I'm thinking that Skype may be the perfect platform for what I'm looking to do. I want to expand my business from a local market, to a statewide market. If I add phone numbers, with different area codes, for additional areas of my state, that forward to my main number, callers would get the impression that my business is local to them. Would Skype be a cost effective way to do this?

Joe,

I think Skype absolutely represents a cost effective way to make your business appear larger using local numbers. You could even leverage these numbers to do local microsites on the web for each geographic area. You can also incorporate toll-free 800 numbers using add-ons to Skype like OnState's Skype for business PBX and call center solutions.

Let me know if you need any other help with this.

Shawn

Trial it carefully before committing to buying a load of numbers and printing stationery. Skype support is not terribly responsive when things go wrong.
Certainly in the UK the call quality can be (un)noticeably poor. Occasionally you may be able to hear perfectly but your client may be getting garbled conversation.

Saving a few pennies on a call can be a sad way of losing clients.

I'm not saying don't use it, just test the service carefully before you make a heavy buy in.