Opportunity in America: Brookneal, Va

If you take a drive down S. Route 501 south from Lynchburg, Va. you’ll stumble across the smallest incorporated town in the Central Virginia Region: Brookneal, Va.

The quaint town, with a population of 1,259, is full of family-owned businesses and serves as a center for commerce for the surrounding counties.

Brookneal has a diverse economy, but the recent the loss of manufacturing jobs has taken its toll. Manufacturing is the backbone of the city and accounts for less than a third (28.7%) of all jobs in the Campbell County (where Brookneal is located).

In 2007, the area’s unemployment rate was below the national average at 3.9%.

Small business owners in Brookneal rave about the relationship they have with the services provided about the government and many ranked local government as one of the top positive factors associated with doing business in the area.

FOX Business anchor Dagen McDowell heads back to her hometown.

Brookneal By the Numbers

The town’s staff is made up of 12 people

Recently, the town received a $1 million grant to help revitalize the downtown

Three police officers patrol the town

Connecting the city to other towns is a 2-lane highway

Estimated median household income in 2007: $30,000 compared to $59,562 in Virginia

In 2007, the median house/condo value was $80,500

On average it takes the residents 24.4 minutes to drive to work

A Glance in the Rearview Mirror

1.) What has changed about your hometown the most since you left?

The town once had a thriving economy thanks to tobacco farming and the textile industry. But those businesses are long gone. The last textile plant closed about two years ago. The population of Brookneal is about the same as it was when I was growing up. But most people work outside of the town and you no longer have the small family-owned stores that used to line Main Street.

2.) What one characteristic in your life now do you credit your hometown for planting in you?

Hard work. I learned what that was by what my family did rather than what they said.

My parents and grandparents owned and operated a wholesale grocery business that used to service the small country stores outside of town. My grandfather Charles opened the business every New Year’s Day for 60 years. He even once put on his golf spikes to walk to work after an ice storm. Of course, when he got there, there were no customers to call on. But he still got there.

And small Southern towns are made up of a lot of big personalities who are great storytellers. I certainly learned to express myself.

3.) What do you miss the most?

Growing up in Brookneal I was loved, supported and nurtured by not just by my family but the entire community. The people are there for you in good times and bad, there to support you when things go wrong and hold you responsible when you do something wrong.

4) Given the chance, would you move back? Why?

Since I am a business journalist working in TV, doing that for a living wouldn’t be possible back in Brookneal.

5.) What economic opportunity has your hometown lost?

Tobacco and textiles are gone and not coming back.

6.) What does your hometown not get enough credit for?

The people. Their hard work. Their never-ending optimism. Their devotion to family, church and one another. Brookneal’s made up the best people you’ll ever meet.

We always talk about the economy this and the economy that. Well our economy is made up individual business owners and workers, who put heart and soul into what they do. Every day I think of all those people in Brookneal who make up my small Southern hometown. Those folks supported me and encouraged me. I would not be where I am today if I had grown up anywhere else.

What's Happening in Brookneal

Uranium Mining Study Gets Green Light

Colonial Williamsburg Cuts Jobs

Va. Prepaid Tuition Costs Jump 10%

In Dark Housing Climate, a Light

Va. Governor Cheers Obama's Victory