Submitted photo
Montomery County Chamber staff
The Road to Recovery NRV Style By Jennifer Poff Cooper The road to recovery will be a long and winding one that may take many months – or even years. “No one could ever have predicted this,” said Casey Jenkins, Executive Director of Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. (DBI), of the pandemic during a recent interview. What will this unprecedented time of upheaval mean for businesses in the New River Valley? Three local leaders – Jenkins; Sharon Scott, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce; and Craig Meadows, Montgomery County Administrator – agree that the biggest overall challenge is uncertainty. Meadows said, “We’ve entered uncharted territory and we are all doing our best to navigate.”
leadership from local governments and also advocacy groups such as the Chamber, DBI, and Downtown Christiansburg, Inc., which have businesses’ best interests in mind. “When people talk about their businesses,” she said, “it’s like they’re talking about their children.”
With its summer festivals canceled, DBI has gone from being primarily an event planning association to a merchants’ “catch all, one stop shop,” said Jenkins. Activities have included economic development, education, leadership, and marketing. DBI has been working to identify government resources for its businesses, and has aided them in “I wish I had a crystal ball,” said Scott. She creating online campaigns to promote praised local governments for “mobilizing themselves to the public. This has helped quickly.” Businesses have needed sustained generate cash flow, which Jenkins said
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t JULY 2020 / vbFRONT.com
