Musings from the VT Office of Economic Development’s newest staffer and sole technical writer Coming into the Office of Economic Development as a technical writer with no background in economic development means I have had a bit of learning to do since starting on Feb. 12. The biggest challenge so far has simply been…
This week in economic development news in Southwest Virginia and beyond: NuSpark, a free office space for entrepreneurs and startups located in the North End building in Blacksburg, closed its doors after two years of operation and several successful company launches. The space, funded by the Virginia Tech Foundation, is set to be repurposed, but…
This week in economic development news in Southwest Virginia and beyond: Just how much are colleges worth? The Hechinger Report looked to Virginia Tech to find answers to this multifaceted question. In their report, they find that the worth of a college can go beyond vague generalities and actually have a quantifiable number attached to…
The Catalyst Program at Virginia Tech, with support from the US Economic Development Administration The region surrounding Virginia Tech is restructuring away from a historic reliance on manufacturing, railroads and agriculture towards higher education, healthcare and technology. This transition has highlighted a key challenge: the Roanoke-Blacksburg region lags behind peers in university research commercialization. While…