GHS89 77 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 As someone who as been impacted by the dying local economy (this season I'll be a Franklin County Eagle), I just wanted to open discussion on where the condition of our favorite sport is headed. The entire staff of my office was shipped off to Roanoke this spring. I feel blessed in that I had a job to ride out of here on where many of the jobless will have launch out on faith. Point is coal will never return like we knew it, if ever. The gas industry has shrunk tremendously as well. Consol, the grand old employer, gone. The railroad, downsizing quickly with no end in sight to the cuts being made. All this is bound to have impacts on our schools. In my opinion, I see the success of the local programs depending on how consolidation falls in place. Read, "The Bluestone, Home of the G-Dogs". I can see the schools along the I-81 corridor avoiding much of the slide, with those deeper in coal country slipping in competitiveness regardless of consolidation. The question mark for me is schools such as Gate City and Union. Will the effect of the Tri Cities keep them up, and drive them well past others on the region? Bluefield I think stays competitive as it continues to fall in classification. The question is who else in the Mountain State falls with them. It's a simple fact folks, we are on the ropes and it ain't looking good. Discuss. olewave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West12aaa 99 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Abingdon is on the rise atm, it's economy is in a state of flux. Development is pushing on however Ive heard a lot of people are selling out and leaving. Lee county is split if you ask me, anything in TW region is stabilizing while lee's and union's region will be hit by this decline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Abingdon is on the rise atm, it's economy is in a state of flux. Development is pushing on however Ive heard a lot of people are seeing out and leaving. Lee county is split if you ask me, anything in TW region is stabilizing while lee's and union's region will be hit by this decline. Lee County is the 2nd poorest county in Virginia in terms of per capita income, beating only Dickenson, and not by very much. It is also bottom 5 (of 95) in terms of household income. I know you take pride in your territory, as should we all. But please, it's a bit obtuse when you talk about the TW area "stabilizing" when that area is little more than a vacant 25-mile expanse before you hit the Cumberland Gap and the next town of respectable size, Middlesboro. Of course it's "stabilized". Short of a meteor blasting the area into oblivion, or President Trump putting an interstate through Ewing, it's going to be "stable" for a long time to come. Nothing against the folks from Lee County, many of whom I have met are wonderful people. But there's not a whole lot there. Not that there's really a whole lot anywhere except for Washington County and Bristol, but it's pretty remarkable there. Ryan4VT and olewave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeatlast2013 8 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 I agree and even in Roanoke the economy has been affected by railroad job losses although the Roanoke Valley economy has become much more diverse and is constantly changing . Coal I think will not get any better . The world is changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West12aaa 99 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Lee County is the 2nd poorest county in Virginia in terms of per capita income, beating only Dickenson, and not by very much. It is also bottom 5 (of 95) in terms of household income. I know you take pride in your territory, as should we all. But please, it's a bit obtuse when you talk about the TW area "stabilizing" when that area is little more than a vacant 25-mile expanse before you hit the Cumberland Gap and the next town of respectable size, Middlesboro. Of course it's "stabilized". Short of a meteor blasting the area into oblivion, or President Trump putting an interstate through Ewing, it's going to be "stable" for a long time to come. Nothing against the folks from Lee County, many of whom I have met are wonderful people. But there's not a whole lot there. Not that there's really a whole lot anywhere except for Washington County and Bristol, but it's pretty remarkable there. The lower Lee has not been graced with the coal land or funds shoved sideways up a county's ass-ets (tidewater area). However soon Flat land will be available once debusk inheritance sells off. It could pose a decent location for businesses. Wise county I believe will feel the full effect, if it hasn't already. TW has only one way to go and that's up, economy wise that is. I am rather bitter toward anyone east of or in Roanoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC_Quincy 582 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 I don't see it affecting Gate City or Scott County. Most people work in the Tri-Cities Deleted Account 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 I don't see it affecting Gate City or Scott County. Most people work in the Tri-Cities Bingo and hopefully the Industrial Park in Duffield continues to grow. GC_Quincy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 Lee County is the 2nd poorest county in Virginia in terms of per capita income, beating only Dickenson, and not by very much. It is also bottom 5 (of 95) in terms of household income. I know you take pride in your territory, as should we all. But please, it's a bit obtuse when you talk about the TW area "stabilizing" when that area is little more than a vacant 25-mile expanse before you hit the Cumberland Gap and the next town of respectable size, Middlesboro. Of course it's "stabilized". Short of a meteor blasting the area into oblivion, or President Trump putting an interstate through Ewing, it's going to be "stable" for a long time to come. Nothing against the folks from Lee County, many of whom I have met are wonderful people. But there's not a whole lot there. Not that there's really a whole lot anywhere except for Washington County and Bristol, but it's pretty remarkable there. And 4 locales within the county sit in the bottom 10, 2 of which are in the western half. We aren't attracting much. The county population was holding nicely until the hospital closure. Wellmont's choke hold and our county's poor job of not seeing it coming (when they were warned well before) really hurts in many ways and the process to get it back has been a long, drawn out, painful process. Wal-mart I guess had some benefits but it has hurt some too. That land around it has not developed well. Shoe show has hung around somehow and that's about it as far other business, with an occasional smaller clothing store trying to tough it out. A KFC/Taco Bell combo didn't last long and now there's a Mexican restaurant trying to move in now. Taco Bell seems to be surviving in Pennington though. O'Reilly's jumped in right across from Advanced Auto in Pennington to make things interesting there. They had that experiment with trying to bring in those ill-fated call centers. The Lee Theater restoration project I think was an actually good idea and good for the area. The ATV trails were probably the most recent attraction but I don't how much that's doing now and most every other county has the same thing going on. We could probably do more with tourism. Not much in the way coal mining like elsewhere in the region and losing those Tobacco warehouse days in Pennington I think negatively impacted us. Still remember them lined up all the way through Pennington waiting to get in. We need some good leadership and good ideas coming forward. We have several projects that are just not well organized and slow moving, if they even survive the trials. Too many of our people want nice restaurants, and business like Bristol, but we aren't Bristol and we need to focus on industry like what Duffield is doing. So many turn away from coming here, maybe it's lack of pay or political squabbles and rumors, or whatever, but the reputation isn't good. Much like everywhere else in SWVA, kids are ready to get away quickly. Thankfully we still have the Federal prison, lose it and we lose a big employment base. And lets not we forget the Mt. Racemore pitch.... http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/video/which-nascar-drivers-would-you-carve-into-mt-racemore-120715 https://trademarks.justia.com/854/36/mt-racemore-85436148.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trumpet1988 289 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 I don't see it affecting Gate City or Scott County. Most people work in the Tri-CitiesAren't there new jobs coming to Gate City? The call center Teletech being an example. Wise County is having a rough time and it's not getting any better. I know firsthand with schools. As bad as it is now, if we didn't consolidate, we'd be in worse shape. Coal mines are dying. All we have for work if you're not lucky enough to land a teaching job here is Sykes (the most horribly run place of employment here), prisons (seems to be growing due to lost coal jobs), and nursing (the world could always use them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 Wise took one of hardest hits in population % drop in the past few years. Buchanan had the highest drop, with Alleghany next, Wise and some Southside counties in there at the top. Floyd and Grayson Counties the only this side of the Montgomery/Pulaski/Roanoke line to see a gain in numbers. Grayson in just the past couple of years and Floyd steadily overall. For the Southwest VA area... Source: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk April 1, 2010 Population Estimate (as of July 1)Census Estimates Base 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Alleghany County, Virginia 16,250 16,261 16,211 16,340 16,233 16,195 15,884 15,677Bath County, Virginia 4,731 4,727 4,712 4,660 4,639 4,597 4,549 4,470Bland County, Virginia 6,824 6,824 6,810 6,765 6,698 6,682 6,606 6,561 Botetourt County, Virginia 33,148 33,148 33,182 33,066 33,196 33,053 33,115 33,347 Buchanan County, Virginia 24,098 24,095 24,040 23,929 23,902 23,647 23,177 22,776Carroll County, Virginia 30,042 30,087 30,086 30,096 29,938 29,880 29,641 29,724Craig County, Virginia 5,190 5,173 5,176 5,226 5,198 5,185 5,240 5,211Dickenson County, Virginia 15,903 15,892 15,870 15,763 15,670 15,459 15,306 15,115Floyd County, Virginia 15,279 15,293 15,355 15,416 15,442 15,527 15,581 15,651 Franklin County, Virginia 56,159 56,155 56,202 56,410 56,343 56,324 56,233 56,264 Giles County, Virginia 17,286 17,286 17,317 17,119 16,979 16,942 16,786 16,708Grayson County, Virginia 15,533 15,551 15,496 15,406 15,225 15,221 15,999 16,012 Henry County, Virginia 54,151 54,143 54,116 53,330 52,907 52,631 52,153 51,881Highland County, Virginia 2,321 2,319 2,294 2,281 2,252 2,223 2,251 2,214Lee County, Virginia 25,587 25,586 25,532 25,657 25,533 25,187 24,913 24,742 Montgomery County, Virginia 94,392 94,412 94,597 94,842 95,691 96,782 97,369 97,653 Patrick County, Virginia 18,490 18,487 18,470 18,363 18,394 18,292 18,224 18,045Pulaski County, Virginia 34,872 34,859 34,806 34,743 34,744 34,510 34,312 34,332Roanoke County, Virginia 92,376 92,439 92,405 92,968 93,047 93,761 93,979 94,409Russell County, Virginia 28,897 28,896 28,856 28,652 28,415 28,253 28,012 27,891Scott County, Virginia 23,177 23,172 23,133 22,960 22,790 22,612 22,360 22,126Smyth County, Virginia 32,208 32,208 32,187 32,027 31,873 31,728 31,572 31,470Tazewell County, Virginia 45,078 45,078 45,147 44,677 44,247 44,091 43,436 42,899Washington County, Virginia 54,876 54,870 54,893 54,744 55,055 54,744 54,663 54,591Wise County, Virginia 41,452 41,476 41,616 41,427 40,889 40,664 39,952 39,718Wythe County, Virginia 29,235 29,232 29,226 29,185 29,297 29,290 29,060 29,119Bristol city, Virginia 17,835 17,841 17,853 17,815 17,812 17,515 17,339 17,141Galax city, Virginia 7,042 6,989 7,009 6,803 6,838 6,914 6,912 6,914 Martinsville city, Virginia 13,821 13,821 13,729 13,710 13,630 13,583 13,552 13,645Norton city, Virginia 3,958 3,951 3,969 4,015 4,046 4,014 4,023 3,939Radford city, Virginia 16,408 16,408 16,450 16,770 16,646 17,075 17,390 17,403Roanoke city, Virginia 97,032 96,919 96,778 96,874 98,087 99,047 99,774 99,897Salem city, Virginia 24,802 24,848 24,916 24,847 25,009 25,187 25,350 25,432 Deleted Account 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC_Quincy 582 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 I think the call center is supposed to employ quite a few. They're developing a lot of land in that area so I think other things are in the works too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 I dont know that numbers they hope to employ in the future but they have already hired quite a few and currently working out of the Pioneer Center in Duffield until the Bray Project is completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Are these more of the same soon to be doomed call center attempts we've seen in the past? Deleted Account 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Possibly. Im not very familiar with the company to be honest. There looks to be a major company opening a call center in Wise within the year that I dont expect to fall into those "doomed call center" groups. Hopefully SVAM will lead to more manufacturing jobs coming to Duffield and surrounding areas soon. Speaking of Lees economy is the western end of the county possibly pulling more weight than the heart of the county? Having traveled to Rose Hill the last two Mondays for LL softball games it seems to me that end of the county has picked up a little steam as 58 was improved in connecting VA and KY, and hopefully it grows more. Not to say its booming by any stretch of the imagination but Lawsons seems to do a good amount of business and the barn place which I think also builds trusses and ships out maybe? I do need to get back to the Dutch Treat sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West12aaa 99 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Possibly. Im not very familiar with the company to be honest. There looks to be a major company opening a call center in Wise within the year that I dont expect to fall into those "doomed call center" groups. Hopefully SVAM will lead to more manufacturing jobs coming to Duffield and surrounding areas soon. Speaking of Lees economy is the western end of the county possibly pulling more weight than the heart of the county? Having traveled to Rose Hill the last two Mondays for LL softball games it seems to me that end of the county has picked up a little steam as 58 was improved in connecting VA and KY, and hopefully it grows more. Not to say its booming by any stretch of the imagination but Lawsons seems to do a good amount of business and the barn place which I think also builds trusses and ships out maybe? I do need to get back to the Dutch Treat sometime. The lmu vet school off site near tw could be harnessed a little better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Lawson's is right in the middle of farm country down there and don't have other comp. that I know of. And as west mentioned, the vet school probably helps. Continuing on the subject, for those that don't know, if you ever get a chance read up some on the history of St. Charles and Lee with the decline of coal, it's an interesting story. At one time there was a lot of promise in St. Charles and Lee was one of the nations top coal producer. Benedict, which is coal camp ghost town near St. Charles now, at one time boasted near 1500 people. The rise of St. Charles was quick and the fall was just as quick. As of the 2010, only Rose Hill in Lee Co., had a lower per capita income. Ewing and Keokee of Lee County also near the bottom of that list. In the 1950s, the town grew to over 500, by the 80s they lost over 300 just in the town, and as of the 2015 estimated numbers has around 120. The town council is known for being compromised of one family last name serving with 50-100 maybe voting. The town still has a health clinic and a school, but much everything else has disappeared. Even back then though, it was noted that even with coal and farming at it's height, the economical standing of Lee County and the people was never really good. Article in 1979...https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1798&dat=19790912&id=zGIeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eI4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636,1211954&hl=en Another good page...http://wilnet.name/history.htm Federal prison, Lee info. (*interesting stuff, pg. D-16 starts with historical background, with some info on growth and the St.Charles/Lee coal boom days on a little way down):https://books.google.com/books?id=vw4zAQAAMAAJ&pg=SL4-PA21&lpg=SL4-PA21&dq=st.+charles+va+1950+boom&source=bl&ots=-SRa8TRyyh&sig=I4R0Ikt0DZtVML7BD1ixzpmGUoA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwizhrvw8uzMAhVkE1IKHQrqBeAQ6AEIRTAH#v=onepage&q=st.%20charles%20va%201950%20boom&f=false 1inStripes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trumpet1988 289 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Are these more of the same soon to be doomed call center attempts we've seen in the past?Hopefully it's better than Sykes. I get a stomachache thinking about them. For what it's worth, I have heard Teletech is supposed to be a pretty good company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXSW 557 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 The situation is very dire in the counties especially bordering WV and KY, Wise (the city) will have a slight advantage over the rest of the county and area because of the college, but when the thousands of people are gone they won't be back. It seems that we are seeing the last great days of our area and way of life, if you won't to see the aftermath of total nothingness (no offense to the people who live there) go to Bluefield and drive Rt. 52 from Bluefield to IIaeger you can see what will become of our beloved S.W. Va. My Question is how can teams in any sport continue to even find enough players to play football. I had a conversation with some Russell Co folks about this very thing a few months ago. Enjoy what we have left and pray for all of us for the future. Chappy and Deleted Account 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhstigers7327 217 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 The situation is very dire in the counties especially bordering WV and KY, Wise (the city) will have a slight advantage over the rest of the county and area because of the college, but when the thousands of people are gone they won't be back. It seems that we are seeing the last great days of our area and way of life, if you won't to see the aftermath of total nothingness (no offense to the people who live there) go to Bluefield and drive Rt. 52 from Bluefield to IIaeger you can see what will become of our beloved S.W. Va. My Question is how can teams in any sport continue to even find enough players to play football. I had a conversation with some Russell Co folks about this very thing a few months ago. Enjoy what we have left and pray for all of us for the future. You are absolutely right