Volume 4, Issue 3; April, 2010
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 Lynchburg region moves up in Forbes's Best Places list
The Lynchburg MSA (Region 2000 geographical area) was ranked 28th of 200 major metro areas by Forbes magazine this month on its 2010 list of Best Places for Business and Careers. Lynchburg was
compared to the nation's 200 largest metropolitan areas and ranked on a number of factors including cost of doing business, projected job growth, educational attainment, and population.
"Our high ranking in this and other studies show our region to be consistently competitive in areas of business growth and job creation," said Bryan David, executive director, Economic Development Council. "This Forbes ranking is even more noteworthy because we led all Virginia metros and we were the smallest metro in the top 50."
Lynchburg outpaced other Virginia MSA's including Washington D.C./Northern
Virginia (30th), Roanoke (39th), Virginia Beach (45th), and Richmond
(50th).
View the stats that got us to No. 28 here. (Check out the reader's comment at bottom - Nice!)
View the Top 200 metro list here.
You can also read the News and Advance story here.
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Tech Council Awards Night is May 11. Get your tickets today!
 The Region 2000 Technology Council will host its 9th Annual Awards Night on May 11 at the Holiday Inn Downtown Lynchburg. Reserve your tickets now for the premier networking event of the year.
Tickets are $60 for individuals and $50 each for parties of two or more.
A limited number of tables (seating for eight) are available for $375. Register here.
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Region's population is now at 247,447
The U.S. Census Bureau's most recent population estimates for 2009
move Region 2000 up to 247,447 residents, an increase from the 2008
estimate of 245,809.
See the chart here of the Region 2000 localities that the U.S.
Census Bureau tracks. It appears that the City of
Lynchburg has the highest growth this year with the addition of 1,337
residents.
Don't forget to turn in your U.S. 2010 Census forms this month to
ensure that we continue to receive accurate figures. |
Reminder: Partnership Annual Report Breakfast to be held May 19
 The Region 2000 Partnership will hold its annual breakfast meeting on Wed., May 19, 8 - 9:30 a.m. at Liberty University's Williams Stadium Football Operations Center. Bryan David will provide a short organizational update and you will hear from Fletcher Mangum of Mangum Economic Consulting about the shifts in our regional economy over the past year.
Special thanks to Wiley|Wilson and Liberty University for supporting this event. Please contact Kathy White for further info.
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Streetlights are getting smarter in Region 2000
The Region 2000 Local Government Council was awarded a $200,000
energy conservation grant this month to install new Smartlights™ to
compare and test energy savings. Six Region 2000 communities will make up a regional test site for
"intelligent" streetlights that are modified to send signals back to a
monitoring station which will be located at the CAER facility currently being built in Bedford County.
The Smartlights™ project will
include Lynchburg, Altavista, Town of
Amherst, Town of Appomattox, Bedford City and Brookneal.
Read the Region 2000 press release here.
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Bryan David accepted to LEAD VIRGINIA
 Bryan David, executive director of the Economic Development Council, has been accepted to the LEAD VIRGINIA Class of 2010. Over the course of seven class sessions between April and November - each held in a different region - participants meet with
regional leaders to learn about assets and innovations unique to each
region, best practices, and how each region contributes to the whole of
the commonwealth.
Other local leaders that have graduated from this program are Dr. Darrel Staat, President of CVCC and Rex Hammond, President of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. To learn more about LEAD VIRGINIA, click here.
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| YP Voices event encourages local leaders to share their stories
 The Young Professionals of Central Virginia (YPCV) hosts a YP Voices event each month in which a scheduled speaker provides insights into what they've learned in their own lives and how to avoid common career pitfalls. The next YP Voices will be held May 7 at 5:30 p.m.in conjunction with First Fridays in downtown Lynchburg.
If you are willing to share your story with a group of young professionals sometime this year, please contact Abe Loper, executive director at aloper@ypcentralva.org or call him at 434-847-1447.
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 VEDP offers Introduction to Exporting on May 6
No admission fee, but pre-registration is required. To request an event flyer or a registration form, please contact Ralph Torning at: rtorning@yesvirginia.org.
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 Virginia's Region 2000 Partnership serves 10 localities and is made up of the Economic Development Council, Technology Council, Center for Advanced Engineering and Research, Local Government Council, Workforce Investment Board, and Young Professionals of Central Virginia. Please send comments to tblido@region2000.org.
Traci Blido
Program Mgr./Communications Officer
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www.region2000.org
Follow us on Twitter @VARegion2000 or join us on LinkedIn or Facebook!
Contact us by phone at (434) 845-2000. |
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