History
History | Organizational Structure | Partner Organizations
Defense cutbacks, corporate mergers and downsizing, resulting
in excess of 8,000 lost jobs within an 80 mile radius of Roanoke, brought business and
community leaders from the New River Valley, Alleghany Highlands and the Roanoke Valley
together to address the serious issues facing our region.
Leaders and citizens from the eleven counties of Alleghany,
Bland, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke and Wythe,
and the five cities of Clifton Forge, Covington, Radford, Roanoke and Salem united to form
the New Century Council. Its focus was to develop a vision
statement and create a strategic plan outlining a preferred future into the next century.
The Council, governed by a
steering committee representative of the New Century Region, was originally chaired by Tom
Robertson of Carilion Health System, then by Tom Brock, retired from General Electric, and
then co-chaired by James G. Rakes, of the National Bank of Blacksburg and John B.
Williamson, III, of Roanoke Gas Company.
Beginning in the Fall of 1993 and continuing through February
1994, business, government and citizen representatives conducted a series of meetings
which resulted in a completed Vision Statement. During January and February, the public
from both Valleys were invited to public hearings to comment on the proposed Vision. The
final document, adopted on February 15, 1994, called for the creation of 33 teams of
volunteers to shape the Vision. The spring months were spent recruiting citizen volunteers
to fulfill this mission.
In June 1994, the New Century Council held a meeting to
launch the work of the New Century Council Teams. With over 1,000 citizens from thoughout
the region actively participating, the teams designed an implementation plan for the
Vision, reporting their results in May 1995.
After assembling the team reports, in excess of 150
strategies were recommended for implementation. Each team designated a time line for
action, suggested what current organization in the region should lead the effort and
prioritized each project.
Originally, the Council was structured with three staff
assignments. Two offices were maintained, one in the New River Valley at Virginia Tech and
the other in Roanoke. Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr. and Ed Whitmore, both economic
developers and former elected officials from the region, conducted the Council's efforts
full time, along with an administrative assistant, until June 31, 1997. With the
citizen-input process complete and Board priorities established, full time staffing was no
longer needed. The New Century Council organization officially ceased its operation in
June of 1999 and turned its Vision over to the The Center for Innovative Leadership.
The Foundation for Regional Excellence was formed in December
of 1996 to acquire funding for required projects. The Foundation created a "Committee
of 1000" of the region's citizens to continue support, evaluation and determination
of opportunities for our region's future. A separate board of trustees
governs the affairs of the Foundation. The Foundation, a charitable organization, received grants funding, implemented a number of regional projects, and dissolved in May, 2008.
