The study compares the New Century Region (NCR) of Southwest Virginia to six similar regions and finds that NCR lags behind in economic growth. According to the Center, the next steps will be to research the underlying causes.
Geography
Link
http://dls.state.va.us/groups/sjr111/meetings/110304/Greenberg.pdf#search=%22Benchmark%20Analysis%20for%20the%20New%20Century%20Region%3A%20Lessons%20from%20the%20Benchmark%20Regions%22