Key Companies in Roanoke Region

Aerial skyline view of Mill Mountain Overlook in Roanoke

Mill Mountain Overlook, Roanoke

Regional Highlights

The Roanoke Region is the largest metropolitan area in western Virginia. Composed of four counties (Alleghany, Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke) three cities (Covington, Roanoke, and Salem), and one town (Vinton), Roanoke is the cultural and business hub for western Virginia. As a budding hot spot for a variety of sectors, including transportation manufacturing, life science, and food and beverage, the region provides strategic market access for businesses with an extended labor area population of nearly 330,000. The perfect mix of mountain and metro offers big-city amenities with outdoor opportunities literal minutes from the office. Paired with the low cost of living and doing business, the Roanoke Region is the ideal place to work hard, play hard, and live easy.

Mack Trucks, Roanoke County

Mack Trucks, Roanoke County

Mack Trucks Rolls into the Roanoke Valley

In January 2020, Mack Trucks announced a $13 million investment to establish its new medium-duty truck manufacturing operation in Roanoke County, just 45 miles from sister company Volvo Trucks, creating 250 jobs. As the first prototype-to-production automotive facility announced in Virginia, the new Mack MD Series truck is designed, engineered, and manufactured start to finish at the company’s Roanoke County location. New trucks started rolling off the line in September 2020—just nine months after the announcement.

Read the Full Case Study

Location

The Roanoke Region in western Virginia is in the midst of the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains and serves as the transportation hub of the area, with an integrated interstate highway, rail, and air transportation network.

Roanoke Region
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion

  • I-81 runs through the Roanoke Region with direct connections to I-64 to the north and I-77 to the south, providing convenient access to major markets.
  • I-40, a major east-west interstate running through the south-central portion of the United States, is 47 miles from the region.
  • Freight rail service is provided by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.
  • Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak from downtown Roanoke, providing daily trains to and from Washington, D.C., New York, and beyond.
  • The Virginia TradePort, located at the New River Valley Airport in Dublin, is 44 miles south, and The Port of Virginia in Hampton Roads is 182 miles east of the region.
  • Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) offers commercial air service, served by four airlines with approximately 40 arriving and departing flights per day and nonstop service to eight cities, as well as frequent connecting service.

The Roanoke team is passionate about driving PowerSchool’s mission to improve the K-12 education experience by developing and implementing innovative software solutions that help students achieve success. Expanding our workforce in Roanoke will allow PowerSchool to continue to provide best-in-class solutions to school districts around the world.

Hardeep Gulati CEO for Powerschool

Regional Talent

More than 100,000 undergraduate and graduate students are educated each year from 25 higher education institutions located within an hour’s drive, including Virginia Tech, Roanoke College, and Virginia Western Community College. The Roanoke Region has a network of stakeholders ready to assist with a company's workforce needs, including tailored training programs with the community college and workforce development board to the forward-thinking Get2KnowNoke initiative.

Roanoke College

Co-Working Spaces

Outdoor recreation, a great food scene, and a vibrant community are certainly factors to consider when choosing a place to live, but providing those social and professional connections for remote workers is equally vital. Groups within the Roanoke Region are actively creating co-working spaces for the remote community. These spaces are specifically created to provide community, creativity, and connectivity for those without the traditional office job.

The Collective, City of Roanoke

A True Recreation Destination

Roanoke’s burgeoning outdoor industry thrives from assets such as the nearby Appalachian Trail, James River, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Smith Mountain Lake — Virginia’s second largest lake. The area has 600 miles of trails, 22 miles of urban greenways, 24 rivers and creeks, 300,000 acres of national forest, and the second largest municipal park in the United States for families to enjoy.

Carvins Cove Natural Reserve

Carvins Cove Natural Reserve

Living in the Roanoke Region

Consistently voted “Best Place to Raise an Outdoor Family” by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine, the Roanoke Region expertly leverages its natural assets to attract residents and investment. The region is a silver-level mountain bike destination, bicycle friendly community, and home to America’s Toughest Road Marathon.


With both a little- and big-mountain-town feel, the region’s diverse communities feel small and friendly while being bustling urban centers. Roanoke is the cultural and recreational hub, boasting a world-class symphony, opera, and museums - like the renowned Taubman Museum of Art - along with unique attractions like a pinball museum, historic transportation museum, and dozens of open-air farmers markets.


The Roanoke metropolitan area serves as the medical and research center for the region and Southwest Virginia. Anchored by Carilion Clinic, one of the largest health care companies in Virginia, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Center and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, the life science sector is one of Roanoke’s strongest clusters, and residents have access to leading-edge medical care.

Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke

Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke

McAfee Knob, Roanoke County

McAfee Knob, Roanoke County

Anthem GO Outside Festival, Roanoke

Anthem GO Outside Festival, Roanoke