It’s about jobs and our future

Gordon Meriwether
Published: October 15, 2008

Last February, I turned on the TV in a Pasadena hotel room to check the results of the Virginia Primary. I came across BBC America and there, right in front of Raven’s Nest Coffee House, standing in the middle of Davis Street in an ice storm, was the BBC anchor reporting the international news to the rest of the world from Culpeper. 

Since that time, I have watched streams of Europeans and Asians file in and out of Camelot with a curious expectation that only a tourist with nothing else to do but spend money can bring. And with the low exchange rate, they had plenty of money to spend and we were more than willing to oblige their spending.

Those days have been dramatically impacted by the global economic chaos that has shaken us all. The money is drying up and the exchange rate is correcting itself. The tourist, and their money will eventually stay home. But there is a lesson in the recent volatility of the economy and the fleeting nature of the tourist industry that should give everyone locally pause to consider our future. We need a more stable economic base.

The arrival of Terremark and the Library of Congress ushers in a new age in Culpeper, an age of high-technology business. With Terremark’s new facility, Culpeper is beginning to be recognized as a technology center to be considered when looking at locations or business partners for a high tech business.

We have some unique opportunities to position Culpeper in the forefront of regional technology centers attracting investment dollars not only from national resources, but also leveraging our new-found international stature to attract foreign investment dollars. But beyond the good fortune of adding Terremark and Library of Congress to our technology portfolio which already includes SWIFT and Tyco Electronics there is one overwhelming unfair advantage Culpeper brings to the economic table. Location, location, location…

Our proximity to the high-tech business and government base in northern Virginia, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg, coupled with the low cost of living and high quality of life in Culpeper County make us an ideal location to live. Why not move the work here for the same reasons?

Of course it’s not a free ride. We don’t just hang the shingle “Open for Business” and expect prosperity to knock on our door. We have to provide a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Our schools are the keystone. Curriculums must address the needs of our newfound clientele and their workforce.

Additionally, if we are to attract the best and brightest to our community the schools must address their expectations of education excellence for their children. And we must also retrain our existing workforce.

The facilities and infrastructure need to be in place to support these businesses. We must build the facilities to address the needs of the technology community and develop the technology infrastructure to support it. This will include secure facilities, a wireless environment and advanced communications systems.

Our state and local legislative bodies must provide the incentives to attract these businesses including an attractive tax structure and workforce development programs. This initial workforce lives in and around Culpeper now and commutes. Let’s keep them home and bring business here.

And finally as a community we need to market our charming Piedmont community as a supercharged alternative to living and working in the chaos of the beltway or other technology centers.

But why should we want more high-technology jobs? They are stable; usually funded and sponsored by the government; therefore recession proof. These are higher paying jobs generating higher tax revenue and for the most part high-tech jobs are green and not a threat to the environment.

And finally they can provide a balanced approach to our existing tourism and agricultural environment while protecting our quality of life. The stars have lined up for us, Culpeper. The time is right. The opportunities are abundant. And the will is here. Let’s grab our future.

Gordon Meriwether is an independent columnist who lives in Culpeper. He appears every other Thursday in the Star-Exponent. E-mail: