I met with a student in August we’ll call JP. JP graduated in May from a local higher-ed institution. He originally came to this area from the Northeast and fell in love with the area and wanted to stay. JP started looking for a job in April and worked very hard at it for nearly six months.

Half way during his search, when we met, he said, "I know there are good career-track jobs in the region, I just do not know the right people to uncover these jobs." JP knew exactly what he had to do - network like heck.

I am proud to say that my friend JP called today to say he had accepted a job with a local firm and will be starting with this firm in 2 weeks.

JP’s testimony can be one told over and over for many other young adults - and really all people - who are looking for career-track jobs in the region. You must network like heck. The best jobs are not advertised, but they are there. It just takes a little more time and direction to find them. (Send me an email if you need help.)

Ask JP.

Late Saturday night / early Sunday morning the Blacksburg United Methodist Church hosted a late night breakfast for college students from 2 a.m. - 4 a.m. What a neat sight to see dozens and dozens of students walk in, eat and be awed the local community would do this for them.

In Richard Florida’s recent book - The Flight of the Creative Class - he states the most discriminated group are recent college graduates. If the region is desperately seeking these individuals, and they already live in the area, then simple acts of hospitality like serving breakfast at 2 a.m. could make a huge difference in persuading them to stay in the region.

This morning the Phi Sigma Pi chapter at Virginia Tech held their annual leadership conference. Several dozen students came out to learn ways to sustain their organizations for younger members.

Essentially we are creating a succession plan in trying to retain and attract our young people in the region. A recent statistic says in 2006 for every two people exiting the workforce, only one will be entering.

The one student we need to keep is T - a December graduate of the engineering school from Virginia Beach. She is entertaining offers from government entities outside her native Tidewater region. Until today, she never gave Roanoke a thought and it is probably too late for her, but perhaps there were other students who are now aware of Roanoke.

Yesterday afternoon, I brought students from Virginia Tech and Hollins to downtown Roanoke to visit with four local employers, tour the city, and interact with each other. All but two of the students were not from NewVa and represented the states of Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Kentucky and New York. The best and brightest from across the nation come to our region for 4+ years and leave without any real recruiting effort made by the region to get them to stay. This will change.

The response was great. The students loved talking to the companies and each other. They had a great time learning more about the city and said they definitely wanted to do it again in the future.

We are going to continue this program to any group of students, any major, or any higher ed institution who wants to participate. If you know of any students or employers who would like to participate, then contact me.

A new professional group for people who work from their home will meet on Friday, October 20 at 11:45 pm at the Indian Garden in Blacksburg (210 Price’s Fork Rd). For more info, contact Andrew

Express Personnel is hosting a job fair on Thursday, October 5 from 2 - 6:30 pm at the Virginia Ecmployment Commission (5060 Valley View Boulevard) to discuss job opportunities in the Roanoke Valley. For more info call 389-8979 or email Alma at alma.mujkic@expresspersonnel.com.