Beer Boom: How One City Used Suds to Brew Up a New Economy

Roanoke, Va., is betting big on beer.

Roanoke, Va., was a city built by the locomotive. Crisscrossed by rail lines, Roanoke served as a regional freight hub as well as a manufacturing center for steam engines for the Norfolk and Western Railway.

By the time the railroad shuttered its Roanoke headquarters in 2015, however, the city had already worked to wean itself off the rail industry. Like many other successful former factory towns, Roanoke had developed a solid "eds and meds" economy focused on health care and higher education centers, such as the Virginia Tech medical school. The city has also begun to capitalize on the nearby Appalachian Mountains to attract visitors and residents who enjoy biking, hiking and other outdoor activities.

But there's something else that's helping Roanoke's economy thrive: beer.

"For most of our history we thought of ourselves as an old railroad town," says Beth Doughty, executive director for the Roanoke Regional Partnership, which works to attract business to the area. "In 10 years we've changed the narrative. Today, she says, "we use the term 'beer, bikes and brains.'"

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