As of post time for this article the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors have approved giving the law school 6 million taxpayer dollars. The question I have is do you have the right leadership at the law school? Fundraising should be a key requirement on the resume for any president of the law school. The money is here and being able to bring it into the school is important. Taxpayers cannot do this funding forever. With an alumni base and people and business in the area fundraising should be enough to support the school without help from the taxpayer, that is if the leaders of the law school know what they are doing.
The other big thing is someone on some board or IDA or something going to get someone to build some apartment complexes in Buchanan to make it more attractive to their law students? With out proper housing you are going to be back at another bailout soon if you do not fix this.
Brian Moore
Below are the comments of Brian Moore. Brian is the current Head Basketball Coach at Richlands. He is basically a life long resident of Buchanan County. Brian posted this article to Facebook. The following on Buchanan County and the law school.
“INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
The Buchanan County Board of Supervisors are tasked with a difficult decision regarding the Appalachian School of Law. Here are my thoughts on the matter.
(FULL DISCLOSURE)
1. I am married to an ASL employee and my family benefits from that employment.
2. I am a fiscal conservative and generally do not support government welfare for private entities.
3. I am also pragmatic and Buchanan County cannot afford to lose ASL from our community due to the myriad of financial and cultural benefits that it brings.
Since 1995 Buchanan County has been in a transition phase, a transition phase that has gradually took us from a coal dependent economy to a more diversified economy. In my opinion, the biggest movement to diversify that economy orginated with the introduction of ASL to our community. It is no secret that coal production has diminished as well as employment in the coal industry. In addition to these downward trends, Buchanan County has lost revenue and been forced to curb spending and tighten the financial belt. Our elected board members have done a respectable job managing these changes without imposing significant tax increases on their constituents and this is something that should be applauded.
One of the reasons that this has been possible is due to the investment in the law school. A recent study going back to 2015/16 shows that ASL has contributed directly and indirectly over 200 million into our local economy. This number should now be closer to 400 million considering that this study was conducted nearly a decade ago. According to information gathered by myself the Board of Supervisors have invested on behalf of the county, $14.1 Million. The larger investment has come from VCEDA money which is collected for the sole purpose of developing business and community growth in Buchanan County. It is important to note that this money has not come directly from the treasury of Buchanan County. (This is a common misunderstanding)
Presently, ASL is in need of a six million dollar investment in order to remain operational, this is according to information provided by the current ASL Dean, David J. Western. I am not privy to the financials of ASL and am assuming that this information is correct. I would like to make some observations and share my opinion on this most recent assessment.
1. Presently ASL has a student population of 184 (this population can and should increase north of 200+ students in the next 5 years). The institution employs approximately 50 staff and faculty. Most of which reside in Buchanan County and are tax paying citizens of this county.
2. The student population of ASL contributes considerably to our economy and to lose the school would be devastating to our local economy
How? In the next five (5) years alone ASL students will contribute an estimated $6 Million into our local economy, just from rent and lease agreements alone. This is based on an average rental/lease agreement of $700 per month.
Read that again- $6 Million!
This DOES NOT include, retail, restaurants, grocery shopping, fuel purchases and other miscellaneous taxes both direct and indirect that will flood into our community.
According to the 2020 US Census the average American individual spends $370 per month for groceries, per month, this number has been adjusted to align with 2025 grocery prices. What does this mean?
It means that the current student enrollment could contribute as much as $68,080 per month into the local economy through the purchase of grocery items. Those groceries are subject to local and state taxes. Those local and state taxes benefit our community.
In addition the U.S. Census says the average American spends $204 per month on fuel/gasoline for their vehicles. When calculated with the current ASL enrollment that contribution from just ASL students alone could exceed $37,536. Our local convenient stores benefit tremendously from ASL clientele. These businesses collect state and local taxes in which WE the tax payer benefit indirectly.
Finally, I will cite one more example, according to the U.S. Census, the average American spends $191 per month on dining out. Using this data and multiplying it by the current ASL enrollment that would bring the ASL student impact to $35,144 per month. Our local restaurants benefit directly and the local tax payer benefits indirectly every single time an ASL student dines out at one of our restaurants.
The items that I have highlighted above do not include local retail, purchases at local businesses, hair dressers, barbers, nail salons, etc. It does not include auto repair, accounting services, banking services and other areas of our service economy. Those contributions alone would equal the above contributions made to our fiscal landscape.
3. ASL has contributed to the changing culture of Buchanan County and our attempt to diversify our revenue sources. If you do a Google search and ask Google “what is Buchanan County, Virginia known for,” you will discover that it references our former dependence on the coal industry, our efforts to introduce and grow the Elk population and how we have gradually become noted for institutions of higher education. I personally recall a time in this county when higher education, even a high school education was mocked or smirked at, that is no longer the case. “Times they are a changing!”
READ THAT AGAIN : “Institutions of higher education.”
For the average lay person this may not seem like anything special, however, when attracting new businesses, industry and new families to our county this is a major pull factor. We are currently in the process of developing the Southern Gap area of Buchanan County and much of the pitfalls that have made this development difficult has been the perception of our area. Today, we are about to open a state of the art high school facility, second to none, that will not only benefit our local children but will also serve as a major pull factor to others who will be considering moving to the area. Higher education is one of the top pull factors when it comes to industrial recruitment. With ASL and ACP anchoring higher education in this county we DO NOT NEED to lose these economic PULL FACTORS and undo what we have spent the past 30 years developing. It would be a step backwards.
I envision a future where the children of Buchanan County will attend and receive education at a state of the art facility led by professional educators and administrators. These children will then be able to access post graduate opportunities and become a Pharmacist an Attorney and possibly even a Doctor.
Why can’t higher education be our niche? We already have two successful and respected institutions operating here in our own county? Why not more? Why stop there?
During the last Emergency Board Meeting on this topic, it was publicly disclosed that the University of Pikeville had expressed interest in current ASL campus. Why trade one for the other? If UPike is genuinely interested, and I believe that they are, why not have ACP, ASL and UPike in Buchanan County? Why should we in theory, trade one for the other?
As more and more counties in SWVA fight to overcome the stigma and dependence on an industry that has long forgotten them, Buchanan County has already taken the initiative to boldy step forward and pursue excellence and a more diversified revenue by thinking outside the box. We are already moving in the right direction, why step away now? An investment in ASL is an investment in Buchanan County!
I would add that an investment of this magnitude should not come without caveats. I’m not sure from a legal perspective what those should or could be, but it should come with some high expectations and transparent updates, perhaps quarterly or annually.
It is also highly reasonable to suspect that ASL would not be in this position if it were managed better. Perhaps that is where ASL could offer a good faith measure of cooperation. Regardless, ASL needs to have some “skin in the game,” if the board moves forward with this investment.
In the end, the Board of Supervisors will have to make this decision and if the decision does not reflect my opinion or the opinion of others, we need to stand behind them and respect their efforts in this matter.
NOTE: (I am of the persuasion that individuals who have little to no investment nor interest in the well being of Buchanan County are manipulating the proposal to move ASL out of Buchanan County. I could be wrong in my assessment, However, it is not a coincidence that on the same day that an Emergency Board Meeting was called that a letter of intent was received from UPike regarding the current ASL campus.
It also appears, on the surface, that the tea leaves are suggesting a quid pro quo that would send ASL to Roanoke in exchange for “another school.” The only way that something like this would even be suggested is if those that are making the arrangements stand to benefit politically or financially or possibly both.)
The above comments are my opinion and I am entitled to express my opinion in a public forum.”
You can comment to Brian at the link below on his Facebook article:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10229102691901341&set=a.1053041775691
