Radford University held its second annual Entrepreneurial Summit today, and again, it was fantastic. Radford is commited to incorporating this important principle into its curriculum and we are beginning to see the results. SunTrust sponsored the elevator pitch competition and four student walked away with scholarship money and cash to forward their ideas. Two RU alum speakers talked about their experiences and both are willing to assist the summit in future years in both participation and funding. Chris Pund the RU student who started the idea last year and received support from RU was in attendance and should be commended for his vision. Creating more entrepreneurs among our recent graduates is a sure bet to enhancing the long-range economic vitality of our region – and Radford is leading the way.

The 2nd annual Roanoke Arts Fesitval is in 2 weeks to coincide with the opening of the $70 million Taubman Museum of Art. An assortment of events will be occurring across the city during the festival, including the culminating event with Crystal Gayle.  For its size (100,000 population) Roanoke has a very vibrant arts scene with the festival, museum and a host of other venues like Center in the Square, Jefferson Center, etc. As lifestyle amenities become more important to people in choosing a place to live, our arts community is a tremendous asset in this regard. Please attend and participate in the Arts Festival. If we do not support these amenities, then it will go away. Remember the Roanoke Dazzle?

Below is a summary video of the first year of the festival.

Handshake 2.0 and Connecting People are partnering to create a periodic video to promote different aspects of the region. It is intended to be a positive, future-oriented and regional focused. The video will be 2-minute takes on a variety of issues. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.

The final day of the conference was really good. We heard from Richard Florida and his insights are still the best in my opinion in building the regional economic development strategy. He made the following comments that resonated with me and other:

1. It’s time to rethink economic development. He made that comment in regard to the current US and global economic environment.  Real communities create real economic development and we have an obligation to the lead the way to create real value.  Local ED groups must do even more during this uncertain financial times for its communities. This is an urgent activity.

2. 45% of jobs are in the service sector. He challenged the group to take up as an agenda item to make these jobs more innovative and creative – in other words – upgrade the service economy.

3. Economic development comes from creating new jobs by doing things differently. It comes from the community working together by operating in a tolerant and diverse environment. We must attract the best people from around the world. (Pixel Optics is doing this in Roanoke).

4. All communities must have 5 layers to building a healthy regional economy. At the base is physical and economic security (investment in schools and low crime). At the second level is specialized opportunities for individuals to prosper. Third, leadership. Fourth, an environment of tolerance, openness and diversity. Finally, territorial assets or quality of place. How do we rate on each of the 5 layers?

5. We must invest in new forms of housing. People cannot move cause they cannot sell their house. People will not be able to afford to waste time, therefore, they will move closer to work. Perhaps condotels in Blacksburg or office/lofts similar to the Cotton Mill in downtown Roanoke for the creative class.

In case you have not read it, pick up a copy of Florida’s new book Who’s Your City.

A couple of things stood out yesterday regarding our region in talking to numerous people at the International Economic Development Council Conference.

1. Branding was a key theme. Many different exhibitors and speakers talked about a region’s brand. What is it? What are you known for? How to you improve it?

2. Our web presence is our opportunity to be bigger than we are.They are so many fantastic web resources we can use to position ourselves in the global economy. The best and worse thing is that they are relatively inexpensive and if you bought them it would eliminate the need for human resources.

3. Developing and executing a strategy is still king. Many people at this conference have a specific niche focus. It’s hard if not impossible to do it all. Focusing your strategy on a few core missions and executing is the best thing we can do. Allocating time and resources efficiently and effectively is a must.

More tomorrow…