Roanoke region combats loss of young professionals

by Rod Belcher
for Virginia Business
September 2006

The problem has persisted for years: People move away from the Roanoke area, taking their educational experience with them. The effect, over time, can be detrimental to the region’s economy.

The majority of those leaving are young. The Roanoke Valley lost 8,500 people between the ages of 25 and 34 from 1990 to 2000. The reasons that young adults leave are usually twofold: work and play. Many young professionals believe Roanoke’s job market doesn’t offer enough good-paying jobs in a wide range of fields. They also see Roanoke as a community focused more on an older population and offering fewer cultural attractions for young people than Northern Virginia or Charlottesville.

Wayne Strickland, executive director for the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, says that only 21 percent of the people in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area have college degrees. By contrast, the national average is 24 percent and the state average is 30 percent. “There is a push in Roanoke to hold on to a younger, educated population,” Strickland says.
To combat this problem, Roanoke hired Stuart Mease in February to develop programs to attract and retain young adults. Mease has developed a Web site, the Roanoke Connect Database (www.roanokeva.gov/connect) and a blog to get the word out to young Roanoke professionals that they are not alone.

Mease is planning several events to show young professionals what Roanoke has to offer. The Roanoke Holiday Career and Quality of Life Fair, scheduled for Dec. 28, is designed to showcase the valley’s professional, social and personal opportunities to young professionals coming home to Roanoke during the holiday season.

The NewVa Career and Quality of Life Fair is also in the works. Mease describes the locals-only job fair as showcasing the Roanoke, New River Valley and Alleghany Highlands regions to local college students who seek summer internships or want to stay in the area after graduation. Companies without a presence in the region will not be allowed to participate in the fair.
“It is the perception [that] there are no jobs, and there is nothing to do,” Mease says in explaining the exodus of young people from the region. “It’s a myth. There are jobs and there are things to do. It just takes patience and personal networking to find them.

“ The problem is that Gen X and Gen Y are using new communication channels, and baby boomers and traditionalists are using older ones,” he says. “The generations are also not connecting informally at places like churches, civic groups and networking functions. As a result, the information flow of ‘hidden’ job information and word-of-mouth communication is much less than it was years ago.”