Economic Development Director Patrick Barker Details Maturing Plan at Town-County Liaison Meeting

Whether or not the Town and County ever see eye to eye on tourism, the economic development sector that the county is spearheading, with Economic Development Director Patrick Barker, promised at a liaison meeting on October 15 to be gaining momentum and leading towards a tangible goal. One of the points Barker made as he addressed the joint body concerned the complementary yet distinct roles that tourism and economic development play in the community. While tourism attracts visitors, economic development attracts companies. While the success of tourism is embodied in visits, overnight stays, and spending, economic development delivers jobs, wages, and capital investment. If circumstances are ideal, they work like the brain and the heart, harmoniously but separately.

The Town and County met for a liaison meeting on October 15. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh

If companies are attracted, promotion of them naturally follows. The question is: what companies should the community attract, and is it necessary to reinvent the wheel? Because more than half of the community’s working population leaves the county for work every day and because the purpose of this plan, in part, is to bring some of that home, attracting something new, while not out of the question, should not detract from retention of what the county already has. While advancing the importance of supporting small businesses and engaging in analysis and assessment of all existing businesses, which leads to a better understanding of their assets and competitive edge, Barker has been listening to employers, property owners, community groups, and residents to shape the plan. These conversations have revealed an interest in outdoor recreation.

But outdoor recreation is merely one of the target industries that Barker has identified as high-potential areas for development the community may adopt. Those include advanced and precision manufacturing, where Toray and Axalta already anchor the community, with potential for growth in aerospace and defense components, unmanned aerial systems, and modular power assembly; advanced logistics and trade services, where there is synergy between Virginia Inland Port, Foreign-Trade Zone #137, and the I-66/I-81 convergence, with potential for growth in customs, freight, and controlled distribution, not general warehousing; value-added food and beverage, where there exist the valley agricultural supply and Washington-area customers, with potential for growth in nutrition, supplements, pet foods, and dry good contract manufacturing.

The list goes on. There is, of course, the outdoor recreation economy, with the Shenandoah National Park gateway, raised in Barker’s listening sessions, with potential for growth in gear and apparel design, small-batch making, and brand offices. There are also professional, scientific, and technical services, where there is the Washington-metro location plus Technology Zone incentives, with potential for growth in engineering, information technology, cybersecurity, and government services. Finally, there are financial and back-office services, which would fill the county’s largest occupational job shortfall. Barker identified several key targets, including a “misaligned entitlement process” to be overcome, and he put on the radar a one-on-one consulting session for small businesses at Laurel Ridge on October 21 and November 12.

Also important is a small business workshop at the Government Center on November 13. A business guide for new owners is in development, and Barker urged the boards to share with their networks the workshop as well as a joint EDA small business loan program. Addressed briefly at the liaison meeting were reassessment, joint transportation, and McKay Springs. A longer discussion came at the end of the meeting regarding an MOU for joint tourism that the County wrote, which was subsequently revised by the Town and brought to the liaison meeting. A disagreement emerged about what roles the Town and County would play in the spheres of “destination marketing” and “destination development”, the County reserving the latter for itself and the Town convinced it should be shared. The County is open to further consideration.