Carl Mitchell and the Virginia Economic Bridge staff hit it big this week with an AP story about their program that appeared in 100 media outlets. Their database received 176 new entrants on Monday and the site was viewed by people in all 50 states and 30 countries. This fantastic exposure is going to propel their program forward and it has already enabled them to get a matching grant to create something similar in Southside. Roanoke and the NRV will also benefit with the added exposure for Southwest Virginia. Great job!

This position is available in the region. If you are interested, please review the attached document and for more info, contact dsmith@dhrinternational.com.

Teenagers want a voice. They want to be relevant. They want representation just like any other group, but often are ignored because of age. There are many examples of this lack of voice in Roanoke. No article has described it better than this article in the Tulsa newspaper. If you want to attract and retain young people, you have to tolerate the, give them a voice and not try and control them.

VT KnowledgeWorks - an incubator in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center – is doing a fantastic job of recognizing entrepreneurs, growing them, and moving them out of their incubator, such as VTCLI.

If you have any interest in starting a business, they have a systematic approach through their boot camp to determine if you have what it takes to make the leap. Contact them and see if your are their next success story.  

Tucson is opening up their economic development organizations to include more members of the next geenration who are affiliated with YP groups. The good work being done by Valley Forward, NewVa Connects and other groups slowly is being rewarded in a similar way. Examples of these progressives moves in other regions should be examples for being proactive in the inevitable succession plan between generations.