Exporting your talent is importing cash to the valley
Posted on November 24, 2007
How many people do you know who live in the Roanoke Valley and spend more than half their time working in other markets? It’s a lot more common than you might think. Think about attorneys who have to make the trek to Richmond or D.C. on a regular basis. Consider advertising agencies or architecture firms with client lists that include few, if any Roanoke-based businesses. Then there are all of the sales professionals who spend their weeks up and down the interstate and land here on the weekends.
For those who work in Roanoke’s few remaining corporate headquarters, the valley is a pretty easy-going place to live and work. If nothing else, you hear that this is a great place to raise a family– but for a growing number of professions, you wouldn’t want to work there. We now have plans in place to face that reality and redouble our efforts to attract more corporate headquarters and more young professionals to our valley. For all of the road warriors among us, these efforts may be viewed through a slightly more cynical lens.
When you spend a great deal of time in larger markets where cash flows more freely and corporate headquarters abound, you can’t help but view Roanoke as a quaint place that will forever live in the shadow of the more affluent side of our state. You have to ask yourself whether America has reached a point in its development where cities are locked into the roles they will play in the broader economy. After all, how many metropolitan areas of similar size are trying to do the same thing we are? Every market with less than a half million people dreams somehow having the economic force of markets with a million people, only without all of the problems that come with growth.
We often forget that the American economy is in its infancy compared with more mature European and Asian societies. As a result, we sometimes operate under the illusion that no matter where we choose to live we deserve the unalienable right to earn a living there. Our counterparts in Europe and Asia are more realistic. That’s why you see literally millions of people in India packed into, and onto, trains that deliver labor from the hinterlands into the large urban centers. If you live in the UK, your average commute would be 45 minutes, and you would be a lot more likely to take the train into London, stay at your pied-a-terre during the week and retreat back to your home on the weekends.
What ends up happening is a pretty basic economic concept. The more rural towns and cities are essentially exporting labor and services to the large urban centers and, thereby, importing money that would not have been generated there otherwise. Another basic economic concept is the importance of transportation to commerce. From the dawn of civilization, cities have thrived on waterways, roadways, railways and airways. If our valley wants to make the most realistic move toward sustainability, we’ll support our professionals who export their talents and invest in the infrastructure that links them to the urban centers that supply our cash.
Knowing where you are on the food chain is matter of survival. First, it gives you the perspective to know who’s going to eat you alive. And, it gives you the insight you need to know where your next meal is coming from. The same thing applies to regions like ours. The markets our size that are growing faster are literally eating our lunch. They are going after the same opportunities we are, but they winning because of their perspective and insight. They are exporting their talents more effectively, more regularly, for more money. It’s as simple as that.
So, next time you hit the road to pick up some new business in another city, remember how vitally important it is to those back home. Don’t view it as an evil necessity because the Roanoke economy can’t provide the clients you need for survival. There’s an animated United Airlines commercial that depicts a businessman taking flight on a mystical bird, becoming a dragon-slaying knight and returning home to his child on a rope swing. Think of yourself in these terms. You’re going out on behalf of your fellow Roanokers to preserve a way of life that really does make this a great place to raise a family.
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Thanks for the article. I moved to the Blacksburg area a year ago. I now work part time for a D.C. area investment management company as a consultant. My wife has her own tax accounting business. It had grown so big in D.C. that she had the enviable desire of wanting her business to downsize. She had hoped that would happen naturally moving down here, but she didn’t lose one client!
I am lucky that I can use a remote login to have almost comlete access to all of the info neede for my job. I am able to coordinate face to face meetings in D.C. with trips to see family so the commuting up I-81 is not too bad.
I have met many other refugees from the D.C. area who have made the move to southwest Virginia to greatly increase their quality of life.
In fantaasy land it would be tremendous to get high speed rail service to Richmond and then to Washington. With a spur to Tidewater as well Virginia would be truly connected and could further leverage it’s workforce.