July 24, 1998 Contact: Charlotte Crystal (804) 924-6858 NORTHERN VIRGINIANS' SHARE OF PERSONAL INCOME GROWS More than one-third of personal income received by Virginians goes into Northern Virginian wallets, according to a recent study of local economies by the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. And the study shows that those wallets are growing fatter. Northern Virginia's share of the state's personal income rose from 32.1 percent to 34.8 percent in the decade from 1986 to 1996, according to the Cooper Center's just-completed study, "Virginia's Local Economies, 1998 Edition." Rapid growth in information technology employment contributed heavily to the area's expansion in spite of huge cutbacks in defense spending and downsizing of the federal government, the two traditional economic mainstays of the region. "Northern Virginia will always benefit from its proximity to the nation's capital, but future growth also will be tied to its prominence as a high-tech employer in the private sector," said John L. Knapp, economist and project director of the Local Economies series at the Cooper Center. Virginia's two other principal regions -- Hampton Roads and Richmond -- didn't fare as well as Northern Virginia. Hampton Roads' share of total personal income declined while Richmond Regional's share rose only modestly. Hampton Roads was hurt by defense downsizing, particularly as it affected naval shipbuilding employment, Knapp said. The Richmond area's growth was restrained by the reduction in state government and only modest growth in banking employment because of ongoing consolidation in the banking industry. Of the 21 planning districts in the state, only six, including Northern Virginia and Richmond Regional, increased their share of income, the study shows. Three of the other gainers, the Culpeper area (Rappahannock-Rapidan), the Fredericksburg area (RADCO) and the Winchester area (Lord Fairfax) adjoin Northern Virginia. The remaining growth area was the Charlottesville region (Thomas Jefferson). MORE 2 The greatest declines in share of personal income occurred in two planning districts in far Southwest Virginia (LENOWISCO and Cumberland Plateau), on the Eastern Shore (Accomack Northampton), and in the Danville-Martinsville area (West Piedmont). The Southwest suffered from cutbacks in coal employment while the Eastern Shore's economy, which is heavily dependent on farming, fishing and manufacturing, showed little growth. Textile and apparel manufacturing firms in West Piedmont faced strong competition from abroad. The Cooper Center's comprehensive series on "Virginia's Local Economies" covers a broad array of topics in addition to the personal income statistics. Information also is included on changes in population, labor force, employment, commuting, unemployment, wages, housing, educational achievement, and local government finance. This report comes four years after the previous set of studies, published in 1994. "When we talk about the Virginia economy we are referring to an amalgamation of many smaller economies," Knapp said. "But only by examining these smaller economies in detail does the state's regional diversity and its driving forces become clear." The study of each planning district contains about 30 pages of text and 40 pages of statistical tables. Also, web sites are listed for general information and for each planning district studied. The Cooper Center's Local Economies series is designed to provide information needed by economic developers, community planners, business managers, government officials, educators, librarians, journalists and residents seeking local economic information. The cost is $12 per study, or $180 for the set of 21 studies. ### For additional information call John L. Knapp at the U.Va. Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at (804) 982-5604. Knapp also can be reached by email at knapp@virginia.edu. The Cooper Center's web site can be reached at http://www.virginia.edu/~cpserv Television reporters should call the University's TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.