Suchergebnisse

In spring 2016 the Rural Retreat Depot Foundation commissioned the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development to assist in the visioning of the historic Rural Retreat Train Depot. This technical assistance included gathering background data on town and county demographics and industry trends, research on case studies and best practices, interviews with similar train depots, and conducting a stakeholder visioning meeting to determine possible uses of the train depot and examine how the train depots new function can best benefit the community. The Rural Retreat train depot was originally built in the 1850s by the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and was both a freight and passenger station. It burned down during the Civil War and was rebuilt in 1867 in the Italianate architectural style, and is one of only three depots in the nation remaining of similar design. In the mid-1900s the depot was no longer used as a train station and was sold to a company that used it as a warehouse. Over the years, the building began to slowly deteriorate and the Rural Retreat Depot Foundation acquired the building in 2011. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The Rural Retreat Train Depot Foundation formed to acquire, restore and manage Rural Retreats historic train depot as a means of preserving the culture of the region. The foundation is a non-profit organization whose board members include local business owners, a local food producer, local government officials and retired community members, many of whom have lived in Rural Retreat their entire lives. Each board member has a unique skill-set or interest such as music, local food, historic preservation, festivals, and Appalachian crafts. The foundations restoration master plan has two components: exterior restoration to the 1949 remodel condition and interior restoration to create an attractive, comfortable community space that will serve as the centerpiece for the town. The exterior restoration has largely been completed and interior restoration is ongoing. The train depot is currently home to a farmers market, available for community meetings, and is a versatile event rental space for family reunions, weddings, professional retreats, musical performances, and so on. The remainder of this report is broken up into four sections: 1) a review of select train depots in Appalachia and their reuses, 2) an overview of Rural Retreat regional data, 3) a summary of the April 27, 2016 Rural Retreat Visioning meeting, and 4) a synthesis of possible reuses for the train depot and recommendations.

The social and economic impacts of Agency 229 on the Commonwealth of Virginia are vast and diverse. As a state-funded entity, legislative bodies often ask Agency 229 to illustrate those impacts. Currently, 229 faculty assess research and extension programming using quantitative metrics such as head-counts at trainings and research dollars awarded. Outcomes of activities are communicated qualitatively through impact statements that provide summary information on trainings and anecdotal evidence of benefits to attendees and those who benefit from direct technical assistance. Occasionally, researchers will team up with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics to assess the potential economic impact of an innovation. Others who focus on agricultural products sold through nationwide and commodity markets will compare yield gains over time and attribute a portion of gains to research and extension efforts. The numerous media headlines and narratives describing the localized impacts of research and technical assistance initiatives have been another powerful approach to telling Agency 229s story. As the agency looks ahead, however, the growing trend for more data-driven funding justifications challenge Agency 229 to illustrate its economic impacts in different, more comprehensive ways that connect its activities to industry and community development in the commonwealth. This type of evaluation can further help prioritize resources and improve programming. Recently, Virginias state legislature released a mandate, directing Agency 229 to develop a strategy for leveraging state investment with industry partnerships that result in technological and scientific advancements needed to grow the states agricultural and natural resource economy. Moreover, Agency 229 has to consider its role in university-led initiatives such as the Virginia Agriculture and Natural Resources Initiative: Growing our future with public-private partnership and the Global Systems Science Complex and Destination Area. These initiatives offer opportunities to leverage resources and increase the agencys overall economic impact. This study assesses the current impacts of Agency 229 as they relate to the economy of Commonwealth of Virginia and provides recommendations on how to leverage activities and funding to increase those impacts in the future. We begin by providing an overview of Agency 229 and different approaches to studying the economic impact of university entities. Many approaches exist; however, because impacts of such a large entity can be difficult to quantify or even qualify, not many institutions have endeavored to conduct a large comprehensive study of this type. We approach the assessment of the economic impact of Agency 229 using an industry and community case study lens. By looking at the influence of 229 extension and research innovations have on individual sectors of the economy and specific communities, we can uncover many of the causal mechanisms through which 229 activities affect change and in turn facilitate economic growth and development. We first review five industries that contribute significantly to Virginias agricultural economy and assess Agency 229 research and extension efforts as they relate to those sectors. We then take four communities located across the commonwealth as examples to identify social and economic impacts that VCE and Agency 229 research have at the county level.