MARION, VA ? March 17, 2004 ? Virginia?s aCorridor, a region in southwest Virginia stretching from Bristol to Galax along I-81 and I-77, is launching a new website that showcases the area?s offerings to new and expanding business and industry. The website address is: http://www.acorridor.com.

?Central to our plan to spread the word about the new brand identity of the aCorridor was the development of a dynamic website that shows off our outstanding location in the Southeast and offers lots of information for site consultants and companies looking to expand their businesses,? said Andy Hall, executive director of Virginia?s aCorridor.

The name Virginia?s aCorridor ? with the ?a? representing access to markets, technology and transportation ? was created through branding workshop sessions and adopted by the Mount Rogers Development Partnership, Inc., whose job it is to market the region that includes the cities of Bristol and Galax, and Washington, Smyth, Wythe, Bland, Grayson and Carroll counties.

?The new website will help our part of Virginia tell the rest of the world that we have sites and buildings, as well as the workforce, to offer new businesses looking for a location,? said Suzanne Jennings, chairman of the Mount Rogers Development Partnership board and executive director of the Smyth County Community Foundation.

In addition to pinpointing the region?s location at the crossroads of two of the East?s primary interstate highways, acorridor.com also highlights another leading attribute of the region, its successful existing industry base, said Hall.

?Featuring the success stories of the diverse industries we have operating in the aCorridor will be ongoing and constantly updated on the website,? said Hall. ?This is valuable information for those companies looking for industrial sites because it gives a firsthand look at what it?s like to do business in our area.?

Business profiles currently featured on the website include AFG, a company locating a $30 million glass coating facility in Abingdon; Merillat?s Atkins plants, whose employees won a national prize for lean manufacturing excellence in 2003; Royal Mouldings Limited, a successful manufacturer in Smyth County whose target market has changed from wood products for mobile homes to resin extrusion products that replace wood and metal; and Nautilus, a well-known company that makes more than 125 different fitness machines at its Grayson County facility that?s been in operation since the 1970s.

In addition to workforce statistics and information about training opportunities and the region?s low cost of doing business, the website includes downloadable information on sites and buildings available in the aCorridor.

?It?s also important to give visitors to our website a taste of what it?s like to live in this part of Virginia,? said Hall. ?The website includes profiles featuring the flavor of the region from its vital musical heritage, educational and recreational opportunities and festivals to our healthcare facilities.?

Background Information: Virginia?s aCorridor represents a population of nearly 200,000 in six counties and two cities in the Mount Rogers region of southwestern Virginia. The Mount Rogers Development Partnership, Inc. was created in 1989 to promote this region as a location for new and expanded business.