New EDA executive director addresses opportunities, challenges of position

Douglas Parsons settles into his new conference room location to EDA Board Chairman Gray Blanton’s right, after being selected as the new EDA executive director on Monday, April 29. Parsons will start his new job on May 8. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

As reported Monday, April 29, the two-short Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Board of Directors has selected the person to lead the EDA past the current financial and legal turmoil it is enmeshed in. See Related Story:

State Economic Development Partnership official named new EDA executive

That person is Douglas J. Parsons, who as noted in the above story link comes here from a position as Business Manager for the Workforce Solutions Division of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). In that role Parsons oversaw nearly 100 active accounts and prospective clients in the Northern Virginia area. Other experience includes three years as Business Development Manager for the Town of Leesburg; over a decade as the Lewis County EDA executive directorship; and project administration in the Region VI Planning and Development Council.

Parson has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in a dual major of Journalism/Advertising with a minor in Psychology from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University. Parsons currently lives in Rippon, West Virginia, with his wife and son; and has a daughter currently living in Germany.

Parsons was selected from a pool of 12 applicants, four of whom were interviewed by the EDA board. As EDA Board Chairman Gray Blanton told us upon Parsons selection, “Mr. Parsons stood out and we’re glad to have him; the timing is good and his experience is good.” Other board members concurred.

“His experience in West Virginia and with the VEDP makes him an ideal candidate to lead our efforts to promote economic development in Front Royal and Warren County. His relationships with many area businesses and industry leaders will help us to move forward immediately,” Ed Daley said in a press release.

In a media interview following adjournment of the April 29 EDA board meeting, Parsons addressed his hopes for, and the challenges presented by, his new job.

“I realize there is a lot going on here and I take very seriously the situation the EDA’s in. I’m certainly committed to doing my part as the new director to help bring resolution to all the problems here,” Parsons began. “But really I’m more focused on the present and the future. I think Front Royal and Warren County have a great deal of potential as it relates to economic development – to have the infrastructure, the sites… the quality of life that this community has. I just think there’s incredible potential here for job creation and to expand the tax base.

Douglas Parsons after his April 29 appointment to take the helm of the FR-WC EDA as it works past financial scandal and litigation.

“So as I come on board I obviously have to get the handle on the internal workings of what’s going on here. I’m anxious at some point to get into a process to update our strategic plan and redefine the organization, what our focus is so that we can best serve the people as it relates, first of all to working with the existing businesses here. I need to get out there and understand what challenges there are in the existing business community and see what resources I can bring to the table.

“And then on top of that of course there’s always opportunities to bring new businesses in. I want to make sure that my tools are as sharp as possible to help us be competitive and bring in as much new commerce as possible.”

Parsons said he would be tying up loose ends as he leaves his position with VEDP until he returns on Wednesday, May 8, to his new job. In his old position he described a triangle between Winchester, Arlington and Fredericksburg, including Warren County, as the territory he was responsible for. So he should certainly know something about the competition Front Royal and Warren County face in maintaining old and recruiting new business.

We asked Parsons how he thinks the distractions of the EDA’s current financial and legal situations might impact his ability to focus on those long-term goals of business maintenance and recruitment.

“My sense is that at the stage we are at now, with the pending litigation and with the FBI and the State Police involved, I don’t know what part I’m going to have to play going forward. Obviously I’m going to cooperate in anything that is asked of me. But on a day-to-day basis, I think at this point I’m really going to be able to focus on the traditional, ordinary EDA work,” Parsons replied. After all we observed, having not been here during the period under investigation, most anything he could offer would be hearsay as they say in the courtroom.

“Obviously any records that may still be here I’m gong to be completely forthright with, cooperating with the authorities with FOIA requests and all those things. But I think the first thing I need to do when I get in here is make sure I understand what’s going on, especially … finding of some of the unknowns – that’s priority one by a mile, making sure I understand what’s going on with the loan programs, the operating budget, you know, everything. I’m just going to get a handle on that.

“That’s priority number one, but at the same time I’ve got to get out in the community and understand what’s going on with the businesses, if there are businesses out there that are having challenges that I might be able to bring resources to the table to help them overcome. There may be businesses out there that are thinking of expanding employees and as they buy machinery that contributes to the tax base for the town and county.

“I certainly want to be able to add fuel to that fire to help companies grow that are here. I think it’s so important that an EDA takes care of the businesses that are here first because they are people who are here investing in the community now. They made the investment and they are employing people.”

Referencing the interim executive director’s April 29 meeting report on issues with some of the properties or buildings the EDA is currently renting out or trying to market, Parsons added, “That’s something I’ll need to get up to speed on … the properties we own and what the state is with those properties and the situation with their maintenance and operations, leases and all that. I just don’t know about all that right now,” Parsons said of another aspect of the task he is taking on.

And then there is this, well at least part of it, to be marketed too. A northward looking aerial view of the former 467-acre federal Superfund site, 147 acres at upper-mid-center portion of photo earmarked for redevelopment as a business park christened Royal Phoenix. Royal Examiner File Photo/Roger Bianchini Courtesy of CassAviation

As for aspects of that task there is also the largely vacant 147 acres of the planned Royal Phoenix Business Park portion of the former 467-acre Avtex Superfund site. Again Parsons pointed to his initial cram course in learning the dynamics of all EDA-controlled properties, particularly one with federally-imposed environmental covenants and restrictions.

“I understand some of it’s been set aside in a conservancy,” Parsons said of what he was informed is a large, perhaps 250 to 300-acre portion of the site abutting the Shenandoah River.

“I’ve got a lot to learn about that site and the environmental ramifications,” he said glancing south out the EDA office conference room windows with the high ground of Shenandoah National Park looming in the distance.

The view south from the EDA office complex in the old American Viscose Admin building – well, one building, out of photo to left, is almost completed and the first portion of the western connector road through the site being built by the town government is almost done.

As for any lingering after affect of the financial audit and consequent litigation interfering with his ability to market the community as a business destination, Parsons said, “I don’t think so; I mean the assets of the community far outweigh the issues that we’re having. You know, new businesses coming in, I think they’re going to see all the things that we have to offer: we’re in a great geographic location, close to D.C. and yet we can offer a lot of advantages as far as real estate value, quality of life. I think we’ll be okay in that regard. I really don’t think it will scare off any business prospects,” Parson concluded on an upbeat note.

And MORE infrastructure – then there is the base for the Town wastewater pumping station designed to serve several thousand people on site, or as they said in ‘Field of Dreams’ – ‘Build it and they will come’