Government officials, who normally tout efforts to lower elevated unemployment rates, are mum in Montgomery County about a prospective high-tech employer that has matched extreme excitement with acute secrecy.

Town Councilman Ernie Wade said the council was told the company would offer "high-tech jobs with good pay" if it ultimately chooses a Christiansburg site.

However, in giving the matter an unusually high degree of confidential treatment, the Christiansburg Town Council has agreed to endorse the project without knowing the company's name.

Christiansburg Mayor Richard Ballengee said the name of the company proposing to locate in the publicly owned Falling Branch Corporate Park has not been revealed to council members.

Despite that, the council agreed last week to exempt the prospective user of lot 1B at the business park from a diesel-fuel storage limit.

Lot 1B is a 46-acre space that the company is eyeing for what the application said would be a multibuilding complex. The fuel is needed to power up to 30 backup electrical generators, suggesting that the potential tenant depends on uninterrupted electrical power. The site will be fenced and guarded 24 hours a day, the application said.

"East Coast Industrial Project" is the only name that appears in public records, and it appears to be a code name or pseudonym. There is no listing for it with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

Officials in Christiansburg and Montgomery County have signed confidentiality agreements, met in closed session and safeguarded documents.

In advance of the council's vote, the Christiansburg Planning Commission voted to recommend waiving the diesel storage cap -- also without knowing who asked for it.

"We do not know the name of the company," said Steve Huppert, a planning commissioner.

Nor did the commission really need it.

The commission's analysis was limited to whether safety provisions around the fuel, as outlined in an application, would be adequate, he said. The commission agreed that such measures as double-walled tanks and leak detection gear would be adequate.

Huppert said he generally supports openness of local government, but "sometimes you have to take routes like this. It doesn't seem right and it doesn't seem good for the public," he said.

Top leaders are informed, he said. This is a time to support them and take their guidance, he said.

From all he has heard, "this is a good company and it has great possibilities. Quality people putting out a quality product," Huppert said.

Jim McAlister, a Christiansburg banker who heads the Montgomery County Economic Development Commission, is among those out of the loop, too. He said he accepts the circumstances as necessary.

"Loose lips sink ships in this business," he said.

Councilman Brad Stipes said that disclosing information about the proposal could put Christiansburg and Montgomery County at a competitive disadvantage for attracting this "particular prospect."

The matter is so sensitive that Becky Hawke, the town's public relations officer, declined a request Tuesday by The Roanoke Times for a copy of the confidentiality agreement signed by four town staff members. Hawke said officials first want to talk to the town's lawyers about releasing a copy of the agreement.

Liz Povar, director of business development at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond, said nothing out of the ordinary is happening here.

To recruit companies to their jurisdictions, local mayors, council members and municipal employees involved in dealmaking must respect that businesses have business secrets, she said. Release of such information could harm profits, employee morale, corporate stability and a firm's competitive edge, she said.

"It is a general core principle that any negotiations that an economic development contact has with a business client are considered confidential information," Povar said.

Asked if she is involved in the Falling Branch negotiation, she said, "we simply don't comment."

Megan Rhyne, who directs the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said there are exemptions carved out of open-government law for negotiations aimed at landing or retaining a business. When the exemptions apply, they can be used, she said.

"What is always to be cautioned against is the overuse of them," Rhyne said.

U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, claimed credit for bringing the mystery company to the region.

"This is a company that I recruited as part of my showcasing Southwest Virginia program. It is a company that I have been talking to five years about the prospect of making a major investment in the 9th Congressional District," he said.

Boucher said the company has been shown a number of potential sites in the district. The Falling Branch site is chief among those under consideration, he said, though one other district site is a possibility.

"The prospect is currently evaluating its options and we are very hopeful that this prospect will decide to place its facility in the 9th District," he said.

"A lot of plans have been made, a lot of commitments have been made locally to meet this prospect's needs," the congressman said.