Bruce C. Bryan: My guest today on Naturally Curious is Julia Boas. She's been promoted a handful of times through her employment with the Roanoke Regional Partnership. Currently, she's in charge of attracting talent, capital, and companies to the greater Roanoke area. We'll learn today why this is such an attractive area for outsiders as we uncover how Julia and her organization have helped the citizens of the region to feel good about where they live also.
We'll discuss the outdoors, the hidden beauty of our area, and what outsiders are saying about why they wanna move here or invest in the region. While we hear more about her work, we'll also talk about her career path, why she's been promoted so often, and what's exciting in regards to the projects she's currently working on and to help us build out our economic fortunes.
Get to know Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership coming up next on today's episode of Naturally Curious.
Boas Segment 1
Bruce C. Bryan: Julia Boes from the Roanoke Regional Partnership. Welcome to the show. I'm glad you came.
Julia Boas: Thanks, Bruce. I'm happy to be here.
Bruce C. Bryan: So I'm loving to start out this interview with the question, why are companies so interested in coming to the area?
Julia Boas: That's a very big question. Um- We've got time ... I could, I could probably talk with you about that for hours, and that is what we do for, you know, most of our job, we go around talking to these site selectors and consultants about what we consider the value proposition for the Roanoke region.
So just to frame it a little bit, um, I represent everything from Alleghany, Covington, down through Franklin County. That includes Botetourt, Salem, Ro- City of Roanoke, uh, Roanoke County, Vinton. Um, and so we, we have a fairly wide footprint. The one thing that we have gotten a really strong national and global reputation for is advanced manufacturing, and I think that that's where we're seeing a lot of the growth.
If you see stuff like at, in Botetourt Center at Greenfield, they've filled every single available acreages from everything from people who make bucket trucks like Altec to, um, people who make cooling systems, Munters, it's a Swedish company, to New Belgium Brewing. Now we've added Google to that list, so, and there's many others in the park as well.
So you just get an idea of we have such a variety of different types of manufacturers. In Roanoke County, Elbit, um, they make, uh, defense systems technology, night vision goggles. They just had a huge expansion announcement. So we have a skilled labor, and we have for a really long time, and we've been able to kinda keep ahead of the curve when it comes to these people who are really good at what they do.
Um, that married with affordable, you know, cost of living, cost of doing business, available space, and a, and a, you know, pro-business climate, and it makes it a nice place.
Bruce C. Bryan: One of the things that I've heard a lot about also is kind of the, the, the culture and the geography and how that seems like it's also a draw, the, the mountains and the- Yeah
the waters and- Like the quality of life side. Yeah. Yeah. Talk a little bit about that.
Julia Boas: Yeah, so placemaking and livability is one of the sort of the four pillars that we focus on at the Roanoke Regional Partnership. That was sort of led by both private and public sector people coming together to be like, "We need to explain to people that when you live here, that- Your life will be better.
Your money will go farther. So you may be making even maybe slightly less than like a big Nor- Northern Virginia market, but you're not spending your whole life in traffic. You're not having to drive 45 minutes anytime you wanna go anywhere or do anything. You're not battling lines and congestion. You know, like, that's just not a part of your daily life here, and I think people really take for granted if y- especially if you've been from here your whole life, um, you don't realize what, how, how important that is to a lot of people to not have to waste so much of their time.
Bruce C. Bryan: And our listeners come from pretty much everywhere from Richmond down to Abingdon and Danville up, so the area's even bigger than your area, but most everywhere in that area has similar characteristics, right? Yeah. And so they're telling similar stories, I would think. So i- I think it is interesting that, um, your money goes a little bit further, your life, quality of life is a little bit better, and I think that sounds like one of the things that you all espouse and, and share often, right?
Julia Boas: Yeah, and that's a big value proposition for companies today, too, because everybody's fighting for workforce, and here w- as soon as they can get boots on the ground of people coming to, like, consider working here, they're usually able to be like, "Oh yeah, this is gonna be a good way to live, and I'm gonna be able to really make, maximize my time outside of work."
Bruce C. Bryan: So getting some of these outside companies and representatives to experience the, the Roanoke region probably helps convince them, "Hey, this is a place I'd like to check out."
Julia Boas: Yeah. Whenever we get a company on the ground, like actually visiting, our odds of getting them to commit to the market goes significantly up.
There's something about just being here physically that can't always be con- you know, put into words or conveyed, and then once we get 'em here and we tour 'em around to the other facilities, we tour 'em around to different housing options, we, you know, take 'em out to eat downtown, they're like, "I could see myself here."
Bruce C. Bryan: Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership. You're here today with us on Naturally Curious as host Bruce Bryan. I'm glad to have you on the show. Twisted that all around, but it's okay. We got to the end there. Covered it pretty well essentially. Um, it's interesting because getting people here is one of those things that is probably a big challenge, but when they're here, as you just said, it's really, um, powerful.
And I run into people, I've been here almost 20 years, and I run into people like me that moved here, and now this is home. And I say to people, "Be careful if you come to visit because a lot of times you'll wanna stay."
