Regional Talent

More than 100,000 undergraduate and graduate students are educated each year from 25 higher education institutions located within an hour’s drive, including Virginia Tech, Roanoke College, and Virginia Western Community College. As a budding hot spot for a variety of sectors, including transportation manufacturing, life science, and food and beverage, the region provides strategic market access for businesses and draws talent from a 25-mile radius from the Roanoke Region border with an extended labor area population of nearly 700,000.