Suzie Battista, a graduate student at Virginia Tech’s Alexandria campus, did her thesis on what Roanoke can do to attract and retain young adults. The entire document is found here.

Download battista_study_final_082107.pdf

Her four findings were (1) Jobs are the critical amenity (2) The More Variety the Better (3) Encourage People to Come as They Are (4) Study Comparative Regions. She also provided strategies and actions to address each of the four points.

Suzie should commended on her dedication and good work in producing the document. There is also another local college student who is planning to do a similar thesis study on this topic. It’s wonderful that there is so much interest in this young adult initiative.

Thoughts on the study are encouraged.