Julia Boas: Yeah. Oh, I mean, I've convinced lots of people to move here that, you know, ha- have visited, including my own parents who are in their, uh, mid-70s.
They've lived in... My dad's lived in South Carolina pretty much his whole life, and he finally made the leap over here to Roanoke to be closer to me, so yeah, it'll suck you in.
Bruce C. Bryan: Sounds like you're a pretty good seller, so. Sometimes people who are the most familiar with something are the last to see it, right?
And w- What I was wondering is what are you hearing from lifelong Roanokers? Is that story starting to be more comfortable for them?
Julia Boas: I, I think that it's can still be a challenge depending on, you know, what bucket they're in or if they have children that have maybe, like, left the market and come back that can give them a little bit different perspective.
I do still hear some of them struggling with the change. But I think that that's really what it comes down to is that change is hard for everybody. And so when they see a place be one thing and then it starts to, you know, maybe evolve or turn into its next iteration, like n- no place in America or even probably in the world is just stagnant, standing still, and if it is, it's probably not doing very well.
So just adding in that diversity and the culture and, you know, new, um, companies and opportunities, that's gonna make the landscape change, and I think that that can be a struggle for some people. But then I also hear a lot of people, they're like, "Thank goodness." Like, "I'm so glad. There's so many things to do now.
When I grew up here..." You know, they'll ha- say X, Y, Z about, you know, the negative sides and they're like, "And now, you know, I can ride my bike everywhere, and there's always places to eat." It's a very different place, right? Yeah. There's always- Mm-hmm ... you know, nightlife things to do and...
Bruce C. Bryan: Yeah, even 15, 20 years ago when I was here, I'd hear, "There's nothing to do in Roanoke," and you don't hear that from people anymore.
Julia Boas: Yeah. What about people- They'd, they'd have to be living under a rock if they thought that- That's right ... 'cause there's like 20 festivals a weekend. Yes. There,
Bruce C. Bryan: there is plenty to do. Um, what about people from outside the area? Not specifically putting your parents on the spot, but people like your parents that have, that have come here.
What are you hearing from some of those people that have relocated to the region?
Julia Boas: Yeah, well, I'll, I'll come back to the parents one, but my... Like, the ambassadors that we work with through Get to Know Noque, where they'll go and, and meet with people- Take a second and
Bruce C. Bryan: explain what that is. Okay.
Julia Boas: Um, I didn't know we were, we were jumping the gun on that.
But essentially, we've sort of worked on this program. We now have 50 what we call talent ambassadors or Get to Know Noque ambassadors, where they will... They run a bunch of different programs. There's one girl that started a ladies Noque program this year, where basically, you know, she, she felt like there wasn't just a group of women that was gathering to do cool things, and so we were like, "Well, why don't you start it?"
So she started it up. She thought she was gonna have, like, 10 people at the first event, and now she's getting over 100 people signing up for her events, and that happened in, like, a month. And that's, like, a really good indication of, like, these people are like, "Hey, I wanna have a pickleball tournament," or, "I wanna, um, host, like, an architectural, you know, history tour of downtown."
And very organic, right? Yeah, and it's whatever their interests are based off of. But then they'll also work with employers who are looking to recruit people here, and they'll take out their recruits for coffee or, um, you know, out to dinner or even take them to, like, soccer games and stuff. They kinda will do anything, take them for a hike.
So it's just a really good way to, like, onboard people and hear from someone other than their boss that this is a cool place to live. So that's the ambassador program. And so when I talk with those people who aren't from the area, they're really-- I th- I get a lot of energy from them, and I'm not from the area originally either, and I think that we have a totally different outlook on what this market's, you know, possibilities are, what its potential is, and it's really exciting when you see it from their point of view because they see only the good.
They don't know the bad history or if there is any sort of negative connotations that someone who grew up here might feel. They only see what the future is. They
Bruce C. Bryan: see what could be, not what has been, right? Exactly. And that, that's a great intersection, and I think it's one of the reasons why there's been so much change over the last couple of years.
I, I think the question that I wanted to ask is almost the chicken and the egg. Did the change happen and then people realized that this was a great place, or did people realize this was a great place and then the change happened? Do you have any kind of opinion on that, Julia? I mean,
Julia Boas: I've been here for 20 years, so I can only speak to that timeline, um, of, of s- watching the change and witnessing the change.
I think that the area was always beautiful. I think it always had amazing amenities like outdoor surroundings, the river, you know, the mountains, all, you know, all those things. That's why I came here. I came to work at a wilderness program in Craig County and then just kinda got sucked into Roanoke and all the cool outdoorsy friends I made.
Um, but it took people intentionally focusing, leveraging those assets, using them to actually s- showcase, you know, the great quality of life and then spending some time to invest in them and develop them and make them more user-friendly, make people aware of 'em. So it kinda was both. Yeah.
Bruce C. Bryan: Well, and it can be both.
You're listening to "Naturally Curious." I'm Bruce Bryan. This is Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership, where she is in charge of capital, talent, and, uh, company growth here for our area. So I was curious about COVID and wondering if COVID made remote work in more remote areas an actual thing or if it was just kind of a blip that happened short-term.
