Craig
From your perspective, what were the program's greatest strengths, contributions, and successes?
'The greatest strengths were the support from Virginia Tech, and specifically from Robert. He was very professional, always well prepared and did an excellent job. Also, the leadership from Deborah Snead was critical.
'The project pulled together BEV staff and the citizens of Craig County that were interested and had expertise in expanding technology to discuss common goals. The project helped to market technology as a critical need that needed addressing within the County. The BEV staff became involved in our TLT on the local level and helped with ideas and training. BEV staff provided expertise in assisting with local and on site workshops. The project helped us get back in a 'technology mode' as a team to continue working on establishing a framework for helping citizens in the community and in establishing or maintaining a business to enhance income for individuals and economic development for the County.
'The TLT members and community leaders who have volunteered to be 'e-leaders' have been the best in the world - the cream of the crop in our County!'
Craig Highlights
- Craig Electronic Village was deployed in October 2003. Since then, it has continued to attract increasing numbers of visitors and listings on the village directories and community calendar. The Technology Leadership Team (TLT) in Craig has established an active mentoring program that will put in place a core of trained citizens for managing the web site and continuing technology and economic development. The unique accomplishments of the Craig program are described below.
- The Craig TLT represents a strong group of volunteers who have taken on important leadership roles. A major accomplishment has been the unique mentoring program they have developed for the people in Craig that can serve as a model for other counties developing technology projects. TLT members with technology backgrounds have visited the BEV facilities on the Virginia Tech campus to hone their skills in web site development and better assist others who are coming to the program with no or limited skills. The goal of the TOP project at the time of its creation was to help folks learn to use technology who may have had little or no technology background at the start. Craig has enthusiastically endorsed this goal in assisting those for whom the development of a web site is a new experience. Providing one-on-one mentoring in the monthly workshops they have scheduled is fulfilling the true purpose of promoting small family businesses and entrepreneurship.
- Several new enterprises have been established that will bring new business to the county through the marketing of their products or services on the Craig Electronic Village. Not only will this help the county retain dollars that may currently flow elsewhere, but also can lead to an influx of dollars from other locations in Virginia and elsewhere. Eight businesses have registered for Virtual Business Incubator accounts. Fifteen existing businesses are listed on the Business Directory.
- The Craig Electronic Village has continued to attract the attention of local residents and Internet users elsewhere. Both the total number of visits per month and the number of unique visitors have continued to grow with almost 1,100 visits in the month of June alone. This is rather significant for a county having a total population of about 5,100 (based on the 2000 census). Efforts by the TLT to gain publicity for the site with an article in the local newspaper likely contributed to the large number of visits in June. The site location of greatest interest has been the organization directory followed by the business directory and the calendar.
- Many different groups in the County have taken advantage of the Community Calendar to attract residents to their activities. The Craig Board of Supervisors and New Castle Town Council as well as other government meetings are now posted regularly along with the agendas. Youth activities have moved to the spotlight with the posting of the high school basketball schedules. As more groups become aware of the site and more county residents obtain Internet access, it is likely that the numbers of postings and visits will continue to grow.
- Several partnerships have been established that have the potential for long term benefit to Craig County. The Craig County Tourism Commission provided the photograph that appears on the home page of the Craig Electronic Village, and visibility for tourism opportunities using the web site can bring visitors and dollars to Craig. The Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative is making its community room available for web site workshops for local residents. The contribution of the Craig County School District through the efforts of the Technology Director and the potential for the future involvement of students as mentors for others will be vital to technology growth in Craig.
- The Craig Electronic Village has attracted the interest of community and service organizations who hope to increase their visibility among local residents. Eight groups have registered for the Community Connections program which provides them with assistance in developing and hosting a web site.
- The Craig web site has brought intangible benefits to the county. TLT members met new people in their community through working on this project, and learned of local businesses that they had heard about previously. The community web site has focused attention on the fact that technology is important to the future growth of Craig County. One meaningful comment addressing the overall impact of the TOP project in Craig was 'now we feel like we are a part of the mainstream society.'