Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 14, 1994 TAG: 9404140330
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He succeeds Franklin Kimbrough, who resigned late last year as head of the downtown development organization.
Kennell, 32, is a senior analyst in the Budget and Management Department for the city of Hampton. In that job he has worked closely with the city manager and City Council in preparation and administration of a $200 million annual operating budget, and he has done management and organizational analysis.
He also has worked with Hampton as community development and urban development grant program manager and senior city planner.
Before moving there 10 years ago, he was a city planner at Boca Raton, Fla.
Kennell, whose resignation was announced Wednesday to Hampton City Council, said he has been in Roanoke on many occasions for city planning meetings and downtown development conferences. He was here earlier this week for the meeting of the Virginia Downtown Development Association.
He also is a friend of Kimbrough's and visited him in Roanoke.
"I'm very impressed by the area," Kennell said of the Roanoke Valley. "Things are really on a roll there," he said of downtown revitalization.
He cited no specific plans for the job, saying he must assess the situation first. "I want to get there and get my feet wet," he said.
Downtown Roanoke cited Kennell's experience in downtown economic development and revitalization.
He was executive director of the Phoebus Improvement League, on loan from the city of Hampton. He was responsible for initial organization of the league, a nonprofit group chartered to carry out an urban business district "Main Street" program.
In addition, Kennell is immediate past president of the Virginia Downtown Development Association, an organization of groups interested in revival of city cores in Virginia. He advocated the benefits of downtown revitalization throughout Virginia as president of the organization.
A native of Hampton, Kennell is a graduate of Christopher Newport College in Newport News with a degree in government administration. He received his master's in public administration from Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton.
He is a director of the Virginia Downtown Development Association and a member of the American Society for Public Administration, Hampton Bay Days Inc. and the Downtown Hampton Kiwanis Club.
He is married and has a 1-year-old daughter. The family plans to move to Roanoke as soon as possible after May 1.
by CNB