What
Julia Boas: we've seen data-wise for our market specifically, I can't... You know, globally, I don't know if this is necessarily the truth, but a lot of people started working remotely, but from, for companies that they were already working for before, and most of them were in the market. So we saw a slight increase in people moving here from larger markets, um, a- and people are moving here from larger markets for a variety of reas- reasons, and people are moving here from smaller markets, too.
Um- Good news is people are moving here, and we're continuing to, you know, grow that population. It's one of the areas that is actually
Bruce C. Bryan: growing in Virginia, right?
Julia Boas: Yeah, we are still growing, and that's despite a rapidly aging population. So we're actually overcoming. Over the past five years, we lost about 6,800 more people to death than, than, than were born in the market, but yet we still overcame that with new people moving to the market.
Um, but yeah, so back to COVID, um, you know, we, we got a few people, but I think people overestimate how many folks are working remotely and will continue to work remotely. 'Cause there
Bruce C. Bryan: has, there have been some shifts in that also as the environment changes, um- Yeah ... for, for a lot of different companies.
People are
Julia Boas: being called back in to work at least a day or two a week. It still provides th- them with some flexibility, and people, we've noticed, will travel 60-plus miles if they only have to work two or three days a week- One or two days a week or three days a week, right ... in the office. So it makes it to where people can attract folks from
Bruce C. Bryan: a f- wider range, wider geographic footprint.
And how important is
Julia Boas: retention to the formula your, your organization pushes? Retention, I'd say, is kind of we're realizing is a nice side effect to some of the stuff that we're doing with the quarterly socials and the talent ambassador program, is that we're realizing, you know, we used to hear feedback from these kids.
They would come for internships and things like that to work with employers in the market or maybe right after college, and they liked the employer, and they liked the area in theory, but they were having a hard time, like, connecting. I don't know if it's just the newer generations. They maybe lost some socialization during the COVID years or whatever, but they need a little bit more intentional welcoming.
They need someone to literally say, "I'm gonna meet you at this event-" And take you here. "... and I'm gonna take you around, and we're gonna invite you. You know, we're gonna introduce you to everyone, and by the end of the night, you're gonna have some friends that you feel comfortable reaching out to, and we'll plan some gatherings for you, and, you know, and that way you don't have to worry about your social docket moving forward."
Bruce C. Bryan: When we come back, we're gonna talk more about the work that you do and about retention and some of the other things happening in the outdoors here on Naturally Curious.
Boas Segment 2
Bruce C. Bryan: Welcome back to Naturally Curious. I'm here today with Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership, and we were talking about retention. And I, I, I have heard about Roanoke for years. It is a great region for people in their 40s and 50s. And by Roanoke, I'm sorry, I mean the region.
Julia Boas: Thank you. Yeah.
When I first moved to town, I said, "Are you from
Bruce C. Bryan: Roanoke?" And they said, "No, I'm from Botetourt." I'm like, "Okay, I- ... Are you from Roanoke?" "No, I'm from Salem." I'm like, "I'm sorry, I just got a mean in general." So referring to the region. Um, but for a long time, young people kinda complained there wasn't much to do, and I don't hear that so much.
Is that something people everywhere just kinda seem to complain about, or do you think it's specific to our region?
Julia Boas: I think in certain sized markets it's something that people complain about, and we are that sort of mid-sized market that hasn't gotten to that kind of critical mass density. Some people, like some economists or, you know, market analysts will say that's around the 500,000 people mark, and we're not quite there.
So I think that it's more of, of that, a case of that.
Bruce C. Bryan: So your career be- began in the outdoors, and you mentioned that earlier. Um, talk a little bit more about those early days in your career.
Julia Boas: Yeah. So I basically came to Roanoke because I didn't wanna do anything related to my major, and I just wanted to, you know, go on some adventures.
And so when... I found a place called Wilderness Adventure. The... It's in Craig County. Had the name in it, so- Exactly ... it had to be a natural thing. It's a 500 acre kind of wilderness retreat program. And I happened to meet Pete Eshelman there. He was my boss, and then he came and started the Roanoke Outside Initiative, which was, you know, the, the partnership kind of wanted to lean into that and so did the private and public sector leadership.
They said, "The outdoors is our thing that we can all agree upon, and we're gonna make it... You know, we're g- we wanna be on the national stage." And so when he came to look for, you know, a, a staff person to help him with that effort and to help put on events like the Blue Ridge Marathon and Go Fest and Down by Downtown, um, he hired me, and that's how I came over to the partnership.
Bruce C. Bryan: And, um, you are... You would consider yourself an outdoorsy person, right? What do you love to do?
Julia Boas: Yeah. Well, I have two little boys now, so that's kinda changed, but we love the new pump track. We've been... My son, like, will cry until we go down there on Saturday, so we went there actually this past Sunday. We love riding our bikes on the greenway.
Um, we love going on little hikes and things like that. In my youth, I was much more adventurous, and we'd go on long backpacking trips and rock climbing and all those kinds of things. But we still get out on the water. We, you know, we love floating on the Roanoke River. And, um, my son, actually, we were biking along, he said, "Remember when we floated on this last summer?"
I said, "We're gonna be doing it again in July." We're gonna do it when
Bruce C. Bryan: the weather breaks. So what are some of those kinda hidden places? And they... I know that you work for the Roanoke Regional Partnership, but it can be- Out and about. It doesn't have to necessarily be right inside the geographical boundaries of, of the area you work for.
But, um, what are some of those hidden places people not, may not know about? Uh, oh, hold on a second. Maybe you don't wanna tell them because then your friends will be upset that you made the joints too crowded. But what are, what are some things that, uh, people might be interested to hear about?
Julia Boas: Um, I don't know if I have anything too secret or hidden.
I mean, my, one of my near and dear to my hearts that I used to go climbing every weekend was at the New River Gorge, which is now a national park, and I think everybody should go there 'cause it's a very special place. Um, that's in West Virginia. There are some little secret pockets that you can go climbing kind of on the way out, like if you're going past Cascades, like near Blacksburg.
Um, Cascades is a great hike. I don't think that's a very big secret anymore. Most people, um, are- They know ... aware of that. Yeah, they know. Um, and then, you know, I'm really excited future-wise of, like, having the Greenway connect up to Explore Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway and kinda taking you all around.
I think the Greenway is one of our most important assets, and I'm a big cheerleader for finishing it and all the things it can do for the retail and housing along it.
Bruce C. Bryan: So when did you first realize this area was special, and what makes it special?
Julia Boas: Yeah, that's a very interesting question. When did I realize?
Well, I came and started working at Wilderness and sort of built this really strong outdoor community. I'm still friends with those people to this day. We are raising our children together. So it was almost more of that community side of it that- So it was
Bruce C. Bryan: community that pulled you in first then. Yes, that sucked
Julia Boas: me in, is like we love doing the things.
There were like-minded individuals here. And so then we came to Roanoke, and we started meeting all these other like-minded individuals who wanted to make the outdoors much more robust and more of a thing here. So then it just sort of felt like this momentum and that we were all caught up in together, and everybody was doing different things like making the climbing gym happen or building river access points or doing trail development at Carvins Cove or on Mill Mountain or putting up, you know, really cool events or bringing in, you know, pro bike races.
Whatever it was, it just felt like everybody was doing something and contributing something special, and so I think that's really what made us wanna stay.
Bruce C. Bryan: Well, you're listening to Naturally Curious. I'm Bruce Bryan. This is Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership. And you were talking about some of these things, and last month was the marathon.
It was this spring. Talk about what... That type of an event brings to the region, and then I guess it's gonna kinda tie into what your organization does.
Julia Boas: Yeah. So the Blue Ridge Marathon was the first event that the Roanoke Outside Foundation decided to create, and it was because we knew that people will travel for running, and we wanted to bring people who might not otherwise ever have a reason to come visit Roanoke to see it.
Um, and we wanted to have a global kind of stamp f- for this event, which is why we made it America's toughest road marathon. So it's the hardest road race in America, and we would challenge people all over the country to come, and it was kinda that in the early days- And
Bruce C. Bryan: they gave up, right? You guys are in charge of that.
They, they all try to beat you, but you are- Yeah ... America's toughest road course. Still America's
Julia Boas: toughest. A couple people, and we actually changed the course one time to remain the most elevation change of any road race in North America. So, um, it's definitely one of those things that every year- Dozens of people will come up to us and say, "I had no idea that Roanoke had this beautiful landscape, this cool downtown, all these, like, hip things going on."
They run through some of the most beautiful neighborhoods in town, and they just, they didn't know what Roanoke had, but once they see it, they're like, "This is an amazing place." And people have actually moved here. They're like, "We came here first for the marathon, and then we decided one day we were just gonna move here, and so we did."
So that happens all the time, and so that does tie in back into that livability aspect of what we do in place making through the partnership. Again, our primary focus is bringing jobs and investment to the market, but we realize if people don't know about us for something unique or special or positive that goes beyond just the industry, then they're not gonna come.
And so that's where the outdoors kind of played that role.
Bruce C. Bryan: How does the recruiting of companies to the Roanoke region actually work?
Julia Boas: Okay. People that
Bruce C. Bryan: don't know what you do- Yeah ... just, like, high level.
Julia Boas: Yeah, high level, so we do lead generation, and half of, about half of our leads come from the state of Virginia, so the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, 'cause a lot of companies, if they're coming from, you know, Korea or Japan, they're gonna come in through the state or, like, the US Department of Commerce first.
So those leads will come down and they'll say, "Hey, we have this company. They wanna ha- bring this much investment and this many jobs. They need a 200-acre site or 100-acre site, or they need a, you know, 50,000-square-foot building. They need this much power. They need this much water. They need these types of jobs with this type of skill set.
Do you have anything in your footprint that would meet those criteria?" And so then we submit anything that has those criteria. We, we put it out to all of our local governments, and they can make sure that we're not missing anything. Um, we also put it out to our commercial realtors. And so it really starts with the, the physical space.
If we don't have a physical space to put their footprint, then we won't land the project. But then after that, usually the most important criteria is the workforce, and that's where that livabil- livability element comes in and is really critical because they need to feel confident. We're, we're trying to eliminate risk for them 'cause that's all they're looking at, is a whole big list of risk.
