Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993                   TAG: 9312300116
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

BEDFORD PLANS ITS 2010 LOOK/ CITY WANTS TO KEEP ECONOMY THRIVING

Will it go the way of many small towns - businesses and residents slowly sucked away to larger cities - or will it gain new vitality?

These are questions being asked by a new group of private citizens and city government officials working to define goals and develop strategies to bring them to fruition.

Bedford 2010 is the brainchild of Bedford Main Street Inc., the group that spurred downtown renovation. "Bedford Main Street recognized a need for future planning, and we knew it was beyond Everything looks nice. Now we need the business. The efforts haven't been concentrated to shop Bedford. Larry Brookshier Bedford city councilman our scope, because we're limited to the downtown area," said Elizabeth Barry-Moseley, the group's executive director.

The committee will concentrate on several issues, including economic development, government services and education, and will seek feedback from city residents, said Joanne Graham, Main Street's executive director.

"Economic development is a big issue," she said. "We want to talk with the people and find out what they want here."

City Councilman Larry Brookshier said the project will look beyond the renovated downtown area to include outlying businesses. But vacant storefronts in the downtown district need to be filled, also. "Everything looks nice," he said. "Now we need the business. The efforts haven't been concentrated to shop Bedford. We've got to go beyond downtown."

The group will work with others, such as the Chamber of Commerce, to recruit businesses and distribute information.

Graham got a hearty endorsement Monday night from City Council.

Mayor Mike Shelton and John Boardman, president of Sam Moore Industries, have agreed to be co-chairmen of the drive.

The first meeting will be held after City Council attends a January or February retreat and discusses priorities for 1994.

The city's comprehensive plan is slated for revision in 1994, and Graham said she would like to see some concrete suggestions included in the updated version. "We have to decide what we want to be as a city," she said.