Rep. Rick Boucher plans to unleash a "Celtic Tiger" in Wytheville this morning but there will be no need for Katy to bar the door.

Boucher, D-Abingdon, will host a conference titled "Unleashing the Celtic Tiger: Southwest Virginia's Shared Heritage with Ireland and Western Europe." Boucher represents the 9th District, a region renowned for its Appalachian Scots-Irish heritage.

But that cultural connection will not be the key focus for the conference, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Wytheville Meeting Center.

Instead, that heritage will be linked to regional economic opportunities that could be tied to an economic transformation in the Republic of Ireland. That previously agrarian-based, economically struggling country is now known to many as the Celtic Tiger because of a profound economic rebound during the past two decades.

A key architect of that economic transformation was John Bruton, former prime minister of Ireland and now the European Union ambassador to the United States. Bruton will participate in the conference.

Boucher, who is running unopposed for re-election this year, acknowledged Friday that Ireland's economic upswing has been driven in large part by national policies and emphases.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative, U.S.-based think tank, has observed that "Ireland's success over the past two decades is not the result of any one factor, but of many."

The foundation noted that Ireland has "invested in education, adopted sensible tax and fiscal policies, [has been] open to and encouraged foreign investment, and achieved and sustained a national consensus."

Boucher said Bruton will speak today about how Ireland's successes can inform regional and statewide approaches to economic development.

For example, Boucher said, Bruton can discuss Ireland's approaches to work force development, related adjustments to school curricula and state policies and other ways for rural Southwest Virginia to adapt Ireland's tactics.

The transformation in Ireland has moved the country from an agricultural focus to becoming an impressive player in the modern knowledge economy, Boucher said, attracting companies such as Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and others.

Many knowledge-based companies in Ireland have manufacturing plants there.

The 9th District has attracted call centers and other operations with ties to the knowledge economy, he said.

"But we are presently focused on an effort to attract a broader range of technology companies," Boucher said. "What we're doing now is moving up the technology scale."

For example, Boucher said, he has brought to Southwest Virginia companies seeking a good site for a backup data center.

He said he has been in touch with one particularly good prospect. He cited the Northrop Grumman data center in Lebanon as an example of what might occur.

Boucher said the district has the assets many data centers seek, including comparatively cheap electricity, a fiber optic infrastructure and an available work force.

Data centers typically want to locate away from places prone to violent weather.

And he said Bruton, whom Boucher said he invited to the conference, can add a component to his role as an EU ambassador.

"We will be looking to Ambassador Bruton to mention us on his travels around Ireland."