Is this a safe place? Yeah. And we don't
Bruce C. Bryan: mean crime safe, but, like, is this a safe place- A safe investment ... to make a- A safe bet ... million, million, billion, whatever dollar investment. Exactly. Yeah, that makes sense. And so we
Julia Boas: have to go through their very robust lists of concerns and put them at ease on every single one and make them feel confident that, that, that basically we're gonna be good partners.
Because if you're gonna be showing up into a place, you're gonna be working there for 20, 50 years. So you need to know that these people are gonna back you, and that if there's challenges, that we're gonna work together to find a solution.
Bruce C. Bryan: Do you think Virginia's competitive in this arena?
Julia Boas: Well, Virginia would, would definitely, you know, make sure that I reminded you that we were the top state for business by CNBC, uh, last year.
So yes, we're a very competitive environment. Competitive
Bruce C. Bryan: like the foam finger, we're number one.
Julia Boas: We're number one. Yeah. Um, but no, they are really competitive in a lot of ways, and the Southeast generally has been getting a, the large, the lion's share of the industrial and manufacturing growth for all of the US.
Bruce C. Bryan: So in your opinion, what's needed to make Virginia even stronger? Hard to improve on number one, but I'm sure that, you know, the pressure's always on to do more and do better. So what's needed to make Virginia even stronger?
Julia Boas: Well, we always, for, for our region in particular, we always say we're topographically blessed and challenged.
Because of the mountains, it's really difficult for us to prepare 100-acre sites because- 'Cause you need flat space ... 'cause you need flat space. And so they have been investing, um, under Youngkin, they invested, uh, large sums of money to help localities like us and, you know, develop sites and industrial buildings.
That, that is a little bit uncertain right now. We don't know what the future is headed on that. I think that we will still continue to do that, but having sites and buildings that are ready to go for industry, that's number one, 'cause they don't have time. They want their project done by the end of the year.
They wanna be moved in. They, you know, like, if you don't have it ready, then they'll just- Go to the next place ... they'll go to the next place. It's too competitive.
Bruce C. Bryan: Um-
Julia Boas: And then the workforce is, is usually the other thing, too, is, is skills- A ready workforce ... training, making sure that they're staying up with modern technologi- you know, technology advances and things like that.
Bruce C. Bryan: And that's one of the key areas for Roanoke because there's so many colleges and universities nearby, and you get to draw kind of a big circle, right? Yeah.
Julia Boas: And that is one of our value propositions that we sell to these site selectors and consultants is, if you create a good job, w- people will come to fill it.
And we've proven that time and time again. Even when they thought maybe, "Hey, you know what? Your, your population's not huge," but we, we have continued to grow our population slowly and steadily over time, which is kinda good 'cause that means we're not, you know, getting ahead of ourselves. It's sustainable growth.
Um, and we haven't had any trouble filling these jobs.
Bruce C. Bryan: But between mountains and other things, you are kinda in some ways landlocked, so that's gotta... It's not like you can go get more land. It's, it is what it is, as they say, right? That's gotta create challenges.
Julia Boas: Yeah. The good news is, is that we ha- you know, we have some rural sites on either end of us, and that's why we have to work regionally together.
Because the workforce might live in one location. They might go to work in another location. They're gonna go retail, nightlife in another. But they need all of those pieces together- To work together ... to make it work.
Bruce C. Bryan: Well, Julia Boaz, director of business development, thank you for being my guest on Naturally Curious this week.
To listen back to the show, to hear the full interview, and links to learn more about why our region is so popular, search Naturally Curious at radioiq.org. Naturally Curious was produced and edited by Big Jim Shively and recorded at WVTF Radio IQ Studios. I'm Bruce C. Bryan. Thank you for listening.
Bonus Content Boas
Bruce C. Bryan: Thank you everybody for sticking around. My interview with Julia Boas from the Roanoke Regional Partnership continues. We're gonna talk a little bit more economic development. Is that all right?
Julia Boas: Okay, let's go for it.
Bruce C. Bryan: So seriously, you have grown so much professionally during the last 15-plus years. How have these promotions so consistently happened?
Julia Boas: That's very kind of you to say. Um-
Bruce C. Bryan: It's also true. I'm not just... It's not puffery. Yeah,
Julia Boas: he's fluffing me up right now. Nah, I mean,
Bruce C. Bryan: we're f- 30 minutes in. If, if I was gonna be nice- ... I mean, this is just kind of... I, I'm just r- s- calls them like I sees them.
Julia Boas: Yeah. I feel like the team at the partnership is an exceptional one, and it makes it really fun and exciting to go to work every day.
And when you're energetic and passionate about what you do, it just kind of, you know, filters out into all the work. Um, it wouldn't be possible if, if those people weren't so amazing to... Like, it, it's just like when you're a part of a good team and everything's- Makes- ... gelling and- Everything so much better, right?
Yeah, you just feel like you're accomplishing amazing things, and I think that's why I've wanted to do this work for so long and continue to wanna, like, learn and push myself to, to, to do more.
