What happens if the Presidential electoral vote results in a tie in this scenario?

There has been much discussion about the young professional / Generation Y vote in this campaign. We do not care how you vote, just make sure you do vote. This is the next generation’s opportunity to impact the future of our nation. The similarities to 1968 are uncanny. For those who have not seen Tom Brokaw’s documentary 1968, it is worth a view.

Former Virginia governor Mark Warner mentioned far southwest Virignia in his DNC speech on Tuesday night as it related to his economic development agenda that brought many high-tech jobs to Lebanon and Russell County. The Return To Roots program was created to assist in staffing these positions.

However, this issue is more than just creating jobs. That is the first part. The second part is retaining and attracting the people to do the jobs. Most targeted candidates are young professionals with a college degree who have roots to far southwest Virginia. 

The jobs created require skill sets that are in demand in many regions across the nation. Therefore, with the job opportunity as the constant variable, what quality of life amenities are available in Lebanon that are going to attract a young professional back or someone new who has never been to that part of the state?

The retention piece and quality of life amenities must be a part of the equation of economic development in the region.  It’s not just about the jobs anymore.

The NY Times wrote this article about how parents are following their kids to their college towns. Instead of buying the condo (over living in dorms or renting apartments), they are buying the house and are staying when they come to visit. It’s the second home.

Is this activity really preparing the next generation to be independent and self-leaders or is it just smart personal finance?

Of course this activity has been going on for quite some time in Blacksburg and it is one of the reasons so many want to be in a college town - the connection to youth, fresh beginnings each fall, optimism, creativity, etc.

There is just something positive and energizing about living near a college campus. This is why Roanoke must form more relationships with its neighbor college campuses.

And if you are interested, in buying that property in Blacskburg, then contact Jeremy Hart.

The Roanoke Jaycees are looking for a few good members! The Chapter will be hosting an Open House Picnic at Fishburn Park in Roanoke City on Tuesday, August 26 from 6- 8 pm. Dinner and drinks provided.

If you are a current member, please bring a prospective member with you. If you are interested in joining the Jaycees and/or want to learn more about the Chapter, this would be a great event to come to. All are welcome.

The Park is located on Brambleton Ave, across from Shenandoah Life.

For more info, please email info@roanokejaycees.com

The Roanoke Times highlighted the NCTC Tech Expo and Virginia Tech Football Pep Rally on September 5 in today’s Sunday edition. Thanks to business editor Chris Winston for writing this piece.

The NCTC will be holding its Tech Expo at the Roanoke Civic Center Special Events Center on Friday, September 5 from 3 - 6 pm prior to the Virginia Tech football pep rally. There will be at least 40+ local companies in attendance. Check out the companies.

If you are interested in technology, looking for job and business opportunities, and are a fan of Virginia Tech football, then this event is for you whether you live in the region or are coming in town for the first home football game.

I read on Tech Crunch about Fwix - a regional aggregator of data among many common website such as Twitter, Craigslist, Flickr, etc. In other words, the site let’s you get a snapshot of activity in your local region from users of these sites. The beta version has 5 large metro areas. If you visit the site it will look a lot like Facebook. Part of the reason is the guy who created Fwix was with Facebook in the early stages of the successful web company.

I emailed Fwix asking them to include Roanoke/Blacksburg and I got an email back quickly saying they are releasing 20 more cities next week. Again, we asked for them to consider adding our region to the mix cause we suggested we needed this technology more than the larger metros. As a result, they agreed to add Roanoke next week!

“I’ll add Roanoke to the cities we’re launching next week.  I can’t promise a very interesting feed for that area though because there isn’t much activity in your area quite yet on these sites.  Maybe yelp and a couple others but we’ll see.”

If you do not think this is important, then do you remember our region without Craigslist? People looked down on our region cause we did not have a listing. When they added it, didn’t it really feel good?

Therefore, Roanoke and Blacksburg community, here is an opportunity. Please register and sign up for Fwix. Once Roanoke is launched, then blog about it, invite your contacts to Fwix, and let’s get a first-mover advantage on this new site and showcase to the world our region. Next week, we are going to be one of only 25 cities in the U.S. featured on this site.

Recent Radford University graduate Chris Pund offers his take on why to start a business in smaller markets. This very insightful aspiring entrepreneur pulled off one of the more impressive student-run entrepreneurship seminars I have attended. He brought to the small campus in southwest Virginia, Oprah’s Big Give star Cameron Johnson and entrepreneur guru Michael Simmons.

Having more emphasis on starting businesses while in college or soon after is very important to our overall regional economic growth. Thank you Chris for being a leader in your age group.

In today’s Roanoke Times, Jenny Boone did a fantastic job telling the story of one job seeker, Alex Ballin, and is proactive approach of doing something different and unique to make himself stand out among everyone else by standing on a street corner in Roanoke with a sign asking people to hire him.

This type of creativity is exactly what is needed, especially since he is a recent graduate with a social science degree who quite frankly does not have billable skill sets that are in demand in the local regional economy. Although, he does have good skill sets as seen in the story, and as a result, he is doing exactly what he must do to get noticed. Ultimately, this act will propel him in a position and his career will eventually take off.

Congratualtions Alex!