NRV Named a Top Metro by Site Selection Magazine

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New River Valley, VA – The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metropolitan statistical area, known locally as the New River Valley, has been named a “Top Metro” for 2014 by Site Selection magazine. Among 132 metro areas with populations less than 200,000, the NRV ranked No. 4 (tie) nationally with nine new or expanding corporate facility announcements in 2014.


Published by Conway Data Inc., Site Selection delivers expansion planning information to over 44,000 readers including corporate executives, site selection consultants, and real estate professionals. The annual “Top Metros” rankings appeared in the March 2015 issue.


Site Selection used 2014 data from the Conway New Plant Database to examine new and expanding company growth in all 381 MSAs in the United States. The 2014 rankings were split into three Top 10 lists based on population, including less than 200,000, 200,000 to 1 million, and over 1 million.


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Virginia’s New River Valley: For those searching for an inspiring place to live and do business, Virginia’s New River Valley provides both an eclectic small town atmosphere and an innovative, collaborative business community with a loyal, highly skilled, and educated workforce. Offering the best of both worlds – magnificent mountains, cutting-edge research, arts, entertainment, and education – it’s A NATURAL FIT.


Onward NRV: Onward NRV is a public/private, regional economic development organization whose mission is to attract and retain world class jobs, investment and talent in Virginia’s New River Valley. It’s also a movement where leaders from business, government, and higher education work together to promote the economic vitality of the region.

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NRV Ranked No. 7 Most Secure Small City in U.S.

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New River Valley, VA – The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metropolitan statistical area, known locally as the New River Valley, is one of the safest places to live in America, according to Farmers Insurance. The Los Angeles-based insurance company recently ranked the area No. 7 on its list of the Top 20 Most Secure Small Cities of 2013. The list, in its nineth year, identifies the most secure small metro areas in the U.S. based on safety and security statistics.


The Farmer Insurance rankings are based on the findings of a study conducted by quality of life expert, Bert Sperling. The study examined over one hundred metropolitan areas – with populations less than 150,000 – using several indicators, including economic stability, crime, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, environmental hazards, life expectancy, motor vehicle fatalities, and employment numbers.


“Our most secure metropolitan areas are islands of security in our challenging times,” said Bert Sperling in a press release from Farmers Insurance. “Although each metropolitan area is different, they all possess a desirable combination of factors (jobs, low crime rates, housing, climate, health, reduced levels of natural disasters) that make these some of the best places to live in the United States.”

Virginia’s New River Valley has three previous appearances on the Top 20 list. Since 2010, the area has climbed from No. 19 to No. 7 on the list. The area’s highest ranking came in 2006, when it debuted at No. 3.


The Farmer Insurance accolade isn’t the first time that that the New River Valley has been recognized for its safety and security. Bloomberg Businessweek and Homes.com ranked Blacksburg the best place in the U.S. to raise a family/kids in 2011 and 2012; respectively. Both cited the area’s low crime rate as one of the factors that contributed to its No. 1 ranking.


The New River Valley has also received third-party accolades for job growth, an important factor used in assessing an area’s economic security. Since 2012, the area has been ranked the No. 5 Best Small City for Job Growth by Forbes, No. 5 Top City for Job Growth by CNBC, No. 29 Best Place for Jobs by NewGeography, and No. 2 American City Adding Jobs by 24/7 Wall Street. Christiansburg was also recently ranked the No. 10 Best Place in Virginia for Job Seekers by NerdWallet.


Blacksburg Ranked No. 1 Best Place to Raise Kids

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More than half the population of Blacksburg, Va., is Virginia Tech students, so it may be easy to mistake this town of 41,383 as just another college town. Yet this small community, between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, also has the makings of a great place to raise children. Excellent schools draw many families to Blacksburg, which also has such amenities as a community center with sports, fitness, educational, and social activities; an indoor pool; and even a nine-hole, 54-acre municipal golf course.


Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek.


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Virginia’s New River Valley: For those searching for an inspiring place to live and do business, Virginia’s New River Valley provides both an eclectic small town atmosphere and an innovative, collaborative business community with a loyal, highly skilled, and educated workforce. Offering the best of both worlds – magnificent mountains, cutting-edge research, arts, entertainment, and education – it’s A NATURAL FIT.


Onward NRV: Onward NRV is a public/private, regional economic development organization whose mission is to attract and retain world class jobs, investment and talent in Virginia’s New River Valley. It’s also a movement where leaders from business, government, and higher education work together to promote the economic vitality of the region.