Release from NRGRDA:
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Two new staff have joined the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA) to help boost expanded opportunities for regional community and economic development initiatives.
Jenna Grayson has been named as Manager of Strategic Partnerships, and Hannah Schoolcraft, will be the new Marketing Coordinator. Both join the NRGRDA team through the Generation West Virginia Impact Fellowship.
Grayson is a 2016 graduate of Ohio State University with a B.A. in Environment, Economic Development, and Sustainability with a focus on small business development. Her role as Manager of Strategic Partnerships will focus on leading all facets of relationship management and engagement with local and state leadership, community members, stakeholders, and strategic partners ensuring consistent collaboration while identifying unique opportunities to increase programming within the NRGRDA strategic priorities.
Schoolcraft hails from West Virginia Wesleyan College as a 2020 graduate earning a B.A. in Graphic Design. In her role as marketing coordinator, Hannah will work with our public relationship team and our marketing design team to ensure consistent, aesthetically pleasing presentation of the NRGRDA group of brands. Hannah’s work as a landscape design intern with E.L. Robinson also brings a fresh approach to marketing the region’s available properties and sites.
Jina Belcher, executive director of NRGRDA, said development projects such as the airport expansion, outdoor economy and recreation around the new national park, and remote worker and visitor recruitment efforts require more skilled professionals who know and love the region to help with NRGRDA priorities. “We are very pleased to welcome Jenna and Hannah to the NRGRDA family, which includes the West Virginia Hive Network, Country Roads Angel Network, and Active Southern West Virginia,” said Belcher.
She said NRGRDA’s decision to partner with Generation West Virginia — a non-profit based in Charleston to help businesses and non-profit organizations recruit, hire, and retain native West Virginians to keep talent in the state — is good for NRGRDA and for West Virginia. “Our team is going to be stronger and more dedicated to our mission to create and deliver community and economic development in southern West Virginia,” said Belcher.
# # #
About New River Gorge Regional Development Authority: The New River Gorge Regional Development Authority’s (NRGRDA) mission is to initiate, facilitate and support the economic and community development efforts within the counties of Fayette, Nicholas, Raleigh, and Summers located in this region of southern West Virginia. NRGRDA stimulates the regional economy through business expansion and retention efforts, including an extensive portfolio of financial services; the management of sites for new companies locating to our region; and serving as a point of access for local service providers which offer a variety of technical assistance for business owners.