ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY
Roy Crawford, Floyd County's new administrator, hasn't been too busy to begin getting his bearings in Floyd.
The county, he said, is filled with friendly people, so friendly "that I kind of almost feel right at home."
His job will be to "see that the Board of Supervisors' policies are followed." He knows a big part of those policies are economic development.
Crawford, who started work last week, said he will try to attract environmentally friendly, high-paying jobs that may relate to the telecommunications industry.
He also wants to try to draw more tourists off the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through the county.
"I don't know whether [tourists] are being captured the way they should be," he said.
But in the meantime, he has more mundane things to accomplish, like finding a place to live. He and his wife will stay in hotels, and bed and breakfast inns until they can find a house to rent. They will buy a home when they sell their house in Powhatan County.
Formerly director of planning and development for Powhatan County near Richmond, Crawford, 47, was attracted to the Floyd County job because he is a graduate of Virginia Tech and he wanted to return to the area. His wife wanted to experience country living in the mountains. Crawford's son is a freshman at Virginia Tech.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB