Photos by JOHN W. ADKISSON I The Roanoke Times

Jim Manuel moves paddles down to the launching spot at Twin River Outfitters along the James River in Buchanan. At top, he helps Saerom An of Texas with her kayak. The Roanoke Regional Partnership is promoting the region's recreational amenities as a way to attract businesses and young professionals.

Kayakers paddle down the James River after starting from Twin River Outfitters in Buchanan.

The Upper James River floats lots of people's boats these days.

Frequently, from Iron Gate to Arcadia, the river runs red with kayaks and green with canoes and a varied palette of other floating hues along a 45-mile stretch of the river in Botetourt County.

And that is good news for Twin River Outfitters, a canoe and kayak livery adjacent to a public boat landing off Lowe Street in Buchanan.

It seems to be good news also for Botetourt County and many businesses in the small town of Buchanan. And based on regional strategies to boost economic development and attract young professionals, Twin River is just the sort of business that can help the entire region paddle toward prosperity, according to Pete Eshelman, director of outdoor branding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership.

Outdoor stores, outfitters and guides such as Twin River are "critical in leveraging the outdoors, not only as a quality of life asset but also as an economic generator," Eshelman said.

How can a comparatively humble canoe livery, with just four full-time employees and only two who work year round, a company that boated total revenues last year of $150,000, help boost a region's economy?

Twin River puts one more oar in the water, Eshelman said. And the water is rising, he said, as recreational marketing momentum builds.

"The outdoors plays a vital role in attracting young professionals, businesses and visitors," he said.

The outdoors pitch

Scott Martin is Franklin County's director of commerce and leisure services, which sounds at first like an odd title.

But when it comes to packaging outdoors recreation and economic development, Martin could be considered a regional leader.

In March 2008, McAirlaid's, a German manufacturing company, opened its North American headquarters in Franklin County and described plans for an $85 million investment and 165 jobs. Martin said one draw for McAirlaid's was the region's recreational opportunities.

"When McAirlaid's announced that they had selected Franklin County over five states for the site of their North American production plant, the first thing they did as a corporate citizen was make a sizable donation to the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation to assist with the Pigg River Power Dam removal project," he said.

"They see river access projects as important when they seek to recruit staff. Same for Novozymes in the Roanoke Valley," Martin said.

He noted that North Carolina and other states have lured big companies with enormous incentives packages.

"Here's the deal as far as I see it -- Virginia, right or wrong, is simply not going to be a major player in bidding wars for economic development projects of a substantial scale," Martin said. "That means Western Virginia has to offer real tangibles to businesses and people that set our region apart from every other community in the nation that is recruiting companies and talent."

These days, he said, every economic developer touts their community's "quality of life."

"What you have to do is make that term actually mean something to a prospect," Martin said. "In that light, it only makes sense that we pitch our outdoor amenities."

Amenities such as the Upper James River, Smith Mountain Lake, Philpott Lake, the New River, the Appalachian Trail, Carvins Cove, the growing greenways network in the Roanoke Valley, the Upper Pigg River Blueway, the New River Trail, first-class opportunities for hunting, fishing, camping and mountain biking, a new marathon event and many others.

'Definitely' or 'Nah'

John Mays, co-owner of Twin River, said the company served about 4,000 customers during the 2008 season, its first in Buchanan, and is on track to do the same this year -- in spite of tightfisted spending by financially battered households.

Twin River's customers have been welcomed by Mack Caldwell, owner of the Copper Top Restaurant & Lounge in Buchanan, by Darlene Rogers, manager of the nearby Stop-In Food Store, and Wes Hensley, owner of H&H Outdoors.

"They have definitely brought some business into this little town," Caldwell said. "A lot of them are travelers."

Mays confirmed Caldwell's observation. "We seem to get about half our customers from the D.C. area," he said.

And farther.

On the recent sunny, clear Thursday morning of Aug. 13, eight young adults gathered at Twin River's 1,500-square-foot building to prepare for two days on the river outfitted by the company. As the small group of family members and friends viewed a DVD safety presentation, three men hustled to load a trailer with kayaks, canoes, paddles, life jackets and other gear while also handling walk-in customers and answering the phone.

Two of the three men looked remarkably alike.

In 2005, identical twins Dan and John Mays, now 38 years old, purchased the James River Basin Canoe Livery from Glenn Rose, who had launched the business in 1978 in Buena Vista. The brothers soon moved the business to Glasgow but did not have riverfront property there.

In 2007, they purchased the land the business now occupies just a few kayak lengths from the James River. In late December 2007, the Mays brothers began assembling Twin River's pre-engineered steel building. The business opened about five months later for its first season at the new site.

During an Aug. 13 interview, Mays said the largest single group outfitted to date by Twin River included 102 people.

That day's group of eight customers included couple Evan and Heidi Hayes, both 27, from Lincoln, Del.

Heidi Hayes said the five hour-plus drive to Buchanan was worth the time and expense.

"We go to the Shenandoah River every now and then, but the James is a little deeper, a little more exciting," she said. "And the scenery. It's beautiful here."

Would Heidi Hayes, who works for an insurance agency, ever considering relocating to the region?

"Definitely," she said.

How about her husband, a self-described city guy and an engineering professional?

"It's a great location to visit," said Evan Hayes, smiling.

Low profile vs. no profile

Beth Doughty has said it before: "As a region, we don't have a bad image -- we have no image."

Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, cited anecdotal evidence. She and colleague Rob Ledger were eating lunch at a trade show when people seated nearby asked where they were from.

"When we each said 'Roanoke,' the response was the same, 'Oh, that's a beautiful place,' " Doughty recalled. "But as our conversation progressed, I realized the guy next to me thought we were in Northern Virginia and the one next to Rob kept talking about Norfolk."

In March 2006, she took the helm of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, an economic development organization that serves the cities of Roanoke and Salem, the town of Vinton and the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke.

What they say after 'hello'

Doughty has shepherded an expansion of the partnership's programs for attracting and retaining businesses. She is Eshelman's boss. One new strategy involves cataloging and marketing the region's many outdoor opportunities.

The organization's previous incarnation, the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, focused many resources on traditional industrial recruitment -- working to lure companies that promised multimillion dollar investments, hefty tax revenues and jobs galore. Such companies are still welcome, of course.

The partnership has moved beyond a single big hook to numerous lures festooned with treble hooks.

When business prospects visit, Doughty said, "After 'hello,' the first thing they say is, 'It's beautiful here.'

"They ask about bike paths and water sports most importantly," she said. "But to some extent, it's right in front of them. They can see right away the depth of the outdoors opportunities in this market."

Martin offered his take.

"If you aren't blown away by the beauty of the region daily, you probably have no pulse," he said.

"If the Roanoke region becomes Virginia's best place to have a life and have fun outdoors, I think we'll be in better shape for attracting talent and investments than if we're just known as the place in Virginia for low wages."