Partnership seeks to lure youth back to area

For three years, a nonprofit organization has worked to recruit youthful Southwest Virginia natives back to that remote region of the commonwealth as part of a program called Return to Roots.

The program is one that a local economic development organization wants to start here.

Return to Roots has attracted the attention of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, a group that recruits businesses and works to expand existing ones in this part of the state.

The foundation has been laid for workers as young as 21 and as old as 44 to return to Southwest Virginia.

With the help of Virginia colleges and universities, the nonprofit Virginia Economic Bridge has identified more than 37,000 former natives of Southwest Virginia, and has found hundreds who are interested in jobs there.

A Web site promoting the program also offers online posting of resumes and information about Southwest Virginia.

Shenandoah Valley Partnership CEO Robin Sullenberger said at a Friday partnership meeting that the “brain drain” of young people leaving the Valley is a concern.

“We want to provide high quality jobs and keep young people who grow up here closer to home,” he said.

The effort will require both education and business working together, Sullenberger said.

He said the timing of Return to Roots here will depend on the availability of funding.

The Shenandoah Valley Partnership has several grant possibilities, including some with the U.S. Department of Labor.

If the grants fall through, it could delay a Return to Roots here.

“We would have to look to local business and government. That is incredibly difficult because of the circumstances both are in,” Sullenberger said.

Carl Mitchell, president and CEO of Virginia Economic Bridge, said the toughest part of Return to Roots has been getting the business community to embrace the program.

“Businesses are not fully engaged,” he said, explaining that many in Southwest Virginia are not aware of the service and the program’s Web site.

Funding for the program to date has come from state grants and other sources.

Mitchell said the program is now at an important juncture where it must be sustained.

Sullenberger said it will also be a challenge to engage the business community in the Shenandoah Valley.

“The private sector today is so busy and bottom-line that they have problems finding time to engage in these issues, and they are somewhat skeptical of the public sector’s ability to deliver on promises,” he said.