Deschutes Brewery beer is seen in this file photo.

Chelsea Hand, a server at Deschutes Brewery & Public House, lent her voice to the cheers that erupted Tuesday when Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe announced the Bend-based brewery had chosen Roanoke, Virginia, as the site of its second production brewery.

“I wouldn’t say no,” if asked to go to Roanoke and work there in the future, she said. “I’d be really excited for that road trip.”

Deschutes Brewery committed up to $85 million to build a production and distribution facility in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology, a city business park about 5 miles from the city center.

“It’s not what you think of when you think of an industrial park,” said Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill, on Tuesday.

“Our local food co-op has their urban farm there. We started an express bus service there,” he said. “There are two golf courses nearby.”

Deschutes employees who consider moving to Roanoke may find some similarities along with the obvious differences. Roanoke and Bend have populations about the same size, but Roanoke is the heart of a metro area, the Roanoke Valley, with more than 300,000 people.

Matt Bussmann, a Deschutes Brewery inventory control specialist, said he too would consider moving his family to Roanoke if offered an opportunity for advancement. He was part of the company culture committee, some of whose members visited Roanoke and other sites and scored possible brewery sites. Senior managers made the final decision.

“One of the first questions that current employees have is, ‘Are we going to be made to move?’” he said. “The answer is no.”

The more-rooted employees were apprehensive about that, he said, while younger, single employees are excited about possible opportunities. Committee members felt senior managers took their site selection seriously, Bussmann said.

“It felt great to be trusted in that way,” he said, “and it was a really smart decision to elicit that input.”

Bryan Summerson, brewer and co-owner of Big Lick Brewing Co., in Roanoke, said the city is enjoying a renaissance. Not long ago, dilapidated buildings dominated the downtown riverfront, a former industrial zone. That’s changed. He’s hoping to relocate the brewpub, one of two in the city itself, to a redeveloped area downtown known as The Bridges.

“We’ve got a really good craft beer culture, and it’s still growing by leaps and bounds,” Summerson said. “It’s amazing how many new people we see all the time.”

Both cities are expecting an influx of thousands of new college students. In Bend, Oregon State University-Cascades is taking shape on SW Century Drive. In Roanoke, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, which graduated its first class in 2014, is expanding its programs, including a new, 105,000-square-foot research facility downtown, according to the Roanoke Times.

Both cities have vibrant commercial districts born out of the remnants of industrial pasts. In Roanoke, created after the Civil War as a railroad town, The Bridges, a 14-acre parcel along the river, features buildings rehabilitated into apartments and industrial space turned into a concert venue. Bend has the Old Mill District, a shopping and entertainment space built on the bones of the city’s lumber mills.

Both have large health care sectors that constitute the largest employers in their respective communities: St. Charles Health System based in Bend, and in Roanoke, Carilion Clinic, a health care network that serves 1 million.

“We were a railroad town, then we had some manufacturing in the ’70s,” said Morrill, the Roanoke city manager, on Tuesday. “We’ve gone through a tough few years that caused us to start diversifying our economy earlier than many cities.”

Most recently, Norfolk Southern railroad moved 500 of its Roanoke employees elsewhere and closed its Roanoke office last year, according to the Virginian-Pilot. Roanoke’s top 10 employers include Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Kroger, Wells Fargo Bank and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, but also local government like Roanoke County, the city and area school districts. Bend’s top 10 in 2015 included no government employers. No. 1 is St. Charles followed by Sunriver Resort, Les Schwab, Bright Wood Corp., and Mt. Bachelor, according to Economic Development for Central Oregon. Deschutes Brewery ranked No. 19.

“We are the second most diverse economy in the state,” Morrill said. As people, “we’re very authentic, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re hardworking folks, and very welcoming.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com