For many years, one key focus for the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership has been industrial recruitment.

Now, armed with about $6.7 million gained from a public/private fundraising campaign launched earlier this year, the partnership plans what amounts to a radical shift of priorities.

The new approach intends to boost population growth, attract more so-called "knowledge workers" and young professionals, and bump up wages and payroll earnings.

Recruitment of industries and other new businesses and business growth remain among the organization's targets, but only as one-quarter of a four-part, five-year strategy.

Phil Sparks, executive director, said the partnership believes -- and numerous studies confirm -- that stagnant population growth in the region hobbles economic prosperity for the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area.

"We need to do more to market what the region already offers and work in other ways to improve the kinds of quality-of-life amenities that appeal to young professionals and companies alike," Sparks said.

One recruitment target will be high-end retail, he said. Luring such retailers might require economic incentives and educating market analysis officials about how the Roanoke Valley attracts shoppers from the greater region.

Dan Carson, vice president of Appalachian Power, was co-chairman of the private-sector fundraising campaign with Bob Lawson, retired president and chief executive officer of SunTrust Bank, Western Virginia.

Carson said the partnership and businesspeople recognize the correlation between population growth and jobs, income, taxable income and other key measures of economic health. The population growth rate during the past decade has been less than 1 percent. The new strategy hopes to increase the rate to 1 percent within five years and 1.2 percent within a decade.

The strategy's "program of work" features four plans of attack: business growth and recruitment; asset development; image building; and strategic development and metrics.

Asset management, for example, would focus on quality of life. Retail recruitment, downtown development, access to outdoor amenities and efforts to enhance entertainment offerings, coupled with promotion of existing strengths and affordable housing, should help recruit and retain young professionals and businesses, according to the partnership.

The conventional wisdom these days in the economic development field suggests that potentially high-income workers, entrepreneurs and even established companies base relocation decisions on such things as cultural amenities, recreational opportunities, diversity in race, ethnicity and sexual preference, affordable housing and other measures of a region's livability.

The Roanoke MSA, for which the partnership works to stimulate economic growth, includes the cities of Roanoke, Salem and Covington, the town of Vinton and the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke.

Contributions from eight of nine local governments, calculated per capita for each, commit a total of $3.25 million over five years. Craig County did not contribute, Sparks said, because of the county's tight budget, but will still be represented. Private-sector donations raised the remainder. Sparks said Valley Forward, a group organized to promote the region to young professionals, sought and received donations from 93 of the 220 private-sector contributors.

The funding, in most cases, will be donated over the course of five years. The campaign exceeded a goal of $6.5 million.

The partnership's annual budget will jump from about $863,000 to about $1.3 million. Businessman Victor Iannello, outgoing board president, said the organization probably will add staff. The group's search for a chief operating officer, a new position, continues, Iannello said.

"We have an initial short list of candidates we have scheduled to interview in November and December," he said.

Iannello played a large role in pulling together a Regional Economic Strategy that was released in July 2002. It described many of the same goals now targeted by the partnership. The 2002 strategy has had limited success, especially in establishing close economic cooperation between the Roanoke and New River valleys. A related effort that produced "NewVa" as a regional brand has fallen flat, achieving little name recognition outside of insiders in the economic development community.

Meanwhile, the new strategy will result in at least one tangible step forward. The partnership will update its Web site, where the last news item was posted in May 2006.