ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150042
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LESLIE HAGER-SMITH STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on November 16, 1996.
Ed Whitmore's name was mispelled in a Friday story about Jill Barr,
Radford's departing economic development official.
SHE'S ONLY 30, but people who've worked with Jill Barr say she brought a lot to economic development in Radford.
Radford's director of economic development will put in her last day today..
Jill Barr leaves the nine-square mile city to direct development for Caroline County, 550 square miles that lie between Fredericksburg and Richmond.
Caroline County is ripe for development, Barr said. "It's very rural and untapped - it's not a sophisticated county yet - but it's being pushed from both sides."
As one of the least developed stretches on the Interstate 95 corridor, Barr said, "There's a lot of opportunity there. It's going to be a real learning experience."
When she goes, the New River region will be losing "one of the rising stars in the field of economic development in the commonwealth," in the words of Ed Whittemore, manager of the New River office for the New Century Council.
Barr, 30, was sales manager for three years at the Ramada Inn in Wytheville before coming to Radford in 1991. She credits that job with giving her the strong background in tourism that helped her make the transition to economic development.
Her proudest accomplishment was the building and selling of a shell building in Radford's Industrial Park. "I'm really proud of that because the city had never done that sort of thing before and we convinced them.
"Building a shell building is risky; cities are uncomfortable doing it. You put up a lot of public money, and there's no immediate return." But Radford sold the structure with an unfinished interior in less than 18 months, while most sit on the market for two to five years, she said.
Barr, a Richmond native and Radford University graduate, always uses "we" in describing her tenure with the city. Her office worked closely with the city Industrial Development Authority and the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance.
"You cannot do it by yourself," Barr said. "If I learned anything about economic development, it is that you don't have to know everything. But you do need to know who to go to, how to find out what you need."
Barr took an active role well beyond the city limits. She served in leadership positions in tourism, was a member of Virginia Tech's statewide economic advisory board, and was chairwoman of the prospect team for the development alliance.
"It's not often you find someone who is young and has her degree of maturity and could deal with the variety of people and issues she needed to deal with," said Beverly Fitzpatrick, regional director of the Roanoke-based New Century Council
Barr was an officer as well as a committee chairwoman for the New Century Council. "She did yeoman's work," Fitzpatrick said.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Jill Barrby CNB