs for which they are overqualified. We just aren’t matching those who want to stay with local needs very well. Local graduates love the area—they are often far more motivated to stay if they have some reasonable chance at local growth than they are to race off to Washington D.C., Richmond, and Charlotte. After Virginia Tech’s Department of Management internship program provided 200 local opportunities for its students, those people were surveyed as to whether they would stay in the region for work. Sixty-two percent (62%) said yes!
3. Provide a much more fertile ground for entrepreneurship.
We’ve simply got to be better at leveraging our universities—especially Virginia Tech—into local commercial jobs. Ninety percent (90%) of new jobs are created through small businesses. With the universities supporting research initiatives and encouraging commercialization, there are examples of successful start-up companies, but we need a regional commitment that ties local business leaders to helping Tech launch local ventures. Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center houses over 120 small businesses with 1800+ employees, but we need to do more. We need seed funding, advisory boards, and venture incubators that really encourage students and faculty to get something meaningful going—not in California or abroad—but right here. Somehow we need to build better bridges between local leaders and the incredible talent from around the world that come to Virginia Tech as students and faculty.
4. Encourage civic and community involvement by young graduates.
Formal organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Jaycees, etc. are not sufficiently revitalizing with young members. Commitment may be lacking on both sides. We need to figure this one out because these groups provide a key outlet to plug into a network of leaders who care for the community, and they also provide a range of volunteers for service projects. We’ve got to open up more to people from outside—and help them get started.
5. Establish a new and suitable social network for young graduates.
It seems to me that there are dozens of groups particularly of young people that drift into unconnected pockets even though they might want to have better links in the area. Through the New River Network, we found that within one degree of separation, young adults know practically everyone in the area. But the connections break and fray as people move away. Instead of interactions that lead to new opportunities, we end up with people sensing the action is outside our region—and that those who stay are somehow not up to par. Other places like Athens, GA are growing into vital places where entrepreneurs, artists, and people who just want to start a family and work in a professional and healthy place can get an opportunity.
6. Encouraging families to grow with the region.
Families love this place! We have great schools, amenities, fine local government, safe, clean streets, etc. Too many graduates feel that finding soul mates, etc. must take them out of the region to where odds are better and there are more venues for meeting people who might want to grow together. We need to encourage people to plant here and to grow. To do that, we need to make couples feel at home and we need to assure that the region aids in transitions from student life to family life when people are interested and ready.
7. Do we want young graduates and young adults in the community?
A lot of people who are leaving doubt whether “locals” want to have a great place to live. They wonder if they are welcome or if people just want to empty the pockets of students and send them on their way. I hope it isn’t the latter. I had several conversations with the late Reverend Al Payne on this fundamental topic. His vision was to develop opportunities for various generations to gather and have discussions—to hope for and to build a vibrant place.
I love the Roanoke and the New River Valleys and think of it as my home. None of the responses I have heard seem too far off the mark for our leaders to work toward, and none of them threaten the great life that many people have here now. We aren’t going to win with more manufacturing jobs. We need a modern and vibrant economy refreshed with the enthusiasm and energy of some of the many people passing through as students. We need to work harder at it. I’d like to see Reverend Payne’s vision grow and prosper. I’d like to see us talk about keeping people here. I’d like to see us try harder to make the Roanoke and New River Valleys work for more people and more firms. That’s the way forward.
