• The highest levels of commercial broadband service?
• 58,000 college students and access to a regional work force of more than 300,000?
• Industrial sites with infrastructure, including a new 50,000-sq.-ft. expandable building available for lease or purchase?

The place is Floyd County, Virginia.
     Known for the arts, music, and for breath-taking natural scenery, Floyd County has more recently become known for entrepreneurship and a creative economy.
      The "backbone" of success in Floyd County is one of the nation's most modern fiber-optic infrastructures. Broadband access (DS3+) serves the length and breadth of this idyllic countryside. Citizens Telephone Cooperative connects to multiple carriers, insuring high-quality service with redundancy. Video-on-demand services are now being implemented. Citizens Coop is initiating fiber-to-the-premises which will enable virtually unlimited voice, data and video services.
      When fast downloads and uploads are available, creativity has room to soar and local content can be shared quickly. Companies easily share mega-size image, video, or audio files almost instantly anywhere in the world.
      One local company, Dreaming Creek Timber Frame Homes, Inc., located in the Floyd Regional Commerce Center (www.fin.org), uses the high-speed service to share sophisticated CAD files with its corporate headquarters. It then uses wireless connections inside the building to connect its CNC machine and computers of designers, operators and managers together. "We have a very productive relationship with the nearby Center for Forest Products at Virginia Tech and enjoy the benefits of the latest research in technology and business. This is the perfect home for our business," according to John Miller, plant manager.
      Floyd County's enviable access to these services, coupled with the mid-Atlantic location, low cost of living and high quality of life, have resulted in a growing, vital community and great opportunities. "We are seeing increased interest in Floyd County. The labor force here remains very affordable compared to almost every other part of Virginia and the nation," according to George Nester, County Administrator. And despite many successful small businesses in Floyd, over half of the labor force must commute out of the County to work. "This fact makes Floyd County very attractive to good companies," said Lydeana Martin, Director of Community and Economic Development.

      For more information, contact Lydeana Martin or George Nester at 540 745-9300 or lmartin@floydcova.org or gnester@floydcova.org. Floyd County's website is www.fin.org.