The Virginia and Southside Virginia economy has been severely affected by declining tobacco and textile markets.  The recent closure of the Dan River textile mills in Danville, and the replacement of tobacco as the number one cash crop, have left their mark on Southside Virginia residents.  This economic downturn, as well as the lower incidence of educational completion in the region, make the task of revitalizing and diversifying the Southside economy a daunting, but important, challenge.  Opportunities do exist to expand and develop novel opportunities based on the rural and agricultural base of the region.  The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville, VA has implemented this process through the initiation of the Institute for Sustainable and Renewable Resources (ISRR) a research center jointly affiliated with the Departments of Horticulture and Forestry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).  The ISRR has brought together expertise in plant tissue culture, plant molecular biology, genomics, molecular breeding and information technology to facilitate the development and propagation of novel ornamental, crop and forestry plant varieties.  The novel varieties being developed in collaboration with the Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association (VNLA) Plant Introduction Program offer the opportunity to diversify the traditional tobacco-based economy by providing new marketable products that could be grown in regional greenhouses and fields, generating new economic resources for the region.  In addition, the expertise offered by the ISRR provides the impetus to attract other high technology enterprises to the region.    The ISRR will serve as a major educational and outreach facility in plant biotechnology, integrating K-12 programs and graduate student training, through close relationships between the ISRR, Virginia Tech, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Averett University and Patrick Henry and Danville Community Colleges.

The ISRR mandate deals with the desire to use plant biology to enhance economic and community development in Southside Virginia.  We believe that we can achieve this mandate through several different mechanisms relating to our research program:

1. We can develop novel plants and plant products, to be grown or produced regionally, some using tobacco greenhouse infrastructure currently available

2. We can develop Intellectual Property and spin-offs as a result of the technology developed here

3. We can attract other companies or investment here, because of our expertise

4. Interact with local students and community members in order to develop an interest in plant science and technology