ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9603010039
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Slightly different version ran in Business section of Metro
edition.
"Don and the Lisas" are headed for a breakup.
Lisa Ison, a member of Montgomery County's economic development team, left her job Thursday to take over Roanoke's fledgling business incubator program.
Her departure is a major loss to Montgomery County, but a gain for Roanoke, said Don Moore, the county's economic development director.
Moore, Ison and Lisa Fain made up "Don and the Lisas," a humorous nickname known across the state in economic development circles.
"She does a lot of work in that office and it's going to be hard to replace her," said Larry Linkous, a county Industrial Development Authority member and former Board of Supervisors chairman. "But we realize it's a step up for her and we wish her well."
Ison will manage and market the Roanoke incubator and advise the businesses in it, which will consist of a number of new or young companies that are trying to get established. The incubator is scheduled to open by May 15 at an as-yet-undisclosed Roanoke location.
Ison most recently served as Montgomery's product development and financing associate and had been with the department for three and a half years. In that time, Montgomery County has made a concerted push to fill the Elliston-Lafayette Industrial Park and to get the Falling Branch Industrial Park up and running. That latter effort is still in the works, though the county owns 165 acres with nearly one-half mile of frontage along Interstate 81 in Christiansburg for the park.
But the Elliston-Lafayette park filled out last summer when Gov. George Allen announced that H.P. Hydraulics Inc., a hydraulic-parts manufacturer, would be moving to the county. The announcement was the result of 17 months of behind-the-scenes work by Fain, Ison and Moore and the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. The company has since constructed a small plant and opened for business.
Ison said she's looking forward to her new job, which she starts today.
"I'm excited. I really think it's going to take someone with a lot of energy and enthusiasm in that job and I'm ready to make that change," Ison said.
Prior to coming to Montgomery County, Ison, 38, worked for the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology program at New River Community College. She holds an associate's degree in business management and once owned a small business.
Staff writer Jeff Sturgeon contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB