Steve Frey
Contributing writer
Economic development was front and center at Monday’s Radford City Council meeting.
Blair Hoke, economic development director for the City of Radford, gave an update for the Radford City Council on activities, timetables and goals for her department at the July 30 city council meeting.
Blair Hoke, economic development director for the city, gave an overview for the council discussing specific activities, objectives and timelines. She also reviewed the Virginia Main Street plan, which is designed “to assist localities in developing public/private efforts to revitalize downtown commercial areas.”
The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the application to participate in the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Commercial District Affiliate Program “with the specific goal of economically revitalizing the designated downtown district within the context of historic preservation using the Main Street Approach.”
Radford can include any section or area of the city it chooses including east, central or west Radford and even streets off of Main Street in the development plan.
Resources for the affiliate services include training opportunities, staff consultation, resource and information sharing, grants, and organizational visits by state staff.
Hoke also discussed differences between 20th-century and 21st-century economic development models; partners in development, such as the Radford Tourism Commission, the Small Business Development Center, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and many others and department services in areas such as state incentive programs, permits, census data etc.
She also reviewed current objectives for economic development:
- Business recruitment and retention: intentional recruitment strategies to ensure an eclectic mix to our downtown corridor and community while focusing on current retention that contributes to the Radford culture.
- Rebranding, storytelling and marketing: early stages of City branding including logo design, slogan development, community identity—while sharing our story (both past and present) in a positive manner with proactive marketing strategies.
- Resource development and availability: organization of all available business resources in a collaborative effort to increase ease to the public with the continued development of resources.
- Trends, relocation factors and industry behaviors: research what businesses are seeking, why they are relocating, what assets Radford has to attract them, and what industry fits in our community culture to ensure economic strength.
Hoke will be providing quarterly updates for the council and has broken each quarter into specific action steps.
Activities for August include: Begin to explore opportunities for Foundry properties; construction of a comprehensive business directory; begin constructing a solid marketing package including visual and textual resources and information; begin necessary steps to obtain Virginia Main Street Affiliation. In September: Finalize City of Radford rebranding efforts in preparation for an unveiling; begin creation of visual media resources for additional marketing tools (ie: videos, interviews, etc.); creation of positive story-telling opportunities with an increase in encouraging and optimistic press releases and media presence.
Hoke said a primary goal will be “changing the story of Radford and promoting the wonderful things here.”
Mayor David Horton echoed her sentiments.
“We have so many wonderful things that we never talk about in the City of Radford…just changing that story is going to move us miles down the road,” he said.
Horton then allowed citizens and council members to ask any questions they might have about the initial economic development plans. Following is a sampling of recommendations:
Jordan McKinney suggested getting students involved from Radford University.
Lynn Burris, chairman of the school board, said it’s important to get the city schools involved in anything and everything that is done.
Kathleen Harshberger mentioned that some businesses seem to come and go quickly and asked if that will be looked at. Helping businesses develop a solid business plan was then discussed.
Marceline Hunter suggested recognizing businesses that have been in business for a significant number of years in the city. Horton said that celebrating businesses was something he planned to do.
Melinda Blodgett complimented Horton and Vice-Mayor Dr. Richard Harshberger on their leadership in the business community over the years and a discussion ensued about how the Main Street plan and the Radford Chamber of Commerce would be separate, vibrant entities.
There was also a discussion about where the Farmers Market would fit in with the Main Street plan and the chamber of commerce.
Harshberger emphasized that it’s not going to be the city council that designs the program but “you, the stakeholders (talking about the community)” that creates the program through engagement and discussion.
In an agenda item related to economic development, the city council unanimously approved joining with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in initiating the creation of a bike/walking trail system. The trail would “link the Roanoke Valley to the far reaches of the New River Valley, running from Galax to Roanoke,” said Christopher Tuck, Chairman of the Montgomery Board of Supervisors, in a letter to City Manager David Ridpath. All of the localities where the trail would run are being invited to join this committee including the cities of Galax, Radford, Roanoke and Salem; the counties of Carroll, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, and Wythe; as well as the towns of Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Dublin and Pulaski.
Councilwoman Naomi Huntington was chosen to represent the city council, and Laurie Buchwald was appointed as a citizen representative for the commission. Huntington said, “This could be just an extraordinary collaboration between all of us—so much of Southwest Virginia.”