Bruce C. Bryan: My late father used to always say, "Make your avocation your vocation," and it sounds like you've done that. And then surrounding yourself with people you enjoy working with- Yeah
is also really powerful.
Julia Boas: Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that that... If, if something ever changed and the, you know, the dynamic changed, then it would be a different story, but- So
Bruce C. Bryan: I have to imagine when you're out, uh, talking to people that do what you do, they-- many of them would have a very different career path because, um, part of it is the region and your interest and how those have aligned,
Julia Boas: right?
Yeah. Yeah, when you meet economic developers, they're always kind of make the joke of, like, we all backed into it from some weird other direction. Like, some of them are city planners, some of them are lawyers, some of them are accountants. Like, it just, it takes a lot of different, um- Twists depending on what you're into.
Bruce C. Bryan: So you said it earlier a little bit, but how do people find out about Roanoke? Obviously, it's through the RFP process with the Commonwealth of Virginia, but is, is that the, the main way?
Julia Boas: Well, so then the other half of what we do is we work with site selectors and consultants, and we go to industry events and trade shows kind of in our target markets or, like, sectors that we think are a stro- a strength for, for our region.
Where they're gonna have a
Bruce C. Bryan: natural interest in what you're doing, right? Yeah, and
Julia Boas: where we can already sh- point to maybe five other companies who are doing something similar because they like to cluster together 'cause it makes it easy for their supply chain and things like that. Um, and also just knowing that there'll be a kind of a...
There's already a pipeline of p- talent kind of training in those fields. And so the other half outside of the state come from those efforts that we do every year, and we've been doing it... I mean, the partnership's been around since 1983. So we've made a name for ourselves. It's evolved over time. Again, they wanna find a good partner, and they know that when they call us, that we're gonna, you know, get them everything they need.
We're gonna do the due diligence. We're gonna show up. We're gonna be... You know, like, even if they don't end up picking us, they know that, that we'll get them everything they need, and they'll have a good experience.
Bruce C. Bryan: And in the most basic of ways, the funding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership is a mix of municipalities and of private business.
Yeah. Is that right? And we try to keep it- And grant money or- ... 50/50. Okay.
Julia Boas: Um, so yeah, eight localities and 120 to 30, it fluctuates, private investors. And we do it like that on purpose because you need private investors and public investors both showing up and thinking strategically about the big picture of the market.
It can't just be one-sided. When it gets too heavy one way or the other, then I think it's less productive and, and, you know, the economy's just not as strong. And I
Bruce C. Bryan: think as, as a general rule, humans like when they see private and public cooperating to- Yeah ... to try to make things happen, right?
Julia Boas: Yeah, exactly.
And I- So
Bruce C. Bryan: what... Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No,
Julia Boas: no. So- I just think that's the way it should be. What
Bruce C. Bryan: drives your love for this work? And you alluded to it earlier, what drives your love for the region, but how does that love for the region fit into the love for the work you do?
Julia Boas: Yeah. Like I said, the team is a big part of that, but I love thinking about these big macro-level strategic problems.
And, and not, not always are they problems. Sometimes they're, you know, opportunities. They always say, you know, like, one side is opportunity, one side is, you know, a challenge, and that's really true about our work 'cause it's like anywhere where there's sort of pain points or friction, usually there's also something more there that we could be leaning into- Kinda pick at a little bit
yeah, to, to- Improve ... possibly improve upon. Mm-hmm. And then that would, you know, change things. So it's like thinking about this whole macro scale with, with these multifaceted, complex issues, and for some reason, that just sucks me in. Hmm. And I just wanna, like- You know, get to work on it.
Bruce C. Bryan: We are listening to Naturally Curious.
I'm Bruce Bryan. This is Julia Boaz from the Roanoke Regional Partnership. Mm-hmm. So who do we compete with generally, Julia?
Julia Boas: So we'll, we create, like, different benchmarking for different things. It kinda depends on the sector or, like, if you're just thinking about, like, the livability or the, you know, the outdoor assets.
Um, I'd say anywhere in the southeast, we're competing with them. North Carolina, South Carolina. Texas is always, you know, cruising along. Those people. I know. Um, even sometimes Florida, but, but, you know, tho- It's typically when we, when we lose a project that we got down to, like, a finalist for, it's usually South Carolina, North Carolina.
Bruce C. Bryan: Yeah, because, I mean, Florida, they have to build mountains. We already have 'em. Yeah. But of course they already have the flat part covered. They have the flat part
Julia Boas: up high. I know. Sometimes I drive through South Carolina and things now with, like, this e- new lens of economic development. I'm like, "Look at all this flat land."
It's just flat in every direction. Like, how are we supposed to- How easy would this job be? Yeah.
Bruce C. Bryan: Exactly. Those people again. So, um, is there any kinda genuine rivalry with other areas? Like, nobody, just you and I talking here, I'm sure that this won't go nationally- ... or anything like that. But no, actually, even if it does, like, are there any rivalries, people you cross paths with often?
Julia Boas: I think it, uh, we don't ever really know exactly which locality we're competing with when we lose it to another state, unless they, like, announce and then, you know, we know- Then you know ... where they, where they ended up. So, you know, I think Columbia is a, is a good mid-size market. Greenville. Um, you know, any of the areas kinda south of Charlotte, you know, like the Rock Hill area.
