Business Group Aims to Burnish County's Image Across Region

Bad Press Undermining Assets, Advocates Say

Good schools, higher education?

Check.

Access to major transportation corridors and numerous entertainment venues?

Check.

A population that knows about all the assets and opportunities of the Prince William County area?

Che . . . well, not quite, say some business professionals in the community.

Prince William, once seen as an up-and-coming region south of the Capital Beltway, has taken a beating recently as people focus on negative press about the illegal immigration issue and ignore the statistics and attractions that indicate the area is very much alive, local business leaders say.

And that, they say, needs to change.

"I think people are aware of many good things, just not everything," said Laurie C. Wieder, president of the Prince William Regional Chamber of Commerce. "The local Economic Development Department does a good job with marketing, but we need to be more supportive of their efforts and make sure the story of all we have to offer is more widespread."

Wieder and about 40 of her colleagues have started an Image Task Force, taking on the job of transforming the way people view the county and its surrounding communities.

The group, formed in January, is determining what the region has to offer, what it needs and how to get the message across that it remains an up-and-coming destination, Wieder said.

"We've had lots of negative publicity, and our assets are not getting the recognition they deserve," she said, adding that it is not just the immigration issue that masks the region's positive aspects, but also people's lingering perception -- thanks mainly to the media, she said -- of Prince William as a humble, rural suburb of Loudoun and Fairfax counties. "I think sometimes," she said, "the negative publicity is welcomed more than the positive publicity."