Southwest Virginia.Wants to Change Its Image

I have mixed emotions about a story in the Richmond Times Dispatch that looks at efforts in Southwest Virginia to change the region's image and attract "entrepreneurs and high-tech businesses." The goal is meritorious and I feel for many in the region who suffer from the harsh economic realities that many municipalities face. The one aspect that those trying to recast the region's image doesn't seem to address is the social and cultural backwardness of the region and its intolerance towards those who are deemed "other." Yes, the region is physically beautiful and there are many good people in the region. But, when a region is anti-black, anti-gay, anti-immigrant and far right Christianist in its mindset, attracting progressive business is going to be difficult. Here are some story highlights:
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Heartwood officials say Southwest Virginia will change the nation's negative perception of Appalachia. "Give us three years," said Chuck Riedhammer, the marketing director with a $1 million budget to promote the new facility, a regional artisan center set up as a gateway to Southwest Virginia's arts and culture.
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Our No. 1 objective isn't even tourism," said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission, which is overseeing the project. "Our number one objective is to develop a quality of life that's going to attract entrepreneurs and high-tech businesses to the region."
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Heartwood is designed to bring all of the region's cultural assets under one roof. The theme of what's included, from artisans and musicians to local foods and outdoor recreation sites, has become almost a mantra: "authentic, distinctive, alive."
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Tamra Talmadge, spokeswoman for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, said Heartwood packages the generations-old culture in a new form at a time when tourists, particularly of the millennial generation, are craving authenticity.
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I continue to believe that Southwest Virginia's biggest problem is the strangle hold that the Christianists have on the region. Having visited Martinsville back when I was representing Michael Moore in his lawsuit against the Virginia Museum of Natural History, as an LGBT individual, suicide would seem a positive option rather than living long term in the area. I suspect innovative and progressive business would view the region in a similar negative perspective.