They've got a lot of outdoors. They've invested a lot in their outdoor infrastructure. Some people would say, like, Chattanooga is kinda similar to us, or even, like, some places in Pennsylvania have a lot of similar kind of old manufacturing, um, you know, vibes that, that we compete with regularly. But I don't feel passionately about-
Bruce C. Bryan: Any specific rivalry.
Yeah. I mean, I like
Julia Boas: to win, but- Right. I know you're competitive, so
Bruce C. Bryan: i- uh, is it, is there anything to going up against some of these same regions? Does that ever kinda fire you up?
Julia Boas: Yeah, the thing I get fired up about is incentive packages, because th- I feel like some of those states have misleading incentive packages.
Bruce C. Bryan: That's no fun when they do that. Yeah, where they'll- That's just rude ... they'll be like, "Oh, we're
Julia Boas: gonna give you a gazillion dollars," but then you actually get into the quid pro quo, and you realize that they're never gonna get any of that money. And sometimes people, they hire the right consultants, and they know that, and they can compare apples to apples.
But I swear, sometimes these European companies are like, "No, we, like, we could do all of our own analysis. We don't need you." We don't need your help. And I'm trying to explain it to them, and they're like, "No, no, no." And I'm like, "All right."
Bruce C. Bryan: Well, if it makes you feel any better, those same types of decision-makers are right here in Roanoke and around the country in America, too.
Yeah. So. Yes. Um, i- it is really interesting, though, because when you, when you look at the competitive landscape that you're in, you do have- Sales processes that take quite a long time. I mean, like- Oh, yeah ... sometimes it might be a year- Oh, more than ... three years, four years.
Julia Boas: S- yeah, they can be very lengthy, like- So you
Bruce C. Bryan: might hear you didn't get something in 2024 and find out who did get it in 2026.
Sometimes you go, "Oh, wait, I remember that." Yeah. Or have you moved it out of your brain, you're onto the next thing? Sometimes I'll set
Julia Boas: up, like, remind- like, notifications- Check on this or check on that ... in, in Google for, like, the company name so that I get notified if there's, like, an announcement on their name, 'cause I'm just nosy and I wanna know, but- Those
Bruce C. Bryan: dirty birds.
So, um, you have kids. What kinds of things do you work on that you hope makes this an area where your kids will wanna stay and raise their families when they get older and, and when they have them?
Julia Boas: Yeah. You know, I'm not to the phase yet where they're going to, like, high school and, you know, I have a four-year-old and a nine-year-old.
So I hear some of my high school friends where they're thinking more about jobs and careers and, you know, will they be able to come back and work here? So when I think of the work- They do more,
Bruce C. Bryan: like, infrastructure things or outdoors things. Yeah, like what--
Julia Boas: But I get more excited for me now about, you know, when someone...
Like the Vinton just built, like, a brand new park with pickleball courts and things out front. Like the, the new bike park and skate park I think are huge. The new Inriver Kayak Park I'm excited about, all the Greenway stuff. Um, you know, even this notion that we're kind of starting to toy with, that the city is toying with, we're not involved in it in any way of, like, the entertainment district.
Like, I love the idea of there being a better music venue or some sort of thing, 'cause, you know, I grew up near Charlotte or I went to high school south of Charlotte, so having those big music acts nearby was, was really fun when you're a teenager, and I think makes you feel really positive about where you live.
Um, but so can some of these outdoor things too, like just continuing- Mm-hmm ... to develop events and trail systems and investing in infrastructure generally I think is so important, 'cause that is what the competition is doing. When you look at Chattanooga and Nashville and Greenville and some of these places that we're compared to all the time, they're investing a lot larger percentage of their, you know, GDP and back into these things that are these, like, place-making, livability initiatives.
Um, I feel like we could be doing more there.
Bruce C. Bryan: Yeah, it feels like one of those things that no matter how much you do, there's more you could and should do. Yeah. And there's still so much resistance, and I think about what's happening, and I don't know how directly you all were a part of this, but what's happening in that floodplain that was down near the river that's now a cancer center being built and a medical school and a research institute and all that stuff that was down there, um, it, it's just so good for the area, but it's never enough- Yeah
because we have to create things that pull people into an area like our area. Yeah. So couple que- uh, quick rapid fire kinda questions. You mentioned earlier being an outdoorsy person. You also shared that, um, your patterns have shifted now that you have a nine-year-old and a, and a four-year-old, Mercy. Um, sleep, that's a premium.
Maybe you could- It's getting better. It's getting better ... you, you can just, um, go through and share some of the, your, your best hikes, best campgrounds, couple of those kinds of things. Best hike in the area. Couple great hikes. Well, I will put a little
Julia Boas: advocacy note out there that the Roanoke Mountain Campground is still not back online, and that would be a great asset to bring back to the market.
Um, 'cause you really have to go out of market if you wanna camp. So we do go camping in Floyd a good bit- Okay ... because that's a fun area. It's like a quick trip. Yes. We still go to Craig County to Wilderness Adventure 'cause they have campsites out there we can stay at, and we know everybody there. You can float the Craig Creek, and it's just a really nice easy exper- Like, it's all packaged up.
