WV Press Release Sharing
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Allison Smith is joining the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA) team as Grants and Impact Manager.
Smith, who earned her BA in English and Master of Public Administration degree from West Virginia University, will manage grant seeking, writing, tracking, and reporting for NRGRDA in addition to annual impact reporting.
“Allison is a welcome addition, as NRGRDA’s economic development efforts in Fayette, Nicholas, Raleigh, and Summers counties are in high gear,” said Jina Belcher, NRGRDA’s executive director. “Allison’s impressive experience in community building, planning, and grants will greatly benefit our efforts within our cities, counties and partnering organizations.”
Smith comes to NRGRDA from West Virginia State University, where she was a Community and Economic Development Extension Agent involved in complex projects for the Upper Kanawha Valley Strategic Initiatives Council and the Cities of Smithers and Montgomery.
She was also a graduate assistant for Adventure West Virginia and a Community Development Coordinator at the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Her responsibilities at these higher education and non-profit organizations involved grants, community assessments, comprehensive planning, data management, survey research, and the development of strategic partnerships.
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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.
The West Virginia Hive is the entrepreneurship program of the NRGRDA and the administrator of the Country Roads Angel Network (CRAN). More can be found at https://nrgrda.org/
