THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIO @ VIRGINIA TECH

The Economic Development Studio @ Virginia Tech is a resource for communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. We conduct research on economic development issues, inform policymakers and residents, and provide suggestions for economic development strategy and action. The Studio is a collaborative effort between Virginia Tech’s Urban Affairs and Planning Program and Virginia Tech’s Office of Economic Development. Faculty leading the studio effort are Dr. Heike Mayer and Dr. John Provo.

Current Projects

This fall graduate students from planning, public administration and forestry departments are participating in the Economic Development Studio @ Virginia Tech.  The class is working with leaders of Sustain Floyd, a community based non-profit organization dedicated to the sustainable development of Floyd County, a rural county off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the New River Valley.

OED Associate Director John Provo, who teaches this hands on graduate course as a part of the Urban Affairs and Planning program, described the students as highly skilled pre-professionals.  The students are working to identify opportunities for green or sustainable business in Floyd County. The class will begin their project with a market analysis of Floyd County's assets and will subsequently assess the feasibility of specific business and industry opportunities.  Mel Jones, a student in the master’s program in planning, described their work.  “Building on the community’s assets, interests, and real-world opportunities in the marketplace, we will construct a business case which members of Sustain Floyd can support local sustainable enterprises.” 

Past Projects

2008: Bringing Open Innovation to Economic Development in Virginia

This project involved 7 students in Alexandria and 5 students in Blacksburg. The students applied the open innovation model to Virginia Tech's distributed research facilities in Arlington and in Danville. The teams assessed the potential of these institutions to link with industry and other research organizations and developed recommendations for economic development practitoners.

The reports can be downloaded here:

Arlington case study: Advancing Openness: Application of the Open Innovation Model and the Central Role of University-Industry Linkages

Danville case study: Bringing Open Innovation to Economic Development in Southside Virginia

2007: Alleghany Highlands Wood Products Labor Market Issues

During Fall 2007 students in the Economic Development Studio conducted research and analysis on labor market issues in the Alleghany Highlands. The study was commissioned for the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission which was interested in exploring both needs of current industries and developing labor-based strategies for adding-value to those industry functions in the future. The six students enrolled in this class were all based in Blacksburg.

The final report can be downloaded here: Economic Development Final Report

2006: Farmshoring in Virginia

This project involved 15 students in Alexandria and in Blacksburg. The class examined farmshoring/domestic outsourcing opportunities in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Students made recommendations to state and local policymakers how they can take advantage of the emerging farmshoring/domestic outsourcing phenomenon. The project was funded by by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and various local communities.

The students received the 2007 Student Project Award of the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association.

To read the summary report and the technical reports, click here.

2004: Doing Business in Roanoke: An Analysis of Downtown Sectors

During Fall 2004, students in the Economic Development Studio conducted an industry cluster analysis of downtown Roanoke. The study was commissioned by Downtown Roanoke Inc. (DRI), a business improvement district organization. The seven students enrolled in this class were all based in Blacksburg.

Doing Business in Roanoke: An Analysis of Downtown Sectors (PDF, Powerpoint)

 

 

For more information on how Virginia Tech can help to improve the performance of your organization, contact:

Virginia Tech
Office of Economic Development
702 University City Blvd. (Mail Code 0373)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone (540) 231-5278
Fax (540) 231-8850
E-mail econdev@vt.edu