Houchins to serve in dual roles

Now that the county combined the Tourism and Economic Development posts, James Houchins, who has led the county’s tourism efforts since 2022, was selected to serve as director of Economic Development and Tourism, effective July 1.

Houchins has served as the Tourism Director since May 2022, and previously worked in the Patrick County Parks and Recreation Department.

With the new position, Houchins, 56, said he will be continuing the efforts to bring economic vitality to the county through economic development and tourism efforts.

“They both align well, so I’m hoping that it will just help me to focus more on growing the county. Tourism is economic development, that’s one of the things that helps drive a lot of rural communities,” he said. 

The ability to try and grow the county is “the big thing,” he said, and noted the county has “outstanding outdoor recreation,” with opportunities abound to increase it

“Potentially, some of the smaller businesses around outdoor recreation may see this as a good spot to come and take up shop. We’re just going to take a look at that and see how we can move forward with that,” he said.

Although there is a learning curve associated with the economic development post, Houchins said he believes everything will go smoothly once he gets direction from the county and starts to implement ongoing efforts.

“Just looking at some of the projects that have been started, just trying to wrap those up that was under Sean (Adkins) and then Patrick (Cooper), and just getting a foothold on what that entails and then moving forward with those,” he said.

Houchins has already started on this effort as he’s working with County Administrator Beth Simms to get some information about the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and meeting with Economic Development Authority (EDA) Board Chairman Ron Hailey. 

“Once I get my understanding of that, and seeking some guidance from them, then we’ll try to move forward with it and hopefully there will be some good news in the future for the county,” he said.

Houchins said his first goal is to hold a joint economic development and EDA meeting to help set some guidelines and visions for the county. The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. in the second-floor board room of the Patrick County Administration Building.

In the meantime, Houchins said his plan is to continue doing what is being done.

“I’m going to be following up on some of the projects that have already been started. Just wrapping my mind around those projects, and then hopefully initiating some more projects for the county,” he said.

Simms said Houchins isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and address issues that are affecting county residents and businesses. 

“When it was announced that Mabry Mill would not be offering dine-in food service for the 2024 season, he brought together the National Park Service, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, and the Blue Ridge Parkway Association to meet with citizens and businesses in the Meadows of Dan community to ensure that businesses were aware of the opportunities available to them through these organizations. The meeting was positive and provided hope in what was previously seen as a detrimental situation,” she said.

Houchins currently serves on the board of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and the Blue Ridge Parkway Association. He also is in the process of completing Virginia Rural Center’s Virginia Rural Leadership Institute.

He holds a B.A. from Averett in Business Administration. He previously worked at Results-CX for several years. He also was a sales coordinator at Capewell Aerial System for 10 years and oversaw the military helmets and the survival egress air systems.