About

"We’ve worked with Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic & Community Engagement to help provide engineering students and faculty with positions at Volvo and Mack Trucks and their supplier firms. With support from U.S. Economic Development Administration during the 2008-10 recession, we completed numbers of product development and process improvements projects with Volvo and their suppliers that helped the company continue to grow their influence in the region. More recently, we worked with Mack Trucks as they developed a new product line that will be established at a new factory in Roanoke, Virginia."

- Matt Earnest, Director of VT Center for High Performance Manufacturing

"Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic & Community Engagement has been a great partner to our alliance to include Verge, RAMP, and RBTC. Their team has assisted us with high level strategy and in understanding our true, measurable impact in the tech and biotech innovation space both in the region and beyond. The VT CECE team have also provided key assistance in our grant writing strategy, storytelling, and outcome measurements."

- Erin Burcham, President of Verge Alliance

"Our relationship with Virginia Tech is really important. Their analysis of what’s going on around us, in our labor market, and in our communities — we make decisions based on some of that information. It’s also not information that we just keep for ourselves; we post it on our website and we share with our funders and partners at the regional and state level. I value the center’s willingness to take almost any idea we’ve pushed their way and find a way to make it work. There aren't many opportunities that you have where you can partner with an organization that can do a variety of tasks in a variety of ways and allows us to choose the information we want to provide to our area. I think that flexibility is incredible in this partnership."

- Marty Holliday, Executive Director of the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board

"Virginia Tech's Center for Economic & Community Engagement is an ideal partner if you're looking for evidence-based problem-solvers and researchers.  The individuals in the center are known as being trailblazers in the space of technical assistance for entrepreneurship, community, talent, technology and workforce research.  The team skillfully provides a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including focus groups, surveys, economic impact analysis, and interviews.  Aside from the fact that the staff is always friendly and responsive, the quality of the research is nothing short of top notch." 

- Samantha Steidle, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Director of Radford University's Venture Lab

"At Apex, we believe entrepreneurship, new venture development and business growth is the key ingredient to developing a bright future for our region. We would not be where we are without the vital support of the Virginia Tech Center for Economic & Community Engagement (VT CECE) and their wonderful support and leadership.  The VT CECE has been our partner since the early days of our launching the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs. They have gone out of their way to make sure they are supporting our mission of inspiring and empowering our students, faculty, and alumni turn their passion, purpose, and ideas into action. The entire VT CECE team have a fantastic cooperative approach, are incredibly responsive and have a strong willingness to support the Apex Center and our growing success.  There is much more to be done and the team at VT CECE are bringing together the key players in the state and region to make it happen. The future is bright."

- Derick Maggard, Executive Director of the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs

"The City of Galax, along with members from Vaughan Furniture Company, reached out to the Virginia Tech Center for Economic & Community Engagement for assistance in evaluating a former 400,000 square foot furniture factory in Galax as a possible multi-use facility that could serve as a catalyst for tourism and increased visitors to our city. The “ask” was simple but the deliverable very complicated – “What can this former factory be that will help Galax in the future?” The CECE staff and graduate students worked diligently over a few months reviewing the facility and exploring our regional needs, similar projects, possible funding sources, and how communities partnered or supported developers. The final product was presented to the owners, Galax City Council, and other key individuals in our community and was received with much excitement about the possibilities for the former plant. The final project has generated so much interest that we now have active working committees and state agency representatives meeting on a continuous basis to begin moving this project forward. Without the assistance from the Virginia Tech CECE, we would not have made any progress on this exciting project."

- Keith Barker, City Manager of Galax

"The strategic plan CECE developed for us has given our board a road map to use and helped us make decisions, whether it be in regard to marketing or trail construction. CECE’s ability to guide productive community conversations was invaluable. We were able to have conversations with groups of business leaders, tourism experts, and economic developers. It was critical to get as much insight as we could from a broad range of constituents."

- Anthony "Steve" Pike, Government Affairs Director for the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority

"Working with Virginia Tech has been phenomenal, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the students and staff. Tourism is a major driver of Virginia’s economy, and this project will help us get to know our battlefield visitors and enable us to design battlefield experiences that draw even more visitors to the region in the future.” 

- Keven Walker, CEO of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation