A roundtable of community leaders sent the visiting Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., back to Washington on Wednesday with ideas to nurture the up-and-coming scientific research sector in Roanoke.
Research and innovation ongoing in Roanoke helps improve the world at large, while creating opportunity for economic development here at home, said local leaders in health, education and government.
That’s the type of impact surrounding the work inside Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, located along the Roanoke River at the foot of Mill Mountain, where Warner finished a multi-day visit to the region.
It’s an area of the city that has grown rapidly in the past decade.
Research expenditures exceeded $418 million at Virginia Tech overall last year, continuing an upward trend, said Michael Friedlander, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s executive director.
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Founded in 2010, research focuses at Fralin Biomedical include heart disease, obesity, children’s health, brain cancer and brain disorders, he said. The institute itself had more than $170 million in active grants and contracts as of September.
“We’re off to a good start,” Friedlander said. “There’s a lot going on.”
Warner said those research expenditures, largely funded through grant money, were less than $100 million when he was governor 20 years ago.
“You guys should be so proud,” Warner said. “We’ve got to put a lot of capital forward to stay extraordinarily competitive.”
Toward that end, the state government last year committed $90 million to attracting, retaining and developing the framework for a “Virginia Research Triangle,” between Roanoke, Charlottesville, Richmond and elsewhere.
And federal money can help too, Warner said.
“Even though where I work is sometimes dysfunctional,” Warner said. “The one area we can still get to some bipartisan agreement is when things fall into the national security umbrella.”
Warner, who is chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence, said the definition of national security is changing, shifted by artificial intelligence and other technological advancements.
“National security is no longer simply who has more tanks and bombs, ships and planes,” Warner said. “It is increasingly dominated in a variety of technology domains.”
That technology includes the semiconductors that power electronics, the energy that people consume, and even the active ingredients in medicines, he said. Those are some areas where the national government wants to encourage domestic production.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of funding rushing this way,” Warner said, adding that the region is a finalist for federal grant money to support development of a technology hub.
Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said the university’s partnership with Carilion Clinic only continues to build momentum.
“We’re here together,” Sands said. “We have a shared commitment to advance the future of this region.”
Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Agee said travel infrastructure, including the interstate corridor and regional airport, are important for future growth potential.
“Our partnership is thriving,” Agee said. “Together I think we really are transforming this region.”
Warner said one of Roanoke’s opportunities is its quality of life, outdoor beauty, connectedness, culture, and now a diverse research community.
He asked how to tie newly forming companies to the region, preventing them from headquartering elsewhere when they spin off from the research happening at Virginia Tech.
Warner also asked for ideas on how to get a major brand to set up an “outpost” operating in Roanoke.
Erin Burcham is president of Verge Alliance, which strategizes how to grow the regional economy. She said the region is building out assets intended to attract and retain business, especially related to the biotechnology sector.
“We’ve come so far in a very short amount of time,” Burcham said. “Especially in the last four years.”
And more work is being done to increase the region’s attractiveness, she said.
“We’re building a new sector,” Burcham said. “We’re transforming the Roanoke and New River Valley into a very high innovation economy.”