History & Background

A QUARTER-CENTURY OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Roanoke Regional Partnership was founded in August 1983. It was an opportunity for public and private sectors -- multiple governments -- to come together to help advance the greater region. Ours would be one of the first regional economic development partnerships in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We would speak with one voice for the region and serve as a one-stop shop for companies seeking to locate or expand in the region.

Our five founding governments were the counties of Botetourt and Roanoke; the cities of Roanoke and Salem, and the Town of Vinton. Since then, the counties of Alleghany and Franklin have joined the effort to bring business and jobs to the Roanoke Region.

The 1980s saw announcements totaling $57 million and 1,450 new jobs. New companies included Gardner-Denver, Orvis, Vitramon, Sears Telecatalog, and Tweeds. Orvis celebrated its 20th anniversary in the Roanoke Region in 2007 and has expanded several times.

By 1990, we had changed our name from the Regional Partnership of Roanoke Valley to the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.

The booming economy brought more than $500 million in investment and more than 5,900 new jobs. Companies such as Arkay Packaging, Fleetwood Homes, Metalsa Roanoke, R.R. Donnelley, Virginia Forge, Dynax America, First Citizens Bank, and Maple Leaf Bakery either located in the region or expanded. They're all still going strong.

The turn of the century brought economic challenges, the global war on terror and war in Iraq, but the Roanoke Region has continued to attract a variety of domestic and international companies. Expansions of existing firms demonstrated the area's positive business environment. New to the region since 2000 are: Altec Industries, Trinity Packaging, Integrity Windows, Cardinal Glass, Tecton Products, and McAirlaid's.

In 2008, we completed a successful campaign that raised more than $6,500,000 for an expanded program of work to include image building, asset development, and benchmarking in addition to traditional business recruitment. We changed our name to Roanoke Regional Partnership.