Right. And there's shower houses- It's right there for you ... and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. We'll go to Luray. They built... I won't... It's not very nature-y. It's kind of, you know, um, all these big RVs, but they had this huge water park, and they have all these like- Kids love that ... Airstreams you can rent out and things like that, so, um, and it still has the river that floats around.
Um, but and that one's not far either. So, like, we'll do stuff like that for, like, little weekend getaways. During the pandemic, we camped out 24 weekends that year. Wow. So, like-
Bruce C. Bryan: That was your way to es- escape what was happening, right? Exactly.
Julia Boas: How about some- And we had, like, our little camp squad that we would go with.
How about some
Bruce C. Bryan: hikes? You mentioned the Cascades. Are there other ones that come to mind that, that, that you particularly like?
Julia Boas: Yeah. The Cascades is a nice one. Um, I'll, I, I know this is, you know, everybody does this one all the time, but I really like Dragon's Tooth because it's short and fast, and I like a good rock scramble.
Um, although, like, you know, you could do that at Devil's Marble Yard, but that's an intense rock scramble where you worry about, like, your dogs and kids, like, falling into holes, so- That's not good ... it's stressful. We don't want that. Yeah. Yeah. Roaring Run is always, like, a classic for the kids- That's a classic one
because you could play in the water along the way. Um, but we hike Mill Mountain- Mm-hmm ... all the ti- I mean, I can walk there from my house basically. So, like, hiking and running on Mill Mount- or even biking. My husband bikes up there two or three times a week. That's really cool. So, um, and Chestnut Ridge is one that I run a lot too.
Is that a good one? You run that one? I go up from Fern Park- Mm-hmm ... run up to Chestnut Ridge and do the loop and come back down.
Bruce C. Bryan: So, uh, you alluded a couple water-type hikes, but any other water getaways that you, uh, might wanna mention to, to people? Water getaways. Or places you like to go and paddle or things you like to do.
Julia Boas: Yeah. Well, I do encourage people To paddle on the Roanoke River. I'm sure you see more and more, like, you know, river access points being- Mm-hmm ... added in all the time. Um, I think a long time ago people just didn't think of the Roanoke River as like a river they could recreate on, and the more you recreate on these things, the more they transform what, how we view them- Mm-hmm
and how much we invest in it as an asset. So please do that. But obviously like- Do more of that everybody ... the Jackson River, Jackson River Scenic Trail, all that is wonderful. Um, they're developing the new Craig Bodytott Trail, which is gonna be a huge asset. Potentially one day it could be similar to like Damascus, um, which we also, you know, have done with the boys.
Mm-hmm. I towed them behind me on a, in a trailer. That was a lot of work, but doable. Um-
Bruce C. Bryan: We did the, uh, the Roanoke, um, uh, river float last summer and had a great time with that. Yeah. It's, it... You see things you don't normally see, and you're not- Yeah, and it's just
Julia Boas: so easy. Like- It is really easy ... people, you can walk, you can ride your bike with your tube around your neck, like take a scooter.
I see people with scooters and tubes on. I love that.
Bruce C. Bryan: So final passing thoughts or things that people should know or try, maybe things you were mentioning about the, uh, the, uh, the women's group or things that you're finding from the ambassadors or like Go Fest, we, we didn't really even talk about that much.
Anything else you wanna share that, that you'd love for people that have made it this far in the interview to know about or hear?
Julia Boas: Yeah. Well, we leaned in heavy to the outdoors, which is makes sense 'cause it's my roots and it's also kind of, you know, I think how we first met each other and connected through, you know, Down By Downtown and those other types of events.
Um, but Get to Know Noke is a newer effort I would say. Um, but it's catching a ton of traction with this, you know, younger audience. You know, I, I'm now the oldest person at most of these events, and I'm happy about that 'cause I love walking into the room and there's just all these like hip, young, diverse people that I'm like, "This is Roanoke and I love it."
And I feel like it was just something that was missing. It was a gap. Um, and so we wanted to make Get to Know Noke this like the outdoors and. Like we don't wanna forget that the outdoors is one of our, you know, cr- critical things. But there's an
Bruce C. Bryan: indoor thing, group of indoor things happening- Yeah ... also.
Julia Boas: But like the music, the arts, you know, you think about the Taubman and what a, like a beautiful facility that is that we have right here. There's just so many cultural things happening, and the ambassadors are a great representation of that. They're doing like poetry jam. They're doing like hip hop events.
They're doing... Like it's just everything. It covers the gambit. And so I definitely would say go to Get to Know Noke on Instagram and see what they're up to. Follow them. See what they're doing. Because it's so much cooler than I'll ever be, and I'm so glad to see that that is finally getting representation here in Roanoke.
And, and
Bruce C. Bryan: that is such a big part of retention, which is a big part of what you're doing as well. So recruitment and retention, that's what it's all about. Julia, thank you for coming in and telling your story and also sharing what's happening with the Roanoke Regional, Regional Partnership.
Julia Boas: Of course.
Anytime.