about that area. Especially Northfork driving through there and seeing that sign with all those basketball state championships! It's crazy to see what that town has become. Chappy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 The growth in Grayson County will stabilize and begin to drop again in my opinion. The growth is exclusively due to River North Correctional Facility opening in 2014. The regional partnership between Galax, Grayson and Carroll that helped the area recover from the loss of all furniture and textile plants in the late 90's appears to be dissolving. In my opinion, if it does indeed dissolve, it will be to the detriment of everything this area has accomplished as strategic partners over the past two decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 The situation is very dire in the counties especially bordering WV and KY, Wise (the city) will have a slight advantage over the rest of the county and area because of the college, but when the thousands of people are gone they won't be back. It seems that we are seeing the last great days of our area and way of life, if you won't to see the aftermath of total nothingness (no offense to the people who live there) go to Bluefield and drive Rt. 52 from Bluefield to IIaeger you can see what will become of our beloved S.W. Va. My Question is how can teams in any sport continue to even find enough players to play football. I had a conversation with some Russell Co folks about this very thing a few months ago. Enjoy what we have left and pray for all of us for the future.If you have at least a couple hundred it shouldn't be that hard to get enough to fill a football team. And speaking of KY and WV, there's a few southeastern KY and probably some southern WV counties that are even worse off than most here. I can't imagine some NE TN counties like Hancock and Claiborne are doing too well. One thing that has helped Lee over the previous years in sustaining people is the number of retirees coming back to live here. Now whether or not that trend continues with future generations is a good question. Most will always see a good number of kids leaving, as that's where the better opportunities are, but it's always nice when you have some who are able to come back at some point in their careers to serve and seek to improve their communities. It would be nice to see more of that. MrSocko 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXSW 557 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Our son is struggling with this right now, he has a job lined up next May and he has to relocate to west Tennessee, and he loves the NE Tennessee SW Va. area and after he goes out West he plans on coming back. He has an opportunity of a lifetime but has to leave a place he loves to fulfill it. We who have lived here should be thankful that we had the opportunity to fulfill our dreams and not have to leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West12aaa 99 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Claiborne is fine as far as pop goes, football on the other hand. Of England's and Giles leave Claiborne, then we can pitch the wagons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Looks like Claiborne has dropped a little over the past few years but come up just a little in the past 2. Hancock continues to lose some in numbers. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk\ Claiborne in the lower half based on income (basically the same as Lee County), Hancock near the very bottom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_settlements_in_Tennessee_by_per_capita_income TN pop.: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk KY counties per capita income: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_locations_by_per_capita_income *very few Eastern KY counties in the upper half of that list....only a few counties west of Lexington are close to bottom and all of those are in the south central portion. KY population: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk West Virginia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_locations_by_per_capita_income WV pop.: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West12aaa 99 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Hancock is definitely at rock bottom, Claiborne has a lot going it's way, along with a "somewhat" prideful upper class that focuses on their counties status more than their own ie. Lee co elite. My time in hazard and pikeville showed me that anything south of Ashland and east of i75 is doomed unless coal hits again. One good thing about ky is how they divide state money, it's extremely fair accross the board unlike VA where those that give the most get the most and to hell with everyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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