DANVILLE, Va. – It wasn't that long ago that people in South Central Virginia were wringing their hands about job losses and the looming threat of offshoring U.S. manufacturing.
        They're not wringing their hands anymore. Far from it, Danville has positioned itself – in only three years – as a major advanced manufacturing cluster that's gaining international attention.
        Consider the case of Essel Propack. In July 2002, the India-based plastics manufacturer announced that it would bring a US$21-million, 81-job plant with a $2-million payroll to Danville. One year later, the world's largest maker of laminated tubes announced a $10.4-million expansion and the creation of 50 additional jobs.
        So much for American jobs fleeing to India. In this case, a global manufacturing leader with operations in 10 countries is bringing Indian technology to America.
        And Essel Propack is far from alone. According to Ronald Bunch, director of economic development for the City of Danville, the greater Danville region is becoming a Southeast-ern hub in several high-paying industries.
        "We are building the Danville product to attract companies," said Bunch. "We are developing the human capacity with our community college and the new Institute for Advanced Learning & Research. We have great labor availability and great labor quality, and now we are kicking it up a notch.
        "We've done all of this in the past three years in an environment of declining revenues from the state and in an area with plant closures," he added. "We've done it all without a tax increase. We've done it with funds that we saved for a rainy day, with private money, and with money we received from the tobacco settlement."
        The results have been staggering. Since January 1999, the community has reaped 12 expansions and major corporate facility projects, including $28 million in new construction for Universal Leaf and $12 million in expansions for Nestle USA Foods.
        A catalyst for the turnaround is the new Institute for Advanced Learning & Research (IALR). The IALR serves as a focal point for the development of regional information technology infrastructure and will bring the research capacity of Virginia Tech to Danville. The new technologies developed at the IALR will be extended to private industry for commercial development.
        One wing of the IALR includes 15,000 sq. ft. (1,394 sq. m.) of research space. Virginia Tech will establish six research centers in the IALR. These centers will focus on robotics, motorsports, advanced polymers, biodefense, high-value horticulture and forestry, and toxic genomics.
        The institute is part of another innovative development – the Cyber Park.
        The Cyber Park is a premier 330-acre (134-hectare) business park in an enterprise zone fronting U.S. 58 and future I-785, anchored by the IALR and the Regional Center for Applied Technology and Training (R-CATT) – adjacent to the Mid Atlantic Center for Aviation. The park has state-of-the art infrastructure for reliability including a High Reliability Distribution System (HRDS).