It's become the mantra of old industrial hubs such as the Roanoke Valley straining to crack the nut of the new high-tech economy, a five-word combination to unlock a future of vibrancy and prosperity.

"Attract and retain young professionals."

But these twenty- and thirtysomethings, who judge a place as much by its cool quotient as anything, can be as elusive as an ivory-billed woodpecker for places such as Roanoke.

A new group of mostly homegrown young professionals, however, believes it knows the bait to use, and its members are working to set the trap.

To the people behind Valley Forward, the bait is here, if we can only make the most of it.

The group, chaired by Virginia Varsity Transfer President John Lugar, 36, has an economic, cultural and political agenda for Roanoke it believes will give the city its needed bump in hipness.

It's about greenways, an amphitheater, making more of natural resources such as Mill Mountain and the Roanoke River, and making the whole valley more attractive to tourists.

"It's quality of life," said Valley Forward Vice Chairman Robert Fralin, a local builder and developer. "We can just do more to make this place attractive."

The trick is to actually do something, not just talk about it, they said.

The group's leaders describe the organization as a kind of think tank, but one that also executes its plans and ideas.

They aren't messing around. The group already has its first "hatched idea" ready to go: a 5K road race to benefit construction of the area's greenway system.

Set for May 12, the Gallop 4 the Greenways is designed to have special appeal for folks their age: It starts at 5 p.m. and will be followed by a party featuring food, beer and live music. The race is sponsored by Carilion Health System and BB&T-Chaney Thomas.

The group, while populated with people happy to be living in Roanoke, was born of frustration about a year ago.

Lugar, Fralin and others got together to talk about what they could do to make their beloved hometown more appealing to people like them but who may not know about this place.

Over the year, they've recruited more members as they meet people who seem as committed as they are, such as financial adviser Brad Blum.

"It was people who had real ideas they could act on," said Blum, 29. Blum is the youngest member of the 15. The oldest member is 42. The group's leaders acknowledge a lack of diversity in their membership that they want to work on. Only two members are women, only one is black and the majority live in South Roanoke.

Nevertheless, they believe they understand what other young professionals want.

The ideas aren't necessarily radical or novel.

"You're not even relevant if you don't have greenways and an amphitheater," Lugar said.

Roanoke has a greenway plan, of course, but it's not nearly as complete as advocates would like. The Roanoke City Council is already discussing where to build an amphitheater, with debate centering around the old Victory Stadium site or Elmwood Park.

Valley Forward's position is, according to Lugar, "wherever it goes, let's do it."

That goes to what Lugar and his cohorts see as a stifling mind-set in Roanoke, partly a resistance to change, and partly low self-esteem that suggests nothing really cool could ever work here.

"It seems like any time an idea comes up, it's savaged by critics," Lugar said. "It's almost like a fire blanket you throw over creative ideas."

Valley Forward hopes to change that mind-set. That may be where the group's political interests come into play.

The group anticipates its political involvement ranging from serving on civic boards to financially supporting candidates for public office to one day perhaps identifying candidates for office or at least making endorsements.

The group has a few potent endorsements of its own. Part of Valley Forward's strategy has been to reach out to the area's senior business leaders.

"I'm very encouraged by those guys," said Dr. Edward Murphy, chief executive officer of Carilion Health System. "They're young, eager, ambitious, successful people who care about the future of the valley and are looking to step up and provide some leadership to make the region a better place in the future."

Roanoke College President Sabine O'Hara also was impressed by a visit she received from Lugar and company. O'Hara recently conducted a study on the Roanoke Valley's quality of life that centered on appealing to young professionals.

"When I looked at the folder they gave me, they had done their homework," she said. "They're taking a broader view of economic development, and that's what I tried to bring into the conversation with the study."

Valley Forward is not, however, Roanoke's first group to look out for the interests of young professionals.

NewVaConnects, which is affiliated with the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, has a mailing list of about 400, but a different mission than Valley Forward.

"We really wanted to position ourselves as an organization that would not only help the valley attract and retain young professionals," said chairwoman Nicole Hall, "but help young professionals develop more of a connection to the community."

As for Valley Forward, Hall said, "I personally think they have a lot of great ideas."

There's plenty of room for both groups in Roanoke, she said. "I think they actually could complement one another."

The work of both groups is crucial to Roanoke, she said, because the competition for more people like her -- a 32-year-old architect -- is hot among communities trying to forge their future.

"We're in a stage where we can be proactive about it," she said, "but we need to be proactive about it now."