2012–2013 Issue - Outreach & International Affairs - Virginia Tech

Southwest Virginia’s Trails PutStudents On Success TrackBy Andrea Brunais and Kelcey ThurmanAndrea BrunaisWhen marketing a region’srecreational assets, economicdevelopers love to talk about trails.But can the economic worth of thetrails be proven and, more important,improved? Students taking a keygraduate course — the EconomicDevelopment Studio @ Virginia Tech— were handed that task by theirprofessor, John Provo, director of theOffice of Economic Development.Trails advocates wish to make convincingarguments to potentialfunders, says Link Elmore of theVirginia Creeper Trail Club, one ofthe studio’s two clients. (The other isthe New River Trail State Park.) Themessage: “We have an asset that needsto be taken care of and that theirfinancial support will really make adifference in our community.”Nine graduate students, most ofthem majoring in regional and urbanplanning, undertook the study. SarahLyon-Hill described their initialtrepidation: “We had no idea aboutthe topic or even how to conductan economic impact study on a trail.However, we learned quickly that wewere no longer in a classroom setting.We were given a problem, and nowwe had to figure it out.”For students specializing in economic development,the studio acts as a training ground, helpingthem to gain real-world experience. In the courseof preparing their report, the students traveled toDamascus and Galax in Southwest Virginia to talkwith community members, business owners, andtrail users. The region is dotted with bike shopsand tourist-related businesses inspired by the trails.The trails, now devoted to hikers and bikers, wereonce railroad lines. The Virginia Creeper is 34miles long, running from Whitetop throughDamascus to Abingdon. The New River Trail StatePark is significantly larger: 765 acres or 57 miles.It starts in Galax and runs north through Carroll,Grayson, Pulaski, and Wythe counties.After much collaboration, some struggling andmuch hard work, the studio team came up withrecommendations centered on community partnerships,marketing, and capitalizing on existing localresources. The report included specifics, such asrecommending that trail officials and advocatespromote youth involvement by creating environmental-educationactivities that would attractyoung families and employ young people or recentcollege graduates.“We loved working with this class,” Elmore said.“These are highly motivated grad students. Theydid a great job.”Andrea BrunaisKelsey Thurman(top) Hikers on the trail(bottom) Master’sstudents Swetha Kumarand Melissa Zilke in classo u t r e a c hNOWMore content, including video,at www.outreach.vt.edu/nowOutreach NOW 18