As the City of Galax’s new Main Street manager and economic developer, Dennis Jarvis’ role is to attract new investments in the downtown district and create policy driven by city council that sustains the area and keeps is a warm and inviting environment for both locals and tourists.
The city is working toward becoming an accredited Virginia Main Street community, which will benefit downtown businesses.
(Jarvis is taking up one of two new roles in the city; the other is Planning and Community Development Director Doug Williams.)
Jarvis said, during his brief welcome at a recent Galax City Council Meeting, “I’m pleased and privileged to have the opportunity to work with your great staff. I had a strong desire to live and work in this region for a decade. I located the right opportunity and I’m very pleased to be here.”
In an interview in his office at the Galax Municipal Building, the Princeton, W.Va., native discussed his background and view of his new role.
Jarvis has a bachelor’s degree in history from Bluefield State University, a master’s degree in public administration from Marshall University, completed a master’s program at Oklahoma University in economic development and has a certification as a business retention specialist from the University of Southern Mississippi.
In a 28-year career, Jarvis has worked in economic development in West Virginia’s Jefferson County, and near the Logan County coalfields, but spent most of his time in Virginia, working for the Town of Altavista.
As for the work itself, “I kind of backed into it,” said Jarvis. In 1998, “I was working for a congressional campaign after grad school... Student loans were due. I applied for a job as a deputy director of a local government agency in the economic development office of Logan County, West Virginia. Never looked backwards and enjoyed it a whole lot.”
Jarvis said he’s excited about his job with Galax. Regarding working with downtown building owners and the businesses operating from them, he said, “I think the opportunity here is making relationships, building rapport, and conveying to them that the city has the best intentions to help them have a sustainable income in their building.”
That could include leasehold improvements, facade improvements, providing infrastructure like water and sewer service, or working with utility providers, he said.
As an economic development professional, Jarvis said he sees his role as a liaison between the private and public sector.
Galax attracted him as a professional because the city is “very agreeable, very business friendly.”
Jarvis also feels Galax is a symbol of “small, rural America, which I idolize and love working in. I tried to be here in this region for the last 10 years and I’m very, very overwhelmed in a good way, humbled that they wanted me here in the city.”
Jarvis said he plans to work closely with multiple city, state and federal organizations and offices to do his job.
He praised Tourism Director Patti Price-Love’s office for bringing tourists in. “It’s a natural catalyst and natural way that we both drive in the same lane together.”
He also expects to work closely with the Twin County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the city’s planning and zoning boards), city council, Wytheville Community College, the Department Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
“Economic development is not one exact vocation,” he said. “It’s jack of all trades and a master of none, basically.”
Between now and October, he said, the city is completing an application to be fully accredited with the Virginia Main Street program under the DHCD.
“That’s paramount, first and foremost,” Jarvis said. “That allows us to go for full affiliation with National Main Street to ensure full accreditation. But in those six months, we will have completed a 15-year comprehensive plan.”
The accreditation system runs on a two-year cycle, he noted, so getting the application prepared and submitted is a priority.
“After we complete our comprehensive plan with the consulting group we have, that’ll plug in a lot of variables for us where we have short, medium and long-term benchmarks. And you will see focus on my short term in the next six months till the end of the year,” he said.
Other goals include building a database of all available properties in the city for commercial use, creating rapport with business owners, working with regional and state partners on recruitment, working with Blue Ridge Crossroads Economic Development Authority, working with the planning and development council from Mount Rogers, “and some other things like that,” said Jarvis.
These are exciting projects for him, but ultimately what drew Jarvis to the area was “the proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the cornerstone of mountain music and bluegrass traditional Americana music, the diversity in the city… and I enjoy Appalachian State football and basketball, and I’m only about 70 miles from my dad. So this is excellent. This was just the greatest opportunity for me being a motorcycle enthusiast. music enthusiast and a foodie.”
He concluded with a smile, “There’s a lot of great things here.”