Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation

Huge Accomplishment Realized in Martinsville-Henry County, Va.

Jul 17, 2007
By MIKE RANDLE - Southern Business & Development Magazine Editorial. For the first year in 10 years, the Martinsville-Henry County, Va., community has gained more jobs than it lost. According to Labor Market Statistics from the Virginia Employment Commission, the Martinsville area showed a net increase of 466 jobs in 2006 across all sectors.

Southern Business & Development has a long history with Martinsville-Henry County in that it has won "Small Market of the Year" three times over the last 14 years, or since the SB&D 100 was first published in 1994. That is more than any other small market in the South. Aiken, S.C. has taken the honor twice.

Here's an interesting thing. We named Martinsville Small Market of the Year one year in the late 1990s the exact same week political officials there disbanded the economic development organization, the Patrick Henry EDC, and split economic development responsibilities to the city and the county. Today, the Martinsville-Henry County EDC represents both the city and county. Good move, one that was made three years ago.

Martinsville-Henry County, Va., is the poster child of economic change in the rural South. Tied strongly to apparel, textile and the furniture industries for decades, the area has struggled since the early 1990s, as those sectors left the area, as well as the South as whole, in droves. But what set Martinsville apart from other areas of the South is that it kept turning deals, particularly call centers and distribution projects, as it was losing old-line manufacturing plants left and right. Few Southern rural markets can say they have done the same, except those that are located near major automotive assembly plants.

Mark Heath, President and CEO of the Martinsville/Henry County EDC, said about the net increase in jobs in 2006, "Three years ago, when the EDC was formed, it adopted a holistic approach to economic development. This holistic approach, while very different than the traditional model, has allowed us to focus on job growth through assistance to existing industry, small and minority business development and tourism in addition to industrial and manufacturing recruitment. This approach is working. The leadership of this community is to be commended for their forward thinking and vision."

In 1996, Martinsville-Henry County showed an increase of 449 net jobs. To lose jobs every year since then, and then show a net gain in 2006, is a remarkable achievement for that Southwest Virginia rural region.