Horton mentioned the Radford Riverway dream of tying into the Huckleberry Trail. He said this new concept is “not just recreation, which is wonderful in itself, but it’s actually transportation, and you could choose to bike to the mall or bike to Pulaski County” or even bike to Galax.
In his letter, Tuck said, “Our board believes that this ‘Valley to Valley’ trail can provide economic benefits as well as contribute to our quality of life here in Southwest Virginia.”
The city council passed a resolution congratulating the team that put together the drama “Walk to Freedom: The Mary Draper Ingles Story.” The resolution “recognizes and honors the cast, crew, production, and promotion team of “Walk to Freedom: The Mary Draper Ingles Story” for their outstanding work with this venture and their undying dedication to the preservation of this important part of history.”
“We owe them such a huge debt,” Horton said, for all of their hard work in putting the program together.
He went on to say that the play “was not only a wonderful entertainment piece but a wonderful part of our history right here in the City of Radford.”
Mayor David Horton presents a council resolution congratulating and thanking the cast, crew, community members and city employees involved in the production of “Walk to Freedom: The Mary Draper Ingles Story” to Wesley Young, who directed the play. Young was also a co-writer of the drama along with Kathleen Harshberger (in the white jacket).
Other news
The city council appropriated $3,100 for the Historic Figures Project. This project was initiated by citizen Jack Ratcliffe to recognize 10 local people from Radford who had historical significance to the city with a plaque, bench and walkway near the Glencoe Mansion. The council approved the measure in a 4-1 vote, with Harshberger dissenting.
Harshberger said, “I wanted us to have a vetting process in place before we did this, and I also wanted us to establish a Foundation so the city could collect this money” instead of it passing through private hands. He explained that he approved of the concept, but felt these prerequisites were necessary. Councilwomen Huntington and Jessie Critterton agreed that there should be a formal vetting process, but voted in favor since the previous council had approved it and funds had been collected.
The city council received $65,858 in additional funds from the state DOT, and that money was appropriated for paving. The Radford Public Library also received an additional $1,579 in state aid.
City council meetings will soon be streamed. The goal is to be transparent and better make information available to citizens. During this meeting, Hoke’s economic development presentation was streamed as a start.
Beginning this coming Saturday, August 4, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the Farmers Market will be moved to the NRV Community Services parking lot (formally Wade’s), on the West side of the city. The Market is experimenting to see where it will have the most impact in the city.
Horton shared various business/community activities: Pazar has moved to the Central Square Shopping Center; he noted that First Street Properties has done an excellent job to “revitalize part of the shopping center”; Monday is Pasta Night at Sal’s; Brick House Pizza will have lunch starting today; also today, River City Grille is supporting a Belle Heth night to raise funds for their playground.
“I love celebrating what our businesses are doing because I think that’s an important part of economic development,” Horton said, “We’ve all got to support them if we’re going to move forward.”
In his remarks, City Manager David Ridpath said that the city will start preparing for the new city school year with crosswalk restriping, turn signal coordination etc. and that there will also be a general cleanup in anticipation of the return of Radford University students.
Ridpath thanked the council for the Main Street program citing the need to have “every tool in our toolbox” to use in promoting business in the city.
Horton added that the “clean-up/fix-up” is not just for public property, but that this is a great time for everyone to put our “best foot forward” generally, noting that several businesses in the city have recently put out planters. Additionally, Horton will now be the city representative on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, replacing former mayor Bruce Brown.
Huntington, who chairs the Sustainability Work Group, asked that the council define the primary goals for the group at the next meeting. She also encouraged citizens to let the council know if they’d be interested in serving on the committee. She would like to begin work sessions in September.
Councilman Rob Gropman asked that minutes from boards and commissions be put on the city website so everyone in the community can get the information. He thanked Hoke for her presentation and told her to let the council know if there are tools she might need that they could support. He suggested looking at what makes a community “business friendly” and also discussed analyzing and sharing data.
Critterton suggested providing time to have student presentations to the city council. She said it would be an excellent experience for the students and give the council added information. She also discussed geocaching and using that as a possible way for people to learn about local history in the city. She said the council is still looking at ways to have more informal information sharing opportunities with community members.
