Where Creative Traditions and New Technologies Meet

Lydeana Martin, Floyd County, Virginia

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Our “Weaknesses”No four-laneNo railroadNo natural gasNo airportNo “Product” (readily available building

space)Limited water capacity (less than 150,000gpd

currently)No hospitalNo university

Our StrengthsNo four lane, no natural gas, etc. ;-)Strong, fun downtownVibrant, welcoming community with local

arts, foods, music, wineries etc.Entrepreneurship and IndependenceRobust fiber optics, increasingly recognizedGood schoolsPeople good with their handsFloyd Regional Commerce CenterProximity to Virginia Tech

Floyd’s Recognition Sustainable Communities . . . Six

Great Places Maybe You’’ve never Heard of Mother Earth News, Feb 2011

Southern Dream Towns Music is just one of this Town’s

High Notes Garden & Gun April 2010

Top 10 Southern American Cities Salon City, April 2007

Top 15 Travel Destinations: The

Crooked Road USA Today 2007

Virginia Town on Slow [Food] City Pace

USA Today Nov 2006

But many challenges . . .High out-commuting rates (60%)Among the lowest wages in Virginia (factors

include so many low-end service jobs)Limited tax base (residential growth)Diversification is desperately needed as

traditional manufacturing is gone; farms are struggling

Even our small business often are not stable or growing good-paying jobs

Floyd County

People Want to Be In FloydPeople Want to Be In Floyd

Floyd County

Communication Services• 200Gbps backbone on a open access network

with redundant and diverse routing with other network providers like: Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative and Bristol Virginia Utilities.– Upgradable to 800Gbps– Co-location building located at the Floyd Regional

Commerce Center with 200amps DC power system, battery backups, and 25kW on-site emergency generator

– Over 95% of all network facilities are buried

Wired for the Future –For more than a decade, students at every level in Floyd County have been trained to use the Internet Floyd County Schools

became one of the first schools systems in U.S. to place Internet access in each classroom (by 1995)

•6th Graders do morning news show through digital video & school computer network have for 6 years+Smart Board technology used in each school

Powerpoint in lst grade!

Floyd County Schools Floyd County Schools ~ All Meeting SOL’s, NCLB~ All Meeting SOL’s, NCLB

Excellence In K-12 Education

Education:

Vibrant DowntownGrowth in TourismVibrant downtown

“ IT'S NO MYSTERY why a city as buttoned-up as Washington connects with music as down-home as bluegrass -- it gets us back to ourselves. Anyone interested in tracking the sound a little closer to its source need only travel to the southwestern Virginia town of Floyd. Every Friday night, players, listeners and dancers come from all around to gather at the general store for the Friday Night Jamboree. ”

Music: Music: Live 5 days/weekLive 5 days/week

Friday Night Jamboree

Floydfest

Black Dog Jazz and Our Dog Blue Concerts

Blues and Roots musicLive music in Floyd Wed-Sun

The ArtsThe Arts

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Original Art Work by Local Artist Charlotte Atkins

The Jacksonville Center's mission is to stimulate economic development through tourism by showcasing those artistic, creative, educational, and entertainment aspects of rural life which are unique to this region.

The Jacksonville Center for the Arts

Floyd: One of the best art

towns in America

~John Villani,

100 Best Arts Small Arts Towns

Blue Ridge Parkway:

Rock Castle National Recreation Area

Natural & Historic Areas

Mabry Mill

Buffalo Mountain (3,977 ft)

Floyd County

Business Clusters in Floyd CountyFoods:

Blue Mountain Organics Chateau Morrisette WineryGood Food Good People

Natural Products: Green Label Organics GreenDeva’s Faith Mountain Farm

Business Clusters in Floyd CountyPolymers/Advanced Materials:

Hollingsworth & VoseBG Genesis, LLC

Automotive: Dex (Volvo subsidiary)

Technology:Citizens (communications)Electronic PrototypesEntryway (software)Newland Group (GIS/GPS)

Business Clusters in Floyd CountyHome-Building/Furnishings:

Streamline TimberworksCrenshaw LightingBuilderscrete, Blue Ridge Yurts, andMANY Cabinetmakers, Woodworkers

Artists and Artisans Hundreds . . .

Green-buildings in Floyd

Eco-Village (Net zero homes)

Office Building with solar, geothermal energy, plus grey water system

Hotel Floyd—energy efficient, local sourced

One of largest salvaged timber-frame building in US