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Roanoke Region of Virginia: Growing Research and Innovation

Technology is being created, manufactured, and distributed in the Roanoke Region’s innovation corridor.

Q4 2021
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Fralin Biomedical Institute in downtown Roanoke, Virginia
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Fralin Biomedical Institute in downtown Roanoke, Virginia
Editor's Note: This copy was supplied and approved by Roanoke Regional Partnership.


In the Roanoke Region of Virginia, we have a clear vision of the future. In our plan, businesses, government, and education work together seamlessly to build workforce and drive innovation. Lucky for you, we are well on our way.

Just like Roanoke’s burgeoning biotech hub, many of the innovation corridors on the horizon have excellent startup support, new infrastructure projects coming online each year, and coworking spaces and accelerators that create the perfect environment for collaborative research.

So, what does the Roanoke Region have that the others don’t?
For starters, our beautiful mountain metro is actually a place where people want to live. With trails, rivers, and greenways marbling our urban core, you can walk out the front door of your office and be mountain biking in minutes; a couple minutes more and you’re at your choice of 16 breweries; a few more and you’re home. No commute, no traffic, no urban sprawl — making attracting and retaining top talent effortless.

Location, location, location — it’s an old saying for a reason. Because it matters. In our innovation corridor you can create the latest technology, manufacture it here, distribute it here, and have it shipped to 2/3 of the U.S. population within a day’s drive — one-stop shopping for industries of any sector.

Regional leadership developed 50- to 100-acre, pad-ready sites that are municipally owned, have utilities in place, and are strategically located to make any innovation-based company thrive. With over $560 million in annual research spending at Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTC), and the Fralin Biomedical Institute (the latter two located in downtown Roanoke), there has never been a better time for life science, innovation, technology, and advanced manufacturing in our region.

Don’t believe the hype? Ask any question you want during an unprecedented conversation with top innovation leadership. Join Michael Freidlander, Ph.D., the executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Institute; Don Halliwell, the chief financial officer of Carilion Clinic; and John Hull, the executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, for a webinar on the future of innovation.

Get details at Roanoke.org/Innovation-Corridor.

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