Yesterday we talked about “the movement is bigger than Roanoke” as the first of a seven-part series to examine the progress of attracting and retaining young adults in the region. As a result, and our second point, we are able to capture many “qualitative stories of people returning or staying in the region”.

For instance, through our Roanoke Connect database, we have received in excess of over 3000 unsolicited registrants looking for jobs in the region. This tells us that people want to be in Roanoke. Of that 3,000 about 20% are out-of-state with 45 of the 50 states represented.  A similar percentage or more are not from the greater RNR (Roanoke and New River Valleys) . From this database, we have been able to identify 70 success stories of people obtaining jobs through this online vehicle.

We have received numerous emails, testimonials, letters of support from a variety of ages and backgrounds. We have heard at business meetings the truly unique and powerful stories of how people came to Roanoke, which is now being captured at MyRoanokeStory.com.

The bottom line is these stories are being communicated through viral channels and more and more people are finding out about this hidden gem. This leads us to the third example of progress we will examine with the next post tomorrow…