REGIONAL VIEW Roanoke/new river valley


Consultants give Blacksburg a downtown game plan by Tim Thornton


C


onsultants sometimes get a bad rap, but Development Strate-


gies helped Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith realize something about her town of roughly 45,000 people. “One of the very first things they said to us was eye- opening, but I knew as soon as I heard it I was hearing truth,” Hager-Smith says. “Blacksburg doesn’t really have an authentic downtown.” Indeed, asked to define


the boundaries of downtown Black sburg, most residents responding to a survey focused on a few blocks of the town’s Main Street. “Their observation and a


lot of their recommendations are around trying to expand our commercial center into something that behaves more like an authentic downtown,” Hager-Smith says of the St. Louis-based consultants. The Development


Strategies recommendations — unveiled in January after just over a year of discussions, surveys and public meetings


FOR THE RECORD


The Advancement Foundation, in partnership with Vinton, has secured a $200,000 grant to help low-to-moderate-income- applicants start small busi- nesses or pursue homeowner- ship. The grant money, which can be drawn down during the next three years, was awarded through a state-administered but federally funded Community Development Block Grant pro- gram. The money will be used to help people who live at 200 percent of the poverty level, or below it. (The Roanoke Times)


Dockless electric scooters are expected to make their debut in Roanoke this spring, according to Roanoke Director of Planning Chris Chittum. He said a com-


Photo by Don Petersen


in Blacksburg — $288,000, according to the website Zil- low — is a stretch for the town’s median household income, $52,075.


That imbalance, says


Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith says the fi ndings of St. Louis-based Development Strategies were “eye- opening.”


— expand the definition of downtown, dividing it into six districts with each having a distinct identity. “Each area focuses on a


different strength,” says Matt Hanratty, an assistant to Blacks- burg’s town manager. One, for example, focuses on student housing and mixed- use development along the edge of Virginia Tech’s campus. Another focuses on historic preservation. Another aims to complement Virginia Tech’s


pany called Lime, one of the two largest e-scooter providers in the country, approached city officials in January. Chittum hopes to have the city’s permit process, associated fee and governing regulations approved and in place in April, which means Lime’s scooters could be on city streets a few weeks later. Chittum said the city would charge a $5,000 flat permit fee. (The Roanoke Times)


The town of Narrows in Giles County received $699,346 from Virginia’s portion of the federal Community Development Block Grant program to do several public infrastructure improve- ments, from parking lots to trails to property acquisition. The grant will also offer owners of downtown commercial build-


planned Creativity and Innova- tion District. Others focus on residential or mixed-use devel- opment. “As a whole collective,” Hanratty says, “we can kind of have our cake and eat it too.” What most people think of as downtown Blacksburg now can continue to develop as a walkable, amenity-filled, human-scaled district. Other areas accommodate growth and provide affordable housing, one of the town’s biggest challenges. Buying a median-priced house


ings up to $15,000 for façade improvements, if they do an equal amount of other qualifying work on their properties. (The Roanoke Times)


The parent company of National Bank of Blacksburg in March repurchased a large amount of company stock, according to online market reports. Abbott Cooper, a bank shareholder and New York-based investor, said his research showed the bank bought about 483,000 shares at just below $40 per share for about $19 million. (The Roa- noke Times)


Volvo Group advertised engineering jobs in the Salem area, describing the positions as “part of an exciting startup


www.VirginiaBusiness.com


Hanratty, can be an impediment behind the state and national rates of startup businesses. For young, would-be entrepreneurs, “there’s nowhere cool to live,” Hanratty says, and much of what’s available is unaffordable or geared toward some of Tech’s 27,000 undergraduates. If the town is going to thrive, he says, its plans need to include higher- density — and therefore more affordable — housing. “We’re going to see devel-


opment pressures,” Hanratty says. “The university is in active growth mode — and they’ve said as much now, so it’s no secret. We can either stick our heads in the sand and it’s going to happen around us in ways that we don’t particularly like, or we can be part of the conversa- tion and help plan for where we’d like to see it. It’s not going to be a perfect mix, but we need to be proactive about it.”


opportunity with the objective to start small and grow fast,” according to job descrip- tions posted to the company’s website. Volvo Group spokes- man John Mies said the com- pany is not building a factory in Salem. “We’re doing some work on a project related to future business needs, but we prefer not to comment further at this time,” Mies added via email. Salem is located 50 miles from the 3,000-employee Volvo Trucks plant in Pulaski County. (The Roanoke Times)


PEOPLE


Jeff Lozowski has joined HomeTrust Bank as a vice president and retail market leader at the bank’s Roanoke office. Lozowski is responsible


for training, developing and coaching staff members, leading six branches in the Roanoke Valley, strategic planning with several lines of business and managing action plans based on performance. Before joining HomeTrust Bank, he worked at Wells Fargo as a regional banking district manager and prior to that as a branch manager. (News Release)


Christine Rizzio has joined the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce staff as membership director. Rizzio’s duties include new members and membership retention. She owned and operated Cosmetic Studio and Day Spa for 21 years in Loudoun County before selling the business. (News Release)


VIRGINIA BUSINESS | 15


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